Book review: Crab Lines Off The Pier edited by Ronnie Goodyer and Dawn Bauling
There have been a million songs written about it, we spend all year looking forward to it and when it’s gone we mourn its loss. This neat little volume contains a carefully selected batch of memories and musings on this subject, selected from hundreds of poetry and prose submissions received from around the world.
Book Review: Ugly by Constance Briscoe
There is something almost miraculous about people who endure intense suffering throughout their childhoods and somehow not only get through their ordeals but go on to become very successful fully functional adults. After reading Ugly, you’ll find yourself reflecting on your own life with different eyes, and realise that nothing is out of reach if you have self belief.
Book review: Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal
Almost an entire lifetime is captured between the creamy covers of this slim, thoughtful book. Beginning with 13-year-old Conxa going to live with her uncle and aunt, she leads us through the important moments in her life. The deft translation by Laura McGoughlin and Paul Mitchell opens it up to English-language readers for the first time.
Book review: The Fairies in Tradition and Literature by Katharine Briggs
If you intend to write any kind of fiction rooted in folklore, you’d do well to read this nature book of wildlife that just happens to be mystical. As the former president of the Folklore Society, Katharine Briggs was well equipped to gather and analyse reports of fairy sightings, long-held beliefs and general hypotheses about these curious creatures.
Book review: This Road We’re On
There’s a tumultuous pace to this collection of short stories and vignettes, which describes itself as ‘an anthology navigating how we love’. With such fresh, clear voices, the anthology presents a look at love that is at once strikingly original and familiar - describing feelings we’ve all experienced; yet in such a way it seems brand new.
Book review: Light Boxes by Shane Jones
Told in beautifully crafted puddles of prose, Light Boxes tells the story of a town in the grip of a malevolent force known only as February. Whatever your interpretation of this resonant mini-novel, you won’t forget it in a hurry. Scenes such Bianca setting fires throughout the little frozen town will haunt you for days after you read them.
Book review: The Space Between Rain by Eileen Carney Hulme
From the striking and atmospheric cover illustration through to the final poem this is an enchanting collection that quickly pulls the reader into its intriguing world.Eileen’s territory is in the universal themes of love, loss and longing, and like an artist with a bulging palette she makes full use of colour, sound, texture and shades of light and dark.
Book review: Carry Me Home by Terri Wiltshire
Beginning rather shockingly with a case of mistaken identity that leads to a lynching, Carry Me Home crosses generations to bring us the story of Canaan and her great-uncle Luke. Terri Wiltshire captures the era of her novel and its setting with a clarity that makes me feel I’ve been there, travelling the railtracks with half an eye out for somewhere to call home.
