In the Full Light of the Sun

Title: In the Full Light of the Sun Writer: Clare Clark Publishing House: Virago Date of Publication: February 28th 2019 Rating: 1 star ‘’You think knowing you can never change that the rottenness is too deep – rooted in you, that it’s part of who you are, you think that makes anything better, that it stops the guilt, the…

Cala

Title: Cala Writer: Laura Legge Publishing House: Head of Zeus Date of Publication: March 7th 2019 Rating: 4 stars ‘’The four women of Cala sat in its dining room on the autumn equinox, wearing garlands of ash and hazel, visible to one another only by candlelight.’’ In a farmhouse somewhere in the Outer Hebrides, four women have decided to live…

Visitation

Title: Visitation (original title Heimsuchung) Writer: Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky) Publishing House: New Directions Date of Publication: September 30th 2010 (first published February 2nd 2008) Rating: 5 stars ‘’In a household where a death has taken place, the clock must be stopped at once.’’ It is easy to stop the clocks when Death has arrived in a house. The…

The Iliad

Title: The Iliad Writer: Adapted by Gareth Hinds Publishing House: Candlewick Press Date of Publication: March 12th 2019 Rating: 5 stars ‘’How I wish that Discord could be banished from the world.’’ There have been many novels that chose the greatest war story of all time as their setting. Trilogies, plays, you name it. This graphic novel by Gareth Hinds…

A Cat, A Hat and a Piece of String

Title: A Cat, A Hat and A Piece Of String Writer: Joanne Harris Publishing House: Black Swan Date of Publication: January 16th 2014 (first published November 8th 2012) Rating: 4 stars ‘’I see now that there can be no leaving. I am a broken clock, frozen forever at an impossible hour. Let others move on, if they must, if they…

The Familiars

Title: The Familiars Writer: Stacey Halls Publishing House: MIRA Date of Publication: February 19th 2019 (first published February 7th 2019) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Justice means fairness. Luck of prejudice.’’ I’ve always loved Pendle Hill and the stories of the women who were accused of witchcraft during one of the darkest moments in the history of Europe. The fascinating legends found…

The World of Lore: Dreadful Places

Title: The World of Lore: Dreadful Places Writer: Aaron Mahnke Publishing House: Del Rey Books Date of Publication: October 9th 2018 Rating: 2 stars ‘’Staring into the now-open cell, his heart froze. The walls inside, he said, were covered with faces. Dozens and dozens of faces, their expressions writhing with agony and horror.’’ The second installment in Aaron Mahnke’s series…

The White Book

Title: The White Book    (original title: 흰) Writer: Han Kang Publishing House: Granta Books Date of Publication: November 2nd 2017 (first published May 25th 2016) Rating: 5 stars ‘’I hold nothing dear. Not the place where I live, not the door I pass through every day, not even, damn it, my life.’’’ In the beautiful, mysterious world of…

Once Upon A River

  Title: Once Upon A River Writer: Diane Setterfield Publishing House: Penguin Random House UK Date of Publication: January 24th 2019 (first published December 4th 2018) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Around Radcot they grow the watercress, harvest it, crate it up and send it to the towns in barges, but they don’t eat it. It’s bitter, they complain, so bitter it…

Imaginarium

Title: Imaginarium Writer & Illustrator: Giorgos Halkias Publishing House: Eκδόσεις ΦΑΡΦΟΥΛΑΣ Date of Publication: September 2016 Rating: 5 stars ‘’For years I was afraid to play The fool. So I built up walls Ten miles high And from this view I saw that I Had only played myself.’’ A beautiful surprise created by a Greek artist that results in a…

Village of Stone

Title: Village of Stone (original title: 我心中的石头镇 ) Writer: Xiaolu Guo Publishing House: Vintage Date of Publication: January 31st 2012  (first published January 1st 2003) Rating: 5 stars ‘’But the Village of Stone- that tiny corner of the sea that, on a map of China, appears as nothing more than a deep blue stain, with no air or shipping routes to…

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

Title: Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft Writer: Various edited by Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe Publishing House: HarperCollins Date of Publication: September 1st 2018 Rating: 4 stars ‘’Scorn the witch. Fear the witch. Burn the witch.’’ If we substitute the word ‘’witch’’ with the word ‘’woman’’, we will be able to understand the reasons and…