Four to Read in 2021!

SCENT BY ISABEL COSTELLO 

From the publisher’s blurb:

When Clementine and Edouard's last child leaves home, the cracks in their marriage become impossible to ignore. Her work as a perfumer is no longer providing solace and her sense of self is withering. Then, her former lover resurfaces, decades after the end of their bisexual affair, and her world tilts irreversibly. This is an intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires and a troubled past whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.

My Review:

I raced through Scent in two afternoons – as well as being beautifully written, absorbing and assured,  it’s a real page turner. Set in a vividly depicted Paris, this is a steamy and sensual novel, a dark and evocative portrait of desire, love and loss, which explores what happens when the past catches up with Clementine in her already unsettled world.  

March 31st 2021 - Muswell Press

COMMON GROUND BY NAOMI ISHIGURO

From the publisher’s blurb:

From the acclaimed author of the story collection Escape Routes comes a timely, bittersweet and beautifully observed coming of age story about a friendship that defines two lives, and about the value of loyalty in a divided world.

It’s a lonely life for Stan, at a new school that feels more ordeal than fresh start, and at home where he and his mother struggle to break the silence after his father’s death. When he encounters fearless, clever Charlie on the local common, all of that begins to change. Charlie’s curiosity is infectious, and it is Charlie who teaches Stan, for the first time, to stand on his own two feet. But will their unit of two be strong enough to endure in a world that offers these boys such different prospects?

The pair part ways, until their paths cross once again, as adults at a London party. Now Stan is revelling in all that the city has to offer, while Charlie seems to have hit a brick wall. He needs Stan’s help, and above all his friendship, but is Stan really there for the man who once showed him the meaning of loyalty?

My Review:

I really enjoyed Escape Routes and have been looking forward to Common Ground for some time. it certainly didn’t disappoint. An evocative and compelling coming-of-age novel, beautifully written, about the complexities of friendship and two teenagers’ struggle against injustice and discrimination. It explores the difficulties of being an outsider and the fight to be accepted, to form connections, without sacrificing who you are. Stan and Charlie are both wonderful characters, and Common Ground is as uplifting as it is poignant.

March 25th 2021 - Tinder Press

PANENKA BY RONAN HESSION

From the publisher’s blurb:

His name was Joseph, but for years they had called him Panenka, a name that was his sadness and his story. Panenka has spent 25 years living with the disastrous mistakes of his past, which have made him an exile in his home town and cost him his dearest relationships. Now aged 50, Panenka begins to rebuild an improvised family life with his estranged daughter and her seven year old son.

But at night, Panenka suffers crippling headaches that he calls his Iron Mask. Faced with losing everything, he meets Esther, a woman who has come to live in the town to escape her own disappointments. Together, they find resonance in each other’s experiences and learn new ways to let love into their broken lives.

My Review:

Ronan Hession is the master of ‘quiet’ books. He takes the mundane, the everyday, and reveals the beating heart of the human condition and makes it extraordinary. A novel where nothing huge happens in terms of plot, and yet everything happens. Panenka is a deeply moving book, achingly poignant, yet although it is dark it is filled with love and joy and hope and deep, deep humanity.

Panenka, for all his faults and flaws, is a truly relatable character and I came to really care about him. The rest of the characters are equally rounded – Esther in particular is wonderful. Every one of them has their own story and every one of them feels real. And the writing is sublime – pitch perfect in every way. I loved every minute of Panenka from start to finish.

May 2021 - Blue Moose Books

 

THE LIP BY CHARLIE CARROLL 

 

From the publisher's blurb:

This unsparing debut novel portrays the unromantic side of Cornwall few visitors see and which so many novelists choose to overlook. Charlie Carroll inhabits his damaged heroine completely' Patrick Gale

Away from the hotels and holiday lets, there is an unseen side of Cornwall, where the shifting uncertainties of the future breed resentment and mistrust. 

My review:

The Lip is a well-paced debut novel with an intriguing storyline and a heartbreaking twist – and Charlie Carroll’s writing is totally sublime. It is not always an easy read, as it addresses loneliness and isolation, mental health issues and grief. However, there is also love, hope and friendship at its heart, as well as the power and beauty of nature. The depiction of the wild Cornish coast is wonderfully evocative, and Melody Janie’s voice is compelling and distinctive – she burrows under your skin.

March 2021 - John Murray Press