*This review will include spoilers* The Stone in My Pocket is a coming-of-age Scottish novel that tells the story of teenager Nathan who believes ghosts are speaking to him in the middle of the night. In a desperate attempt to find answers, Nathan joins a spiritual circle in the attic of his village bookshop, telling […]Read More
In introducing his book, costume writer Lord Christopher Laverty poses an odd question. “Fashion in film – does it even exist?” might seem a rather strange way to introduce what is essentially an encyclopaedic deep-dive into that very subject. Everything about Laverty’s book, on the surface at least – from its title to subsequent 219-page […]Read More
Some might say the Sherlock Holmes hype has come and gone, but Bonnie MacBird has proven the timelessness of the wonderful Holmes and Watson duo. The Three Locks is MacBird’s fourth Sherlock Holmes novel, which captures the essence of Doyle’s fiction perfectly. The novel cleverly disguises itself as the work of John Watson, a manuscript that he […]Read More
How do seven billion humans co-exist in the world today? How can we live, as individuals and as communities, as nations and as part of belief systems, in a world that seems at a tipping point? Yuval Noah Harari breaks down many of these questions in his 2018 essay collection 21 Lessons for the 21st […]Read More
It’s definitely not unusual for debut novels to receive high amounts of acclaim and support,but Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is In Trouble is perhaps one of the first I’ve seen thathas such a huge range of ‘high-profile’ readers. The novel’s praise has come from the likes ofElizabeth Gilbert, Marian Keyes, and Nigella Lawson, I could go […]Read More
Terminal illness consumes the lives of those suffering from it, and of their loved ones. Anna Beecher’s debut novel is a beautiful exploration of love and loss, and of the relationships surrounding a cancer sufferer. Miracles come in all shapes and sizes. Joe, a baby born prematurely, survives his early arrival into the world. Decades […]Read More
John Kampfner’s Why The Germans Do It Better is an engaging account of German history, culture and national identity. Though wide-ranging in its subject matter, the book’s chief ambition is for other countries, namely the UK, to understand the complexities of a growing and vibrant Germany increasing in importance on the world stage. While publishers usually seek […]Read More
Okay, look. I’m pretty sure I can guess what you’re thinking, but A Curious History of Sex isn’t porn – though it is definitely NSFW and features some unexpectedly raunchy Victorian postcards – it is history; bloody well-written and well-researched history at that. Dr Kate Lister, lecturer at Leeds Trinity University, sets out in A […]Read More
One of the major public descriptions of Sayaka Murata’s novel Convenience Store Woman, when it was first released as an English translation in 2018, was weird. Many reviewers were simultaneously shocked and enchanted by the protagonist, Keiko, and her quirky, literal narration; Julie Myerson called her “sublimely weird” and “nuttily likeable”. Convenience Store Woman follows […]Read More
I ordered Influence the day it came out. I wasn’t sure what to expect, only that it had been on my list since I heard about it a year ago. I’ve loved the YA murder genre for a couple of years now, with my long time favourite still being One Of Us Is Lying by […]Read More
“I am a member of a cancer elite,” says Christopher Hitchens on 60 Minutes, curling the corner of his lips with his trademark charm, rousing his interviewer to laughter, “I’d rather look down on people with lesser cancers.” Within this particular witticism, one among many in his entire career on the page as a writer and […]Read More
Mitch Albom is a best selling author in the US and has spent many weeks at the top of their bestsellers list. Yet, in the UK, he has little to no name recognition. Having stumbled across his books in Waterstones before Covid, I’ve had several of them on my reading list for a while. Some […]Read More
As a child, I listened to retellings of the Ancient Greek myths on my cassette player over and over again. When I was a few years older, I was hooked on the Percy Jackson audiobooks. This year, I purchased the audiobook of Stephen Fry’s Mythos, which tells the stories of the Greek gods, to listen […]Read More
Having finished Emily Maitlis’ autobiography Airhead for a second time, I felt compelled to pen my thoughts into a review. I use the word autobiography reluctantly, as it’s not a compendium encapsulating her childhood and personal trials, but rather a polished set of professional anecdotes and tales from her journalistic journey. Each chapter contains a […]Read More
Trigger warning: rape, assault Let’s play a word association game, shall we. If I say ‘model’, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Perhaps you think of a tall, leggy Victoria’s secret model. Maybe you think of transgender model Munroe Bergdorf and her racism row with L’Oreal. Or maybe your mind goes to […]Read More
© 2014 The Indiependent