Anna of the Five Towns was the first of Arnold Bennett’s novels to be set in the pottery towns of Staffordshire. Through six novels published between 1902 and 1918 he gives a realistic picture of life, industry, religion and love in England’s industrial heartland at the turn of the 20th century. It’s rather depressing but […]| BookerTalk
French Braid is a quiet family saga. There are no shocking revelations or big dramatic moments in the lives of various members of the Garrett family of Baltimore. Instead, Anne Tyler chooses to focus on the smaller stuff; the incidents and ingredients that combine to shape a family. We meet them through a series of […]| BookerTalk
Environmental campaigners and ego-tripping capitalists clash in Eleanor Catton’s Birnham Wood. It sounded promising but it’s largely a promise unfulfilled. Birnam Wood — the portable forest that heralds the fall of Macbeth — is the name of an “activist collective” based in Christchurch, New Zealand. They’re guerrilla gardeners in essence; taking over waste public land […]| BookerTalk
Adulterers, hypocrites, snobs. Emile Zola’s Pot Luckreveals the secret world of the middle-class inhabitants of a Parisienne apartment block, showing that the outward signs of prosperity and harmony disguise the morally bankrupt nature of their lives. The occupants of the Rue de Choiseul regularly attend church and loudly condemn people whose behaviour fails to meet […]| BookerTalk
“What I’m Reading” is my contribution to the WWW Wednesday’s meme run by Sam from Taking On a World of Words. The Ws represent three questions: What I’m reading now #10booksofsummer has gone so well this year that I’m currently on book 12. This is The Interview by J David Simons which was published this […]| BookerTalk
R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface is something of a mash up. Dark comedy meets thriller in a tale which also seeks to ride the topical wave of truth and authenticity in the publishing industry. It begins with two young novelists in Washington DC. Chinese-American Athena Liu, is the toast of the publishing world, an award-winning author who […]| BookerTalk
This page is where you can find what everyone has read for ReadingWalesMonth’25. I’ll post links to everyone’s posts as| BookerTalk
