A punchy historical novel and a love letter to the Beatles hit big this week…
Fiction
Greater Sins by Gabrielle Griffiths is published in hardback by Doubleday. Available March 27th
Gabrielle Griffiths’ debut novel Greater Sins sets a beautifully atmospheric scene from its opening lines to its final moments. The story, thick with secrets, strange happenings and ancient folklore, takes place in an isolated rural Scottish community in 1915, where a perfectly preserved woman’s body is discovered in a peat bog. After two apparent strangers, Lizzie and Johnny, heave the body from its resting place and search for answers about who she was, they discover their own histories are entwined in ways they could never have imagined. Fear, suspicion, anger and love all weave through their dual narratives, creating a compelling and powerful read.
9/10
Review by Dorothy Smith
The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue is published in hardback by Picador. Available now
Based on the true story of the Granville–Paris Express train that derailed in October 1895, Emma Donoghue (author of Room and The Wonder) imagines the lives of the people who were on board that day. There’s a philanthropic Russian humpback knitting socks, an awkward American painter, a volatile young woman sick of the limited options she faces, as well as the men checking tickets and feeding the train with coal, sweat, and sheer effort. In fact, the cast of characters is quite enormous, which makes getting a handle on their individual worries, let alone their names, rather tricky. The mechanics of the steam train, while impressive, are also relayed in minute detail, which slows up the plot. That said, Donoghue manages to shrewdly explore race, female agency (and the lack of it) and the brutal subjugation of the poor by hopping from first to third class cabins. A punchy read, if a little laboured at times – but it does gather pace.
7/10
Review by Ella Walker
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley is published in hardback by The Borough Press. Available now
Percy and Joe meet at college, one without a musical talent and one who is a songwriter going places, and the book charts their relationship across a number of years and American cities during the 2000s. This is a read for real music lovers, with every chapter named after a song and references to a variety of artists and their work weaved throughout the book, with a couple of names having me reach for Google. The backstory detail of the main characters is perhaps a little lacking, but it is well written and will keep you plodding through until the final page.
6/10
Review by Anita Chambers
Non-fiction
John & Paul: A Love Story In Songs by Ian Leslie is published in hardback by Faber & Faber. Available March 27th
We may think we know the story of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, two Liverpudlian kids who met as teenagers and changed the face of popular music. But Ian Leslie’s engaging, empathetic book sets out to challenge much of the popular narrative surrounding the driving forces of the Beatles, through the story of 43 songs. A writer whose previous work has focused on human psychology uses a wealth of new sources, not least Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back documentary, to bring fresh insight and study the enormously complex relationship between two friends who thrived on an internal rivalry with one another, and who knew each other better than anyone else. It meant they could support each other like nobody else but, when anger got the better of them, hurt one another too. When the Beatles split there were, at times, bitter recriminations, but despite all that, this touching book shows their bond was never broken.
8/10
Review by Ian Parker
Children’s book of the week
Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob by Huw Aaron is published in paperback by Puffin. Available March 27th
This is a surefire way to introduce monsters at bedtime without having to prove they aren’t under the bed. Instead, author Huw Aaron, imagines the most ghoulish and terrifying creatures getting ready for sleep themselves, from a vampire brushing its fangs and a cyborg going on charge, to a demon having its Calpol and even a rather cute sentient meteor snuggling up in its cot. And of course, there’s the slime green Disgusting Blob, our hero, being shepherded to bed too, who isn’t that gross at all. The text has funny little details (like the Blob’s lovely, damp pillow), is hugely creative and doesn’t dumb down – children will pick up lots of great alternative words to ‘revolting’ – and Aaron’s incredibly charming illustrations are brilliantly witty. A great way to dispel fears at bedtime, that’ll amuse adults, possibly even more than their children.
8/10
Review by Ella Walker
BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 14th
HARDBACK (FICTION)
1. Faithbreaker:The Fallen Gods Trilogy by Hannah Kaner
2. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3. The New Neighbours by Claire Douglas
4. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
5. A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow
6. Fable For the End of the World by Ava Reid
7. Universality by Natasha Brown
8. Pagans by James Alistair Henry
9. Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky
10. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
(Compiled by Waterstones)
HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)
1. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins
2. In the Hide:How the Natural World Saved My Life by Gordon Buchanan
3. The Best of the Hairy Bikers by Hairy Bikers
4. Easy Air Fryer by Jamie Oliver
5. Poppy Cooks: The Potato Book by Poppy O’Toole
6. The Six-Minute Entrepreneur by Sara Davies
7. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
8. Doctor’s Kitchen: Healthy High Protein by Dr Rupy Aujla
9. The Forest Is the Path by Gary Lightbody
10. Minority Rule by Ash Sarkar
(Compiled by Waterstones)
AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NONFICTION)
1. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
2. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
3. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
4. Atomic Habits by James Clear
5. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
6. We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
8. The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson
9. Belsay by LJ Ross
10. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
(Compiled by Audible)
