Discretion: Faïza Guène

Translated from French by Sarah ArdizzonePublished by Saqi, 2022, 240 pages. Original version published in 2020. What is it like to uproot yourself from all that is familiar and move to a place that is alien in every way? A different culture, a different language and a different landscape? How do you live in a …

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L’Inconnue de la Seine: Guillaume Musso

Published by Calmann-Levy, 2022, 512 pages. A young woman is fished out of the Seine, very nearly dead. She has no identification on her person, so the police do a DNA test to see if they can find out who she is. The results are startling: according to the test, the mysterious woman is the …

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The Travelling Bag and Other Ghostly Stories: Susan Hill

Published by Profile Books, 2016, 288 pages. An act of charity that goes horribly wrong, a travelling bag that when opened leads to a man’s death, a ghostly boy that only his friend can see, a mysterious co-worker with a strange smell, and a misguided attempt to raise the dead. These are the five stories …

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The Dry: Jane Harper

Published by Flatiron Books and Abacus, 2017, 416 pages. Kiewarra, a town in the Australian Outback. The land is bone dry: the rains have failed again, and farmers are struggling to survive, as is everyone else. Many of the shops are boarded up. Karen Hadler and her six-year-old son Billy are found shot in their …

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A Raisin in the Sun: Lorraine Hansberry

Published by Signet, Vintage and Berkley Books, 1959, 144 pages. “What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry upLike a raisin in the sun?”–Langston Hughes      This is a powerful play about an African-American family trying to realize their dreams in spite of the odds stacked against them. At the centre of the play is the …

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Following Unusual Paths: Interview with Nick Hunt

Nick Hunt is an author from the UK. His books include Outlandish; Where the Wild Winds Are; Walking the Woods and the Water; The Parakeeting of London; and Loss Soup and Other Stories. His debut novel Red Smoking Mirror will be published in July 2023. Walking the Woods and the Water and Where the Wild …

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My Secret Brexit Diary—A Glorious Illusion: Michel Barnier

Translated from French by Robin MackayPublished by Polity Press, 2021, 450 pages. Original version published in 2021. In a nation-wide referendum on 23 June 2016, the British voted, by a slim majority, to leave the European Union. The process of leaving the EU was long-drawn-out and complicated.  Like many people outside the UK, I developed …

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The Peculiarities: David Liss

Published by Tachyon Publications, 2021, 336 pages. London, the turn of the 20th century. A pervasive fog covers the city, and strange things are happening, known as “the Peculiarities”. Women are giving birth to litters of rabbits, people are transforming into trees and animals, and vicious, not-quite-human Elegants are prowling the streets. The Peculiarities also …

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Black Lion—Alive in the Wilderness: Sicelo Mbatha with Bridget Pitt

Published by Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2021, 256 pages. “I am not a lion whisperer. I am an ordinary wilderness guide who has simply grasped some small part of the great wisdom of wild animals and the wilderness, and learnt a little about how to share this with other humans. As a guide, I share wild …

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