I love unreliable narrators. So when I saw this story in which the main character openly announces, ‘Sometimes I lie’, well, I was hooked even before I read the rest of the blurb. This is journalist Alice Feeney’s debut novel and, yes, for fans of psychological thrillers, it is absolutely as good as it promises. What’s it about? […]
Motherhood. Poetry. Madness – or time travel? Welcome to Helensburgh – home to the young English poet W.H Auden and, years later, English poetess, Dora Fielding, in (English poet) Polly Clark’s emotionally fraught debut novel. What’s it about? Newly married and pregnant, Dora moves to Helensburgh hoping that her new life will engage her as […]
It’s the mother of a missing child’s most cherished wish: the child, returned. But what if you had doubts? What if your long-lost daughter wasn’t being completely honest about the circumstances surrounding her abduction? What if you started to wonder if your daughter – your real daughter – might be dead after all? Who might […]
You know a story’s good when you start again at the beginning as soon as you’ve read the ending. I discovered Diane Setterfield’s ‘The Thirteenth Tale’ at my local Lounge bar book swap one afternoon and was immediately hooked. Why? Look: ‘All children mythologise their birth. It is a universal trait. You want to know […]
I love curling up with a good book, whatever the season. You might find me on a sun lounger in summer or on a park bench in Autumn, but you’ll never find me without a book in my hand and another in my bag. (You never know when you’ll get Bonus Reading Time.) In Winter […]
Today I’m welcoming TM Logan to BuriedUnderBooks as part of the blog tour for his debut novel ‘Lies’. ‘Lies’ is a psychological thriller which explores a life suddenly upturned, a family torn apart by, well, lies and the darker side of social media. Want to know more? Here’s the blurb: ————————————————— When Joe Lynch stumbles across […]
Some books you choose; some books choose you. ‘The Lonely Life of Biddy Weir’ chose me; there’s no doubt about that. It wasn’t a book that held an immediate appeal for me, perhaps because the slightly odd name of the protagonist suggested a dated storyline, perhaps because of the floral cover design, or perhaps simply […]
Grief is a challenging topic for any novelist to explore. This is presumably even more pertinent when the novel involved is your debut and the grief involved was once your own. Mary McCluskey, journalist and short-story writer, tackles this subject with knowledge and care in her subtle portrait of a couple whose marriage is struggling […]
There are some books you know you should own. Jenny Blackhurst’s deeply intriguing debut novel, ‘How I Lost You’, is one of them. I couldn’t fathom how I didn’t possess a copy of this intriguing book and was convinced I must have bought one and mislaid it. I was right*; having searched my study for it […]
“I did something terrible, Grace. I hope you can forgive me.”‘ Charlie’s last words to best friend Grace have haunted her since Charlie died four months ago. What can Charlie possibly have done? It can’t be worse than what Grace did…can it? What’s it about? After her best friend dies, Grace feels set adrift. In […]