When I was in sixth form, there were a handful of books I would always recommend. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood was top of that list (which was how I came to lend it to a friend who never returned it). I remember being chilled by the harshness of Offred’s world and stunned by […]
With so many potentially brilliant books I want to read, sometimes choosing the next one feels like a challenge. So, as this year’s Crimefest approaches, I’ve set myself an actual challenge: to read some of the books by the panellists which are already gracing my shelves (some of which I doubtless picked up at the […]
Today I am delighted to welcome Sarah Govett to Buriedunderbooks to discuss her new dystopian thriller, ‘We go on Forever’. I enjoyed this so much that I actually already reviewed it yesterday, but just to recap, here’s the premise: *** Arthur is dying. He must transition within the next four weeks or face permanent memory […]
‘It’s a book about the lies we tell ourselves and others,’ says Sarah Govett. She adds: ‘and the evil that can be perpetrated if we, for whatever reason, convince ourselves that another group of people is somehow lesser or ‘other’. This theme at the very core of ‘We go on Forever’ is what I loved […]
Had enough of the dreaded virus dominating the news? How better to escape the anxieties induced by living in semi-lockdown, caused by a troublesome new virus, than to read a crime thriller exploring a world in which, erm, a troublesome new virus is wreaking havoc in London? Louise Welsh’s superbly atmospheric novel makes it clear […]
Imagine a world where ‘sharing’ is valued above all and privacy is considered a dangerous perversion. Such is the world Elton evokes in his 2007 tale of a world that’s exiled experts and lives in a state of ‘Blind Faith’, a world in which ignorance is feted as wisdom and everyone knows everything about everybody. […]
Sea levels have risen. The last ship has sailed. Who gets to decide what we will become? Water & Glass was always going to be a beautiful novel. Written by Abi Curtis, poet and creative writing professor, it possesses a lyrical beauty that makes reading it a genuine pleasure. The pleasant surprise is that it’s […]