2026/116: Parallel Lives — Iain Pears

... it is difficult to believe that life during the siege of Leningrad was quite as jolly as the tone of [Larissa's] recollections sometimes suggested. [Introduction]

Larissa Salmina was born in northern Russia in 1931, daughter of an army officer: she survived the siege of Leningrad (and does indeed make it sound quite jolly, though there are horrors too: they ate the neighbour's cat, who was starving anyway) and later became a curator at the Hermitage Museum. She was appointed Commissar for the Venice Biennale -- she lost some of the artworks en route -- and met an English art historian Francis Haskell.

Francis was brought up in England, grandson of an Iraqi Jew, and seems to have had a very miserable youth, struggling with repressed (and not so repressed) homosexual urges, antisemitism, and loneliness. He was smitten by Larissa, more of a free spirit than himself: she, already married, blithely embarked on their affair, and broke the terms of her visa to travel with him -- which could have ruined her own career in the USSR.

Larissa seems to have had the gift of landing on her feet: Francis revealed unsuspected backbone in his determination to marry her, despite the bureaucratic hoops this entailed in the mid-1960s. And Iain Pears, who was taught by Haskell and befriended Larissa after Haskell's death, weaves their story together -- from conversations with Larissa, and from the diaries Francis kept from childhood until his marriage -- to depict 'a tale of a Europe that is lost. 'Not the Europe of geographical and ideological divisions, but of a certain mentality, which was common to a very few on both sides of the Iron Curtain'. He emphasises the importance of art to both, and their sense of a shared cultural inheritance: and he balances Larissa's oral history (noting that it's full of gaps and deliberate omissions) with Francis' dogged self-analysis.

I confess I was much more interested in Larissa, especially her experiences during the siege. I learnt a lot about post-war Soviet society, including the fact that Russians were legally obliged to look after ageing parents: Larissa's mother had to waive her right to this before the marriage could go ahead. I would have liked more discussion of Francis' homosexual affairs (there are delicate allusions, no more) and perhaps of their married life: but the book effectively concludes with their marriage, and I respect Pears' decision to stop there.

Read by Richard Attlee: his voice suited the narrative, and Pears' measured style, really well.

Read because: It was on offer at Libro.fm, and Larissa's story in particular sounded fascinating. Also, this is the Europe which my father's family knew.

2026/115: Under Story — Chloe Benjamin

In our world, matter that was living decomposes -- but not always. If decomposition was interrupted, a fossil forms instead... Here, a fossil is like a seed. [loc. 2988]

It's 2018, and Laurel is working as a dishwasher in Antarctica, mourning the death of her son, separated from her husband Eli -- and drawn to the Arc, an anomalous phenomenon a few miles from McMurdo Base, that manifests as an arch of light. Laurel was formerly a mycologist, and she has a scientific outlook: but when she dreams about the Arc, she can't help feeling that her dream has given her an insight. And then Eli, a renowned physicist, shows up at McMurdo. He believes that the Arc might help him prove his theory of the universe, a theory that proposes an 'antiuniverse' where 'entropy reverses on a massive scale' and time itself moves in the opposite direction.

This is a fascinating thought experiment of a novel, with elements of romance and mysticism as well as the hard (if theoretical) science underpinning it. There are octopodes! There is Antarctic life! I loved the secondary characters, especially Gloria and Louis, and I was intrigued by Laurel's experiments in mycology.

I'm not sure I fully understood some elements of the novel, and I almost gave up on the story when it seemed likely to explain some aspects solely through a mystical experience: and I am not wholly satisfied by the ending. But it was a fascinating read, with moments of beauty (both scientific and personal) that balance the occasional horrors.

Read because: I spotted it on Netgalley, where an early review described it as 'The Overstory meets Interstellar': I was intrigued.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK Publication Date is 1st September 2026.

2026/114: After Hours at Dooryard Books — Cat Sebastian

Outside these doors is chaos. Appalling men are elected president. Every day's headlines are worse than the last. All year, it's been like that, and it isn't getting better. But it will. 

The setting is New York in 1968. Patrick is the manager of Dooryard Books, a secondhand bookstore owned by the philanthropic Mrs Kaplan. One night, Mrs Kaplan turns up with a stranger, who she introduces as 'Nathaniel Smith': a man several years older than Patrick, with a haunted look and no possessions to speak of. Patrick can relate: he was one of Mrs K's 'projects' too, years ago.

Nathaniel (who's agoraphobic) clearly has guilty secrets, but Patrick is happy to let him take his time revealing them. And he has plenty else to distract him: soon after Nathaniel's arrival, Susan -- Patrick's sister-in-law and childhood friend, a well-known singer-songwriter -- shows up, distraught, with a suitcase, a baby, and a telegram from the Department of Defence. Susan's husband (Patrick's brother) Michael has been killed in Vietnam.

How the three of them (plus baby Eleanor) create a kind of family, and how Nathaniel comes to terms with his own sexuality, is the heart of the novel: it also features delightfully spiky Puerto Rican twins, a lot of discussion of Walt Whitman's poetry (Patrick is a huge fan), plenty of gay and trans secondary characters, anti-war protestors and political radicals and folk musicians, and a dog. The revelation of Nathaniel's secret past was a big surprise and definitely something to feel bad about, but he does his best to make things right, not only with Susan and Nathaniel but with the wider world.

Great depictions of male-female friendship, alternative culture, and the second-hand book trade. I listened to the audiobook, read by JJ Hawkins (who read Patrick's chapters) and Joel Leslie (who read Nathaniel's). I felt a bit uncomfortable while listening to Leslie, who sounded as though he was choking at the end of each sentence, but both narrators brought warmth, emotion and humour to their performances.

Read because: it was in the Libro.fm sale, and I have enjoyed other novels by Cat Sebastian.

2026/113: The Sentence — Louise Erdrich

Think how white people believe their houses or yards or scenic overlooks are haunted by Indians, when it’s really the opposite. We’re haunted by settlers and their descendants. [p. 91]

Reread for book club: I had forgotten just how much it's about the pandemic. I also noticed many aspects of motherhood here, from Hetta with her new baby to Tookie bearing the name of the woman who helped her mother. Book club response was positive: we talked about the sense of community in the novel, and the low-key horror of the ghost.

My original review is here.

Read because: bookclub choice, and I was happy to reread this!

2026/112: Never After — Alexis Hall

“Say something.” His voice rang harshly, even in his own ears. “Call me unnatural. Scorn me. Turn away in revulsion. Tell the village.”
“Oh, Michael, I’m an old woman, my back would play up something chronic. I can’t turn away in revulsion like I used to.” [loc. 3759]

This is described as 'a melancholic tale of queer romance': it's set in the 1860s in London and, later, a country town, and it's the story of two men (an opium-addicted male prostitute named Micha, and the Reverend Thomas Mandeville) who love one another. But I'm not sure it's a romance per se.

It has many of the tropes of romance: Micha is very ill when Thomas finds him collapsed on the street and takes him home; Micha is prickly and dishonest, but gradually becomes more likeable under Thomas' gentle ministrations; Micha's secrets gradually come to light, and Thomas's unpleasant family history likewise; Thomas finds a better family because of Micha. And it does seem that they might achieve a HEA. But no.

Devastatingly emotional, with lots of rich textured descriptions that reminded me of nineteenth-century novels. Hall treats Thomas' faith, and the moral quandaries his desire for Micha sparks in him, with respect and honesty. And Micha's addiction is also portrayed realistically and without modern sensibilities. I especially liked the female characters, none of whom behave as Micha expects: Thomas' housekeeper Mrs Clark, who could reveal Micha's past; the ladies of Nettlefield, especially Esther (whose response to Micha's confession of homosexuality heads this review); and, at the end, Hope.

Pleasantly read by Steve West, who managed to infuse Micha's sometimes-limited vocabulary ('Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck.') with emotions appropriate to the setting.

from the author's webpage, discussing ending and epilogue...

Read because: I've enjoyed many of Hall's other novels and spotted this as audio and ebook on Kindle Unlimited, my 'free trial' of which runs out very soon. A pleasant audiobook to listen to in the garden!

2026/111: A Trade of Blood — Robert Jackson Bennett

My augmentations had permanently altered my very biologies. Had I been made a beast, to be sacrificed for my family and the Empire? Or was I now a shepherd, and the common folk of the cantons my flock? [loc. 3578]

My initial gleeful review is here: I liked this novel just as much on rereading.

Two households, both alike in dignity... The Armentas are a wealthy aristocratic family, raising monstrous cows to feed the Empire: the Buravs are a neighbouring family who provide the beans that feed the cows. The two families have been feuding for years: despite this, Castus Armenta and Zanzay Burav were planning to run away together. Now Zanzay lies horribly dead and Castus is in the local jail, unable to explain the events of the previous night. 

Just another case for Immunis Ana Dolabra and her trusty assistant, Signum Dinios Kol! Together, the two uncover a history of misfortune (or perhaps a family curse) plaguing the Armentas, and an ancient forest which may harbour gods from before the Empire. And they learn about farming. This is not Romeo and Juliet: it's certainly not a romance. It is, instead, a novel about the grotesque excesses of agriculture. It highlights the routine slaughter and the wastefulness, the ecological impact, and the use of enslaved creatures^* as field workers.

And it's also about Ana and about Din -- the former coming a little closer to revealing the secrets of her alterations, the latter wholly unprepared to encounter someone from his past. There is body horror, there are unsettling mental changes, and there is more, much more, about the Empire itself. (I note that Ana and Din are moving towards the heart of the Empire -- the first book was set on the coast, the second in the independent kingdom of Yarrowdale, and this novel within the Third Ring.)

Very much looking forward to the next book -- this is clearly not a trilogy! -- and to learning even more about the Empire, and about the eccentric Ana. (A taste of Ana: "I'd normally be given to suspect his enemies, the Armentas --except they've nearly been eliminated... Or so we think! I can't confirm, because people keep goddamn interrupting me with their dying!" [loc. 2597])

^*Small creatures known as cats, though they are more like squirrels or weasels: I suspect the author of devising a way to refer to characters as 'cat-herders'.

Read because: I enjoyed the first two books so much, and leapt at the chance to get an ARC. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK publication date is 4th August 2026.

2026/110: As We Fall Through Time — Claire North

Every time traveller who has ever trodden on a butterfly has created a ripple through time. These ripples make more ripples which make more travellers, the snake swallows its tail... [loc. 694]

Cal is a time-traveller, and something of a paradox: sometimes male, sometimes female. He encounters Olivier, a French soldier, in 1789, and falls in love. Which seems to be somehow connected to the temporal paradox sparked by fellow time-traveller Fadimatu encountering her own corpse in The Museum of the Unmasked Conspiracy...

This is a love story, a story of climate activism, and a murder mystery. It's narrated in first person by a mysterious observer. Time is infested with ghosts and witches, 'fathomless creatures of unlived realities': paradoxes can be healed, or at least ameliorated, by paradoxical objects ('amaranthines') such as a ceramic flower that did and did not crack in the kiln.

I am already looking forward to rereading this next month for the full review...

Read because: Claire North has become one of my favourite authors -- from the 'Songs of Penelope' trilogy to the awesome Slow Gods. Obviously I read this as soon as it landed on my Kindle... Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for the full honest review I'll write nearer UK Publication Date -- 10th October 2026.