Fans of The Vegetarian by Han Kang will be keen to read her newly-translated offering…
Fiction
1. Greek Lessons by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won, is published in hardback by Hamish Hamilton, priced £16.99 (ebook £9.99). Available April 27
Han Kang is one of South Korea’s most garlanded writers. However, despite The Vegetarian winning her the International Booker in 2016, few of her novels are available in English. This translation of Greek Lessons, first published in Korean in 2011, is therefore welcome. This enigmatic novella centres on one pupil and the teacher in a Greek class at a Korean college. The teacher is losing his sight, while the pupil has been rendered speechless by what seems like grief, depression or ennui. The chapters reveal their past and their interactions with a world that is increasingly foreign to them. For a novel in which the power and limits of language are such dominant themes, to work so well in translation is a testament to Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won’s prose, which floats like the characters’ thoughts and gradually breaks down into something closer to poetry or stage directions. A riddle of a book that moves and entrances.8/10(Review by Joshua Pugh Ginn)
2. Death Of A Bookseller by Alice Slater is published in hardback by Hodder & Stoughton, priced £14.99 (ebook £6.99). Available April 27
Alice Slater spent six years working as a bookseller with Waterstones, but hopefully didn’t have to work with anyone resembling some of the characters in her debut novel. Two women find themselves working together in a London bookshop, but they could not be more different. Laura is bright, popular, successful, loves chatting to customers – but her private life is a mess, not helped by having an affair with a married colleague. Roach reads serial killer books, listens to murder podcasts and keeps a pet snail. She becomes obsessed with making friends with Laura, and when she’s rebuffed, both their lives take a dramatic turn. The story has many dark moments and a violent twist, with enough suspense to keep any lover of crime novels guessing the final outcome. The short chapters are easy to read, fuelling a desire to discover how far Roach would go to teach the lovely Laura a lesson. The author describes it as a “horrible little book”, but it’s only some of the characters who are horrible – the book is excellent.8/10(Review by Alan Jones)
3. Rosewater by Liv Little is published in hardback by Dialogue Books, priced £16.99 (ebook £9.99). Available now
Rosewater is not your average love story. Alone and abrasive, sexual and sardonic, Elsie is searching for happiness in all the wrong places, and from the opening pages, it’s clear that a struggle lies ahead – not simply in whether she can find love beyond a series of transient encounters, but whether she can learn to love herself. On paper, the plot is simple, interrogating traditional romantic tropes through a queer lens and blending dark humour with pathos. But the elevation comes from its characters – vivid, full of flavour that punches out from the page – and from the startling use of original poetry which adds notes of striking poignancy. Rosewater is novel that will resonate with anyone who has ever found themselves uprooted and searching for security. Coloured with regret, sadness and missed opportunities, yet never allowing us to lose hope in the triumph of love over adversity, Rosewater follows Elsie’s quest to discover whether she is able to ever put down roots, and where her own roots really are.8/10(Review by Hannah Colby)
Non-fiction
4. The God Desire by David Baddiel is published in hardback by TLS Books, priced £9.99 (ebook £4.99). Available now
David Baddiel loves God. Or more specifically the idea of ‘Him’. But no matter how much he wants to, the comedian and TV writer cannot bring himself to believe in a higher power. Raised by Jewish parents, he is nevertheless an avowed atheist and his latest book The God Desire explains how the strong pull he has always felt towards embracing religion has, in fact, had the effect of convincing him God cannot exist. He argues that God is a concept created by humans to offer comfort in times of distress, to explain the wonder of the universe and to define the joy felt in communion between people. This is a slight book, with Baddiel using anecdotes and his trademark dry humour to help illustrate one of the most complex debates there is. Theologians might expect more, but his easy digestible and lightly amusing essay is praiseworthy.7/10(Review by James Cann)
Children’s book of the week
5. How To Grow A Dragon by Rachel Morrisroe, illustrated by Steven Lenton, is published in paperback by Puffin, priced £7.99 (ebook £5.99). Available April 27
The most striking feature of writer and illustrator duo Rachel Morrisroe and Steven Lenton’s How To Grow A Dragon is its mesmerising illustrations that burst with colour to match the story’s imagination. Readers are transported into the vivid wonderfulness of Mr Pottifer’s – a humanoid plant man – shop, which hosts all sorts of stupefying plants. Helping Mr Pottifer is Sarah – a young girl who plants and sows in the shop with her sparkly unicorn sidekick, Sprout. Upon receiving some magical seeds, Sarah and Sprout plant them to grow numerous dragons all with different abilities, but all with similar behavioural problems, which Sarah successfully tames. This charming story makes planting, growing and taming dragons an enchanting experience for the mind. Where Sarah uses hot vindaloo instead of plain soil and water, this is just one of many ways this story inspires readers and writers with the best thing of all – imagination.7/10(Review by Christopher Henry-Reeve)
BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING APRIL 22
HARDBACK (FICTION)1. One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake2. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover3. Atalanta by Jennifer Saint4. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld5. Homecoming by Kate Morton6. Shy by Max Porter7. Old Babes In The Wood by Margaret Atwood8. In Memoriam by Alice Winn9. It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover10. Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry(Compiled by Waterstones)
HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)1. Surviving To Drive by Guenther Steiner2. Bored Of Lunch by Nathan Anthony3. How Westminster Works… And Why It Doesn’t by Ian Dunt4. The Full English by Stuart Maconie5. The God Desire by David Baddiel6. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy7. Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll8. The Earth Transformed by Professor Peter Frankopan9. Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 202310. The How To Read A Tree by Tristan Gooley(Compiled by Waterstones)
AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)1. The George Orwell Complete Collection by George Orwell2. Grimm Tales by Philip Pullman3. Atomic Habits by James Clear4. Spare by The Duke of Sussex5. Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus6. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey7. The Lion: Son Of The Forest by Mike Brooks8. Outlive by Peter Attia & Bill Gifford9. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Julie Smith10. I Will Find You by Harlan Coben(Compiled by Audible)
