Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop
Hwang Bo-reum (translated by Shanna Tan)
Bloomsbury, £14.99, pp320
Newly divorced Yeongju is fulfilling her dream of running a bookshop. Emotionally fragile and searching for meaning in life, she has a passion for books that brings other lost souls into her orbit, providing a collective catharsis for the ensemble of troubled characters. It’s a story that embraces its sentimentality, though the episodic structure leaves the novel somewhat lacking in narrative drive.
Birdgirl: Discovering the Power of Our Natural World
Mya-Rose Craig
Vintage, £10.99, pp320 (paperback)
Craig was nine days old when her parents took her on her first birdwatching expedition. For the 21-year-old, birdwatching is the activity that has bound her family together and helped them negotiate life’s adversities, not least her mother’s mental illness, which Craig writes about with emotional acuity. Describing her travels through seven continents in search of different species, she establishes herself as a talented memoirist and a passionate environmental advocate.
Mozart in Italy: Coming of Age in the Land of Opera
Jane Glover
Picador, £25, pp288
Renowned conductor Glover – who previously penned a book on the women in Mozart’s life – here turns her attention to Mozart conquering the Italian music scene. By the age of 13, he was already renowned throughout northern Europe but his ambitious father, Leopold, wanted Wolfgang to find fame in Italy too. Drawing on a wealth of letters and diaries, Glover recounts the three trips Leopold and Wolfgang took to Italy during Mozart’s teenage years, recreating in sparkling detail the world of 18th-century classical music.
To order Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, Birdgirl or Mozart in Italy go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
