Suzi Feay

Tom Newlands’s novel follows Frazer and Caitlin, a Scottish couple in their twenties raising their autistic five-year-old son, Jamie, amid poverty, housing decay and domestic abuse. The review praises the novel’s tender depiction of caregiving, Frazer’s attachment to his deteriorating home and the possibility of unexpected support, while criticizing its thinner characterization and less exuberant texture compared with Newlands’s debut, Only Here, Only Now. It leaves unresolved whether the couple can achieve anything resembling happiness and questions whether their intense protection of Jamie may hinder his integration with peers.

Graeme Armstrong’s second novel, Raveheart, transforms the world of Scottish rave culture into a satirical political fable in which a veteran DJ forms a rebel crew to oppose a party banning electronic music. Rich in linguistic play, cultural references and subcultural detail, the novel blends humour, melancholy and political absurdity while exploring aging, identity and the search for vitality.

A review of Alex Kadis’s debut novel Big Nobody follows Connie Costa, a 1970s east London teenager struggling under her domineering Greek Cypriot father while finding escape in music and imagined conversations with rock icons. Humorous period details contrast with darker themes of trauma, patriarchal control and the long-term effects of PTSD. Connie’s coming-of-age journey culminates in her bid for independence, later revisited decades on as she reconciles with her heritage. The novel is praised for its vibrancy, emotional depth and memorable heroine.

Louis Sachar’s first adult novel follows Anatole, an immortal former court magician, who returns to recount the true history behind legends surrounding Tiger Castle. The story intertwines royal politics, a threatened dynastic marriage, and a forbidden romance, with Anatole’s scientific experiments and personal motives shaping the events. Lightly comic portrayals of early science and a whimsical tone soften the stakes, while interlaced plot threads echo Sachar’s earlier work. The narrative’s long historical perspective adds depth to themes of love, power and human nature.

Max Wallis recounts how recovery from addiction and mental health struggles led him to create The Aftershock Review, a poetry magazine dedicated to work born from trauma. Supported by fellow poets and editors, the magazine quickly drew significant interest from both established and emerging writers, gaining strong sales and social media engagement. Positioned as a candid space for survival‑driven literature, it has energized a broad community of poets and readers seeking catharsis and connection. The project marks a major personal and professional renewal for Wallis, who sees it as evidence of transforming profound hardship into creative purpose.

Daria Lavelle’s debut novel Aftertaste blends satire, romance and the supernatural through the story of Konstantin Duhovny, a dishwasher who experiences clairgustance, allowing him to taste the favorite foods of the dead. His gift accelerates his rise in New York’s culinary scene, draws him into ghostly encounters and reconnects him with psychic Maura. The reviewer praises the novel’s imaginative world-building, sharp cultural observations and inventive structure, while noting occasional lapses into clichéd dialogue. The narrative culminates in an energetic mix of pathos, humor and genre homage.

A debut novel by Lucy Rose follows Margot, a girl raised in isolation by her cannibalistic mother, whose world begins to shift when she attends school and forms forbidden connections. The story blends horror with dark fairytale elements as Margot confronts family secrets and glimpses alternative ways of living. The book is praised for its vivid, gruesome detail, strong pacing, and atmospheric tension, culminating in an unsettling conclusion.

A review of Kate van der Borgh’s debut And He Shall Appear highlights its dark academia setting at a Cambridge college, where themes of occultism, class tension, identity and unreliable narration drive the plot. The story follows an unnamed music student entangled with the charismatic and troubling Bryn Cavendish, whose interests in magic and alchemy echo historical figures like Doctor Dee and Edward Kelley. Through shifting timelines and psychological ambiguity, the novel explores how personal narratives distort reality, offering an atmospheric and chilling take on the genre.

Joan Smith reexamines the lives of 23 Roman noblewomen, challenging misogynistic depictions found in ancient sources and repeated by later historians. She highlights the brutality and lack of agency these women endured, critiques modern historians who perpetuate biased narratives, and draws parallels between imperial abuses and contemporary gendered violence. Her feminist reinterpretation disputes long-standing slurs and stereotypes, offering a forceful corrective to male‑centric histories.

A review praising Alan Garner’s collection Powsels and Thrums, highlighting its blend of poems, lectures, memoir and essays that explore recurring themes such as myth, ancestry, cosmology and creativity. The piece emphasizes Garner’s deep connection to place, his meticulous use of language and the coherence of his life’s work, while noting both humor and practical insights within the collection.

A review of Sarah Brooks’s novel portrays a fantastical rail journey across the hazardous Wastelands between China and Russia, highlighting its blend of steampunk, climate fiction and romance elements. The story follows characters aboard a sealed train whose struggle against nature, entropy and corporate secrecy escalates as supernatural phenomena emerge. Themes of environmental power, corporate exploitation and class division frame an imaginative, visually rich narrative that emphasizes wonder over weightiness.

A review of Tiffany Murray’s memoir recounting her childhood spent around major rock musicians of the 1970s, shaped by her mother’s work as a chef at recording studios. The book blends vivid anecdotes involving bands such as Queen, Black Sabbath and Motörhead with reflections on memory, typographic playfulness and simple recipes. While offering humorous and touching stories from a child's perspective, it raises questions about recollection accuracy and highlights shifting musical eras marked by figures from Elvis to Bowie.

A review of Jennie Godfrey’s debut novel examines how two Yorkshire girls in 1979 undertake their own investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper, blending coming‑of‑age themes with the atmosphere of fear surrounding the real murders. The story highlights shifting adolescent friendships, limited youthful perspectives, and glimpses into the adult world, while balancing dark subject matter with tender, engaging storytelling. Despite minor character development issues, the novel is praised for weaving a compelling narrative into a traumatic historical moment without diminishing its gravity.

A review of Grant Morrison’s novel Luda describes a hallucinatory, camp exploration of drag performance, occult themes and mirrored identities set in a hyperreal Glasgow. The story follows ageing drag queen Luci LaBang and the alluring young Luda as they delve into a chaotic theatrical production and the mysterious practice of the Glamour. The novel blends humor, surrealism and genre elements, ultimately revealing the Glamour as a metaphor for fiction itself.

A review of John Brewer’s history of Vesuvius highlights the volcano’s role as a hub of early‑19th‑century tourism, artistic inspiration and scientific activity. Using a surviving visitors’ book from 1826–28, Brewer reconstructs the diverse mix of travelers and the social dynamics among them, including national tensions and the prominence of military visitors. Figures such as Sir William Hamilton and Déodat de Dolomieu emerge as key characters in the broader political and cultural shifts of the era. The narrative also traces how growing commercialisation and infrastructure, including Thomas Cook’s tours and new transport links, undermined the traditional guiding economy around the volcano.

A review of Rachel Connolly’s novel Lazy City depicts a melancholic, sharply observed story set in post-conflict Belfast, following Erin as she navigates grief, disconnection and complicated relationships. The narrative reflects the lingering impact of the Troubles, generational tension and emotional drift, while Connolly’s writing is praised for its clarity, detail and nuanced portrayal of contemporary youth experience.

A teenager’s out‑of‑body experiences expose hidden tensions in her parents’ marriage, intertwining adolescent awakening with themes of coercive romance, identity and emotional uncertainty. The narrative contrasts the immediacy of youthful perception with the limited insight of the protagonist’s older self, while Rowan Hisayo Buchanan’s sharp observations and imagery stand out despite structural weaknesses.

Kim Sherwood’s novel A Wild & True Relation is reviewed as an inventive blend of historical adventure and literary pastiche, weaving themes of moral ambiguity, gender disguise and the distortion of women’s stories. The narrative follows Molly, abducted by smuggler Tom West in 1703, whose life becomes the subject of layered retellings across centuries. Sherwood’s playful references to writers such as Defoe, Dickens and Stevenson enrich the swashbuckling plot, while modern lectures and inserted texts critique how male narratives have overwritten women’s voices. The review highlights the novel’s balance of genre indulgence and subversion, noting its energetic storytelling and stylistic wit.

A review of Ann‑Helén Laestadius’s novel Stolen highlights the discrimination faced by Sweden’s Sami community through the story of Elsa, a young reindeer herder traumatized after witnessing the killing of her calf. The book blends cultural detail, generational tensions, and social issues including racism, mental health, and climate threats. As violence escalates and law enforcement dismisses the community’s concerns, a new officer’s arrival shifts the narrative toward Nordic noir, underscoring systemic neglect and cultural resilience.

A review of Gayl Jones’s novel The Birdcatcher highlights its exploration of Black female creativity through the intertwined lives of sculptor Catherine, her husband Ernest and their friend Amanda. The novel contrasts its idyllic Ibizan setting with themes of psychological struggle, artistic pressure and nonlinear storytelling, linking motifs of healing and magic to Jones’s earlier works. It reflects on the burdens female artists face and suggests that creative success is often accompanied by perceptions of monstrosity.

Amanda Svensson’s novel follows three dissimilar triplets whose separate journeys and personal crises intertwine across Berlin, London and Easter Island. Themes of consciousness, family dysfunction and existential uncertainty play out through intertwined narratives, including a chaotic scientific institute and an apocalyptic cult. Humor, tenderness and recurring motifs connect the siblings’ stories as the novel explores whether an underlying system shapes their lives.