Quite a mixture this month including one from a much-loved author with a long career behind her and two others by writers I’d not come across before.
The novel I’m reading is My Husband by French writer Maud Ventura (transl. Emma Ramadan) in which the narrator is still in the grips of obsessive passion for her husband over fifteen years since they met, alert to slights or any hint of infidelity, and oblivious to their children. I’m on the last of the six days spanned by the book which deserves its Virginia Feito endorsement. Darkly funny at times, there’s a definite sense of menace knowing, as we do, that the husband has told his wife they need to talk. What does he want to say, and what will she do as a result?
The short story collection I’ve just started is Penelope Lively’s Metamorphosis whose overarching theme is change, as its title suggests. The collection bookends twenty-four stories, published from 1978 to 2016, with two lengthy pieces from 2021. I’ve read the first which follows seven-year-old Harriet from 1915 into her eighties in a whirlwind tour of the twentieth century in which she proves herself to be resourceful, talented, bookish and bright, ready to take up any opportunity life presents and create a few of her own. It’s a brilliant start to what I’m sure will be an enjoyable selection.
The non-fiction book I’m reading is Ana Kinsella’s Look Here subtitled ‘On the Pleasures of Observing the City’. The city in question is London where Kinsella lives and works, having grown up in Dublin. I’m about a third of the way through these enjoyable short pieces which range from interviews to observations made in cafes, on the Tube, in parks or simply wandering around the city. My favourites are the seasonal Field Notes, glimpses of other peoples’ lives noticed by Kinsella who is a sharp, witty observer of idiosyncratic detail with a keen eye for a stylish dresser
What about you? What are you reading?
