MARY CONWAY applauds the study of a dysfunctional family set in an Ireland that could be anywhere
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The cautionary tale of the chambermaid and the millionaire
FIONA O’CONNOR steps warily through a novel that skewers many of the exposed flanks of the over-privileged
MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
Dream Count
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 4th Estate, £20
“I HAVE always longed to be known, truly known by another human being.” Words spoken by the main narrator Chiamaka (Chia) begin the latest novel by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Along with her three African women friends, Chia makes up the quartet animating this story of female yearning in what is a kind of Sex in the City for the global traveller.
Adichie fans have had a decade-long wait since her last bestseller, Americanah; they are rewarded with a 400-page doorstopper. Set during the Covid pandemic, it is packed with Adichie’s sparkling writing style, but is somewhat looser in structure than her previous books, particularly her breakthrough Half of a Yellow Sun.
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