Category: Literary Fiction Reviews

A review of The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

The relationship between the opening of the novel and the ending of it are interwoven powerfully. The theme of what makes a person unique, the relationship between human identity, language, the cultural versus the personal memory, and even the relationship…

A review of The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate

Although not an unusual narrative strategy, it demands much of an author and it is a pleasure here to see how Southgate rises beautifully to the occasion. Southgate goes beyond this to the extreme virtuosity of a narrative for the…

A review of About a Girl by Tony Nesca

Through the narrator’s reflections we accumulate an unusually exact understanding of his aims and character. His life is not pretty and he may waver and wobble but he is grounded in honesty. He waves illusion away and sees life with…

A review of New Beginnings

The clear bent is literary fiction, and that makes this a moving collection full of provocative and evocative work from some of the most well known and respected writers working today. This is a wonderful marketing idea, and one which…

A review of The Rose Notes by Andrea Mayes

Although the story is fast moving and satisfying, with all of the ends cleanly tied up, it isn’t the plot which will stay with the reader once the book is finished. Instead, it is the marvellous passages within the characterisation…

A review of Our Napoleon in Rags by Kirby Gann

This is a short book with few chapters and narrative modes that vary occasionally. Gann pins a situation to the story with an epigrammatically precise choice of words. This is a lively response to the question of what kind of…