Book Reviews

An orange cover showing a square municipa type building

Image of book cover 'Abigail' by Magda Szabó showing a girl dressed in white climbing a spiral staircase

Abigail

The Adventures of China Iron

The Adventures of China Iron

A sunset with hills in the background and a church in silhouette in the foreground, bottom right

The Alchemist

A large dark bird on a blue background. A man and a child running away behind thorny red and blue branches.

Alindarka's Children

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front

Image of book cover for 'All Yours' by Claudia Pineiro

All Yours

Cover image of Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada show a black and white photo of 1940s Berlin in the fog

Alone in Berlin

The Angel's Game

The Angel's Game

Portrait of an unknown woman by Yaroshenko, a woman dressed in black furs with a lace hat is sitting on a chair with a sneering expression.

Anna Karenin

Geometrically repeating pattern of colourful hot air balloon shapes

Around the World in Eighty Days

Early photograph. A boy with blond hair wears a white suit with a fur edged cape and holds a tricornered white hat. He looks into the camera with an intent gaze and stands in a militaristic pose.

Austerlitz

A man stands behind a woman on a balcony with his arms around her. The image is black and white and the dress is 1960's style

Babylon

Cover image shows a large image of a fox made up of a mosaic like design with buildings and more foxes

Before the Feast

Cover shows the head and shoulders of a woman with dark hair in close up with head bowed

Betty Boo

A figure in silhoutte stands on the edge of a lava flow with billowing dark grey smoke

Blackout

Detail from the Memento Mori, a painting of mediaeval scene in a formal garden with a fountain and various figures, one playing a lyre.

Blind Argus

A woman's hand rests on a blue tinged pillow case on a blue tinged background

The Blue Room

Cover image shows a collage made up of fragments of a photo showing a woman's body

Body Kintsugi

A young woman with a freckled face in close up stares out at the reader

Bonjour Tristesse

A white chameleon cut out on a blue/yellow/green mosaic effect background

The Book of Chameleons

The Book of Mother

The Breaking of a Wave

The Breaking of a Wave

Image of book cover 'The Brewer of Preston' by Andrea Camilleri

The Brewer of Preston

Brickmakers

Brickmakers

A stone tower with crows and storm clouds

Bruges-la-Morte

a sepia tinted view of Rio de Janeiro with printed names of Hungarian bridges added.

Budapest

Image shows cover of Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka

Bullet Train

Book cover for Burning Cities by Kai Aareleid. Image shows a two card tower, the card facing outwards is the five of spades.

Burning Cities

Pencil drawing of the torso of a woman in a simple Victorian dress, pregnant belly exposed. A man's hands hold obstetric forceps with a baby's head visible through the stomach of the woman.

Caesaria

Black and white line drawing of a gangster in a hearse throwing a gold fish into the air out of the passenger window. A woman wearing shades is driving and a parrot sits on the roof.

The Case of the General's Thumb

book cover for Catastrophe by Dino Buzzati

Catastrophe and other stories

Book cover for Charlie Chaplin's Last Dance by Fabio Stassi. Image shows Chaplin dancing with cloaked figure of Death who is holding a scythe.

Charlie Chaplin’s Last Dance

A crowd of people face the camera, with five stars above the image.

City of God

Cover image for Complete Stories by Clarice Lispector. Image shows detail from a portrait of Lispector by Giorgio de Chirico

Complete Stories

A horizontal pyramid of Russian characters, including a peasants and an orthodox priest.

The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol

An Id lanyard badge with the picutre of a Japanese woman

Convenience Store Woman

A 19th century lithograph of a group of cossack men wearing traditional clothing and hats

The Cossacks

A crowd of men and boys in turn of the century dress outside a sandstone building with columns and arched windows

The Counterfeiters

A man in a doctor's wite coat in front of a gurney where a heavily pregnant woman is laid, has a book in front of him showing anatomical depictions of a baby about to be born

A Country Doctor's Notebook

Image of a book cover for the novel 'A Crack in the Wall'

A Crack in the Wall

Splashes of red, yellow and green as the silhouette of a man walks through a portico

The Crocodile

A dark sky and sea with an oldfashioned liner named Norvid

Crossing

The Darkest Winter

The Darkest Winter

Cartoonlike design of a bookshop with two silhouetted figures through a doorway, two cats and a bicycle

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

A black cartoon style penguin on a yellow background

Death and the Penguin

Cover shows a Russian military officer against a background of St Petersburg with a bottle of poison and a woman in a cameo brooch.

The Death of Achilles

A yellow wall with a lamp and its shadow

Death on Credit

A moonlit road in a forest with tyre tracks

The Defenceless

Detective Story

Detective Story

A man in nazi uniform, where his face should be is a colour photo of Buenos Aires

The Disappearance of Josef Mengele: A Novel

Book cover for Disoriental by Négar Djavadi shows a colourful phoenix on a purple background

Disoriental

Watercolour in reds and oranges of a Spanish knight on a tired-lookin horse followed by a man on a donkey.

Don Quixote

Cartoon like image of a man sitting in front of a tv which shines like a spotlight on his face. An actor is shown on the screen who is exactly like him except for a moustache.

The Double

Down the Rabbit Hole

Down the Rabbit Hole

The Eight Mountains

The Eight Mountains

Cover shows the title with a background reminiscent of a wrougt iron gate

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Elena Knows

Black and white photo of a grand wrought iron gate standing open and leading into a tree lined drive

Embers

Blue Fitzcarraldo cover with white text

The Empusium

A face which is half human, half insect on a blood red and black background

The Essential Kafka

The Essential Tales of Chekhov

Excursion to Tindari

Excursion to Tindari

Image shows a seascape in shades of blue and two figures in a small boat

Fair Play

Cover has a painting by Giorgio de Chirico showing a porticoed building in from of which a girl runs with a hoop (Melancholy and Mystery of a Street)

Fateless

Image of book cover 'Fathers and sons' by Ivan Turgenev

Fathers and Sons

An elderly military dictator stands in the foreground with a blurry scene with men and palm trees fades into the background

The Feast of the Goat

Book cover for FEM by Magda Carneci, cover image shows a segmented sphere in deep pastel colours containing the book's title

FEM

Femme Fatale

Cover shows and extract from a leaf of the Winchester Bible 1160-1180

Fergus of Galloway, Knight of King Arthur

Ferocity

Ferocity

A man's hands, handcuffed behind his back. The man is wearing a smart suit and jacket.

A Fine Line

The Flanders Panel

The Flanders Panel

Fontamara

Fontamara

Image of book cover '566 Frames' by Denis Wojda

566 Frames

Game for Five

Game for Five

Image of book cover 'The Garden of the Finzi-Continis' by Giorgio Bassani

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

Book cover for The German Room by Carla Maliandi. Cover image is abstract with black, white and red shapes squares on a mustard background

The German Room

Detail from Miners'Wives Carrying Sacks of Coal (1882) Van Gogh

Germinal

Silhouette of a cat on a fiery sunset background

Gigi & The Cat

A cartoon-like image of a hill with a crucifix and bird flying in the sky.

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

Cover image of Grey Bees by Andrej Kurkov shows a beekeeper lifting a comb from a hive on a bright golden yellow background

Grey Bees

A late nineteenth century Russian woman in a a red dress in front of a railway station building.

He Lover of Death

Picasso-esque representation in blues and reds of a half human-half dog creature smoking and surrounded by mess and a bottle of vodka

The Heart of a Dog

A coffee table dovered with an assortment of items including books, drugs and a glass of possibly port

A Heart So White

An open book with the pages cut out and the central section removed, inside which we read the title.

Homecoming

Three cigarettes in a cigarette case with cut outs of part of a woman's face, a key and a length of rope.

The Hotel Majestic

The House of the Spirits

The House of the Spirits

Surreal cover illustration by Francisca Alvarez Sanchez depiction a dove and a floating upturned jug as well as crescent moon on top of a giant candlestick

The House of the Spirits

Book Cover for How do you live by Genzaburo Yoshino. Cover shows the itle and a lone figure dressed in a kimono style outfit with his back to us facing what might be the universe.

How Do You Live

Book cover image of How the soldier repairs the gramophone, image shows a cartoon-like colourful depiction of a wind up old fashioned gramophone with horn

How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone

Image of book cover 'Hunger House' by C/M Edenborg showing young girl approaching abandoned house from a forest

Hunger House

A white cover which reprints the text from the opening of the book

The Hunger of Women

Image of book cover 'Hunting Season' by Andrea Camilleri

Hunting Season

A yellow and black cover with French bulldogs and police cars and stamps.

I Don't Expect Anyone to Believe Me

Ears of wheat from below with a bright blue sky and clouds

I'm Not Scared

If on a winter's night a traveller

If on a winter's night a traveller

If on a winter's night a traveller

If on a winter's night a traveller

Three men in concentration camp uniform look out at the camera

If this is a man

Image shows a letter I with two greek soldiers fighting with spears

The Iliad

Image of book cover for In Case of Emergency by Mahsa Mohebali. Image shows book title falling diagonally down the page like a fault, with a backdrop of built up houses in Tehran superimposed with opium poppies.

In Case of Emergency

Cover image for Involuntary Witness by Gianrico Carofiglio, image shows the back view of a shirtless boy lying on the ground in tones of blue and grey

Involuntary Witness

Cover shows a reproduction of Picasso's The War

Iron in the Soul

A cartoon red tree, a cartoon woman in yellow troutsers and shades looks through the lower canopy. It must be evening because the long shadows of the woman and tree disappear off the edge of the book cover.

Is Mother Dead

A goat's head in red and blue embroidery, with flowers and wedding rings

Ivan and Phoebe

Photograph of a young woman with a shadow across her face.

Katalin Street

Cover image for Kaya Days by Carl de Souza. Image shows a young woman in balletic pose, walking on a river bed

Kaya Days

Detail from L'Absinthe by Degas, a couple sit at a table in a bar, the woman has a drink in front of her and wears a vacant sad expression

L'Assommoir

The Labyrinth of the Spirits

The Labyrinth of the Spirits

Photograph of a sunburnt child emerging from water.

The Lake

Image shows grainy charcoal images of early twentieth century figures.

The Late Mattia Pascal

A heraldic image of a leopard standing on one leg, on a red background

The Leopard

The Leopard

The Leopard

Like Family

Like Family

Like Water For Chocolate

Like Water For Chocolate

Light blue background with crudely drawn stick figures disappearing into the distance

Liquidation

Book cover for Lucky Breaks by Yevgenia Belorusets, image shows a broken umbrella that resembles a flower in black ink

Lucky Breaks

Cl;ose up of the front of a woman's shirt, light blue with a white collar and trim, buttoned up to the neck

Lullaby

Cover image shows the yellow chalk outline of a dove or pigeon on a grey background

The Luminous Novel

A deep blue background with a pattern of cream, gold and grey flowers and leaves.

Madame Bovary

A detail from a portrait of his wife by Claude Monet

Madame Bovary

Photo booth picture in black and white with a man and a woman in 1920s dress

Madonna in a Fur Coat

A bare mountainside rises behind a conifer forest. Below a swiss castle with two pointed turrets and many windows approached by a winding road.

The Magic Mountain

An old wall, covered in graffiti with a window. A naked woman emerges from the wall.

The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By

Cover shows Pierre Bonnard's painting of a woman in a wicker chair.

The Mandarins

Soviet era graffiti of a person's head on a stairwell wall and some Russian script.

The Master and Margarita

The Measure of a Man

The Measure of a Man

The Midnight Palace

The Midnight Palace

classic fitzcarraldo editions cover with a sharm white text on a deep blue background

Minor Detail

Mirror, Shoulder, Signal

Cover image shows the silhouette of a man's head and shoulders in pink and black, the outlilne filled with storm clouds or perhaps billowing smoke

Mister N

Cover shows a blonde girl in a white top with a book on her lap.

A Model Childhood

Cover shows a photograph of Aldo Moro's body in the open boot of the Renault 4 car where he was found.

The Moro Affair

Cover image shows a collage with a lady in early 20th century dress, a grand building with lots of windows and a skull

Mrs Mohr Goes Missing

Photograph of a group of westernised Turkish men and women in a luxury convertible car with the Bosphorus and Istanbul's skyline in the background. 1970s

The Museum of Innocence

A wonky piano keyboard, the black keys are blue and yellow, two are shaped like bombs.

A Musical Offering

My Brilliant Friend

My Brilliant Friend

A scene from the film adaptation showing the two brothers against a backdrop of a mural depiction Lenin and Stalin and the hammer and sickle.

My Brother is an Only Child

Black and white photo of a boy on a rooftop looking up at a flock of birds.

My German Brother

A blue cover with the edge of a birds wing with white feathers

My Pen is the Wing of a Bird

Image shows cover of Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. a Jester holding a bottle stands in a spiral of orange peel

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

Image of book cover 'The Nakano Thrift Shop' a novel by Hiromi Kawakami

The Nakano Thrift Shop

Painting by Manet 'Nana' shows a woman in high heels, short skirt and sleeveless bodice applying makeup.

Nana

Book cover for Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector. Cover image is a detail from Ariadne by Giorgio de Chirico

Near To The Wild Heart

Night Train to Lisbon

Night Train to Lisbon

A castle on a cliff, a rough sea below and gathering clouds above

Night's Lies

Cover image for No Windmills in Basra, shows the yellow sails of a windmill with line drawings of amimals, birds a lighthouse and a wristwatch

No Windmills in Basra

A representation of a river delta which could also be the branching of veins and arteries

Not a River

NP

The Aristocrat at Breakfast by Fedotov.

Oblomov

A young woman with bare shoulders, dark hair wound into a coil with dark pink ribbon and dark pink lipstick looks at a blue and gold macaw sitting at her side.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Our Riches

Our Riches

Photo fit of a man's face with each quarter being a different look

Outlaws

An Edwardian era black and white photo of a young girl seated sideways on a chair on the front of an old book tied with string.

The Oxford Brotherhood

A panelled door in a grand room with elaborate cornicing opens inwards to reveal an empty room

The Oxford Murders

image shows book cover of The Passenger by Ulrich Boschwitz. A man in a suit looks over his shoulder and runs down a station platform in Nazi Germany as a steam train approaches behind him.

The Passenger

Black and white image of a colonial style church with a blurry image of a cowboy riding a horse in the foreground.

Pedro Páramo

Cover image shows a protrait of Pushkin holding a quill pen byKonchalovsky

The Penguin Book of Russian Short Stories

Book title has been crossed out and the word "censura" stamped across.

Pereira Declares

A Perfect Cemetery

A Perfect Cemetery

A diagram of a chain of chemical elements.

The Periodic Table

Image shows book cover of The Pharmacist by Ingrid Noll with a picutre of poison bottles

The Pharmacist

Book cover for Phenotypes by Paulo Scott. Image shows blocks of turquoise and light green with the silhouettes of two boys fighting

Phenotypes

Detail from The Triumph of Death, a fresco style close up image of a mediaeval man's face looking down.

The Plague-Spreader's Tale

Book cover for Pobeda 1946 - A car called victory by Ilmar Taska. Image shows a light coloured car in the foreground against the silhouette of some houses and a church tower.

Pobeda 1946: A Car Called Victory

The Postman (Il Postino)

The Postman (Il Postino)

The Prince of Mist

The Prince of Mist

The Prisoner of Heaven

The Prisoner of Heaven

a skeleton with a violin under its arm steps out from the shape of the letter Q

Q

Cover of Quake by Auður Jónsdóttir, shows a small red brain in the centre of the cover

Quake

Cover image of The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen, cover shows a huge model rabbit with one broken ear. A man stands in front of it with his back turned to us

The Rabbit Factor

Image of the cover of 'The Reader' by Bernhard Schlink

The Reader

Book cover for Reasonable Doubts by Gianrico Carofiglio, image shows a shadowy male figure walking away from us under an archway leading to a traditional Italian piazza.

Reasonable Doubts

A group of well dressed men in suits and top hats on a terrace

Remembrance of Things Past: 1

Cover shows a reproduction of Peace by Picasso

The Reprieve

A colourful image of an African man in a red suit with a briefcase walking up a rural track with straw-roofed round houses and a cow looking enquiringly at him.

The Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg

Detail from On The Banks by Repin showing three figures in late nineteenth century dress, a slodier and an older couple, seated in a rural setting with willow trees and a lake.

Rudin

A figure stands on a promontory on the edge of a body of water looking at an Icelandic style house with red roof. The image is sideways on

Rupture

A stylised depiction of the sea with blue spirals and white goam in the style of Hokusai

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea

The Secret Supper

The Secret Supper

A painting of Place de la Concorde in 1829 by Canella.

Selected Short Stories - Balzac

Cover shows a blurry images of the same man running in two different directions carrying plates and bottles.

A Servant to Two Masters

A man in 1930s dress stands with one arm raised open palmed and the other at his temple in a salute.

The Seventh Cross

Cover shows a carving of the Virgin Mary

The Seville Communion

Cover image of The Shape of Water by Camilleri

The Shape of Water

cover features a line drawing of a man climbing up the outside of an old fashioned building

The Sicilian Method

Cover image shows two men at the stern of a boat looking away from us across a grey, calm ocean.

The Sickness

A man sits at a restaurant table with food and a bottle of wine with mysterious figures in the middle distance.

The Snack Thief

A man in the foreground huddled against the snow with a cigarette in his mouth, in the background teh skyline of a Russian town.

Snow

Blurry watercolour in browns, showing a couple walking down in a street

So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighbourhood

Image of a man in 1930s dress, seated hands in pockets, head down eyes closes as if sleeping.

Spilt Milk

Cover image for The Spoke by Friedrich Glauser shows the shadow of a bicycle on a pavement.

The Spoke

Cover image for The Square of Revenge by Pieter Aspe, the cover shows a photograph of a Belgian street tinged with orange

The Square of Revenge

Image of book cover 'The Story of a New Name' by Elena Ferrante

The Story of a New Name

Image of cover for 'Strange Weather in Tokyo' by Hiromi Kawakami

Strange Weather in Tokyo

The Sum of our Days

The Sum of our Days

An African landscape in shades of rust, possibly at sunset

A Sunday in the Pool at Kigali

Paula Rega painting showing a woman in 19th century Portuguese dress holding a sword

Take Six: Six Portuguese Women Writers

Book cover for Temple Alley Summer shwoing a school girl running down an old fashioned Japnese street with a mysterious building appearing out of the mist in the distance

Temple Alley Summer

Image of book cover 'The Ten loves of Mr Nishino' by Hiromi Kawakami

The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino

Silhouette drawing of a man with a gun behind a car, the sea and a town with arid hills above.

The Terracotta Dog

A man walks towards a pyramid structure on what looks like an alien planet

The Three-Body Problem

Painting of a woman with dark hair sitting at a writing desk with her back to the viewer

Thérèse Raquin

Image of book cover of The Time of the doves by Merce Rodoreda

The Time of the Doves

A man in a Turkish fez sits at a destk with a vase of flowers in a thoughtful pose

The Time Regulation Institute

One quarter face view of young man with dark hair eyebrows and moustache

To Each His own

1937 Japan government railway poster

Tokyo Express

A naked woman on a green background

Tommaso and the Blind Photographer

Tomorrow They Won't Dare to Murder Us

The Traitor's Emblem

The Traitor's Emblem

Pencil/charcoal drawing of a woman's face by Francis Picabia 'Olga' 1930

Transit

Trick

Trick

Image shows a blurry image of a window pane on one side covered with ice crystals

The True Deceiver

Two Women

Two Women

a woman in 1940s Russian army uniform

The Unwomanly Face of War

The Mystery and Melancholy of a Street by Giorgio de Chirico

Vanishing Point

Cartoonish face of a woman with black marker pen scribblies under the eyes

Vernon Subutex One

A blurry image in blues and black of a woman's figure in silhouette walking away from the camera through a park with trees.

Veronika Decides to Die

A French window with ornate stone surround opens inwards to show the silhouette of a figure playing the violin

The Voice of the Violin

Image of book cover for A Walk in the Dark by Gianrico Carofiglio, image shows a woman's bare legs from the knee down, she is standing andwearing a pair of red court shoes

A Walk in the Dark

War and Peace Vol 2

An empty hospital bed in front of an open window. Detail from Sleepless night (1903) by Nikolai Romadin

Ward No. 6 and Other Stories

The Watcher in the Shadows

The Watcher in the Shadows

A detail of a painting by Paul Gaugin of two Polynesian girls called When are you getting married?

The Way to Paradise

A futuristic cityscape with a rockets and helicopters flying across a red sky.

We

The cover is red and there are tow small male figures carrying large flags

We Want Everything

Cover image shows a light blue background with a gold fish in a free floating balloon

Weasels in the Attic

When We Cease to Understand the World

When We Cease to Understand the World

Image of the cover of the novel 'Why we took the car' by Wolfgang Herrndorf

Why We Took The Car

Image shows a house with a foreground of tall trees in silhouette.

Will and Testament

Image shows a green background with white splashes like costellations

The Wind That Lays Waste

Winter in Sokcho cover is in landscape and shows a postcard of a seaside resort overlaid by the title.

Winter in Sokcho

A woman with long red dredlocks, wearing a blue full skirt adn no top, sits bending forward with her hands round her ankles.

The Witch of Portobello

A bald and unadorned human head that looks like it's been moulded from clay, with splashes of bright blue, purple and pink.

The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis

You Have Me To Love

You Have Me To Love

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