The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, USA, 1939

The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, USA, 1939

Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth (…); in the …

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The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, USA, 1951

The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger, USA, 1951

When Holden Caulfield quotes Robert Burns as saying “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye” instead of saying “If a body meet a body coming through the rye”, he is, either consciously or subconsciously, describing his essence and, indeed, the very essence of the novel itself. He may appear unruly and undisciplined …

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The Casual Vacancy, J.K.Rowling, UK, 2012

The Casual Vacancy, J.K.Rowling, UK, 2012

Pagford is a small rural village in west England where the inhabitants take pleasure in not being part of the nearby (much larger) town of Yarvil while being endlessly thankful that they are not like the residents of the Fields. The Fields, part of Pagford and halfway between Pagford and Yarvil, had once been included …

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The Woman in the Window, A.J.Finn, USA, 2018

The Woman in the Window, A.J.Finn, USA, 2018

I was in two minds about this book. The title – The Woman in the Window – and the fact that the book was written in the first person from the woman’s point of view, led me to believe that A.J.Finn was a woman. However, a few chapters into the book, I began to wonder …

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Bush School, Peter O’Brien, Australia, 2020

Bush School, Peter O’Brien, Australia, 2020

Sitting awkwardly somewhere between a memoir and a teaching manual, Bush School tells of O’Brien’s appointment to the small New England school of Weibonga in 1960 when he was twenty. The blurb on the front cover claims that he was ‘fresh out of college’, but prior to his country appointment he taught for two years …

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The Mother, Jane Caro, Australia, 2022

The Mother, Jane Caro, Australia, 2022

A book about domestic violence seen through the eyes of the victim’s mother, Miriam. Miriam is both aware and not aware of what is going on, and although Caro is presenting domestic violence from the perspective of a third person, her main focus is on the unconditional love of a mother for her child. Without …

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The Dig, John Preston, UK, 2007

The Dig, John Preston, UK, 2007

In The Dig, Preston tells the story of the discovery and the excavation in 1939 of one of the most important archaeological finds in the UK. The mound, at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, revealed itself to be the resting place of a ship from the Anglo-Saxon period and was eventually dated to 500-600 AD. The …

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Mannen under trappan (The Man Under the Stairs), Marie Hermanson, Sweden, 2005

Mannen under trappan (The Man Under the Stairs), Marie Hermanson, Sweden, 2005

Fredrik and Paula move to an idyllic house in the countryside outside of Gothenburg. Fredrik has a secure position with the council, Paula is an upcoming artist, and the two children – Fabian and Olivia – complete the picture of the perfect family. Initially everything is perfect, but then Fredrik meets a little man inside …

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The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa, Japan, 2017 (Translation 2021)

The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa, Japan, 2017 (Translation 2021)

This is a delightful little book, which is quite obviously aimed at a YA audience but which, because of a number of thought-provoking passages, could actually appeal to anyone. Its fairytale format makes it easy to read, and though there is no depth of character development, it is the type of book that manages to …

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Die Wand (Väggen; The Wall), Marlen Haushofer, Austria, 1963

Die Wand (Väggen; The Wall), Marlen Haushofer, Austria, 1963

A woman in her late forties is invited to spend a few days with her cousin Luise and her cousin’s husband, Hugo, at their hunting lodge in the Austrian alps. The woman (whose name we are never told) is a widow with two grown children, and even though she is not enthusiastic about hunting, she …

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