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The Library Is Open

A blog about books and writing, through rainbow-tinted glasses. Every book gets a gay rating.

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Tag: UK

Review: Companion Piece by Ali Smith

A fittingly grim and anxious search for meaning in our anxious and grim times.

Ali Smith, Contemporary, COVID-19, Fiction, Novel, UK

Review: The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens

A contained and seething study of madness and familial obligation.

1960s, Fiction, Jewish writers, London, Man Booker prize, Novel, UK

Review: Permafrost by SJ Norman

A collection of haunted stories that unsettle like the melting permafrost of the title.

Australian, Contemporary, Fiction, Germany, Horror, LGBTIQ, Non-binary, Poland, queer, Short stories, UK

Review: Things I Don’t Want To Know by Deborah Levy

Deborah Levy concisely summarises what makes her own writing so compelling.

British, Female writers, Memoir, Nonfiction, South Africa, UK

Review: China Room by Sunjeev Sahota

A slight but full novel set in 1920s and 1990s Punjab.

1920s, British, Contemporary, Fiction, India, Novel, Racism, UK

Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

There’s something haunted and occult about this otherwise godly classic.

Charlotte Brontë, Classics, England, Jane Eyre, UK

Review: The Sunken Land Begins To Rise Again by M. John Harrison

A dense and watery novel about the madness of searching for meaning in our mad times.

British, Contemporary, Fiction, Goldsmiths Prize, Novel, UK

Review: An Episode Of Sparrows by Rumer Godden

A novel about gardening that is also what it takes to rebuild.

1940s, British, Classics, UK, World War II

Review: Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock

An intriguing fantasy drawing on forest myths that is burdened by an unfortunate attitude to women.

British, Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Novel, UK

Review: Crow by Ted Hughes

A fascinating and ugly collection of poetry.

Poetry, Ted Hughes, UK

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