Content warning for rape. Every culture has its stories and rituals for death. In The Afterlife […]
An Untouched House, by Willem Frederik Hermans
When we read about history in non-fiction, especially in textbooks, we tend to read about […]
The Safe House, by Christophe Boltanski
In The Safe House, Christophe Boltanski uses the house on rue de Grenelles, in Paris, as […]
Transcription, by Kate Atkinson
What does one look for in a potential spy? Is it loyalty to a country? […]
The Book of Dirt, by Bram Presser
Unless a family is particularly close knit, garrulous, and practice good document management, the histories […]
All for Nothing, by Walter Kempowski
There are two paired questions I hear all the time from students studying World War […]
Atonement, by Ian McEwan
Novels that feature writers as protagonists almost always remind me of the fact that, when […]
Dear Mrs Bird, by A.J. Pearce
Blessed be the meddlers—but only the fictional ones who can’t actually meddle in your life. […]
Never Anyone But You, by Rupert Thomson
Rupert Thomson’s Never Anyone But You made me ask a question I have never had to […]
The Wooden King, by Thomas McConnell
I have read books set during World War II written from the perspective of Holocaust […]