August Blue by Deborah Levy
A concert pianist is haunted by a woman she believes to be her doppelganger while travelling around Europe, as she both confronts and avoids her past. Elegiac, hypnotic and imbued with a sultry summer heat, I was mesmerised throughout.
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
When the members of guerrilla gardening collective Birnam Wood – who see themselves as radicals yet rarely do more than steal garden implements from wealthy landowners – come up against a tech billionaire, values are dramatically challenged in this spectacular satire of corporate greed and liberal idealism.
Feast by Emily O’Grady
Feast is moody and unsettling, in a brilliant way. The characters shift and bend, as they change their narratives to better position themselves through the lens of history. It makes for uncomfortable reading but flawed, unreliable narrators are always my favourite kind.
Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary
Life is bleak for Juno, living in poverty with her seamstress mother and alcoholic father in ‘80s Dublin, until she meets Legs and their friendship changes everything. I will be raving about this one for years to come!
