Some book recommendations...

Hello dear Off-Topic readers,

I started trying to post a long overdue reading update on Instagram and quickly realised it would take so long to edit it down to the permitted character limit, it might be more fun to write a newsletter. So here, three proofs I read and loved towards the end of last year, which are now either in bookshops or available for preorder (followed by a few more recommendations).

WHALE HARBOUR by Mary Beth Keane - When I read Mary Beth Keane’s ASK AGAIN, YES several years ago, she immediately became one of my favourite authors. So you can imagine how delighted I was when I discovered she’d moved to Phoenix for her forthcoming novel and my editor promised to share an early proof. I read it as soon as it arrived and loved it. I remember reading HAMNET and thinking, ‘Oh, this is Maggie O’Farrell, but next level,’ and just being awed - as though a writer I’d always imagined to be at peak brilliance, had opened a hidden door to reveal new heights. Anyway, I think WHALE HARBOUR will give that same feeling for fans of Mary Beth Keane. It did for me, at least. A family story that seems borne out of both the land and the sea, it’s tender, immersive, and exquisitely written, and also occupies a vast canvas, both in its geography and cast: moving between Connemara in Ireland, to Montana and New York in the US, and introducing us to eleven brothers. Although Mary Beth Keane makes it her task to orient the reader in all that, rather than ours to try and keep up, so (and I love it when I see a writer pull off a magic trick like this), I was never once left feeling confused about who was who. And she finds the quiet in amongst the bustle of those eleven brothers to pore over their shared mythology and explore the loss, remorse, and fraternal bonds that follow each far into adulthood. You can preorder as a treat to arrive in November, here. It’s gorgeous and still lives in my head all these months later.

Next, LAKE EFFECT by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. When I opened the proof and saw the font size was like the hardest line on an optician’s sight chart, I determined to read the first page and then set it to one side. But by the end of that page, I was hooked. And so submitted to squinting my way, at pace, through the rest of the novel. I tell you this not as a gripe, but because it seems a double credit for this book to have started on the back foot and then won me over so quickly. LAKE EFFECT traces the far-reaching tremors of an affair, so a familiar premise, but somehow Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney makes it feel fresh and original. Moving nimbly between viewpoints, she illuminates even her characters’ darkest, most regrettable moments with clarity and insight. You can find it here.

Next, to the Australian outback, for M L Stedman’s A FAR-FLUNG LIFE (her previous novel was THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS). It always feels worth mentioning when I ended up loving a book but didn’t get into it right away, just in case anyone feels the same and hearing this encourages them to read on. Initially, that was the case for me with this, but then there was a particular scene where things clicked into place for me, and, from that point on, I raced through it. Set on a sheep station (one of those vast farms that cover a million acres) the landscape and isolation are immense. So when the owner is unexpectedly killed in an accident, the impact on his family is far-reaching. And as their lives unravel, they’re forced to struggle with the consequences of a series of further devastating mistakes. Each incident so well done and told with brilliant restraint. I felt these characters’ regrets deeply. Although just as profoundly, Stedman’s compassion for them, which is what makes this book so especially glorious. I was left with so much love for them, and for Stedman as a writer. You can find a copy here.

A few months ago the Guardian invited lots of book people to contribute our Top 10s of what we believed to be the best novels of all time. I love thinking about things like this, although it was hard to whittle down, and I quickly realised I could have come up with twenty different Top 10s, each of which felt true to me. But the list below is what I’d briefly settled on when I sent off my choices.

‘Best’ asks for something very different to ‘favourite’ and I made great concessions to this, even across a single author’s body of work (such as choosing Claire Keegan’s SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE over FOSTER, which I actually love more). It was interesting to see which books made it onto the combined Top 100 - only the Rohinton Mistry from my own choices (if you’d like to look through everyone else’s Top 10s, tap the link above, then scroll down to where it says, ‘see all the votes’).

Looking at my Top 10 today, I’m regretting certain novels were lost to my final cut. Most especially Wally Lamb’s THE RIVER IS WAITING. I recommend this all the time, and I think about that often, as I usually mainline in recommending books that offer some kind of redemption in the ending. But I realised the other day, what this offers instead is a testament to human resilience, which seems just as important.

I’ve already written about THE RIVER IS WAITING on Instagram, but just in case you missed that, I feel compelled to tell you about it again: after a tragically preventable accident, a young father is incarcerated in a high-security men’s prison. As the days, months, and years are metered out, Corby reflects on himself, his family, the lives of his fellow inmates, and the all-too-easily-soured relations with the wardens who control the minutiae of their days, poised to dole out cat-and-mouse-style punishments for the slightest infraction. Against this brutal backdrop, moments of tenderness (and there are surprisingly many) and fragile moves towards self-improvement are made luminous. Devastating, but also a perfectly crafted meditation on resilience and the fragments of hope a human will cling to when all seems lost.

I’d love to hear what you’ve enjoyed reading lately.

Wishing you a lovely week to come.

With love,
Florence x

Ps. My team and I had this lovely news for The Names¹ on Monday evening. I couldn’t be at the awards ceremony in person, so when my agent texted to tell me, I couldn’t quite believe it. A gorgeous surprise. I’m so grateful to everyone who’s offered their support and cheerleading along the way. Also, to my brilliant team. If you haven’t read my novel yet and would like to, you can find it in paperback online or at your local bookshop. x

1. I know consistent formatting means I should put my own book title in caps too, but it feels too big and boofy to do so in this context.