The Divorce by Moa Herngren

In suburban Stockholm, Niklas and Bea have almost the perfect lifestyle, with two daughters and a circle of friends.  One night, Niklas goes out and texts he’s not coming back.  If that sounds like a murder mystery with fabulous knitwear, it isn’t.  The first half of the book is Bea’s side of the story as she copes with the break up, the middle is Niklas version of events and the third is the final part of the story as the two threads come together at Christmas.  

It’s in the construction of it that makes the novel sing.  Not just that three act structure, but the significance of what seem to be insignificant small things at the time - a childhood friend, a tattoo, an incorrectly booked ferry crossing, a kitchen renovation. 

Added to this, the sense of dislocation from the foreign location and the now, almost historical setting of 2015.   Tribute must also be paid to the translation by Alice Menzies, which lays on the pain and mordant humour expertly.

If it owes more than a worktop to The Doll’s House, no matter.  It’s a twisting, emotionally painful read.  It’s published by Bonnier on 4th July and I thank them for a preview copy.  #thedivorce

 Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe:

Margo is the result of a one-nighter between a professional gambler and a professional wrestler.  She gets pregnant by her college tutor and has trouble paying the bills.  She turns to camwork, negotiating running an Only Fans account, the legal process of proving she is fit to raise a child and repairing her damaged relationship with two equally damaged human beings.  

It’s an outrageous concept and Thorpe makes the most of it, using American subculture (wrestling, gambling, porn, social media, LARPing) as the basis of a critique of misogyny and capitalism itself. That’s not to say this is a deep, angry novel - it’s one that is broadly comic and often very funny.  Margo’s camwork is portrayed as ludicrous, surreal and the concept of what its purpose is, derided. 

It’s a novel that matures rapidly and gets rid of its somewhat arch framework, the construction of a novel (Margo is a creative writing student) in the first half of the book.  Ultimately though, it doesn’t quite hang together as a comic novel with a serious message.  However, it’s one that has already sold internationally and the TV series is already in production, with Elle Fanning as Margo and Nicole Kidman as her Mum… it’s one that you’re going to need to have an opinion on.  It’s published by Hodder And Stoughton on July 4th and I thank them for a preview copy.  #margosgotmoneytroubles 

 Extremophile by Ian Green:

A late 21st century London is at the blunt edge of climate change.  Members of the band Horse Theory scrape a living, gigging and blogging. They are contacted by an eco-terrorist group The Heavy Mob to carry out a series of jobs for revenge.  

It’s a powerful premise and the future world with Winter heatwaves, frequent pandemics, disconnected by technology is brilliantly realised. Where the novel falls down is in its lack of focus, it flits between POV’s and the villain is a little too extreme to be truly delicious.  

There’s also a lack of focus in the narrative. The novel seems to want to be about being in a band, an ecological novel, and a hard SF novel all at the same time. I would also point out the odd idea that has been used in other novels.

However, to cut the author some slack - this is his first SF novel. Next time round, he can be less expansive, more incisive and the results will be much better. It’s published by Head Of Zeus on November 12th and I thank them for a preview copy. #extremophile

 Until We Shatter by Kate Dillon:

In an imaginary kingdom, magic is real.  ‘Hues’ wield different colours of magic, against the rule of The Dominion, a theocratic state.  Cemmy has an ill mother, so she falls in with a gang of thieves to pull off a heist that could change society.  

Although there is enough to tempt the fantasy reader, the book is earthbound by an all-too familiar narrative.  Cemmy’s mother suffers from a ‘disease of the blood’, her gang are the lovable rogues you’d find in the average crime novel.  There’s also the trope from most police procedurals, that our hero is pulled back in for one last score.  

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it is what makes the narrative a little too familiar.  See also: not as expansive/ imaginative as a fantasy book could/should be.  Cemmy is an engaging character and it’s nice to see one in a fantasy book that is queer, not one that is seen as heteronormative or sexually available.  The ‘hues’ is a cracking idea, see also the idea that overuse of one’s powers will kill you, hence that arch title. 

But I found the lack of flair, the infodumping and the genuine absence of the fantastic to be a let down.  It’s published by Hodder And Stoughton on October 17th and I thank them for a preview copy.  

 The Great When by Alan Moore: 

I am both familiar with and a huge fan of Alan Moore’s graphic novels; most notably The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman, weaving the English culture of literature into reality.  This book has its roots in that, but suffers narrative difficulties that make it hard to engage with.  

In post-war London, the fabulously named Dennis Knuckleyard is a dissolute youth.  He discovers an alternate, fantastical London under London and his life is in danger as a result, let alone our universe.  That central idea of parallel universe has been done before, but this is where the best, lyrical passages of the book work. We also have Pratchettian wizards and the goddess of riots appearing in The Battle Of Cable Street.  

Unfortunately, most of he book is made up of nods to Greene and Orwell, some more obvious than others.  That sort of world is vividly sketched, but doesn’t really fit in with the more fantastical narrative.  It’s a patchwork of two, possibly three books and it never really seems to settle.  

Moore completists will love it.  I found it too fantastical to be effective and too effective to be fantastical.  It’s published by Bloomsbury by October 1st and I thank them for a preview copy.  #thegreatwhen

 Once More From The Top by Emily Layden:

In mid-noughties America, class misfit Dylan is befriended by fellow misfit Kelsey and they began making music together.  Shortly afterwards, Kelsey goes missing.  Fast forward twenty years and Dylan is the biggest star in the world, with fans obsessed with both herwork and relationships.  And then, Kelsey’s body is discovered at the bottom of a lake…

Of course, by now you’ll have sussed who Dylan Read is supposed to be.  If you need to look a little deeper at our ‘anti-hero’, she starts making country, then pop, then confessional.  Her partners include a label boss, a football player and a writer.  I know, I can’t ’shake it off’ either.  There’s also a queer relationship to satisfy the tinfoilers.  

Once you step aside that, this is a cracking murder-mystery, with an undertow of how geeky our teenage years are and how now, we’re all geeks.  Factor in that the idea of women artists having to subvert their character to succeed and hint of Me Too and this is a heady cocktail of nostalgia, obsession, sex and fame.  That’s enough for a satisfying read, but there is also the grit and twang of middle America.  Plus, Dylan’s continuing monologue with Kelsey.

In conclusion, the novel lands at a sweet spot: a mystery, with music and a masterful control of plot and character.  It’s published by 4th Estate on 1st August and I thank them for a preview copy.