The Secret Public by John Savage: 

This is a high concept book, discussing LGBTQ in culture.  It’s as enriching as any of his previous books, even with such a high concept as Sylvester being the last gay pop star and Little Richard as the first.  

You can’t argue with near 700 pages of book, with another 100 of notes.  We move from Richard, through the sixties with Joe Meek and Epstein.  The 70’s see Bowie declare his gayness, and backtrack whilst Jobriath crashes and burns. 

It’s a book that admits it’s own failings (the lack of lesbians, those who chose not to come out). Plus vinyl nerds will debate whether ‘Soul Makossa’ was the first disco record. 

But as music journalism becomes more what Zappa said, Savage is the exception that proves the rule.  It’s published by Faber And Faber.  

 Fox and Haze are the proverbial couple goals.  He’s an investment banker, she’s an artist.  They have an adorable baby daughter.  But the relationship has become stale, lately.  Since they agreed to stop serial killing domestic abusers, paedophiles and gropers.  Who’s gonna crack first?

As you’ll have noticed, this is a darkly comic, hands over the eyes, read.  But look a little deeply and you’ll see this a metaphor for several things: relationships, raising children, family, intimacy, creative block…

And the main characters are so well-written, you’ll find yourself cheering each kill. Yes, you will.  The humour is some of the most deadpan I’ve read recently. Such as, Fox meeting Haze in Paris. When she’s having trouble finishing off a murder.  Mackay is always in control of the narrative and keeps it both funny and thrilling with two great twists midway through the book.  

Judging by the praise from actors; I think it’s a matter of time before you see this on a screen.  Plus, the book ends on an open note.  We may not have seen the last of Haze and Fox’s bloody/hilarious adventures.  It’s published by Headline on January 14th, 2025 and I thank them for a preview copy.  #aserialkillersguidetomarriage. 

 The Woman Behind The Door by Roddy Doyle:

I lost touch with Roddy Doyle’s books after The Guts ten years ago.  I have to say this is a massive return to form, or maybe all the books I have missed in the last decade have been up to this standard.  Either way, Doyle has returned to Paula Spencer - the protagonist of The Woman Who Walked Into Doors and the eponymous sequel.  

In this book, Paula is in her late sixties. She has a great group of friends, a dull (but dependable and decent) man in her life and a bunch of children - some of whom are distant, one (Nicola) considers herself damaged by Paula’s marriage.  Against the backdrop of COVID, cost of living and  modern day Dublin; things come to a head.  

It’s a powerful cocktail and those who love Doyle’s dialogue driven style can see it here.  He’s always in control of using events in a bigger story about coming to terms with your own child, let alone your past.  And although readers may be familiar with what happened to Paula in the previous two novels, it stands alone as a funny, brutal, warm, touching read.  

In this book, Paula reads Marian Keyes’ novel The Break.  Perhaps he’s impishly nodding at a universe where both novelist and novel are fictional and real at the same time.  Either way, this puts Doyle alongside Keyes and Enright at the top table of Irish literature. 

It’s published by Random House on 12th September and I thank them for a preview copy.  #thewomenbehindthedoor

 Life Is Like A Banana by Tony Wilson: 

Tony Wilson is an amateur artist, captain of industry, husband, brewer, grandad… and all round eccentric.  Although born in Ireland, I am claiming him as one of our own.  This is a collection of his diaries. 

The diaries reveal his private thoughts, his marking of historical events, his holidays abroad.  These are accompanied by what can only be described as beautiful watercolour pictures.  In between this, the author is working on a grand unified theory of life turned down by everyone from The Telegraph to philosophy magazines.  And has since been published!

Alongside this is the ebb and flow of human existence -  becoming a grandfather and the death of his beloved wife.  The book ends with a nude portrait of himself and that is a fitting way to end it.  It’s not a long read at 49 pages, but it has a haunting, human quality that you’ll be returning to for years.  

It’s published by Anthony Eyre on June 9th and I thank Grace Pilkington for a preview copy.  

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao:

In Tokyo, Hana takes over as the owner of her Dad’s pawnshop, which is the beginning of a mystical, magical journey through strange worlds.  

It’s the basis for an excellent fantasy book and I can see what it is aiming for here: a prose representation of a Studio Ghibli book, or the more fanciful side of manga that doesn’t involve exploding heads or teenage girls.  It’s got the semblance of that,  it is hidebound by it’s didactic narrative - barely a page passes without some life lesson, which often obscures the fantastical nature of the writing.

It’s the second book from the Far East I’ve blogged on this year (after The Marigold Mind Laundry) where the brilliant concept; is polluted by the ‘life lessons’.  More imagination and less illumination would have made for a better read.  It’s published by Bantam on January 16th, 2025 and I thank them for a preview.  #watermoon.  

 Another Man In The Street by Caryl Phillips:

Victor arrives in England from St Kitts in mid-1960’s England - the novel follows his life and career to the present day.  

Firstly, let’s praise the prose, which achieves a lot with its simple, first person narrative.  Structurally, is where the novel’s ambition falls short.  Our sympathies are with Victor in the early part of the novel, which switches when we learn more of his character in the final third. The narrative flashes back and forth and often, scenes break for decades to pass. 

The characters are well drawn (I particularly like Victor’s first British friend, a Scouse barman), but the author dispenses with them far too quickly. And again, it follows the recent trend of short, literary novels where the construction seems more important than the actual substance.  

It’s pitched as a post-Windrush novel of black British experience, but it is too brief, too inconclusive and on the edge of perfection to completely be that. It’s published by Bloomsbury on 16th Jan, 2025 and I thank them for a preview copy.  #anothermaninthestreet.