Published in the Sunday Times
Mend the Living
Maylis de Kerangal (Quercus)
Book buff
****
When describing Mend the Living, beautiful is an understatement. Kerangal dissects a tragedy, magnifies it and exposes every ripple that it causes in flowing prose that is both awe-inspiring and unsettling. It is Sunday morning at 5.50am and Simon Limbeau’s life is about to change. A surfing expedition with his two friends ends with a car accident, in which Simon sustains irreversible brain injuries. He is declared dead. His body can be used, and his family must decide whether his organs will be donated. The narrative explores how all life is fragile. – Samantha Gibb @samantha_gibb
What a Way to Go
Julia Forster (Atlantic Books)
Book monster
***
Harper Richardson lives with her mother and sees her father during weekends. The transition of having divorced parents occupies her everyday life. At 12 years old, she questions everything that has to do with marriage and love as she navigates her looming teenage years. Faced with the impending death of her mother’s friend and the imminent sale of their rental house, Harper comes up with a plan that will save them all: get her mother married. An intriguing tale about growing up, it offers a different perspective on the dynamics of parenting and the societal constrictions that passively mould children. – Kholofelo Maenetsha@KMaenetsha
The Crossing
Michael Connelly (Orion)
Book thrill
****
Some time ago, obsessive LA detective Harry Bosch discovered he had a half brother, Mickey Haller. Haller – such are the ironies of the universe – is a criminal attorney, working out of the back of a Lincoln Town Car and, uncomfortably for both men, sometimes working to free the guys Bosch is trying to put away. In this latest novel, Haller has a client accused of murder who, despite damning DNA evidence, he believes to be innocent. Despite his reluctance to cross over to “the dark side” and lose the respect of his former colleagues, Bosch becomes involved in an investigation that gets ever more dangerous as it turns towards the police department itself. – William Saunderson-Meyer @TheJaundicedEye
Book details
- Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal
EAN: 9780857053879
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
- The Crossing by Michael Connelly
EAN: 9781455524143
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
- What a Way to Go by Julia Forster
EAN: 9781782397526
Find this book with BOOK Finder!