My overall Book of the Year for 2019 was Valeria Luiselli's peerless and fiercely political novel about the Mexican border migrant crisis, Lost Children Archive. Here's my piece for Review 31

I reviewed Benjamin Markovits' immersive second instalment of the Essingers saga, Christmas in Austin, for the Literary Review

Here's my review of Isabel Waidner's slyly subversive, Goldsmiths-prize shortlisted novel, We are Made of Diamond Stuff, in the Guardian

I wrote about Toby Litt's extraordinary new novel, Patience, in the TLS

Lee Rourke's third novel, Glitch, is a powerful portrait of a son coming to terms with the death of his mother. Here's my review in the Guardian

I reviewed Grand Union, Zadie Smith's impressively diverse and energising first collection of short stories, in the i-paper

Salman Rushdie's new novel, Quichotte, is a Pynchonesque take on Cervantes, and a significant return to form. I reviewed it for the i-paper

The Offing, Benjamin Myers' first novel after The Gallows Pole, is a lyrical lament for a vanished summer. Here's my review in The Guardian

Good news. My second novel Jacob's Advice is now 100% funded with Unbound. Thanks to everyone here who generously supported the book. Publication pencilled for next September. See you at the launch!...Jx

The handsome Unthanks Unthology #11 contains a story of mine. Here's a piece on how I came to write The Night Nurse

I went on TRT World to talk about the 2019 Orwell Prize for Fiction, and why novels might provide a truer picture of the times than non-fiction. Watch it here

I reviewed Sweet Sorrow, David Nicholls' funny and forensic exploration of first love, in the i-paper

A bumper round-up of fiction - including fine debut novels by Helen Mort, Jenny McCartney, Andrew Ridker, Isabella Hammad, and the stunning & timely Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli - in the Spectator

I reviewed Tim Lott's When We Were Rich, a sequel to his first novel White City Blue, in the TLS

I wrote about The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction & how I came to write my second novel, Jacob's Advice, for Review 31

Here's the piece I wrote for the Jewish Chronicle about how I came to write my second novel, JACOB'S ADVICE, currently funding on Unbound.com. Read it here

Thrilled to announce my second novel is being launched by the fabulous Unbound (The Good Immigrant & Common People). 

It’s called JACOB’S ADVICE, and is set in the Paris of 2015, and is the story of two cousins searching for their Jewish identity against a backdrop of the rise of the far right, and increased anti-Semitism. So extremely topical, political and European in theme (and a love letter to Paris, too) – and funny as well, hopefully…

Unbound is a crowdfunded publisher, and the way it works is that you pledge for the book on their site, which will be delivered to you when the book is fully funded. They are planning to publish in September 2020, so if you feel like pledging to make the book a reality, that would be great… More info here

I reviewed Nathan Englander's deftly comic, thought-provoking new novel, Kaddish.com, in the i-paper

Alice Jolly's Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is an extraordinary novel of 19th-century rural life told in free verse. Here's my review for the Guardian

Tash Aw's first novel since Five Star Billionaire is We, The Survivors, a subtle and sensitive portrait of an honest man caught up in a corrupt system. Here's my review in the i-paper

I reviewed Ian McEwan's subversive new novel, Machines Like Me, in the i-paper

 

The Honest Ulsterman magazine have run a second story of mine. Read 'Three Fathers' here

Here's my review of Oyinkan Braithwaite's fabulously dark and funny debut novel, My Sister, the Serial Killer, in the TLS