Here's my review of A Lover's Discourse, Xiaolu Guo's compelling novel of rootedness and longing, in the TLS

I wrote about Jonathan Coe's lecture 'Why Writing Matters' given at the Arnolfini Gallery in 2017 for the Royal Society of Literature's series Only Connect

I reviewed Udith Dematagoda's sweetly nihilistic novella Horizontal Rain for Review 31's Books of the Year. Published by new imprint Hyperidean Press, it got lost in the 'books tsunami' of summer 2020, but it's well worth investigating. Read my piece here

‘Intriguing... Often compelling... The narrative moves slowly and magnificently towards a series of crises’. The ⁦TLS gives its verdict on Jacob's Advice here

Nicole Krauss's first collection of stories, To Be A Man, cherry-picks pieces from over twenty years of publication in the New Yorker, the New Republic, Esquire and elsewhere. Here's my review in the TLS

Delighted that my first radio play, an adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's classic 1952 novel Thousand Cranes, was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Sunday 6th December. Recorded with an all-Japanese cast and produced by Reduced Listening, the play is available on i-Player for 28 days here

I reviewed Tim Binding's epic British road-trip novel Beneath the Trees of Eden in the Xmas double-issue of Literary Review

'An exploration of identity and inheritance'. Second print review of Jacob's Advice in the October issue of the Literary Review

Novelist Isabel Costello invited me onto her Literary Sofa to talk about the childhood memories that inspired Jacob's Advice. Read the piece and her review of the novel here

I reviewed Justin David's louche and poignant cult novella The Pharmacist; originally published by Salt in 2014, now reissued by new indie Inkandescent in 2020. Here's my piece for the TLS

'A thoughtful paean to Paris'. The first print review of Jacob's Advice in the August 30th edition of the Mail on Sunday

There's an extract from Jacob's Advice in the always excellent Minor Literatures (image depicts graffiti in the rue de la Fontaine-au-Roi memorialising the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists Cabu & Honoré). Read it here

 

The Jacob's Advice blog tour starts on 24th August. Here are the reviewers who will be covering the book.

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Jacob's Advice Zoom launch on Aug 20th. Here's the cover of the book, along with the last remaining Eiffel Tower sprinkles biscuit (courtesy Samantha Ellis).

There's an extract from Jacob's Advice in the always excellent Minor Literatures. Read some of Nick's heartbroken flânuering from towards the end of the novel here

Cousins are at the heart of my second novel, Jacob's Advice. I wrote about my favourite novels with cousins for the Guardian

Here's my review of Two Tribes, Chris Beckett's thought-provoking Brexit dystopia set in 2266, for the Guardian

I wrote a fairly personal piece about living with chronic pain for Aeon magazine's new sister publication, Psyche

Jessica Anthony's ingenious political satire, Enter the Aardvark, is a perfect tonic for testing times. Here's my review in the Guardian

I wrote about the need for calm, and the perspective provided by Shakespeare's sonnets, in 3:AM Magazine's Lockdown Diary. Read it here

I reviewed Graeme Armstrong's incendiary, Airdrie-set debut novel The Young Team in the Guardian

A debut novels round-up for the Spectator seems to be a yearly thing now. This time they're all by women: Kiley Reid's Such A Fun Age, Sophie Ward's Love and Other Thought Experiments, An Yu's Braised Pork, and Chia-Chia Lin's The Unpassing. Read it here

Here it is! The glorious sunlit cover for my second novel, JACOB'S ADVICE, by Mecob design. Very Parisian. Out on Aug 20th 2020 from Unbound.

I went on TRT World Turkish TV to talk about the British Book Awards 30 From 30 longlist. I forgot who wrote Fifty Shades of Grey, but it was fun. Watch here

Ben Halls' The Quarry is an immensely impressive first collection of short stories. Here's my review in the Guardian

I reviewed Rob Doyle's questing, rabelaisian, drugs-soaked novel, Threshold, in the TLS