Literary Fiction – Imogen L. Smiley

Book Review: Babel by R. F. Kuang ‘Babel’ also known as ‘Babel, Or the Necessity Of Violence’ or ‘Babel: An Arcane History’ is a novel by R. F. Kuang. It was published in 2022 and is her fourth book. It is what she describes as a piece of speculative fiction, however, this alternative history novelContinueContinue reading

Book Review: Butter by Asako Yuzuki Version 1.0.0 Butter by Asako Yuzuki was originally published in 2017, in Japanese, it was translated by Polly Barton, and published in the UK in 2024, where it won Waterstones Book Of The Year, and is the company’s Book Of The Month for May 2025. The story follows Rika,ContinueContinue reading

Book Review: Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson ‘Another Brooklyn’ by Jacqueline Woodson was released in 2016 and tells a moving story of girlhood, of friendship and grief. I loved how grief and loss manifested for these characters in multiple ways. August, our protagonist is an anthropologist and has studied the culture of death across theContinueContinue reading

Book Review: A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers ‘A Certain Hunger’ by Chelsea G. Summers was released in 2020. It was her debut novel. The book follows the life of serial killer, Dorothy Daniels, a famous food writer, who happens to be a cannibal. The book was alarming, stomach-churning and gripping. I was captivatedContinueContinue reading

‘Lessons In Chemistry’ by Bonnie Garmus was released in 2022. It was her debut novel, and received great acclaim due to its frank nature, and upfront depictions of sexual violence and misogyny. It wasn’t a book I would have necessarily bought, but I was swayed by BookTok, which praised the novel, and decided it was worth a punt.

I enjoyed this book, but I hated Frances’ character, I think that made it easier to relate to the other character’s opinions of her. Her narration, which started off witty and wistful quickly became snippy and snide as she came to terms with the emotions she felt. I didn’t like being in her head, she was quick to try and reassure herself that she was above other people because she and Bobbi were so astute and theoretical and critical of the world around them.

Book Review: Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield ‘Our Wives Under The Sea’ by Julia Armfield was released in 2022. It was her debut novel and follows the story of Miri and her wife, Leah, a marine biologist, whose voyage beneath the waves that was expected to take three weeks lasted six months.ContinueContinue reading

‘Diary of a Void’ is a feminist novel by Emi Yagi, which was published in 2022. It follows the life of Ms Shibata, the only woman in her office, who is subconsciously obligated to do menial tasks for her male colleagues such as make coffees, prepare snacks that clients have gifted the firm and clear meeting rooms of the coffee cups left behind by her colleagues.

‘How High We Go In The Dark’ is a series of interconnected short stories by Sequoia Nagamatsu. It was published in 2022, in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic, and follows an alternative version of this world, in which a prehistoric pathogen is unearthed in the body of a young girl, who is preserved in ice and excavated from a site in Siberia.

‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’ by Gabrielle Zevin was published in 2022. It was well-praised by reviewers and Amazon named it as the best book of 2022.

‘Ghosts’ by Dolly Alderton was her second novel and was published in 2020. It followed the story of Nina, a thirty two year old single woman living in London and coming to terms with her friends entering the next stage of their lives, getting married and having children while she remains single.

Lifesaving For Beginners’ is Josie Lloyd’s 2022 novel. It is a split-narrative, told in the first person and following the stories of several women who bond over wild swimming in the sea on the coast of Brighton.

‘The Kite Runner’ was Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 debut novel. It follows Amir, a young boy living comfortably in Afghanistan during peacetime, alongside his friend Hassan, the son of his father’s servant, Ali. From the start of the book, Hosseini navigates the topics of internalised racism and jealousy, Amir is regarded as timid and cowardly, however, Hassan, whose “first word was Amir’s name”, is deeply loyal to his own detriment. Amir feels great frustration and jealousy toward Hassan, as, despite his lower social status, his playmate could do no wrong in the eyes of Amir’s father.

‘The Beekeeper of Aleppo’ was released in 2019, and was author, Christy Lefteri’s second novel. Although ‘The Beekeeper Of Aleppo’ is not a true story, it was heavily inspired by her own experiences over two summers in Athens, where she aided refugees seeking asylum. The influence of anecdotes she would have been privy to added gravitas to the novel.

‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s fifth novel, and was released in 2017. Although she had released several books in the past, it was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo which progressed her career and made her an acclaimed novelist: it was a hit among the readers of TikTok, and made its way onto hundreds if not thousands of TBR piles since its initial release.

‘The Lesser Bohemians’ is a novel by Eimear McBride, released in 2016. It tells the story of Eilis, or Eily, an eighteen-year-old drama student who moved from Ireland to the hustle and bustle of Kentish Town in London during the 1990s.