Editors Note: In choosing these books, we have hoped to highlight translated, reflective and investigative works in order to fully represent the wider feeling of what is important within the literary community at the current time. With rumours of book-banning in the United States, access to literature that informs and challenges our perception of governent, community, and the art of living is a right that must be emphasised and protected. If you would like to write a review of your favourite book, or a reflection on a timeless classic, do get in touch at georgina.spriddell@nouse.co.uk. Enough from me, over to Annie for our top 3 books of the year!
What I’d Rather Not Think About, by Jente Posthuma, translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey
Jente Posthuma’s novel, shortlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize, traces the unique relationship between its female protagonist and her adult twin brother, who takes his own life. The most moving elements of Posthuma’s narrative are found from the approachability of her experience of grief. The remarkable tragedy is unraveled through a recollection of disordered and fragmented memories – beginning with her earliest souvenirs from childhood, the events leading up to her brother’s suicide, and navigating her life after loss. The absence of a clear chronology thrusts readers into feeling the same disorientation and loneliness the protagonist describes as she dissects their unique bond and the painful nuances of her brother’s struggle with mental health. After his death, the narrator instinctively connects ordinary, unrelated aspects of her isolated life to their relationship in a heartfelt effort to preserve their shared memories. Through the novel’s exploration of sexual identity, mental illness and grief, Posthuma reminds her readers of distinctly human characteristics, in particular, the regret of miscommunication and the importance of acknowledging the influence of close relationships around you, before the opportunity to do so has passed.
Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
In her most recent novel, Shy Creatures, Clare Chambers excels at crafting a descriptive, absorbing prose that unwinds a complex yet highly enchanting psychological mystery. Helen Hansford is an art therapist who works at Westbury Park, a psychiatric hospital in Croydon during the mid-twentieth century. When she encounters William Tapping, a nonverbal thirty-seven year old man who has been living a remote and sequestered existence with three of his aunts, Helen becomes engrossed in uncovering his story. Chambers constructs a lively and engaging experience of reading within the book’s non-linear narrative in which William’s gripping experience of trauma, perseverance and compassion is unraveled backwards from the present-day to his life as a young boy and the events that transformed his future. Repressed secrets and unwitting relationships catalyse the plot, quickly absorbing its readers into understanding the consequences of tracing William’s history on the book’s central characters. The text provides a hopeful insight into the treatment of mental illness during the postwar era, alongside the transformative effect of meaningful relationships and the power of kindness. Chambers’ delicate and attentive approach to characterisation makes Shy Creatures an incredibly pleasurable read.
The Message by Ta Nehisi- Coates
In The Message, Ta Nehisi - Coates presents a bold critique of the various exploits of journalism, investigating ways in which it can both enhance and suppress the voices of those involved in its storytelling. Using a blend of organised argumentation alongside emotional and forthright reporting, the book is arranged into three complex sections, detailing his travels to Senegal, South Carolina, and finally, Palestine. In each location, Coates discusses experiences of racial abuse and identity, the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, faults in the American educational system and the oppressive forces that shape the treatment of the Palestinian people. Coates leaves his readers inspired by the urgency conveyed in his writing, and frustrated by the ignorance that is perpetuated in mainstream media toward issues of devastating injustice. For those who are interested in journalistic powers, political activism and global affairs, The Message reinforces the impactful nature of candid, vulnerable writing and the importance of illuminating voices repressed by violence.
