| ‘Love is a paradox’: James Joyce and Nora Barnacle in 1931. |
A brave memoir on love and addiction, a rocky tale of therapy and transference, and a portrait of the artist as a husband
Robin Ince in conversation with scientists, a brave Irish novella from Claire Keegan, and Sathnam Sanghera’s extraordinary ex
Robin Ince
Atlantic, £17.99, pp400
The comedian Robin Ince, in his role as co-presenter of the popular science show The Infinite Monkey Cage with Prof Brian Cox, styles himself as “the stupidest person in the room… not always good for the ego but very good for my education”. In The Importance of Being Interested he gathers together conversations with authors and astronauts, neuroscientists and quantum physicists. This is not to impart what he has learned as much as to celebrate the meaning and humanity of science as a discipline. In so doing Ince makes profound – and funny – reflections on our tiny lives in a massive universe.
| Claire Keegan |
Claire Keegan
Faber, £10, pp128
It is a brave move to take on the complex, systematic cruelty of Ireland’s Magdalene laundries in a novella, and Claire Keegan writes with a rare power and texture. A teenage girl begs family man Bill Furlong to remove her from the convent to which he delivers coal. Societal mores means he’s urged to keep quiet about the troubling things he’s beginning to see, but Bill’s own childhood experiences compel him to both confront his past and act in his present. A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.
Sathnam Sanghera
Penguin, £9.99, pp352 (paperback)
A remarkable look at how British imperialism has shaped the world and the way in which Britain regards itself, Empireland should be a set text in an education system that Sathnam Sanghera says failed him badly. Sanghera has written a deeply personal, moving and often witty reflection on Britain in which he refuses to reduce imperial history to a matter of good or bad. His idea that, deliberately or subconsciously, the British are not honest about the darker elements of the largest empire in history feels important; a lack of reckoning with the past that perpetuates exceptionalism.
Richard Osman’s second novel doesn’t disappoint. Plus, the science behind Aesop’s fables and on the Covid frontline with Dr Rachel Clarke
| ‘His characters are beautifully drawn’: Richard Osman. Photograph: Antonio Olmos |
Richard Osman
Viking, £18.99, pp432
TV presenter Osman’s highly entertaining second novel revisits the quartet of septuagenarians that made his debut, The Thursday Murder Club, a runaway hit. Ex-spy Elizabeth is visited by her former husband and colleague, Douglas, in need of help to escape the clutches of MI5 and the mafia, sending the pensioners on their next sleuthing adventure. Osman’s characters are beautifully drawn, perfectly balancing humour and pathos, and the result is a novel that’s pure pleasure to read.
Jo Wimpenny
Bloomsbury, £16.99, pp368
Jo Wimpenny, a zoologist, questions whether there is any scientific reasoning behind Aesop’s depictions of animals in his collected morality tales. Her canvas is wide-ranging, incorporating personal reflections and research. In one chapter, The Dog and Its Shadow, she sweeps from Darwin to modern neuroscience by way of her own childhood desire to be a canine. Engaging and comprehensive, this is highly readable popular science.
Rachel Clarke
Abacus, £9.99, pp240
Dr Rachel Clarke’s award-winning 2020 book Dear Life established her as a compassionate and lyrical voice within medical literature. With Breathtaking, the palliative care specialist turns her attention to Covid, in a raw and unflinching portrayal of life on the frontline of the pandemic. There is her fury at the government’s ineptitude – here we understand the terrifying reality of insufficient PPE – and an intimate portrayal of her colleagues on Oxford’s Covid wards. And there is her grief for the patients, and co-workers, she loses. Deeply humane, Breathtaking is a book replete with courage, resilience and empathy.