Bookcase: Reviews include Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson and New Yorkers by Craig Taylor - The Droitwich Standard

Bookcase: Reviews include Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson and New Yorkers by Craig Taylor

Droitwich Editorial 12th Apr, 2021   0

THIS week’s bookcase includes reviews of Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson and New Yorkers by Craig Taylor.

Whether it’s a Gothic thriller or magical romp, find your next favourite read today…

Fiction

1. Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson is published in hardback by Faber & Faber, priced £12.99 (ebook £7.99). Available now




Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson. Picture: Faber & Faber/PA.

You’ll struggle not to read Every Vow You Break in one sitting.

Peter Swanson’s subtle hints that all is not what it seems builds to a thrilling and gripping crescendo.


After a whirlwind romance, Abigail is whisked away to a private island by her new husband Bruce – but the spell is broken when the charismatic stranger who seduced Abigail on her hen do suddenly appears. The author peels away layers of treachery leaving the reader, and unwitting newlywed Abigail, unsure of who to trust. Swanson taps into a survival instinct particularly resonant with the female experience, and makes Every Vow You Break glamorous, dark and terrifying.

9/10

(Review by Julia Saqui)

2. The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward is published in hardback by Viper, priced £12.99 (ebook £4.87). Available now

The Last House On Needless Street tells the story of a missing child and her sister’s quest to find her.

The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward. Picture credit: Viper/PA. 

Dee’s sister Lulu vanishes on a family trip to the lake, where many children have gone missing before.

Suspecting Ted, the quiet man who lives on the last house of Needless Street with his daughter Lauren and cat Olivia, Dee finally tracks him down years later, determined to discover what happened that fateful afternoon. But things inside the house are not as expected.

This is a truly captivating Gothic-thriller novel – a champion of the genre, it hooks you in from the very first page.

It would have been simple for Catriona Ward to slip into the trap of a typical serial killer book, but instead she has created a rare work of fiction that explores the human will to endure – no matter the cost.

9/10

(Review by Emma O’Neill)

3. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton is published in hardback by Quercus, priced £14.99 (ebook £6.99). Available now

An oral history reminiscent of Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Dawnie Walton’s debut is a smash hit.

Chronicling the rise and fall of interracial rock duo Opal & Nev in the 1970s, Walton’s lyrical style exposes the raw truth of systemic racism alongside the power of innovation.

At the heart of the story is Opal Jewel; an audaciously unapologetic Afro-punk heroine, who is so alive as a character that it feels as though Walton has rewritten music history. In a combination of music, politics, race and feminism that transcends the line between fiction and reality, Walton makes a poignant statement about freedom of expression and finding your own path.

9/10

(Review by Rebecca Wilcock)

Non-fiction

4. New Yorkers: A City and Its People in Our Time by Craig Taylor is published in hardback by John Murray Press, priced £25 (ebook £16.99). Available now

New Yorkers by Craig Taylor. Picture credit: John Murray Press/PA.

Following on from his bestselling novel Londoners, Craig Taylor searches for the perfect snapshot of a very different, yet still iconic city: New York.

His anthological look at America’s most famous metropolis features unvarnished versions of the city’s past few tumultuous decades, from the people who know it best. His contributions throughout give clarity and perspective only when it is necessary; his own experiences of NYC are woven through interludes in an otherwise untouched treasury of anecdotes, showing just how powerful any one ordinary person’s story can be. From a nanny to a personal injury lawyer, a 911 dispatcher to a window cleaner, New Yorkers beautifully captures the unsung voices of its streets, skyscrapers and subways, to throw open a window to a world that is unlike any other – depending on who you ask.

9/10

(Review by Sophie Hogan)

BOOK CHARTS

HARDBACK (FICTION)

1. Klara And The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

2. Girl In The Walls by AJ Gnuse

3. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

4. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

5. The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

6. The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc

7. Blackout by Simon Scarrow

8. Watch Her Fall by Erin Kelly

9. The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz

10. Luster by Raven Leilani

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)

1. The Beauty Of Living Twice by Sharon Stone

2. Together by Luke Adam Hawker

3. The Madness Of Grief by Reverend Richard Coles

4. Spring Cannot Be Cancelled by Martin Gayford & David Hockney

5. The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

6. My Rock ‘N’ Roll Friend by Tracey Thorn

7. Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli

8. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy

9. Failures Of State by Jonathan Calvert & George Arbuthnott

10. One: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones

(Compiled by Waterstones)

Buy Photos

Buy photos online from the Droitwich Standard newspaper.

Subscribe

Receive a weekly update to your inbox by signing up to our weekly newsletter.

Business Directory

From plumbers, to restaurants, we can provide you with all the info you need.

Advertising

Advertise with the Droitwich Standard to reach your audience