George Saunders leads a writing masterclass, Rebecca Lowe goes on a cycling adventure and Caryl Lewis makes a magical English-language fiction debut. The Observer, May 22
A Swim In A Pond In The Rain by George Saunders
Booker-winning author George Saunders has been teaching the 19th century Russian short story at Syracuse for over 20 years now, and this book makes the class sound incredible. Rather than academically deconstructing stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol, he wittily and intuitively guides the reader through their craft and meaning. And this is a book for readers as well as would-be writers, a wonderful treatise on the importance of fiction as a way to be more active, curious and alert in our own, real, lives.
The Slow Road to Tehran by Rebecca Lowe
Billed as a revelatory bike ride through Europe and the Middle East, Lowe’s adventure from London to Tehran is not a typical tale of endurance. Nor is Lowe an avid cyclist; instead she’s an incredibly perceptive writer finding new ways to think about the complex peoples, histories and politics of the countries she journeys through. There are scrapes and difficulties, but these escapades are less about Lowe and more about the kindnesses of others, encouraged by the disarming quality of “the machine which makes us all brothers and sisters”.
Drift by Caryl Lewis
Caryl Lewis is an award-winning Welsh novelist, playwright and screenwriter; her debut English language novel confirms a polyglot talent. Nefyn finds the body of a Syrian washed onto the Welsh coast and as she nurses Hamza back to life, her unique powers are gradually revealed. The contemporary concerns of war, displacement and identity are adroitly woven into a story with a magical, mythic quality, underpinned by some lovely, yearning writing about the land and sea. In times of war, Lewis finds resilience, redemption and hope; right now Drift feels perfectly judged.
