Books in brief: Eat The Ones You Love, The Book of Records, and Peatlands: A Journey Between Land and Water
By Sarah Maria Griffin
Titan, £9.99
In the 'kip' that is the Woodbine Mall, 'an aspiration towards American luxury ambience transplanted deep in the veins of the Northside Dublin suburbs', a hungry orchid notes a new arrival. Thirtysomething Shell is immediately drawn towards Neve, a beautiful florist whose connection to the murderous plant ended her last relationship, and to the small community of retail workers in the dying centre. Griffin, no stranger to deliciously weird fiction set in haunted, shadowy versions of Dublin, moves into the queer botanical horror subgenre with skill. Her lyricism, if occasionally overwrought, tangoes with a distinctive millennial argot – part therapy jargon, part extremely-online shorthand. Pleasing commentary on class and a sharp eye on the bathos of late-stage capitalism supports but never overwhelms this compelling, gorily gorgeous novel.
Claire Hennessy
The Book of Records
By Madeleine Thein
Granta, £20
'The stories that last are the ones about voyages, about odysseys and escapes,' the father of seven-year-old Lina tells her. The pair have escaped China, to seek refuge at 'the Sea', a 'no man's land', rumoured to be a former military outpost. So begins a Beckettian style game of waiting, waiting, waiting. The Booker-shortlisted Canadian author weaves a tale of migration, with the biographies of historical figures, philosopher Hannah Arendt, scholar Baruch Spinoza and the great Chinese poet Du Fu, to explore the existential questions of legacy, truth, memory and the meaning of a good existence. Thein writes with an intellectual mind and a philosophical core that will appeal to readers who appreciate a story of great scope, penned with the fine brush stroke of poetry.
Brigid O'Dea
Peatlands: A Journey Between Land and Water
By Alys Fowler
Hodder Press, £20
Bogs are 'strange, funny beings' for the gardener and horticulturalist Alys Fowler, and peat has haunted her imagination for many years. On her quest seeking information on peatlands, she explores parts of Britain and Ireland. Her Irish journey starts in the Wicklow mountains and takes her to Carlow, on to a farm in Co Offaly, and over to Roundstone Bog in Connemara where she finds its heart beating strongly. Her book is a call to sink deep into the dark earth of rugged places, look closely at dragonflies, birds, amphibians and plants that live within them; but also to befriend the fragile, under-pressure bogs, to honour them, learn their mysteries, feel their spirit, and help create a sea-change in attitudes.
Paul Clements
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