Ursula Parrott: Ex-Wife, Faber Editions, 9780571388059, paperback, upcoming pub date: August 2024

Thank you Faber for the netgalley proof of  "Ex-Wife" by Ursula Parrott , first published in the 1920ies, now rediscovered. I absolutely loved it, on my shelf of favorite novels of the year!

Spiked with great, smart one liners and wit, it reminded me a lot of the incomparable Dorothy Parker.

 Somewhat autobiographical Parrott describes her own life in 1920ties NY  through Patricia,  a new type of woman, recent divorcee in her twenties,  with a broken heart and career of her own with a fashionavle wardrobe plus a neverending parade of men taking her and her girlfriends out every day. How on earth did they survive on so little sleep and so much booze ? I fell in love with the  language of the novel and of course Pat and her girlfriends, especially her flatmate, smart Lucia, whose chief goal was to stand by each other thru thick and thin, to have fun meanwhile but to  be married again by age 30, preferable to a wealthy man. A fabulous read, fresh and true even after 100 years, go out and buy it when it is published in August. 

 Amor Towles: Table for two, Hutchinson/Heinemann, 9780593831236, paperback,  ( "Eve", Hanser Verlag, 22.7.24, hardback, Deutsche Ausgabe) 

Amor Towles is one of my favorite storytellers, "A Gentleman in Moscow" on my shelf of favorite books.

 His latest " Table for two" is absolute ace, loved it, six superb short stories or the better description, short fiction.  I could not say which one is the most outstanding story or which I favor the most. They surprised me all in their turn of events, exquisitely written, all taking place in New York. 

"Table for two" also includes the novel " Eve in Hollywood" which I have read before featuring Evelyn Ross from "Rules of Civility" which i remember as a noirish story, will probably reread. 

 Kate Atkinson: Death at the sign of the rook, Doubleday,  pub date August 22, 2024, c format paperback, 9780857526588, 

"Death at the sign of the rook" is a very British, Agatha Christie like mystery, a fun read with the chief protagonist Jackson Brodie, now a private investigatory, hunting down stolen paintings, one a Turner, which all seem to be tied together. A whole cast of characters create a complex, cosy mystery,  sometimes confusing me a little when I picked up the reading again, but all in a very  entertaining escapist read, solid Kate Atkinson writing.