I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck – review
An elegant novel about the anatomy of a marriage dwells more on art – and maths – than emotionThis novel is an elegant vigil – a long night's journey into day. A wife, Nina, sits with her husband, Philip, who has died of a heart attack. She waits...
Eric Brown’s SF and fantasy choice – reviews
Tuf Voyaging by George RR Martin, Empire State by Adam Christopher, Hell Train by Christopher Fowler and The Devil's Elixir by Raymond KhouryTuf Voyaging by George RR Martin (Gollancz, £8.99)Martin began his writing career with a series of lyrical, r...
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Week one: the storytellerThis is a ghost story, so we start with the storyteller. Literary critics rarely use this last term, preferring to talk of the "narrator". But when it comes to hauntings this traditional description is fitting. Arthur Kipps is ...
Jacqueline Rose: a life in writing
'Victimhood is something that happens but when you turn it into an identity you're psychically and politically finished'One day, Jacqueline Rose came across a troubling passage in Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu. The narrator, Marcel, lies besid...
My father the superhero
A first marathon attempt at 58 years old wasn't enough. He had to run the entire distance wearing a cape. Then again, Michael Cox has never done things by halves"DO YOU WANT TO WATCH ME RUN AROUND THE FIELD?" said my dad (who is in the top 10 loudest m...
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Asperger's syndrome is dealt with sensitively in a 10-year-old's storyTen-year-old Caitlin Smith is doubly bereaved. Two years ago her mother died of cancer; now her beloved older brother Devon has been randomly murdered in a shooting at their American...
Rare Earth by Paul Mason
The first novel from Newsnight's economics editor is an enjoyable romp through ChinaIt's a conspiracy theorist's dream. One nation holds most of the planet's supply of "rare earths", the metals and alloys key to building many of the developed...
The White Lie by Andrea Gillies – review
A moving page-turner about the unreliability of personal historySome years ago, journalist Andrea Gillies was struggling to write a novel. The enemy of her promise was a full-time job; she was caring for her mother-in-law, who had Alzheimer's. The...
