Annie —
The Names by Florence Knapp
Every now and then I start reading one of those “buzzy books” as an advance copy and I get totally caught up in the hype. Florence Knapp’s debut novel The Names is one of those books. The premise is deceptively simple: it’s the same person’s life, told three times, with the only difference being the name that was inscribed on his birth certificate. Gordon, Julian and Bear take three wildly separate paths as a result of their mother’s decision on that fateful 1987 day.
It’s not so much that the names themselves but their potential as catalysts and the response that Cora’s volatile husband has to each of these choices. Deeply empathetic and human, Knapp’s story captures the vicissitudes of experience and the way tiny decisions can have profound impacts on the shape of a life. If you loved Lessons in Chemistry or Life After Life you should pick this up!
Paige —
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Chrysalids is a perfect mixture of the classic science fiction and western novel, expertly tying in speculation and critique surrounding nuclear fallout, community, and religious interpretation. This is my favourite of all Wyndham’s works, and although I recommend you read all of them, if you are determined to only read one, let The Chrysalids be it.
In a small rural town, the inhabitants are in a perpetual fight against genetic mutation, whether it be in their fields, barns, or under their own roof. Deemed a moral obligation to maintain God’s image, children born with even the slightest abnormality must be removed. David knows he is abnormal, as are a few of the other children in town, but what is the real risk of their mutation, and are any of the mutations actually as dangerous as they have been led to believe.
Annie —
Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa
An unusual and darkly funny novel, Hunchback follows Shaka Isawa, a resident (and owner) of a group home in Japan who lives with a muscle wasting disorder. Spending most of her day in a wheelchair and strapped to a ventilator, she writes erotic fiction and journalism under the moniker Buddha and tweets her most inappropriate thoughts into the ether. When a male carer reveals that he has been following her online presence and knows about her desires, she solicits him to achieve physical experiences that she had previously only dreamed of.
Ichikawa’s writing is precise, seductive and razor sharp, and she explores fascinating ideas about disability, power, sexuality and storytelling. The author herself has a similar condition to her character, allowing the reader exceptional insight into an experience of the world that may be completely foreign to able bodied people. Shaka rails against the “simplest things” that are rendered inaccessible to her, one of which is reading — the weight of a physical book is immensely painful for her to hold for extended periods, and the angle at which her neck has to sit to read is also damaging. By turns angry, sexy and shocking, Hunchback is not quite like anything I’ve ever read, but would sit well with fans of Convenience Store Woman or Perfume.