‘Four Fiction Favourites’ in this month’s Book Review with Tom Ryan.

Fast becoming our favourite time of the month when Tom’s book review lands. A reminder that if you’re keen to turn the pages of one of Tom’s four recommended reads, pop into Bell Bookshop in Bell Street. If they don’t have it in stock they will source it for you. That’s proper independent bookshop service for you.

By Tom Ryan

Reality is all well and good in small doses but as thoughts to summer breaks of whatever shape and size is feasible this year I wanted to share four fiction favourites I’d highly recommend for any reading time that comes your way.

A novel that is narrated by a gorilla, various humans and several other creatures is no mean feat to pull off successfully, let alone for a first book, as Felice Fallon has done in Interviews With An Ape, to be published by Century later this month. After a brief introduction by vet and co-protagonist Graciela we are launched straight into the first-hand account of Einstein, the titular ape, who has come to learn sign language. His story is interspersed with those of a pig, an elephant, a dog and a whale – and to be frank humanity does not get a glowing review. But then we start to hear from people and the complexity of our relationship with animals is brought to life. A compelling, engaging and ambitious debut that more than lives up to Michael Palin’s cover quote: “A powerful book – and a timely one too.”

Rónán Hession’s Leonard and Hungry Paul is a quietly brilliant book – a description that, as the story goes on, becomes apparent applies to the two eponymous characters. Leonard, an uncredited writer of encyclopedia’s and factual books for children, and emergency postman Hungry Paul are two wonderfully drawn characters. Though he has style all of his own Hession’s writing reminded me of the much-missed Reginald Perrin and Henry Pratt creator David Nobbs, full of lovely lines (“Leonard entered with a needless drying of his clean shoes on the doormat, a gesture of social respect rather than hygiene”) and very funny, off-kilter but relatable scenarios.

For younger readers (and discerning grown-ups) The Girl Who Became A Tree: A Story Told in Poems, written by Joseph Coelho and beautifully illustrated by Kate Milner is a real treasure. A tale of technology, tunnels and mixing fact and fantasy, we follow schoolgirl Daphne as she deals with the grief of losing a parent. The Library, one of the first poems in the book, sets the scene: “it is a library/but also/it is alive/it breathes/it is a wood/it is a forest/Its shelves have been wrestled/from every type of tree.”

And finally, for me the greatest novel of the last year is The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. With identity at the forefront of so much discussion these days, she captures this tricky topic with awe-inspiring skill. Spanning several decades and thousands of miles within the US, at the heart of the story are identical twins Desiree and Stella and their very different paths, after one makes the decision to pass as white, keeping it a secret from even her husband and daughter. Packed full of wonderfully-realised characters, this is a special book not to be missed.  

If you are interested in reading any of these books, please do ask at a local bookshop if they stock it before purchasing online – Support Local

In between reading books and being an uncle to six, Tom Ryan works in events and communications with – amongst others – Henley Literary Festival, Jewish Book Week, Reading Fringe Festival and Henley Santa’s Grotto. He is on Instagram as @henleyonthomas and Twitter as @atomryan.