Happiness Falls
Angie Kim
Faber, £16.99, pp400
When 20-year-old Mia Parkson’s father goes lacking, her household seek for clues as to his disappearance. The place Mia is headstrong and forthright, her older brother, John, is extra amenable, whereas her youthful brother, Eugene – autistic and nonverbal – was with their father when he vanished. Multilayered and intricately structured, Kim’s second novel is a philosophical and compelling examination of neurodiversity, measures of happiness and the intricate tapestry of familial relationships.
In Memoriam
Alice Winn
Penguin, £9.99, pp400 (paperback)
What begins as an evocative literary novel about repressed gay need in an English boarding faculty swiftly morphs right into a gripping story about life within the trenches of the primary world struggle. Protagonists Henry and Sidney battle towards their illicit love for one another, portrayed by Winn with unimaginable tenderness and emotional complexity. She infuses her plot with propulsive narrative drive, beautiful characterisation and visceral descriptions of warfare. Fairly merely among the best debut novels to have been revealed in recent times.
All of the Lonely Folks: Conversations on Loneliness
Sam Carr
Picador, £16.99, pp256
In a sequence of interviews, Carr explores human loneliness with those that’ve skilled bereavement, loss, poor parenting and social isolation. There may be Veronica, whose mom wrongly accused her father of sexually abusing her, and 87-year-old Frank, who has spent his life in an emotional wasteland. Interspersed with these discussions are Carr’s personal experiences. Whereas the buildup of those tales could make for bleak studying, his conclusion is that “empathy could also be a very powerful antidote we now have for loneliness”.
