Fiction
Trust
Hernan Diaz
Picador, £16.99 (ebook £8.99)
Hernan Diaz's second novel isn't one book, or two, but four in one, and is an intricate investigation on the meaning of truth. The idea of alternative facts may be relatively new, but alternative narratives, opinions and perspectives are as old as time. Who do we trust to tell us the truth? Diaz investigates this question with an engrossing tale, told multiple times through multiple voices. First we read Harold Vanner's novel Bonds, published in 1938 as a thinly veiled novelisation of a man at the centre of the Wall Street Crash. But how far from the truth was this fiction? Taking up other versions of the tale, Diaz perfects different voices with remarkable agility. The echoes between the tales are deliberate, alerting us to the twisting of truths and the distortions of what was fact and fiction. What you deem to be the truth depends on who you trust.
10/10
The Last Gift Of The Master Artists
Ben Okri
Apollo, £16.99 (ebook £7.99)
Ben Okri has spent years rewriting Starbook, originally published in 2007, because he felt the slavery narrative which underpins the vibrant love story was missed or misinterpreted as allegorical. The result is another breathtakingly beautiful novel, and another opportunity to experience Okri's magical take on Africa before the arrival of the Atlantic slave ships - a world of art and artists, lovers, storytellers and philosophers. Although the slave ships are always there, waiting on the horizon, the beauty of Okri's prose is still the overwhelming star of the show - which may make the shocking reality he is still hoping to herald as far from the reader's consciousness as ever.
9/10
This Bitter Earth
Bernice McFadden
Vintage Classics, £9.99 (ebook £4.99)
This Bitter Earth begins in a southern African-American town where Sugar Lacey is found on the brink of death. As she recovers in her childhood home, she unravels the secrets of her past. Originally published in 2002, it has been re-released by Penguin's Vintage Classics. McFadden introduces each unique character with empathy and, while at times it is dark, it is also hopeful. This Bitter Earth is a moving story on loss and learning to heal, which will leave you rooting for Sugar, as she uncovers each hardship the townsfolk around her are secretly battling.
9/10
Non-fiction
The Lighthouse Of Stalingrad
Iain MacGregor
Constable, priced £25 (ebook £14.99).
The battle for Stalingrad is famed as being one of the toughest ever fought. The Lighthouse Of Stalingrad tells the story of the battle - and more specifically, the fight for Pavlov's House, named after the man at its very centre, and stark in its reality of the sheer cost of war to human beings. Historian Iain MacGregor brings the graphic horror of the Second World War to life through his own storytelling and the eyewitness accounts of soldiers on both sides of a conflict, where the dead were left frozen where they had fallen. It's almost as if you are there with the men in the trenches, fighting hand-to-hand from ruined building to bomb crater. The author makes more than passing reference to the current invasion of Ukraine and rightly praises the part played by all peoples of the old Soviet Union, including Ukrainians, as the tide of Adolf Hitler's ambition finally turned.
8/10
Children's book of the week
Ollie's Back-to-School Bear
Nicola Killen
Simon & Schuster Children's UK, £6.99 (ebook £4.99).
Ollie is a little girl who, like many, is nervous about her first day at school. The night before school starts, Ollie is transported to a class for woodland animals, where she befriends a nervous bear. Together they face the daunting debut day, with Ollie helping take little ones through all of the adventures they too could face. Nicola Killen's beautifully crafted words, together with lovely illustrations, put children and adults at ease, helping take away the anxiety of the first day at school. Ollie wakes from her dream ready to take on one of the biggest adventures she will face, and this book will also help children banish any anxieties they might have.
7/10
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here