wed 01/10/2025

book reviews and features

Mieko Kawakami: Breasts and Eggs review - a book of two halves

India Lewis

Mieko Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs is a true novel of two halves and is (excuse the pun) a bit of a curate’s egg. Kawakami’s bio at the beginning of the text explains that the novel was...

Read more...

Hilary Fannin: The Weight of Love review – unravelling knotty lives

Lauren Brown

The relationship between Joe, Robin and Ruth is far from your average love triangle. On the face of it, Robin loves Ruth, but after introducing her to his charismatic friend Joe – an artist and...

Read more...

Rebecca Solnit: Recollections of My Non-Existence review - feminism, hope and the great American West

India Lewis

Rebecca Solnit’s autobiography, Recollections of My Non-Existence, is just as you might expect it to be – tangential, changeable, deeply feminist, and imbued with a sense of hope that...

Read more...

Joanna Trollope: Mum & Dad review - redemption in Spain

Marina Vaizey

In common with her literary forebear, Joanna Trollope’s light hand refrains from the introverted angst so common in contemporary novels. Her immensely readable, witty renderings of English...

Read more...

Christos Tsiolkas: Damascus review - the author of The Slap goes biblical

Markie Robson-Scott

To Christos Tsiolkas fans expecting something in the vein of his riveting bestsellers The Slap and Barracuda, the sixth novel by this Australian writer may come as a shock. We're...

Read more...

Michael Nath: The Treatment review - 'deeds, and language, such as men do use'

Daniel Lewis

Great writing about – or set in – London has one thing in common: voice. It’s tuned into the city’s multiple...

Read more...

Pete Paphides: Broken Greek review - top of the pop memoirs

Owen Richards

Think of the phrase “music ...

Read more...

'You’re Jewish. With a name like Neumann, you have to be'

Ariana Neumann

It was during my first week at Tufts University in America, when I was 17, that I was told by a stranger that I was...

Read more...

Imagining Ireland, Barbican review - raising women's voices

Tim Cumming

Recent politics surround the EU and nationhood, fantasies of Irish Sea bridges and trading...

Read more...

Panikos Panayi: Migrant City review – the capital of the world

Boyd Tonkin

Some menus never change. In 1910, the Loyal British Waiters Society came into being, prompted by “xenophobic resentment at the dominance of foreigners in the restaurant trade”. London’s German...

Read more...

Pages

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £49,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

 

latest in today

'We are bowled over!' Thank you for your messages... ...
Get Down Tonight, Charing Cross Theatre review - glitz and h...

In a fair few bars around the world tonight, bands will be playing “That’s The Way (I Like It)”, “Give It Up” and so many more of...

Nick Helm, Touring review - brash comic shows his vulnerable...

Comedy is strange old thing; it’s supposed to be funny ha-ha, but the laughs can often come from a dark place, as evidenced by Nick...

One Battle After Another review - Paul Thomas Anderson satir...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s frantic One Battle After Another is a storm warning for a fascist America and both a lament and a rallying call...

Black Rabbit, Netflix review - grime and punishment in New Y...

They say no good deed goes unpunished, so when New York restaurateur Jake...

Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, Royal Academy review -...

This must be the first time a black artist has been honoured with a retrospective that fills the main galleries of the...

First Person: Manchester Camerata's Head of Artistic Pl...

Over the past decade, Manchester Camerata has gained a reputation for continually innovating and redefining what an orchestra can do. But what...

The Hack, ITV review - plodding anatomy of twin UK scandals

The latest instalment of the ITV drama department’s attempts at trial by television is another anatomy of a scandal, but with little of...

Punch, Apollo Theatre review - powerful play about the stren...

For the first part of Punch it feels as if you’re riding a roller coaster, watching the world speed and loop past as you see it from the...

Cinderella/La Cenerentola, English National Opera review - t...

When you go to the prince’s ball, would you prefer a night of sobriety or excess? Julia Burbach’s new production of Rossini’s Cinderella...

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters