In the first of two selections, our reviewers pick the books – old and new – that have amused and provoked, consoled and beguiled, terrified and inspired them so far this year
A.N. WILSON
A debut novel by a young genius from LA, a revenge tragedy in these days of BLM, Steph Cha’s Your House Will Pay (Faber & Faber, £12.99; Tablet price £11.69) draws on a real-life incident, when a black teenage girl, apparently stealing from a Korean convenience store, was shot dead. Twenty years on, the apparently virtuous shopkeeper is herself shot. A dense, morally complex novel.
GEMMA SIMMONDS
A global pandemic and a lockdown radically affecting every aspect of life as we have known it offer considerable challenges to our understanding of the virtue of hope. Peter Sills’ Light in the Darkness: Exploring the Path of Christian Hope (Sacristy Press, £14.99; Tablet price £13.49) could not be more apposite in its exploration of Christian hope as a practice shaping personal and societal living. A demanding yet fulfilling read, it provokes reflection on biblical and liturgical texts and offers powerful perspectives on the “new normal”.
