New books to read this week

Prolific American author Anne Tyler returns with her 25th novel…

Fiction

Three Days In June by Anne Tyler is published in hardback by Chatto & Windus

Weddings so often give the writer a wealth of material to play with, from difficult in-laws and ex-partners to demanding couples. And this charming, witty story from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, set against the backdrop of a wedding over three days in June, as its title suggests, is no exception. In three parts – the build-up, the wedding day and the day after – Tyler cleverly addresses the complexities of family relationships, through protagonist Gail, the bride’s mother, whose ex-husband Max turns up unannounced on her doorstep asking to stay for a few days and proves both kindly and hugely irritating. Together, they navigate their daughter Debbie’s big day with Kenneth, who isn’t quite the match Gail would have wanted. Mix in some other incompatible, snobbish and egocentric relatives and you have the perfect formula for a wedding to remember – or forget. Tyler’s acerbic humour, irony and depictions of tangled personalities will leave the reader smiling and wincing in equal measure.

BLOB: A Love Story by Maggie Su is published in hardback by Sceptre

The faintly silly, surreal premise of BLOB: A Love Story gives way to a complicated but moving take on how nightmarish it can be trying to become a grown-up who doesn’t survive on cereal and gin alone. College dropout Vi is reeling from a break-up and working the desk (badly) at a nondescript hotel, when she finds a sentient blob with sad eyes in an alleyway, takes it home and helps it morph into the ‘perfect’ guy. What’s interesting is that this is less about the blob and what it is and where it came from, and much more about the glitchy thinking of Vi, her antipathy towards directing her own life, her obsession with Irish exits and her belief that she doesn’t fit in anywhere. It’s curiously amusing rather than laugh-out-loud funny, but Vi is exasperating too, especially her meanness. And yet, you really root for her as looking after Bob the blob forces her to start tentatively taking responsibility for herself. Maggie Su’s debut is tender, compulsive reading.

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis is published in hardback by W&N

Fundamentally tells the story of academic Nadia, who leaves her life and job at UCL behind to head up a United Nations programme in Iraq to rehabilitate women who joined ISIS. Told through her eyes, Nadia quickly encounters the politics at play between international organisations, government and individuals, but it is her meeting funny and feisty East Londoner Sara, who joined ISIS aged 15, that becomes the focal point of the tale. Author Nussaibah Younis draws on her own life and career experiences which creates an authentic voice with humour and empathy for the work of fiction. But with an array of characters and developments in a complex setting, it leaves more detail and perspectives to be desired. The debut novel brings high profile cases that have hit headlines back to mind, without adding further depth that could have boosted its originality.

Non-fiction

Love in Exile by Shon Faye is published in hardback by Allen Lane

Shon Faye’s memoir-stroke-academic study takes us through a history of human thought – from Plato, to Henry VIII, to Germaine Greer, to Lana Del Rey – in order to examine contemporary love, politics, religion, friendship and motherhood. Faye looks at these fields through the lens of her life with remarkable honesty. She experiences heightened sexual commodification as a trans woman, and assesses the political systems that mean presenting as “passively attractive, potentially available and insouciantly sexy” online boosts her career opportunities. She acted a “pantomime” when dating men, “a performance of generosity that involved self-abnegation”. This is interrogated, and Faye criticises the commonplace, simplistic pathologising that could link it all back to pain and trauma, noting “a lot of sex is inconsequential and some of it very tedious” or done out of “rich curiosity”. A refreshing, funny and erudite perspective on feminism and misogyny today.

Children’s book of the week

Eid For Nylah by Nizrana Farook, illustrated by Zelma Firdauzia is published in hardback by Nosy Crow

If my one-year-old’s fascination with Nylah the cat is anything to go by, you’ll be reading Nizrana Farook’s ode to Eid on repeat. Nylah, a lovely ginger cat with a white belly, is desperate to play with all her neighbours but everyone is too busy tidying, decorating, cooking and hennaing.

She’s nudged out of the way and told no one has time to mess about, but it turns out, they’re all in the midst of prep for the end of Ramadan. For those who have limited knowledge of Eid, whether you’re a child or an adult, it’s a sweetly illustrated introduction to the festival’s traditions, from hanging lanterns to wearing beautiful clothes and eating sweet treats. But until the finale, you do feel quite sorry for Nylah, who doesn’t understand why she’s getting in the way and being shooed off – as a parent, it really reminds you to make the time to play. A warm, informative and lyrical tale.