particularly when the characters' understanding of each other and their actions is at its weakest (notably the most dramatic episode in the Marie-Ernestine section) [2/2]

And last read of 2025 was La Maison vide by Laurent Mauvignier. Found the beginning of this quite slow but overall I enjoyed it a lot. Thought the author's elaborate syntax and style was a little overdone at points but also very effective at others, [1/2]

Did find though that the narrative developed a bit too slowly for it to really get a hold on me and also there were fewer (good) jokes than I had been expecting [2/2]

Finishing this off: next I read When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson. Interesting to see a family v. individual conflict being given its full emotional resonance here, and in a modern context - the ending in particular was touching [1/2]

The convoluted syntax irritated me for the first few pages (so often it can read as an author's clumsy attempt at virtuosity) but that stops once you've fully entered into the protagonist's hermetic, topsy-turvy world, where only such tortuous language can fit [2/2]

Milkman by Anna Burns. Thought this was brilliant, really masterful. It somehow manages to do it all: treating so many socio/sexual-political themes, in such a singular (and genuinely funny) narration. [1/2]

Watched the film adaptation after and thought the tweeness worked better on screen (admittedly some of the dialogue reads like it was written for screen delivery) [2/2]

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Definitely a page-turner but, given the hype, found the actual mechanics of the plot a bit disappointing: so much seemed to rely on characters' spontaneous confessions, which I really hate in detective fiction. [1/2]

The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor. Beautifully written novel on the almost incidental but still devastating personal effects of early 20C Irish political divisions. Perhaps a bit (literally) montonous; some people would definitely find it too quiet

The Finishing School by Muriel Spark. Not my favourite of hers, perhaps because the social world - a finishing school in Switzerland - felt less developed and real than in others of her novels, but still good fun

Reasons to Be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe. Solidly funny and charming, though it did seem to lack emotional heft or even just plot direction for a while. Admittedly this was made up for by the ending, but with the result that the protagonist's central coming-of-age experience felt a little forced in

Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant. Enjoyed this mostly for its description of late 1800s Paris and especially its newspaper industry, but the plot was definitely compelling. The female characters felt a bit flimsy or unfinished, albeit their ambition and drive (professional or personal) is fully detailed

La Vie devant soi by Romain Gary. A lovely book, which treats its marginalised characters with such kindness, even while finding the humour in their difficult, sometimes traumatic experiences. Has a lot to say about dignity in old age in particular and even the contemporary assisted dying debate

Also the Catholic message seemed to be more explicit here - usually it's there but quite diffuse. Made me appreciate more how the 'cruelty' of Spark's omniscient narrators, somewhat gleefully exposing the characters' flaws/foibles, can be read as a sort of divine percipience or even judgment [2/2]

Memento Mori by Muriel Spark. Another Spark and I enjoyed this as much as I have almost all of her writing. Laugh-out-loud funny at points and it felt a bit chunkier and more coherent, thematically, than others of her novels. [1/2]

but interesting to see ideas about psychological suffering already circulating in 1945 (though it is perhaps naïve to assume they weren't) [2/2]

Saplings by Noel Streatfeild. Adult fiction but still ultimately concerned with children's lives and in particular the effects of war on their wellbeing. Not as good as the novels specifically written for children, the depth you expect in mature writing seemed to be lacking, [1/2]

also the number of people in my friend's rural Italian village who have recognised me from my last visit is really challenging my pet theory that I've had a glow-up in recent years