This month our #RivetingReviews cover fiction (including a graphic novel) and non-fiction hailing from France, Greece, the former Soviet Union, Spain and Austria.
Just as important as this broad range of countries are the topics these books cover. We have the horrors wreaked in Greece during and after World War Two; the unsung efforts of women in the USSR in the same period; and the effects in France of the Algerian War of Independence. More current concerns are covered too – the status of African refugees in Europe, and youth radicalisation.
As champions of European literature, it is easy to focus on Brexit – the big news story that will inevitably dominate our lives (working and personal) for years to come. However, the books we review this month should give us pause, and remind us of literature’s capacity to discuss every issue our continent faces and has faced.
We also have to thank our friends and colleagues at Bookanista, who have kindly allowed us to publish an edited version of one of their reviews. We hope such important collaborations will continue.
Look out next month for a special set of #RivetingReviews: all our books will be Italian. We already have some treasures lined up.
If you’d like to provide us with a review – make sure it’s riveting, read our rules and get writing!
Remember our important European Literature Network event at the Free Word Centre on the 20th September.
Neither should you forget our *Euro Stars* event on 28th September at Waterstone’s Piccadilly. Tim Parks, Joanna Walsh, Antoine Laurain and Claudiu Florian will be discussing the question: European fiction in the UK: in or out? Book now!
I hope to see you all at both events!
By West Camel