Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye.
Author, Author by David Lodge
Why I have it: Because I’m a Henry James fan.
Summary: Henry James takes center stage in this story about literary ambition, creativity, and rivalry. It begins with James on his death bed.
I’m thinking: Yes.
Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile by Adelle Stripe
Why I have it: Not sure.
Summary: A tale of the north/south divide during the Thatcher era, and how a shy teenage girl (Andrea Dunbar) defied the circumstances into which she was born and went on to become one of her generation’s greatest dramatists.
I’m thinking: Maybe.
Murmur by Will Eaves
Why I have it: Because it won the Wellcome Book Prize in 2019.
Summary: Taking its cue from the arrest and legally enforced chemical castration of the mathematician Alan Turing, Murmur is the account of a man who responds to intolerable physical and mental stress with love and honour.
I’m thinking: Yes.
I didn’t know there was a novel of Andrea Dunbar’s life. Like you, I’m not sure about reading it, but she was extraordinary.
Lodge is always worth reading. I liked (not loved) his Man of Parts on HG Wells.
David Lodge is a terrific writer. I don’t know this particular novel but am sure it will be Good.