I still have a bunch of reviews to complete from last year…

The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey

This book deserves a thorough review, alas, too much time has passed since I had an absolutely scintillating discussion with my book group about it (see Lisa’s review for a thorough account).

All you need to know: it’s not dystopian as such, but a re-imagining of what happened after WWII. What Chidgey has managed, is to explore the history of medical experiments undertaken during the Holocaust, without directly referring to the Holocaust or Nazi Germany. The book also examines the boundaries and intersection between ethics and politics. It’s a chilling and gripping story, and the plot twists were genius.

4/5

Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson

I finished my 2025 reading year with the light and very sweet, Be Frank With Me. I completely understand why readers have fallen in love with Frank, an eccentric nine-year-old boy, with the wit of Noël Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star. Every scene featuring Frank is crammed with quirky turns-of-phrase, and vivid accounts of his outfits and actions. He is extremely endearing.

There’s more to this story – a reclusive writer and a mystery father – but read for Frank if you are after something light.

3/5

Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott

In the autumn of 1975, Truman Capote detonated a literary grenade, publishing loosely fictionalised accounts of the lives of his closest friends, women he referred to as his ‘swans’. Greenberg-Jephcott’s novel is written from the perspective of the ‘swans’, giving the ‘real’ story (even though, of course, this is a novel…). Ultimately, it’s impossible to sort fact from fiction, and the double layer (Capote’s version and Greenberg-Jephcott’s version of Capote’s version) gets in the way of itself. It’s all a bit much; there are too many players to keep track of; and the book was way too long. But, the gossipy details were fun in parts.

No idea why, but I have another historical novel on the same topic in my TBR stack – Melanie Benjamin’s The Swans of Fifth Avenue. I’m unlikely to read it, but more inclined to go for Laurence Leamer’s nonfiction account, Capote’s Women; Truman’s original stories, published as part of Answered Prayers; and for some light entertainment, the star-studded TV series, Feud.

2.5/5