This one surprised me. I actually picked it up thinking “Ooh! New Susan Cooper”. The Slavic folklore base pushed me over the purchasing line. Totally exceeded my expectations — more plot and interiority than a fairytale, completely unsentimental, beautifully written

Oh keen to borrow xx

Benjamin Myers has become my favourite writer about men and male relationships. This book reminded me of Max Porter’s “Shy” (same sense of so thoroughly inhabiting a small slice of the world) but without that book’s desperation.