When I went back through my year's reading I was struck by the fact that almost all the books I'd really loved had been written in the last century, and a very large number of them between 1939 and 1945. I cannot explain this in any way at all so I'm not even going to try -- all I can conclude is that this was a terrifically rich period for British fiction and I'm delighted to have discovered it. Because I've been loving it all so much I have read very little in the way of contemporary novels this year, but I'm convinced that even if I had read many more I would still have picked Gillespie and I as my 'newly published' novel of the year. Click the links to read my original reviews.
BEST NON-FICTION
Has to be Helen Rappaport's magnificent Magnificent Obsession, which, as surely everybody now knows, tells the story of Victoria and Albert -- her passion for him, his death, her extraordinarily long period of mourning. Helen Rappaport has the happy ability to combine scrupulous historical research with a wonderfully lively and engaging way with narrative, so that this book is absolutely gripping as well as really informative.
BEST WW2 NOVEL
Impossible to choose just one here so there's a tie between three.
My first introduction to Henry Green, this great novel, published in 1945, was quite unlike anything I had ever read before, and I fell in love straight away. I find his prose style enchanting (though I gather it's not to everyone's taste) and the plot of this novel, set mainly in the servants' quarters of a large estate in Ireland, was a delight from start to finish. This is a book that I will definitely re-read soon.
And here we have Patrick Hamilton, another writer I discovered this year. In fact The Slaves of Solitude was not published until 1947 but it is set bang in the middle of the war and, for me, evokes wartime Britain better than anything I've read before or since. In June I said this was my book of the year so far, and though I've read things since I may have loved as much, it's still right up there in the rather crowded 'top of the list' space.
Equally evocative of the period is Elizabeth Taylor's 1945 masterpiece, At Mrs Lippincote's. Taylor is a writer I have loved for some years, and possibly this is my favourite of her novels so far. Witty and perceptive, with a serious undercurrent, I found it an absolute joy.
BEST CONTEMPORARY FICTION
What a great novel! An unreliable narrator, a story that unravels slowly and brings many surprises, some laughs, some disquiet, some sadness. Captures turn of the century Glasgow perfecly. A real gem.
BEST CLASSIC CRIME FICTION
A very classy classic. Not a detective story in the conventional sense, though there is a death early on. But more than anything this is a psychological thriller, focusing on an ordinary middle-class American housewife who finds herself swept away by events and feelings she is utterly unprepared for. Stylish and exciting -- a great read.
BEST CONTEMPORARY CRIME FICTION
I've been quite disappointed with most of the contemporary crime I've read this year, but I really enjoyed The Hypnotist. Not for the fainthearted, this is quite a scary novel but I thought it both intelligent and exciting, which is really what I want from this genre.
BEST PRE-1935 FICTION
Another tie, I'm afraid.
This was the year I discovered Elizabeth Bowen. I'd read one of her novels some years ago but hadn't really 'got' her until I was alerted to The Heat of the Day by Rachel on Book Snob. I raved about that novel in my review but for some reason I have chosen To the North, another wonderful novel, to list here. She is not an easy writer to read, but so repays a bit of concentration. I am looking forward to reading more of her novels in 2012.
This lovely, delicate, sensitive novel is extraordinarily perceptive about human beings, the great difficulty they have in communicating their feelings for each other, and the terribly sad misunderstandings that result. I really loved it.
Sunflower
This is a late entry and I haven't written my review of it yet, though I will be posting it soon. Rebecca West is a remarkable novelist whose celebrated Return of the Soldier I praised very highly a few years ago. Sunflower is an unfinished novel. It was written in 1925 but not published until the 1980s, for reasons I'll explain in my review. I simply had to add it to this list because I liked it so much.
