The words
Ah, Christmas – a time for hibernation and the promise of crisp new books to devour in that glorious last week of December. Stuck for presents? Here are a few of our stocking-filler picks…
The Retreat
EDITED BY ALI ROFF. MAIN REVIEWS: EITHNE FARRY. PHOTOGRAPH: STOCKSY. FOR STOCKISTS, SEE PAGE 125
Mrs Osmond
By John Banville (Viking, £12.99)
John Banville takes on the mantle of Henry James’s Portrait Of A Lady and explains what happened to the ‘exquisite’ Isabel Archer after she left her abusive husband, Gilbert Osmond, in Rome.
Travelling in Europe, the confused heroine attempts to work out a new way of life, calling on a suffragette and old journalist friend for guidance. Delicate and insightful, Isabel’s soul-searching – from the adding up of her shortcomings, to the psychological cost of her claustrophobic marriage – is intense and atmospheric.