Beginning with the fiction but in no particular order, here are the books I've awarded a 'Cornflower Blue' for being the best of the year* (click on the descriptions to go to the full post on each one):
The Coward's Tale
by Vanessa Gebbie, a story whose cadences rise and fall with a lilt and a rhythm that make it irresistible.
The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life
by William Nicholson, beautifully balanced and intelligently played out, marvellously entertaining and sparklingly done.
Alys, Always
by Harriet Lane, a novel of skill, elegance and flair.
Waiting for Sunrise
by William Boyd, a thrilling spy story and a portrait of Europe at a time of enormous change, a bildungsroman
and a picture of the human psyche under pressure, a book springing from
intellectual heft and virtuoso narrative technique - it's too good to
miss.
Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death
by James Runcie, a gentle, romantic book with a lovely period feel, and at its heart a
charming character and a purity of thought that is very appealing.
The Nine Tailors
by Dorothy L. Sayers, ingenious and cleverly plotted, great dramatic entertainment.
Painter of Silence
by Georgina Harding, a fine book whose understatement and restraint lets it speak and ensures it will be heard.
A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar
by Suzanne Joinson, a tightly folded story gradually unfurls in very pleasing form.
The Colour of Milk
by Nell Leyshon, stands out for the sheer economy of its prose, its near-perfect
idiom, and for the significance of its subject matter and the themes
which are worked out so skilfully in so few words.
John Saturnall's Feast
by Lawrence Norfolk, encompasses myth and legend, allegory and arcane knowledge, love, war
and entrancing storytelling, combining these ingredients to make no mere
culinary conceit or kickshaw but a readers' feast of the highest order.
Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett, shows her gift for ideas and for working so creatively with her raw material that the end product is superb.
The Knot
by Jane Borrodale, an engrossing narrative moving with the shifting seasons makes this a fine work, and one whose atmosphere lingers in the mind.
Rook
by Jane Rusbridge, an exquisitely sensitive story, an affecting work, closely woven, beautifully tempered.
High Rising
by Angela Thirkell, a highly entertaining comedy, such a fun book and a diverting one.
Archie
by Domenica More Gordon, a terrific picture book with real charm - something to leave on the
coffee table where adults as well as children will pick it up and be
delighted by it.
Non-fiction to come next.
*That is, of those I've read this year.
