We Are Reading

“I wept as I read the last few pages of Playground. Was that because of the power of the story, the beauty of the prose or because I knew I was experiencing something truly profound and beautiful and that moment would never be quite the same again? I’m grateful that he is not the leader of some demonic sect as I know, after finishing Playground, I would immediately join his group and follow his every command. He’s written the perfect novel. It challenges, it amuses and takes you to uncharted territory. The prose is such that you want to read it out loud to your friends immediately and makes you feel that, in some other state, you actually have met the characters in the book as they are so real. The story captures so much that is pressing and important about the world today. But he leads you gently and kindly. His love of the ocean/planet is inspiring and his characters show all that is good and bad about the human condition in the 21^st Century. You cannot read Playground and be unchanged. I can only send gratitude for the toil and love he has poured into this novel and shared with me and the world. I will be pressing a copy into many people’s hands over the coming months with joy in my heart.”

Playground
Review by Patrick Neale

“I came to this novel not knowing much about it or really having read the blurb. I’m so glad that I discovered it, and also for it have been shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. Dutch author, Yael van der Wouden, creates a tautly written story around the life of Isabel in the 1960s who lives a seemingly quiet life in a provincial backwater. But there are secrets to be gradually revealed, which implicate not only Isabel’s family, but also reflect on the politics and culture of Dutch post-war life.”

The Safekeep
Review by Rachel White

“There’s a reason why people queued at midnight outside Tokyo bookshops when this book came out in Japan last year, and why it sold over 150,000 copies in its week of publication. Over forty years in the making, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, is an epic, surreal love story unlike anything else you’ll read this year.”

The City and Its Uncertain Walls
Review by David Faulds

“Funny, surprising, unsettling; an easy read that shocks you with its profundity. A truly enjoyable read that amuses and keeps you on your toes. A mountain appears overnight and impacts the lives of all its neighbours. Ocho worries about his wife’s fidelity, the town drunk throws bricks through people’s windows and two children navigate their family’s eccentricities. It all comes together in a nail biting ending.”

Ghost Mountain
Review by Patrick Neale

“There was a lot of excitement at Jaffe & Neale earlier this year as we were fortunate enough to receive an advanced reading copy of ‘The God of the Woods’. And the verdict is that we all loved this book and have been championing it with a big display in the shop since it was published in early July. It ticks all the boxes for a great summer read: an intriguing page-turning mystery, a family riddled with long-held secrets, an atmospheric setting in the Appalachians and some beautifully written prose to hold it all together.”

The God of the Woods
Review by Rachel White

“A mash up of Richard Powers’ Overstory and the film Arrival. This highly accomplished novel takes us from the depths of the Atlantic to a journey to Mars. It follows the life of Leigh, a young Dutch woman, from her scientific research into extra terrestrial life to the attempts to resolve the climate crisis. Throughout the novel her connection with the earth, desert and sea makes this a spellbinding novel. It’s not science fiction, it’s not a thriller, it’s more.”

In Ascension
Review by Patrick Neale