A wonderful novel moving between the Shah's Iran, Bahrain and England, in which the murky origins of an English family's wealth emerge following the disappearance of a Cambridge student in E... read more
An artist joins an island community of impoverished like-minded souls. When the island's owner pushes up the rent, a conflict ensues in which the dispossessed protest against gentrification.
A powerful exploration of illicit desire, in which a 17-year-old girl has a crush on a friend of her parents that turns on some dark events of 24 years previously.
Friends are hard to find for Jon Swift, an aging journalist whose career is on the ropes. A chance encounter with an old friend from Tiananmen Square days leads to power games in China, with... read more
Soon after her husband leaves her, Pru goes to a friend's funeral - but it's the wrong one. She has such fun that she buys a black dress and starts attending strangers' funerals quite delibe... read more
Petterson has not been kind to his protagonist, removing from him by traumatic means his wife, three daughters, parents and brothers. It is no surprise that he is pole-axed by grief; will Pe... read more