Books to look out for in 2021
Irish fiction
New work that has been a long time coming generates a particular shiver of anticipation.
Small Things Like These (Faber, October) will be Claire Keegan’s first new work since her novella Foster, still a bestseller 10 years on. Her publisher says: “An exquisite wintery parable, Claire Keegan’s long-awaited return tells the story of a simple act of courage and tenderness, in the face of conformity, fear and judgment.” Small Things Like These (Faber, October) will be Claire Keegan’s first new work since her novella Foster, still a bestseller 10 years on. Photograph: Alan Betson
Everything She Touched: The Life of Ruth Asawa by Marilyn Chase (2020). Courtesy of Chronicle Books.
The life and career of Ruth Asawa was nothing short of amazing, as this biography shows. A Japanese American forced to relocate to an internment camp in Arkansas during World War II, she overcame the odds to become an acclaimed artist. Moreover, Asawa channelled that experience into her work, developing a unique style of woven sculptures, her use of wire inspired by the internment camp fences designed to unjustly imprison her people. A graduate of famed Black Mountain College in North Carolina who was mentored by Josef Albers, Asawa maintained a thriving practice even as a mother of six in an interracial marriage. Author Marilyn Chase spent five years researching her life story, drawing in fascinating details on the artist’s letters, diaries, and sketches, and interviewing Asawa’s loved ones. The book also includes 60 images of Asawa and her work, including portraits taken by her
Cape Kidnappers: The luxury lodge where thinking is optional
9 minutes to read
THE SHEER QUANTITY of attractive offers is The Farm s central value proposition: Do you want a sparkling water, wine or beer while you re shown around? Something to eat first? A light snack? A full meal? Food, drink, entertainment, comfort: any and all were available from the moment of my arrival and the duration of my stay.
Maybe you are not interested in the endless offers. Maybe you just want to go to your room, fetch a fancy beer and bag of New Zealand s best chips from the complimentary minibar and to sit outside on the porch, in your undies, in utter privacy and peace, taking in the enormous sweep of the farm, with views out to the coastline and beyond. But, of course, such an act is also the taking up of an offer. So many of the offers at The Farm are like this - not explicitly but rather woven into the design of the place in such a way that you often realise you desire something only after you r