Peter Parker
The New Zealand novelist Catherine Chidgey ought to be much more celebrated in this country than she is. Do not be put off by the fact that The Axeman’s Carnival (Europa, £14.99) is narrated by a magpie; whimsy is entirely absent from this highly original, thrillingly dark and often very funny novel. The bird is adopted by the wife of a cash-strapped farmer and learns to speak, becoming an internet sensation and so providing useful income. At the same time, its guileless chatter includes picked-up phrases that inadvertently expose what is really going on in the household where it has made its home.
Treat of the year was Sheila Robinson’s Balance, Humanity and Nature (Random Spectacular, £27.50), a clumsily titled but beautifully produced and lavishly illustrated account of the life and work of this wonderful printmaker and illustrator, whose career has sometimes been overshadowed by the other (male) artists associated with Great Bardfield.
Daniel Swift
Caroline Lucas was the UK’s first Green party MP and also did a PhD in English Literature.
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