Some of 2020’s Best Books (with a Notts connection)

The Fall of the House of Byron: Scandal and Seduction in Georgian England by Emily Brand

Emily Brand’s research into the colourful eighteenth-century ancestry of the 6th Lord Byron has resulted in the publishing of a dramatic and scandal-filled family saga unfolding over three generations, setting the stage for the rise of the nation’s most revered (and on occasion reviled) Romantic poet. Following the lives of three siblings – a flirtatious countess desperately seeking true love, a villainous lord maligned as a murderer, and a navy hero with the century’s most remarkable tale of survival (the poet’s grandfather) – it offers an exciting and sweeping history of eighteenth-century Britain, through the eyes of a once notorious family now shrouded in legend.

More Non-Fiction:

Nottinghamshire (Pevsner’s Guide) by Clare Hartwell, Nikolaus Pevsner and Elizabeth Williamson.

A definitive guide to our buildings, this richly illustrated volume offers an enlightening introduction to the memorable and surprising structures of Notts. The county features the exquisite medieval churches of Newark, Worksop Priory, and Southwell Minster, whilst our country houses offer a fascinating range of architectural styles: Wollaton Hall shows Elizabethan architecture at its most fantastic, and Bunny Hall demonstrates the English Baroque at its most bizarre. Newstead Abbey, home of the poet Lord Byron, incorporates the haunting monastic ruins from a former Augustinian abbey. The city of Nottingham teems with Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings, and is enlivened by a local tradition of first-rate Modernist architecture. 

Nottingham: The Postcard Collection by Alan Spree

Author Alan Spree has drawn on a remarkable selection of old postcards to give a pictorial record of life in Nottingham from the late nineteenth century to the early 1950s. Although much of Nottingham has changed over the years, many landmarks have remained and will be familiar today. The postcards show the changes to Nottingham’s fabric and its community adapting and changing over the course of this period.

Fiction:

The Catch by T M Logan

Ed finally meets his daughter's boyfriend for the first time. Smart, successful and handsome, Ryan appears to be a real catch. Then Abbie announces their plan to get married. There's just one problem. Ed thinks Ryan is lying to them. All of Ed's instincts tell him his daughter is in terrible danger - but no-one else can see it. With the wedding date approaching fast, Ed sets out to uncover Ryan's secrets, before it's too late… Another page-turner from Nottingham’s latest million selling novelist.  

Devil Gun by Steve Pickering

Set in the 19^th century, this tale of danger and friendship follows the life of a Denim Armstrong: from working on his father’s farm, to hardship at sea aboard the Endurance, to a life on the run from both British Navy (for mutiny) and the Pinkertons (for murder). The story takes us across the turbulent Atlantic and the treacherous landscape of the Wild West, where we witness revenge killings, showdowns and turns of fortune with memorable, and sometimes notorious, historical characters that shape Denim's destiny. Never predictable, this debut novel (available in hardback and paperback) is a good old fashioned adventure story. The author was educated at Birklands Secondary Modern School in Warsop.  

If I Never Met You by Mhari Macfarlane

Laurie and Jamie have the perfect office romance. Everyone can see they're head over heels. This must be true love. Only, they’re faking it all. When Laurie is dumped by her partner of eighteen years, she's blindsided. Not only does she feel humiliated, they still have to work together. So when she gets stuck in the lift with handsome colleague Jamie, they hatch a plan to stage the perfect romance. Revenge will be sweet... But this fauxmance is about to get complicated. You can't break your heart in a fake relationship - can you? Always funny, always emotional, Macfarlane’s novels are a treat.

Poetry:

Sweet Nothings by Rory Waterman

Rory Waterman, a Senior Lecturer in English at Nottingham Trent University, brings us a book of hopes and passions - quiet and lyrical at times, but also fiercely witty and bold. The poems sometimes come in sequences; always they are in dialogue with one another, responding, echoing - within and between the book's two sections. At times, the leitmotifs are apparently personal, exploring divisions and painful losses. But we also encounter the largely invented academic Dr Bob Pintle, an anti-hero of the modern university system. 

Alan Sillitoe - Selected Poems Chosen by Ruth Fainlight

Drawn from Alan Sillitoe’s eight volumes of poetry, this selection has been chosen by his wife, the poet Ruth Fainlight. Presented here are poems that present the world as Sillitoe saw it. Using a storyteller’s skill, he brought to life the people and places that captured his imagination and took him on a search for meaning. It’s a vision that is at the same time clear and precise, politically engaged, fiercely intelligent, and deeply personal. 

Get Over Yourself by Leanne Moden

A biographical delve into belonging, exclusion, and the relationship between self-awareness and self-delusion, the rejection of social norms, and the ways in which we accept and question implied cultural rules. The poems in this collection question received wisdom, playfully unravelling the awkward and the bizarre aspects of modern life. Leanne’s poetry is an exploration of human failures and resilience, the things that make us angry, and the things that make us laugh. There’s social commentary ('A Piece of the Pie'), humour ('Bad Kisser') and wisdom ('Call and Response') as Moden brings us her take on modern life. 

Herd Queen by Di Slaney

Di Slaney is a poet, publisher and animal sanctuary founder who lives in Nottinghamshire. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University and owns Candlestick Press. Since 2005, Di Slaney has been filling her ancient Nottinghamshire farmhouse and its land with more livestock than is sensible. Herd Queen’s heroines remember teenage trysts, do battle with the slings and arrows of ageing, collage a poem from Prince lyrics and dream of achieving Shirley Bassey-hood in their seventies. 

Loves Burn by Kevin Jackson

A queer activist, Kevin Jackson writes poetry that “dares us to care”. His new poetry collection is ‘Loves Burn’, a book that sets out its stall on love with a patient probing, a tender curiosity that seems to place the narrator in that place where poetry uniquely exists - on the edge. 

Honourable mention: 

Speak Up My Voice Anthology

Across prose, poetry and script, the young writers explore racism, homophobia, bodies and gendered violence, the climate crisis, and the principle of taking a stand. The contributions to this anthology encourage the reader to experience the fears and anxieties young people experience to powerful effect.