10 saturday review Saturday May 28 2022 | the times
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True History of the Kelly Gang
Peter Carey 2000
This rollicking, immersive fictional con-
fession of the legendary Australian outlaw
Ned Kelly is an edge-of-your-seat adven-
ture story. Peter Carey uses an initially im-
penetrable Irish-tinged vernacular for
Kelly’s life story but, once your ear is at-
tuned, a vivid, thrilling world of bush-
ranging, gunfights, heartbreak and danger
opens up and draws you in. MK
White Teeth Zadie Smith 2000
A depressive East End handyman. A Ben-
gali Muslim war veteran. A beautiful and
dissatisfied Jamaican woman with fake
front teeth. A brilliant Jewish geneticist
who experiments on mice. Zadie Smith put
all the world into her debut novel — or, at
least, all of northwest London’s immigrant
community, rebuilding their lives in the
wake of the Second World War. SG
Atonement Ian McEwan 2001
The story starts in 1935 in a country house.
Briony thinks she sees her elder sister,
Cecilia, being raped by the housekeeper’s
son. She is mistaken — well, she is a primly
judgmental 13-year-old — but Robbie is
jailed. War is soon upon the characters. Is
there any hope of happiness for Robbie and
Cecilia? Can Briony atone for her error?
This novel is the one that Ian McEwan
should have won the Booker for. RM
The Falls Ian Rankin 2001
The murder of a banker’s daughter and the
discovery of a doll in a tiny coffin
appears to be linked to 16 similar
coffins found in Edinburgh in- The Quizmaster, an online
gamer, leaves clues to the identity
of the killer. It was with this com-
plex, fascinating novel that Ian
Rankin took his place in the pan-
theon of great (crime) writers. MS
Any Human Heart William Boyd
2002
Real people and events are a feature of Any
Human Heart: Ian Fleming was responsi-
ble for recruiting the protagonist, Logan
Mountstuart, to naval intelligence during
the Second World War; several actual
writers are featured as characters; the
whole book is presented as the lifelong
journals of Mountstuart, whose life spans
key episodes of the 20th century. The over-
all effect is the creation of a life that feels
tangible. Intensely readable. SSThe Impressionist Hari Kunzru 2002
The hype surrounding this novel when it
was published may have distracted some
readers from the fact that it is bold and
original. The story of Pran Nath, the pro-
duct of a relationship between an English
father and an Indian mother, confronts the
heavy subjects of miscegenation and colo-
nialism in a fantastically accessible way. SSThe Night Watch Sarah Waters 2006
Time runs backwards from 1947 to 1941 in
Sarah Waters’s finest novel. The cast fea-
tures Kay, an ambulance driver, her lover,Helen; Robert (posh conchie)
and Duncan (common conch-
ie); Duncan’s sister and her
married soldier boy; and the
crime writer Julia. Their paths
crisscross as they look for love,
sex and security in wartorn
London. An ambitious work of
mystery and memory. MSImperium Robert Harris
2006
Despite having had what passes these days
for a classical education, I could never get
straight the sequence of events that led to
the end of the Republic and the beginning
of the Empire. Now I know, thanks to the
Cicero trilogy, which starts with Imperium.
Robert Harris is a modern Dickens: a Fleet
Street hack turned lavish storyteller, a
deeply political man and a terrible gossip,
who rattles out a book every 18 months or
so, some brilliant, some good in parts,
others a bit crap, probably because his
mind is already on the next one. This is his
Bleak House. GCWolf Hall Hilary Mantel 2009
“So now get up.” The first words of Hilary
Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell
prompt shivers in devotees. The three
books won two Booker prizes and endless
accolades. Wolf Hall follows the rise of
Cromwell, from Cardinal Wolsey’s loyal
servant to king’s counsellor. Mantel’s de-
piction of a ruthless but humane politician
and his relationship with a capricious king
is a masterpiece. ASOne Day David Nicholls 2009
Emma and Dexter, two students at the
University of Edinburgh, have a post-
finals fling on July 15, 1988, and are revisit-
ed on the same day over 20 years. One Day
is packed with insights into relationships,
loneliness and ageing. It is defined by clear,
funny prose and sharp dialogue. Wonder-
fully readable. SSThe Past Tessa Hadley 2015
The greatest “Hampstead adultery novel”
of the 21st century is not set in Hampstead
but in an old country house where a
middle-class family have decamped to
holiday. They are impelled by sex, family
jealousy and the secret of the past. Tessa
Hadley’s superb descriptive gift and psy-
chological insight make this book
irresistible. It’s a special treat to see such
convincing 21st-century characters (the
LSE student Kasim, the moody teenager
Molly) written up by a novelist who has so
brilliantly mastered all the old-school
tricks. JMNormal People Sally Rooney 2018
We’re living in the midst of a Sally Rooney
backlash — which only proves how big her
impact has been. Normal People, her second
novel, is the best. It’s about the disjointed
love affair between two Irish teenagers,
from their school days to university. Crit-
ics who accuse her writing of coldness miss
the counterbalance: those astonishing sen-
tences about love — bloody with warmth
and sentiment — that burst through the
pages like mountain springs. SGjubilee books
ofAnyH a i m c c s L m I 2The Remains
of the Day
stiff upper lip
Anthony Hopkins
and Emma Thompson