Honeybees and Distant Thunder
Riku Onda (translated by Philip Gabriel)
Doubleday, £12.99, pp432
Set over two weeks of a fictional piano competition in Japan, Onda’s novel is a thrilling and often nail-biting depiction of music, friendship and personal demons. Aya is a former prodigy who has not played in public since her mother’s death. Akashi balances music with work and fatherhood, while precocious Jin is a disruptor in this rarefied world. Onda beautifully conveys the transcendent power of classical music in all its emotive, psychological and visceral glory.
Cry of the Wild: Eight Animals Under Siege
Charles Foster
Doubleday, £16.99, pp256
Foster’s latest, highly imaginative work of creative nonfiction envisages the lives of animals, from gannets to otters, in this harsh, human-dominated world. An urban fox cub befriends a young girl before encountering the terror of a hunt, while an orca matriarch is shot at by rampaging day-trippers on boats. Evocative and beautifully written, it’s a deeply immersive read.
Our Missing Hearts
Celeste Ng
Abacus, £9.99, pp352 (paperback)
Set in a dystopian near future, Ng’s outstanding third novel envisages a draconian US in which Asians and Asian-Americans are treated with mistrust, contempt and violence. Twelve-year-old Bird was eight when his Chinese-American mother vanished, after which his father destroyed every trace of her. When Bird receives a mysterious letter from her, it sets him on a quest to uncover the cause of her disappearance. Exploring the insidious repercussions of repressive regimes, the novel is a cautionary tale, a moving family drama and a compelling testament to the power of art.
To order Honeybees and Distant Thunder, Cry of the Wild or Our Missing Hearts go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
