‘Redolent with tamarind and chilli, fried fish and coconut milk’ – Bangkok Days by Lawrence Osborne
‘Osborne’s Bangkok is one of unexpected beauty and unrelenting poverty, of hospitals with bars selling alcohol, of Buddhist monks and drug addicts, of bar girls called Bum and Cartoon. Osborne’s writing has a buzz and an energy about it, rather like the city itself. Using this as a guide rather than a Lonely Planet might get you into parts of the city you would not normally see but it would be worth it.’ Steve Finbow reviews Lawrence Osborne’s Bangkok Days…
‘Mesmerised by a strap of blue plastic dancing in the wind’ – Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
‘None of the different voices make the story drag, and the tension increases steadily – along with the wind pressure and the machine-gun fire – so that by the last pages I was clenched up tight in anticipation of the end – not, I hasten to add, that I wanted it to end. Despite the content – war, betrayal, suicide, disability, natural disaster – it’s finally a hopeful tale about love and redemption.’ Valerie O’Riordan reviews Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
