Books by A. K. Blakemore
“The young British novelist A. K. Blakemore follows her cult hit debut The Manningtree Witches with another hard-edged historical novel, The Glutton. This new book is set during the French Revolution and is inspired by a man with an insatiable (perhaps even cannibalistic) appetite reported in an 18th-century paper. At once horrible and hallucinatory, The Glutton should appeal to fans of Ottessa Moshfegh.” Read more...
Cal Flyn, Five Books Editor
“It’s based on real women and real events, but it’s told with an incredible contemporary energy. There are very compelling characters particularly in the person of Rebecca West, a real person. She and her mother Anne were among the very first victims that Hopkins and Stearne singled out. Anne West had form, I suppose. She’d been accused of being a witch several times in the past. So, an obvious target. But what The Manningtree Witches does is portray that mother-daughter relationship in such a beautiful and compelling way, showing how patriarchal institutions prise their closeness apart and contaminate their relationship. The Manningtree Witches is a very beautiful, very vivid book, and it brings across very clearly the plight of these women—and what happens when women are persuaded to disbelieve themselves.” Read more...
The Best Novels about Witches and Witch Hunts
Margaret Meyer, Novelist
Interviews where books by A. K. Blakemore were recommended
The Best Novels about Witches and Witch Hunts, recommended by Margaret Meyer
The figure of the witch recurs across cultures and time periods, and remains a source of fascination even today. Here, Margaret Meyer—author of The Witching Tide, an acclaimed historical novel inspired by a notorious English witch hunt—recommends five brilliant fiction books about witches, and explains how the witch serves as a symbol of female power in a patriarchal society.
The Best Novels of 2021, recommended by Cal Flyn
It’s been another vintage year for fiction. As book sales continue to soar, Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn talks us through her personal highlights: the best new novels to be released in 2021. Her recommendations include a workplace comedy that unfolds through the medium of Slack, a “darkly sardonic” story of a 17th-century witch trial, and a witty novel-of-ideas examining trans parenthood.
Notable New Novels of Summer 2021, recommended by Cal Flyn
Foreign holidays are still looking unlikely for most of us this summer, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to find a spot in a park or garden to relax in the sun with a good book. Here, author and Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn highlights some of the most notable new novels of summer 2021 to help you narrow down your reading options.
New Literary Fiction, recommended by Cal Flyn
To keep up to date with the latest novels coming out, a good place to bookmark is our ‘new literary fiction’ page. Our deputy editor Cal Flyn keeps an eye on the myriad of new novels being published and picks out some of her favourites.
Notable Novels of Fall 2023, recommended by Cal Flyn
Outside it’s autumnal and the nights are drawing in. All the better for admiring the bright lights of publishing’s starriest season, when the shiniest baubles are released in time for the Christmas rush. Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn rounds up the most notable new novels of Fall 2023, including eagerly-awaited books from Zadie Smith and Jesmyn Ward, plus the buzziest new releases in literary fiction and novels-in-translation
