Footprints In Spain by Simon Courtald (Quartet, £11.99)
This might be a politically insensitive time for a book celebrating the connections between Britain and Spain, but Simon Courtauld wasn’t to know that when he embarked on it. The British presence in the Iberian Peninsula spans centuries, and some names spring quickly to mind, like George Orwell and Laurie Lee in the Spanish Civil War. Courtauld digs deeper, and takes us on a tour of Spain that shows how Britain left its mark on the country and vice versa. We go from Huelva, where the largely Scottish workforce of Rio Tinto lived in a district inspired by English garden cities like Letchworth and Welwyn, to Cadiz, where the female population was much admired by the likes of Byron and Disraeli. And let’s not forget Queen Victoria’s father, who kept a mistress in Andalucia. With the exception of package holidays and retired English ex-pats, Britain’s links with Spain tend always to be underplayed, so little revelations abound in every chapter.
The Long Shadow Of Small Ghosts by Laura Tillman (Corsair, £8.99)
As a young reporter, Laura Tillman covered a dispute in poverty-stricken Brownsville, Texas, close to the Mexican border, over whether the building in which a couple murdered their three children should be demolished. She was convinced that there had to be a larger story behind the crime, something to be learned from it, and began corresponding with the imprisoned John Allen Rubio, the children’s father. After years spent interviewing anyone connected with the case, this very personal account documents her search for some kind of meaning. Tillman herself is at the centre of the story, which arguably detracts from the wider context she’s trying to explore. The issue of poverty and deprivation among the Hispanic community is clearly what she wants to illuminate, but ultimately it’s something she doesn’t seem equipped enough to deal with. At the very least, this book sheds light on the killer’s upbringing and stands as a lasting tribute to the three children who lost their lives.
Swing Time by Zadie Smith (Penguin, £8.99)
Smith’s fifth novel kicks off in 1982 as two seven-year-old mixed-race girls meet in a West London church hall, both with ambitions to become dancers. They become best friends, but friction between them can be predicted from the contrasting attitudes of their mothers: Tracey’s mum indulges her whims, while the unnamed narrator’s is dedicated to self-improvement and consciousness-raising. Tracey makes it as a dancer, but the narrator has a different future in store, becoming PA to a successful singer. Swing Time questions, among other things, how we measure success, as the narrator accompanies her boss to a West African village where she’s funding a school and sees none of its positive attributes, only deficiencies. Throughout, race, class and gender rub up against themes of ambition, parental expectation, cultural appropriation and happiness, with the shadow of betrayal overhanging it all. It’s Zadie Smith back at the height of her powers again, in a worthy successor to her debut, White Teeth.
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