THE STORYTELLER OF CASABLANCA
Fiona Valpy
Lake Union, £8.99
It’s 1941, France has fallen to the Nazis and 12-year-old Jewish girl Josie has fled with her family to Morocco, where they await a ship that will take them to the USA. Casablanca is an exciting place for Josie, a feast for her young senses, but even there it’s a tense time for a Jewish family. Seventy years later, when Zoe’s husband Tom is posted to Casablanca, she hopes that the move will save their failing marriage. Beneath the floorboards in her daughter’s bedroom, she finds Josie’s diary, and is captivated by her account, finding comfort in the young girl’s words as she tries to get through this difficult phase of her life and confront the fact that her relationship with her husband isn’t her only problem. Valpy moves her beguiling story along at a leisurely pace, building slowly to a couple of twists that pack quite an emotional punch.
THE GLASGOW EFFECT
Ellie Harrison
Luath Press, £9.99
In 2016, artist Ellie Harrison carried out a year-long project commenting on inequality and climate change which involved pursuing various forms of social activism without leaving Glasgow or using private transport. Its title, “The Glasgow Effect”, referred to the lower life expectancy in Glasgow compared to similar cities. The first part of this book explores the political and personal journey Harrison took to reach that point, against a backdrop of neoliberalism and globalisation, while the second is taken up with the furious debate her project sparked, and how her mental health suffered as a result of the backlash. Alongside her personal experiences, she has many pertinent observations to make about neoliberalism, equality, local democracy, public transport, health and employment. However, despite the title, there’s less than you’d expect about the Glasgow Effect project itself – because, she says, she doesn’t want to tarnish its various initiatives by association – which could leave readers feeling shortchanged.
PUPA
JO Morgan
Henningham Family Press, £12.99
At heart, Pupa is a story about being reluctant to let a soulmate move on with her life, but you have to dig through some disturbing imagery to get to Edinburgh-born Morgan’s poignant and rather touching message. In an alternate world where humans have a different life-cycle, Sal and his best friend Megan are two of the grey-skinned, sexless larvals, who can choose to remain as they are or pupate into adult human forms. Sal is happy to stay as he is, but when Megan decides to metamorphose he chooses to watch over her during the risky process. It’s a world where sex is seen as animalistic and frightening, and entering adulthood is something done furtively, in darkened, humid rooms, and not talked about. But, for all the book’s unsettling physicality, the innocent and well-meaning Sal, with all his doubts and fears, makes an even more lasting impression than all the body horror.
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