Avril Hoare

News presenter, reporter and bibliophile.

Eithne Shortall: the end of love and the beginning of love

Reviewed: Grace After Henry by Eithne Shortall

Avril Hoare welcomes a heartfelt story of death, and life, the end of love and the beginning of love in Eithne Shortall's new novel, Grace After Henry, now out in paperback.

Books • 08 Feb 19

Jon McGregor's Reservoir Tapes is now out in paperback

Review: The Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor

Now out in paperback, Jon McGregor's The Reservoir Tapes takes its time to explore the ordinariness of life, the ebbs and flows, the unimaginable and the banal, says Avril Hoare, who welcomes the follow-up to the acclaimed Reservoir 13.

Books • 18 Sep 18

Helen Cullen: her much-anticipated debut was written as part of the Guardian/UEA (University of East Anglia) novel-writing program

Reviewed: Helen Cullen's Lost Letters of William Woolf

What happens to lost letters? In Helen Cullen's debut novel, The Lost Letters of William Woolf, they end up in the Dead Letters Depot in east London, where William Woolf works as a detective. His job, to reunite those letters with their rightful owners.

Culture • 10 Jul 18

Eithne Shortall: love doesn't have to be picture-perfect

Reviewed: Grace after Henry by Eithne Shortall

Avril Hoare welcomes a heartfelt story of death, and life, the end of love and the beginning of love in Eithne Shortall's new povel, Grace After Henry.

Books • 18 May 18

Melissa Hill: her latest novel, just out in paperback, explores two different parenting styles in the context of tough decisions

Reviewed: Keep you Safe by Melissa Hill

There is plenty to think about in Melissa Hill's absorbing novel concering the topical and divisive subject of vaccination, writes Avril Hoare. It presents both sides of the argument, pro and anti.

Books • 13 Apr 18

Jon McGregor's novelisation of his radio serial, The Reservoir Tapes is heartily welcomed by Avril Hoare

Reviewed: The Reservoir Tapes by Jon McGregor

Jon McGregor's The Reservoir Tapes takes its time to explore the ordinariness of life, the ebbs and flows, the unimaginable and the banal, says Avril Hoare who welcomes the follow-up to Reservoir 13.

Books • 20 Mar 18

John Boyne - his much-acclaimed novel, The Heart's Invisible Furies now out in paperback

Reviewed: The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Who is he? This is the central, burning question concerning the character Cyril Avery in John Boyne's ambitious The Heart's Invisible Furies, now out in paperback and in the charts. Avril Hoare was enthralled.

Books • 26 Feb 18

Jon McGregor: Costa Prize-winning author of one of the most popular novels of 2017, Reservoir 13, now out in paperback

Reviewed: Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor

Long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and winner of the Costa Novel Award - both in 2017 - Reservoir 13 numbered among many Book of the Year lists. A young girl goes missing in the rural English midlands and the mystery is how life goes on as normal.

Books • 16 Feb 18

Melissa Hill: "writes with authority about a subject that is controversial and without much grey area."

Reviewed: Keep You Safe by Melissa Hill

There is plenty to think about in Melissa Hill's absorbing new novel, Keep You Safe about the topical and divisive subject of vaccination, writes Avril Hoare. It presents both sides of the argument, pro and anti, and leaves it to the reader to decide.

Books • 19 Oct 17

Carmel Harrington: heart, humour and hope.

Review: Carmel Harrington's The Woman at 72 Derry Lane

Carmel Harrington's new novel deals with a woman suffering at the hands of an abusive husband. Avril Hoare declares it to be full of "heart, humour and hope"

Books • 19 Jun 17