Our Fiction Book of the Month for February is The Gustav Sonata, Rose Tremain's finely-tuned and expertly measured account of the indelible impact of a lifelong friendship built in the aftermath of war. Two young boys, Gustav and Anton, form a lasting bond; coloured by social, religious and family division and the legacy of personal and national neutrality. Writing for The Observer, Hannah Beckerman described the boys’ relationship as ‘a powerful, profound and unexpected love story', and the book itself as 'a masterful, meditative novel'. Waterstones Online's Martha Greengrass caught up with Tremain to discuss some of the many themes underpinning the novel: the wide-ranging cost of reticence, the music of fiction and the vital importance of friendship.
On the eve of her new novel The Gustav Sonata's publication, Orange and Whitbread-winning author Rose Tremain looks back on forty years of writing and the unexpected places it has taken her.
In an exclusive piece for Waterstones, author Mark Haddon discusses Granta magazine, the art of the short story and the immediacy of reportage.
With the publication today of her new collection of short stories, The American Lover, Rose Tremain considers her relationship with this most intriguing of literary forms.
The shortlist for this year's BBC National Short Story Award once again proves that incredible things come in small packages.
Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, Margaret Atwood and Hilary Mantel are among the first big names announced for this year's The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival.
Nathan Filer has beaten bookies' favourite Kate Atkinson and other established names to win the Costa Book of the Year for 2013...
Kate Atkinson, Chris Riddell and Michael Symmons Roberts are among the winners who will now go on to compete for the overall Costa Book of the Year prize...
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