Portside

Saïd Khatibi’s ‘The End of the Sahara,’ the first Algerian crime novel translated from Arabic by Bitter Lemon Press, potently critiques Orientalist fantasies of desert romance.

It is rare to read fiction rooted in workplace life, rare to read fiction that explores the inner-life of a union in conflict within itself and with management. Thus the value of Jonathan Brandow’s Goliath at Sunset.

Born in the Mon Valley, Bonosky transformed from a devout Catholic into a committed Communist writer, chronicling the struggles of working-class immigrants.

A journalist travels across the US to unravel the secrets surrounding the life and death of his Ethiopian immigrant father.

This "brilliant act of novel-making," writes reviewer Orringer, "builds a wholly believable and infinitely faceted reality around" the experiences of two fathers that each lost a child to war, and the friendship that developed between them.

Set against the tumultuous backdrop of modern Syria’s birth pangs, this saga of friendship, freedom and tragedy celebrates Aleppo’s lost past.

Dave Kellaway reviews Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, Demon Copperhead and reflects on her contribution to literary fiction. She is one of the best living writers of the socially engaged novel.

The story is full of very relatable pandemic moments: workers questioning whether it’s safe to go to work or whether they should stay home, streets suddenly emptied, N-95 masks. What makes this all so remarkable is that it was published in 2018...

It’s a surreal experience to read a work of fiction that literally takes everything happening in my neighborhood and turns it into a sweeping epic about Zapatista-inspired guerrilla movements fighting for Puerto Rican liberation