Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Ten notable cousins in fiction

Jude Cook is the author of Byron Easy, which was published by Heinemann in 2013. He writes for the Guardian, The Spectator, Literary Review, New Statesman, TLS and the i paper, while his essays and short fiction have appeared in Stockholm Review, The Moth, The Tangerine and The Honest Ulsterman, among others. In 2017, he was longlisted for the Pin Drop RA short story award, and in 2018 for the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award. He is an editor for The Literary Consultancy and teaches creative writing at the University of Westminster. He lives in London.

Cook's new novel is Jacob's Advice.

At the Guardian he tagged ten top cousins in fiction, including:
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Another cousin novel with war as its backdrop, How I Live Now is a model of simplicity in comparison to the Cazelets’ byzantine adventures. Daisy is 15 when her father sends her away to live with her four cousins in their extensive country residence. When she falls in love with her cousin Edmond (perhaps an allusion to Austen’s novel) and his “quizzical wise-dog gaze”, she’s forced to negotiate adult emotions for the first time. An engaging debut novel with YA appeal.

Read about the other entries on the list.

How I Live Now is among Melissa Albert's top eight books for Divergent fans.

--Marshal Zeringue