Looking back on the year that has passed, it’s time to celebrate some of the best books we have read. Best of year posts are springing up all over the place, and with so many great books to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which ones deserve a special mention. This year, I have read far fewer books than usual, but I am still excited to share my top ten picks.
In the past, I have picked twelve books for twelve months, but this year I have decided to stick to ten. My list is representative of my reading habits, which mainly consist of fiction, mostly written by women, some backlisted, some translated, and a couple of newer titles. So without further ado, here are the top ten books I read in 2022, in the order that I read them:
- The Narrows by Ann Petry (1953) A novel about love, lust, class, racism, tabloid journalism, the truth, and betrayal, The Narrows is flawlessly written. The story is set in Monmouth, Connecticut, in a Black community within a largely White town. The narrative shifts between characters, making it a complex yet compelling read.
- Random Commentary by Dorothy Whipple (1966) A compilation of pieces from Dorothy Whipple’s journals and notebooks, Random Commentary is a thorough delight for any Whipple fan. The journals were kept intermittently, and Whipple later copied out extracts that she thought might interest her readers.
- Fools of Fortune by William Trevor (1983) Told mainly in two first-person narratives, Fools of Fortune is a haunting and tender novel that spans a period from just after the First World War to the 1980s.
- The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (2021) Set in Cyprus and London, The Island of Missing Trees is a poignant story of love and trauma. It tells a story of belonging and identity through three time periods, the late 2010s, the early 2000s, and 1974, with one unforgettable narrator.
- Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (2020) The story of an American-Ghanaian family in Alabama, Transcendent Kingdom is a stunning and intelligent novel about family life, loss, grief, addiction, science, and faith.
- Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro (2007) Translated by Frances Riddle, Elena Knows is a deeply heartfelt novel about a woman’s search for the truth about her daughter’s death. The novel is subtle and beautiful in its portrayal of Elena and her daughter, as well as the vulnerability and frustrations of someone living with a debilitating health condition.
- War Among Ladies by Eleanor Scott (1928) Reissued by The British Library as part of their women writer’s series, War Among Ladies is a devastating portrait of women teachers and 1920s education. The novel is a political and petty rivalry in a 1920s staffroom, showing how the choices for unmarried women who needed to earn a living were limited and how difficult their lives were.
- Two Thousand Million Man Power by Gertrude Trevelyan (1937) The novel concerns Robert Thomas and Katherine Bott from New Year’s Eve 1919 until the funeral of King George V in 1936. Throughout these years, they change and grow, experiencing youthful radical idealism, economic boom and bust, terrible poverty, unemployment, and comfortable middle-class life in the suburbs with all the trappings.
- Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima (1978) Translated by Geraldine Harcourt, Territory of Light tells the story of an unnamed woman’s first year parenting her daughter
