Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
Latest editorial
Lewis folds love, war and politics in a memorably epic embrace
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
My Beautiful Imperial
by Rhiannon Lewis
(Victorina Press, £9.99)
“A FRAMED set of etchings and an old photograph album were almost all I had to go on when I began my research 20 years ago. Once I started, I was hooked. At every turn, the story became more incredible,” Rhiannon Lewis says in her epilogue to this novel, based on real people and events.
And what a story she's written. It tells of David Jefferson Davis, “Davy,” a young farmer living in rural Wales in the 1860s whose family life is suddenly torn apart by a tragic incident involving the death of his little sister Elen for which he is mistakenly blamed.
Forced to leave home and following in the steps of his father and grandfather before him, Davy embarks on a career at sea that eventually takes him all over the world.
Similar stories
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America
![CS Lewis in 1947 [Pic: Scan of photograph by Arthur Strong]](https://dev.morningstaronline.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/desktop/public/2025-04/Untitled-1.jpg.webp?itok=2jzsrA-s)
After a ruinous run at Tolkien, the streaming platforms are moving on to Narnia — a naff mix of religious allegory, colonial attitudes, and thinly veiled prejudices that is beyond rescuing, writes STEPHEN ARNELL
An outstanding novel by Chilean writer and activist Pedro Lemebel, a poetry pamphlet by Venezuelan Natasha Tiniacos, and a children’s book of haikus singing the beauty of Cuba
LEO BOIX selects the best books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction written by Latinx and Latin American authors published this year