Book of the week: Letters to Camondo
Edmund de Waal pens a unique companion volume to his 2010 bestseller The Hare with Amber Eyes

Katherine Heiny’s 2017 novel Standard Deviation – about an ill-matched married couple – was “to my mind one of the best, and funniest” of recent years, said India Knight in The Sunday Times. Her new one may be “even better”. It tells the story of Jane, a primary school teacher who moves to a small town in Michigan and begins dating “an exceptionally handsome woodworker”. He is perfect for her in just about every respect, except, as Jane discovers, for one: he has “slept with every sleepable-with woman in the county”. As someone whose “expectations are traditional”, Jane finds this increasingly troubling (though for the reader its effect is “cumulatively hilarious”). Weighty and tender – and at times “profoundly sad” – this is a book that “takes the tiny stuff of everyday life and makes it big and meaningful”.
On its surface this novel “exudes sitcom cosiness”, said Hephzibah Anderson in The Observer. Don’t be fooled: it is a work of “deadpan charm” that offers many “sharp truths” about small-town life. It’s like “Anne Tyler with added grunge”.
4th Estate 336pp £14.99; The Week Bookshop £11.99
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869–1939
Feature Wrightwood 659, Chicago, through Aug. 2
-
Why the FDA wants to restrict kratom-related products
In the Spotlight The compound is currently sold across the United States
-
Israeli NGOs have started referring to Gaza as a 'genocide' — will it matter?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION For the first time since fighting began in 2023, two Israeli rights groups have described their country's actions in the Gaza Strip as 'genocide' while famine threatens the blockaded Palestinian territory
-
Friendship: 'bromance' comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson
The Week Recommends 'Lampooning and embracing' middle-aged male loneliness, this film is 'enjoyable and funny'
-
Shangri-La Paris: an elegant Parisian grande dame
The Week Recommends Soak up views of the Eiffel Tower from your terrace at this opulent hotel
-
Museum exhibitions across the globe are in artful bloom this spring. These are 5 to experience.
The Week Recommends See treasures from ancient Japan, Versailles and the Forbidden City
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own room
Speed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
All change at the Louvre
In The Spotlight Emmanuel Macron announces overhaul of the Louvre following a series of issues
-
Love design? These hotels are ready to startle your eyes and drop your jaw.
The Week Recommends A treasure trove of curios and resplendent decor await
-
Monet and London: an 'enthralling' exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery
The Week Recommends 'Misty, mysterious' paintings of London are a 'revelation'
-
Inside Chopard's hotel on Place Vendôme
The Blend Swiss jewellery maison Chopard unveils its new jewel, an ultra-exclusive Parisian hotel that elevates the art of hospitality