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The Suede bassist’s second novel, a grimy tale of two young urchins in 17th-century London, is a florid but riveting readIf one tends to approach the side projects of those already successful in other mediums with a certain wariness, then it’s only because so many such side projects can whiff of self-indulgence. Not every songwriter is a TV presenter-in-waiting, just as not every actor is as accomplished a painter as they may like to think, no matter how splattered their smock.Mat Osman does not fall into this bracket. For a rock star – he’s one of the founding members of the band Suede and continues to serve as their bassist – the 55-year-old may just be a born writer. There were intimations of this three years ago with the publication of his impressively atmospheric debut novel, The Ruins, which looked inwards for its inspiration, as rock star-written novels tend to do: both Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles and James’s frontman, Tim Booth, for example, have either new or upcoming books that also feature singers in a lead role. Continue reading...