93 ratings | 51 reviews | avg rating:4.27

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Rowena Macdonald

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Twitter

RowenaMacdonald

Genre

Fiction

Member Since

November 2020

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/rowenamarymacdonald

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I was born on the Isle of Wight, grew up in the West Midlands and now live in East London. I've published two books: Smoked Meat (Flambard Press) a collection of interlinked stories set in Montreal, which was shortlisted for the 2012 Edge Hill Prize, and The Threat Level Remains Severe (Gallic Books), which is set in the House of Commons, where I have worked for many years, and was shortlisted for the Guardian's 2017 Not the Booker Prize. ...more

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Rowena Macdonald’s books

Average rating: 3.49 · 238 ratings · 46 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Threat Level Remains Severe 3.42 avg rating — 220 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Smoked Meat 4.47 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Little Roasts liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

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Rowena Macdonald rated a book it was amazing Flesh by David Szalay	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Compulsively readable, clever, devastating ending. But I was frustrated by the sparseness, the flatness, the unreflectiveness of Istvàn, even though all that was the point of the novel. I wanted more flavour but he is being deliberately restrained. H ...more
Jul 11, 2026 10:53AM · like · see review
Rowena Macdonald and 1491 other people liked Meike's review of Flesh: "Now Winner of the Booker Prize 2025 Oooohh, this is a tough one: I can see what others appreciate about the book, but if you make me plough through an intentionally non-immersive novel, I need more meat on that bone. Szalay tells the story of István, " Read more of this review »
Jul 02, 2026 03:57PM · see review
Rowena Macdonald rated a book it was amazing Flesh by David Szalay	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Compulsively readable, clever, devastating ending. But I was frustrated by the sparseness, the flatness, the unreflectiveness of Istvàn, even though all that was the point of the novel. I wanted more flavour but he is being deliberately restrained. H ...more
Jul 02, 2026 03:56PM · like · see review
Rowena Macdonald and 82 other people liked Blair's review of Flesh: "The first chapter of Flesh sets the template. At 15 years old, our protagonist István is groomed into a sexual relationship with a female neighbour more than twice his age. This is something that happens to István; he goes along with it. He is powerl" Read more of this review »
Jul 02, 2026 03:53PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Flesh by David Szalay. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Flesh by David Szalay <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rowena Macdonald and 132 other people liked switterbug (Betsey)'s review of Flesh: "[4.5] Flesh is a reminder that you don’t come to brilliant contemporary literature to find a role model or a friend. The novel’s protagonist, István, grew up meager in Hungary, living with his mother at a housing estate. He had jobs as a bouncer and i" Read more of this review »
Jul 02, 2026 03:52PM · see review
Rowena Macdonald finished reading Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 30, 2026 11:32AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rowena Macdonald rated a book liked it The Night Bus Hero by Onjali Q. Raúf	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Read this to my daughter. She quite enjoyed it. It was fine, I guess, but not as good as the classics. Didn't capture the atmosphere of London. A little bit bland, I guess. ...more
Apr 13, 2026 08:13AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Night Bus Hero by Onjali Q. Raúf. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Night Bus Hero by Onjali Q. Raúf <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rowena Macdonald rated a book really liked it How Not to Be a Political Wife by Sarah Vine	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Hilariously awful. It has this nauseating tone that I'm struggling to describe; snobbishly confiding is the best I can do. Like a very extended Daily Mail feature (given she's a DM columnist, this is unsurprising). I'm giving it 5 stars for readabili ...more
Apr 13, 2026 08:09AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of How Not to Be a Political Wife by Sarah Vine. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — How Not to Be a Political Wife by Sarah Vine <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rowena Macdonald rated a book liked it Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A quick read. Interesting back story by Trump's niece. Explains a great deal why he is as he is. Slightly repetitive though. She goes on and on about how her grandfather and Donald wronged her late father. They probably did, but I wanted more insight ...more
Apr 13, 2026 08:09AM · like · see review
Rowena Macdonald rated a book liked it Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A quick read. Interesting back story by Trump's niece. Explains a great deal why he is as he is. Slightly repetitive though. She goes on and on about how her grandfather and Donald wronged her late father. They probably did, but I wanted more insight ...more
Apr 13, 2026 08:06AM · like · see review