Books of the month: From Melissa Broder’s Death Valley to Madonna’s biography

Martin Chilton reviews the biggest new books for October in our monthly column

(iStock/The Independent)

Madonna, the best-selling female recording artist of all time, turned 65 this year. Her life is celebrated in a comprehensive, cuttings-heavy 850-page biography by Mary Gabriel called Madonna: A Rebel Life (Coronet). The account includes the tale of when the singer appeared on the London stage in 2002 and made a placard for her door calling herself “Judi F-cking Dench”. It also details the American’s time in England with husband Guy Ritchie. “Though a long-time vegetarian, she learned to shoot birds so she could share the activity with her husband at a storied estate they bought in the British countryside,” Gabriel notes. Ah well, a spell in the Wiltshire country set obviously does strange things to a music “rebel”.

My favourite memoir of the month, however, is Werner Herzog’s Every Man for Himself and God Against All (Vintage), which offers a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an original, anarchic filmmaker. His family tales are weird and funny – the hoarding aunt with only one set of undergarments, for example – and he gives revealing accounts of his professional career and acting roles on hit shows such as The Simpsons and The Mandalorian.

In the novel Julia, Sandra Newman reimagines George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four from a feminist perspective, through the eyes of Ministry of Truth worker Julia Worthing. In one tense moment, Orwell’s protagonist Winston Smith tells Julia: “I hated the sight of you. I wanted to rape you and then murder you afterwards.” Julia is a bold, disquieting novel.