Snow Country by Sebastian FaulksThis is another epic love story of timeless resonance, which spans the first part of the Twentieth Century as it goes into one war, recovers and awaits the coming of another.
You follow the stories of Anton Heideck, a journalist in Vienna and Lena, who is temporarily caught up with Rudolf, a young lawyer and radical before she returns from Vienna to her home town and works as a cleaner in the Schloss Seeblick, which is a sanatorium for psychiatric patients in the mountains. It ends, in 1933 when Anton arrives to write an article on the decline of European psychiatry. Two people see each other as if for the first time.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo byTaylor Jenkins Reid
Ageing and reclusive Hollywood movie icon, Evelyn Hugo, asks young journalist Monique to write her memoir documenting her glamorous and scandalous life including the stories behind each of her seven husbands . I loved it because the characters are so fully realised, flawed and engaging, the plot is enthralling and unexpected and it covers themes such as misogyny race, sexuality and forbidden love in a powerful yet totally readable way.
A Manual for Heartache: How to Feel Better by Cathy Rentzenbrink
This may sound downbeat but it’s not. Having experienced quite enough sadness in her own life, and written about it in her first book The Last Act of Love, writer and journalist Cathy Rentzenbrink has plenty of practical advice to share. She does so with a light touch, self-deprecating humour and disarming honesty. The result is a short but uplifting read that lives up to its subtitle. After a couple of years when most people have encountered some dark times, this is a useful guide for navigating what life can throw at us.
The Man on Hackpen Hill by JS Monroe
The latest thriller from our very own Committee member, Jon Stock, has been the Independent‘s Thriller of the Month, which it heralded as “an impressive, twisty tale”. Jon is an established thriller author and this latest book is set in Wiltshire, featuring many local landmarks…
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally RooneyExploring the complex relationships within a love quadrangle of two best friends and their lovers, the novel raises moral questions about capitalism, sustainability, beauty – and sudden fame, which Rooney herself has spoken of with distaste. This personal struggle comes across via Alice, an award-winning novelist who can’t quite comprehend her success, and one can’t help but imagine that the character’s dark, cold conclusions about life come directly from the author, giving the book perhaps a greater depth than her others. Either way, for an avid Sally Rooney fan, her third novel did not disappoint.
The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne by Jonathan Stroud Set in a post-apocalyptic world where the Cotswolds have turned into the Wild West, this is an action packed romp with plenty of comedy, following two unlikely and mis-matched heroes. For age 11+
Aarti and the Blue Gods by Jasbinder Bilan
A magical mystery set on an island in the Indian Ocean. Aarti sets out to help a strange boy washed up on the shore, and in doing so discovers the truth about her past. For age 8+
News Hounds: The Puppy Problem by Laura James
Full of illustrations and a fun story for young readers about what dogs get up to when we’re not looking. Gizmo the city dachshund, moves to the countryside and starts a newspaper in order to right wrongs and help his doggy neighbour. For age 5+