If holidays are on your mind, here's a great selection of books to pack (or download) for your trip.
The Children by Melissa Albert
Books about books or set in the publishing world are everywhere now (I’m particularly looking forward to Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason and Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus), but Melissa Albert’s dark literary fantasy about the children of a famous author is a standout. In The Children, Guinevere and Ennis Sharpe have two childhoods: in one, they grow up in semi-feral conditions in a Vermont farmhouse, free to roam and adventure, with parents who are neglectful at best and abusive at worst. In the other, they’re captured in the pages of the bestsellers written by their mother, Edith, where magic is real and they’re protected from harm.
After a fire destroys the farmhouse and kills their parents, the siblings become estranged. Guin rides on the coattails of her mother’s fame, writing a memoir about her childhood and appearing on chat shows to share a rose-tinted version of her mother with Edith’s many fans. Ennis, now an artist, wants nothing to do with the family name and hides away from public attention – until the day he announces a new art installation, entitled ‘Mother’.
Told in alternating narratives between 1990s Vermont and present-day New York, the book is a brilliant exploration of the weight of memory, the bond between siblings and how trauma shapes our lives. It’s a deliciously surprising novel, full of references to children’s literature and with the feeling at times of fairy tale. The mystery surrounding the fire and the estrangement between Guin and Ennis is a slow burn that pulls the reader through the story.
Melissa Albert is a much-loved author of fantasy books for children, but this debut novel for adults marks her as a hugely talented writer. The world she’s created is believable, claustrophobic and unsettling in the best way. If you’ve ever wondered what life was like for Christopher Robin or Alice Liddell (the inspiration for Alice In Wonderland) after they were immortalised in print, this is for you.
Bloomsbury Circus The Children by Melissa Albert
Mrs Dickens by Emily Howes
Kate Hogarth is a bright young woman from a good family when she meets charismatic up-and-coming writer Charles Dickens. Charting their early romance and the harder realities of their decades-long marriage, during which they had 10 children, this is a fascinating look at a woman forgotten by history and how she found her voice.
All In by Claire Powell
An all-expenses-paid holiday at a luxury resort might sound like heaven, but not for Jo and Dave as their marriage, already strained by failed IVF, is put under more pressure by frictions with Dave’s grieving father and his flashy older brother. Powell excels at writing about the thousand papercuts that kill a relationship and does it with humour and honesty.
Chatto & Windus All In by Claire Powell
People In Love by Claire Daverley
When her teenage best friend, Bren, turns up unannounced at Nora’s engagement party, it stirs up all sorts of emotions in her – mostly anger that he ran away 12 years ago and hasn’t been home since. I was a huge fan of Daverley’s debut, Talking At Night, and this has the same emotional intimacy and depth.
Michael Joseph People in Love by Claire Daverley
The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
This thriller had me turning the pages as fast as I could. Carrie and Johan marry in Thailand before Johan is arrested for drug smuggling and disappears. Twelve years later, Carrie is remarried when she stumbles across an online post that reveals Johan escaped Thailand years ago and is living in Stockholm…
MACMILLAN The One Day You Were My Husband by Rosie Walsh
Whistler by Ann Patchett
In this touching novel, the always-wonderful Patchett turns her attention to father-daughter relationships. After a chance encounter brings Daphne back into contact with her stepfather, Eddie, she starts looking for answers to questions from her childhood that she’s never allowed herself to think about.
The Castle Of Stories by Matt Cain
If you’re looking for a little sunshine in your life, this queer love story brings joy and escapism. Adam inherits a dilapidated castle in Tuscany and invites his new partner, Theo, to stay with him while he renovates it. So far, so romantic – until summer plans for Theo’s kids fall through and they end up coming, too!
