As lovely as it is to spend days or weeks immersed in a book, sometimes life doesn't allow for that. There's something very satisfying about starting and finishing a novel in a day - and no chance of forgetting what's happening or who everyone is!
From a thriller that will leave you breathless to a beautiful ode to teenage friendship, we've rounded up the best short books to enjoy if time is tight. Although they might be slim, they don't lack in depth and still pack a big punch.
Vintage Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
Three Days In June by Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler is always an automatic must-read for me and this is as warm and wise as the best of her previous novels. Three Days In June follows Gail over the weekend of her daughter’s wedding as she’s reunited with her rather chaotic ex-husband, Max, who brings all sorts of complications with him – including a cat.
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
Newman’s debut We All Want Impossible Things was one of my favourite books of last year, and I would recommend this new one just as highly. A holiday in the house on Cape Cod that her family has stayed in for years leaves fiftysomething Rocky grappling with a long-held secret. This explores the compromises of a long marriage and the bittersweetness of children leaving home.
Faber & Faber Universality by Natasha Brown
Universality by Natasha Brown
Brown’s debut, Assembly, was one of the most original and blistering reads of 2021, and this slim but punchy novel looks set to continue her trajectory as one of the most promising young authors writing today. Exploring privilege and race, it has a seam of dark humour running through it.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Escape the madness with this otherworldly short novel set aboard a spacecraft. The latest offering from an author I’ve long loved, it’s gorgeously written and offers a intriguing perspective on the human race’s treatment of our planet.
Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain
Given its slimness, this beautifully written novel really packs a big emotional punch. It perfectly captures the intense feelings of first love and the shifting societal attitudes to women in the 1950s and 1960s. At 15, Marianne falls obsessively in love with Simon and even after they both marry other people, she remains infatuated.
Scribner UK Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
It's a mere 160 pages long but wow, does this novella bring the emotional intensity. It takes place on one day, 30 March 1924 – Mothering Sunday – and is the story of housemaid Jane who is having an affair with the son of a wealthy family. 75 years later she looks back on her life and her successful career as a novelist.
Assembly by Natasha Brown
Loosely based on The Hours by Virginia Woolf, this stunning novel follows a young Black woman as she heads to a party hosted by her wealthy in-laws. Not a word is wasted in this sharp exploration of race and class in modern day Britain.
Virago Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
The multi-talented film director, author and journalist based this comic book on the breakdown of her own marriage and, 30 years after it was published, it still resonates today.
Faber & Faber Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?8 by Lorrie Moore
Who Will Run The Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore
Sucessful photographer Berie looks back on the summer of her 15th year when a decision she made to help a friend had life-changing consequences. Moore perfectly captures the intensity of teenage friendship and the limbo world between childhood and adult life.
So Late In The Day by Claire Keegan
Every word counts in this exquisite short novel about a man ruminating on the break-up of his relationship.
Luster by Raven Leilani
This gorgeously written, fresh book is about a young Black girl who has a relationship with a middle-class white man in an open marriage. The story zings of the page with electricity.
Summerwater by Sarah Moss
Set in a Scottish holiday park over the course of a single, rainy day, the inner lives of 12 holidaymakers holed up in their cabins are slowly revealed. This gorgeously written novel is atmospheric, with a sense of unease that builds to the shocking ending.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney
Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney
One morning, a wife and mum of two leaves her suburban home intending to go to work and instead heads off on a road trip that ends 48 hours later at a small cottage in Wales, where she decides to hole up. I think this funny and thoughtful novel will resonate with lots of women!
HODDER AND STOUGHTON The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean
HODDER AND STOUGHTON The Last Thing to Burn by Will Dean
The Last Thing To Burn by Will Dean
Dean is a master at building up tension and this short thriller will have you holding for breath as the story unfolds. A woman watches and waits for her captor-husband to mess up and when he does, she's ready to run.
Outline by Rachel Cusk
A novelist heads to Greece’s capital in the height of summer to teach a writing course. Through conversations she has with the locals and her students, she gets to know the city, and herself, better. Read it for the sharp observations and the descriptions of Athens’s street life.
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
Levy's 2012 novel tells the story of a family holiday gone awry. When poet Joe Jacobs’ family holiday is interrupted by a fan turning up, dark secrets begin to come to light. Haunting, beautifully-written and mesmerising.
