There's a cracking collection of page-turners to take on your summer
holidays this year from nail-biting thrillers to romantic yarns, and
nostalgic tales to award-winning literary gems.
Here are 10 of our top choices
1. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Hailed as a masterpiece by Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, this is the one
everyones talking about and the deserved winner of the 2019 Womens Prize
for Fiction.
It tells the story of newlyweds Roy and Celestial, a black middle-class
couple living the good life in Atlanta, Georgia. But their world is
shattered when Roy is arrested for a rape he didnt commit and sentenced to
12 years in prison.
Celestial finds herself struggling to hold on to the love that has been her
centre, taking comfort from Andre, the boy next door. As the years move on,
they become a couple, but when Roys conviction is suddenly overturned he
returns home ready to resume their life together and thats where it gets
really interesting.
2. Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls
One Day author and screenwriter David Nicholls is back with a funny,
nostalgic and sometimes painful coming-of-age story set in 1997, about
16-year-old Charlie Lewis who joins an amateur dramatics group thats
staging Romeo And Juliet, so he can pursue the girl hes fallen for.
Nicholls captures the teenage social insecurities, awkwardness and first
love emotions beautifully, throwing an extra element in as Charlie struggles
to look after his miserable father who has turned to booze and pills in the
wake of his wife leaving him.
Sweet Sorrow is both funny, poignant and painful, evoking familiar memories
of the feelings of uncertainty when you leave school, the gradual fading of
old friendships and the all-encompassing emotions of new love.
3. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Sixties may have been the start of the sex, drugs and rocknroll era
but many would argue that the excesses and wild behaviour really escalated
in the Seventies.
This decade forms the backdrop to the fictional story of the rise of an
American rock band, Daisy Jones & The Six, told through a series of
interviews with the key members of the band and those around them. All the
ups and the downs are relived, the in-fighting, outrageous behaviour and
touring mayhem, the record label interference, sexual shenanigans and
drug-taking, until the bands final disintegration.
Some have said this fictional storys not that far off the true Fleetwood
Mac one but read it and you can be the judge.
4. Knife by Jo Nesbo
In another fast-moving Scandi page-turner from the top Norwegian thriller
writer, we find rogue cop Harry Hole back on the booze after Rakel, the only
woman hes ever loved, finished with him.
He soon gets caught up in investigating cases he believes have ties to Svein
Finne, a serial rapist and murderer Harry helped put behind bars. But when
he learns that Finne is free and his personal life takes an even darker
turn he is sure there is a connection.
5. The Truants by Kate Weinberg
Jojo Moyes and Alain de Botton have been singing the praises of this debut
novel, which centres on Jess Walker, the middle child of a middle-class
family, who arrives at an East Anglian university where she is soon drawn
into a tightly-knit group of rule-breakers, led by a maverick tutor.
As she begins to experiment with a new version of herself, she unwittingly
becomes part of a toxic love triangle as the new gang of friends share
secrets, lovers and finally a tragedy.
6. Late In The Day by Tessa Hadley
This is one of the best literary offerings so far this year, focusing on how
an unexpected death upsets the equilibrium of two 50-something couples who
met in their 20s and still have strong connections.
When one of the husbands who was the pivotal force in the foursome dies
suddenly, its left to the other three to pick up the pieces, which they
dont do very well.
Hadley explores the themes of marriage, friendship, and grief, taking
readers back and forth in time, to show how the past has a bearing on each
present moment.
7. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Billed as the 'black Bridget Jones, this amusing debut follows 20-something
south Londoner Queenie Jenkins, an aspiring journalist whos just split up
from her long-term boyfriend. Meanwhile, her newspaper boss doesnt
appreciate her, and her family doesnt listen to her.
You will cry with her and cry for her. Indeed, the book has surprising depth
and at times, turning frequently from hilarious to heartfelt.
8. Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
After nine years, the prolific York-born writer resurrects Jackson Brodie,
her private investigator, now relocated to a seaside village in north
Yorkshire where he is looking after his sulky teenage son, Nathan, and Dodo
the ancient labrador, both temporarily left with him for the summer by his
ex, Julia.
Hired to do a spot of husband-following, Brodie meets a desperate man on a
cliff, an encounter that leads him into a sinister labyrinth of murder,
abuse and barbed old sins, with an undercurrent of paedophile rings and
slavery.
Atkinson presents her story in a challenging, idiosyncratic way that makes
for a compelling read.
9. The Woman In The White Kimono by Ana Johns
Thrille stories from a devastating and little-known era in Japanese and
American History, The Woman In The White Kimono illuminates a searing
portrait of one woman torn between her culture and her heart, and another
woman on a journey to discover the true meaning of home.
Its inspired by the true story of Ana Johns father, who as an American US
Navy soldier in the 1950s fell in love with a Japanese girl. Their
relationship was ultimately stopped by cultural pressures and Johns has done
extensive research into the thousands of love stories that were thwarted and
babies abandoned.
10. Platform Seven by Louise Doughty
This is a late-summer read but the hotly-anticipated novel from the
bestselling author of Apple Tree Yard is worth waiting for.
Not your average spine-tingler, its eerie and unusual, as it is narrated by
the ghost of a woman who came to a sticky end at the eponymous platform.
As the plot unfolds, the dead woman, who is herself haunted by other ghostly
apparitions and trapped in limbo between life and death, reflects on how she
got there and how a toxic relationship affected her life. Youll read this
in one sitting.
RTÉ Lifestyle.
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