THE BEST PAPERBACKS

NON-FICTION The Innocent Man John Grisham Arrow €10.99

This is the story of an appalling miscarriage of justice, told by Grisham with all the fluency and craftsmanship he brings to his bestselling legal thrillers. Ron Williamson, a once-promising sportsman who had fallen by the wayside, was convicted of rape and murder on the flimsiest of evidence and sentenced to death. His story is horrifying but gripping.

FICTION The Heavenly Table Donald Ray Pollock Vintage €12.59

The year is 1917, and three dirt-poor Georgia sharecroppers go on the run after killing their brutal boss and robbing a bank. This is an often violent, frequently hilarious and always engaging novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The text is rich with literary echoes but Pollock’s deadpan style and imaginative daring are entirely his own.

FICTION How I Became A North Korean Krys Lee Faber & Faber €12.75

Informed by the author’s personal experiences, this short but powerful novel charts the lives of three young exiles who are thrown together by chance in the dangerous border area between China and North Korea. Although it relates specifically to the ghastly North Korean regime, the protagonists’ trials highlight the helplessness of refugees everywhere.

NON-FICTION Once We Were Sisters Sheila Kohler Canongate €12.60

Kohler has made her reputation as a writer of fiction but this gut-wrenching, angry memoir illuminates the raw material from which she has forged her art. Kohler grew up in apartheid South Africa, but it’s the tragic fate of her only sister, a victim of vicious domestic abuse, that dominates the book. Like all survivors, Kohler is consumed by guilt and regret.