Top picks: books of the week
Four new releases that will have you totally hooked
SOMEWHERE OUT THERE
By AMY HATVANY Simon & Schuster A young mother makes the heartbreaking decision to give her two daughters up for adoption because she can’t provide for them. Baby Natalie is quickly adopted but four-year-old Brooke is doomed to spend her childhood in foster homes, hoping her mother will come back for her – which she never does, even though after parting from her daughters her life and fortunes significantly improve.
Most of the story follows the very different lives of the three women, alternating between past and present 35 years on. It details how Natalie finally finds her sister and how, together, they eventually track down their mother.
Although this book was extremely absorbing and emotionally charged the ending felt incomplete and there were several loose ends.
It would make a good book-club read – there are many ways to interpret the characters, and their hard-to-understand life decisions and personalities are bound to spark plenty of interesting discussions. – PAM MAGWAZA 64 | 25 JANUARY 2018 you.co.za
THE PEARL SISTER
By LUCINDA RILEY Pan Macmillan The fourth book in Lucinda Riley’s bestselling Seven Sisters series tells the story of CeCe, the fourth of seven D’Aplièse sisters adopted by the mysterious billionaire Pa Salt to grow up in luxury on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Upon Pa Salt’s death he leaves all the young women clues to set them on their path to discovering where they really came from. After her elder sister and closest confidante, Star, comes into her own by finding out her history, art college dropout CeCe feels as if she’s been abandoned. So she sets out on her own journey of discovery, which leads her to the baking sun of the Australian outback and the incredible tale of headstrong Kitty Mercer, the country’s most famous pearling mistress.
Riley simultaneously weaves rich tales of two strong young women finding their place in the world, creating beautiful connections between past and present.
The Pearl Sister is another of the author’s enthralling but easy reads. – KIRSTIN BUICK
THE STONE SKY
By NK JEMISIN Orbit The final book in The Broken Earth trilogy is a great read even though I don’t usually like science fantasy novels. The series revolves around a group of oppressed people called orogenes who have the power to destroy the planet. They must hide who they are, otherwise they risk being killed or taken captive by a group called the Guardians.
In the first two books Earth is shaken by a cataclysmic event and everyone is fighting to survive. Two of the world’s most powerful orogenes can either fix it or end everyone’s suffering – and this third book is about their efforts.
Complicating matters is the fact that these two are a mother and daughter who haven’t had the easiest relationship. Powerful themes of motherhood, sacrifice, survival in the face of extreme adversity and hope are at the heart of this book. It’s an incredible story about humanity. But get it only if you’re okay with reading science fiction. – CHARLENE ROLLS Did you know? Last year Jemisin became one of a handful of authors to win the prestigious Hugo award for best novel two years in a row. Now fans are wondering if the American can make history by taking the sci-fi award for a third year running . . .
SLEEPING IN THE GROUND
By PETER ROBINSON William Morrow A wedding party mills around outside a picturesque church in Yorkshire. It’s a joyous occasion – until the first shot rings out.
When the shooting is over three people, including the bride, are dead and two more later succumb to their wounds.
Detective Superintendent Alan Banks is tasked with finding the shooter, who used a high-powered rifle to fire from a hill some distance from the church to commit the murder.
It doesn’t take too long for Banks and his team to track down the suspected culprit. He’s committed suicide after his dastardly deed. Or has he? Something feels wrong.
The deeper Banks delves into the case, the more he becomes convinced the real killer is still out there and that the motive for the killing lies years ago in the past.
Like all the previous novels in this series, Sleeping in the Ground is well written and tightly plotted and the descriptions of police procedures are some of the best around.
It’s a layered and nuanced read. DCI Banks, with his love of music and poetry and dealing with the loss of a former lover, is an interesting and complicated character. – ANDRÉ J BRINK