MUST READ BOOKS THIS SUMMER...

LITERARY FICTION CLAIRE ALLFREE THE VANISHING HALF

BY BRIT BENNETT

The lives of twin sisters, born black but with skin so pale they could pass for white. It examines the politics of race and gender across several decades in 20thcentury America. A terrific novel.

A REGISTRY OF MY PASSAGE UPON THE EARTH

BY DANIEL MASON

Short stories are great to have in a beach bag. These dazzling examples immerse the reader within sharply contrasting historical scenarios with a power that feels almost physical. The opening story, about a boxing match in 1820s Bristol, is extraordinary.

A THEATRE FOR DREAMERS

BY POLLY SAMSON

In 1960, the Greek island of Hydra was home to, among others, a young Leonard Cohen, his muse Marianne Ihlen and Marianne’s husband Axel Jensen. Samson imagines it all with sultry precision in this bittersweet portrait of youthful and sexual idealism.

THE MYSTERY OF HENRI PICK

BY DAVID FOENKINOS

A rejected manuscript by an anonymous author becomes the toast of France in this delightful mix of romantic whimsy and literary satire, dripping in Gallic charm.

ANTHONY CUMMINS MINOR DETAIL

BY ADANIA SHIBLI

It isn’t comfort reading, but this is probably my novel of the year so far. Intelligent and formally daring, it turns on an atrocity committed by Israeli troops in 1949, which a Palestinian woman tries to learn about in the present day.

THRESHOLD

BY ROB DOYLE

I could be out on a limb here, but this is the funniest novel I’ve read since January. Narrated by a globe-trotting Irish philosophy graduate, who muses on are and literature while high on mind-altering drugs.