Frascati and friends in the sun

AN ITALIAN HOLIDAY by Maeve Haran (Pan £7.99)

I’M A great Haran fan and this lovely fat book, full of optimism and Italian sunshine, is a great summer read. Four women tip up at a southern Italian villa for four different reasons. Ball-breaking businesswoman Angela has been forced to sell her firm; designer Sylvie has found her husband in flagrante; and shy caterer Claire and mousy librarian Monica are escaping oppressive relatives.

None of them gets on at first, but slowly the magical atmosphere and a colourful cast of local characters lead not only to friendship but selfdiscovery and romance.

Funny, wise, relaxing and full of lovely lifestyle detail.

GINNY MOON by Benjamin Ludwig (HQ £12.99)

NARRATOR Ginny is 14, autistic and adopted. Her mother, Gloria, was a junkie in whose care she almost died.

As the story begins, Ginny’s latest ‘forever parents’ (there have been several) are about to have a baby. For Ginny, her arrival stirs up painful memories of her old life.

Ginny’s anxiety, which she cannot communicate and which her carers misunderstand, leads her back into the fatal grip of Gloria.

Well-intentioned as Gloria is, Ginny risks losing everything. And as she blunders from misunderstanding to mistake, the reader can only bite their nails and root for her.

I’ve never read a novel that gets inside an autistic child’s head like this one. It is funny and wildly moving, but never patronising or prurient.

WHITE FUR by Jardine Libaire (W&N £14.99)

THIS amazing novel requires persistence, because the first half has lots of sex set at a level I’d describe as ‘critical’.

It’s billed as a modern-day Romeo And Juliet, but Jamey and Elise are class-crossed rather than star-crossed lovers. He’s a golden boy — son of a patrician West Coast clan — and she’s a ghetto girl from the housing projects. He’s at Yale when they meet, but dumps both college and connections as their obsession with one another takes hold.

It’s written in a poetic, impressionistic, detailed way, which grew on me, but what I loved most was the portrait of Jamey’s wealthy family.

The Hydes are flint-hearted snobs who stop at nothing to wrest their son from his lowclass woman.

Boy, they’re mean! Elise’s obese, hooker, addict mother is an angel by comparison.

Wildly, darkly romantic with one of the best endings ever.