CHICK LIT

THE BREAK by Marian Keyes (Michael Joseph £20)

For me — and millions of fans around the world — a new Marian Keyes book is cause for jubilation, and this latest tome proves her to be the reigning queen of British chick lit.

Keyes is a fantastic writer: insightful, funny and poignant, with a cracking ear for dialogue. Her believable, likeable characters will delight and frustrate you in equal measure.

When Amy’s 46-year-old husband Hugh tells her he wants to take a six-month break from their marriage to go travelling, she is distraught. What if he meets someone else while he’s away? But it’s not until Amy’s sister points out that, if he’s on a break, then so is she, that the reality hits home. Amy doesn’t want a break — or does she?

This is not a story about falling in love, but about staying in love. It’s about how to sustain a long-term relationship against the obstacles most face. Here, we have a smorgasbord — bereavement, temptation, big changes, small changes, action, inaction, stroppy teenagers, unwanted pregnancy and mid-life crises.

Keyes is an important feminist, whatever the literary snobs might say, and her exploration of what it means to be a terrified Irish teenager in need of an abortion is girl-power at its best. I laughed, I cringed, I cried.

THE POOL HOUSE by Tasmina Perry

(Headline Review £14.99) BrITISH Jem isn’t keen on paying thousands of dollars to be part of a glamorous, well- connected house- share group in the chic and expensive Hamptons, but her husband Dan persuades her it’s a necessary networking opportunity for his new career in New York.

When Jem meets the group and sees the beautiful property, she feels they’ve made the right decision, even though her instincts told her this wasn’t right for them.

However, when she discovers what happened to Alice, the woman who had their room last summer, Jem begins to understand that all that glitters is not gold.

The more involved Jem becomes in trying to uncover what really happened, the less she trusts the people she thought of as her new friends.

It turns out that too many of them had motives for wanting Alice dead — and Dan also falls under the veil of suspicion.

Alice was no saint, but she certainly didn’t deserve to be killed. As Jem gets deeper into the mystery, it’s clear her own safety is also becoming compromised.

This is a gripping, pacy read, with a few dark twists I did not see coming — the perfect end-of-summer novel.