CHICK LIT
SARA LAWRENCE
ANIMAL LOVERS by Rob Palk
(Sandstone Press £8.99) When Marie leaves Stuart after four months of marriage he had not seen it coming, and can’t envisage ever getting over the loss.
hindsight is 20-20, of course, and tells him he should have taken her new obsession with protesting the Gloucestershire badger cull far more seriously.
But the more involved she became, the more jokes he made, widening the distance between them. Palk is a great comic writer and some of his one-liners had me crying with laughter.
he also writes with incredible pathos about the inner turmoil of a man who has lost his soul- mate through, he believes, no fault of his own — although readers may beg to differ.
As Stuart begins to recover, he decides to re-involve himself with the protesters in an attempt to win his wife back. It’s hilarious, poignant and stuffed full of brilliant secondary characters. I couldn’t put it down.
THE YEAR THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING by Cathy Kelly
(Orion £12.99) ThIS emotionally intelligent read stars three women approaching big birthdays who are dealing with different issues. It’s her 30th, but Ginger has never felt so consumed by self-loathing.
She wishes her so- called friends could see that a larger physical frame can hide a fragile soul as easily as a thin one. Sam is hitting 40 and pregnant with her first baby. She has longed for this but is also secretly terrified of turning into a clone of her frosty, unavailable mother.
callie’s glitzy 50th birthday party is interrupted by the fraud squad, who have a warrant to search her palatial home.
her husband Jason does a runner, leaving callie to face his mess alone. All three protagonists are forced to confront their deepest fears head-on.
But baby steps add up to big strides and positive life changes they couldn’t imagine when they were stuck in their ruts.
THE SHARK CLUB by Ann Kidd Taylor
(Headline £8.99) When Maeve is 12 years old, she kisses Daniel, the boy of her dreams, and is promptly attacked by a shark. fast- forward 18 years and 30- year- old Maeve is now Dr Donnelly, travelling the globe as a respected shark expert, working to protect the species.
When her latest assignment comes to an end, she returns to her childhood home in the glorious Gulf of Mexico, still consumed by thoughts of Daniel.
It’s clear Maeve has never got over him and, when their paths inevitably cross, it’s also clear he feels the same way.
Long-buried feelings rise to the surface, but Maeve isn’t sure she can forgive her first love his past mistakes. It’s an easy, breezy read set in a stunning location.