CONTEMPORARY SARA LAWRENCE

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED by Luiza Sauma (Viking £12.99, 272 pp)

IRIs doesn’t love her job or her boyfriend and feels anxious all the time, aware of a vast disconnect between what’s on social media and the misery of her own life.

she doesn’t discuss these feelings with anyone, meaning she’s trapped in a vicious circle, with her internal dialogue getting bleaker while she becomes lonelier.

Then she hears about life On nyx, a reality show offering the chance to move to another planet — permanently. This opportunity to leave behind Instagram, online dating, disappointing relationships and the souldestroying daily grind of the commute sounds like the perfect solution.

Her application is successful and she heads off to nyx, but, before long, she begins to regret not being more careful about what she wished for.

Weird, wonderful and beautifully written.

THE THUNDER GIRLS by Melanie Blake (Pan £7.99, 416 pp)

IT’s been 30 years since mega Eighties girlband The Thunder Girls split acrimoniously, when Chrissie abandoned Anita, Roxanne and Carly to pursue a solo career, and none of them has kept in touch.

Thanks to cheating husbands, financial insecurities, public breakdowns and careerending screw-ups, it’s fair to say they have not been living their best lives since the heady, chart-topping heyday.

When their former record label asks them to reunite to headline a huge concert, it’s touch and go as to whether they’ll put their differences aside and get over the past.

However, it soon transpires there’s more than just a deluge of bitch fights, hair-pulling and bad publicity to deal with — someone dangerous is out to get them. It’s not in Jackie Collins’s league, but it’s a fun romp.

ABOUT THAT NIGHT by Elaine Bedell (HQ £7.99, 384 pp)

ElIzAbETH is the producer of a huge saturday night TV show starring Ricky Clough, a largerthan-life presenter and party animal. Ricky has no filter, is increasingly reliant on drugs and alcohol — and his behaviour is getting worse by the minute.

Meetings with the big boss and dreadful reviews are all pointing to the inevitability of Ricky being replaced, and Elizabeth is already involved in a supposedly secret plan to launch a new show with a new presenter.

Then, when Ricky dies live on air and police launch a murder investigation, Elizabeth comes to understand that most of the telly ‘family’ she’s worked with for years cannot be trusted.

bedell has been controller of entertainment at the bbC, so knows the world she’s writing about. It’s gripping.