FICTION SO LUCKY by Dawn O’Porter
★★★★★
THE writer and TV presenter’s sixth book is an amusing and enjoyable read, like having a catch up chat with a good friend.
Some readers will recognise themselves in Ruby’s anger, Beth’s frustration and Lauren’s insecurity and that is the beauty of O’Porter’s lively writing – while some of the characters’ experiences may be out of the ordinary, they seem like real women, flaws and all.
O’Porter taps into real human emotions and many parents will relate to stressed out mum Ruby’s angry emotional outbursts, overreacting to situations due to exhaustion and frustration.
New mum Beth’s unrequited desire for stay-at-home husband Michael is a refreshing twist on stereotypical gender roles, while Lauren’s Instagram posts faking her perfect life are well described and the comments about her shameless plugging are hilarious.
STARVE ACRE by Andrew Michael Hurley
John Murray, hardback £12.99, ebook £8.99
★★★★★ GRIEF-STRICKEN parents Richard and Juliette Willoughby are struggling to cope with the death of their son, Ewan, and are retreating into different obsessions. Juliette wants help from an occultist called Mrs Forde; Richard prefers to throw himself into excavating a field on his family’s Yorkshire farmland to
O’Porter keeps the plot cantering along, with enough surprise twists to make So Lucky a lot of fun.
NO MERCY by Martina Cole Headline, hardback £20, ebook £9.99
★★★★★
CRIME-QUEEN
Martina Cole dispatches yet another dark and grimy tale, this one gilded with old find the roots of an ancient gallows tree. But both are vulnerable to the village superstition of a malevolent figure called Jack Grey.
In a similar vein to his Costa-winning debut The Loney, Hurley spins an atmosphere of terror and anticipation over the isolated rural setting.
It’s perfect, page-turning reading for a dark night, preferably with rain lashing ominously at the windows.
school Eighties panache.
Gangster matriarch Diana brings serious glam, nous, power and scathing rebukes, but as she brings her son Angus into the family business, things begin to go awry.
Volatile Angus leaves you feeling constantly wary, as though his erratic behaviour is going to break through and infect you too, while his manipulative, insidious wife Lorna brings menace and sadness.
A fully engrossing read.