THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS NON-FICTION THE POWER OF PRIVILEGE

by Jodi Picoult, Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99 (ebook £9.99)

★★★ ★★

THE Book Of Two Ways poses a captivating question: how different would our lives look in a parallel universe where we’ve made different choices?

After a a near-death experience Dawn confronts the decisions she has made. It then flips between

timelines, following her as a grad student in Egypt, and a mum in Boston where she is a death doula – helping people deal with their final days. Picoult has clearly done an impressive amount of research into Egyptology and her writing is insightful and richly descriptive, but some paragraphs are frustratingly dense with facts and history, making for information overload.

by June Sarpong, HQ, £5 (ebook £4.99)

★ IN the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, many people in a position of power have been re-evaluating their privilege.

TV presenter and writer June Sarpong’s book aims to help white people understand the privilege they hold in society. She rapidly covers the main issues facing black people, from Grenfell to the American incarceration system and the intersection of race and gender.

At just over 100 pages, it feels a bit slender to cover weighty issues, but it’s well researched and Sarpong provides plenty of resources for further reading. She also lists ways white people can help people of colour, and defuse the damaging power of privilege.

Ultimately, She says, society will be better when we’re all equal. It’s a slight handbook, but feels like the perfect starting point for white people wanting to do better.

★★★★