DON’T MISS

OPEN by appointment only, the Scottish Gallery is forging ahead with their August exhibition programme, opening their Modern Masters Women at the end of the month, a rigorous overview of the renowned female artists that the long-lived gallery has represented from Joan Eardley to Victoria Crowe, Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham to Emily Sutton. There are some wonderful and hugely diverse works here, a testament to the range of human artistic endeavour, of individual women’s history and stories that resonate all the more given where we find ourselves now.

ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE

Mike Gayle

Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99

(ebook £4.99)

Hubert Bird is old and lonely. In weekly phone calls to his daughter Rose, who lives in Australia, he paints the picture of a perfect busy retirement, filled with friends and outings, when the reality is anything but. When Rose announces she is coming to stay, he realises he needs to make some changes. A young mother moves into the neighbourhood and the pair strike up an unlikely friendship as they start a campaign to tackle loneliness in the area.

This timely and poignant book flits between present day and Hubert’s early life, emigrating to the UK as one of the Windrush generation. Mike Gayle’s writing is beautiful and engaging and All The Lonely People is both heartbreaking and uplifting, devastating and thought-provoking.

MEGAN BAYNES

ALL ADULTS HERE Emma Straub

Michael Joseph, £14.99

(ebook £9.49)

The challenging journey through adulthood is explored with perceptive wit in

Emma Straub’s entertaining new novel. It charts the complicated relationships of the Strick family.

At its heart is family matriarch Astrid, who witnesses a shocking tragedy that sparks a re-examination of her life. As she opens up to her adult children it turns out they also have secrets and hang-ups to spill. Straub endearingly portrays her central characters as they tangle with a multigenerational crew of friends and relatives.

Her easy writing style combines wry humour with the occasional poignant insight. At times the comic tone feels jarring with more serious themes, but this is a book that whips along with feel-good momentum, driven by warmth and love.

TOM PILGRIM