LATEST TITLES

XX by Angela Chadwick, Dialogue Books, £13.99 (ebook £7.99) ★★★★★

A NEW trial offers Rosie and Jules a chance to have a baby using DNA from both their eggs. However, the couple are not prepared for the furious backlash from critics or intense press interest which follows their every move.

Former journalist Angela Chadwick’s thought-provoking first novel explores the ethics of creating babies with two mothers whose X chromosomes can only create daughters.

Her measured writing means the reader can consider the arguments from both sides and there are plenty of unexpected twists to keep the plot moving.

Told from the point of view of the realistically flawed Jules, the reader at first sees Rosie largely through her partner’s rose coloured specs, but Chadwick makes her more rounded as the characters develop, shaped by the experiences they face on the path to motherhood.

TIRZAH AND THE PRINCE OF CROWS by Deborah Kay Davies, Oneworld, £12.99 (ebook £6.62) ★★★★★

TIRZAH And The Prince Of Crows is set in the 1970s in an isolated valley in Wales, where 16-year-old Tirzah feels stifled by her intensely religious family.

She struggles to understand the strictures placed on her by the church when all she wants is to be free. Everything changes when she meets Bran, a wild ruffian who lives in the forest and doesn’t worship God.

Beautifully written, Davies adds to the classic coming of age story by interweaving elements of Welsh mythology. It’s a fascinating insight into growing up with cultishly religious rules.

We’re privy to Tirzah’s interior life – she is a sweetly naive girl who thinks she’s good, but struggles with her religion telling her she’s not.

Even though Bran is arguably the catalyst of change in her life, it’s refreshing that Tirzah remains the focus. She’s a strong, well-written and completely realistic character.