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THE NEWEST AND BEST NOVELS AND NON-FICTION

She had the chance to fight back, and she did, and still lost CLAIRE FOY

The Duchess who Dared

Charles Castle (Allen and Unwin, $22.99) From a luxury childhood through sensational adulteries to poverty-stricken old age, the Duchess of Argyll’s life was perhaps most famous for her notorious divorce. To many she seemed a monster – a ruthless pursuit of her own interest combined with an outrageous lifestyle. Here, the duchess’s tale is revealed in her own words – via interviews with the author – the fairytale heiress immortalised in Cole Porter’s You’re the Top who ended up ostracised from her family. The story is also captured by TV show A Very British Scandal, starring Claire Foy.

The Promise

Damon Galgut (Penguin, $32.99) The Promise charts the crash and burn of a white South African family, living on a farm outside Pretoria. The Swarts gather for Ma’s funeral. The younger generation, Anton and Amor, detest everything the family stands for – not least the failed promise to the black woman who has worked for them her whole life. Salome was promised her own house and land, yet as each decade passes, the promise goes unfulfilled. The story of a diminished family, its sharp and tender emotional truths hit home.