THE BEST NEW FICTION

Act Of Oblivion Robert Harris

Hutchinson Heinemann €25

After the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, those who had signed the death warrant of Charles

II’s predecessor were wanted men. Some were pardoned, but not Colonel Edward Whalley and Colonel William Goffe, who fled to America. This much is fact, but in his excellent historical thriller, Harris imagines the pair’s pursuit by the fictional Richard Nayler, tasked with bringing them to justice. The joy is in the vivid re-creation of

17th Century England and America and in the sly parallels with today that Harris teases out.

Neil Armstrong

Cult Classic Sloane Crosley

Bloomsbury €21.50 Lola is a New York everywoman who’s pulled off the impossible and snagged herself a fiance – except that now she can’t help questioning the relationship. Things take a turn for the wacky when she begins running into a series of exboyfriends outside the same downtown nightspot. Will these encounters fuel her misgivings or settle them, and can it really all be coincidence? Crosley’s fun, high-concept romcom squeezes in some shrewd swipes at wellness culture as it reclaims material that’s generally the preserve of frothier fiction.

The Marriage Portrait Maggie O’Farrell

Tinder Press €31.50

Set in the turbulent world of 16th-Century

Florence, O’Farrell’s ninth novel reimagines the little-known story of Lucrezia de’ Medici, who, at

15, is married off to Alfonso, duke of Ferrara, in order to produce an heir for his faltering dynasty. Her failure leads her to suspect that her ruthless husband is plotting her murder. This is a beautifully written, evocative portrait of an intelligent, artistic young woman imprisoned in a loveless marriage.

Simon Humphreys

All I Said

Was True Imran Mahmood Raven €19

Personal injury lawyer Layla is under arrest after being found on a rooftop, a murdered woman in her arms. She claims that a man called Michael is to blame. But is he actually real or just a figment of her increasingly disorganised mind? Cutting skilfully between Layla’s interrogation and the series of inexplicable events that led up to the murder, this is another highly superior psychological thriller from practising barrister Mahmood.