The Stars are Not Yet Bells by Hannah Lillith Assadi, Hachette

In 1941 newlyweds Elle and Simon, and Elle’s ‘cousin’ (former boyfriend) Gabriel move to Lyra, population 400, off the coast of Georgia. Her Russian mother dead, her bankrupt father struck up a deal with wealthy jewel miner Simon, who was hiding his homosexuality. “Well, are you interested in this business of courtship?” Simon asked beautiful Elle. She does not look him in the face, but straight at the diamond ring. It’s 1998. Gabriel drowned. Elle now has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t recognise her children. “The past is all shuttered,” but Gabriel is still vivid in her dreams. Hours after accepting Simon’s wedding proposal “... my legs wrapped around Gabriel, as he cycled me away from all the inevitabilities.” Triumphant.