BOOKCLUB Summer reads Part 1: Fiction

The Beloved Girls by Harriet Evans

(Headline, £8.99) When high-flying barrister Catherine vanishes on the eve of her wedding anniversary, her family and friends are mystified because it’s so out of character. But could her disappearance be linked to a tragedy that unfolded 30 years earlier? This atmospheric page-turner, partly set in a country mansion in the wilds of Exmoor, is storytelling at its finest. ELP

The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

(Quercus, £8.99) A 400-mile road trip to a wedding gets off to a stressful start for Addie and her sister when a car crashes into the back of theirs. The driver turns out to be Addie’s ex-boyfriend and she hasn’t set eyes on him since their traumatic split. He and his pal are heading to the wedding too and, since their car’s out of action, Addie reluctantly offers them a lift. A moving love story that will make you laugh and cry. ELP

Magpie by Elizabeth Day (Fourth Estate, £8.99)

Marisa and Jake move in together after a whirlwind romance but, with money tight, they take in a lodger, Kate. But Marisa feels growing unease at the way she looks at Jake and her questions about the baby they’re trying for. This page turner has an ingenious plot twist that you won’t see coming. ELP

How To Kill Your Family

by Bella Mackie (The Borough Press, £8.99) Grace Bernard has never met her

A familiar old world and a tender look at squabbling siblings will give you plenty to relate to

millionaire father and is shocked to discover that he rejected her mum’s dying wish that he should get to know his daughter. Dead-set on revenge, she devises a cunning plan to murder him and five members of his family – will she get away with it? Dark, droll and shocking, Bella Mackie’s fiction debut is stylishly executed. ELP

The Paper Palace

by Miranda Cowley Heller (Penguin, £8.99) Elle is a happily married mother-ofthree on holiday in the family’s Cape Cod house. But she has cheated on her beloved husband Peter with her childhood sweetheart Jonas. And there’s a revelatory reason why Elle has succumbed to Jonas after all these years. Elle rewinds to 1981, when she first met Jonas, unspools her dysfunctional family history and wonders if it’s it too late for them to have the future they dreamt of. This gripping saga tells a dark tale of long-buried love and lies. CH

Sorrow And Bliss

by Meg Mason (W&N, £8.99) Martha’s life has been derailed by depression and her marriage has imploded under the weight of her sadness. The wryly funny Martha tells the tale of her broken life. Forced to live with her parents after walking out on her marriage, she describes life with the bohemian, dysfunctional pair, and her complicated feelings about her beloved sister Ingrid’s brood of children. Then a family secret is unearthed, giving Martha a new perspective. Can she find her way back to the people she loves? Meg Mason’s debut novel is tender, dark and sharply funny. EF

Should I Tell You?

by Jill Mansell (Headline, £8.99) Amber, Lachlan and Raffaele were fostered by May and Teddy and grew up in the idyllic Cornish town of Lanrock. Now in their thirties, all three are back living in Lanrock. But, after May dies, Teddy takes a cruise where he meets Olga. And his children fear she’s more interested in his wallet than his heart. They have their own romantic complications to deal with. Raffaele is trying to get over a difficult break-up and Amber has fallen hard for Lachlan. While tackling serious issues, a witty, heart-warming story of friendship, family and enduring love. AC

The Woman In The Middle

by Milly Johnson (Simon & Schuster, £8.99) Shay’s mother Roberta is in the early stages of dementia. As she starts letting long-kept secrets slip, Shay begins to realise that, all her life, her family have been living a lie. She returns to the small village where she grew up to start piecing together the truth of her past, however painful that may prove to be. Filled with Milly Johnson’s trademark humour, you’ll be longing for Shay to find her own happy ending in this warm, touching tale. AC

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson

(Vintage, £8.99) Clara’s world fell apart when her adored big sister Rose ran away from home. And now a stranger has moved into the home of her kindly neighbour Mrs Orchard. In chapters narrated by Mrs Orchard, we learn her heartbreaking reason for leaving her home to divorcé Liam despite not seeing him since he was four. Your longing for lost soul Liam to find happiness, and for lost girl Rose to return home safe and sound, will keep you turning the pages of this absorbing novel at a frantic pace. CH

The Impulse Purchase

by Veronica Henry (Orion, £8.99) Cherry, Maggie and Rosie are mother, daughter and granddaughter, as close as can be. But Maggie’s husband recently died and Rosie, a single mother, is struggling to come to terms with losing her father. Then Cherry receives an unexpected inheritance and impulsively buys the pub in the village where she grew up. Maggie and Rosie get stuck in with helping Cherry to run it but must juggle their new lives with personal dilemmas. Joyful and heart-warming, this feel-good read will lift your spirits. AC

Still Life

by Sarah Winman (Fourth Estate, £8.99) In 1944, British soldier Ulysses meets 60-something art expert Evelyn in a Tuscan wine cellar as bombs fall around them. Evelyn has come to save paintings and Ulysses is enthralled by her musings on art and love which resonate throughout his life, as does his intervention in a suicide attempt. After he’s demobbed, Ulysses’s wife wants a divorce. With an unexpected legacy, broken-hearted Ulysses takes root in Florence, accompanied by his lonely friend Cress. The duo seek to rebuild their lives in this hopeful, intensely humane novel. EF