BOOKSHELF Literary gems

There number is one bestseller Levels of Life. In 2017 he was awarded the Légion d'honneur. always a towering pile of TBR Design © Suzanne Dean (To-beread) Author photograph © Alan Edwards Jonathan books Cape on my Vintage 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road bedside London SW1V table. 2SA I find penguin.co.uk/vintage www.julianbarnes.com that reassuring and indulgent. I’ve just finished reading HOW

TO BE HAPPY by EVA WOODS. It’s about one woman who is grieving for her dead baby and another who is dying of cancer, yet it manages to be a life-affirming, feelgood novel; it made me laugh, cry and buy bright clothes! I’m currently reading BRING ME BACK by BA PARIS, and I absolutely do mean currently, I’ve found it difficult to put down. I knew I had to write this piece but kept thinking to myself, ‘Just one more chapter!’ Adele Parks’ novels often focus on the darkness and light in relationships, so it’s no wonder she enjoys thrillers. Her latest book, The Image Of You, is out this month...

I loved reading

LUCY ATKINS’ THE NIGHT VISITOR although I didn’t get much sleep that week; it’s a fascinating, ISBN 978-1-787-33069-6 brilliant, 90000 creepy, 9 781787 330696 intelligent novel. I’m also looking forward to reading WHITE

BODIES: I’ve heard great things about

JANE ROBINS’

book and it has the compelling tagline, ‘Sometimes we love too much.’ But before I throw myself into another terrifying thriller, I needed to dip into something completely different. PERCEPTION, which TERRI FLEMING wrote as a sequel to Pride And Prejudice, is a romantic, credible, elegant account of the much-maligned Mary Bennet. Jane Austen fans will adore it!