BOOKSHELF

Book of the month

The best reads for you to discover this month

THE WOMEN OF TROY by Pat Barker

A follow-up to the hugely successful The Silence Of The Girls, this powerful sequel picks up at the end of the first book, as soldiers cram into the Trojan Horse. Again, the author gives a voice to the voiceless women of Ancient Greece in a compelling, pacey read that melds mythology and modern storytelling. Barker is a writer at her very best and this is a must-read.

Smart thriller

THE PLOT by Jean Hanff Korelitz

The author of You Should Have Known (which became the TV series The Undoing, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant) returns with another compulsive thriller of lies and betrayal. When a promising young writer dies before finishing his first novel, his tutor helps himself to its plot. The completed book is a huge hit – but someone knows what he’s done…

Laugh-out-loud comedy THE ECHO CHAMBER by John Boyne

This sharp, funny take-down of social media is hugely enjoyable. From the outside, chat show host George Cleverley, his wife Beverley (a novelist who doesn’t write her own books) and their three children look like the perfect family, but they’re about to learn how easily your reputation can be ruined in 280 characters.

For historical fiction fans THE FAIR BOTANISTS by Sara Sheridan

What a beautiful, immersive gem of historical fiction this is! In 1820s Edinburgh, a new botanic garden is blooming into life and brings together two very different women: widower Elizabeth and vivacious courtesan Belle, who bond over their mutual love of plants.

Thought-provoking read THE HUSBANDS by Chandler Baker

In exclusive Dynasty Ranch, it’s the husbands who remember birthdays and pick up dinner – think The Stepford Wives but with a gender reversal. When lawyer Nora takes on a wrongful death case to help one of the wives, she uncovers a secret that puts her life at risk.

Coming-of-age tale ALL MY MOTHERS by Joanna Glen

I loved this big-hearted story about identity and finding your place in the world. From a young age, Eva has felt like she doesn’t belong in her family. Why are there no baby pictures of her? And why do her parents refuse to answer questions about her early years?

Atmospheric love story THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES by Elif Shafak

Kostas, who is Greek and Christian, and Defne, who is Turkish and Muslim, meet as teenagers and fall in love. Thirty years later, Kostas returns to look for his first love. The Cyprus setting is stunningly described in this spellbinding story about identity, love and loss.

Gripping mystery A NARROW DOOR by Joanne Harris

I love Chocolat and Harris’s other novels, but her thrillers are just so good. All Rebecca can remember about her brother’s disappearance when she was five, is that he was taken by a man she calls ‘Mr Smallface’. Years later, now headmistress at the school where he was a pupil, she pieces together what happened. I could not put this addictive, layered thriller down!

Family saga

THE BELOVED GIRLS by Harriet Evans

Catherine is about to meet her husband to go on holiday when she disappears. The reasons for her strange behaviour link back to a fateful day in 1989 at a house called Vanes, where a ritual involving bees took place. If you love atmospheric stories about old houses, families and secrets, this is for you.

New talent PAUL by Daisy Lafarge

Poet Lafarge is one to watch if this dazzling debut is anything to go by. With cinematic descriptions of the French countryside where this novel is set, it explores the relationship between student Frances and a man twice her age under whose carefully woven spell she falls.