LATEST TITLES

CIRCE

by Madeleine Miller, Bloomsbury, £16.99 (ebook £14.99) ★★★★★ CIRCE is Titan royalty, the daughter of the Sun god Helios and the nymph Perse. Through her lonely childhood in her father’s palace, overshadowed by her more successful siblings; to her eternity of exile on a remote island, the character of Circe is brought fully to life. Circe is banished for using magic and mixing with mortals, and on the island she grows stronger and develops her gift for sorcery.

This is a gorgeous retelling of Homer’s Odyssey blended with other legends. Miller creates a magical narrative: strong relatable characters, cold-hearted gods, flawed heroes, deadly monsters, and best of all, a strong female protagonist. Fabulously readable.

PONTI

by Sharlene Teo,

Picador, £14.99 (ebook £9.35)

★★★★★

SINGAPORE, 1978 – stunning young beauty Amisa stars in the cult horror movie Ponti! as the Pontianak of local legend: a man-eating, forest-dwelling ghost. Fast-forward to 2020, and Ponti! is being remade with a new message – even monsters can be redeemed.

But in a world where people ooze grease and sprout unsightly spots, and beauty belongs to social media brands and ad campaigns, can we believe that memories can be re-edited? A smart, slick take on the dark side of modernity.

THE LIDO

by Libby Page,

Orion Fiction, £12.99 (ebook

£6.99)

★★★★★

ROSEMARY, 86 has swum at Brockwell

Lido in south London all her life, while Kate, 26, has just moved to the city and is struggling to fit in. When Kate’s day job as a junior reporter sees her covering the lido’s imminent redevelopment, she and Rosemary become friends and battle the developers together.

The ideas are heart-warming and sincere – a community pulling together, overcoming loneliness at any age – but the language often comes off as a saccharine, and the plot points sentimental, absent of any suspense or surprise.