THE GREAT ESCAPE

Whether it’s Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Chile, Havana or Paris, journey around the world with fictional tales that conjure a crackling sense of place. Words: Sarah Barrell

A Long Petal of the Sea, by Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende’s latest novel is a thumping read, following the life of a young doctor from Barcelona, forcibly transplanted to Chile during the Spanish Civil War (aboard a ship chartered by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, no less). Raised in Chile and exiled to Venezuela, Allende understands the rippling effects of being uprooted herself, and this story focuses on the lasting impact of displacement. (Bloomsbury, £16.99)

The Parisian, by Isabella Hammad

A love story, of sorts, moving from Palestine to Montpellier then Paris in the decades before the Second World War, this is a tale of how global politics and cultural identity shapes individual lives. A vivid rendering of both one Palestinian life in transition, and of a vastly shifting world order, this ambitious debut novel has been shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards. (Vintage Publishing, £9.99)

Love After Love, by Ingrid Persaud

The follow up to

The Sweet Sop, which won both the Commonwealth Short Story Prize

2017 and the BBC National Short Story Award 2018, in Love After Love, Ingrid Persaud mines tender human truths from otherwise invisible, smalltown Caribbean lives. The everyday family houses, back gardens and streets of Trinidad are firmly in frame, brought sharply to life with colloquial, rhythmic Trini dialect.

(Faber, £14.99)

Island of Secrets, by Rachel Rhys

This summer’s ebullient beach read (or, perhaps local park read) is set in 1950s Cuba, a country on the cusp of revolution. Bored Iris from the home counties happens on an invitation to Havana, where she has ambitions of becoming an artist. She soon uncovers gangsters, socialites and fated romance; the latest from the Nigerian-born multiple-pen-namedwriter of mystery and crime fiction. Due in paperback July 2020. (Black Swan, £7.99)

Suncatcher, by Romesh Gunesekera

Take a trip to 1960s Sri Lanka with Romesh Gunesekera, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Guardian Fiction Prize for his debut novel, Reef. This story is set in Ceylon during mid-century political upheaval. With schools closed and the government floundering, the young protagonist has to rely on his developing strength of character. This really is a fitting read for our times. (Bloomsbury, £8.99)

The Death of Vivek Oji, by Akwaeke Emezi

This second novel from Wellcome Book Prize and Women’s Prize for Fiction nominee Akwaeke Emezi offers up a chronicle of a death foretold, examining the events leading up to the mysterious demise of the titular young Nigerian. Raw, strange and packed with a contrasting cast of characters, this is a tale whose atmosphere lingers long after the reading is done, not least its striking account of modern day Nigeria. (Faber, £12.99)