This month’s best books
OBSESSIVE FRIENDSHIPS, 70 YEARS OF FEMALE OPPRESSION AND A DOG IN A BABY SLING… SARRA MANNING’S FAVOURITE NEW RELEASES COVER IT ALL
The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel
(Picador, £14.99, out 30th April)
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel is one of my favourite novels and The Glass Hotel doesn’t disappoint either. Weaving together different locations and different lives, it loosely centres on Vincent, trophy girlfriend of financier Jonathan Alkaitis whose Ponzi scheme crashes. It’s a novel about the mystery of the ocean, and the coincidences and connections that both bring people together and pull them apart. Beautifully written and compelling, it will find its way straight to your heart.
Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay
(Sphere, £12.99, out 16th April) Seven Lies is one of 2020’s buzziest debut novels (the TV rights have already been snapped up), which is no surprise as this tale of obsessive friendship will hook you from the very first page. Jane and Marnie’s special rapport starts at school and the book, told from Jane’s point of view, charts each of the seven lies that will fracture their relationship. I can’t say any more for fear of spoilers, but the dramatic climax to this book made me shriek out loud.
Mrs Everything Pretending by Holly Bourne
(Hodder & Stoughton, £14.99, out 2nd April) Still bearing the scars of an abusive relationship, April finds most men awful. But when she pretends to be Gretel, a manic pixie dream girl who gives zero f***s, dating becomes easy, even enjoyable, as she starts seeing the unsuspecting Joshua. It can’t last, but what if April doesn’t want it to end? Pretending is Holly Bourne at her best. It’s a funny, feminist yet challenging read that will make many readers feel validated and seen.
by Jennifer Weiner
(Piatkus, £8.99, out 7th April) An ambitious, immersive novel from the author of In Her Shoes, Mrs Everything spans 70 years in the lives of two very different sisters, Jo and Bethie, born into a middle-class Jewish family in Detroit. Jo’s and Bethie’s experiences are shaped by feminism, who they fall in love with and their mother’s expectations as they figure out who the hell they really are.
Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman
(Doubleday, £12.99, out 16th April)
With her career, finances and marriage in freefall, Judy finds an unlikely cure for her anxiety when she starts carrying the family dog, Charlotte, in her son’s old baby sling. Incisive, acerbic but also a book that’s kind to its characters, Separation Anxiety is a must-read for anyone whose life hasn’t turned out the way it should. (That would be all of us!)