Human resources
The Museum Of Ordinary People *****
by Mike Gayle (Hodder, £16.99) Inspired by a box of mementoes found in a skip following a house clearance, this beautiful and heartwarming exploration of memories, grief and loss explores how discarded objects can tell their own stories.
Jess is devastated by the tragic death of her mother and has the awful job of clearing her home before selling it. As Jess lives with her boyfriend in a small London flat, she is unable to keep many mementoes of her mother. But she holds on to a set of battered old encyclopedias.
A year later, Jess accepts the books take up too much room, but she doesn’t want to bin them. So she sets about finding a house-clearance firm and meets Alex, who has mysteriously inherited his business from a man he’s never heard of.
There’s a distinct spark between Jess and Alex, who decide to join forces and open their own museum for ordinary people, displaying the items that most folk see as junk but which have special stories and memories attached to them.
As Alex and Jess grow closer, they also make discoveries about their lives that change their perceptions of the past.
Alex begins to open up about the scars on his face that have made him feel so much of an outsider, while a bombshell forces Jess to reassess how she feels about her mother, her best friend and her childhood.
This thought-provoking, tender and brilliantly observed story shows Mike Gayle at his very best.
Permission ****
by Jo Bloom (Legend Press, £8.99) Can sex ever be just sex? The author of Ridley Road, filmed as a four-part drama series and aired on BBC One last year, returns with her first contemporary novel in which she explores the 20-year-old marriage of a middle-aged couple.
Although Fay and Steve are content, she can’t help feeling the spark and excitement has gone from their relationship. So she makes a bold suggestion. Perhaps an open relationship could reignite their marriage?
Initially wary and uncomfortable with the idea, Steve agrees to give it a try and the couple set the ground rules: no sex with friends, they can only see the same person a limited number of times, and it must be kept secret from their two children.
However, they are completely unprepared for what comes next. Fay gets involved in a toxic relationship and starts ignoring the rules she agreed with Steve. For his part, Steve finds no-strings sex less exciting than he had hoped. And as Fay becomes increasingly immersed in her affair, he struggles with the growing distance between them.
This is an intricate and brutally honest examination of marriage in middle age. Many readers will relate to Fay’s longing for novelty, wondering, “Is this it?” amid the demands of elderly parents and children. But this unsettling novel shows how quickly a contented marriage can become unhappy.
Brought to life by flawed, complex characters, it’s an emotive and satisfying read.