Paperback fiction

The Gifts by Liz Hyder (Bonnier, £8.99)

Liz Hyder’s impressive debut adult novel opens in 1840 with a woman stumbling through a wood, hampered by wings that have sprouted from her shoulders. Rumours of a fallen angel are rife, providing a quest for an aspiring journalist and tipping a surgeon into a calamitous obsession.

A celebration of female solidarity, it’s brimful of historical detail and beautifully written.

Eithne Farry

The Herd by Emily Edwards (Penguin, £8.99)

Elizabeth and Bryony are like chalk and cheese and, unknowingly, divided by the issue of vaccination.

Elizabeth’s daughter Clemmie, seven, is unvaccinated for medical reasons. So Elizabeth is ultra-cautious about letting anyone unvaccinated near her daughter.

But Bryony is wary of vaccines and tells Elizabeth a white lie before sending her own daughter, Alba, to Clemmie’s birthday party – with tragic consequences.

This emotional rollercoaster asks huge moral questions without preaching.

Emma Lee-potter

One Moonlit Night by Rachel Hore (Simon & Schuster, £8.99)

This compelling novel tells the tale of Maddie and her daughters, who leave London after their home is destroyed in a Second World War bombing raid. Maddie’s husband Philip is missing in action, so they seek refuge at Knyghton, the country house where he spent his childhood with his grandmother, aunt and cousin Lyle.

Inexplicably, cousin Lyle appears to hate Philip. And their childhood photographs show a girl called Flora. But when Maddie asks who she was, everybody clams up.

Moving between Knyghton and France, where Philip risks being taken prisoner, this is an evocative read which is brimming with long-buried secrets.

Anne Cater