THE BEST NEW FICTION
The Fell Sarah Moss
Picador £14.99
It’s 2020 and single mum Kate is supposed to be quarantining but is going stir-crazy, so she takes a quick walk on the moors, only to fall and injure herself.
Who will save her now, in a world gripped by fear and suspicion? The pandemic is spawning some fine writing, and this helter-skelter novel by Moss is one of the best yet. The book captures both the paranoia of the times and, just as importantly, the kindness of strangers.
Max Davidson
Lily: A Tale Of Revenge Rose Tremain Chatto & Windus £18.99
One winter’s night in 1850, an hours-old baby, abandoned at the gates of an East End park, is saved from wolves and taken to the London Foundling Hospital. Tremain’s latest novel more than lives up to its atmospheric, riveting beginning, tracking the child who comes to be named Lily Mortimer as she survives heartbreaking cruelty to mature into a young woman with a deadly secret. It’s consummate storytelling, and finds room for redemption as well as revenge.
Hephzibah Anderson
My Monticello Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
Harvill Secker £12.99 Climate change, civil unrest and the rise of white supremacists have made life treacherous for black inhabitants of Charlottesville, Virginia. Da’Naisha Love, a direct descendant of Sally Hemings, a slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, has been burnt out of her home and is taking refuge in Monticello, the founding father’s historic plantation home, along with family and friends. Set over only 19 days, this short debut novel feels all too real. Stunning. Eithne Farry
The Shadows Of Men Abir Mukherjee Harvill Secker £12.99
It’s 1923 and Calcutta is in turmoil. Hindu and Muslim radicals are pitted against each other, while the British rulers struggle to keep control. Captain Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee are caught in the middle, trying to find the murderous agent provocateurs who are bent on fanning the flames. To make matters worse, their superiors seem happy to see Banerjee take the blame. Another compelling, thoughtful and atmospheric episode in this fine series.
John Williams