Books to get you talking

We asked our friends, Kate Slotover and Laura Potter, of The Book Club Review – a bi-weekly podcast – to recommend five books. "We've picked books that generate lively debate and which people can't wait to discuss. For us, Book Club is a way to broaden our horizons and nudge us into reading things we wouldn’t otherwise have read."

Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton (Scribe UK) is an electrifying short novel about the 17th-century aristocrat Margaret Cavendish. Dutton’s ability to bring to life the age of Oliver Cromwell and Samuel Pepys is a pleasure, but it’s her evocation of Cavendish’s rich innerlife that you’ll want to talk about.

Assembly by Natasha Brown (Penguin) is a taut exploration of contemporary life narrated by a Black British woman. You’ll read it in one sitting, but we reckon that you’ll think about it forever.

Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood (NYBR Classics) is a dark and brilliantly funny novel that charts the devastating portrayal of an aristocratic family in decline.

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop (Pushkin Press) is set in WWII, where a young Senegalese soldier seeks vengeance after the death of his friend. Heartbreaking, yes, but the writing is so good it's a joy to read, and takes an unexpected turn that you’ll certainly want to discuss.

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder (Vintage) sees a first-time mum so overwhelmed by loneliness and domestic servitude that she loses her sense of self to the extent of turning into a dog. There’s also something a bit feral about the other mums in the playground.