BOOKS OF THE WEEK
The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey Hutchinson Heinemann, £14.99 (ebook £7.99) Review by Amanda De-Beer
The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey is her debut novel and is based on her childhood in West Yorkshire in the 1970s. It’s a beautifully written story about friendship, family and the untold secrets hidden beneath the surface. Miv has her own family issues – her mother has stopped speaking, her Aunty Jean has moved in and her dad is clearly stressed. Not to mention the Yorkshire Ripper murders. This coming-of-age novel touches on a number of themes; family, friendship, love, suicide, mental health, betrayal, heartbreak, loss and murder. This is a touching novel that will have you in tears, shock, laughter and horror.
Every Smile You Fake by Dorothy Koomson
Headline Review, £16.99 (ebook £9.99) Review by Rachel Howdle
At the centre of Every Smile You Fake is profiler and therapist Kez Lanyon – and it’s clear there’s a whole other layer to her as the book goes on. She finds a baby in her car – and she suspects the mother is Brandee, a social media star who has gone into hiding, removing herself from the online world. Kez begins her search for Brandee and gets pulled back into a world she hoped she had left forever. Dorothy Koomson has written a twisty tale that taps into child exploitation, the church of online influencers, pseudo psychology and radicalisation – and it doesn’t seem too far-fetched, as in the last year, similar stories have been in the news.
The Trials Of Lila Dalton by L. J. Shepherd Pushkin Vertigo, £16.99 (ebook £9.99) Review by Prudence Wade
The Trials Of Lila Dalton is an incredibly inventive debut from barrister LJ Shepherd. She draws upon her day job to write a new type of courtroom drama, one with a dystopian slant. Lila Dalton suddenly wakes up and finds she’s leading the defence of a man accused of something horrific – but she doesn’t know how she got there and can’t remember anything from two seconds earlier. Luckily, her brain seems to have retained information of how to actually be a lawyer – but then the real mystery begins, as she tries to find out who she is and why she’s in this courthouse on a strange island. It’s a brilliant read with a satisfying finale.
James And John: A True Story Of Prejudice And Murder by Chris Bryant
Bloomsbury Publishing, £25 (ebook £17.50) Review by Emily Pennink
James Pratt and John Smith were sent to the gallows in the 1830s for engaging in an offence deemed so “unnatural” that it could not even be mentioned. Historian, author and MP Chris Bryant examines why Britain was so vehemently against gay sex that it was a capital offence. His forensic post-mortem of the case strips this great reforming era back to reveal underlying hypocrisy, social injustice and deep-seated homophobic prejudice. The fleshy visceral heart of Bryant’s social history set in the teeming streets of Charles Dickens’ London has been brilliantly stitched together from archives, records and correspondence. This is an astonishing piece of work.