Six of the Best New Reads For Summer
Snowflake
Louise Nealon
Debbie lives on a farm with her mother (who believes her own dreams are prophecies) and her uncle (who sleeps in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whisky). When Debbie goes to Dublin to study, she struggles to balance her new, sophisticated life with the family she’s grown up with. Fans of Sally Rooney will love this.
Careless
Kirsty Capes
Bess is pregnant, but who to tell? Not her useless social worker, her awkward foster mother or the father (who she hasn’t spoken to in weeks). This coming-of-age debut charts what it’s like to be young and neglected in the 21st century, and what happens when you fall between the cracks.
The Wolf Den
Elodie Harper
This well-put-together historical novel is set in the seedy underworld of Pompeii’s brothels, following the tale of Amara. Once a beloved daughter, after her father’s death plunged her family into perjury, Amara is a slave in a brothel. Sharp and resourceful, she is determined to find her freedom.
People Like Her
Ellery Lloyd
This thrilling debut takes a look at the darker side of influencer culture. Emmy Jackson is a vain social media star (with a publicity-hating husband) who is known for telling ‘the unvarnished truth’ about modern parenthood – or so she’d like her followers to believe. Someone out there knows the real truth, and wants to make her pay…
Lean Fall Stand
Jon McGregor
The award-winning author of If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things is back with another profoundly moving story. This time, he weaves the tale of an Antarctic research expedition gone wrong, with far-reaching consequences for the men involved, and for their families back home.
The High House
Jessie Greengrass
A sense of dread permeates this novel as its characters prepare for the onset of a slow-moving catastrophe. Scientist Francesca has turned her home into an ark – the mill powers a generator, the orchard and greenhouse are ready, the seeds are stored. But how do we accept a change that once seemed unthinkable?
