A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale A Place Called Winter was a Radio 2 Book Club Choice on publication and went on to be shortlisted for the Costa Novel Prize, the Walter Scott Prize and the 2016 Independent Booksellers Book of the Year award. A privileged elder son, and stammeringly Read more…
This must be the place by Maggie O’Farrell Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star Read more…
The Ghost by Robert Harris ‘The moment I heard how McAra died I should have walked away. I can see that now…’ The narrator of Robert Harris’s gripping new novel is a professional ghostwriter – cynical, mercenary, and with a nice line in deadpan humour. Accustomed to working with fading Read more…
Moving by Jenny Éclair This house has our blood, sweat, love, laughter and betrayal seeped into its very bones. I might leave this place, but bits of me will remain here, tears soaked deep into the floorboards. You could hoover this place for ever and you’d never get rid of Read more…
Ship Fever Andrea Barrett Exceptional tales of emancipation and evolution at the birth of the modern era. Set against the backdrop of the nineteenth century, this elegant collection of stories take their impulse from the world of science. Interweaving historical and fictional characters, they illuminate the secret passions of Read more…
The Saffron Trail – Rosanna Ley After the death of her beloved mother, Nell travels from rural Cornwall to the colour and chaos of Marrakech. Her marriage may be on the rocks, but exploring the heady delights of Moroccan cuisine could help her fulfil her dream of opening her own Read more…
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle – Read more…
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes This book has been criticised for its treatment of disabled people. It’s worth reading to make up your own mind… Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working Read more…
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis Jim Dixon has accidentally fallen into a job at one of Britain’s new red brick universities. A moderately successful future in the History Department beckons – as long as Jim can stave off the unwelcome advances of fellow lecturer Margaret, survive a madrigal-singing weekend at Read more…
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their Read more…