Redhead by the Side of the Road - Anne Tyler
Set in Tyler’s beloved Baltimore, this is the story of Micah Mortimer, approaching early onset middle age and firmly set in his ways when things start to unravel. This offbeat love story about mistakes, second chances and human connection is a beautifully constructed short novel.
A Thousand Moons - Sebastian Barry
Those mesmerised by Sebastian Barry’s award-winning Days Without End will want to know what happened next. This is Winona’s story – searching for love and acceptance in a treacherous and turbulent post- civil war America.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This charming short novel of café based time travel is a fable about regret and reclaiming lost opportunities. Weird, Witty, and thoroughly Japanese.
We Must be Brave – Frances Liardet
Ellen Parr is a young woman with a past. When she finds a young girl asleep and unclaimed at the back of a bus fleeing the Southampton Blitz, her life is overturned and nothing can ever be the same. This convincing and moving novel is a rich portrait of twentieth century rural life.
My Sister, The Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite
When Korede gets a late-night distress call from her sister she knows what’s expected of her – this is the third boyfriend that her sister has dispatched in “self-defence”. This delightfully wicked and witty family story has echoes of Killing Eve.
My Name is Why – Lemn Sissay
At the age of 17, after a childhood with a foster family who abandoned him to 6 years in a care home, Norman Greenwood learnt two things: Firstly his real name was Lemn Sissay and secondly that his Ethiopian mother had been pleading for his return since his birth. This is Lemn’s extraordinarily powerful story.
Under Pressure – Richard Humphreys
What was it really like in a nuclear submarine during the Cold War, sharing an incredibly cramped space with 140 others 300 feet underwater for up to 3 months at a time? This is the brilliantly candid and very entertaining memoir of Richard Humphreys who enlisted in 1985 at the age of 18.