Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro

Published by: Faber and FaberPages: 320Date released: 02/03/2021Date read: 22/04/2021 “The Sun always has ways to reach us.” From her place in the store, Klara, and Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, carefully watches the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopefulContinue reading “Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro”

Dear Reader – Cathy Rentzenbrink

Published by: PicadorPages: 230Date released: 17/09/2020Date read: 28/09/2020 “Reading has saved my life, again and again, and has held my hand through every difficult time”. For as long as she can remember, Cathy Rentzenbrink has lost and found herself in stories. Growing up she was rarely seen without her nose in a book and readContinue reading “Dear Reader – Cathy Rentzenbrink”

The Animals at Lockwood Manor – Jane Healey

Published by: MantlePages: 352Date released: 10/03/2020Date read: 22/05/2020 Thirty-year-old Hetty Cartwright is tasked with the evacuation and safekeeping of the natural history museum’s collection of mammals. Once she and her exhibits arrive at Lockwood Manor, however, where they are to stay for the duration of the war, Hetty soon realises that she’s taken on moreContinue reading “The Animals at Lockwood Manor – Jane Healey”

The Summer Job – Lizzy Dent

Published by: VikingPages: 320Date released: 15/04/2021Date read: 23/04/2021  Have you ever imagined running away from your life? Well Birdy Finch didn’t just imagine it. She did it. Which might’ve been an error. And the life she’s run into? Her best friend, Heather’s. The only problem is, she hasn’t told Heather. Actually, there are a fewContinue reading “The Summer Job – Lizzy Dent”

Home Stretch – Graham Norton

Published by: Hodder & StoughtonPages: 368Date released: 01/10/2020Date read: 15/10/2020 It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for the wedding of two of its young inhabitants. They’re barely adults, not so long out of school and still part of the same set of friends they’ve grown up with. As the friends headContinue reading “Home Stretch – Graham Norton”

After You’d Gone – Maggie O’Farrell

Published by: Tinder Press/HachettePages: 384Date released: 11/08/2008 (original published 2000)Date read: 18/04/2021 Alice Raikes takes a train from London to Scotland to visit her family, but when she gets there she witnesses something so shocking that she insists on returning to London immediately. A few hours later, Alice is lying in a coma after anContinue reading “After You’d Gone – Maggie O’Farrell”

Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell

Published by: Tinder PressPages: 372Date released: 31/03/2020Date read: 11/05/2020 Warwickshire in the 1580’s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settled with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies inContinue reading “Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell”

Toksvig’s Almanac – Sandi Toksvig

Published by: Orion PublishingPages: 360Date released: 12/11/2020Date read: 20/11/2020 Let Sandi Toksvig guide you on an eclectic meander through the calendar, illuminating neglected corners of history to tell tales of the fascinating figures you didn’t learn about at school. From revolutionary women to serial killers, pirate nuns to pioneering civil rights activists, doctors to dancingContinue reading “Toksvig’s Almanac – Sandi Toksvig”

Girl in the Walls – A.J Gnuse

Published by: 4th EstatePages: 368Date released: 01/04/2021Date read: 12/04/2021 Eventually, every hidden thing is found Elise knew every inch of the house. She knows which boards will creak. She knows where the gaps are in the walls. She knows which parts can take her in, hide her away. It’s home, after all. The home herContinue reading “Girl in the Walls – A.J Gnuse”

The Sleeping Beauties – Suzanne O’Sullivan

Published by: PicadorPages: 326Date released: 01/04/2021Date read: 10/04/2021 Suzanne O’Sullivan’s “The Sleeping Beauties” I an exploration of different aspects of psychosomatic disorders, mass hysteria, culture bound syndromes (a set of symptoms that exist only within a particular society), using as its starting point a particular case of more than 400 migrant children in Sweden whoContinue reading “The Sleeping Beauties – Suzanne O’Sullivan”