Published July 18th, 2024 by Simon & Schuster UK Humorous Fiction, Disability Fiction
Today is my stop on the blog tour for this heartfelt and mesmerising story. Thank you to Sara-Jade at Books and the City for the invitation to take part and for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
‘Extraordinary’ Heidi Swain ‘Life-affirming’ Hazel Prior ‘Big-hearted’ Caroline Day ‘Beautiful’ Julietta Henderson ‘Heartwarming’ Daily Mail ‘Unputdownable’My Weekly ‘A joy’Good Housekeeping
Joe loves predictability. But his life is about to become a surprising adventure.
Joe-Nathan likes the two parts of his name separate, just like his dinner and dessert. Mean Charlie at work sometimes calls him Joe-Nuthin. But Joe is far from nothing. Joe is a good friend, he’s good at his job, good at making things and good at following the rules, and he’s learning how to do lots of things by himself.
Joe’s mother knows there are a million things in life he isn’t prepared for. While she helps guide him every day, she’s also writing notebooks full of advice about the things she hasn’t told Joe yet, things he might forget and answers to questions he hasn’t yet asked.
Following her wisdom – applying it in his own unique way – this next part of Joe’s life is more of a surprise than he expects. Because he’s about to learn that remarkable things can happen when you leave your comfort zone, and that you can do even the hardest things with a little help from your friends.
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MY REVIEW:
Oh, my heart was not ready for this book. Tender, moving, funny and uplifting, this is one of those books that will strike a resonant chord in the heart of every reader. Exquisitely written and emotionally astute, Helen Fisher has crafted a delightful story filled with joy, humour, heartbreak and hope in equal measure.
Joe Nuthin’s Guide To Life is a story about love, life, friendship, community, and self-discovery. It follows Joe-Nathan, who lives at home with his mum, Janet, and works at The Compass Store. He has OCD, and lives his life governed by his routines such as going to the pub every Friday evening, and getting a takeaway on Saturday nights. To help Joe live an independent life, Janet has put together a blue notebook that is filled with all the things Joe might need to know and any time he doesn’t know what to do in a situation, he consults the book. But the most important thing to know about Joe is that he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Unfortunately, others do. Mean Charlie at work has nicknamed him Joe Nuthin while Owen is even nastier. Thankfully he has some good friends, such as Chloe and Hugo Boss, who always have his back.
Joe is a special character unlike any other you have read. He stole my heart and I loved living every moment of this story alongside him. One of the things I liked about Joe is that although he lives a simple life according to strict rules, he is actually a very nuanced character whose black and white view of the world offers gems of wisdom that many of us could learn from. I loved his relationship with his mum, Janet. She’s a fantastic mum and I loved that she created this beautifully written manual to help him through life. She wants her son to embrace life and enjoy independence, and although it is Joe and Janet against the world at the start of the book, we soon discover he has so many others in his life to also encourage him as he bravely stepped outside of his comfort zone to experience new things. The love and camaraderie radiated from the pages and the characters were so much fun to read. I had a real soft spot for Chloe, his fiery and loyal work colleague. But it was his relationship with Charlie that I found most touching as Joe discovers Charlie is hiding dark secrets, showing incredible kindness as he tries to help him in his own unique way.
Thoughtful, heartfelt, mesmerising, and achingly human, Joe Nuthin’s Guide To Life is a must read that will warm you from the inside and restore your faith in others.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮.5
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
Helen Fisher spent her early life in America, but grew up mainly in Suffolk where she now lives with her two children. She studied Psychology at Westminster University and Ergonomics at UCL and worked as a senior evaluator in research at RNIB. She is now a full-time author.
Helen’s debut novel, SPACE HOPPER, was published by Simon & Schuster UK in Feb 2021. Her upcoming novel, JOE NUTHIN’S GUIDE TO LIFE (Simon & Schuster) was published in 2023.
Welcome to another month of my most anticipated releases. I can’t quite believe we’re almost at the end of this year, and even though November and December generally have less releases, there’s still a lot of exciting books in this list.
Here’s the books out in November I’m most anticipating:
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok
Published November 2nd by Viper Books Mystery, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: * FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GIRL IN TRANSLATION *
‘Kwok is an impressive talent’ – KARIN SLAUGHTER ‘A beautiful, propulsive story’ – LAURA DAVE ‘A hugely atmospheric and suspenseful mystery’ – LUCY FOLEY
‘I will find my daughter. No matter the cost…’
Jasmine Yang thought her daughter was dead at birth. But five years after she was taken from her arms, she learns that her controlling husband sent the baby to America to be adopted, a casualty of China’s one-child-policy. Fleeing her rural Chinese village, Jasmine arrives in New York City with nothing except a desperate need to find her daughter. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she’s forced to make increasingly risky decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her child.
Meanwhile, Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardise not only Rebecca’s job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble.
Two women in a divided city, separated by wealth and culture, yet bound together by their love for the same child. And when they finally meet, their lives will never be the same again…
Published November 2nd by Canongate Books Historical Ficiton, Biographical Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Dolly Maunder is born at the end of the nineteenth century, when society’s long-locked doors are just starting to creak ajar for determined women. Growing up in a poor farming family in rural New South Wales, Dolly spends her life doggedly pushing at those doors. A husband and two children do not deter her from searching for love and independence.
Restless Dolly Maunder is a subversive, triumphant tale of a pioneering woman working her way through a world of limits and obstacles, who is able – despite the cost – to make a life she could call her own.
Mary; or, The Birth of Franenstein by Anne Eekhout
Published November 2nd by Pushkin Press Gothic Fiction, Historical Ficiton, Biographical Fiction, LGBT Literature
SYNOPSIS: Gothic, fantasy-tinged historical fiction, delving back into the teenage years of Mary Shelley to find the inspiration for Frankenstein Scotland, 1812. When Mary is sent to the countryside for her health, she soon forms a brooding, amorous friendship with Isabella, the grief-stricken eldest daughter of the Baxter family. While the girls explore the local countryside and revel in its stories of witches, ghosts and monsters, the mysterious David Booth develops a sinister interest in Mary and Isabella… Geneva, 1816. In the famous year without a summer, Mary is caught between her husband’s ideals of free love, her stepsister’s narcissism and the immense anguish she feels for her recently lost child. While her days are filled with strife, the long evenings are spent drinking laudanum-laced wine and sharing ghost stories. As Mary grapples with the inspiration for her famous novel, she is plagued by troubling memories… Provocative, sensual and dark, Mary; or the Birth of Frankenstein is a hypnotic ode to the power of the imagination.
Published November 2nd by Hodder & Stoughton Romance Novel, Humorous Fiction, Medical Fiction, Romantic Comedy
SYNOPSIS: It’s never too late for the adventure of a lifetime . . . Heather Winterbottom has worked side by side with her husband as GPs in their idyllic rural practice for over forty years. But as the time comes to hang up their stethoscopes, the Winterbottoms discover that they have rather different visions of retirement . . .
Heather dreams of exploring the Greek Islands, of escaping the shackles of her routine life and embracing an exciting new adventure. Alan dreams of growing his own vegetables.
When things come to a head at a family lunch, Heather announces that she has decided to take a year off. From her old life, from her marriage – from Alan. Alone in beautiful Greece, Heather embarks on her very own odyssey – complete with peak experiences, pitfalls and temptations. But what if coming home is the biggest adventure yet?
Published November 2nd by Hodder Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Ten influencers. Ten secrets. One dead body. A pacy, page-turning thriller perfect for fans of We Were Liars, The Inheritance Games and One Of Us Is Lying.
‘Agatha Christie meets TikTok . . . a wicked, juicy page-turner’ – Alexa Donne, author of Brightly Burning
They’re used to being followed. But not like this . . .
Ten social media stars think they’re about to join the cast of a hot new reality show.
But the production crew never shows up, and the influencers find themselves stranded on a deserted Caribbean island with no contact with the outside world – except for messages from the mysterious ‘Sponsor’, who is threatening to expose their darkest secrets.
When one of them winds up dead, things start to get more real than they bargained for . . .
With the body count rising, the influencers must figure out who is trying to get them cancelled – like, literally – before their number one follower strikes again.
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean Book 2)
Published November 7th by Piatkus Romantic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Fantasy Series
SYNOPSIS: THE THRILLING SEQUEL TO THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND NUMBER ONE GLOBAL PHENOMENON, FOURTH WING!
The deadly second year at Basgiath awaits. Don’t miss out on the series that the world can’t stop talking about:
‘This book contains an addictive, drug like essence that will make you relinquish all responsibility until the very last word. Do not say I didn’t warn you’ – Glamour
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She survived her first year at Basgiath War College . . . but the danger is only beginning.
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College, Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is – unless she betrays the man she loves.
Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits, and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.
But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.
Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College – and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
Published November 7th by Sphere Contemporary Romance, Science Fiction Romance, Young Adult Fiction
SYNOPSIS: In this clever and swoonworthy new novel from the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart.
Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious ‘Kingkiller’ Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess.
Nolan’s loss to an unknown rookie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist…
As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent… and infuriating…)
This novel is suitable for both young adult and adult audiences.
The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper (Wolf Den Trilogy Book 3)
Published November 9th by Head of Zeus Historical Fiction, Romance Novel, Book Series, Historical Romance
SYNOPSIS: The final instalment in Elodie Harper’s Sunday Times bestselling Wolf Den Trilogy
A courtesan in Rome. Playing for power. Haunted by her past. Her name is Amara. How will her fortunes fall?
Amara’s journey has taken her far, from a lowly slave in Pompeii’s brothel to a high-powered courtesan in Rome. She is now a freedwoman with wealth and influence, yet she is still drawn back to her past.
For while Amara is caught up in the political scheming of the Imperial palace, her daughter remains in Pompeii, raised by the only man she ever truly loved. Although she longs for her family, Amara knows they are safest while she is far away. Perhaps, with enough cunning and courage, she will manage to turn Fortuna’s wheel in their favour.
But the year is ad 79, and Mount Vesuvius is preparing to make itself known…
The Temple of Fortuna is the dramatic final instalment in Elodie Harper’s Sunday Times-bestselling Wolf Den trilogy, which reimagines the lives of women who have long been overlooked.
Published November 9th by Orenda Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, PsychologivlcaThriller, Horror Satire
SYNOPSIS: Hotel Beresford: a grand old building, just outside the city, where any soul is welcome, and strange goings-on mask explosive, deadly secrets. A chilling, darkly funny sequel to Will Carver’s bestselling The Beresford…
There are worse places than hell…
Hotel Beresford is a grand, old building, just outside the city. And any soul is welcome.
Danielle Ortega works nights, singing at whatever dive bar will offer her a gig. She gets by, keeping to herself. Sam Walker gambles and drinks, and can’t keep his hands to himself. Now he’s tied up in a shoe closet with a dent in his head that matches Danielle’s broken ashtray.
The man in 731 has been dead for two days and his dog has not stopped barking. Two doors down, the couple who always smokes on the window ledge will mysteriously fall.
Upstairs, in the penthouse, Mr Balliol sees it all. He can peer into every crevice of every floor of the hotel from his screen-filled suite. He witnesses humanity and inhumanity in all its forms: loneliness, passion and desperation in equal measure. All the ingredients he needs to make a deal.
When Danielle returns home one night to find Sam gone, a series of sinister events begins to unfold. But strange things often occur at Hotel Beresford, and many are only a distraction to hide something much, much darker…
Published November 9th by Orenda Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Police Procedural, Hardboiled, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Desperate for reward money – and to rescue his marriage – an embattled sheriff takes incalculable risks to find a missing boy. An edge-of-your-seat, twisted and twisty thriller from New Zealand’s King of Crime.
To catch a killer… Maybe you’ve got to be one…
Acacia Pines, USA. Sheriff Cohen’s life is falling apart – his father accidentally burned down the retirement home, his wife has moved out, and his son is bullying other kids at school.
When high-school student, Lucas Connor, is abducted, Cohen sees a chance to get his life back on track – to win back his wife and scoop the reward money offered for Lucas’s safe return.
But as the body count rises, it becomes clear that Cohen’s going to have to make the kind of decision from which there’s no coming back … a decision with deadly consequences…
A furiously paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller exposing the dark underbelly of small-town life, His Favourite Graves is also a twisted and twisty story of father-and-son relationships, and the one last gamble of a desperate man to save everything…
Published November 9th by Orion Mystery, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Erotic Thriller
SYNOPSIS: Sharon Bolton has written another cracker! The twists! The tension! The characters!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘You’ll never guess where this book is going’ SAMANTHA DOWNING ‘Totally gripping, with characters who draw you in’ JP DELANEY ‘A thriller that had me desperate for answers. I loved it!’ HARRIET TYCE
Olive Anderson is dining alone at a hotel when a glamourous stranger joins her table, pretending to be her wife. What starts as a thrilling game quickly turns into something dangerous. But as much as the fake wife has her secrets, Olive just might have more . . .
The Fake Wife is an unputdownable thriller that will shock and surprise you like the best television boxsets. If you enjoyed Netflix shows like Behind Her Eyes, The Stranger and Obsession you will love The Fake Wife.
The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict
Published November 9th by Simon & Schuster UK Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Crime Fiction, Adventure Fiction, LGBT Literature, Domestic Fiction, Holiday Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ***GIVE THE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS EARLY. PRE-ORDER THIS DELICIOUSLY DARK CHRISTMAS MYSTERY FOR FANS OF CLEVER, PUZZLING CRIME. THE PERFECT STOCKING FILLER***
THIS CHRISTMAS, A KILLER TAKES FAMILY GAMES TO A MURDEROUS NEW LEVEL.
On 19th of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner and Christmas sceptic Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene – blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.’ It’s signed, Rest In Pieces.
Edie contacts her nephew, DI Sean Brand-O’Sullivan, and together they work to solve the clues. But when a man is found near death with a jigsaw piece in his hand, Sean fears that Edie might be in danger and shuts her out of the investigation. As the body count rises, however, Edie knows that only she has the knowledge to put together the killer’s murderous puzzle.
Only by fitting all the pieces together will Edie be able to stop a killer – and finally lay her past to rest.
Published November 9th by Hodder & Stoughton Romance Novel, Contemporary Romance, Humorous Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Romantic, funny, sweet and sexy’ MARIAN KEYES
‘The funny, clever, deeply romantic, sinfully sexy, devastatingly heartbreaking, perfectly uplifting book of your dreams’ CRESSIDA MCLAUGHLIN
Is he too good to be true?
Meet Theo. Handsome, sexy, funny. kind. And he can cook.
He’s literally the man of Esme’s dreams. But Esme’s sensible enough to know that you can’t just manifest your perfect boyfriend then have him turn up on your doorstep.
Published November 9th by Black & White Publishing Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Regency Romance, Coming-of-Age Story, New Adult Fiction, Transgender Fiction, LGBT Literature, Gay Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Fun, fresh and clever . . . a huge treat for all fans of Jane Eyre.’ KATIE LUMSDEN, author of The Secrets of Hartwood Hall
‘A sublime and tenderly written novel.’ BEA FITZGERALD, author of Girl, Goddess, Queen
All Brontë Ellis has ever known is life at St. Mary’s all-boys boarding school, where he lingered first as a student and then as a teaching assistant. So when a chance to forge a new life in Cambridge presents itself, he seizes it with both hands.
Arriving at Greenwood Manor as the new live-in tutor, Bron finds himself welcomed by all – the gregarious Mr Edwards, his precocious pupil Ada . . . except for Darcy, the elusive and tempestuous eldest son. Despite the rumours about him, Bron cannot help feeling drawn to the one person who seems determined to avoid him.
When tragedy strikes the house, Bron begins to sense dark secrets smouldering beneath Greenwood Manor’s surface. Soon he’s not sure what to believe, or whether he even has a future at Greenwood. Only Darcy holds the key, if he can be persuaded to reveal his heart to Bron . . .
Published November 9th by Scribe UK Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From the author of The Picture Bride, two women’s lives and identities are intertwined ― through World War II and the Korean War ― revealing the harsh realities of class division in the early part of the 20th century.
Can’t I Go Instead follows the lives of the daughter of a Korean nobleman and her maidservant in the early 20th century. When the daughter’s suitor is arrested as a Korean Independence activist, and she is implicated during the investigation, she is quickly forced into marriage to one of her father’s Japanese employees and shipped off to the United States. At the same time, her maidservant is sent in her mistress’s place to be a comfort woman to the Japanese Imperial army.
Years of hardship, survival, and even happiness follow. In the aftermath of WWII, the women make their way home, where they must reckon with the tangled lives they’ve led, in an attempt to reclaim their identities, and find their places in an independent Korea.
Published November 9th by Fig Tree Contemporary Romance, Literary Fiction, Psychological Fiction
SYNOPSIS: ‘Leaves you heartsore but happier. Irresistible’ RICHARD E. GRANT
‘Wise and relatable and pee-your-pants funny… Dolly Alderton is, quite simply, the bard of modern day love’ LENA DUNHAM
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Every relationship has one beginning. This one has two endings.
Andy loves Jen. Jen loved Andy. And he can’t work out why she stopped.
Now he is. . . 1. Without a home 2. Waiting for his stand-up career to take off 3. Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn’t looking
Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak at a time when everything he thought he knew about women, and flat-sharing, and his friendships has transformed beyond recognition, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of their broken relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him.
Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend’s side of the story.
From the bestselling author of Ghosts and Everything I Know About Love: a sharply funny, beautifully observed and exquisitely relatable story of heartbreak and friendship, and how to survive both.
The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou
Published November 9th by Head of Zeus Suspesne, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery
SYNOPSIS: **Selected for BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club 2023**
‘Tense. Moving. Morally complex. Zina Pavlou is wholly unforgettable.’ Rachel Rhys ‘Hugely powerful… Easily one of the best books you’ll read this year.’ Emma Christie THEY HAVE TOLD SO MANY LIES ABOUT ME.
London, 1954. Zina Pavlou, a Cypriot grandmother, waits quietly in the custody of the Metropolitan police. She can’t speak their language, but she understands what their wary looks mean: she has been accused of the brutal murder of her daughter-in-law.
Eva Georgiou, Greek interpreter for the Met, knows how it feels to be voiceless as an immigrant woman. While she works as Zina’s translator, her obsession with the case deepens, and so too does her bond with the accused murderer.
Zina can’t speak for herself. She can’t clear her own name. All she can do is wait for the world to decide…
IS SHE A VICTIM? OR IS SHE A KILLER?
A compelling historical crime novel set in the Greek diaspora of 1950s London – that’s inspired by a true story – The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou is perfect for fans of Erin Kelly, Sara Collins, and Jessie Burton.
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes Book 2)
Published November 9th by Tor Fantasty Fiction, Romance Novel, Romantic Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Cosy Fantasy, Lesbian Literature, Book Series
SYNOPSIS: A standalone cosy fantasy about the power of good bookshops, great friends and the unexpected choices along the way from the bestselling author of BookTok sensation Legends & Lattes.
First loves. Second-hand books. Epic adventures.
Viv’s career with the renowned mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk – so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it. What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?
Spending her hours at a struggling bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted. Even though it may be exactly what she needs. Still, adventure isn’t far away. A suspicious traveller in grey, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
Sometimes, right things happen at the wrong time. Sometimes, what we need isn’t what we seek. And sometimes, we find ourselves in the stories we experience together . . .
Published November 9th by Simon & Schuster UK Humorous Fiction, Disability Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
SYNOPSIS: Joe loves predictability. But his life is about to become a surprising adventure.
Joe-Nathan likes the two parts of his name separate, just like his dinner and dessert. Mean Charlie at work sometimes calls him Joe-Nuthin. But Joe is far from nothing. Joe is a good friend, he’s good at his job, good at making things and good at following the rules, and he’s learning how to do lots of things by himself.
Joe’s mother knows there are a million things in life he isn’t prepared for. While she helps guide him every day, she’s also writing notebooks full of advice about the things she hasn’t told Joe yet, things he might forget and answers to questions he hasn’t yet asked.
Following her wisdom – applying it in his own unique way – this next part of Joe’s life is more of a surprise than he expects. Because he’s about to learn that remarkable things can happen when you leave your comfort zone, and that you can do even the hardest things with a little help from your friends.
Irresistable: How Cuteness Wired our Brains and Conquered the World by Joshua Paul Dale
Published November 9th by Profile Books Evolutionary Psychology, History of Japan
SYNOPSIS: Why are some things cute, and others not? What happens to our brains when we see something cute? And how did cuteness go global, from Hello Kitty to Disney characters?
Cuteness is an area where culture and biology get tangled up. Seeing a cute animal triggers some of the most powerful psychological instincts we have – the ones that elicit our care and protection – but there is a deeper story behind the broad appeal of Japanese cats and saccharine greetings cards.
Joshua Paul Dale, a pioneer in the burgeoning field of cuteness studies, explains how the cute aesthetic spread around the globe, from pop brands to Lolita fashion, kids’ cartoons and the unstoppable rise of Hello Kitty. Irresistible delves into the surprisingly ancient origins of Japan’s kawaii culture, and uncovers the cross-cultural pollination of the globalised world. If adorable things really do rewire our brains, it can help answer some of the biggest questions we have about our evolutionary history and the mysterious origins of animal domestication.
This is the fascinating cultural history of cuteness, and a revealing look at how our most powerful psychological impulses have remade global style and culture.
What The River Knows by Isabel Ibanez (Secrets of the Nile Duology)
Published November 14th by Hodderscape Historical Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
SYNOPSIS: A divine exploration. A deadly secret. A desire she can’t escape.
‘Expertly plotted, explosively adventurous, and burning with romance’ STEPHANIE GARBER
The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in 19th century Egypt, filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.
Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns for the most: her globetrotting parents – who frequently leave her behind when they venture off on their exploring adventures.
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archaeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.
With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance-or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.
Published November 14th by Sphere Historical Fiction, Religious Fiction, Jewish Fiction
SYNOPSIS: A moving new novel from the beloved author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven
When the Nazis invade Salonika, Greece, eleven-year-old Nico Crispi is offered a chance to save his family. He is instructed to convince his fellow Jewish residents to board trains heading towards the east, where they are promised jobs and safety. He dutifully goes to the station platform every day and reassures the passengers that the journey is safe. Only after it is too late does Nico discover that the people he loved would never return.
In The Little Liar, Nico’s story is interweaved with other individuals impacted by the occupation: his brother Sebastian, their schoolmate Fanni and the Nazi officer who radically changed their lives. As the decades pass, the consequences of what they endured come to light.
Exploring honesty, survival, revenge and devotion, The Little Liar is a timeless story about the harm we inflict with our deceits, and the power of love to redeem us.
Published November 23rd by Orenda Thriller, Suspense, Historical Mystery, Noir Fiction, Hardboiled, Horror Fiction
SYNOPSIS: An art expert joins a detective to investigate a horrific murder on a Swedish island, leading them to a mystery rooted in Viking rites and Scandinavia’s deepest, darkest winter. The Queen of French Noir returns with a chilling, utterly captivating historical thriller, based on a true story.
Art expert Emma Lindahl is anxious when she’s asked to appraise the antiques and artefacts in the infamous manor house of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families, on the island of Storholmen, where a young woman was murdered nine years earlier, her killer never found.
Emma must work alone, and with the Gussman family apparently avoiding her, she sees virtually no one in the house. Do they have something to hide?
As she goes about her painstaking work and one shocking discovery yields clues that lead to another, Emma becomes determined to uncover the secrets of the house and its occupants.
When the lifeless body of another young woman is found in the icy waters surrounding the island, Detective Karl Rosén arrives to investigate, and memories of his failure to solve the first case come rushing back. Could this young woman’s tragic death somehow hold the key to the first?
Battling her own demons, Emma joins forces with Karl to embark upon a chilling investigation, plunging them into horrifying secrets from the past – Viking rites and tainted love – and Scandinavia’s deepest, darkest winter…
Published November 23rd by Hodder & Stoughton Psychological Thriller
SYNOPSIS: YOU WANT TO BE JUST LIKE HER. BUT DO YOU REALLY KNOW HER?
Rani has always felt like an outsider. First growing up among her white, wealthy peers. And now next to her successful, child-free friends. From the tiny rented flat she lives in with her family, she imagines being the kind of woman who owns the beautiful house across the street.
Then Natalie moves in. With her expensive clothes, adoring husband and high-powered job, she has everything Rani wants, and Rani can’t help but be drawn to her new neighbour.
But as the two women strike up a friendship and begin open up, Rani wonders – is Natalie’s perfect-seeming life too good to be true?
Published November 23rd by Raven Books Dark Comedy, Satire, Thriller, Mystery
SYNOPSIS: ‘It’s a clever book … [Im Seong-sun] offers readers his razor-sharp observations on consumerism, capitalism and what it means to feel anonymous’ M.W. Craven _______________ Sometimes work can be murder…
The Consultant is very good at his job. He creates simple, elegant, effective solutions for. restructuring. Nothing obvious or messy. Certainly nothing anyone would ever suspect as murder.
The ‘natural deaths’ he plans have always gone well: a medicine replaced here, a mechanism jammed there. His performance reviews are excellent. And it’s not as though he knows these people.
Until his next ‘customer’ turns out to be someone he not only knows but cares about, and for the first time, he begins to question the role he plays in the vast, anonymous Company. And as he slowly begins to understand the real scope of their work, he realises just how easy it would be for the Company to arrange one more perfect murder…
But how far will he go to escape The Company? And how far will they go to stop him?
The electrifying first novel from award-winning Korean thriller-writer Im Seong-Sun – now in English for the first time – combines the tension of the best crime fiction with searing social criticism to present a searing take-down of global corporate life.
Published November 23rd by One More Chapter Mystery, Suspense, Psychlogical Thriller, Crime Fiction, Coming-of-Age Story
SYNOPSIS: ‘The Talented Mr Ripley meets The White Lotus. Unpredictable, whip smart, utterly absorbing. I ADORED that ending!’ John Marrs ‘One of the most unsettling novels of recent years. It’s also one of the most compelling’ John Boyne
***
Everyone is capable of murder. Are you?
It started with an invitation to dinner. An evening of good food and good company at a luxury villa. But as the night progresses, the party takes a dark turn.
The host makes you an offer, a party favour he calls it: another guest has committed a heinous crime, you can end their life, stop their terror. He tells you there will be no consequences; do you believe him?
Your decision will change your life. Choose carefully.
***
You’ve read The Talented Mr Ripley, you’ve devoured American Psycho, get ready for your next dark obsession! The unrelenting new thriller from Sunday Times bestseller B P Walter is back and available to pre-order now!
Unnatural Death by Patricia Cornwell (A Kay Scarpetta Novel)
Published November 23rd by Sphere Mystery, Thriller, Pscyhological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Medical Thriller, Crime Series
SYNOPSIS: THE BREATHTAKING NEW KAY SCARPETTA THRILLER FROM THE 120-MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER
Two mauled bodies in the woods. Two top secret autopsies. The most chilling case of Scarpetta’s career . . .
In this thrilling new instalment of the #1 bestselling series, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta finds herself in a Northern Virginia wilderness examining the remains of two campers wanted by federal law enforcement.
The victims have been savaged beyond recognition, and other evidence is terrifying and baffling, including a larger-than-life footprint.
After one of the most frightening body retrievals of her career, Scarpetta must discover who would commit murders this brutal, and why.
‘A chilling, thrilling, macabre masterpiece. Unnatural Death is Patricia Cornwell at her mesmerising finest. The best just got better’ CHRIS WHITAKER, author of WE BEGIN AT THE END
Published November 23rd by Harper Via Contemporary Fiction, Domestic Fiction
SYNOPSIS: From one of Australia’s most celebrated authors comes a powerful mother-daughter drama that explores the fault lines between love and control, pairing the claustrophobic intensity of Room and My Year of Rest and Relaxation with the youthful angst of Freshwater.
Sixteen and pregnant, Karuna finds herself trapped in her mother’s Melbourne public housing apartment for one hundred days awaiting the birth of her child—and her mother’s next move in a shocking power struggle over who will raise the baby. To fill the seemingly endless hours of her imprisonment, she writes to her unborn child, determined that her baby will know the truth, no matter what happens.
Karuna’s pregnancy is the result of a heady act of independence, lust, and defiance that happened in a moment of freedom from her overprotective mother. In reaction to her daughter’s recklessness, Karuna’s mother locks her inside their apartment to her to make sure she can’t get into any more trouble. While postpartum confinement is a tradition in many cultures, is Karuna’s an act of love—or emotional abuse? As the birth approaches, Karuna and her mother repeatedly trip the fault lines between love and control. And somehow, despite their battles, Karuna recognizes her mother’s love in even the strangest of behaviors.
At times tense and unnerving, One Hundred Days illuminates the pain, confusion, and thrill of growing up and the overwhelming desire of adults to protect the children they
Published November 28th by Verve Books Historical Mystery, Medical Thriller, Mystery, Historical Thriller
SYNOPSIS: A disquieting contemporary mystery with a historical twist and fast-paced plot, from the author of the Jen Shaw series.
Six decades. Seven people. One unspeakable secret.
1957. A catastrophe occurs at the pharmaceutical lab in Coventry where sixteen-year-old Wilf is working for the summer. A catastrophe that needs to be covered up at all costs.2017. Phiney is shocked by the death of her grandfather, Wilf, who has jumped from a railway bridge at a Coventry station. Journalist Mat Torrington is the only witness.
Left in utter disbelief, with a swarm of unanswered questions, Phiney, Mat and Wilf’s wife, Dora, begin their own enquiries into Wilf’s death. It is soon clear that these two events, sixty years apart, are connected – and that Wilf is not the only casualty.
But what is the link? And can they find out before any more lives are lost?
Published November 30th by Bantam Press Fantasy Fiction, Fairy Tale
SYNOPSIS: Light and dark – this is the destiny placed upon Natasha and Clara, the birthright bestowed on them by their godfather, the mysterious sorcerer Drosselmeyer. Clara, the favourite, grows into beauty and ease, while Natasha is cursed to live in her sister’s shadow. But one fateful Christmas Eve, Natasha gets her chance at revenge. For Drosselmeyer has returned and brought with him the Nutcracker, an enchanted present which offers entry to a deceptively beautiful world: the Kingdom of Sweets.
In this land of snow and sugar, Natasha is presented with a power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who is also a giver of gifts . . . and a maker of dread-filled bargains. As Natasha uncovers the dark destiny laid before her birth, she must reckon with powers both earthly and magical . . . and decide to which world she truly belongs.
Published November 30th by Gollancz Romantic Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Fiction, Romance Novel
SYNOPSIS: Welcome back to Glimmer Falls!
Calladia Cunnington knows she’s rough around the edges and her hot temper can get the best of her. So when she stops a demon attack one night, she’s horrified to realize the man she saved is none other than the cold-hearted Astaroth.
Astaroth is a legendary member of the demon high council – or at least he was. Suffering from amnesia after being stripped of his immortality and banished to the mortal plane, Astaroth doesn’t know why a demon named Moloch is after him, nor why the angry, hot-in-a-terrifying-way witch hates him so much.
Calladia grudgingly agrees to help Astaroth find the witch who might be able to restore his memory, vowing that once Astaroth is cured, she’ll kick his ass. But the more time she spends with the snarky yet utterly charming demon, the more she realizes she likes this new, improved Astaroth… and maybe she doesn’t want him to recover his memories after all.
Published November 30th by Simon & Schuster UK Literary Fiction, Lesbian Literature
SYNOPSIS: A hypnotic, sexy, and incisive debut adult novel following one woman’s affair with her daughter’s best friend that tests the limits of love and ambition from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Riding Hood.
It’s opening night, but Alice’s performance in the local Bay Area production of The Winter’s Tale is far from glamorous. She doesn’t have dreams of stardom, but the basement theater in a wildfire-choked town isn’t exactly what she envisioned for her career back home in Los Angeles. To make matters worse, her best friend Sadie is not even coming.
Pragmatic, serious Sadie and flighty, creative Alice have been best friends since high school–really one another’s only friends–but now that they are through with college (which they attended together) and living on opposite ends of California, Alice would at least expect her friend’s support. Sadie, determined not to cancel her plans with her boyfriend, ends up enlisting the help of her mother, Celine.
A professor of women’s and gender studies at UC Berkeley, Celine’s landmark treatise on sex and identity made her notorious, but she’s struggling to write her new book in a post-second-wave feminist world. So, when Sadie begs her to attend Alice’s play, she relents, if only to escape writer’s block. But in a turn of perplexing events, Celine becomes entranced by Alice’s performance and realizes that her daughter’s once lanky, slightly annoying best friend is now an irresistible young woman.
Set over the course of decades–from Alice and Sadie’s early friendship days and Celine’s decision to leave her husband to the radical movements of 1990s Berkeley and navigating contemporary Hollywood–Alice and Celine’s affair will test the limits of their love for Sadie and their own beliefs of power, agency, and feminism. Witty and relatable, sexy and surprising, Sarah Blakley-Cartwright’s debut adult novel is a mesmerizing portrait of the inner lives of three very different women.
Hello Bibliophiles! Today is a busy day in the book world with a vast array of amazing books out in Kindle, Hardback, Paperback and Audio Today. This is a last minute post so it is in no way comprehensive, but I’ve put together a list of many of the amazing books out today. Thank you to Publishers for my gifted copies of some of the books pictured above.
SYNOPSIS: The sunniest places hold the darkest secrets . . .
A stunning 1950s set debut mystery brimming with atmosphere and perfect for fans of Tangerine,Small Pleasures and Mad Men. ________
Yesterday, I kissed my husband for the last time . . .
It’s the summer of 1959, and the well-trimmed lawns of Sunnylakes, California, wilt under the sun. At some point during the long, long afternoon, Joyce Haney, wife, mother, vanishes from her home, leaving behind two terrified children and a bloodstain on the kitchen floor.
While the Haney’s neighbours get busy organising search parties, it is Ruby Wright, the family’s ‘help’, who may hold the key to this unsettling mystery. Ruby knows more about the secrets behind Sunnylakes’ starched curtains than anyone, and it isn’t long before the detective in charge of the case wants her help. But what might it cost her to get involved? In these long hot summer afternoons, simmering with lies, mistrust and prejudice, it could only take one spark for this whole ‘perfect’ world to set alight . . .
A beguiling, deeply atmospheric debut novel from the cracked heart of the American Dream, The Long, Long Afternoon is at once a page-turning mystery and an intoxicating vision of the ways in which women everywhere are diminished, silenced and ultimately under-estimated.
It’s December 2023 and the world as we know it has ended.
The human race has been wiped out by a virus called 6DM (‘Six Days Maximum’ – the longest you’ve got before your body destroys itself).
But somehow, in London, one woman is still alive. A woman who has spent her whole life compromising what she wants, hiding how she feels and desperately trying to fit in. A woman who is entirely unprepared to face a future on her own.
Now, with only an abandoned golden retriever for company, she must travel through burning cities, avoiding rotting corpses and ravenous rats on a final journey to discover if she really is the last surviving person on earth.
And with no one else to live for, who will she become now that she’s completely alone?
SYNOPSIS: In a converted Georgian townhouse in south west London, three families live under one roof.
The large flat that takes up the top two floors is home to the Harlow family: happily married Paul and Steph, and their bubbly teenage daughter Freya. The smaller first floor flat is rented by Emma, who spends most of her time alone, listening to people coming in and out of the building. And the basement flat belongs to Chris, a local driving instructor, who prefers to keep his personal life private from the neighbours.
But their lives are all upended when Freya vanishes. As the police become involved and a frantic Paul and Steph desperately search for answers, they begin to realise that the truth behind their daughter’s disappearance may lie closer to home than they were expecting.
When everyone has something to hide, can you ever really know those closest to you? Or will some secrets be taken to the grave?
SYNOPSIS: AN INTENSELY CREEPY SERIAL KILLER THRILLER DEBUT, FOR FANS OF CHRIS CARTER, M. W. CRAVEN AND THE WHISPER MAN.
Death is an art, and he is the master . . .
Three glass cabinets appear in London’s Trafalgar Square containing a gruesome art installation: the floating corpses of three homeless men. Shock turns to horror when it becomes clear that the bodies are real.
The cabinets are traced to @nonymous – an underground artist shrouded in mystery who makes a chilling promise: MORE WILL FOLLOW.
Eighteen years ago, Detective Inspector Grace Archer escaped a notorious serial killer. Now, she and her caustic DS, Harry Quinn, must hunt down another.
As more bodies appear at London landmarks and murders are livestreamed on social media, their search for @nonymous becomes a desperate race against time. But what Archer doesn’t know is that the killer is watching their every move – and he has his sights firmly set on her . . .
He is creating a masterpiece. And she will be the star of his show.
Genre: New Adult Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Medical Romance Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Publisher: Bantam Press
SYNOPSIS: CAN YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN?
Alice and Alfie are strangers. But they sleep next to each other every night.
Alfie Mack has been in hospital for months recovering from an accident. A new face on the ward is about as exciting as life gets for him right now, so when someone moves into the bed next to him he’s eager to make friends. But it quickly becomes clear that seeing his neighbour’s face won’t happen any time soon.
Alice Gunnersley has been badly burned and can’t even look at herself yet, let alone allow anyone else to see her. She keeps the curtain around her bed firmly closed, but it doesn’t stop Alfie trying to get to know her. And gradually, as he slowly brings Alice out of her shell, might there even be potential for more?
SYNOPSIS: Winner of the 2019 UEA Crime Writing Prize, Lightseekers is the start of a major new crime series introducing investigative psychologist Dr Philip Taiwo.
When three young students are brutally murdered in a Nigerian university town, their killings – and their killers – are caught on social media. The world knows who murdered them; what no one knows is why.
As the legal trial begins, investigative psychologist Philip Taiwo is contacted by the father of one of the boys, desperate for some answers to his son’s murder. But Philip is an expert in crowd behaviour and violence, not a detective, and after travelling to the sleepy university town that bore witness to the killings, he soon feels dramatically out of his depth.
Will he finally be able to uncover the truth of what happened to the Okiri Three?
SYNOPSIS: Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists – he a photographer, she a dancer – trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.
At once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety in love, only to lose it. With gorgeous, soulful intensity, Caleb Azumah Nelson has written the most essential British debut of recent years.
The Crow Folk: The Witches of Woodville 1) by Mark Stay
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Coming-of-Age Fiction, Adventure Fiction, War Fiction Format: Paperback, Kindle Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
SYNOPSIS: As Spitfires roar overhead and a dark figure stalks the village of Woodville, a young woman will discover her destiny . . .
Faye Bright always felt a little bit different. And today she’s found out why. She’s just stumbled across her late mother’s diary which includes not only a spiffing recipe for jam roly-poly, but spells, incantations, runes and recitations . . . a witch’s notebook.
And Faye has inherited her mother’s abilities.
Just in time, too. The Crow Folk are coming. Led by the charismatic Pumpkinhead, their strange magic threatens Faye and the villagers. Armed with little more than her mum’s words, her trusty bicycle, the grudging help of two bickering old ladies, and some aggressive church bellringing, Faye will find herself on the front lines of a war nobody expected.
For fans of Lev Grossman and Terry Pratchett comes this delightful novel of war, mystery and a little bit of magic . . .
SYNOPSIS: This is a story about taking a leap of faith And believing the unbelievable
They say those we love never truly leave us, and I’ve found that to be true. But not in the way you might expect. In fact, none of this is what you’d expect.
I’ve been visiting my mother who died when I was eight. And I’m talking about flesh and blood, tea-and-biscuits-on-the-table visiting here.
Right now, you probably think I’m going mad. Let me explain…
Although Faye is happy with her life, the loss of her mother as a child weighs on her mind even more now that she is a mother herself. So she is amazed when, in an extraordinary turn of events, she finds herself back in her childhood home in the 1970s. Faced with the chance to finally seek answers to her questions – but away from her own family – how much is she willing to give up for another moment with her mother?
Space Hopper is an original and poignant story about mothers, memories and moments that shape life.
SYNOPSIS: What happens when the man she married can’t remember her?
Ellie has the perfect life: a happy marriage, a gorgeous daughter and a baby on the way. But when her husband Max develops amnesia, he forgets everything about the last five years . . . including their relationship.
Now the man she said ‘I do’ to has become a stranger, and she has no idea why. Yet Ellie is determined to reconnect and find her Max again – he has to be in there somewhere, right?
As they get to know one another afresh, Ellie finds herself seeing Max clearly for the first time. But then she discovers that before his memory loss, Max was keeping a huge secret from her. Will their new beginning prove to be a false start, just as it seemed they might fall in love all over again?
SYNOPSIS: Blake’s dead. His wife killed him. The question is: which one?
Blake Nelson moved into a hidden stretch of land – a raw paradise in the wilds of Utah – where he lived with his three wives:
Rachel, the chief wife, obedient and doting to a fault. Tina, the other wife, who is everything Rachel isn’t. And Emily, the youngest wife, who knows little else.
When their husband is found dead under the desert sun, the questions pile up. But none of the widows know who would want to kill a good man like Blake.
Or, at least, that’s what they’ll tell the police…
SYNOPSIS: A gripping memoir and revelatory investigation into the history of the Foundling Hospital and one girl who grew up in its care – the author’s own mother.
Growing up in a wealthy enclave outside San Francisco, Justine Cowan’s life seems idyllic. But her mother’s unpredictable temper drives Justine from home the moment she is old enough to escape. It is only after her mother dies that she finds herself pulling at the threads of a story half-told – her mother’s upbringing in London’s Foundling Hospital. Haunted by this secret history, Justine travels across the sea and deep into the past to discover the girl her mother once was.
Here, with the vividness of a true storyteller, she pieces together her mother’s childhood alongside the history of the Foundling Hospital: from its idealistic beginnings in the eighteenth century, how it influenced some of England’s greatest creative minds – from Handel to Dickens, its shocking approach to childcare and how it survived the Blitz only to close after the Second World War.
This was the environment that shaped a young girl then known as Dorothy Soames, who was left behind by a mother forced by stigma and shame to give up her child; who withstood years of physical and emotional abuse, dreaming of escape as German bombers circled the skies, unaware all along that her own mother was fighting to get her back.
Waiting For Superman: One Family’s Struggle To Survive – and cure – Chronic Illnessby Tracie White
Genre: Biography Format: Papernack, Kindle Publisher: Allen & Unwin
SYNOPSIS: For the past six years, Whitney Dafoe has been confined to a bedroom in the back of his parents’ home, unable to walk, eat or speak. His diagnosis? The mysterious disease myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) which affects 20 million people around the world who largely suffer in silence because the condition is little known and much misunderstood.
Waiting for Superman follows Whitney’s father, groundbreaking geneticist Ron Davis, as he uncovers new possibilities for treatments and potentially a cure. At its heart, this book is about more than just cutting-edge research or a race to find an answer – it’s about the lengths to which a parent will go to save their child’s life.
SYNOPSIS: ‘An eerie, atmospheric novel that had me completely on the edge of my seat.’ Reese Witherspoon
EVERYONE’S IN DANGER. ANYONE COULD BE NEXT.
An imposing, isolated hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps, is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she’s taken time off from her job as a detective, so when she receives an invitation out of the blue to celebrate her estranged brother’s recent engagement, she has no choice but to accept.
Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. Though it’s beautiful, something about the hotel, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, makes her nervous – as does her brother, Isaac.
And when they wake the following morning to discover his fiancée Laure has vanished without a trace, Elin’s unease grows. With the storm cutting off access to and from the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.
But no-one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she’s the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they’re all in . . .
SYNOPSIS: When Amy Ashton’s world fell apart eleven years ago, she started a collection.
Just a few keepsakes of happier times: some honeysuckle to remind herself of the boy she loved, a chipped china bird, an old terracotta pot . . . Things that others might throw away, but to Amy, represent a life that could have been.
Now her house is overflowing with the objects she loves – soon there’ll be no room for Amy at all. But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery, and Amy’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. If she can find the courage to face her past, might the future she thought she’d lost still be hers for the taking?
Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant and The Keeper of Lost Things, this exquisitely told, uplifting novel shows us that however hopeless things might feel, beauty can be found in the most unexpected of places
Genre: Coming-of-Age Fiction, Holiday Fiction Format: Kindle (Hardcover published March 4th) Publisher: Corvus
SYNOPSIS:
Fortune favours the fraud…
When she was thirteen years old, Ada Howell lost not just her father, but the life she felt she was destined to lead. Now, at eighteen, Ada is given a second chance when her wealthy godmother gifts her with an extravagant art history trip to Italy.
In the palazzos of Venice, the cathedrals of Florence and the villas of Rome, she finally finds herself among the kind of people she aspires to be: sophisticated, cultured, privileged. Ada does everything in her power to prove she is one of them. And when a member of the group dies in suspicious circumstances, she seizes the opportunity to permanently bind herself to this gilded set.
But everything hidden must eventually surface, and when it does, Ada discovers she’s been keeping a far darker secret than she could ever have imagined…
SYNOPSIS: If I Can’t Have You by Charlotte Levin is an all-consuming novel about loneliness, obsession and how far we go for the ones we love.
My name is Constance Little. This is my love story. But this isn’t the way it was supposed to end.
After fleeing Manchester for London, Constance attempts to put past tragedies behind her and make a fresh start. When she embarks on a relationship with the new doctor at the medical practice where she works, she’s convinced she’s finally found the love and security she craves.
Then he ends it.
But if life has taught her anything, it’s that if you love someone, you should never let them go.
That’s why for Constance Little, her obsession is only just beginning . . .
SYNOPSIS: He collects his victims. But he doesn’t keep them safe.
Elspeth, Meggy and Xavier are locked in a flat. They don’t know where they are, and they don’t know why they’re there. They only know that the shadow man has taken them, and he won’t let them go.
Desperate to escape, the three of them must find a way out of their living hell, even if it means uncovering a very dark truth.
Because the shadow man isn’t a nightmare. He’s all too real.
SYNOPSIS: One will change your life. One will end it. Who will … FIND YOU FIRST?
It’s a deadly race against time…
Tech billionaire Miles has more money than he can ever spend, and everything he could dream of – except time. Now facing a terminal illness, Miles knows he must seize every minute to put his life in order. And that means taking a long hard look at his past.
Somewhere out there, Miles has children. And they might be about to inherit both the good and bad from him – possibly his fortune, or possibly something more sinister.
So Miles decides to track down his missing children. But a vicious killer is one step ahead of him. One by one, people are vanishing. Not just disappearing, every trace of them is wiped.
Number One Sunday Times bestseller Linwood Barclay returns with his electrifying new thriller, Find You First.
SYNOPSIS: Frances Howard has beauty and a powerful family – and is the most unhappy creature in the world.
Anne Turner has wit and talent – but no stage on which to display them. Little stands between her and the abyss of destitution.
When these two very different women meet in the strangest of circumstances, a powerful friendship is sparked. Frankie sweeps Anne into a world of splendour that exceeds all she imagined: a Court whose foreign king is a stranger to his own subjects; where ancient families fight for power, and where the sovereign’s favourite may rise and rise – so long as he remains in favour.
With the marriage of their talents, Anne and Frankie enter this extravagant, savage hunting ground, seeking a little happiness for themselves. But as they gain notice, they also gain enemies; what began as a search for love and safety leads to desperate acts that could cost them everything.
Based on the true scandal that rocked the court of James I, A Net for Small Fishes is the most gripping novel you’ll read this year: an exhilarating dive into the pitch-dark waters of the Jacobean court.
SYNOPSIS: Italy, 1938. Mussolini is in power and war is not far away . . .
Clara and Pippo are just children: quiet, thoughtful Clara is the older sister; Pippo, the younger brother, is forever chatting. The family has only recently arrived in the city carrying their few possessions.
When Mamma goes missing early one morning, both Clara and Pippo go in search of her. Clara turns right; Pippo left.
As a result of the choices they make that morning, their lives will be changed forever.
Diana Rosie’s Pippo and Clara tells the story of a family and a country divided. But will Clara and Pippo – and their mother – find each other again?
Genre:Thriller, Suspense, Horror Fiction, Medical Fiction Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Publisher: Head of Zeus
SYNOPSIS: Forsake the living. Forget the dead. Fear the children… The brand new chilling page-turner from the master of horror
A TERRIFYING BIRTH A young woman is rushed to the hospital with stabbing pains in her stomach. The chief surgeon delivers a living child with the face of an angel and the body of a tentacled monster. The doctors are unanimous that the baby must die.
AN ESCAPE FROM THE DARK Engineer Gemma is plunged into darkness in a tunnel beneath London. Before she escapes, a strange green light illuminates a cluster of ghostly figures. Gemma is certain they were children.
A SUPERNATURAL THREAT DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel, of Tooting Police, have investigated the occult before – but nothing as strange and horrible as what they must confront in the city sewers. Down here in the dark, where the dead come back to life, witchcraft is the only force strong enough to save you…
Genre: Mystery, Thriller Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Publisher: Head of Zeus
SYNOPSIS: A high concept thriller from the author of The Package, international number one bestseller Sebastian Fitzek.
On average 23 people a year disappear from the world’s cruise ships. They are written off as accidents or suicides. But what if they’re not?
Five years ago Martin Schwarz, a police psychologist, lost his wife and son. They were holidaying on a cruise ship when they simply vanished. A lacklustre investigation was unable to shed any light on what happened – murder-suicide being the coroner’s verdict. It is a verdict that has haunted Martin ever since, blighting his life. But then he is contacted by an elderly woman, a writer, who claims to have information regarding their fate and wants him to come on board The Sultan of the Seas immediately.
She explains that his wife and son are not the only mother and child pair to have disappeared. Only a few months ago another mother and daughter also vanished. She believes there may be a serial killer on board.
But when the missing daughter reappears – carrying the teddy bear of Martin’s missing son – it becomes apparent that the truth could be much, much worse…Sebastian Fitzek is Germany’s most successful author. His books have sold 13 million copies, been translated into more than thirty-six languages and are the basis for international cinema and theatre adaptations. Sebastian Fitzek was the first German author to be awarded the European Prize for Criminal Literature. He lives with his family in Berlin.
SYNOPSIS: The must-read epic fantasy of 2021, as featured on Cosmo, Buzzfeed, BookRiot and Refinery 29. In this West African-inspired world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice, perfect for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther.
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman’s worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold – the colour of impurity, of a demon – she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a mysterious woman who tells Deka of her true nature: she is an Alaki, a near-immortal with exceptional gifts. The stranger offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor, with others just like her, or be destroyed…
Genre: Humorous Fiction, Religious Fiction Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Publisher: Picador
SYNOPSIS: Seventh Seltzer has done everything he can to break from the traditions of the past, but in his overbearing, narcissistic mother’s last moments, she whispers in his ear the two words he always knew she would: ‘Eat me’.
This is not unusual, as the Seltzers are Cannibal-Americans, a once proud and thriving ethnic group, but for Seventh, it raises some serious questions. Of practical concern, she’s six-foot-two and weighs over thirty stone – even divided up between Seventh and his eleven brothers, that’s a lot of red meat. Plus, Second keeps kosher, Ninth is vegan and Sixth is dead. To make matters worse, even if he can wrangle his brothers together for a feast, the Can-Am people have assimilated, and the only living Cannibal who knows how to perform the ancient ritual is their Uncle Ishmael, a far from reliable guide.
Beyond the practical, Seventh struggles with the sense of guilt and responsibility he feels – to his mother, to his people and to his unique cultural heritage. His mother always taught him he was a link in a chain, stretching back centuries. But he’s getting tired of chains.
Shalom Auslander’s Mother for Dinner is an outrageously tasty comedy about identity and inheritance, the things we owe our families and the things we owe ourselves.
SYNOPSIS: The BRAND NEW novel from the internationally bestselling author of THE LITTLE COFFEE SHOP OF KABUL
In Morocco, behind the ancient walls of the medina, secrets will be revealed . . .
Amina Bennis has come back to her childhood home in Morocco to attend her sister’s wedding. The time has come for her to confront her strict, traditionalist father with the secret she has kept for more than a year – her American husband Max.
Amina’s best friend Charlie, and Charlie’s feisty grandmother Bea, have come along for moral support, staying with Amina and her family in their palatial riad in Fès, and enjoying all that the city has to offer. But Charlie is also hiding someone from her past – a mystery man from Casablanca.
And then there’s Samira, the Bennis’s devoted housekeeper for many decades. Hers is the biggest secret of all – and the one that strikes at the very heart of the family . . .
From the twisted alleyways of the ancient medina of Fès to a marriage festival high in the Atlas Mountains, Deborah Rodriguez’s entrancing new bestseller is a modern story of forbidden love set in the sensual landscape of North Africa.
Serpentine (Alex Delaware 36) by Jonathan Kellerman
Genre: Thriller, Suspense Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Publisher: Century
SYNOPSIS The electrifying new Alex Delaware thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.
Ellie Barker never knew her mother.
When she was barely three years old, her mother was found with a bullet in her head inside a torched Cadillac, overturned on Mulholland Drive. No physical evidence, no witness and no apparent motive.
Twenty-five years on, many detectives tried and failed to get to the bottom of the case.
Desperate for answers, Ellie hires LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis, who calls in the expertise of brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware, to investigate.
But as the duo start digging, the mystery becomes even more twisted. And they soon discover a string of dangerous threats still lurking in the present…
SYNOPSIS: Nessa McCormack’s marriage is coming back together again after her husband’s affair. She is excited to be in charge of a retrospective art exhibit for one of Ireland’s most beloved and enigmatic artists, the late sculptor Robert Locke. But the arrival of two outsiders imperils both her personal and professional worlds: a chance encounter with an old friend threatens to expose a betrayal Nessa thought she had long put behind her, and at work, an odd woman comes forward claiming to be the true creator of Robert Locke’s most famous work, The Chalk Sculpture.
As Nessa finds the past intruding on the present, she must decide whether she can continue to live a lie – or whether she’s ready to face the consequences once everything is out in the open. In this gripping debut, Danielle McLaughlin reveals profound truths about love, power, and the secrets that rule us.
SYNOPSIS: Soon to be a Netflix film starring Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobby Brown – this must-read psychological thriller, perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying, will leave you guessing until the final page.
As an ex con artist, Nora has always got herself out of tricky situations. But the ultimate test lies in wait when she’s taken hostage in a bank heist. And this time, Nora doesn’t have an escape plan …
Meet Nora. Also known as Rebecca, Samantha, Haley, Katie and Ashley – the girls she’s been.
Nora didn’t choose a life of deception – she was born into it. As the daughter of a con artist who targeted criminal men, Nora always had to play a part. But when her mother fell for one of the men instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con herself: escape.
For five years Nora’s been playing at normal – but things are far from it when she finds herself held at gunpoint in the middle of a bank heist, along with Wes (her ex-boyfriend) and Iris (her secret new girlfriend and mutual friend of Wes … awkward). Now it will take all of Nora’s con artistry skills to get them out alive.
Because the gunmen have no idea who she really is – that girl has been in hiding for far too long.
SYNOPSIS: What secrets are hidden within the walls of a desolate farmhouse in a forgotten corner of Lapland?
Early spring has its icy grip on Ödesmark, a small village in northernmost Sweden, abandoned by many of its inhabitants. But Liv Björnlund never left. She lives in a derelict house together with her teenage son, Simon, and her ageing father, Vidar. They make for a peculiar family, and Liv knows that they are cause for gossip among their few remaining neighbours.
Just why has Liv stayed by her domineering father’s side all these years? And is it true that Vidar is sitting on a small fortune? His questionable business decisions have made him many enemies over the years, and in Ödesmark everyone knows everyone, and no one ever forgets.
Now someone wants back what is rightfully theirs. And they will stop at nothing to get it, no matter who stands in their way…
SYNOPSIS: The first time you see them, out for an evening walk on the cliffs, you’ll think they’re the perfect family. You’ll see a wife who looks so happy, strolling peacefully beside her husband in his dark winter coat, holding her daughter’s hand. But you have no idea what’s really happening in their house…
If you come a little closer you might hear the way the man speaks to his wife.
You might notice that the woman doesn’t have any close friends. That sometimes her husband doesn’t want her to leave the house. You might wonder if that’s a scar her beautiful daughter is hiding on her neck.
When you read the local newspaper and hear the news that the wife has fallen from the cliffs, you’ll question whether it was really an accident at all.
And when the husband starts dating someone new – a woman with the same long dark hair and big blue eyes as his wife – will you say something this time?
Because someone has to protect the little girl and stop history from repeating itself. And it may already be too late.
A thrilling and twisty tale, His Hidden Wife will keep you up all night, desperate to race through to its final conclusion. Readers of Gone Girl, The Couple Next Door and Lisa Jewell will be hooked.
SYNOPSIS: Hubert Bird is not alone in being alone. He just needs to realise it.
In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship and fulfilment.
But Hubert Bird is lying.
The truth is day after day drags by without him seeing a single soul.
Until, that is, he receives some good news – good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on.
Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out. Along the way Hubert stumbles across a second chance at love, renews a cherished friendship and finds himself roped into an audacious community scheme that seeks to end loneliness once and for all . . .
Life is certainly beginning to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the origin of his earlier isolation always lurking in the shadows will he ever get to live the life he’s pretended to have for so long?
From bestselling author Mike Gayle, All the Lonely People is by turns a funny and moving meditation on love, race, old age and friendship that will not only charm and uplift, but also remind you of the power of ordinary people to make an extraordinary difference.
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Book Series Format: Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
SYNOPISIS: A serial killer who will stop at nothing…
The Killer His most valuable possession has been stolen. Now he must retrieve it, at any cost.
The Girl Angela Wood wanted to teach the man a lesson. It was a bag, just like any other. But when she opens it, the worst nightmare of her life begins.
The Detective A journal ends up on Robert Hunter’s desk. It soon becomes clear that there is a serial killer on the loose. And if Hunter can’t stop him in time, more people will die. Starting with Angela.
SYNOPSIS: ‘This six-book series looks likely to become a landmark in historical fiction’ The Times
Alison Weir, historian and author of the Sunday Times-bestselling Six Tudor Queens series, relates one of the most tragic stories in English history: Katheryn Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth queen.
A NAIVE YOUNG WOMAN AT THE MERCY OF HER AMBITIOUS FAMILY.
At just nineteen, Katheryn Howard is quick to trust and fall in love.
She comes to court. She sings, she dances. She captures the heart of the King.
But Henry knows nothing of Katheryn’s past – one that comes back increasingly to haunt her. For those who share her secrets are waiting in the shadows, whispering words of love… and blackmail.
The fifth of Henry’s queens. Her story.
Acclaimed, bestselling historian Alison Weir draws on extensive research to recount the tale of a vivacious young woman used by powerful men for their own gain.
HISTORY TELLS US SHE DIED TO SOON. THIS MESMERISING NOVEL BRINGS HER TO LIFE.
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Legal Thriller, Book Series Format: Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Publisher: Arrow
SYNOPSIS: THREE CITIES. THREE BULLETS. THREE VICTIMS.
Simultaneous murders hit LA, Chicago and San Francisco. SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer is tasked with uncovering what links these precise and calculated killings.
Lindsay discovers that the victims all excel in lucrative, criminal activity. As the casualty list expands, fear and fascination with this shocking spree provoke debate across the country.
Are the killers villains or heroes? And who will be next?
SYNOPSIS: Even when you come out of bloodshed and disaster in the end you have got to learn to live.
Winona is a young Lakota orphan adopted by former soldiers Thomas McNulty and John Cole. Living with Thomas and John on the farm they work in 1870s Tennessee, she is educated and loved, forging a life for herself beyond the violence and dispossession of her past. But the fragile harmony of her unlikely family unit, in the aftermath of the Civil War, is soon threatened by a further traumatic event, one which Winona struggles to confront, let alone understand.
Told in Sebastian Barry’s rare and masterly prose, A Thousand Moons is a powerful, moving study of one woman’s journey, of her determination to write her own future, and of the enduring human capacity for love.
SYNOPSIS: Recently out of a devastating love affair and mourning the loss of her beloved mum, Casey is lost. The novel she has been writing for six years isn’t going anywhere, her debt is soaring, and at thirty-one, with all her friends getting married and having kids, she feels too old for things to be this way.
Then she meets Silas. He is kind, handsome, interested. But only a few weeks later, Oscar – older, fascinating, troubled – walks into her life, his two boys in tow. Suddenly Casey finds herself at the point of a love triangle, torn between two very different relationships that promise two very different futures. And she’s still got to write that book…
SYNOPSIS: Meet Patrick Cooper– desperately down on his luck, and head-over-heels in unrequited love with his best friend Bridget. Meet Bridget’s sister, Emma Donovan -eternally single maker-of-cakes for many a happy couple, whilst never making it down the aisle herself.
Emma has four younger sisters, all of whom are married or getting married, and an Italian mother who can’t understand what is ‘wrong’ with her eldest daughter, who seems to be stranded on the shelf. Despairing of her own ability to find a suitable husband, Emma agrees to be part of a compatibility project to get married at first sight.
Meanwhile Cooper is struggling to get over his crush on Bridget and seems destined to stay firmly on the shelf too. Perhaps it’s time his fate was taken out of his hands…
Is happily-ever-after just about daring to take a chance, or do you need some extra magic to make love last?
Join Beth Moran, Cooper and the Donovan sisters on this life-affirming and uplifting tale of love, family, friendship, and risking it all for happiness.
SYNOPSIS: A compelling novel about family secrets and the legacy of trauma, set against the changing fortunes of an English seaside town, from award-winning writer Stella Duffy.
When Lucy discovers the body of her great aunt Kitty, with a puzzling note and empty pill bottles by her bed, she can’t believe that the formidable woman who held her family together is gone – or understand why she has taken her own life.
Lucy is determined to decipher Kitty’s final message. What she finds will overturn everything she thought she knew about her family.
Lullaby Beach takes the reader on a journey through three generations of a complicated, close-knit family whose joys and misfortunes track many of the most pressing conflicts and concerns of post-war Britain, from the promise and hypocrisies of 1950s London to the political divides and risky freedoms of the present day.
Told with the warmth, generosity and fierce passion which has won Stella Duffy so much praise over her career, Lullaby Beach is a brilliant story of loss and love, revenge and redemption.
SYNOPSIS: Tender, moving, heartfelt and warm (and sporadically scandalous and outrageous too), these are the private messages between people in love. Yet they are also correspondence between the rulers of nations.
From Henry VIII’s lovelorn notes to Anne Boleyn and George IV’s impassioned notes to his secret wife, to Queen Victoria’s tender letters to Prince Albert and Edward VIII’s extraordinary correspondence with Wallis Simpson – these letters depict romantic love from its budding passion to the comfort and understanding of a long union (and occasionally beyond to resentment and recrimination), all set against the background of great affairs of state, wars and the strictures of royal duty.
Here is a chance to glimpse behind the pomp and ceremony, the carefully curated images of royal splendour and decorum, to see the passions, hopes, jealousies and loneliness of kings and queens throughout history. By turns tender, moving, heartfelt and warm (and sporadically scandalous and outrageous too), these are the private messages between people in love. Yet they are also correspondence between the rulers of nations, whose actions (and passions) changed the course of history, for good and bad.
This morning I received your dear, dear letter of the 21st. How happy do you make me with your love! Oh! my Angel Albert, I am quite enchanted with it! I do not deserve such love! Never, never did I think I could be loved so much. Queen Victoria to Prince Albert (28 November 1839)
Published: February 4th, 2021 Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK Format: Hardcover, Kindle, Audio Genre: Science Fiction
Thank you to Simon and Schuster UK for my gifted ARC.
*Please note that this book is published as Faye, Faraway in the US.
SYNOPSIS:
THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY DEBUT OF 2021
This is a story about taking a leap of faith And believing the unbelievable
They say those we love never truly leave us, and I’ve found that to be true. But not in the way you might expect. In fact, none of this is what you’d expect.
I’ve been visiting my mother who died when I was eight. And I’m talking about flesh and blood, tea-and-biscuits-on-the-table visiting here.
Right now, you probably think I’m going mad. Let me explain…
Although Faye is happy with her life, the loss of her mother as a child weighs on her mind even more now that she is a mother herself. So she is amazed when, in an extraordinary turn of events, she finds herself back in her childhood home in the 1970s. Faced with the chance to finally seek answers to her questions – but away from her own family – how much is she willing to give up for another moment with her mother?
Space Hopper is an original and poignant story about mothers, memories and moments that shape life.
MY REVIEW:
Space Hopper tells the story of Faye, a woman in her early 30s. Faye is happy in her life as a wife and mother but has always struggled with the loss of her own mother when she was just eight years old. Then, one day, she is surprised to find herself back in her childhood home in the seventies. Faced with the chance to finally get to know the mother she lost and answer the questions she’s had all these years, she’s faced with a difficult choice: how much is she prepared to sacrifice in order to chase the past?
The story got off to a fascinating start and I immediately loved the conversational writing style. I always find this style helps me connect with a book as you really feel like the narrator is talking to you. I found the story compelling and I was engrossed in the book. But there were a number of problems that made this book a bit of a miss for me. First was Faye. At first I didn’t mind her but I quickly found her really irritating and got frustrated with her.
Another difficulty for me was that while the story has a lot of potential, it fell short somehow. What started as an interesting premise became far-fetched and didn’t hold my attention so easily. Some of the plot points felt really far-fetched and Faye made decisions that just didn’t sit right with what a loving mother would do. The ending was also a big issue for me that affected how I saw the book overall.
I would always say that it is best to read a book for yourself and not let any review sway you from reading a book you like the sound of. While this didn’t live up to my expectations, it is a quirky, original and intriguing book that had lots right with it, such as the writing style and some sweet and tender moments. Just go in with an open mind and you might find it’s one you love.
Rating: ✮✮✮✰✰
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Helen Fisher spent her early life in America, but grew up mainly in Suffolk where she now lives with her two children. She studied Psychology at Westminster University and Ergonomics at UCL and worked as a senior evaluator in research at the RNIB. She is now a full-time author.Space Hopper is her first novel. She is currently working on her second novel.
Emma's Biblio Treasures 