The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore Leningrad, 1952. Andrei, a young hospital doctor and Anna, a nursery school teacher, are forging a life together in the post-war, post-siege wreckage. But their happiness is precarious, like that of millions of Russians who must avoid the claws of Read more…
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Set before and during the great war, Birdsong captures the drama of that era on both a national and a personal scale. It is the story of Stephen, a young Englishman, who arrives in Amiens in 1910. Over the course of the novel Read more…
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a chance to start over. Ripley wants money, success and the good life and Read more…
The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley An eerie, suspenseful debut novel – hailed as ‘an amazing piece of fiction’ by Stephen King When the remains of a young child are discovered during a winter storm on a stretch of the bleak Lancashire coastline known as the Read more…
Diving Belles by Lucy Wood Along Cornwall’s ancient coast, the flotsam and jetsam of the past becomes caught in the cross-currents of the present and, from time to time, a certain kind of magic can float to the surface… Straying husbands lured into the sea can be fetched back, Read more…
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton Summer 1924: On the eve of a glittering Society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: Read more…
A Quiet Life by Natasha Walter Wife. Mother. Spy. A double life is no life at all. Since the disappearance of her husband in 1951, Laura Leverett has been living in limbo with her daughter in Geneva. All others see is her conventional, charming exterior; nobody guesses the secret she Read more…
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore Lizzie Fawkes has grown up in Radical circles where each step of the French Revolution is followed with eager idealism. But she has recently married John Diner Tredevant, a property developer who is heavily invested in Bristol’s housing boom, and he has everything Read more…
Lie with Me by Sabine Durrant A few little lies never hurt anyone. Right? Wrong. Paul has a plan. He has a vision of a better future, and he’s going to make it happen. If it means hiding or exaggerating a few things here and there, no harm Read more…
Lady Susan by Jane Austen Written in 1795, Jane Austen’s epistolary novel Lady Susan brims with satire and wit. The recently widowed Lady Susan is beautiful and attractive, yet selfish and manipulative. She flirts atrociously in order to secure a good marriage not only for herself but for her daughter Read more…