The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas
Thomas’s 14th novel is an “ambiguous chiller worthy of Patricia Highsmith”, said The Telegraph. It is set in an exclusive Greek resort, to which “absurdly ill-suited” newlyweds Richard and Evelyn have come for their honeymoon. With its “highly original” narrative (one chapter is an AI-generated audio transcript), this is an “unpredictable and unputdownable summer holiday read”, said the FT.
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst
This “gripping” work of non-fiction revisits the story of an English couple who “sold everything”, and in 1972 set sail for New Zealand, said the FT. When their boat was destroyed by a whale, they were “left adrift on a tiny raft” – and survived for 117 days by eating raw turtles. Both a love story and an epic tale of survival, “Maurice and Maralyn” is a “superb debut”, said The Spectator.
Chatto & Windus, 272pp £18.99
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Long Island by Colm Tóibín
In Tóibín’s latest novel – a sequel to his “heartrending” 2009 bestseller “Brooklyn” – we follow Eilis Lacey as she returns to Enniscorthy, 20 years after leaving Ireland for New York, said The Times. As she encounters familiar figures, old emotions are rekindled – and the results are “fantastically stressful”. Every bit as good as its predecessor, this is a “wonderful read”, said The Observer.
Pan MacMillan 304pp, £20
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
In a small Dutch town, 15 years after the end of WWII, the solitary life of 30-year-old Isabel is interrupted by the arrival of her “debonair” brother and his “vivacious” girlfriend Eva, said The Observer. When her brother is called away, Isabel is left alone with Eva. What begins as a “beautifully written lesbian romance” turns into something “much darker”, said The Times – a “shocking” exploration of “the legacy of the Holocaust”.
Viking 272pp, £16.99
All Fours by Miranda July
July’s “erotic, witty and moving” novel follows a 45-year-old woman who leaves her child and husband behind for a solitary road trip across the US, said The Guardian. Barely 20 miles in, she “catches sight of a hot young guy on a garage forecourt”, and then “embarks on a very different kind of journey”. With this “outrageous and outrageously hilarious” work, “perimenopausal readers finally have their own ‘Portnoy’s Complaint'”, said The Washington Post.
Canongate 336pp, £20
Catland by Kathryn Hughes
“Before they were beloved pets, cats were merely rough-and-ready mousers”, said The Guardian. Then along came the Victorian illustrator Louis Wain, who transformed our relationship with felines by depicting them as cute and cuddly. Hughes’s “joyous cultural history” is full of juicy titbits, said The Times – such as the fact that Charles Dickens turned the paw of his much-loved departed cat into a letter opener. It makes for a “charming” read.
Fourth Estate, 416pp £22
My Husband by Maud Ventura
“I love my husband as much as the first day I met him,” the narrator of “My Husband” declares. You just know she’s not to be trusted, said The Observer; and sure enough, Ventura’s novel – a sensation when published in France in 2021 – tells a “compulsively disquieting” story. Dark and compelling, it’s the “perfect psychological thriller” to “rip through by the pool”, said The Independent.
Penguin 272pp, £9.99
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Arguably “robbed of last year’s Booker Prize”, Paul Murray’s novel is “unputdownable”, said The Sunday Times. Set in Ireland after the 2008 crash, it chronicles the often very funny tribulations of the Barnes clan – a well-to-do family now facing financial ruin. From mum Imelda, “eBaying like mad”, to 12-year-old PJ, the characters in this “timeless family saga” are highly memorable, said The Guardian.
Penguin 656pp, £9.99
Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Tom Kettle is a retired Dublin copper who “spends his days in a wicker chair gazing out at the Irish Sea”, said The Times. But when two young policeman show up, asking about an old case involving “fecking priests”, Kettle finds himself drawn back into his former life. Barry is one of our best writers, and his latest novel – long-listed for the Booker Prize – is “shattering”.
Faber 272pp, £9.99
