Published in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, Shelley Harris’s remarkably assured debut novel is rooted in the Silver Jubilee celebrations of June 1977. Cherry Gardens, in a small Buckinghamshire village, is throwing a street party. Union Jack bunting is...

Juliet Carlsen is taking some much needed time out in the tiny northern Italian village of Baiardo, home to an arts school. Sunshine, serenity and general sense of ‘dolce vita’ weave their magic. The attentions of a local architect...

For years, it has been what is called a ‘deteriorating situation’. Now all over South Africa the cities are battlegrounds. The members of the Smales family – liberal whites – are rescued from the terror by their servant, July,...

Easter 2005, and Irish dancing champion Janie can win the feis but has no idea how to have a boyfriend. And when her first one, Martin, is a parkour freerunner, she can’t keep up as he jumps and flips...

A perfect slice of page-turning, intelligent escapism – a romantic comedy with a positively Shakespearean comic ending. ‘Juno & Juliet’ has twin blonde sisters, eighteen, arriving at university in Galway from their Tipperary home (and going back home for...

Parisians behaving badly: a dinner party implodes in this darkly compelling tale, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Day. In tired, hot Paris at the end of August, a group of friends, who’d rather still be at the sea, meet...

‘This uplifting memoir is testament that in life there are times when there is nothing for it but to scale that mountain’ – The Herald Best Summer Reads 2019 In 1997, at the age of 24, Sarah lost her...

The #1 bestselling author returns for summer! Grab your sun hat, a cool glass of wine, and the only book you need on holiday… In theory, nothing could be better than a summer spent basking in the French sun....

In 1838, Gideon Barr sets sails for Borneo, the land he intends to rule. We first see this empire-builder through relatives’ letters, and he emerges as highly unbalanced yet singularly driven. He is also, it appears, almost infallible, applying...