The books everyone's talking about

In his Booker Prize shortlisted novel, Percival Everett lays out a precise and painful depiction of the Antebellum South on the cusp of Civil War, shot through with his trademark dry humour and semantic flair. The novel is told from the perspective of James (formerly ‘Jim’), the affable companion of Huckleberry Finn in Mark Twain’s novel. Crucially in Everett’s re-telling, James is resurrected from the graveyard of racist archetypes, and is given multiple dimensions and a character arc of his own: when James embarks on a quest to secure his wife and daughter’s freedom, Huck tags along for the ride.

Author of seven novels and winner of the Booker Prize in 2004, few authors are as revered in literary circles as Alan Hollinghurst and this new book – his first in seven years – Our Evenings, doesn't disappoint. In it, he returns to some of his most enduring themes: sexuality, social mobility and the friction of class differences. David Winn recollects his experiences as a mixed-race scholarship student at boarding school, his relationship with his mother, and his time at the Home Counties estate of the Hadlows, the family who fund his scholarship. It's an intricately constructed, searing portrait of British society told through the divergent paths of its characters. 

Don’t be the last to discover this word-of-mouth sensation that has touched the hearts of its many readers. An intriguing and moving story about a small Japanese café that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time and change the course of their lives, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is the first in a million-copy bestselling series. Once you’ve devoured the first instalment in Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s heart-wrenching series, you’ll be delighted to hear there are four more books to discover. 

What actually happened when Eilis returned to New York? Long Island is the long-awaited sequel to Colm Tóibín's prize-winning, bestselling novel Brooklyn. Eilis and Tony have built a secure, happy life; twenty years married and with two children looking towards a good future. But then a man with an Irish accent knocks on their door, and everything changes. Did Eilis make the wrong choice marrying Tony all those years ago? Is it too late now to take a different path? 

If you haven’t heard of Hanya Yanagihara’s million-copy bestseller A Little Life just yet – where have you been?! – then you must surely have heard of the critically acclaimed stage adaptation, starring James Norton, that hit the West End in 2023. The totally raw and unflinching adaptation had everyone talking, with many deciding to return to the source material for a re-read or to pick it up for the very first time. Be among the many re/discovering the powerful emotional story of Willem, JB, Malcolm and the brilliant but tragic Jude. 

Bestselling author Kristin Hannah returns. The Women follows twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath. Raised on California’s idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she's always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows him there. Amidst chaos and heartbreak, Frankie finds strength in female friendship and learns the value of sacrifice and commitment. This emotionally charged novel illuminates the often-forgotten stories of women who bravely served their country.

Charlotte Mendelson's latest novel, Wife, takes us from the end of a relationship to its beginning, and back again. While the protagonist may think 'this is a love story' it reads more like a thriller; we feel trapped and claustrophobic in this 'clever, lacerating account of coercive control'. The story follows Zoe Stamper, a junior researcher in Ancient Greek Tragedy, who becomes enamored with the glamorous Dr Penny Cartwright. Their unexpected encounter at a faculty recital ignites a passionate affair, placing Zoe within Penny's sophisticated circle. As Penny confesses her feelings to her live-in lover, Justine, the promise of happiness seems within reach. However, as the story unfolds, Mendelson reveals the deeper complexities and desires that threaten to unravel their relationship. 

Shortlisted for what seems like every award going, and shouted about by the likes of Ann Patchett and Barack Obama, Martyr! heralds the arrival of a blazing and essential new voice in contemporary fiction. Cyrus Shams has been grappling with his mother's death ever since her plane was shot down when he was just a baby. Now, newly sober, he embarks on a journey to uncover her true identity and the mysteries attached to her life, triggered by an encounter with a dying artist. As Cyrus pieces together clippings from his mother's life, he is faced with a shocking revelation that shatters his beliefs. Electrifying, funny, wholly original, and profound.

Girl meets girl, then boy, and dating apps meet big pharma, in this book of collisions with devastating consequences. Mary meets Tom, a brilliant young chemist, in Ibiza. He's working on an experimental drug, Eudaxa, that aims to cure the anxieties of modern life. Meanwhile, Mary starts work at her ex, Lara's new innovative dating app, Openr. As Tom and Lara's work begins to overlap, and whispers about Eudaxa’s side effects begin to grow, Mary is forced to ask whether love is even possible in a society that is falling apart. With its unsettling feels-like-a-dystopia-but-is-actually-just-now setting and increasingly disturbing turn of events, we can guarantee that if you've read Bonding, you're talking about Bonding.

Described by the Casual Readers Book Club as ‘Our most explosive discussion yet . . . The PERFECT book club book’, Everything’s Fine will certainly get you talking. When Jess, a liberal Black woman, and Josh, a preppy white conservative, fall reluctantly, complicatedly, deeply in love, they are forced to ask themselves whether love can overcome two very different ways of seeing the world. This is an utterly original and deeply moving debut that is totally unforgettable.