Fiction

Swept Away by Beth O’Leary is published by Quercus in hardback

After The Flatshare was recently adapted for TV, starring Jessica Brown-Findlay and Anthony Welsh, Swept Away will have more eyes on it than Beth O’Leary’s previous five books. In her customary style that involves both sides of a burgeoning romance, this story sees Zeke and Lexi who meet and are more than up for a one-night stand. The pair go back to a houseboat but in the morning are faced with a huge issue: the houseboat has broken free of its mooring and is now bobbing along in the open sea. I was transfixed by the tale of two strangers trapped in a very small space while facing certain danger and praying for help to rescue them, all the while learning about themselves and each other. A great romance for holiday reading, as long as you’re not on a boat…

Credits: PA;

A New New Me by Helen Oyeyemi published in hardback by Faber & Faber

Helen Oyeyemi is one of the most imaginative writers around, and her latest – A New New Me – might be her best yet. Each chapter is dedicated to a different day of the week, narrated by the different personalities of Kinga. Each is in control of their own day and recounts, diary-style, what happened to them over their 24 hours. Kinga’s seven personalities each have a completely different tone of voice and energy, but all are united by the fact they live in the same body and are faced with a new challenge this week, as a strange man is found tied up in their apartment. There’s an added layer of mystery as the book gathers pace, as it seems like Sunday’s Kinga might be doing something a bit dodgy, which could ruin the fine equilibrium between the seven personalities. It’s fast-paced, funny, a bit dark and totally unique. While the end feels a bit rushed and not quite the satisfactory conclusion you might have hoped for, it’s absolutely worth the ride.

Fish Tales by Nettie Jones is published in hardback by Virago

A passionately written, sexually charged and bold novel, which keeps you guessing with every page. Fish Tales follows “party girl” Lewis Jones and her wild pursuit of freedom in 1970s New York and Detroit. Kept in cash by her husband Woody, and tripping about town with her friend Kitty Kat, a hustler, who can always wrangle them into places, Lewis thrusts herself into a world of sex, partying and baths topped up with champagne. Then she meets Brook, who, both alluring and cruel, upends her world. The narrative is confusing at times, but perhaps this is representative of the chaotic and self-destructive nature of Lewis’ life and actions. Nettie Jones explores passion, pleasure, money and drugs, in a smart and different way.

Non fiction

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A Wilder Way: How Gardens Grow Us by Poppy Okotcha is published in hardback by Bloomsbury Publishing

You may have spotted former model Poppy Okotcha on Gardeners’ World a few years ago, tending the plants on the roof of her London canal boat. Since then, the former model-turned ecological grower has moved to Devon. A Wilder Way, her first book, is a memoir that captures her new garden, a long thin strip of land that was once part of a mediaeval ‘burgage plot’. She hooks out memories, like the rosehips she and her siblings would secretly snaffle from a neighbour’s front garden, and the power of sowing broad beans while grieving, and then shares them alongside practical tips, like how to build a compost bin and plant bare root perennials. There are recipes too, for things like elderflower vinegar and lemon verbena syrup. It could all seem a bit twee, but throughout Okotcha is incredibly punchy on the problems facing growers and eaters – climate change, pesticides, monocultures, sending food waste to landfill. It’s terrifying stuff, but her tone, while firm, doesn’t make you feel overwhelmed by the scale of the issues, and so, gives hope that we can all change our approach to living with and supporting nature.

Children’s book of the week

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The Doughnut Club by Kristina Rahim is published in paperback by Nosy Crow

Thanks to the wonders of science, more and more people are able to grow their families via egg and sperm donors. But being donor-conceived can be a tricky thing to explain. Which is where The Doughnut Club comes in, written because Kristina Rahim’s daughter faced just that situation, when a friend thought she had a ‘doughnut’ rather than a ‘donor’. Quinn isn’t like her go get ‘em, super active, sociable parents and brother, Olly, so when her mums reveal she and Olly have 16 half siblings – or diblings – she hopes at least one will enjoy drawing instead of surfing, like her. Then she discovers one of them is on holiday in Devon too. An incredibly easy and inclusive read that will make donor-conceived children feel seen and heard, it rattles along with plenty of family drama, secrets and holiday frenemies, as well as friendships that spark up across the generations. Quinn is a little frustrating at times, but she’s a gentle reminder of how important it is to be honest, kind and make an effort with others. Relative or not.