Stephanie chose to lie to her parents and run away with her teacher when she was fifteen and hasn't talked honestly about it since. Now he's being released from prison years earlier than planned. She moves back home after a rough few weeks but Ros (her mum) doesn't want to break the news whilst her... Continue Reading →
Recipes for Melissa by Teresa Driscoll
Melissa receives a book from her mother (Eleanor) after not seeing her for 17 years. It's a recipe book that also contains letters and photographs started when Melissa was only eight years old. It's written like a journal allowing Melissa to understand her mother's reasons for not telling her the truth about her cancer. The... Continue Reading →
Lost & Found by Brooke Davis
Millie is a seven year old girl with lovely innocent ideas about the world. She has a list of dead things and people, one of whom is her dad. After her dad dies Millie is left behind in a department store waiting for her mum who never comes back to get her. Millie is a... Continue Reading →
The Versions Of Us by Laura Barnett
It's 1958 when Eva and Jim first meet. She swerves her bike to miss a dog but punctures her tyre and Jim is there to help. That's where it starts for version one. The book follows their lives through three versions that all start in the same place but with slight variations. It shows how... Continue Reading →
Black Chalk by Christopher J Yates
Black Chalk starts with a regretful man who has been hiding for years. Fourteen years previously he was involved in a game and now it's time to finally finish it. The book follows his retelling of the game and how it started. The innocent fun of 6 students soon turns dark and the consequences of... Continue Reading →
Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
Anna is an American living in Switzerland with her husband and three children. Anna always seems to not quite fit into Switzerland, despite living there for nine years. Not speaking the same language as her family doesn't help that, but neither does Anna's passive attitude towards making friends. Anna fills her time learning German, going... Continue Reading →
A Line of Blood by Ben McPherson
The neighbour is found dead in a bathtub. 11 year old Max and his dad (Alex) are the ones to find him. Millicent (the mum) seems particularly jumpy and upset by what has happened, and for some reason the police want to question her. It turns out Millicent wasn't being honest and knew her neighbour... Continue Reading →
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
It's 1686 when Nella arrives in Amsterdam to move into her new husbands home. She is greeted by her husbands sister and the maids , but no husband (Johannes). It doesn't seem a great start to married life. He soon returns to their home but is often distant and too busy working to speak to... Continue Reading →
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
Maud has problems with her memory. She finds herself stocking her cupboards full of peaches because she can't remember what to buy at the shop. To help, she leaves notes to herself around the house and in her handbag to remind herself: Coffee helps memory And No more peach slices Elizabeth is a good friend... Continue Reading →