MUST READS
Preloved
by Lauren Bravo (S&S £9.99, 448pp)
(S&S £9.99, 448pp)
Gwen is celebrating her 38th birthday by eating one of the best sticky toffee puddings she’s ever tasted. But she has no one to 株 her day with.?
She has been 選び出す／独身 since she 分裂（する） up with her fianc?, Ryan ― and she has just been 解雇（する）d from her 職業.
Making a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of 計画（する）s for the 未来, she 解決するs to take her ‘emotional baggage’ ― a binbag of Ryan’s old 着せる／賦与するs and her 約束／交戦 （犯罪の）一味 ― to a charity shop. It turns out to be the best 決定／判定勝ち（する） she has made in a long time.
Volunteering at the shop, she makes new friends and begins to 回復する from a 悲劇 in her past.
Bravo is the author of How To Break Up With 急速な／放蕩な Fashion, and her debut novel is a funny and 深く心に感じた 祝賀 of charity shops and second chances.
Pet
by Catherine Chidgey (Europa 版s £14.99, 336pp)
(Europa 版s £14.99, 336pp)
Growing up in 郊外の Wellington, New Zealand, in the 1980s, 12-year-old Justine has troubles beyond teenage growing 苦痛s.
Her mother has died from breast 癌, and her father is numbing his grief with whisky. Justine isn’t one of the popular girls at her カトリック教徒 school, but she has a best friend, Amy.
When a new teacher, Mrs Price, arrives the atmosphere changes 劇的な. Mrs Price has an 空気／公表する of glamorous 悲劇. She has wavy blonde hair, 運動s a Corvette, and lives on milkshakes and pills.?
She?chooses favourites の中で her pupils, and when she 選ぶs Justine as one of her pets, the friendship with Amy begins to 冷静な／正味の.
When small items go 行方不明の, 疑惑 落ちるs on Amy. This brilliant psychological thriller ratchets up the 緊張 to an elegantly 冷気／寒がらせるing denouement.
法案 Bailey’s ?Remarkable Guide to Happiness
by 法案 Bailey (Quercus £10.99, 224pp)
(Quercus £10.99, 224pp)
法案 Bailey is a comedian, musician, actor, author, 文書の 製造者 and the 2020 勝利者 of 厳密に Come Dancing. When the lockdown 軍隊d a pause in his busy life, he began to think about happiness.
The result is this delightful 調書をとる／予約する. He 収容する／認めるs that he hasn’t got special 接近 to the secret of happiness, but 株 ideas and activities that have brought him joy.
Some are familiar, such as reading (‘I 消費する 調書をとる／予約するs like homemade brownies’), and walking (‘The simplest and perhaps most underrated of outdoor activities’).?
Others are more?unusual, such as 断言するing, speaking another language and equations. Scientists have discovered an equation for happiness, but that’s not the one 法案 means.?
His 伴う／関わるs （軍の）野営地，陣営ing and lost 重要なs. Illustrated with Bailey’s eccentric artwork, this is a deceptively light-hearted take on a 全世界の／万国共通の human need.
Comments 0
株 what you think
No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or 審議 this 問題／発行する live on our message boards.
We are no longer 受託するing comments on this article.
