Summer itself may be feeling a little... temperamental, and as much as we would like to stick our Stutterheim raincoats in storage, it would seem rash to do, even now. Picnics and BBQs may still feel dicey but thankfully, the pleasures of a satisfying book can still be relied on. Here’s our choice of the best summer releases.
Blue Ruin
by Hari Kunzru
It’s hard to explain how good this book is but if you want to read about art, masculinity and race alongside a cracking plot, Hari Kunzru is your man. Part-inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it might also be the best fiction ever written about the London art scene in the nineties – just brilliant.
Welcome to Glorious Tuga
by Francesca Segal
Sometimes you just want to have a good time and this is the book for that. A research vet leaves life in Regent’s Park behind and heads to the invented exotic island of Tuga de Oro to study its tortoise population but things inevitably don’t quite go to plan. A beautifully written feel good novel – Marian Keyes for one is a fan.
Naked Portrait
by Rose Boyt
It’s probably best that Father’s Day has passed and no one can unthinkingly gift this to their art-loving dad as it would make quite a pointed present. Rose Boyt is one of the late painter Lucian Freud’s 14 acknowledged children and the executor of his will. This is her account of sitting for the three paintings he made of her but more interestingly, it’s also her attempt to be honest about their complicated relationship.
You Are Here
by David Nicholls
It truly is the year of David Nicholls with this, his sixth novel, coming hot on the heels of the Netflix adaptation of his mega hit, One Day. Fans will relish the fact that once again, he has written a love story with some very good comic set pieces but this time the couple are midlifers who meet on a walking holiday. It also broaches men’s mental health and for the first time for this author really, sex.
This Strange Eventful Evening
by Claire Messud
This is the novel for you if you’ve been hoping that somehow, Balzac or Tolstoy would write another book. The compellingly plotted multi-generational family saga – which takes place from Algeria to Connecticut – is one of our favourites of the year but, at over 400 pages, it’s possibly not for you if you like your fiction to be a quick fix.
Wife
by Charlotte Mendelson
Mendelson’s last novel was the brilliant The Exhibitionist (2022) with the appalling Ray Hanrahan featuring as one of the worst fictional husbands ever. Mendelson clearly has a talent for writing noxious spouses, as Penny Cartwright in this latest book is possibly even worse. The toxic atmosphere could be hard to take if it wasn’t at the same time so funny and acutely observed. It is notably brilliant on London’s lesbian tribes.
The Lasting Harm
by Lucia Osborne-Crowley
Osborne-Crowley is a trained lawyer as well as a journalist and memoirist with a talent for clear-eyed prose. She was one of only four reporters allowed into the courtroom every day for Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial and this is her account of the trial, as well as a damning critique of a criminal justice system not built to deliver justice for abuse survivors. It is – for obvious and necessary reasons – not a light-hearted read but it is a powerful and important testimony nonetheless.
Table for Two
by Amor Towles
You may already have read a book by Amor Towles – over 6 million copies have been sold – or you may have seen Ewan McGregor starring in the Paramount + adaptation of Towles’ novel Gentleman in Moscow Even if you haven’t, this is an elegant and enjoyable collection of short stories and a novella that beautifully evokes New York and Los Angeles.
Cleavage
by Cleo Watson
This is the second erotic novel from the ex-Downing Street staffer Cleo Watson, following on from last year’s Whips. It isn’t for everyone – you are either the sort of person who likes characters being described as “the only man I’ve ever met who walks into a room knob-first” or you aren’t. Interestingly, some of the novel is so close to reality that it is borderline libellous but Watson decided to indulge in one significant flight of fancy – the Conservatives win the election in this version of events.
All Fours
by Miranda July
Anyone who has admired the filmmaker’s offbeat style in movies such as You Me and Everyone We Know (2005) and Kajillionaire (2020) will largely know what to expect of this, her third book of fiction and her first novel for ten years. And for once, we have a juicy, sex-soaked take on a woman’s midlife crisis.
The Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley
This could be the best fan fiction ever written. The author became obsessed with a Victorian explorer who was a minor character in Ridley Scott’s TV drama the The Terror. Bradley started writing about him, at first to entertain her friends. The ensuing novel was the subject of a 21-way screen-rights bidding war and there is a BBC adaption planned. The smartest, most fun kind of time travel fiction.
All That Glitters
by Orlando Whitfield
A recent Radio 4 Book of the Week, this work of non-fiction has overtones of The Talented Mr Ripley. The author’s once-close friend Inigo Philbrick is currently imprisoned in the US for fraudulent dealings on the secondary art market amounting to $86.7 million. A protégé of Jay Jopling, Philbrick quickly became a wildly successful art dealer in the 2010s, before his empire began to implode.
Briefly Very Beautiful
by Roz Dineen
You might not fancy reading about apocalyptic scenarios but Dineen is an extraordinary writer, as anyone who read her account of catching Covid will attest. The tagline for this novel is “The world is on fire. And what will you do?” Perfect for fans of the Jodie Comer film, The End We Start From.
The Echoes
by Evie Wyld
A new novel from the award-winning Evie Wyld is always a treat. Paula Hawkins, who wrote Girl on the Train, has said of it “I’ve loved all of Evie Wyld’s novels, but I think this may be my favourite. Like all the best ghost stories, The Echoes is also a love story.”
Munichs
by David Peace
David Peace is the author of The Damned United – which was made into a film starring Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall – and existing fans will know that he is not exactly the author to turn to for an escapist romantic comedy. This latest novel is the story of Munich air disaster which in 1958 resulted in the death of 23 people, including eight Manchester United players.
