by Alain de Botton — The love story of a fictional couple serves as an argument for enlightened romantic pessimism: don’t marry for love, marry someone you like.
Tag: general fiction
Extraordinary Hope
by Jessica Ryn — Plenty of sugarcoating in this feelgood novel about the homeless, junkies, alcoholics and people with mental health problems.
Three Hours
by Rosamund Lupton — A school is under siege by gunmen for three hours on a snowy morning. A tense, gripping and very moving story. Superbly written and plotted.
Love
by Roddy Doyle — Love between friends, between parents and children, between spouses. And that weird, unreliable, deceptive kind of love — being ‘in love’.
The Things We Left Unsaid
by Emma Kennedy — Parents, if they love you, will never fully reveal the past. No matter how much you know, you’ll never have the full, lived story.
Mary Elizabeth Braddon – The Queen of Victorian sensation fiction
Best known for her sensationalist novels, Mary Elizabeth Braddon (née Maxwell) published more than 80 wonderful novels between1860 and 1910.
The Exiles
by Christina Baker Kline — A well-written, well-researched and gripping story about female convicts shipped to Australia in the mid 19th century
When the Lights Go Out
by Carys Bray — The impact of climate change on one family: constant rain, unemployment and the stress of trying to live as though life was still ‘normal’.
Where the Edge Is
by Grainne Murphy — a very readable and moving novel about people handling the intense emotional experience of a rescue operation.
The Thursday Murder Club
by Richard Osman — Residents in a retirement community get together to use their not-forgotten skills to solve a murder. Fun, plot twists and witty dialogue.
Mayflies
by Andrew O’Hagan — A story of male friendship, youth, mortality, music, Margaret Thatcher and other weighty matters.
The Thorn Birds
by Colleen McCullough — Life on a big Australian farm in the early 20th century and an engaging love story. Readable and enjoyable.
The Mandibles: A Family, 2029–2047
by Lionel Shriver — An intelligent, beautifully written and brutally observed dystopian novel about an economic crash and the effect of money on people.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart — A clever book for and about clever kids. Enjoyable for adults too. Uncondescending, imaginative, fast-paced and full of surprises.
Finished With Life
by Scott Bartlett — A novel of ideas including climate change, multiverses, freedom, family ties and family responsibility, artificial intelligence and more…
Holding
by Graham Norton — Tragedy and mystery in an Irish village. A strong plot, bursts of humour and interesting, well rounded characters.
Big Brother
by Lionel Shriver — A clever, thought-provoking novel about fat and dieting and about whether adults should feel or take responsibility for their siblings.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
by Karen Joy Fowler — A tremendous, unforgettable, beautifully written and funny book about family and grief that delivers a profound emotional effect.
The Marriage Plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides — A novel for lovers of the classic great English novel, and for lovers. A story on a timeless theme, beautifully written and constructed.
The Gathering
by Anne Enright — Sublime novel about family, siblings, past trauma and grief, and how the bereaved struggle to make sense of their experience.