The Meursault Investigation – Kamel Daoud
The Meursault Investigation is a suspenseful love story, and a profound meditation on Arab identity, colonialism, and the power of religion and guilt. The brother of ‘the Arab’ killed in Camus’s classic novel appears in this story as he describes the events leading to his brother’s senseless murder and resolves to bring him out of obscurity.
“Superlative writing, beautifully translated, brilliantly metaphorical. For its incandescence, its precision of phrase and description, and its cross cultural significance, The Meursault Investigation is an instant classic.”
The Guardian
A virus is spreading, a virus that denies its victims the ability to sleep. What follows is apocalyptic. Kenneth Calhoun’s dark, hallucinatory and brilliantly realised debut confronts one of our deepest needs – and fears – with style, vision and a very human heart.
“Extraordinary… Horribly, terribly compelling”
Alison Food, Sunday Times
Troubled teenager Emma Thorley vanished without a trace eleven years ago. But now a body has been found… As news of the discovery travels, the past comes back to haunt all those involved. Because some secrets cannot be buried for ever… and some dangers never go away.
“The strength of the characters maintain the story’s pace… we shall hear much more of Ms Muddiman.”
Daily Mail
The Sense of an Elephant – Marcus Missiroli
Pietro, concierge in a palazzo in Milan, is irresistibly drawn to one family in his care and lets himself into their apartment when everyone is out. What is it about them that will not let him go? In discovering their secrets, will he ever tell his own?
“Missiroli creates unforgettable characters and deals with important topics such as euthanasia, destiny, love, relationships and family.”
Marie Claire
Fives and Twenty Fives – Michael Pitre
Following three ex-Marines battling with their experiences and memories, this is a heart-stopping, heartbreaking debut written by a former Marine, a novel of war and its aftermath.
“‘An unblinking, razor-edged portrait of war… Deeply moving’ “
New York Times
Alena meets Dave when she is caught shoplifting by him in a department store. And so begins an unconventional, will-they won’t-they love story, that takes us from London to Siberia, and from hope to heartbreak, and back again.
“A tender, off-kilter love story, the novel paints a vivid picture of two very different kinds of misfit, falling in love over one dusty, teeming London summer”
Observer
So you thought life in Scandinavia was perfect? The Paul’s might look like they have everything, with their lovely flat in central Helsinki, successful careers, and their two beautiful grown-up daughters. But over the course of one winter we see their marriage tested to the limit.
“Shot through with understated black humour and nicely balanced between tender and acerbic, this impressive novel is a forceful reminder that there is much more to Scandinavian writing than crime fiction”
Sunday Times
The Moor’s Account – Laila Lalami
Only four survivors emerged from a doomed, real-life Spanish expedition in 1527 to modern-day Florida. Three of them, all noblemen, testified to their experiences; the fourth, a Moroccan slave called “Estebanico”, was ignored. The Moor’s Account imagines his lost story.
“An absorbing story… brilliantly imagined… feels very like the truth.”
Salman Rushdie
Alice and the Fly – James Rice
This is a book about phobias and obsessions, isolation and dark corners. It’s about families, friendships, and carefully preserved secrets. But above everything else it’s about love. Finding love – in any of its forms – and nurturing it.
“This is a novel about loneliness, and Rice vividly evokes the isolation of all those trapped inside the need to present a socially valid exterior. For all the bleakness it portrays Alice and the Fly is an oddly uplifting novel’”
The Guardian
Etta and Otto and Russell and James – Emma Hooper
82 year old Etta sets off from her home to fulfil a life-long wish to see the sea, leaving her bewildered husband Otto at home. A charming, moving debut about three lives and one last great adventure, and a love story that spans fifty years, two continents and an ocean.
“Beautifully written, this deserves to follow in the footsteps of 2014’s big debut novels The Miniaturist and Elizabeth Is Missing.’”
Daily Express
Burnt Paper Sky – Gilly MacMillan
Rachel Jenner turned her back for a moment. Now her eight-year-old son is missing. Caught between her personal tragedy and a public who have turned against her, there is nobody left who Rachel can trust. But can the nation trust Rachel?
“What an amazing, gripping, beautifully written debut”
Liane Moriarty, Author of The Husband’s Secret
On the day Hannah is finally going to tell her husband she’s leaving him, he has a stroke… and life changes in an instant. A beautiful and profound novel of choice, hope, love and loss.
“It was hard to put down, the characters are beautifully observed and continue to surprise one, all the way through to the story’s unexpected end.”
Jenny Agutter
