The Contemporary fiction you should be reading now: Pieces of Us by Eve Ainsworth, The
Pieces of Us by Eve Ainsworth (Canelo £9.99, 320pp)
Millie is putting on a brave face but she’s not coping with the death of her friend Lottie. Then Lottie’s mother turns up on Millie’s doorstep with a gift from the person she loved most in the world.
The beautifully wrapped box contains a jar filled with messages and memories of happy times, along with instructions for Millie to go to the places described and allow herself to feel gratitude for what they had rather than pain at what she’s lost.
As Millie grapples with the jar and its associated actions she starts to feel like herself again, almost as if Lottie is back with her, helping her process all these hard things.
Millie also gets advice on a complicated relationship. Warm and wise.
Life-giving notes from beyond the grave
The Ick by Holly McCulloch (Renegade £9.99, 368pp)
I raced through this funny story about Gemma, who says she wants a relationship but never gets past the early stages as she always gets ‘the ick’ – finding some detail about the man in front of her so hideously off-putting she cannot imagine seeing him again.
We meet her when she’s on a great first date with kind, handsome and funny Atlas. But when Atlas mentions he had soup for lunch, Gemma feels disgusted, makes up an excuse and runs.
To be honest, I got the ick with Gemma for doing this, but the more the narrative progresses, the more I wanted to understand the reasons for her behaviour. Gemma’s best friend challenges her to date someone for six weeks, icks notwithstanding. It romps along.
Don’t Make Me Laugh by Julia Raeside (Bedford Square £16.99, 336pp)
This is a timely takedown of the ways women can be abused in the comedy industry.
Ali is grieving the death of her beloved father, having a miserable affair with a married man and trying to shake up her career as a radio producer.
When she meets famous comic Ed, she gets him on her show and they start spending a lot of time together.
The sexual tension increases but so does the sense of menace and it’s not long before Ali has to question everything she thought she knew. When she speaks to other women in the industry things begin to change for the better.
It’s brilliant on the insidious nature of power and on what happens when women fight back. Thought-provoking.