‘Brilliant on power, perception and identity’: The best contemporary novels out now –
Soft Core by Brittany Newell (4th Estate £16.99, 352pp)
This novel takes us on a wild ride through San Francisco’s dark underbelly, full of sex workers and drug dealers.
Protagonist Baby works as a dancer at a strip club and lives with her ex-boyfriend Dino and their dogs, who are named after 1990s supermodels.
Dino is a flamboyant cross-dresser who sells ketamine, and although they are no longer in a relationship, he is her best friend and protector.
When Dino disappears, Baby is bereft. Dino always told her never to go to the police, so she has no one to talk to and doesn’t know what to do.
The lonelier she becomes the more her mental health spirals. She starts seeing Dino everywhere she goes, and although she’s sane enough to realise it’s not him, the hallucinations keep her company.
The more you learn about Baby, the more you like her. It’s brilliant on power, perception and identity. Great fun.
Who Wants To Live Forever by Hanna Thomas Uose (Brazen £16.99, 320pp)
Who Wants to Live Forever is available now
I LOVED this addictive, beautifully written novel about romance, life and immortality. Sam and Yuki are a young married couple who are crazy about each other.
Sam is an illustrator who wants to be a musician, while Yuki campaigns against Yareta, a drug that delivers eternal youth and which is the subject of huge political debate.
The world described is recognisably ours but the global divide between those who are on Yareta and those who are ageing is something else. It’s entirely believable and therefore utterly terrifying.
When the drug is eventually licensed, Sam goes behind Yuki’s back and remortgages their house to get his hands on the drug she spends all her time protesting against.
Sam has big plans for the future but it becomes apparent that maybe procrastination, not lack of time, is his problem.
Bad Manners by Amy Beashel (HarperNorth £16.99, 320pp)
The narrative opens at a men-only charity dinner in the Midlands, where the privileged guests are treated like kings by a fleet of young, female-only waitresses who are expected to ‘keep them happy’ while the men give generously to good causes.
Eighteen-year-old Cass is waitressing at the event when a drunk man starts being overly handsy.
What Cass doesn’t know is that her father Harry is also there, having taken up a last-minute offer of a place.
Harry is horrified when he sees her in a short skirt and heels with a much older man’s hand on her knee. Meanwhile, she is horrified to see her father amid this abusive crowd.
The father and daughter then find it almost impossible to talk about what happened. It’s great on the dark power of the patriarchy as well the corrosive nature of family secrets. Compelling.