A love story that creates a goosebump-raising spell: The best Literary Fiction out now –
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING by Kit de Waal (Tinder Press £20, 320pp)
England, 1972 and St Kitts-born auxiliary nurse Paulette is blissfully happy in the arms of her lover, Denton. But when he is killed in a car accident, she learns the brutal truth: he already has a wife.
Her life isn’t the only one devastated. The car’s driver, mentally fragile
widower Frank, is also bereaved and left to care for his young grandson.
Against the odds, however, Paulette’s hatred for Frank is supplanted by her concern for the neglected boy, whom she comes to nurture alongside her own beloved son.
I lived with the characters on every page of this instantly-enveloping novel, their voices and presences so distinct they were almost in the room.
De Waal captures acutely the pain of being an outsider to happy family life, but ultimately this is a book about extraordinary kindness that’s totally unmawkish, mighty survivor Paulette being as tough as she is compassionate. Highly recommended.
MERE by Danielle Giles (Mantle £16.99, 384pp)
NORFOLK, 990 AD. Deep in the treacherous watery landscape, the convent of Abbess Sigeburg is crumbling, the Sisters as hungry as the mere (a type of lake) that threatens to swallow all who stray.
Winter is looming, and when a young servant boy wanders from the path, a series of sinister and increasingly catastrophic events are set in motion.
The scene is set for a new leader, and with the arrival of highborn Sister Wulfrun – seer and potential saint – the power games begin. Caught in the centre of it all is infirmarian Hilda, who is attracted to Wulfrun by more than just her smooth words.
Giles’s memorably distinct and atmospheric debut is true to the stink and starvation, the suffering and blood of its characters’ impoverished lives.
Laced with Dark-Age eeriness, there’s a measured deliberateness to this love story of sorts that creates a goosebump-raising spell.
ROOM ON THE SEA by Andre Aciman (Faber £12.99, 176pp)
The heat is rising in New York City. Sixtysomethings Paul and Catherine meet when they’re called for jury service, and after initial mistrust – he’s a former lawyer and Park Lane type, she’s a Lefty, Bronte-reading shrink – sparks fly.
As they wait to be selected, banter turns to flirtation. Over coffees and croissants (then lunches, then more) they philosophise about their lives: the actual, in which they are both married, and the unlived.
When they chance upon a painting of an idyllic Italian seascape, it becomes a metaphor for what could have been – and also an invitation.
With a week of stolen encounters coming to a close, will they act upon it? Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name, has written a top-notch beach read. Stash it in your suitcase now.