This May I have yet again chosen books from my ARC Reading List. I’m finding hard at the moment to read, I don’t think I’m the only one. I hope this slump will eventually come to an end, as I am quite behind in the amount of books I should have read by now. If I do manage to read these books before May is over I will then pick something off my GoodReads TBR list as it’s ever growing.
Don’t forget to pop by again on the 6 May to see what book I’ll pull out of the Random Jar of books.
May’s Books
- The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, Pages: 368, Publication Date: 2 June 2020
- The Group by Lara Feigel, Pages: 336, Publication Date: 11 June 2020
- The Summer We Ran Away by Jenny Oliver, Pages 384, Publication date: 11 June 2020
- Daughters of Night by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Pages: 448, Publication Date: 25 June 2020
Synopsis: Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.
Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.
Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbour. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbour’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.
A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favourite authors—The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.
Synopsis: Lara Feigel’s first novel, The Group, is a fiercely intelligent, revealing novel about a group of female friends turning forty. Who has children and who doesn’t? Whose marriages are working, whose aren’t, and who has embarked on completely different models of sexuality and relationships? Who has managed to fulfil their promise, whose life has foundered and what do they think about it, either way?
The Group takes its cue from Mary McCarthy’s frank, absorbing novel about a group of female graduates. The relations between men and women may be different now but, in the age of Me Too, they’re equally fraught. This is an engrossing portrait of contemporary female life and friendship, and a thrillingly intimate and acute take on female character in an age that may or may not have been changed by feminism in its different strands.
‘A very funny and brilliant book. Feigel does a thorough and virtuosic job of describing the dilemmas of contemporary middle-class women’ Rachel Cusk
Synopsis: ‘You know you’re in for a treat when you open a Jenny Oliver book’ Debbie Johnson Julia’s perfect life is in crisis.
As the founder of the Cedar Terrace WhatsApp group, she’s constantly chivying the neighbours to action, as well as dealing with a kitchen extension, leaning-in at work, and dealing with Impostor Syndrome and her family…
But when she accidentally WhatsApps her neighbours a secret letter to an agony aunt she inadvertently confesses to a secret crush. While she loves her husband, Adam, she spends most of her time fantasising about the married father-of-two who lives opposite, timing her evening runs to coincide with his dog walks, finding reasons to pop over and chat and sometimes she catches him looking in a way that suggests he might quite like her too.
Julia is horror-struck as the little blue ticks appear on the WhatsApp message. Then left dangling as it’s met with widespread silence and a couple of embarrassed emojis.
When the neighbours know exactly what you’re thinking, there’s only one thing to do. Run away.
It’s a summer that she’ll never forget… Another gorgeous escapist read from the bestselling Jenny Oliver.
Synopsis: From the brothels and gin-shops of Covent Garden to the elegant townhouses of Mayfair, Laura Shepherd-Robinson’s Daughters of Night follows Caroline Corsham, as she seeks justice for a murdered woman whom London society would rather forget . . .
Lucia’s fingers found her own. She gazed at Caro as if from a distance. Her lips parted, her words a whisper: ‘He knows.’
London, 1782. Desperate for her politician husband to return home from France, Caroline ‘Caro’ Corsham is already in a state of anxiety when she finds a well-dressed woman mortally wounded in the bowers of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. The Bow Street constables are swift to act, until they discover that the deceased woman was a highly-paid prostitute, at which point they cease to care entirely. But Caro has motives of her own for wanting to see justice done, and so sets out to solve the crime herself. Enlisting the help of thieftaker, Peregrine Child, their inquiry delves into the hidden corners of Georgian society, a world of artifice, deception and secret lives.
But with many gentlemen refusing to speak about their dealings with the dead woman, and Caro’s own reputation under threat, finding the killer will be harder, and more treacherous than she can know . . .
Let me know if you’ve read or reviewed any of these book, and tell me what you think of them. Or just let me know what books are on your reading list for May.
Gadget Girl 71 