Books like Flowers in the Attic have all the components of a best seller, they have obsession, fatal attraction, mystery, suspense, entrapment, death… They also have an element of horror, a dark incomprehensible edge to the narrative which stays with the reader long after they finish the book, in the case of V.C. Andrews’ gothic novel, the darker edge is the portrayal of child abuse and incest. In Flowers in … Read More
Books like The Kiss Quotient prove that love is not predictable nor can it be relied on to follow scientific data. This novel by Helen Hoang was inspired by the author’s experience when she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder – previously known as Asperger’s Syndrome – in 2016. The main character in The Kiss Quotient is Stella Lane: a woman with Asperger’s who is mad about maths and has … Read More
Laurie Halse Anderson has become renowned for dissecting distressing topics in her work so it is not surprising that people are looking for more books like Speak, her 1999 bestseller which explores consent and the aftermath of sexual assault. After calling the police on an end of summer party, Melinda Sordino is branded an outcast at high school, no one understands or cares to listen to her about why she … Read More
When reading books like It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover, it’s easy to be swept away in a fantasy world that doesn’t include putting the bins out and scraping baked beans off your dinner plate. This New York Times best seller knows how to lift its readers into a love high then put our emotions through the spin drier and still finish that last page with a sigh of … Read More
This wonderful story by Nicholas Sparks is about the one that got away and how they remain in our hearts no matter where life takes us. Luckily, for the main characters in books like The Notebook, fate often has a way of giving them a second chance. The Notebook begins with an elderly man ‘Duke’ reading pages of a story from a notebook to an elderly woman. He reads to … Read More
When reading books like I Am Pilgrim, it is hard to pull yourself from the pages as the author takes us on a journey of extreme highs and lows. Those nights when you’re sure you can make it to the end of the chapter before falling asleep but don’t, become all too common. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes is the screenwriter’s first novel and was the recipient of the … Read More
There are many aspects to consider in books like The Great Alone and it is this multidimensional narrative which makes them so enjoyable to read. In the case of Kristin Hannah’s New York Times bestselling novel, she tackles the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and codependency, she explores love, shame, survival and toxic familial relationships all while giving readers a transportive description of the Alaskan wilderness. Ernt and Cora Allbright’s … Read More
It’s easy to become so immersed in books like The Pillars of the Earth that you start to believe the alternative narratives they weave of well known historical events and of the stories we thought we knew so well. In Ken Follett’s critically acclaimed novel, we are catapulted back into Medieval Britain somewhere between the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Beckett. The country is on … Read More