What We Read This Summer

As this summer draws to a close, the Triskele girls compare what they read on the beach, in a mountain chalet, lounging in the garden, or wherever ...

Here are a few recommendations from each of us:

Liza:

Close to Me by Amanda Reynolds: gripping psychological drama where a woman falls down the stairs at home, and wakes up in hospital having lost a whole year of memories. Then she begins to remember...

Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant: Despite the fact that most of the characters are unlikeable, I found this another unputdownable psychological suspense story, perfectly evoking the heat and oppression of one Greek summer.

Gillian:

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris: Highlight of the year for me, loved the eerie quality of the book, unsure if what you were reading was fact or fiction. The author has a talent for creating complex characters which worked well in this novel. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys the latest trend of psychological thrillers with a twist.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier: Bit late to this classic, I know. But following a visit to The Lizard in Cornwall in June this year, and having stood gazing out across Frenchman's Creek, I decided to work my way through Du Maurier's catalogue, starting with the darkly captivating Rebecca. I love the author's style, the use of location and the edge of tension she keeps running without. Can't wait for the next one!

Jill:

The Mirror World of Melody Black by Gavin Extence. Hard to categorise as the initial lightness of tone gives way to much darker layers. Abby pops round to a neighbour's flat to borrow a tin of tomatoes, but he's dead. This episode and her pragmatic reaction - she smokes two cigarettes, calls the police and takes the tomatoes anyway - soon leads the reader to realise Abby has problems relating to the world. Fascinating, well written and a curious insight into managing bipolar disorder.

The Sellout by Paul Beatty. No surprise this won The Booker. A book which makes the impossible plausible and in doing so, holds up the harshest of lights to illuminate our broken civilisation. Dickens, where Sellout was born and raised by a terrifyingly obsessive father, has been wiped off the map. But he has an idea how to get it back. By re-instituting slavery. A book to make you laugh and gasp, but most of all, think.

Kat:

I've picked two books about as different from one another as it is possible to be. The first is Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik. Sophia Khan wears skinny jeans, smokes, swears, has issues with deadlines and agonises about getting fat while scoffing muffins and lemon puffs. So far, so Bridget Jones. On the other hand, she wears a hijab, doesn’t drink alcohol, prays five times a day and has no intention of having sex before marriage. This is romantic comedy with real heart. Do not expect this to end with Sophia ripping off her hijab and going on a binge. Nor with her settling down to be a ‘traditional’ submissive wife. This is about how you can be modern, independent, strong-minded – and still a faithful Muslim. Something most Muslim women have always known; Malik is just letting the rest of us in on the secret.

The second is not exactly your typical beach read, but in the current state of the world, it could hardly be more important. In Why I Am No Longer Talking To White People About Race, Reni Eddo-Lodge addresses (among other things) the erasure of Black Britons from British history, the nature of White Privilege, the failure of White Feminism to engage with issues of racism, the often overlooked intersections of race with class – and what white people should be doing to tackle racism. I want to put this book into the hands of every good-hearted, liberal-minded white person I know and say, ‘please read this; please try and understand. We are all complicit, but we don’t have to be.'

Jane:

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell: This was a wonderfully written book. You think you know the end, you think you know all the answers; you think the conclusion obvious. But as you race through the pages, you realise there's more to Ellie's disappearance, and the secrets unfold to the very end. Serious page turning material. 

If anyone has read a book they particularly enjoyed this summer, we'd love to hear about it in the comments section!