This first batch of new fiction is full of books I’m not entirely sure about but look worth a try, beginning with Kate Sawyer’s Getting Away which is aimed squarely at the summer reading market, not something I tend to be a part of, but it has an attractive premise. The Smith family visit the seaside every year, putting work and school behind them for a few precious weeks. Over decades, the different destinations they choose offer a backdrop to the changing lives of the family, from love stories to the revelation of secrets. ‘Getting Away is a dazzlingly ambitious new novel from the author of Waterstones’ Fiction Book of the Month, This Family, and the Costa shortlisted The Stranding’ promises the blurb. I’ve not read anything by Sawyer but this one sounds quite tempting.
I’m including Emma Forrest’s Father Figure having enjoyed Royals back in 2019. This new one is set in a private school where Gail is a scholarship pupil, impulsive and on the lookout for adventure. She’s about to meet the father of a new girl, wealthy, powerful with a shady past and deeply anxious about his daughter. ‘When Agata starts at Saint Saviour’s, Gail and Ezra’s paths cross, and with an unstoppable momentum, their lives intertwine in ways more dangerous than either could ever predict’ according to the publishers which sounds a little overwrought to me, but I liked Forrest’s previous novel enough to give it a try.
There’s promise of a 1970 counter-culture backdrop for Esther Freud’s My Sister and Other Lovers which follows Lucy, caught between her idealistic (or perhaps flaky) mother and her sister Bea. Theirs was a rackety childhood and their later adventures have driven them further apart, dangerously so for Bea. ‘With scalpel-sharp insight, Esther Freud excavates the most intimate relationships of our lives, laying bare the fear and longing, the secrets and mistrust. My Sister and Other Lovers is an irresistible exploration of love, family and freedom in all its forms’ says the blurb. Quite tempted by that period setting, having enjoyed Hideous Kinky many years ago although I’m not entirely persuaded.
There’s a worrying mention of whimsy in the blurb for multi-talented Yrsa Daley-Ward’s The Catch which sees twins, Clara and Dempsey, never close until they’re brought together by Clara’s sighting of a dead ringer for their mother who disappeared when they were children. Clara’s convinced Serene is their mother, while Dempsey thinks she’s a con artist. ‘In her riveting first foray into fiction, Yrsa Daley-Ward conjures a kaleidoscopic multiverse of daughterhood and mother-want, exploring the sacrifices that Black women must make for self-actualization’ say the publishers a little excitedly. Not sure where the whimsy comes in, but I like the premise.
In theory, Zoe Dubno’s Happiness and Love should be right up my alley. It’s narrated by an unnamed young woman who has moved to London leaving the pretensions of the New York art world behind. Back on a short visit for the funeral of a friend, she later attends a dinner party in honour of a rising star, given by an artist-curator couple she once adored. ‘As the guests sip at their drinks and await the actress’s arrival, the narrator, from her vantage point in the corner seat of a white sofa entertains herself – and us – with a silent, tender, merciless takedown’ says the blurb. Quite a few boxes ticked for me here but apparently there are no chapters or paragraph breaks which is a bit off-putting.
Staying in New York for Adam Roberts’s Food Person where, in desperate need of an income after being fired, Isabella 
reluctantly accepts work as a ghostwriter for an actor who, despite needing to rescue her reputation, is uncooperative to say the least. Isabella soldiers on helped or hindered by what sounds like a varied cast of characters. ‘Hilarious and hopeful, at its core, Food Person is about commitment to self-discovery, the beauty of community, and how unapologetically forging your own future can lead to everyone getting the ending they deserve. And of course, very delicious food’ according to the publishers. Not at all sure about that and that cover doesn’t help but I’ve a weakness for foodie novels.
That’s it for July’s first batch of new fiction. As ever, a click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis for any that take you fancy. Part two soon…
