Fiction: narrative themes

'A wonderful, witty escapist read .

The Sunday Times bestselling novel from viral sensation, @MammyBanterA hilarious warts-and-all novel about modern motherhood - and how having it all sometimes isn't what you think it might be.

A love story that will break your heart.

'A brilliant novel of deception, love and trust to join his supreme cannon' Evening Standard'Vintage le Carr .

WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021 LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021 A once-in-a-generation series, Ali Smith's Seasonal quartet is a tour-de-force about love, time, art, politics, and how we live now.

'Terrific and hugely thought-provoking' Ian Rankin'One of my ten best reads of the year.

Fans of Carole Matthews, Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Milly Johnson will love this uplifting and upbeat comic novel from bestselling author Judy Astley.

Haunting, terrifying and hilarious, The Day of the Oprichnik is a dazzling novel and a fierce critique of life in the New RussiaMoscow 2028: Andrei Danilovich Komiaga, oprichnik, member of the czar's inner circle of trusted courtiers, rouses himself from a drunken stupor and prepares for another day of debauchery, violence, terror and beauty.

In wartime, nothing stays the same.

'Musa Dagh stood beyond the world.

In some of these stories shadowy people pass through, cooped up by life, mangled by it, with nowhere to escape to.

From the internationally bestselling author of The Secret Orphan comes her brand new unputdownable historical fiction novel!

A literary tour-de-force of power, guilt and obsession - two people stalk each other through the shadowy, tangled web of the past - man and woman caught in a dangerous game of confession, each partly predator and partly prey.

It's never too late to have fun in this heartwarming and hilarious new novel from the author of The Big Five 0.

A Touch of Love is Jonathan Coe's delightfully comic and moving novel about not fitting inRobin, a postgraduate student in Coventry, has spent four and a half years not writing his thesis.

'An absolute joy to read.

The summer psychological domestic suspense thriller you won't want to put down!

The brand new thriller from the No.

'Feisty and fabulous.

'A gripping legal thriller that will leave you reeling.

The brand-new adventure from the beloved author of The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

Two womenTwo warsA secret that threatens to tear them apart 1916At the onset of war, Nurse Pru le Cuirot left her home in Jersey to care for injured soldiers at Ashbury Manor, Dorset.

*Don't miss The Lost Wife - the brand new jaw-dropping thriller from Georgina Lees*'Compelling, heartbreaking and beautifully written.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ENCORE AWARD 2025'Compelling and fine and rich, I devoured it' TESSA HADLEY'Powerfully compelling' GUARDIAN'Unbelievably good' ELIZABETH DAY'Complex and nuanced.

Gardening is dirty work but should it be deadly?

An inter-connected romantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J.

One little word.

THE NO.

Two delightful children's stories from one of Britain's most popular authors, Jacqueline Wilson.

I Wish Someone Were Waiting For Me Somewhere explores how a life can be changed irrevocably in just one fateful moment.

After his death, a young woman returns to her grandfather s farm in Yorkshire.

In The Four Elements, poet and philosopher John O'Donohue draws upon his Celtic heritage and the love of his native landscape, the west of Ireland, to weave together a tapestry of beautifully evoked images of nature.

A chilling and timely crime fiction debut, winner of the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Prize and perfect for fans of Chris Hammer's Scrublands and Jane Harper's The Dry.

A pedal-to-the-metal white-knuckle thrill-ride that leaves you wrung out and breathless from sheer exhilaration CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE The new psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter?

'Exceptionally brave and urgent.

The highly acclaimed, thought-provoking debut novel that has everyone talking.

CHOSEN AS A 2026 MUST-READ BOOK BY THE GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, STYLIST, SUNDAY INDEPENDENT, NEW ARAB AND BBC CULTURE

EVERYONE THINKS THEY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED . . .

The Sharaf family is the picture of success. They arrived in America as refugees with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And now, after years of hard work, they live in the most exclusive neighbourhood, their growing family attending the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father's eye.

But when Zorah dies in an unthinkable tragedy, the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. There is talk that the Sharafs' happy household was anything but, and soon the veneer of the model immigrant family starts to crumble.

Those who knew her best - and those who never met her - all have an opinion on who Zorah really was, and what really happened to her . . .

Told through the chorus of voices surrounding the Sharafs, Good People is a riveting, provocative and unforgettable story of community, family and identity.

'SO witty, so entertaining, yet so moving.

The unmissable novel from Fran Littlewood, the New York Times bestselling author of Read With Jenna pick Amazing Grace Adams A STYLIST MUST-READ BOOK OF 2025A SUNDAY TIMES STUFF EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT PICKAN OPRAH BEST SUMMER BOOKS TO READ 'FABULOUS .

'Had me laughing, wincing, cheering, recognising, admiring - and turning pages, rapidly' MAGGIE NELSON'A masterful contribution to the canon of queer women's literature.

Inspired by a true crime story from 1980s Brazil, Diorama is an engrossing, gritty and adrenalin-fueled coming of age novel, marked by displacement and never-closing family wounds.

Who doesn't want a second chance at life?

A New Scientist best new science-fiction book 'Truly un-put-downable in its purest sense' Chloe Gong, author of These Violent Delights 'The ultimate haunted house story, in space' Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger 'This story slides and slithers from creepy and atmospheric to skin-crawling, edge-of-your-seat terror' T.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD'Beautiful and unflinching, Cloudless is a phenomenal debut' ANNA HOPE, author of Albion Attends to the bonds we have to family, landscape, global politics with uncommon attention, extraordinary depth and lightness of touch ELIZABETH O'CONNOR, author of Whale FallIt is autumn 2004 and in a farmhouse on the hills outside Llandudno, Catrin and John endure the agonizing wait for their older son to return from Iraq.

'A beautifully written story of loss and love' Florence Knapp'Tender, moving' Daily Mail'A beautiful story of grief, hope and love' Lucy Diamond'Superbly crafted and tender' Woman & Home Spectacular.

*The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller**A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick of the Summer *'Astonishing.

The story of a group holiday from which no one emerges unchanged, Female, Nude is the perfect summer escape: propulsive, thought-provoking, sexy and relatable.

'Riveting.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2026 I LOVED IT, I RACED THROUGH IT.

Gripping and emotional, The Sunshine Man is a powerful story of a terrible crime and a revenge plotted over decades, set against the haunting beauty of rural Devon.

'This darkly funny, slippery novel is a hoot to read and will please fans of Miranda July s All Fours' The i Paper'A sparkling and subversive debut .