Fiction

The Dinner Party by Viola van de Sandt is published in hardback by Tinder Press

Franca is a dropout from a prestigious Dutch university who, after a close friendship turns sour, uproots her life and moves to London’s South Kensington with the charming and wealthy Andrew. Struggling to find her place in this new world, simmering tensions and repressed traumas collide one cataclysmic evening when she is asked at late notice to pull together an extravagant dinner party on a sweltering summer night, with booze boosting the belligerence beyond boiling point. Viola van de Sandt’s debut novel is a powerful, provocative and often cringingly confronting study of female rage unleashed. Franca’s intoxicating tale is often darkly funny despite the subject matter, so, while there is plenty of discomfort in staying the course of this nightmarish soiree, you will want to stick around for the big twist that arrives before dessert.

To Cage A Wild Bird by Brooke Fast is published in hardback by Wayward TxF

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Romantasy publishing has become a colossal success – even if some people are a tad snooty about it. Debut author Brooke Fast is entering the realm with a dystopian take that smacks of Hunger Games, but features some pretty graphic sex. Raven is a bounty hunter in Dividium, an area of post-second civil war US, where even the tiniest of crimes gets you packed off to Endlock, a prison where inmates are hunted to death by Dividium’s wealthiest citizens. When Raven’s younger brother is arrested, she must infiltrate the facility to save him, and then somehow break them both back out, without being murdered in the process. She needs help though, and a guard who keeps eyeing her up in all the wrong (and right) ways, may hold the answer. The peril feels suitably high, even if the security in Endlock is farcically poor, so Raven’s trysts with her forbidden love do make you want to shout at the book, ‘As IF that could happen,’ but for a few hours of sexy escapism, Raven is a dynamic heroine. The wait for book two is on.

All We Want For Christmas by Phillipa Ashley is published in paperback by Penguin

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All We Want For Christmas is a typical feel-good seasonal book that ticks all the right boxes. Lara works in a castle in the Lake District and has recently gone through a rough break-up. Flynn is the castle’s new technical manager, who Lara first met at Halloween, but didn’t know she’d see him again at work one Christmassy day. What starts off as a friendship then blooms as Flynn slowly breaks down Lara’s walls and she eventually lets herself grow closer to him. The festive romcom stands out for its magical, fictional backdrop, Ravendale Castle, and for Ashley’s writing. She really puts readers in the scene, especially with descriptions of a light trail and Winter Spectacular event being organised. It also has the perfect mix of drama, tension, snow and romance. This is a heartwarming story about two people who have been hurt before, allowing love in again.

Non-fiction

Radical Cartography by William Rankin is published in hardback by Picador


Far removed from the stereotype of staid old scrolls on dusty library shelves, William Rankin offers a lavish, contemporary take on the importance of maps in an increasingly splintered world. Split into seven sections – Boundaries, Layers, People, Projections, Colour, Scale and Time – Radical Cartography charts the elements of map-making that are critical in shaping the viewer’s perception, and underscores the inescapable subjectivity that comes with representing mere statistics. Rankin presents an engrossing yet sometimes unsettling argument for the implications of those choices, in terms of the potential manipulation of public opinion, and its potential consequences. As Rankin shows, it is an argument that goes back to old world maps that put a central, outsized focus on Colonialist Europe. The timely highlight is Julien Bousac’s map of Palestine, which renders the territory as a tranquil Archipelago of green islands, surrounded by a sea of blue.

Children’s book of the week

Robin by Sarah Ann Juckes, illustrated by Linde Faas, is published in hardback by Simon & Schuster Children’s UK

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A courageous tale of a young boy finding his identity in a world where he’s afraid to speak up or step out of the shadows. Eddie Loxley’s life is tough, with concern over his sister Scarlet’s health as she often spends time in hospital, leaving their parents riddled with worry and Eddie not knowing how to deal with being a good brother and being himself, without feeling guilty. With no real friends to speak of, the apologetic Eddie feels like he’s overlooked and ignored a lot. But heading into the woods and sharing his problems with the ancient trees there helps the youngster shed some of his burden. Soon enough he makes friends with a loyal robin, a wild girl called Mari and a brave boy at school called Richard, who all help him see his potential and find his voice. A beautiful story that will pull at your heartstrings.