Published by Quercus Publication date – 29 April 2021 Source – Review copy Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in rural Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back…

Published by Elliott & Thompson Publication date – 17 June 2021 Source – review copy The world changed in 2020. Gradually at first, then quickly and irreversibly, the patterns by which we once lived altered completely. The Heeding paints a picture of a year caught in the grip of history, yet filled with revelatory perspectives close…

Published by Arrow Publication date – 3 June 2004 Source – review copy In all her twenty-five years, Venetia Lanyon has never been further than Harrogate. Nor has she enjoyed the attentions of any man aside from her two wearisomely persistent suitors. Then, in one extraordinary encounter, she meets a neighbour she only knew by…

Published by Persephone Books Publication date – 24 April 2008 Source – own copy Mollie Panter-Downes was noted for her wit, perception and incisiveness thanks to her reflections on English domestic life during the war years. This collection of her short stories explores the common themes of the day, discussing fear, separation, evacuations and the…

Published by Doubleday Publication date – 13 May 2021 Source – review copy Dot Watson has lost her way. Twelve years ago her life veered off course, and the guilt over what happened still haunts her. Before then she was living in Paris, forging an exciting career; now her time is spent visiting her mother’s…

Published by Hodder & Stoughton Publication date – 13 May 2021 Source – review copy Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job. As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is secretly hired by brides to be their right-hand woman, ensuring their big day goes off without a…

Published by Picador Publication date – 24 June 2021 Source – review copy London, September, 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Henrietta Bird, from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles is blossoming, while…

Published by Arrow Publication date – 27 May 2021 Source – review copy She has only one chance to turn her life around… Allie is bored with her job and starting to wonder whether she even likes her boyfriend, Ryan. The high point in her day is passing a café on her walk home from…

Published by British Library Publishing Publication date – 13 May 2021 Source – review copy Tension is part of a curated collection of forgotten works by early to mid-century women writers. The best middlebrow fiction from the 1910s to the 1960s, offering escapism, popular appeal and plenty of period detail to amuse, surprise and inform. “I…

Published by Harper Collins Publication date – 13 May 2021 Source – review copy Hercule Poirot is travelling by luxury passenger coach from London to the exclusive Kingfisher Hill estate, where Richard Devonport has summoned him to prove that his fiancée, Helen, is innocent of the murder of his brother, Frank. But there is a strange…