Bonnie Garmus' latest in this month's popular fiction: PECK & PECK by Bonnie Garmus, HOODS LANDING by Laura Vincent, Miss Bates is available now MISS BATES by Catherine Cliff
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PECK & PECK by Bonnie Garmus (Manilla £22, 448pp)
This follow-up to global sensation Lessons In Chemistry concerns Batter Gray, a hapless poetry enthusiast.
Via an inconclusive degree course and a series of dead-end jobs, he gets his big break on legendary literary quarterly Peck & Peck.
The opportunity of his dreams turns into a nightmare when the mag turns out to be run by a dysfunctional family headed by a Donald Trump figure.
The appearance of Peck & Peck in a blockbuster action film whose kick-ass star harbours literary ambitions is the final disastrous complication.
This high-spirited, inventive novel enjoyably satirises literary types and the snappy dialogue is hilarious.
HOODS LANDING by Laura Vincent (Pushkin Press £12.99, 272pp)
We’re all flies on the wall at family celebrations in this brilliantly observant debut. The Gordon clan of Auckland, New Zealand, contains several generations of lesbians, some of whom fought hard for their freedoms; others are yet to come to terms with it.
The story starts with matriarch Bufty’s birthday and finishes with grandmother Irene’s death.
A cast of daughters, sisters and granddaughters comes and goes, each with her own secrets, all teasing, arguing and laughing as only really close families can.
The laid-back pace picks up sharply at the end with a firestorm of revelations. Full of frank, breezy Kiwi attitude, but also incredibly moving.
Miss Bates is available now
MISS BATES by Catherine Cliff (Pegasus £22.99, 336pp)
This beautifully-written Emma spin-off features the scorned spinster of Jane Austen’s book.
Emma Woodhouse has it all while ‘Henrie’ Bates has nothing.
Fallen into genteel poverty which gets less and less genteel, she’s lost everyone she loves. To survive, she must ingratiate herself with those she loathes, including spoilt brat Emma.
But Henrie is stronger than she looks, and a heck of a lot angrier. She’s determined to survive and revenge herself on those who’ve wronged her.
Cliff pulls out every emotional stop to show the realities of the time for the poor single woman.
Her fabulous and inventive novel, by turns tragic and darkly humorous, throws new light on Austen’s well-loved characters.
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