July Book Club Fiction

Discover the word-of-mouth bestselling phenomenon that thousands of readers are calling their favourite book of the year!THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARA BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICKSHORTLISTED FOR THE GOODREADS READERS' CHOICE AWARDS'A warm, funny gem of a novel'LAURA HACKETT, THE TIMES'Masterful . . . I was delighted and moved'NEW YORK TIMES 'I can't praise it enough. It's an absolute triumph'CLARE CHAMBERS'Tremendous'FREDRIK BACKMAN'Shows us what a glorious thing growing older can be'FLORENCE KNAPP'The year's breakout novel no one saw coming'WALL STREET JOURNAL–Every morning, Sybil Van Antwerp sits down to write letters – to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to attend a class she desperately wants to take, to her favourite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her correspondence – witty and wise – to make sense of the world. But beyond the page, she has spent the last thirty years keeping the people who love her at arms’ length... Until letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life.Now, Sybil must send the letter she has been writing for all these years - and find forgiveness within herself in order to move on. Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be ‘a very small thing’, but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.*Over 90,000 five-star reviews on Goodreads*

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Good Things Keep Happening to Me is based on the viral TikTok series Thato wa Ngwanyana – a modern South African love story about second chances and the kind of love that finds you when you stop running. Set in Johannesburg, the story follows Didi, a single mother and software developer, and Thato, a charming pediatrician who reminds Didi that love can be safe, passionate, and real. If you’ve ever doubted love, this book is your reminder that the right kind of love never rushes, it happens.

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Artie Dam is a man with a secret. He spends his days teaching history to high schoolers, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbours, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad-at himself and the people around him-and turns a question over and over in his mind: how is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear-and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.With exquisite prose and profound insight, Elizabeth Strout captures the way grief reverberates through decades, the comfort found in deep friendships and the freedom that comes when we break free of our secrets. The Things We Never Say is a stunning new novel from one of our most acclaimed observers of the human heart.

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You can change your name. But you can't change your past . . .Eighty-one-year-old Elsie Fitzpatrick lives a quiet life in the suburbs. Aside from being a curmudgeon who minds everyone else’s business, few would suspect she harbours a secret she’s worked hard to bury.Because when it comes to murder, no one ever suspects little girls or old ladies. And Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick – once a little girl and now an old lady – has a strange history of people in her life coming to a foul end.When an elderly neighbour is found dead, no one suspects a thing – until they uncover Elsie's true identity: Mad Mabel, the youngest Australian in history to be convicted of murder, over sixty years ago.The police are asking questions. The media is circling.Has the past finally caught up with Mad Mabel?Or is it time for her to finally set the record straight?Praise for Sally Hepworth‘Fiction at its finest’ Liane Moriarty‘An absolute page-turner from first word to last’ Jane Harper‘Smart suspenseful, brimming with secrets’ Kate Morton‘Clever, chilling and beautifully crafted’ Adele Parks

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'A furiously romantic, sun-drenched mystery . . . The Artist will leave you yearning in every sense of the word' Yael van der Wouden, author of The Safekeep'The Artist is a lush, impressive debut; the writing is rich and sensuous, especially in descriptions of food, the landscape and the act of creation. Lucy Steeds is one to watch' Sunday Times, BOOK OF THE YEAR'Beautiful' Daily Telegraph, BOOK OF THE YEAR'Dextrous and powerful . . . a hugely accomplished portrait of ambition and self-fulfilment' Guardian'The year's most lauded debut novelist . . . A sultry, headily perfumed portrait of monstrous male egos and oppressed overlooked women . . . The Artist uncovers its secrets by stealth' Telegraph'A blaze of a book, poetic, passionate and quietly powerful' Daily Mail'This compelling, evocative debut will transport you to idyllic, sun-drenched Provence in 1920 . . . An absorbing, poetic read' Mail on Sunday'Captivating . . . with imagery as lush as an oil painting' Washington Post'Enthralling . . . the descriptions of the landscape, the meals they eat and the art created are so rich and evocative it's as if you're there' Good HousekeepingPROVENCE, 1920Ettie moves through the remote farmhouse, silently creating the conditions that make her uncle's artistic genius possible.Joseph, an aspiring journalist, has been invited to the house. He believes he'll make his name by interviewing the reclusive painter, the great Edouard Tartuffe.But everyone has their secrets. And, under the cover of darkness, Ettie has spent years cultivating hers.Over this sweltering summer, everyone's true colours will be revealed.Because Ettie is ready to be seen.Even if it means setting her world on fire.

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From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and The Librarians of Rue de Picardie comes a charming and cinematic novel following a young woman from Montana who lands a job in the American Library in Paris, where she discovers the power of storytelling and writes her own Parisian chapter. Paris, 1995: It's been five years since Lily Jacobsen and her best friend Mary Louise arrived from their small town of Froid, Montana. Determined to establish themselves as artists - Lily, a novelist, and Mary Louise, a painter - they share a tiny sixth-floor walk-up and survive on brie and baguette. When Mary Louise abruptly moves out, Lily feels alone in the City of Light for the first time and is in need of a new way to support herself. She lands a job as the programs manager at the American Library in Paris, following in the footsteps of her French neighbour Odile, who infused her childhood with tales of heroic World War II librarians. Here in the storied halls of the ALP, Lily meets an incredible cast of characters - her favourite author, quirky co-workers, broke students, and high society trustees - each with their own stories...and agendas. Personal dramas sometimes take precedence over books and patrons.Between her hard-nosed boss not letting up and her best friend letting go, Lily is stressed and bewildered. When it becomes clear that the Library is facing serious financial struggles and its future is uncertain, she must look beyond her own problems in order to protect the ALP and the precious memories it holds.This moving, propulsive story features twelve different voices, led by French-American actress Pauline Chalamet (The Sex Lives of College Girls), and offers a panoramic view of a real historic institution, revisiting characters from both of Charles's beloved novels. Lily's story is a love letter to the artist's life, the importance of friendship and leaving home only to find it again.

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The dazzling new love story and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick from the TikTok sensation and Sunday Times bestselling author of Beach Read and Funny Story.AN INSTANT NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! 'Emily knows how to craft a love story like the all-time greats’ -- Taylor Jenkins Reid, bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo‘A new Emily Henry novel is an event, ushering in longer days and promises of summer’ The Skinny-----When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication. The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing. The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story. The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can’t put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story – just like the tale Margaret’s spinning – could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad … depending on who’s telling it.-----‘With a delicious slow-burn romance, a perfectly grumpy hero, and a setting that comes to life, this one checked all my boxes’ -- Laurie Gilmore, bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe‘One of my favourite authors’ -- Colleen Hoover, bestselling author of It Ends With Us‘I've loved every single one of her books more than the previous’ -- Ali Hazelwood, bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis‘An expansive, sweeping love story that also feels so intimately tender.... Beautiful.’ -- Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of Honey and Spice‘Nobody writes chemistry like Emily Henry’. -- Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flat ShareFIVE STAR READER REVIEWS‘I loved loved loved loved this and I expected nothing less because duh it's Emily Henry.’ Reader Review‘My favourite by this 'must read' author’ Reader Review‘Certainly deliver[s] on the slow burn, sexual tension and romance’ Reader Review‘Did I finish GBBL or did it finish me?... I devoured it’ Reader Review

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A spellbinding masterpiece' SANTA MONTEFIORE 'Isabel Allende is a literary treasure' KRISTIN HANNAHEmilia del Valle was always destined for great things.Abandoned at birth by her Chilean aristocrat father, Emilia comes of age in nineteenth-century San Francisco as an independent and fiercely ambitious young woman, decades ahead of her time. She will do whatever it takes to pursue her life's passion for writing, even if it means publishing under a man's name.When Emilia lands a position as a journalist for the Daily Examiner, her unwavering sense of adventure - and new-found determination to survive in her own name - leads her to seize the chance to cover a brewing civil war in Chile alongside another talented reporter.But the assignment offers Emilia more than just an opportunity to prove herself as a writer. Before long she embarks on a treacherous, life-changing journey in a homeland she never knew, to uncover the truth about her father - and herself.A masterclass in historical storytelling from Isabel Allende, My Name is Emilia del Valle is a powerful tale of love and war, told by a valiant young woman who confronts monumental challenges, survives and reinvents herself along the way.

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