5 new books to read this week

The daughter of Boudicca is finally brought into the light and a bubble teaches a frog to share…

Fiction

Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper is published in hardback by Apollo priced £18.99 (ebook £9.04). Available August 28

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Elodie Harper’s new novel, Boudicca’s Daughter, follows in the footsteps of her previous The Wolf Den trilogy in giving voice and narrative to women of ancient history otherwise forgotten. While Boudicca is a warrior queen recognised by most people, this book provides us with a rich and accomplished story created around her eldest daughter, who remained unnamed and overlooked by Roman chroniclers, and yet whose fate played a crucial part in the history of ancient Britain. Harper gives her a name, Solina, and weaves a fierce tale of her life before, during and after the Iceni rebellion, led by her mother, against the Roman Empire. It is full of complex characters and relationships and explores love, shame, and, of course, the pursuit of power and revenge, all pulled together by a masterful storyteller who seamlessly blends historical fact and creative invention.
9/10
Review by Dorothy Smith

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan is published in hardback by Bloomsbury Publishing, priced £16.99 (ebook £7.97). Available September 2

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Short story writer and young adult novelist Patrick Ryan creates a beautifully detailed, multigenerational story in which two families, on opposite sides of a small midwestern town in America, become irrevocably linked. Spanning 60 years, Buckeye examines the choices made by two couples: Cal, who has one leg shorter than the other, and his wife Becky, who can speak to the dead; and orphan Margaret, who dreams of desire, not stability, and her husband Felix, who appears content with working hard, but is racked by his own longings. Through the stricken years of the Second World War, as well as grief, family upheaval, regret and the interference of curmudgeonly but fascinating in-laws, Buckeye is a pensive exploration of the lies we tell ourselves, the obstacles that fracture marriages, and the work required to pin them together, again and again. Moving and subtle, this family saga gleams with understanding about the miscommunications humans get so caught up in, even if at times the core characters lack a little vivacity.
8/10
Review by Ella Walker

The Two Roberts by Damian Barr is published in hardback by Canongate Books, priced £18.99 (ebook £14.11). Available September 4

Damian Barr’s latest novel is not only a decadently romantic retelling of the lives and relationship of two working-class Scottish artists, Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde, but a righting of wrongs that these men have been so under-appreciated for their craft. Starting with them meeting at Glasgow Art School, Barr weaves together historical fact – their friendships with the likes of Lucian Freud, the illegality of homosexuality, the onset of the Second World War – with a thoughtful imagining of their personal passions, for art, and for each other, as well as their demons. A quick Google will tell you the tragic endings these men faced, but Barr gives them space on the page to transcend that devastation.
7/10
Review by Ella Walker

Non-fiction

Chasing the Dark: Encounters with the Supernatural by Ben Machell is published in hardback by Abacus, priced £22 (ebook £12.99). Available August 28

From poltergeists to premonitions, extrasensory perception to voices from beyond the grave, this fascinating book charts our uneasy relationship with the supernatural, and our efforts over the past 150 years to investigate and understand it. Centring on the work of ‘ghost hunters’ at the Society for Psychical Research, Chasing the Dark marries genuinely chilling accounts of paranormal happenings with lively analysis of ways in which people have tried to square them with a rational understanding of the world. Along the way it examines the continuing appeal of the supernatural, and the myriad forms our relationship with it has taken – whether bereaved parents attending chintzy seances in the hope of contacting dead children, or YouTubers spending nights in haunted houses in pursuit of clicks. Ben Machell’s book is captivating, gripping, insightful and – like its central character – humane and nonjudgmental. Highly recommended.
8/10
Review by Nick Forbes

Children’s book of the week

Bert and the Bubble by Kim Hillyard is published in paperback by Ladybird priced £7.99 (ebook £3.99). Available now

Sharing is tricky. Anyone with a toddler, or teenager for that matter, will know how much time is spent saying, ‘You’ve got to learn to share!’ It’s just not a trait that seems to come all that naturally to humans. However, it does, at first, for Kim Hillyard’s wonderful frog Bert, who finds a bubble and lets his friend Sandra hold it. But when she isn’t careful with it, and neither is Bert’s friend Norman, the bubble-loving amphibian decides to hide the biggest, shiniest bubble in the world from his friends. Hillyard’s zingy, effervescent illustrations give this simple story so much character. From Sandra’s feather boa to Bert’s eclectic dancing, and Norman’s wide-eyed expressions, you really want to hang out with this colony of green creatures. With lots of dramatic lines for little ones to join in with (“SUDDENLY…”) and expert pacing, it’s a shoo-in for a speedy and witty bedtime read that might have a message, but isn’t too twee about it.
8/10
Review by Ella Walker

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING

HARDBACK (FICTION)
1. Quicksilver by Callie Hart
2. On Wings Of Blood by Briar Boleyn
3. Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
4. The Artist by Lucy Steeds
5. Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbo
6. Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer
7. Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
8. The Names by Florence Knapp
9. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros, Rebecca
10. Rose in Chains:The Evermore Trilogy by Julie Soto
(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)
1. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robbins
2. Entitled:The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie
3. Frankly by Nicola Sturgeon
4. Jess and Norma by Jessica Asquith and Norma Burton
5. The Greatest Story Ever Told by Bear Grylls
6. Don’t Believe Everything You Think By Joseph Nguyen
7. Goliath’s Curse:The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp
8. Et Tu, Cavapoo? by Mark Radcliffe
9. To the Sea by Train by Andrew Martin
10. Persiana Easy by Sabrina Ghayour
(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NONFICTION)
1. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
2. Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
3. Entitled by Andrew Lownie
4. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
5. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
6. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
7. Origin by Dan Brown
8. The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
9. The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
10. Friends of Dorothy by Sandi Toksvig
(Compiled by Audible)