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 Claire Morrison, Marketing
The book I will be taking to the beach with me this year is A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, which I think this is even better than the brilliant The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and totally different.
It is tells the story of the Hall family, who at first appear quite normal but are completely dysfunctional. George, the father and head of the house, finds a lesion on his hip and convinces himself that he has cancer. Look out for two of my favourite moments (among many) when George takes things into his own hands with a pair of scissors, it will make you cringe, and when he hides in a ditch, completely logical to him but absurd and funny to the reader. Then there is his wife, Jean, who is bored with her life and is having an affair with David, George’s old colleague; their son Jamie who is gay but can’t bring himself to introduce his boyfriend to his parents; and Katie who is marrying Ray, the man with ‘strangler’s hands’, but she’s not quite sure it’s the right decision, especially when everyone in her family is against it.
The climax of the novel is Katie’s and Ray’s wedding which, of course, doesn’t go quite to plan…
The story is told from the four different character’s perspectives, and the result is entertaining and revealing as you see how each family member views the same event.
It is so readable and I couldn’t put it down. You will like all the characters, identity with many of their feelings and experiences, find yourself laughing out loud and cringing throughout. It is the perfect holiday read. I defy anyone to read this and not wish it had been longer.
A Spot of Bother is published in paperback on 7 June by Vintage. There is also a reading guide available for this title here.
 Lucy Beaumont, UK Sales
Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips is fantastically funny, wonderfully readable and hugely imaginative. How could a book about Greek Gods living in modern-day North London not make for brilliant reading and with Marie Philips’ utterly real humour it doesn't disappoint.
From start to finish I was chuckling line by line at the clever placement of these old world deities into modern day society from work; Aphrodite (Goddess of Beauty) now works as a telephone sex operator, Dionysus (God Of Wine) runs a sleazy basement nightclub, to home; a peeling crumbling slum of a house that they're all far too important to clean up. And then there is, of course, the boredom, the tedium of the supposedly exciting such as sex or love when you’ve been experiencing it for eons and eons, time and time again.
But when mousey Alice steps in to the scene (an arrival orchestrated by the Gods, naturally) who, through one of Eros' naughty tricks, has become the object of vain Apollo's infatuation their lives are turned upside down and they start to relive the stories from their past and then there's the serious threat of losing their power.
This book is genius - exciting mythological adventure placed very firmly in the heart of our London. So if you're after a light-hearted, slightly silly but truly worthwhile read this summer this would be my personal recommendation.
Gods Behaving Badly is published in hardback on 2 August by Jonathan Cape.
 Rebecca Ash, Marketing
The book I would recommend to take to the beach this summer is Triptych by Karin Slaughter. It’s the best thriller I’ve read in ages!
I know it’s been said before but this really will keep you gripped right until the very end, I couldn’t put it down.
We follow 3 main characters that have their own unrelenting plotlines, starting with Detective Michael Ormewood as he discovers a body in what appears to be the latest in a series of similar attacks. The crimes then come uncomfortably close to home as violence explodes in Ormewood’s back yard, on top of all this he’s forced to work with Special Agent Will Trent a man he just doesn’t like. It’s really well written - the characters feel so real and completely believable, it’s also gritting, gruesome and very clever. I was flicking back through pages and re-reading bits that seemed insignificant but turn out to be very significant indeed…
If you haven’t read Karin Slaughter before then I’d urge you to read this, everyone I’ve recommended it to so far has not been disappointed!
Triptych is available in paperback under Arrow.
 Jenny Rowley, Publicity
Picking up Fang Land by John Marks, I noticed the phrase ‘be fiendishly original’ on the back cover. My initial question, ‘original…a Dracula story?’ was fast answered. This novel is not just original, but breathtakingly so. Fang Land is a virtuoso adaptation of the Dracula story, cleverly using key elements of the Gothic tradition but also providing a biting analysis of contemporary culture. Written as a compelling series of diaries, emails and reports, Fang Land gained an insidious hold on my mind.
The frenetic and often cut-throat context of the busy offices of national news programme The Hour provides a stark contrast to the novel’s other major setting, in the bleak mountains of Transylvania. Fang Land tells the tale of Evangeline Harker’s mysterious disappearance while scouting a story on the notorious Romanian criminal mastermind, Ion Torgu. As Evangeline leaves behind the brightly-lit ‘twentieth floor’ she is sucked into the vortex of a dark and indefinably sad history.
Throughout the book, the dual realities of New York and Transylvania are kept alive through emails and journals. The real problems occur when, virus-like, elements of Evangeline’s Transylvanian ‘nightmare’ begin to infiltrate the life of the New York Offices. As part of the malaise, increasing numbers fall under the spell of an eerily catchy sequence of names which repeats in their minds ‘Thessalonika, Treblinka, Golgotha, Solferino, Lepanto…’. Events spiral out of control, leading to a denouement that is both thrilling and terrifying.
John Marks’ impressive knowledge of the original Dracula is evident in minutiae such as Evangeline’s fierce brand of professional pedantry ‘For me, victory begins with a polite and professional phone call’, which has a direct precursor in Mina Harker’s efficient stenography: ‘I shall try to record it verbatim’. What is better still is the way he harnesses the Gothic themes of infection and the unknown to produce a sharp and apposite commentary on the Terrorist threat post 9-11. One of the great things about Fang Land is that it reaches us on so many levels. As Audrey Niffenegger says: ‘It's about the abyss, and the big hole in Lower Manhattan, and the strange, dark, funny stuff in each of us’.
Fang Land is available in paperback under Vintage.
 Ruth Lester, UK Sales
I hadn't picked up any graphic novel or comic since I used to read the Beano when I was about 7 years old, until I picked up Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. It looked so intriguing that I had to give it a go!
I found it compelling from the beginning with its dry sense of humour and very real feel that I felt it hard to put down. Following the life of Alison, the dark twists her life takes leave you feeling sad and yet accepting of the situations she had to face. The question around whether her Dad commits suicide or has an accident leaves you wanting to know more about this distant man. The great balance of matter-of-fact-ness and seemingly far fetched occurrences lends itself perfectly to the graphic novel format. I absolutely loved the way that Alison seemed to handle her life and felt really close to her.
I would strongly recommend it to anyone, whether you would normally pick up a graphic novel or not.
Fun Home is available in trade paperback under Jonathan Cape.
Alex MacLeish, Sales and Marketing
My recommendation for a rollicking beach read this summer is The Naked Drinking Club by comedienne Rhona Cameron – a rare piece of fiction publishing by Ebury press. Set in the late-eighties, the book follows the path of Kerry, a 24 year old drifter from Edinburgh who whimsically sets off to Australia with only a pair of flip-flops and £200 for company.
On arrival, she falls in with ART, a group of misfit travellers who sell dodgy oil paintings to wealthy suburbanites. What ensues is a fast, furious, sexy, drink-fuelled party which sees Kerry meet a variety of colourful characters, who get her into (and sometimes out of) some hilarious scrapes. Life’s not all one big party though, and Kerry soon finds that she’s more than a little out of her depth. The reader soon realises that there’s more to their heroine than meets the eye – Kerry’s on a mission, and she’s determined to get to where she wants to be.
Being quite a fan of Rhona Cameron’s stand-up, I was intrigued when I heard that she was writing a novel. I wasn’t disappointed. There’s so much more to this book than meets the eye. It’s so much more than just a book about your average 20-something traveller – it is a fast-paced yet moving story of self-discovery. I loved it.
The Naked Drinking Club is available in hardback, published by Ebury Press. |
