An Extra Pair of Hands
Kate Mosse
Wellcome Collection, £12.99, pp208
Over the past two decades, the bestselling author has been a carer three times: to her father suffering from Parkinson’s, to her widowed mother and presently to her mother-in-law, the exuberant Granny Rosie. Unafraid to depict the exhausting reality of caring, her timely story is compassionate and humane, judiciously blending the personal with the political; as she eloquently argues, “care is a feminist issue”.
The Maidens
Alex Michaelides
W&N, £14.99, pp368
Following on from his global bestselling debut, The Silent Patient, Michaelides returns with a psychological thriller steeped in Greek mythology. London-based psychotherapist Mariana Andros is trying to come to terms with the death of her beloved husband. When a close friend of her niece, a student at the University of Cambridge, is murdered, Mariana becomes embroiled in the mysterious activities of a group of elusive students known as the Maidens and their enigmatic professor, Edward Fosca. Tautly plotted and impeccably paced, it’s an intelligent and propulsive second novel.
After the Silence
Louise O’Neill
Riverrun, £8.99, pp400
Ten years ago, on the fictional island of Inisrun, a young woman was murdered but nobody was ever charged with the crime. A decade later, two documentary film-makers have arrived to interview residents and try to uncover the truth. Exploring themes of class, wealth, desire and coercive control, O’Neill’s psychological thriller is a meticulously researched and emotionally astute exploration into the far-reaching impact of domestic abuse.
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