The Bass Rock
Evie Wyld
Jonathan Cape, £16.99, pp368
It’s the early 18th century and Sarah is accused by villagers of being a witch after crops fail and livestock falls sick; fast-forward more than two centuries and Ruth is struggling with a claustrophobic postwar community after she marries a widower and becomes stepmother to his sons; six decades later, Viviane finds echoes of the past while clearing out her grandmother’s house. A fierce novel exploring the subjugation of – and violence against – women through the ages.
Radical Acts of Love
Janie Brown
Canongate, £14.99, pp304
For 30 years, Janie Brown was an oncology nurse and counsellor helping people suddenly facing terminal illness. Here, she recounts 20 conversations with patients whose responses to their diagnoses range from anger to guilt and grief. Brown is a deeply compassionate and sensitive interlocutor and these accounts brim with humanity. In addition to the case studies, Brown offers practical advice about learning to accept death without despair. Insightful, wise and life-affirming, Brown’s book teaches us that sharing someone’s final weeks is perhaps the most radical act of love we can offer.
Letters of Note: Mothers
Shaun Usher
Canongate, £6.99, pp176
The Letters of Note brand continues with a new series of pocket-size paperbacks on a variety of themes: love, music, war, art, cats and, here, mothers. The letters range from the famous to the quietly heroic. None is more poignant than that written in 1950 by the Czech socialist politician Milada Horáková to her 16-year-old daughter. Horáková had been arrested and sentenced to death for treason, and the letter was written the night before her execution. Heartbreaking.
• To order The Bass Rock, Radical Acts of Love or Letters of Note: Mothers, go to guardianbookshop. com. Free UK p&p over £15
