NON-FICTION
Living Better: How I Learned To Survive Depression by Alastair Campbell is published in hardback by John Murray Press, priced £16.99 (ebook £10.99)
IN THIS deeply honest exploration into the human mind, journalist and mental health campaigner Alastair Campbell delves into his experiences with depression and his search for a cure. The former Downing Street advisor articulately reflects on these issues in sharp detail, creating an all-encompassing and intricate look into mental health. He tackles the impact depression can have on the individual and those close to them, through recounting his own demons and talking to others. This incredibly nuanced read will resonate with anyone who has experienced depression or witnessed it in anyone else, with suggestions and guidance on how to manage it. In short, it will strike a chord with almost all of us.
10/10
Edd Dracott
Fake Law by The Secret Barrister is published in hardback by Picador, priced £20 (ebook £9.99)
A BABY is condemned to death by British judges. A homeowner who defends his property from burglars somehow ends up being the one facing prison. An illegal immigrant cannot be deported by his pet cat. These stories seem familiar – but they are all untrue. The Secret Barrister is back, and this time he is here to reveal the malice and incompetence behind some of the biggest legal stories of recent years. It is a much-needed book that looks at some of the biggest myths behind the legal system. Fans of the Secret Barrister will be pleased with the latest instalment, which offers well-written insight, making difficult-to-understand laws clearer with interesting and current case studies.
7/10
Megan Baynes
FICTION
Red Pill by Hari Kunzru is published in hardback by Scribner UK, priced £14.99 (ebook £8.99)
IN RED Pill, Hari Kunzru expands upon the themes of cultural appropriation and privilege explored in his previous work, White Tears. Its title is a nod to the choice of realities offered by the mysterious Morpheus in The Matrix, while the novel charts an unnamed writer’s descent into madness, as his paranoid obsession with the alt-right movement accelerates following a chance encounter with a cynical showrunner in Berlin. The mid-life New York intellectual has crippling writer’s block, despite undertaking a residency at a cultural institute in the German capital, where conditions designed to foster creativity instead send him spiralling down a rabbit hole of despair. Intense, intelligent and framed against a background of Donald Trump’s march to the White House in 2016, Red Pill is a tour de force about one man’s struggle to deal with how power is seized and retained, today.
9/10
James Cann
The Invention Of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk is published in hardback by Corsair, priced £14.99 (ebook £9.99)
THE Fight Club author returns to the underground in The Invention Of Sound, which is something of a murder mystery. In an uncanny version of the Hollywood Hills, the grieving Foster Gates harbours dreams about vigilante justice, desperately scouring the dark web for child abusers to take down. This is interwoven with the tale of famed sound recordist Mitzi Ives, celebrated for her harrowingly realistic scream effects. But Mitzi has a dark secret: she commits acts in a narcotic haze that only the spiritually enlightened Dr Adamah can help her atone for. Or can he? Typically of Palahniuk, it’s not a book for the weak of stomach, not least because of the laboured syntax throughout Mitzi’s narrative. While the book has a relentless pace towards its grisly conclusion, it’s a shame the mystery itself is a little underwhelming.
7/10
Rachel Farrow
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar is published in hardback by Tinder Press, priced £18.99 (ebook £7.99)
PULITZER Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar appears to be making an attempt on the Great American Novel in Homeland Elegies. The sprawling story follows episodes in the life of Akhtar, taking in his parents – who move to the US from Afghanistan – Partition, 9/11 and his father’s involvement with Donald Trump. Even though the author shares similarities with the main character, a note at the start stresses it is not an autobiography. Taking stylistic tips from Jonathan Franzen and Dave Eggers in its excitable, lengthy sentences and intermittent footnotes, Homeland Elegies remains immensely readable despite the fragmented structure. It wrestles with questions of belonging, home and family – with descriptions of the narrator’s conversations with his dying mother among the most moving parts.
6/10
Laura Paterson
CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK
Love Frankie by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt is published in hardback by Doubleday Childrens, priced £12.99 (ebook £7.49)
THE legendary Jacqueline Wilson, former children’s laureate and author of over 100 kids’ and YA books, breaks new ground in Love Frankie with her first ever gay romance. The book follows the fortunes of a 14-year-old girl called Frankie, who lives with her single-parent mum and two sisters. Frankie’s dad walked out shortly after her mum was diagnosed with MS. Frankie is also having a hard time at school with a group of mean girls like Sally. So far, so familiar, but when Sally starts being nice to her, Frankie starts to look at her in a whole new way. Love Frankie is a moving and powerful depiction of first love, showing it’s OK to be different and own your feelings, and not to feel pressured to fall for the stereotypical ‘Prince Charming’. With believable characters, a poignant storyline and robust life lessons, Wilson certainly hasn’t lost her touch.
9/10
Isla Brotzel
