Summer holiday season is officially in full swing. Whether you’re jetting off somewhere, enjoying a relaxing staycation or simply taking some time to yourself at home, a good book is essential.
We’ve teamed up with our friends at Doubleday, home to perennial classics and fresh new voices, to share their top fiction recommendations for what to read this summer.
And to celebrate this partnership we’re offering a 20% discount off Kate Atkinson’s latest book, Death at the Sign of the Rook. Simply include RookBook24 at checkout on Waterstones.com. Available till midnight, 21 August 2024.
Recommended by Milly, Head of Publicity
‘Imagine waking up and the Berlin wall has divided your city in two. Imagine that on the other side is your new-born baby and there is now no way of getting to him…’
‘From its incredible opening pages, I was completely enraptured by this debut novel set in Berlin in 1961 and during the Second World War. Josie’s fascinating research into forgotten women throughout history, her gripping plotting and her astute examination of human resilience, motherhood, family, music and love dance off the pages and will pull on your heartstrings. I’m so pleased that it has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Prize for Fiction and can completely understand why it has stolen the hearts of so many readers and booksellers across the country this summer. If you enjoy page-turning historical fiction based on real stories with complex characters and loved In Memoriam or All the Light We Cannot See, then this is a story for you.’
Recommended by Eloise, Marketing Manager
‘This darkly delicious debut novel is one that I gobbled up in one sitting. The novel follows the protagonist, Piglet, in the weeks leading up to her wedding. She sees marriage as her chance to reinvent herself, and she and her fiancé, Kit, appear to the outside world to be the epitome of domestic bliss: throwing gorgeous dinner parties, planning a covetable wedding, buying a new home… But if life looks too good to be true, it probably is.
In the two weeks before their wedding, Kit reveals a devastating secret that threatens to shatter the beautiful façade Piglet has created. To do something about it would be to self-destruct, but what will it cost her to do nothing?
Full of mouth-watering descriptions of food, this is a novel you will need to read with snacks at the ready.’
Recommended by Hannah, Head of Marketing
‘If you’re a serial re-reader of Jane Austen or have enjoyed books like The Vanishing Half, Black Cake or Hello Beautiful, then we’ve got a fresh and vibrant new novel for you to sink your teeth into this summer. From the acclaimed author of Wahala comes This Motherless Land, a cross-cultural, spikily humorous re-imagining of Mansfield Park.
Smart conformist Funke’s world is turned upside down when she’s sent from her warm and joyful home in Lagos to live with her mother’s family in Somerset. In a strange and unfamiliar new place, the only comfort she finds is in a fast friendship with her cousin Liv, whose rebellious nature is the counter to Funke’s rule-following one. What follows is a sprawling and rollicking tale of identity, belonging and familial love that will break your heart and mend it all in one go. What strikes me every time I read a novel by Nikki May is her ability to touch on something so profound about the human experience with such sharp humour and wit. This book is full of laughter and joy among its poignancy – a truly perfect read to sweep you away this summer!’
Recommended by Rose, Commissioning Editor
‘In the small Scottish town of Pitlaw, something ominous is brewing. A riotous band of queer circus folk have arrived with their funfair, the Freakslaw, and they’re there to spread chaos, ecstasy and something far more sinister. Jane Flett’s incredible debut novel asks what might happen if the circus came to a repressed and violent town, and what might compel someone to run away with them and never look back.
I was absolutely captivated by Freakslaw on my first read. It felt like being catapulted on a wild ride, a feeling of summer madness. Freakslaw is a whirling dervish of sex, magic, pleasure and pain, glamour and brutality, and I’m obsessed with it!’
Recommended by Izzie, Senior Press Officer
‘This is a brilliant, tightly wound novella about a 1950s American housewife. It takes place over one unseasonably hot November day in 1957 and centres on Kathleen and Virgil Beckett, who have fallen into the traditional suburban ‘dream’ and the roles expected of them. Virgil is an insurance salesman; he isn’t particularly happy in his job but fulfils the role, playing golf with the partners, etc. Kathleen was once a promising tennis star but now feels trapped by domestic life. One day, Kathleen decides she’s no longer going to play the part and climbs into her neighbour’s swimming pool and refuses to get out.
Through chapters alternating between Kathleen and Virgil, we learn more about their past and that they are both keeping secrets from each other, with everything coming to a crescendo at the end of the book. This would be perfect for fans of Mad Men or Jennifer Egan’s novels, plus it’s got an incredible cover and, even better, it’s under 150 pages!’
Recommended by Jane, Deputy Publishing Director
‘Go as a River is one of those sweep-you-away stories that you read while holding your breath, right to its climactic, twisty and astonishing ending.
Our heroine is Victoria, brought up on a family peach farm in the 1950s, surrounded by toxic masculinity and soothed by the wondrous American landscape of mountains and wilderness. From the moment she ups sticks to leave her home and take charge of her own life, we experience every moment of her journey with her, feeling her emotions, her wants, her frustrations – from when she locks eyes with a delicate deer in the wild, to when she leaves her precious parcel on the back seat of a city car, to the moment she finally finds a place she can call home – this book holds you all the way, lifts you up and leaves you reeling. There are sentences of exquisite lyricism and wisdom that you want to underline and swoon over.
I can’t recommend this powerful book more highly.’
Recommended by Chloë, Senior Publicity Manager
‘This is a smart, sharp, witty and heartwarming novel. It is Curtis Sittenfeld at her best. It tackles celebrity, the isolation of lockdown and the frustrations of miscommunication in romantic relationships, whether in the public eye or not, with a thoughtfulness and intelligence that makes Sittenfeld a must-read writer.
In the novel, protagonist Sally works as a writer for The Night Owls – a fictitious sketch show that resembles Saturday Night Live – and the guest host for the show is heart-throb pop star Noah. I loved the peek-behind-the-curtain aspect of seeing a week in the life of a Saturday-night sketch show unfold. After a week of ‘will-they-won’t-they’ flirting, Sally ruins her chances with Noah and lets her self-consciousness get the better of her. The next two thirds of the novel cut to lockdown in 2020 and the rebuilding of Sally and Noah’s connection, initially through tentative emails exchanged before their relationship is exposed to the outside world.
I loved how Sittenfeld explores the dynamic between Sally and Noah, and the distinction between his privilege in the world and the vulnerability of her real life with her widowed stepfather. The novel ultimately ends fittingly for one titled ‘Romantic Comedy’ and is an extremely satisfying, intelligent, and warm read.’
Recommended by Bobby, Senior Commissioning Editor
‘Bellies, by British-Malaysian author Nicola Dinan, is a novel about opening yourself up to vulnerability, but it is also sad, sexy, funny and utterly alive. It begins as your typical boy-meets-boy. At a party in a university town, Tom meets Ming. Confident, witty and a talented young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom’s awkward energy. They fall hard for each other; an instant connection. But when they move to London to start the next chapter of their lives, Ming announces her decision to transition.
Bellies is a story about love and heartbreak, but also the possibilities of friendship. We read as much for Tom and Ming as we do for their extended group of friends who are maturing and changing with them. Ultimately, it is a very special and moving novel about becoming the people we are and about caring for those people who know us most intimately. It made me laugh and it made me cry.’
Recommended by Alison, PR Director
‘I have been a huge fan of Sarah Leipciger since her debut. Moon Road is her best yet – a novel of movement, searching, hope. This is a beautiful, human story which navigates deep feelings of grief and healing and the search for meaning amid loss. Characters so beautifully drawn you fully expect them to walk out of a diner and into your kitchen.
Here we travel with Kathleen and Yannick, estranged through a break-up, the silence between them stretching nearly twenty years. Irascible and unreconciled, they come together when news about their long-missing daughter reaches them and they find themselves travelling the present in a pickup truck and navigating the past via stories of their former selves, through pain and loss and reminiscence. There are arguments and tears, and there are moments of lightness; there is the constant pull of hope, and through it all as readers we are drawn along wondering about the outcomes for a couple united by their search for clarity.
Such a gorgeous, contemplative novel! I adored it.’
Recommended by Sara, Senior Marketing Executive
‘Rose and the Burma Sky is an epic and moving novel about Nigerian soldier Obi fighting in the Second World War alongside his friends. It is a visceral and emotional account of Obi’s experience, from growing up in Nigeria, his admiration and deeply rooted love for Rose whom he is forced to leave behind, and the horrors and turmoil he faces alongside his platoon at war. The book is raw and powerful but edged with tender emotion that compels you to read late into the night. I adored the characters and felt myself grow alongside them as the story progressed. The perfect book for historical-fiction readers looking for fresh perspective and a brilliant story about love and sacrifice.’
Recommended by Louis, Senior Marketing Manager
‘This is how it is to love somebody. You tell them the truth. You lie a little. And sometimes, you don’t say anything at all…’ – keep a pencil to hand when reading Sandwich, as there are lines aplenty about intergenerational family life to underline.
Over the course of a week in Cape Cod, Sandwich tells the story of a family on holiday. Ageing grandparents, grown-up children who think they don’t need their parents (but secretly do), and middle-aged marriage are observed with bags of empathy, dry humour, and wit. The thing I love most about this book is that, unlike the many stories of wearied parents desperate for a moment’s peace away from the kids (young or old), Sandwich emphasizes the joys of parenthood and of being needed. It’s also very, very funny and captures the moments of quiet sadness of things unsaid. Read it, and I guarantee that, like me, you’ll read anything that Catherine Newman writes thereafter. Just remember to sharpen that pencil.’
