BOOKSELLERS’ CHOICE
Booksellers’ bets
From historical fiction to thrillers and chick lit, the coming six months promise a bonanza of paperback
treats. Our panel of booksellers share their favourites due out between January and June
MATT BATES
Books buyer, W H
Smith Travel
Susan
Fromberg
Schaeffer
The Madness of a
Seduced Woman
Simon & Schuster,
4th January, £7.99,
9781847391179
First published
nearly 20 years ago, this is a welcome
return for a lost classic. When the
young, beautiful and impressionable
Agnes Dempster meets Frank Holt
her entire world is turned upside
down and she is driven to commit a
terrible crime of passion—one that
will affect her for the rest of her life.
Passionate and spellbinding, this is
an astonishing novel and the story
of Agnes is one that will stay with
you forever.
Suzannah Dunn
The Queen of Subtleties
HarperCollins, 21st January, £7.99, 9780007139385
Reissued after the enormous
success of The Sixth Wife, Anne
Boleyn emerges from the page as an
ambitious and single-minded woman
who flouts convention and aims high
whatever the consequences. Dunn
has a wonderfully uncompromising
and refreshing style that really does
give flesh to her chosen subjects
and, with all things Tudor currently
in vogue, this is sure to hit the
bestseller lists.
Adele Parks
Young Wives’ Tales
Penguin, 7th February, £6.99, 9780141024783
Lucy has it all—she’s beautiful,
sexy, a high-flyer, has the perfect
daughter, a house in Holland Park,
and a husband that she stole from
her best friend Rose. But when you
suddenly have everything you want,
what’s left? Fast-paced, relevant and
full of her trademark wicked wit and
wisdom, this is Adele Parks’ most
satisfying novel to date.
F G Cottam
The House of Lost Souls
Hodder, 6th March, £6.99, 9780340953877
I was absolutely gripped by this
dark, supernatural début through
which Cottam skilfully weaves
an atmosphere of menace before
New titles from
Hodder, Ebury,
Penguin and
Headline Review
“Fastpaced,
relevant and
full of her
trademark
wicked
wit and
wisdom,
this is Adele
Parks’ most
satisfying
novel to
date”
Matt Bates, W H
Smith Travel
propelling readers to a terrifying
finale. Researching the life of
an enigmatic society beauty, a
promising young journalist becomes
unwittingly involved in the demonic
events of her past—a past that soon
becomes chillingly present.
Anita Amirrezvani
The Blood of Flowers
Headline Review, 3rd April, £7.99, 9780755334216
A beautifully executed novel set in
17th-century Iran which follows
the female narrator’s journey into
adulthood. Amirrezvani dazzles
the reader with her portrait of the
city with its bazaars, palaces and
folklore. Ultimately, this is a story
about lost innocence, and of a young
girl coming to terms with her role in
a world dominated by the rituals and
traditions of men.
Erica James
Tell it to the Skies
Orion, 1st May, £6.99, 9780752893365
Stylish, warm and tender, this is
James’ finest and most ambitious
novel to date and her writing has
never been so assured and poignant.
James brings Venice lovingly to life
through the eyes of Lydia whose
happiness is threatened when a
ghost from her past suddenly
re-emerges.
Marie Phillips
Gods Behaving Badly
Random House, 5th June, £7.99, 9780099513025
Reminiscent of an early Jeanette
Winterson, this is a confident,
refreshing and hilarious début from
Marie Phillips in which the Greek
gods are alive but not so well in the
21st century. Sharing a house in
north London and doing regular
jobs (if a little unconventional),
their powers are on the wane and
the public doesn’t believe in them
anymore. It takes someone very
pedestrian to shake up their
6 The Bookseller Spring Paperback Preview | 4 January 2008 www.thebookseller.com
celestial world and with nearapocalyptic
results.
Barbara Ewing
The Mesmerist
Little, Brown, 5th June, £6.99, 9780751537604
This is Barbara Ewing’s most
commercial novel to date. Cordelia
and Rillie are out-of-work actresses,
who, as they get older, feel uncertain
about the future. Relying on
their wits and limited resources,
they set up house as mesmerists
with devastating and dangerous
consequences. In this meticulously
researched novel, Ewing illuminates
an overlooked but fascinating period
of history, vividly bringing mid-19thcentury
London to life.
STEPHANIE BATESON
Books buyer, Asda
Richard
Montanari
Broken Angels
Arrow, £6.99, 14th
February, 9780099499824
Montanari was a
relative unknown
in the UK just over
a year ago, but his
massive breakout novel, The Rosary
Girls, plus the equally impressive
hit Skin Gods, has ensured that he
has a big following. Expect more of
the same in this 2008 follow-up as
Balzano and Byre hunt another mad
serial killer on the loose.
Stuart Maconie
Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North
Ebury, 7th February, £7.99, 9780091910235
Stuart Maconie’s Bryson-esque tour
around the north of England is part
travel guide and part love letter to the
region of his birth. Funny, thoughtprovoking
and moving, the beauty
of this book is in the brilliantly
observed commentary that Maconie
delivers in search of the essence of
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.