3 days ago
Dazzling debut novels from new talent; SHIBBOLETH by Thomas Peermohamed Lambert, CAT FIGHT by Kit Conway, HAPPINESS FOREVER by Adelaide Faith
Shibboleth is available now from the Mail Bookshop
SHIBBOLETH by Thomas Peermohamed Lambert (Europa £14.99, 384pp)
EDWARD plans to spend his second year studying English literature at Oxford working hard and preparing for life in the real world. His peers, however, appear mostly interested in linking themselves to various woke trends while being noisily triggered and experiencing public anxiety.
Edward does not come from wealth and is genuinely grateful to have made it to this palace of learning. It's only when he lets slip that his long-dead grandfather was a Muslim from Zanzibar that his upper-echelon peers show any interest in him. But his new-found celebrity status is not all plain sailing.
I was engrossed in this funny, intelligent campus novel populated with fascinating characters.
CAT FIGHT by Kit Conway (Transworld £16.99, 384pp)
EMMA, Coralie and Twig have children the same age and are neighbours on the exclusive Briar Heart Estate in Kent. Tensions simmer mostly beneath the surface until Coralie's husband Adam thinks he sees a panther outside during one of their regular dinner parties. Coralie is a stiff upper-lip type so hasn't told anyone that her marriage feels like a sham and she's waiting for Adam to leave her.
Twig and her wife Blake used to live in Bali. Everything was perfect until their daughter was diagnosed with cancer and they moved in with Twig's dad to fund her treatment. Emma is always uncomfortable that her husband Matt's first love was Twig. Panther-gate soon turns the small cracks into giant fault lines.
Twisty and sharp.
HAPPINESS FOREVER by Adelaide Faith (4th Estate £16.99, 272pp)
VETERINARY nurse Sylvie is in her 30s, lives alone with her brain-damaged dog and imagines that if she can make her therapist fall in love with her, all her problems would be over.
Sylvie went to therapy in the first place because she's been in some toxic relationships where she lost her sense of self. She wanted to work out who she is, but the more her obsession grows, the more in danger she is of losing herself completely.
A book full of wisdom about desire and how difficult but life-changing vulnerability can be. Clever and funny.
