Fiction
1. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is published in hardback by Canongate, priced £16.99 (ebook £11.99). Available now
Between life and death, there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library she has a chance to live all the lives she'd always regretted not pursuing. With the help of an old friend, she feels she can now track down her perfect, so far elusive, life. The Midnight Library is arguably Haig's best work to date; once inside the library, you really won't want to leave. Life-affirming without falling into cliche, the plot draws on Haig's own mental health battles, and experiences around suicide and depression. It is a work that will resonate with so many, is thoroughly thought-provoking and beautifully written. It fully lives up to the (well deserved) hype that surrounds it.
(Review by Megan Baynes)
2. All Men Want To Know by Nina Bouraoui is published in paperback by Viking, priced £12.99 (ebook £7.99). Available now
An introspective work of autobiographical fiction, Nina Bouraoui's narrative shifts seamlessly between a confused 18-year-old in 1980s Paris, and the narrator's childhood in Algiers, Algeria, which became independent from France in 1962. Offering disjointed snapshots of a life torn between two competing identities, All Men Want To Know is a deeply personal exploration of cultural and personal identity, sexuality and belonging. Written in a dreamy, lyrical style, the narrative gives a sense of unravelling as much as it does coming together. Raw and sensual, readers will be enraptured by the narrator's intense evocations of guilt, desire and longing, delivered in passages of beautiful, erotic poetry disguised as prose.
(Review by Scarlett Sangster)
3. Sisters by Daisy Johnson is published in hardback by Jonathan Cape, priced £14.99 (ebook £9.99). Available now
Booker-shortlisted Daisy Johnson's second novel is a darkly disquieting thriller. It features two teenage sisters, distinctly different from each other but intertwined, living in a crumbling house on the edge of the North York Moors that seems to embody a family's distress. Older by just 10 months, September wields a disturbing influence over her sister July, leading to an incident which causes their remote, depressive mother to seek refuge from their former home in Oxford, taking them with her. The minutiae of young July's off-kilter existence are relentlessly evoked with a closeness that at times feels almost claustrophobic. The descriptions are vivid enough to stop you in your tracks, and the narrative draws to a psychologically apt conclusion.
(Review by Lucy Whetman)
Children's book of the week
4. The Mega Magic Teacher Swap by Rochelle Humes, illustrated by Rachel Suzanne, is published in paperback by Templar Publishing, priced £6.99 (ebook £2.99). Available now
Best recognised as a television presenter and popstar, Rochelle Humes returns with her second book for young kids after 2019's The Mega Magic Hair Swap. Best friends Mai and Rose, accompanied again by Coco, their trusty wish-granting coconut, are now moving into a new school year. Saddened to be leaving their beloved teacher Mrs Bee, they ask Coco to magic her back - a wish that doesn't turn out as hoped. Colourful illustrations by Rachel Suzanne are a delight and captivating for young eyes, but it is unlikely to electrify adults acting as reading co-pilots. However, as Humes has said herself, this is all about helping little ones feel confident about moving into a new school year. Given the turbulence of 2020 so far, that's an essential message reflected perfectly.
(Review by Edd Dracott)
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here