Saturday, January 12, 2013

We Love This Book





We pick out the books that are bound to be smash-hit successes this year
This month sees a new Hammer Horror novel from Melvin Burgess called Hunger, about a teenager and a ghoul; in February The Return of a King offers an analysis of the first Anglo-Afghan war in 1839 from bestselling historian William Dalrymple; in March we have Kate Atkinson's new novel Life After Life, which poses some compelling thoughts about second chances; and in May The Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger is published to coincide with the production of a ballet based on the book. In June Terry Pratchett's The Long Earth Book 2 comes out, and autumn brings us the third Bridget Jones novel by Helen Fielding.



The Australian author's new novel is a thrilling re-imagining of a gothic horror
Speaking from her home in Melbourne, Hooper says her book is “a psychological thriller about sex and money. In a way I see it as a telling of the perennial gothic storyline, which is that of a forced engagement. I love books like Rebecca and Jane Eyre, where there’s a woman navigating the mysteries of a house and, in a way, herself.” The desolate landscape that makes Liese Campbell so powerless in The Engagement is an important part of the novel, and Hooper stayed in some of the private houses in Western Victoria, where the novel is based. “There are these pretty amazing mansions which are in very isolated spots.”



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