Editor's picks: What we are reading in April

From the latest novel by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author to a thrilling memoir, here's what we're reading this month.

The Frightened Ones by Dima Wannous, trans by Elisabeth Jaquette

From its opening scene, set in a therapist’s waiting room in pre-civil war Syria, The Frightened Ones teems with tension and uncertainty.

It’s in this context that protagonist Suleima meets new love Naseem, but when the war breaks out years later and he absconds to Germany, she’s left with nothing but a novel he’s written – one that too closely seems to mirror her own life story. As she reads further, Suleima and the novel’s hero bleed into each other until the boundary is too blurred to find, providing a moving allegory for the toll oppression and political unrest can take on the human spirit.

- Stephen, Associate editor

You People by Nikita Lalwani

The legendary Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor, but what would a modern day saviour of the people look like? Perhaps a little like Tuli, the proprietor of the Pizzeria Vesuvio, the restaurant at the centre of Nikita Lalwani’s You People.

Tuli’s promise to help anyone in need has seen him employ 19-year-old Nia, haunted by her troubled past in Wales and running from her family, and Shan, fleeing civil war in Sri Lanka and wanting nothing more than to be reunited with his wife and child. As Lalwani reveals what brought Nia and Shan to Pizzeria Vesuvio and into Tuli’s orbit, she also examines the ways in which London welcomes and rejects newcomers, and just how far we might be willing to go to do the right thing. 

- Sarah, Managing editor

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

There is particular type of mildly misanthropic, middle-aged man who crops up time and again in Anne Tyler’s beautifully crafted family comedy-dramas that I just can’t get enough of. Micah Mortimer, the protagonist of her new novel Redhead by the Side of the Road, is just such a fellow: well-meaning but eccentric, kind-hearted but particular, and absolutely baffled as to why his long-term girlfriend wants more from him than just the odd sleepover with a takeaway.

When the estranged son of a past lover turns up outside Micah’s door, a gentle drama unfolds to nudge him towards a few overdue epiphanies. There are shades here of my favourite Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, in this slim novel which you’ll happily finish in a weekend.

- Sam, Editor-in-chief

My Meteorite by Harry Dodge

Oof. Acclaimed artist Harry Dodge's part-memoir, part-exploration into life, love and the nature of consciousness is a rollercoaster. Hair-raising at times, heart-breaking at others. And I found it thrilling, like nothing I've ever read. The narrative circles around three key themes: the death of his adoptive father, the rekindling of his relationship with his birth mother, and his purchase of a meteorite on eBay.

To say much more about the plot would be confusing; I'd need a lot more time and space. Which, actually, is also a concept Dodge dips into – bouncing around the chronology of his life like a super-charged atom. Is there meaning to this life, or is it purely a catalogue of coincidences? Or is it exactly that randomness of life that gives it meaning? If you're into art, film, music, quantum theory, philosophy, literary theory and lots more in between, you'll love this book. But strap up; it's a wild ride through an uproarious mind.

-Matt, writer

The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld

Water, women and the wild collide in Evie Wyld’s tremendous modern gothic novel. Interweaving three generations of women who find themselves drawn to the coastline of North Berwick (and the titular Bass Rock which can be viewed from there),

The Bass Rock is siren-like, luring in readers to an examination of femicide, motherhood and witchcraft. If you enjoyed the lingering ambiguity of Francine Toon’s Pine or The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh, you will lap this up. It would make a good book club read, too.

- Alice, Features editor

Our House is On Fire by Melena and Beata Ernman, Svante and Greta Thunberg

'This book is about the climate and it’s supposed to be boring. I don’t care. The readers will just have to put up with it.' Pre-Skolstrejk för klimatet, activist Greta Thunberg, her sister and parents began to experience earth-shattering changes within their own family unit.

At 11-years-old, Greta stopped eating and talking. A few years later her sister Beata displayed frequent mood swings and hypersensitivity. As Malena and Svante fought to find answers for their daughters, they found that planet Earth’s suffering was connected to their own. This 'autobiography of sorts' not only highlights the action that needs to be taken to reduce our emissions, and the events that led up to the legendary act Greta took in 2018; it also shines a light on neuropsychiatric functional impairments and the support families affected are so desperately in need of.

- Imogen, Content producer

Keeper by Jessica Moor

Debut author Jessica Moor was inspired to write her literary thriller while spending a year working with a domestic violence charity after finishing her BA in creative writing where she was mentored by non-other than Jeanette Winterson.

Keeper is the story of Katie Straw, a young woman who is pulled from the waters of the local suicide spot. The police decide it’s an open-and-shut case but the residents of the women’s refuge Katie worked in, don’t agree. It is a heartbreaking story highlighting how easy it is to fall into the wrong relationship, with devastating consequences.

- Sarah, Managing editor

Marilou is Everywhere by Sarah Elaine Smith 

Fourteen-year-old Cindy lives in a rundown house on the outskirts of Pennsylvania with intermittent electricity and no parents. When Jude Vanderjohn — a popular, pretty girl from a nearby neighbourhood — suddenly goes missing, Cindy finds herself being inexplicably drawn to the space (and family) she has left behind.

Painting a rich portrait of rural America, Sarah Elaine Smith's debut is a compelling coming-of-age story about class, prejudice and reinvention. Perfect for fans of Where the Crawdads Sing.

- Fran, Social media editor

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates' letter to his son, 2015’s Between the World and Me, warned of the sombre reality of being African American; a person of colour locked in a racist world. In his first work of fiction, he depicts the brutality and suffering of life for slaves on a plantation in Virginia but adds elements of magic realism along with some beautifully crafted prose. This is an unmissable commentary on race from one of the world’s most astute thinkers.  

- Donna, Associate editor

Losing Eden by Lucy Jones

Most of us are familiar with the notion that a good walk or some time outdoors can soothe the mind, but few will fail to be astounded by the revelations in Lucy Jones’s second book, Losing Eden. Full of meticulous research, it makes a fiercely compelling case for embracing the world outdoors – not only to save ourselves, but to save what little of the natural world we have left.

Jones, a former music journalist whose first book, Foxes Unearthed, was published in 2016, weaves in her own narrative of overcoming addiction and raising her daughter in a planet that is increasingly on fire. For all of the grim statistics, what Jones is best at offering is hope - and real, tangible solutions for how we can fall back in love with the planet we have so roundly rejected.

- Alice, Features editor

Actress by Anne Enright

This is the story of Norah who chronicles the rise and fall of her actress mother, Katherine O’Dell. From the golden age of Hollywood to the stark reality of life in 1970s Dublin living through The Troubles, Katherine’s lies and secrets are unraveled when Norah starts to question how well she knew her own mother. 

This is not only a story about the dynamics of a mother-daughter relationship, but also the darker side of fame - still relevant today. Fans of Anne Enright will be delighted with another witty and heartfelt novel which echoes themes of her booker-prize winner The Gathering. 

- Sarah, Managing editor

The Book of Echoes by Rosanna Amaka

If you ever needed proof that some things are worth waiting for, this gripping debut should do it. Author Rosanna Amaka began writing The Book of Echoes some twenty years ago, hoping to give voice to the Brixton community she felt was vanishing before her eyes.

She has ended up doing that, and so much more. This is the story of two characters: a boy from south east London and a girl from Lagos, both attempting to escape their pasts in an 1980s England rife with racial tension. It glides between their two stories and eventual collision with remarkable grace and beauty. I already can't wait to see what Amaka does next.

- Sam, Editor in chief

Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg

Isabel Greenberg’s third graphic novel delves into Glass Town – the vast imaginary world of the Brontë siblings. It opens in July 1849, with Charlotte alone and grieving in gloomy blues and greys; before switching between the Brontës’ sepia-toned youth, and their technicoloured Glass Town. However, imagination and reality become difficult to separate, particularly for Charlotte. In unhappy moments, she finds herself paid frequent visits by her cad of a character Zamorna - who bears striking similarities to a certain Mr Rochester. Fans of the Brontës will enjoy this wild and heart-breaking journey, and will have you question what became of your own childish fantasies.

 - Imogen, Content producer