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Reading lists

9 holiday reads set in Greece

The Girls of Summer

‘Dark, timely and thought-provoking’ THE SUN‘Set to be a big summer hit’ THE INDEPENDENT‘A gripping read that is visceral and raw. Buy it’ GLAMOURThe last time Rachel saw the girls, they were teenagers island-hopping in Greece: making friends, finding love. One golden summer.Now in her thirties, she’s never been able to forget the man she fell in love with back then. Even though he is almost twenty years older than her. Even though she hasn’t seen him since and she’s now married to someone else.And when she crosses paths with one of the girls, she’s confronted with a truth that’s much darker than she ever realized.What really happened to them all that summer? What if everything she remembers is a lie?********** 
 
For fans of GIRL A, MY DARK VANESSA and LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE, The Girls of Summer is a bold compulsive exploration of sex, power and consent, and what happens when we revisit the past with rose-tinted glasses. 
 
'Reminiscent of HBO's hit The White Lotus... The obvious read-alike is My Dark Vanessa' BOOKLIST 
 
'Packs an incredible punch' THE TIMES 
 
'Beautifully written, transportive, and thought-provoking' LUCY CLARKE, author of THE CASTAWAYS 
 
'A mesmerising, unsettling and gripping debut' CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD, author of RUN TIME 
 
*********** 
 
Readers are talking about THE GIRLS OF SUMMER: 
 
* 'A superb debut that will linger with you for a long time after you have finished it. A powerful and resonating read.' * * * * * 
 
* 'Beautifully written with a tense, emotive plot' * * * * * 
 
* 'An excellent debut. Raw, real, and gut-wrenchingly familiar' * * * * * 
 
* 'Wow wow wow! It's one of those stories that stays with you' * * * * ** 'The writing is buttery smooth and brilliant' * * * * ** 'I couldn't put this book down, it should be added to everyone's reading list' * * * * ** 'Shocking, familiar, emotional, and raw. Just phenomenal' * * * * *

It's been a long time since I've read such a compelling debut. Beautifully written, transportive, and thought-provoking, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER sizzles with suspense. It's the book I'll be recommending that all my girlfriends pack for their holidays this summer

Lucy Clarke, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE CASTAWAYS

This startling debut...packs an incredible punch. The dark undertow of an idyllic summer and the lies girls are told and tell themselves are captured with stark, affecting honesty and evocative prose

Poignant and striking, this coming-of-age novel barrels towards its shocking yet inevitable conclusion and examines the insidious nature of abuse and grooming through the eyes of the victim.

This debut should be on every summer reading list... THE GIRLS OF SUMMER explores consent, the power discrepancies in relationships, control, and the intoxication of lust in a gripping read that is visceral and raw. Buy it

Reminiscent of HBO's hit The White Lotus... The obvious read-alike is My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell, and the plot-driven tension will appeal to fans of psychological suspense

A mesmerising, unsettling and gripping debut

Catherine Ryan Howard, bestselling author of RUN TIME

Lures you in then shakes you up. A very timely read about consent and control. LOVED IT

Thought-provoking, timely and gripping, The Girls of Summer is the book of the summer

THE GIRLS OF SUMMER is visceral, deeply sensory and urgent. An unsettling and vital book

Atmospheric and powerful, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER is a propulsive examination of the line blurring trauma and love in a relationship, a distinction which - in a post #MeToo world - is more important than ever

Smart, tense and on-the-nose about shame and coercion and the way we force our own painful histories into a narrative we can live with.

An absolutely scorching debut deftly mixing the glamour of an island holiday with shadows of coercive control. One of the best psychological thrillers I've read this year

Alice Clark-Platts, author of THE FLOWER GIRLS

Such a clever, subtle, simmering read of a sun-drenched summer romance that is not all it seems. Timely, powerful, and must-read material around consent and buried trauma

Claire Daverley, author of TALKING AT NIGHT

This promising first novel is a timely exploration of the way predatory older men seduce and manipulate young women...Bishop's unflinching dissection of male abuse and power and the strength of female solidarity deserves attention.

Dark, timely and thought provoking. It's a must-read

Pacy and readable, it's set to be a big summer hit

Katie Bishop is an author and journalist based in Birmingham, UK. Her journalism has been published in The New York Times, the Guardian, Vogue and many others. Her debut novel, The Girls of Summer published in 2023. High Season is her second novel.

The last time Rachel saw the girls, they were teenagers island-hopping in Greece: making friends, finding love. One golden summer. 
 
Now in her thirties, she’s never been able to forget the man she fell in love with back then. Even though he is almost twenty years older than her. Even though she hasn’t seen him since and she’s now married to someone else. 
 
And when she crosses paths with one of the girls, she’s confronted with a truth that’s much darker than she ever realized. 
 
What really happened to them all that summer? 
 
What if everything she remembers is a lie? 
 
The Girls of Summer is a compulsive and searching exploration of the complicated nature of memory and trauma, power and consent, victimhood and shame.

Katie Bishop

Crime fiction rarely explores the afterlife of someone convicted of murder and Katie Bishop’s sensitive novel reveals the impact of class on assumptions about guilt and innocence

The writing brilliantly creates the hedonistic atmosphere of the South of France and it’s an education in TikTok culture with a very unguessable outcome

Katie Bishop is a master storyteller. In High Season, she weaves a beautiful, intricate mystery that tests the strength of memory and time and the harsh consequences of both. Complete with an exotic setting, flawed and complex characters, and spellbinding prose, High Season is an absolute masterpiece.

High Season ripped me out of a reading slump as I found myself devouring this tale of privilege, loss, and the slippery nature of memory. The setting is so perfectly rendered that you can almost taste the saltwater, and the characters are so sensitively drawn I often had a knot in my stomach as I read late into the night. Bishop writes unbelievably beautifully about the complex relationships forged in youth, and the fragility of memory in the aftermath of tragedy.

Ella Berman, author of Reese Witherspoon Book Club-pick BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT

I devoured this sparkling, slippery, dark and delicious book in days. Katie Bishop weaves an aching, impossibly tangled, but gorgeous tale of youth, hope, memory and desire. As compelling as it is subtle, intelligent and complex. With a backdrop of glittering privilege, it offers both sheer delight and a gut thump of dread.

True crime meets the Côte d’Azur in this layered, insightful novel that transcends its absorbing premise. Mystery and secrets abound at the Pink House, but it’s Katie Bishop’s vividly drawn characters and their web of entanglements that will keep you turning pages. High Season handles its themes deftly—about trauma and memory, class and girlhood, family and forgiveness—while also offering a nuanced critique of true crime voyeurism. Propulsive, escapist, and sharp.

Emily Layden, author of ONCE MORE FROM THE TOP

I read the novel in three sittings. This author has such a clarity on young female friendships and class divide, which really added to the atmosphere

With brilliant writing and a clever plot, this is a quality read

A highly accomplished psychological thriller; deeply impressive

We couldn’t put this thrilling novel down

Gripping… perfect for a sunbed read. The narrative is told by compelling characters, and this book will keep you guessing right until the end

Kate Bishop finds heart and poignancy at the center of her artfully crafted thriller, High Season, setting it apart from other by-the-numbers beach reads.

The writing brilliantly creates the hedonistic atmosphere of the South of France and it’s an education in TikTok culture with a very unguessable outcome.

It's been a long time since I've read such a compelling debut. Beautifully written, transportive, and thought-provoking, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER sizzles with suspense. It's the book I'll be recommending that all my girlfriends pack for their holidays this summer.

This startling debut...packs an incredible punch. The dark undertow of an idyllic summer and the lies girls are told and tell themselves are captured with stark, affecting honesty and evocative prose.

This debut should be on every summer reading list... THE GIRLS OF SUMMER explores consent, the power discrepancies in relationships, control, and the intoxication of lust in a gripping read that is visceral and raw. Buy it.

Reminiscent of HBO's hit The White Lotus... The obvious read-alike is My Dark Vanessa, by Kate Elizabeth Russell, and the plot-driven tension will appeal to fans of psychological suspense.

A mesmerising, unsettling and gripping debut.

Lures you in then shakes you up. A very timely read about consent and control. LOVED IT.

Thought-provoking, timely and gripping, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER is the book of the summer.

In High Season, Katie Bishop has crafted a novel that is at once pulse-pounding and uniquely beautiful, a gorgeously-written piece of literary suspense. As the compelling cast of characters slowly reveal their sides of the story, a tragic incident and the awful aftermath twist and refract with kaleidoscopic brilliance until the full, vivid picture is revealed. This gem of a summer read will appeal to readers hungry for a thoughtful, sun-soaked mystery.

Nicole Baart, bestselling author of Everything We Didn't Say

Atmospheric and powerful, THE GIRLS OF SUMMER is a propulsive examination of the line blurring trauma and love in a relationship, a distinction which - in a post #MeToo world - is more important than ever.

Smart, tense and on-the-nose about shame and coercion and the way we force our own painful histories into a narrative we can live with.

An absolutely scorching debut deftly mixing the glamour of an island holiday with shadows of coercive control. One of the best psychological thrillers I've read this year.

Such a clever, subtle, simmering read of a sun-drenched summer romance that is not all it seems. Timely, powerful, and must-read material around consent and buried trauma.

In the heat of summer, the past can become hazy. . . 
 
For twenty years, Nina Drayton has told herself that she must have seen her sister, Tamara, being murdered by the family babysitter – Josie Jackson. That she doesn’t remember it because she was five, and amnesia is a normal trauma response. 
 
But now, with the anniversary of Tamara’s death approaching and true crime investigators revisiting the case, Nina finds it harder to suppress her doubts. Returning to her family’s sparkling villa on the Cote d’Azur for the first time since the murder, she wants to uncover more about the summer that changed so many lives. Because if she was wrong, then she sent an innocent woman to jail – and the real killer is still walking free.

Katie Bishop

Books by Katie Bishop

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9 holiday reads set in Greece

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