There are some fabulous books being released in June.
During the latter half of the month, I will be taking a two week break for a holiday. Although, I won't be posting during that time, rest assured that some of the little beauties in this list will be sneaking into my suitcase and keeping me company.
I hope you find something in this list to entice you too.
The Promise of Wonder by Katherine Webb
A tragic accident. A misguided accusation. Are some mistakes unforgivable?
England, 1889. In her family’s rambling manor house in Dorset, fifteen-year-old Theodora Hallewell dreams of magic, adventure, and Toby Meriwether. As Toby prepares to leave for university, Theo plans a midnight gathering—one last chance to make Toby notice her. By dawn, a tragic mistake will shatter the world as they know it.
Years later, Toby has built a respectable life in London, scarred by the past but determined to put it behind him. Theo, struggling with the aftermath of what happened, has begun to fear that the life she has built is more fragile—and far more dangerous—than she ever imagined. Both live under the shadow of that fateful night—until a startling discovery casts what happened in a whole new light, and offers a chance to right the wrongs that have haunted them for so long.
Spanning three decades, The Promise of Wonder is a spellbinding story of lost love, atonement, and the long journey towards forgiveness.
The Underground Sisters by Soraya M. Lane
Amsterdam, 1940: Schoolteacher Aletta knows the war will soon reach her and the Jewish children in her class. When her family hide an injured Allied airman in their home, they must decide: how much will they risk when resistance could prove deadly?
Paris, 1940: Since her mother’s death, Chloe has dedicated herself to protecting her brothers. So when the SS accuses Claude of being in the Resistance, she sacrifices herself to save him.
Forced together in Ravensbrück concentration camp, Chloe, Aletta and her mother, Emma, forge an unbreakable bond. Surrounded by unimaginable cruelty, they mount their own kind of resistance―secretly teaching children and preserving fellow prisoners’ precious memories. In a place designed to strip away humanity, their friendship becomes an act of defiance, their determination to bear witness a lifeline of hope.
As the war rages on and whispers of a longed-for liberation grow, can their courage and sisterhood see them through to freedom? And if they survive, how can they ever be the same?
Based on true events, this is an inspiring testament to the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit.
Dwell by Rue Baldry
January 1919 - A new gardener at a snowbound boarding school catches everyone's attention. It's rumoured he is a war hero. He's nineteen-year-old Albert, haunted by Great War experiences and fighting the temptation of one particular prefect. What they want is illegal.
Being caught would ruin them. Then Albert's past finds him, making their quest for a place where love can safely dwell look impossible.
Just Emilia by Jennifer Oko
The past, present, and future collide in a DC Metro elevator as three women get caught up in a gripping time-traveling tale of memory, emotion, and unspoken truths about their shared history. Synopsis: When Emilia Fletcher finds herself trapped inside a Washington, DC Metro elevator, getting out is the least of her problems. Sharing the confined space with her are Em, a troubled teenager plagued by suicidal thoughts, and Millie, an elderly woman yearning to mend ties with her estranged daughter. As the hours drag on, hunger, exhaustion, and panic set in, revealing an almost incomprehensible truth: they are the same person. Locked in an uncompromising match of memories, the three women excavate and attempt to reckon with the shared shame and suffering stemming from an unresolved trauma that has cast a profound shadow over their lives. Brimming with biting humor, compassion, and quick-witted insight, Just Emilia is remarkable journey of self-discovery.
Collapse by Edourd Louis
Édouard’s brother spends much of his life dreaming. He lives in a poor, working-class world, where he imagines that he will become one of the finest butchers in France, that he will travel, that he will make his fortune, that he will restore cathedrals, that he will earn his father’s love.
But his reality allows none of this. There is no way to escape, no one who can show him how, and everything about him – his drinking, his violence, his behaviour with women and with others – condemns him.
At thirty-eight he is found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse.
Bad Deeds by Andrew Hunter Murray
Alex used to break into houses illegally. These days, it’s his job.
Alex is part of a small firm of consultants who break into offices and homes to test their security. It’s fun, it’s well paid, and he’s very good at it. It’s almost like he’s grown up at last.
But when he gets fired from his firm, evicted from his flat and dumped by his girlfriend, all in the same evening, he decides to steal one last job from his company without their knowing. A job they had already decided not to accept.
Big mistake.
Before long, Alex is in remote northern Scotland, following the trail of an ambitious young man who supposedly fell to his death with no witnesses in sight.
And if Alex doesn’t get to the truth soon, he may well be the next one over the edge...
A Time to Be Born by Dawn Powell
Amanda Keeler is a bestselling novelist, famed for her martini-soaked parties. It's a glamorous life, paid for in full by marriage to a tedious, teeth-grinding newspaper tycoon.
When a meek friend from her provincial past arrives in Manhattan, Amanda plots to use her as cover for an affair-until she realises that they have both fallen for the same man.
Sophisticated, scandalous and acidly funny, this is a portrait of a woman determined to have everything, even if it costs the one thing she never meant to gamble: her heart.
Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.
How to Survive in the Woods by Kat Rosenfield
Emma Sharp knows the rules of survival. From being raised by a doomsday-fearing father and hardened by the startup world, she has learned how to endure - especially in her marriage to Logan Grant, a charismatic tyrant who keeps her under tight control. To Emma, her marriage is a cage: it keeps you in, but it also keeps you safe. Until it doesn't.
When Emma forms an unexpected bond with Logan's former girlfriend, the two women form a plan to help Emma reclaim her life. Destination: the punishing final stretch of the Appalachian Trail.
After all, bad things happen in the woods all the time.
As the three venture deeper into Maine's backcountry, desire and dread curdle into something unpredictable, dark and deadly. Someone is lying. Someone is watching. And in the remote heart of the forest, someone is about to be lost . . . or found.
Lisa Doyle is Absolutely Fine by Mo Fanning
Lisa Doyle is fine. Absolutely fine.
At least, that's the story she's been telling herself.
Her best friend is getting married. Everyone around her seems to have a partner, a plan, and a life that makes sense. Lisa, meanwhile, has four glasses of wine in her, a talent for making bad situations worse, and a growing sense of being left behind.
So she does what any sensible woman in a crisis would do. She announces that she's engaged.
There is only one problem.
Brian does not exist.
Now Lisa needs a fiancé before the wedding, her actor flatmate is far too willing to get involved, and the real Brian, who is very much married and very much her boss, is starting to look at her in ways that suggest this lie may have got seriously out of hand.
Warm, witty, and painfully recognisable, Lisa Doyle is Absolutely Fine is a grown-up romantic comedy about love, pressure, friendship, and the exhausting performance of holding everything together when you're quietly falling apart.
Perfect for readers of Mhairi McFarlane, Beth O'Leary, and Marian Keyes.
The Cider Girls Join the Fight by May Ellis
1941, Somerset: the shadow of war is closing in.
Two years into the conflict, Rose is adjusting to life as a Land Girl, working the Somerset fields alongside Jimmy, the farmer’s son whose watchful, protective attention she can neither escape nor ignore. Thankfully, she has found companionship in Daisy, a district nurse, and Elsie, an ATS clerk. New friends thrown together by the necessities of war, they call themselves the Cider Girls.
As the threat of invasion grows, the girls prove their courage to the commanding officer of a secret resistance unit and are drawn into a dangerous world of espionage, coded messages and hidden loyalties.
But there is trouble close to home too. Daisy knows she is in love with her lifelong friend Mattie, but will she speak the truth before it’s too late? Elsie’s life is shattered by the tragic death of her sister, leaving her with an impossible choice. And Rose finds her work in the resistance increasingly hard to hide.
In a world of secrets and sacrifice, can the Cider Girls’ friendship see them through the darkest days yet?
(all opinions are my own)
(Bookshop.org affiliated)
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