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Novels for coveted October release

Ian McEwan, Kate Atkinson and Cormac McCarthy are just some of the writers with new novels lined up for this month

JENNIFER PLATT

The international heavy hitters come out in October. Mostly because of the worldwide event known as Super Thursday, which happens to be on October 13 this year. The name was inspired by US presidential elections and as wiki puts it, Super Thursday is a: “serendipitous by-product of the publishing industry’s habit of releasing books on a Thursday, and the September/October period being a preChristmas sweet-spot.”

There are so many great books coming out and to narrow it down I had to exercise severe restraint and list only a few of what I think are the biggest of the big novels coming out in October.

First up is Lessons by Ian McEwan. The blurb “When the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War, young Roland Baines’s vulnerability attracts his piano teacher, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade. Twenty-five years later Roland’s wife mysteriously vanishes, leaving him alone with their baby son. He is forced to confront the reality of his rootless existence. From the Suez and Cuban Missile crises, the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Covid pandemic and climate change, Roland sometimes rides with the tide of history but more often struggles against it.” Vogue calls it: “A luminous, beautifully written, and gripping book about lives imperfectly lived.”

Shrines of Gaiety is the latest Kate Atkinson. It’s set in 1926 when London, still recovering from the Great War, has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie, ruthless and ambitious. But Nellie’s empire faces threats, for beneath the dazzle of Soho’s gaiety, there is a dark underbelly. Kirkus Books has nothing but praise for Atkinson’s latest historical fiction: “Already one of the best writers working, Atkinson just gets better and better.” Financial Times writes: “Kate Atkinson is a novelist of unrivalled immediacy, authority and skill ... This book is sharp, witty and fiendishly plotted. You don’t so much read it as surrender to it, and you sense and share the relish with which she creates such an attention-grabbing cast. It’s an exhilarating ride.”

The Passenger is Cormac McCarthy’s first novel in 16 years and you don’t have to wait as long for his next one. Later in the year, the second in his two-part series will be published called Stella Maris. The Passenger is set in 1980, in Pass Christian, a small city in Mississippi. The blurb: “It is three in the morning when Bobby Western zips the jacket of his wetsuit and plunges from the boat deck into darkness. His divelight illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the crash site are the pilot’s flight bag, the plane’s black box, and the 10th passenger. But how? A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit — by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul. Traversing the American South, from the garrulous bar rooms of New Orleans to an abandoned oil rig off the Florida coast, The Passenger is a breathtaking novel of morality and science, the legacy of sin, and the madness that is human consciousness.” Those who love comedian/TV presenter Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series will be eager to get their mitts on his latest one called The Bullet That Missed. The description: “The gang are hot on the trail of two murders, 10 years apart. To make matters worse, a new nemesis pays Elizabeth a visit, presenting her with a deadly mission: kill or be killed ... While Elizabeth grapples with her conscience (and a gun), the gang and their unlikely new friends (including TV stars, money launderers and ex-KGB colonels) unravel a new mystery. But can they catch the culprit and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?” Sounds like another splendid cosy mystery. Get that pot of tea ready.

Room by Emma Donoghue lives rent free in my mind and her latest sounds just as hectic with her hallmark psychological suspense creeping into three men’s lives. Haven is set in 17th century Ireland.

A priest called Artt is called to leave the sinful world behind. He takes two monks with him — Trian and Chas. They eventually find an island which is now known as Skellig Michael. But how will they survive on this inhospitable island? What will happen to them and their faith?

On our own shores, don’t miss Sue Nyathi’s An Angel’s Demise. The blurb: “Belle Acres is a dairy farm in the district of Somabhula in Southern Rhodesia.

The year is 1977, and the farm has been in the hands of the Williams family since the turn of the century.

The farm is managed by Paul Williams, a seemingly harsh and bigoted man, who holds the livelihood of many black labourers in his hands. Maria, the daughter of one of the workers, joins the liberation movement, leaving behind her daughter, Angel in the care of her mother and grandmother who have been in service to the Williams family for years. Angel grows up on the farm during two and a half momentous decades that see a complicated history and legacy unfold into an equally complicated present. An Angel’s Demise deals with a woman’s quest to unearth her identity and assert her independence. In the process of self-discovery, she loses herself completely and realises that sometimes you need to be totally uprooted before you can establish yourself.”

These are just some of the must-reads this month. Happy reading! –

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2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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