Contemporary books for September: I KNOW HOW THIS ENDS by Holly Smale, IT MIGHT NEVER HAPPEN by Emily Slapper, THE WRONG HUSBAND by Hilary Kingsley
By SARA LAWRENCE
Published: | Updated:
I Know How This Ends is available now from the Mail Bookshop
EVERY Monday, Margot meets someone she’s matched with on a dating app at her local Italian restaurant. Margot is single because eight months ago her wedding was called off after a devastating discovery.
Heartbroken, she quit her job as chief meteorologist at the Met Office in Exeter, moved back home to Bristol and started a weather-based Instagram account. Margot’s goal now is to have 20 dates so she can say she tried and shut down the well-meaning friends and family who keep encouraging her to get back out there.
The dating is going very badly – the men tell lies, ask no questions and stare at her inappropriately – but that’s only what Margot expects. What she doesn’t expect is to be confronted with visions of her future self in different situations which all prove to be true. Margot now knows exactly what’s going to happen to her and there’s nothing she can do about any of it. It’s brilliant on grief and moving on. I loved it.
It Might Never Happen is available now from the Mail Bookshop
SINCE Noa was a child she’s been obsessed with the idea of being in love. Finding her soulmate and falling head over heels is all Noa has ever wanted. We meet our protagonist when she is in her mid-20s, going on dates and changing things about herself to fit in with each man she meets.
Her self-confidence is, unsurprisingly, low. Elliot works in a call centre, looks after his mum and brother and is permanently exhausted. Elliot tries to tell himself he’s lucky but the truth is that he’s suicidal and not talking to anyone about how he really feels.
The narrative follows Noa and Elliot as they meet at school and then again years later. It’s thought-provoking on childhood trauma, heartbreak and how a lack of selfworth can impact a life. Beautifully written.
The Wrong Husband is available now
WHEN popular Tory MP Dietrich Olson receives a knighthood, his wife Pen throws a lavish party to celebrate. Dietrich is supposed to be giving a speech when he suffers a heart attack and is found dead.
Then, at the funeral, a stranger informs the gathered journalists that she wed Dietrich at university and his marriage to Pen was bigamous. Amidst the ensuing media storm it transpires that the woman is telling the truth. Determined to discover who her husband really was, Pen starts digging. The narrative romps along and is stuffed with fascinating secondary characters.
Daily Mail
