Here are my favourite reads from March:
Everything’s Perfect – Nicole Kennedy
Out on June 10th (pre-order now!), Kennedy’s debut is a smart comedy aimed at anyone who wonders how social media influencers really live. Cassie Holliday is an ‘Insta-mum’, with a seven figure following on Instagram and the perfect family. But is everything as perfect as it seems? This is a comedy but tackles issues of sisterhood, motherhood and friendship. Plus, it’s a great reminder not to believe everything you see social media…
Catherine House – Elisabeth Thomas
This novel came out last year and on paper sounds perfect. Ines wins the chance to go to the prestigious Catherine House, a university that produces brilliant graduates but has a shadowy reputation. Once you enter you can’t leave until your three years is up. Spooky, gothic, atmospheric, this book has it all in spades. In online reviews it has proved rather divisive. The pace is slow and for me, the ending doesn’t quite stick, but if you enjoy a read that oozes growing dread this might be for you.
This is another June publication (sorry!) but a thriller this time. Etta is desperate to get married but her partner won’t propose until they have a deposit saved for a house. When she signs up for an online gambling site she wins. Too easy, right? What on earth could go wrong (spoiler alert: everything!!). Reading this book was the most tense I’ve felt in months.
Set in New York at the turn of the twentieth century, this is an absolute classic. Weaving fictional characters with real life depictions of J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford and the likes, this novel transported me back to the early 1900s. A whistle stop tour through the various layers of New York society from the penniless immigrants to members of ‘the Four Hundred’ as the Gilded Age comes to an end.
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