At Kemps there are a range of genres to occupy your summer reading, from isolationist thrillers to fantasy, translated literature, and non-fictional memoirs too. August features One Perfect Couple by international best-selling author, Ruth Ware, a perfect summer thriller, and The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Yorkshire-based author Sarah Brooks. Both these books have Independent Bookstore limited editions, so head over to Kemps to pick up your copies now!

Le Fay by Sophie Keetch

Sophie Keetch has a BA in English Literature, which included the study of Arthurian legend. Her debut novel, My Name is Morgan, centres around the mythological character Morgan le Fay. Sophie became increasingly intrigued by the character as she was villainised by men in their writings. Le Fay is the sequel of the feminist retelling of the Arthurian legend.

Le Fey continues with Morgan, King Arthur’s half-sister, around two years after the events of the first book as she grapples with life in Camelot and her new role in the court. She is faced with a vengeful husband, a forbidden true love, and a jealous rival in the sorcerer Merlin, as she is forced to conform to the medieval expectations of women. As tensions rise, Morgan struggles to navigate within the patriarchy and must break the shackles of expectation to seek true happiness. While portrayed as a villain in Arthurian Lore, Keetch presents Morgan as an empowering woman who faces betrayal and animosity as the freedom she desires becomes increasingly elusive. Keetch’s writing exudes a medieval atmosphere as she explores themes of power, politics, friendship, and family.

Le Fay is a historical fantasy with intersected realism and is perfect for those who enjoy Arthurian Legend, especially if you are searching for a feminist perspective that has been erased throughout history.

9780861547005

Oneworld Publications 16.99

Hardback

Second Best by David Foenkinos

David Foenkino is an author and screenwriter who studied literature and music in Paris. His novel La délicatesse is a bestseller in France with a film based on the book released in December 2011. Second Best (Numéro deux) has been translated from French by Megan Jones.

This French bestseller is a magical imagining of the fate of a fictional boy whose life is forever shaped after losing out on a major acting role. This book revolves around Martin Hill who loses out on playing Harry Potter after making it to the final two. Martin is dejected as he tries to escape this failure but is ultimately haunted by the omnipresent phenomenon resulting in the line between fiction and reality blurring, especially when he is faced with difficult circumstances that make him relate to the character of Harry.

Second Best blends fiction and fact as he tackles the repercussions of failure through a character-driven novel that explores themes of fate, loss, aspirations, and overall rediscovering yourself after heartbreak. It is a unique and poignant story reflecting on how coincidences and choices shape our lives through an introspective journey that readers can resonate with.

9781913547745

Gallic Books 9.99

Paperback

My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss

Sarah Moss is a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and an award-winning author. Her fictional work includes Cold Earth and Night Waking, which were selected for the Fiction Uncovered Award; her other non-fiction work includes a memoir of her time living in Iceland, titled Names of the Sea.

My Good Bright Wolf is a uniquely structured memoir that is melancholic yet inspiring. Sarah delves into her childhood through poetic writing, tackling issues of mental health, more so her battle with an eating disorder, in a time of austerity and second-wave feminism, intersecting misogyny, racism, and classism. Sarah discusses her struggles growing up, but does, however, recognise her privileges throughout as she tackles societal pressures. It is seemingly a feminist anecdote, but Sarah tackles friendship, parenting, and the importance of literature, making it an inspiring memoir for everyone.

This memoir is dark yet humorous and is an insightful introduction to the author. Her fictional work ranges from thrillers to historical fiction and any of her books would be good additions to the reading list following this poignant memoir.

9781035035816

Pan Macmillan 18.99

Hardback

The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands is the debut novel by Leeds-based author Sarah Brooks. She won the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize in 2019 and a Northern Debut Award from New Writing North in 2021 for this novel.

It is the end of the nineteenth century and the terrain between Moscow and Beijing, known as the Wasteland, is devoid of any life apart from the Great Trans-Siberian Express; an impenetrable train built to carry cargo across continents, but which now transports anyone who dares to cross the shadowy Wastelands. Among the diverse cast of characters, there is a grieving woman with a borrowed name, a well-known child born on the train, and a disgraced naturalist all waiting on the platform to board the mysterious train. Following a previous inexplicable journey that no-one onboard has any memory of, there are whispers that the train is not safe and run by a deceitful company that are metaphorically known as Crows. With danger lurking inside and outside the train, the passengers must navigate a web of deception.

This book is historical magical realism with an eerie fantastical setting reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express. Brooks seamlessly combines several genres, including mystery, horror, and fantasy, to bring us a unique debut novel.

9781399607537

Orion Publishing Co 16.99

Hardback

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware is an international best-selling author of suspenseful thrillers. Her other books include In a Dark, Dark Wood, One by One, and The Woman in Cabin 10, which have appeared on worldwide bestseller lists, such as the Sunday Times and New York Times.

One Perfect Couple is a fast-paced and high-tension thriller centring around five couples signed up for a reality television show on a remote tropical island in the Indian Ocean. Lyla, a virologist, reluctantly agrees to accompany her dream-chasing actor boyfriend, Nico, on this opportunity to compete against the varied personalities to become the ‘Perfect Couple.’ They must partake in a series of tasks to ensure survival on the show, but when a storm hits the island and cuts them off completely, the contestants truly are fighting for survival. Faced with dwindling supplies, dehydration, injury, death, and a possible killer lurking among them, the contestants are galvanised to work together to ensure they make it off the island alive. Still, as tensions rise they must decipher who they can trust. The ‘Perfect Couple’ television experience is a paradise of opportunity turned nightmare.

With a premise reminiscent of And Then There Were None and Lord of the Flies, this isolationist summer thriller is a perfect beach read.

9781398526655

Simon & Schuster Ltd 18.99

Hardback