From young love to growing old disgracefully … we’ve rounded up some fabulous reads for the Easter weekend.
Heather Winterbottom has worked alongside her husband in their rural GP practise for 40 years. They’ve just hung up their stethoscopes … but their retirement isn’t all they thought it would be. She wants to travel to a Greek island. He wants to grow a veggie garden. Neither will compromise … so he stays with his spinach, parsnips and pumpkin, and she heads off for a gap year… all sun, sea, sand and squid on Ithaca. Madly funny, hugely enjoyable … Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year is Joanna Nell’s latest book centred around growing old disgracefully. Hodder and Stoughton
The Williamson sisters, Josephine and Penny, are Britain’s most treasured World War II veterans. Now in their nineties, they’re still in great form, and are in hot demand, appearing a commemorative events all over the country. The latest excitement is a trip to Paris to receive the Légion d’honneur, accompanied by their devoted great-nephew, who believes the pair had minor roles in the Women’s Royal Navy and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. But that’s only half the story. There’s a reason sweet Auntie Penny can dispatch a would-be mugger with a brolly. This trip to Paris is not what it seems either. Scandal and crime have trailed the sisters since the war. Now armed with new information about an old adversary, these much decorated (but admittedly ancient) veterans intend to settle scores, avenge lost friends, and pull off one last heist. All hidden official secrets and double lives, CJ Wray’s The Excitements is a funny, charming, thrilling adventure read. Orion
There are 18 plants and animals named after him. When asked by a reporter how many degrees he had*, he said it would be ‘rude to count’. The single thing that would improve his quality of life would be ‘good, workable knees’. In The Wit and Wisdom of David Attenborough, which he has not endorsed and is not affiliated with, Chas Newkey-Burden has put together a fascinating collection of facts, tributes, quotes and anecdotes. Running chronologically, this book begins with his early days, to his first job at the BBC, to eventually becoming the most esteemed naturalist on the planet, as he is today. *More than 30! Gaia
Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (Seven Days in June) is a steamy, swoon-worthy love story … a florist who leaves behind family wealth to realise her dream of opening a flower shop, and an enigmatic musician … two artists who are drawn to the magic of New York. Quercus
A near-death experience. A collection of false memories. A perfect love story … albeit one that didn’t exist. Two sisters, a vet and a mystery to solve. Throw in another love story and you’ve The Memory of Us by Dani Atkins … light and frivolous for the long weekend. Head of Zeus
In Sophie Kinsella’s The Burnout, Sasha is well and truly over it all. Work (all-consuming). Friendships (on the back burner). Sex-life (non-existent). Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies and try yoga, she heads to a seaside resort. But how can she commune with nature when there’s a stressed out guy sitting on a rock watching her? A guy who scoffs at her burnout cures – manifesting, wild swimming, secret Mars bars, preferring his cure – drinking whisky. Penguin
In Kate Thompson’s The Wartime Book Club, an island’s only librarian is ordered to destroy books which threaten the new regime. Instead, she hides the stories, and with her best friend forms the wartime book club. But as the occupation drags on, the women’s quiet acts of bravery become more perilous and they are forced to face the terrible cost of resistance. Hodder & Stoughton
For YA … Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian is a tale of intergenerational trauma and love – an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets
of history and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today. Harper Collins
All books available at Exclusive Books
