insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 20 - October 2016 | Page 19

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

Autumn Reading
When the weather gets colder and the days get shorter, it’s the perfect
time to catch up on all that reading you meant to do over the summer
(before you got distracted with BBQs and beaches). Here is a selection
of some of the best to enjoy this autumn.

The Summer Before The War
by Helen Simonson

A Window Opens by Elizabeth Egan
Alice is a happily married mother of three with
her own place in her own world full set out.
Until, that is, her husband loses his job and
she has to re-enter the workplace. All seems
fine at her new place of work, Scroll, a
company that aims to revolutionise reading,
but is her new job really as perfect as it seems?
This is by turns funny and worryingly realistic,
and could have you thinking differently about
how you are even reading that book you’re
holding…

The heroine of this hauntingly beautiful book
is Beatrice Nash, a school teacher in a
seemingly unspectacular English village. After
her father’s death she begins to feel unsettled,
and looks for something more from her sedate,
uncomplicated life. She soon finds that there
is enough life and intrigue in her village to keep
her occupied for a lifetime.

Relativity by Antonia Hayes

The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter

Raised by a single mother for 12 years, Ethan
has never given his father much thought until
he finds that he must confront his past to save
his future. Hospitalised due to something that
happened to him in early infancy (which has
never been discussed), brilliant physicist Ethan
must find out as much as possible about both
of his parents before his ignorance kills him.

Colonial India, 1837. Office junior, Avery, of
the East India Company, is tasked with hunting
down a famous author who has mysteriously
vanished. Avery’s journey takes him into some
dangerous and thrilling situations, and the
final showdown is as taut and impressively
twisting as they come.

The Girls In The Garden by Lisa Jewell

Life from Scratch by Sasha Martin

A communicant garden in London is a
character of its own in this mesmerising and
unsettling mystery. When a 13-year-old girl,
Grace, is discovered injured and unconscious
in the corner of this otherwise lovely garden,
the investigation that follows uncovers the
most terrible of secrets that have been hidden
behind a beautiful exterior for decades.

Sasha Martin is a food blogger – and a popular
one at that. This book is her story about why
she became interested in food in the first
place, and just what it means to her now. It
turns out there’s a lot more to her love of food
than simply enjoying the taste – it’s all wrapped
up in memories and childhood dreams. This
is an emotional read that will also make you
peckish…

Music for Wartime by Rebecca Makkai

Whiskey & Charlie by Annabel Smith

This collection of short stories is strange and
varied, but each one focuses on looking for
– if not necessarily finding – beauty in the worst
of situations. From the story of a ringmaster
has who has to bury his star attraction, an
elephant, to the tale of a reality show producer
who manipulates the TV world to create love,
these stories are woven with poetry and full
of music.

Twin brothers, ‘Whiskey’ and Charlie couldn’t
be more different. Whiskey is outgoing,
confident, popular, and successful. Charlie,
on the other hand, is a shy introvert who
seems to fail at anything he puts his mind to.
When Whiskey ends up in a coma after an
accident, Charlie must confront his feelings
of resentment to help his brother back to life.

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