Books: 'an eclectic mix of recently published novels aimed at women’s market'
There was a time when ‘women’s fiction’ meant only single-threaded romance novels. Those days are gone. While romantic fiction still thrives, it’s more multi-faceted now, reflecting the complexities of women’s lives in the 21st century. This final round-up of the season is an eclectic mix of recently published novels aimed at the women’s market.
Thirst Trap, Gráinne O’Hare, Picador, €14.99
A funny, insightful and compassionate novel about the lives of three working women in their late 20s, sharing a tumbledown house in Belfast and looking for love. Or highs. Or whatever you’re having yourself. Maggie is gay, Rosie is straight, and Harley is bi and particularly self-destructive, but satisfactory relationships elude them all.
Ordinary Love, Marie Rutkoski, Virago, €17.99
This is a queer love story involving Emily and Gen, who were an ‘item’ in their student days and, after living very different lives apart in the intervening years, find each other again in their 30s. Emily has a broken marriage behind her and Gen is a former Olympic athlete. Getting back together is more fraught than they could have imagined.
Ride the Wave, Katherine Reilly, Head of Zeus, €14.50
Iris is a sports journalist commissioned to write a piece on Leo Silva, a world champion surfer once upon a time who is attempting to kickstart his career, which ended abruptly after a tabloid scandal. There’s a complication; the magazine commissioning the piece is owned by Silva’s mother. Anyway, Iris falls for the bad-boy surfer, making it hard for her to write an honest profile for mommy dearest.
The Little Cottage by the Cornish Sea, Nancy Barone, Pan €14.50
Kate ends her five-year relationship with a controlling partner and walks out of a job with a controlling boss, leaving London behind for the quiet life in Cornwall. Early on, she discovers she’s pregnant and has nobody to provide any support. But she gradually finds friendship with the ‘coastal girls’ and a job with the owner of the local manor estate. Life in Starry Cove gets complicated, but maybe love is all you need?
The In-Laws, Sinéad Moriarty, Penguin Sandycove, €18
Amanda, Katie and Melanie have one thing in common – their mother-in-law. And this particular one is a nightmare. She is the head honcho of the family business in which these three women’s husbands work. When Head Honcho suffers a fall and is physically incapacitated, she pits her sons against each other, using succession as the bait. Only the wives can save this horrible situation, but it’s won’t be easy.
The Girls Who Grew Big, Leila Mottley, Penguin Fig Tree, €16.99
A gang of teenage mothers form their own community in the fictional town of Padua, Florida. Simone is the leader, pregnant at 20 years of age and already the mother of two children. Adela arrives, thrown out of her suburban home, and young Emory is determined to return to high school with her baby strapped on. In the back of Simone’s van, the girls dance and laugh and raise their babies. Outcasts all, the characters give a glimpse of what teenage motherhood really looks like in small town, small-minded America.
The Wedding Forecast, Nina Kenwood, Head of Zeus, €14.50
Anna has not long broken up with her ex when she is a bridesmaid at a friend’s wedding and who else happens to be there? The ex, of course. With his new, pregnant girlfriend. But Anna’s not playing the victim. The wedding photographer takes a shine to her, and why not? There’s also an out-of-work actor from New York at the wedding, and he takes to shine to Anna too. I know, I know. Famine or feast. Sure, isn’t it always the way?
Late Learner, Ciara Geraghty, Harper Collins, €14.99
Ronda lives a quiet, carefully controlled life and works in the quiet, carefully controlled environment of a care home. She is 44 years old, cycles to and from work every day and in her spare time, she plays chess against a robot. In her fantasies she’s a flamboyant character, she has plenty to say and people pay her lots of attention. In real life, she’s the opposite. But a crisis means she’s going to have to turn herself into that more assertive woman. Can she do it? And how will she cope with the change?
LA Women, Ella Berman, Head of Zeus, €21.75
A novel partly based on friends and rival writers, Joan Didion and Eve Babitz, the names have been changed and there’s a mystery to the story. Lane is the straight-laced writer and commentator’ on ’60s and ’70s California, while her friend Gala is more free-spirited and somewhat less uptight. When Gala goes missing, Lane feels compelled to track her down, uncovering along the way a much seedier side to America’s dreamy, free love culture.
The Blonde who Came in from the Cold, Ally Carter, Pan, €14.50
In a then-and-now plot, two spies find themselves in grave danger and on the run, not knowing quite who is after them or why. But the spies do know each other. They met on the job 10 years ago. He left the CIA six years ago and they haven’t seen each other since. Can romance be rekindled in a life-and-death situation? Comedy, thrills and romance merge in this novel.
Pen Pal, JT Geissinger, Bramble, €10.99
On the day of her husband’s funeral, Kayla receives a letter in the post, postmarked from the state prison. It reads: ‘I’ll wait forever if I have to’ and is signed by someone called Dante. Kayla embarks on a pen pal relationship with this mysterious prisoner (also a felon). Meanwhile, she has a fling with a roofer she’s hired, and then her house gets haunted. I kid you not. The letters stop coming from prison and Prisoner Dante lands on Kayla’s doorstep. I still kid you not. Merry widow or what?
Footnotes
There are still tickets on sale for Electric Picnic in Stradbally, County Laois, on August 29-31. See electricpicnic.ie for details.
National Heritage Week continues until August 25 and there’s still lots to see and do, see heritageweek.ie for details.