5 new books to read this week

This week’s bookcase includes reviews of The Lock-Up by John Banville and The Forgotten Girls: An American Story by Monica Potts.

(Composite/PA)

Irish author John Banville is back with his latest crime thriller…

Fiction

1. The Lock-Up by John Banville is published in hardback by Faber & Faber, priced £16.99 (ebook £9.99). Available now

Part of the Strafford and Quirke series, The Lock-Up is set in 1950s Dublin, where the body of an apparent suicide is discovered. The unlikely, and often at odds, duo of Detective Inspector Strafford and pathologist Dr Quirke suspect foul play. The victim’s sister, Molly Jacobs, a reporter from London, joins the duo to uncover the truth. At the heart of the deepening mystery is a wealthy German family with ties to Israel. As the body count increases, the relationship between Strafford and Quirke becomes strained, as it becomes apparent there are bigger issues at play. You feel intrigued from the start, and the only way forward is to finish the book. The flawed characters of Strafford and Quirke become intertwined with past and present colliding – while they can be difficult to like at some points, they are believable and their individual life histories are elegantly included in the larger story.8/10(Review by Amanda De-Beer)

2. The Five Sorrowful Mysteries Of Andy Africa by Stephen Buoro is published in hardback by Bloomsbury Publishing, priced £16.99 (ebook £11.89). Available now

Combining a coming-of-age tale of a 15-year-old boy in Nigeria with an examination of the legacy of colonialism and relations between Africa and the West, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries Of Andy Africa is an assured debut from Stephen Buoro. The titular Andy Africa – a resented nickname of protagonist Andrew Aziza – agonises over his teenage obsession with blonde girls in a way reminiscent of Adrian Mole, and borrows terms from A Clockwork Orange in hanging out with his “droogs” (friends). He falls in love with a blonde girl from England visiting his church, but his adolescent concerns are soon overtaken by a wave of religious violence as his family implodes, leaving him with stark choices. A major twist is heavily signalled in advance, but this can be forgiven as Buoro, who was born in Nigeria but now lives in the UK, brings Andy’s world to life with such immediacy.7/10(Review by Laura Paterson)

3. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson is published in hardback by Hutchinson Heinemann, priced £14.99 (ebook £9.99). Available now

Pineapple Street is the story of the Stocktons – a rich family in New York. What matters most – money or love? And can the two be separated? Two bound by blood, one by marriage, the story follows three women as they are shaped by sacrifice and love in New York’s elite. Darley sacrifices her wealth for love, risking her inheritance. Sasha is branded ‘gold digger’ for marrying into the family from a lower standing and moving into Pineapple Street. And Georgiana is followed around by her wealthy status despite actively rejecting her wealth. This funny, but sometimes challenging novel is a constant conversation about love over money. It balances on the edge of being overly descriptive and the story at times becomes a little stilted due to this. However, ultimately Jenny Jackson creates a clever narrative on what could have been an unrelatable subject.7/10(Review by Randy Bainbridge)

Non-fiction

4. The Forgotten Girls: An American Story by Monica Potts is published in hardback by Allen Lane, priced £20 (ebook £9.99). Available now

Part-memoir, part-social commentary, The Forgotten Girls traces the divergent paths of journalist Monica Potts and her childhood best friend Darci, who stayed in their impoverished Arkansas hometown. Reminiscent of Tara Westover’s Educated, it is the latest addition to the catalogue of books seeking to explain poor, rural America to the outside world. Where it differs is that, while also charting Potts’ quest to escape and her friend’s decline into addiction, it takes a broader view of struggles faced by young women in conservative, religious parts of America, where they can too often be written off. It is a bleak account and avoids easy conclusions, but contains important lessons about the interaction of poverty, religion, drugs and educational aspiration.8/10(Review by Christopher McKeon)

Children’s book of the week

5. Global by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano is published in hardback by Hodder Children’s Books, priced £14.99 (ebook £8.49). Available April 27

Global is a moving and powerful take on the climate change issues we are currently experiencing in different parts of the world. The graphic novel sets you up for a scary adventure with Canadian Yuki in the Arctic wilderness, who encounters a hungry grolar bear – a cross between a grizzly and a polar bear – after their territories collide. Global warming makes her journey dangerous as ice melts and collapses around her. Meanwhile, in the Bay of Bengal on the edge of the Indian Ocean, Sami and his grandfather fight every day to survive due to the rising sea level and severe storms, washing away homes. Yuki and Sami both find the struggle real due to the changing world around them. You won’t want to put this book down – it’s a great read with brilliant illustrations, bringing the catastrophes our world faces to reality. It will leave you asking: what can we do to help?9/10(Review by Karen Shield)

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING APRIL 15

HARDBACK (FICTION)1. Atalanta by Jennifer Saint2. Shy by Max Porter3. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld4. Homecoming by Kate Morton5. In Memoriam by Alice Winn6. A Day Of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon7. Old Babes In The Wood by Margaret Atwood8. Close To Home by Michael Magee9. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson10. In A Thousand Different Ways by Cecelia Ahern(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)1. How Westminster Works… And Why It Doesn’t by Ian Dunt2. Bored Of Lunch by Nathan Anthony3. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy4. London: A Guide For Curious Wanderers by Jack Chesher5. The God Desire by David Baddiel6. The Full English by Stuart Maconie7. The Earth Transformed by Professor Peter Frankopan8. Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll9. How To Read A Tree by Tristan Gooley10. Strong Female Character by Fern Brady(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)1. Atomic Habits by James Clear2. Spare by The Duke of Sussex3. I Will Find You by Harlan Coben4. The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell5. Outlive by Peter Attia & Bill Gifford6. Us Three by Ruth Jones7. Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus8. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Julie Smith9. The Sound of Laughter by Peter Kay10. Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent(Compiled by Audible)