Books In Bloom: Spring Anticipated Reads
By Sarah Ernestine, Alfie Kimmins, Georgia Wells, Anna Heywood and Meg Jones
The Aerialists by Katie Munnik
14 April, The Borough Press
At the turn of the 19th century, Laura finds herself living on the streets of Paris. The winds of chance bring Ena and Auguste Gaudron, renowned aerialists, into her life and Laura soon learns to fly with their family hot air balloon business. When the Gaudrons enter the Cardiff Fine Art, Industrial and Maritime Exhibition in Wales in 1896, a young girl named Grace is determined to fly with the Gaudrons, no matter the cost.
Together, will Laura and Grace risk everything to soar to new heights? The Aerialists is a whirlwind historical romance by Katie Munnik whose debut novel, The Heart Beats in Secret, was a USA Today Bestseller. Based around a daring true event, The Aerialists is the perfect spring read, ready to sweep readers off their feet.
Shadow Girls by Carol Birch
14 April, Head of Zeus
In this new genre-defying novel about working-class girls navigating life and growing up in 1960s Manchester, Shadow Girls at first presents itself as a conventional coming-of-age novel. It follows Sally and her friends at a girls' school, until Sally finds Sylvia, an outcast, thought too ‘posh’ to fit in, on the roof of the greenhouse. But was it really Sylvia? The tragedy which follows leads Sally to question everything.
This book blends together a coming-of-age novel, psychological thriller and a supernatural horror, resulting in a work that is equal parts Sylvia Plath and Stephen King. Shadow Girls is a character-driven slow burn where Sally’s dimensionality and internal monologue holds your attention throughout. Shadow Girls makes for an intriguing and engaging read.
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
14 April 2022, Pan Macmillan
From the Booker prizewinning author of Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart returns with his newest novel, Young Mungo. From a working-class background, two young men embark on a dangerous love story. Catholic James and Protestant Mungo are caught in the hyper-masculine housing estates of Glasgow, where violence is rife. They are fighting a world that wants to keep them apart as they search for a safe place where they can openly express their love.
Young Mungo is a gripping tale of masculinity, family and the dangers faced by queer love. Douglas Stuart’s new novel is not one to be missed.
Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley
19 April, Margaret K. McElderry Books
Sofi has spent the majority of her life training to take her father’s title as Musik. In the kingdom of Aell, music is one of the only things that remains untouched by magic: in fact, it is forbidden. Only licensed individuals known as the Musik are allowed to make it. However, despite all of her training, one thing stands in Sofi’s way of achieving her title: new girl, Lara. After the death of her father and suspecting Lara of foul play and the use of magic to enchant her the judges, Sofi’s investigations force her to look at her own family history as she discovers that her own past is fraught with secrets. What began as hatred between Sofi and Lara takes an unexpected turn as the two begin to fall in love with each other. Will harboured secrets come between the two and will Sofi fulfil the role that was promised to her from birth?
Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer
28 April, Puntam
Desire, motherhood and shifting identities collide in this blazing debut from Lauren McBrayer, which focuses on a lost woman attempting to regain ownership of her life. Merit has loved her husband through twelve years of marriage and adores her two sons, but something is missing: her. Searching for a new purpose, she returns to Jager and Brandt, given a lifeline by Jane, a Danish architect willing to ignore Merit’s career pause. As Merit throws herself into work, her relationship with Jane erupts into something more than colleagues, more than friends. Merit realises what she missed is someone seeing her as complete, without the mother and wife symbols that usually define her. She thinks she wants to be whole. She thinks she wants Jane. She intends to find out.
I am the Ghost in Your House by Mar Romasco-Moore
19 April, Delacorte Press
Pie is a ghost, but not the dead kind; she’s invisible, taking the form of objects around her. She’s a girl filled with roses in front of the wallpaper, but a girl made of glass in the window. It’s Pie and her mum, as it’s always been. They travel across America, never daring to stay in one place for too long. But, it’s Pie’s turn to choose their next city and, at seventeen, she’s ready: to stop feeling lonely; to be seen; to reveal herself to the girl she fell for in Pittsburgh. I am the Ghost in Your House is a captivating and heartwarming YA novel from the author of Some Kind of Animal.