Apologies for not posting this at the end of the month, but I was having a rather lovely time in Cornwall, making a good start on March reading! But here are my top three reads from February.
The first book I’m recommending this month is LIE WITH ME by Sabine Durrant. It seems that we can’t escape ‘the next psychological thriller’ or the next ‘domestic noir’, but I find that so many of them leave me cold and invariably frustrated by an ending that just doesn’t come off. Well, not this one. I’m even prepared to use that old cliché, and admit that I just couldn’t put it down. For anyone who loves a really gripping plot, this is for you. Plus, the writing is pretty great, too. It’s set on a Greek island in the summer and features a washed-up writer who’s a bit of a rogue, and he soon finds himself in serious trouble… I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read Durrant’s earlier books, but I’ll definitely be making time to do so later this year.
It’s been a good few years since Amanda Craig’s latest novel, so when I discovered that her new book is out in June I had to read it. Craig has always written brilliantly about families, relationships and human connections and this book is no different. It’s about a couple who are divorcing, but financial difficulties mean they have to move to the country and continue living together with their three children. Craig is as sharp and perceptive as ever here, and this time she turns her pen to the difference between city and country and the sense of a divided land, which is even more timely in the wake of Brexit, and immigration and migration on both macro and micro level. This is a nuanced, literary page-turner. Do look out for it in June.
One of my favourite books of the last few years is Do No Harm by Henry Marsh, in which he writes about some of the most difficult and interesting cases during his career as a neurosurgeon. Stephan Westaby is a pioneering heart surgeon who covers his career in similar fashion. Like Marsh, Westaby’s book is very readable and offers a fascinating insight into medical advances and some of the pioneering and almost unbelievable surgeries that are carried out today. However, for those interested in the man behind the mask (sorry), this is slightly less good, raising questions that aren’t answered and leaving a number of avenues unexplored. Nonetheless, still well worth reading and I expect many more books by doctors won’t be far away…
As always, you can follow what I’m reading on Pinterest and elsewhere. Do get in touch and share what you’ve been enjoying.
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Out and About in London 
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