Best books to read summer 2022: Bestselling sequels, historical novels and more

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

It’s astonishing to discover that this beguiling story of a dysfunctional family living in a rambling Dorset mansion between the wars is Joanna Quinn’s first novel. It follows the fortunes of Cristabel Seagrave, an unwanted orphan who is ignored by her stepmother and is determined to do her own thing, whether it’s performing plays beneath the skeleton of a whale that washes up on the nearby coastline or becoming a secret agent in Nazi-occupied France. If you loved Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazalet series and Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle you’ll absolutely adore this. It’s touching, enthralling and superbly written – an extraordinary book that deserves to be read and re-read.

Best: Sequel

Rating: 10/10

If, like us, you’re desperate to find out what happened to the characters from The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell’s 2019 bestseller about two entangled families, the sequel is out on July 21. When human bones are discovered on the banks of the Thames the trail leads back to the Chelsea mansion where three bodies were discovered 30 years ago, along with a healthy baby girl in a cot upstairs. But who is the fourth victim and where are the rest of the inhabitants from the house in Cheyne Walk? Some sequels turn out to be a damp squib but not this one. It’s one of the most compelling books we’ve read all year and had us turning the pages till dawn.

Best: London novel

Rating: 9/10

Candice Carty-Williams’s debut novel, Queenie, won the book of the year prize at the 2020 British Book Awards. Now she’s back with her second (she’s also written a YA novel called Empress & Amiya along the way). People Person is the story of Dimple Pennington, a 30-year-old Londoner with four half-siblings she barely knows. The only thing they have in common is their absent father, who apart from driving them through Brixton in a flashy gold Jeep when they were younger, hasn’t had much to do with them since. But then a shocking incident between Dimple and her boyfriend brings her brothers and sisters crashing back into her life. A funny, empathetic and insightful novel.

Best: Relationship novel

Rating: 9/10

It’s almost two decades since Brick Lane, Monica Ali’s debut novel, took the publishing world by storm and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In the intervening years she wrote three further novels but her latest, a tender tale of two people, two families and two cultures, is easily her best since her debut. Told in short, beautifully observed chapters, it’s the story of two young medics, Yasmin and Joe, whose impending marriage and complex family relationships are fraught with difficulty. Joe’s forceful feminist mother wants to take charge of the wedding, Yasmin’s traditionalist father and rebellious brother are at daggers drawn and Joe himself is hiding a devastating secret. It’s an outstanding read.

Best: YA read

Rating: 9/10

YA author Meg Rosoff Is best-known for her brilliant How I Live Now, the story of a spoiled American girl who, along with her four cousins, gets caught up in a terrifying war that changes all their lives. Her latest offering, a coming-of-age story set in New York, is just as good. It’s the tale of two teenage girls interning on a New York newspaper in the sweltering summer of 1983. Small town girl Beth and rich, charismatic Edie hit it off immediately but Beth soon finds herself out of her depth in Edie’s toxic world. This compelling novel deserves to be read by teens and adults alike.

Best: Psychological thriller

Rating: 9/10

Former journalist Jane Corry has written a host of nail-biting psychological page-turners and her latest is no exception – part thriller and part family drama. When midwife Emily arrives at her father’s house on the Cornish coast after making a devastating mistake at work, she finds a stranger living with her dad. It turns out that Françoise is his carer but Emily doesn’t trust her an inch, especially when it emerges that she’s been lying through her teeth. Told from both women’s viewpoints and interspersed with segments from Emily’s father’s Second World War experiences, this addictive tale kept us guessing right ‘til the very last page.

Best: Ingenious plot

Rating: 9/10

We’ve been fans of Gillian McAllister’s ingenious novels for a while but her seventh is in a league of its own. It’s after midnight on October 30 and solicitor Jen is waiting for her 18-year-old son Todd to arrive home. But when she glances out of the window she sees him stab a stranger in the street. The next day Jen gets up in despair – only to discover that it’s October 28 and the murder hasn’t yet happened. When she wakes the day after that it’s October 27 and it gradually dawns on her that if she can work out the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime she can stop it happening altogether. Clever, meticulously plotted and genuinely moving, it’s a triumph from start to finish.

Best: Debut novel

Rating: 9/10

Bonnie Garmus’s novel isn’t like anything else we’ve read this summer. Quirky and original, the story of Elizabeth Zott, a serious-minded chemist who becomes the reluctant star of a 1960s cooking show called Supper at Six, grabbed our attention from the very first chapter. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (think “combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”), her refusal to put up with the status quo and her insistence on saying exactly what she thinks soon prove revolutionary. A thought-provoking combination of humour, great characterisation and feminism, this is a stand-out read with a heroine you won’t forget. Look out for Six-Thirty, Elizabeth’s scene-stealing dog, too.

Best: Novel by a young author

Rating: 9/10

Leila Mottley has been described as “the voice of a generation”. She’s only 20 but her work has already featured in The New York Times and Oprah Daily. Her searing debut novel, based on a real-life case in Mottley’s hometown of Oakland, California, is the tale of 17-year-old Kiara, who is picked up by two police officers one night and later offered a shocking deal in exchange for her freedom. Nightcrawling is such a powerful, assured novel that it’s astonishing to realise that Mottley wrote it when she was only 17. She’s definitely a star in the making.

Best: Historical novel

Rating: 9/10

If you love Jane Austen you’re sure to enjoy Gill Hornby’s stylish glimpse into the life of young governess Anne Sharp as she takes up a new role at a Kent country mansion in 1804. Anne’s job is to teach Fanny Austen, Jane Austen’s 12-year-old niece, but she gradually becomes a close confidante of the novelist herself. Inspired by a true story, this elegantly written tale skilfully recreates a world where governesses are midway between the family upstairs and the servants downstairs. Anne is on duty around the clock, has to share a bedroom with her young pupil and is all too aware that if she steps out of line, she’ll lose her livelihood.