Of the three books I picked for holiday reading, two made me weep on numerous occasions and the third made me cry with laughter. I recommend these books hugely. I don’t recommend reading any of them in public.
Main Characters by
@thebobpalmer is a glittering concept executed with real tenderness and intimacy. It’s a love story between a budding film director, Clara, and an actor, Seb, but the story is told by everybody but the couple: strangers, friends, colleagues, and other lovers along the way. As a result, it has the feeling of both a classic, decades-long love story and a short story collection. I loved the insight into the observers’ lives, a patchwork of longing, sadness, quiet hopes and disappointments. Just gorgeous. Out in July.
David Szalay probably doesn’t need much of an introduction in 2026. I loved All That Man Is more than Flesh, and London and the South East is similar, not least because it is brilliantly, nightmarishly funny. It’s about an ad salesman, Paul, who becomes involved in an elaborate plot to leave his stale employer for a rival. If this sounds dry as hell, it’s only testament to the humour and compulsion of the book that it never is. There’s a cast of awful villains, people recognisable from every office, each skewered by Paul’s depressing, depressed humour. Don’t come expecting to feel good about the modern world, obviously, but an absurdly weird, wonderful read.
Finally, Broken Country by
@clarelesliehall . I started this several months ago and realised it was a book I wanted to save until I could lose myself in it entirely. That’s exactly what happened. This is a story about Beth, living with her farmer husband Frank and grieving the death of her young son - when her first love, Gabriel, returns to the village. It has a really timeless beauty, TWO devastating love stories, and a gorgeous insight into rural life in the 1950s and all of the scrutiny and warmth of a small community. A kind waiter actually asked me if I was ok while I read the final scenes (I was not ok).
