Top 5 Fiction of 2011
Want to know what you should be reading while slobbing about in your pyjamas and dosing every dessert with brandy over the holidays? Here’s our favourite fictional reads from the past twelve months.
And since the holidays are typically also a time for bickering, you’re welcome to have your say too. Take a peek at our list and then tell us in the comments what you think…
Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth
An unmistakeably Northern nineties adolescence goes awry when the bodies of beautiful fourteen-year-old Chloe and her forbidden older boyfriend Carl are found on Valentine’s Day in a frozen lake.
Chillingly true in tone, Cold Light is the unsettling but engrossing story of Emma and Lola, the best friends left behind in the aftermath of what most assume to be a star-crossed lovers’ suicide pact, and the secrets they still have ten years after the tragedy.
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
A heartbreaking, blackly funny and beautiful story told by ten-year-old Jamie Matthews, set five years after the death of his sister Rose in a terrorist attack, this début novel is powerful, poignant and incredibly accomplished.
With pitch-perfect dialogue and an awkward, idealistic but irrepressible narrator, it’s an uplifting read that’s had rave reviews from both adult and children readers. And I guarantee that you’ll be blubbing by the end.
When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
Another debut that definitely got people talking, this tale of Elly, her brother Joe and their kooky childhood friend Jenny Penny is a love letter to the enduring loyalties and resilience of dysfunctional families and friendships.
Lyrical language and deft, subtle descriptions give it a bittersweet magic. Reviews have been mixed, but it has its fair share of fans, with rights sold in eleven countries and counting around the world.
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
A powerful and atmospheric novel tracing the lives of a group of young men from Berlin to Paris, it was a Radio 4 Book at Booktime and has since been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
Effectively capturing the colloquialisms of the jazz age and the historical backdrop of the Second World War in writing which is both rhythmic and evocative, we recommend you read it in an underground blues bar with a tumbler of whiskey at your side.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Another hyped and hotly-debated début, this darkly delightful cinematic tale is an essential read for all those into fantasy, fairytale, mythology and magic, with a cast list featuring contortionists, clock-makers, acrobats, illusionists, performing kittens and identical twins who can read people’s pasts and foretell the future.
While not without its faults, the sensory descriptions of adventuring through the mysterious, monochromatic travelling circus that casts a strange spell on all its attendees are beautifully done, and definitely had us daydreaming about running away with the circus…
What books would have been in your top five fictional reads this year? Which of these are we crazy to include, and which others have we been mad to miss out? Tell us in the comments…
Jane Bradley / Alex Herod
My favs published this year have to be
Bear Down Bear North by Melinda Moustakis
The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore
The Cry of the Go Away Bird by Andrea Eames (cannot WAIT for her new one in Feb!)
and special mention to Westwood by Stella Gibbons thatw as re-released in August.
Cracking year for fiction, I think!
Absolutely on my wavelength. LOVED My sister lives on the mantlepiece. Haven’t read them all but I will now. Thanks
When God Was A Rabbit is an incredible book. And the others are now on my Christmas list!