The start of a new month can only one thing for bookworms: that new releases are on the horizon. Whether you are in the mood for an immersive historical novel, a page-turning romcom or a heartwarming memoir, August has got you covered.
Add in the fact it brings the long-awaited return of Sorrow and Bliss author Meg Mason, and new nonfiction from esteemed historian and broadcaster Simon Sebag Montifore, and it is set to be a good month…
Agnes Lives! by Hallie Elizabeth Newton
Over 24 hours in 2014, fading New York model-socialite Agnes Maurer searches for someone to kill her before her next SoulCycle class. Newton’s blackly comic stream-of-consciousness novel follows her through a hollow world of image, status and existential despair.
Viking, £14.99
Little Spark by Jess Kidd
Victorian orphan Bodkin Bell once dazzled audiences as the electrifying child star Little Spark, until her gifts landed her in prison. Assisting a reclusive family of inventors at an isolated Kent house offers escape – but leads her towards some unnerving truths.
Canongate, £18.99
The Salt King by Natasha Pulley
Jesuit Avelyn Brocken escaped the salt-mining town of Hreodwater as a child, hoping never to return. When apparent miracles begin turning people into salt, the Vatican sends him back to investigate. An eerie story of faith, memory and danger.
Gollancz, £22
How to Make A Woman by Marie Darrieussecq; Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason; Netherwood by Jake ArnottHow to Make A Woman by Marie Darrieussecq
In 1980s southern France, childhood friends Rose and Solange take very different paths: one towards bourgeois stability, the other through teenage pregnancy and acting in Hollywood. In this terrific read translated by Penny Hueston, their intersecting perspectives create a raw account of growing up and becoming a woman.
Fitzcarraldo Editions, £14.99
Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason
Mason’s much anticipated follow up to her hit novel of 2020, Sorrow and Bliss, centres on Sophie Pattison: a heartbroken stage hand working at literary festivals who finds herself pulled into a pit of obsession over a particular author. It is a funny, bittersweet story about solitude and connection.
Bloomsbury, £20
Netherwood by Jake Arnott
Leaving London for a seaside cottage in Hastings, a couple discover their new home once belonged to a notorious local occultist. In this unsettling story steeped in folk horror and Gothic atmosphere, the house’s unsettling past begins to close in.
Titan Books, £18.99
Song for Another Home by Bora Lee Reed; Love Unlocked by Cecelia Ahern; Something Like Happiness by Tom NewlandsSong for Another Home by Bora Lee Reed
As Chinese forces attack Pyongyang in 1950, Oksoon flees south with her mother and brother, while her cousin Junho seeks safety in a coastal orphanage. This moving novel follows a family divided by the Korean War and struggling to survive.
Serpent’s Tail, £14.99
Love Unlocked by Cecelia Ahern
Melody has sworn off love; Al is a hopeless romantic. When Dublin’s lovers’ padlocks are removed from the bridge and couples around the world begin breaking up, the pair investigate for Melody’s podcast – and may find their own feelings becoming part of the story.
HarperCollins, £20
Something Like Happiness by Tom Newlands
Teenage sweethearts Frazer and Caitlin share a crumbling flat, financial strain and worries about their autistic son. Their love faces a difficult reckoning in this tender and gripping second novel from the author of Only Here, Only Now.
Phoenix, £20
Where Are the Kings by Donal Ryan; Great and Unfortunate Things by Jason Arday; On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love by Louise DoughtyWhere Are the Kings by Donal Ryan
After something terrible happens to young Jack, the adults in his family refuse to explain it. Guided and confused by his uncles, grandparents, aunt Rose and volatile friend JJ, he tries to understand their secrets and the person he is becoming.
Doubleday, £16.99
Great and Unfortunate Things by Jason Arday
Arday recounts his remarkable path from a Clapham council estate childhood, unable to speak until 11 or read and write until 18, to becoming Cambridge’s youngest Black professor in 2023. His memoir traces the faith, determination and support behind that achievement.
Simon & Schuster, £20
On This Spot Fell One Tear of Love by Louise Doughty
After her parents died, Doughty discovered a suitcase of letters revealing their once-scandalous 1950s affair. The first memoir from the author of Apple Tree Yard explores the social conventions that nearly kept them apart, and the enduring love that made her own life possible.
Phoenix, £20
The Cauldron by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Why has the Middle East become one of the world’s most complex and consequential regions? This sweeping history moves from the final years of the Ottoman Empire to the present day, offering a clear guide to the conflicts, cultures, leaders and upheavals that shaped it.
W&N, £25
Love, Vito by Vito Coppola
The Strictly Come Dancing star tells his life story, from a Southern Italian childhood centred on the family kitchen to international success. Recipes including his nonna’s ragù accompany memories of family, training, hard work and life far from home.
Sphere, £25
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