The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
This fast-paced but dreamy novel set at a private university in the New England mountains, starts with a murder and tells the story of how it happened in reverse, as a group of elegant young friends obsessed with Greek mythology take everything too far, and close friendships fall to pieces. In her most restrained and elegant book, Tartt performs a magic trick by inventing fascinating characters who are capable of cold-blooded murder, and then making you like them. You know from the start they are killers, and yet you still want to be their friend. I re-read this book regularly.
The Likeness, by Tana French
This Irish crime novel by Tana French is one of my all-time favorite books. I’ve read it multiple times. It follows a female detective as she investigates a murder victim who looks exactly like her. Using their alikeness as a weapon, she takes over the dead woman’s life – moving in with her friends into a house in the countryside outside Dublin. She begins investigating them from within but then, slowly becomes seduced by them, and the rambling mansion where they live. Unfortunately, this is a very dangerous decision. Because one of them is a killer.
The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
This is an elegant, wandering, multi-strand tale of a mysterious circus that travels in secrecy and arrives without warning. Nobody knows when or where it will appear, or how long it will stay. The tents are filled with magical, mysterious displays. People are obsessed with it, and for good reason. It could be dangerous or simply wonderful — even after reading the book it’s hard to know which. Either way it doesn’t matter. It’s so beautifully written, I long to wake up one morning, as dawn washes the dark from the sky, to find the circus has appeared in my town.
Station 11, by Emily St John Mandel
I bought this book after everyone I trust in the world told me it was amazing, and they were ALL right. It starts in a pandemic apocalypse (sound familiar?) and then jumps forward in time to follow a group of survivors who are exploring the remains of America in a roving band of Shakespearean actors, travelling from settlement to settlement performing plays for people who can barely remember a time before life was like this. It’s both scary and thoughtful, and ultimately filled with hope. Maybe just skim the first chapter while we’re all locked in our houses, but the rest will lift you.
Circe, by Madeline Miller
This feminist reinterpretation of The Odyssey told from the perspective of the banished witch, Circe, is the most beautiful, heartbreaking, glorious look at the Greek myths in all of time. Circe’s story is bittersweet. She’s young and voiceless, expected to be nothing but beautiful and compliant. Because she isn’t either of those things, she’s punished by being banished to an island to live completely alone. There, in isolation, she finds herself. The tale is told with wonderful compassion. It’s funny and dry, and terribly poignant in places. I cried 3 times listening to the audiobook. Honestly, it’s so gorgeously written I don’t know why I bother.
Number 10 by CJ Daugherty is out now, £9.99 from Moonflower Books available on Amazon here.