British Contemporary Novel Suggestions??

[barefootcook]

Can anyone suggest some new(ish) novels that I might like? I like books set in the UK that are well written but easy to read! Have read lots of Patrick Gale, Penelope Lively, Jane Gardam etc.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain is the story of an economic migrant trying to start a new life in London .. very readable and not as heavy as it sounds!

I really like Sue Gee; The Mystery of Glass is excellent, as is Earth and Heaven; both are set in the past but if you want a present-day setting try The Hours of the Night .. a love story between two people who aren't young any more.

I also enjoyed The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher. Follows the lives of two families in the north of England during the 70s and 80s.

Andrea Levy, Monica Ali. Both very readable writers.

I love books set in the UK too (particularly if they're northern!) My favourite writer is Lesley Glaister, from Sheffield - anything by her is brilliant. Maggie O'Farrell is also very readable. Recently I read Black is the colour by Helen Howe which is another UK Northern-ish set easy pacy reading.
Highlandcoo - the Philip Hensher sounds good, I will check that out.

Have you read Iain Banks? (not Iain M Banks).
The Crow Road must be about 20 years old now, but it is set in my youth (the main protagonist is early 20s as was I when it was first published ). It is one of my favorite books, but probably influenced by me having the time of my life in the early 1990s.

Also, Monica Lwhatsit, who wrote A Shirt History of Tractors in Ukrainian.

Tideline by Penny Hancock.

Gillespie and I - Jane Harris,it's quirky and intriguing with twists right down to the last sentence.
Jamrach's Menagerie - Carol Birch. Shortlisted for the Booker,and a gripping read.

You might like:

The Long Weekend by Veronica Henry set in Cornwall
tripfiction.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/come-to-cornwall-via-fiction.html

Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald set in London
Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig set in London
Eden's Garden by Juliet Greenwood London, Cornwall, Devon, Snowdonia
Dearest Rose by Rowan Coleman Cumbria
Alys Always Harriet Lane set in London
Brighton Belle Sara Sheridan Brighton

I'd second Marina Lewycka - she writes very readable novels set in a British contemporary setting, I particularly liked A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and We Are All Made of Glue though didn't think so much of her latest, Various Pets Alive and Dead. Then there's Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series, Julie Myerson's Something Might Happen, Sebastian Faulks' A Week in December, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Skippy Dies (set over the water in Ireland but very contemporary), Me Before You, lots of Julian Barnes, Paul Torday...

Oh mimble, you've just reminded me of a Kate Atkinson novel I really loved - Behind The Scenes At The Museum. Sad but good.

Thank you all. I'll get started!

Capital by John Lanchester is very contemporary and very readable.

Oh, I enjoyed Capital too. If you enjoy people like Patrick Gale and Jane Gardam (both of whom I love) I think you might like Geraldine Brooks. Have you come across her? She's American but lived in the UK for a while. She's written a lot of good stuff, but my favourite is Year of Wonders, which is set during the plague and tells the story of a village in Derbyshire that cut itself off from everywhere else to avoid spreading the illness.

Duchess - I think you and I have pretty similar bookshelves!

Yes, I have read Year of Wonders and LOVED it too.