Can someone please recommend a wonderful book!

[Nowillpowerarall]

Something that will totally grip me straightway but thats also really well-written.
Thank you

Old Filth by Jane Gardam
Anything by Dorothy Whipple
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Sacred Voices by Sarah Dunant
Blood and Beauty, also Sarah Dunant
The Floating Book by Michelle Lovric
Across The Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

Thank you

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn were two I couldn't put down (recently)

I recently really enjoyed "Lessons in Chemistry"
American Dirt is incredibly gripping.

Exactly the two that sprang to my mind!

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld. The most beautifully written book I’ve read in years, but it’s quite gritty. It’s not often a book stays with me but it definitely has.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Child-Finder-Rene-Denfeld/dp/1474605559/ref=asc_df_1474605559/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310857073810&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16242685897084311678&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046327&hvtargid=pla-566198824295&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

Where the crawdads sing. Brilliant book.

Yes to Jane Gardam!
also anything by Kate Atkinson the latest is called Shrines of Gaiety

also, I really loved Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

Small things Like These - Claire Keegan. More of a novella really, but I love her economical style of writing.

Agree about American Dirt. It is definitely gripping.

Thank you! Am making a list!

Yes to American dirt
The heart’s invisible furies

Secret History , Donna Tartt. I am on a mission to get everyone to read it. Written in the 1980s. Wonderful writing.

I got halfway through secret history, didn't grab me.

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. Great book!

I second The Hearts Invisible Furies. Absolutely brilliant story.
Anything by Maggie O'Farrell - each of her books is better than the last. Amazing writer.
I'm a big Margaret Atwood fan - the Blind Assassin, Cats Eye and Alias Grace all fantastic reads.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx is good if you want a big sprawling epic story.
I know Barbara Kingsolver has a new one out, but from her back catalogue I would recommend Prodigal Summer or The Lacuna

If you like political type books I'm reading Alastair Campbell's diaries from when he was a Labour spin doctor, it's a cross between a political thriller & true life, I can't put them down.

Still life by Sarah Winman and The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn - both are immersive and have great characterisation.

Elizabeth Strout is wonderful, as is Anne Tyler.
totally agree about Dorothy Whipple - brilliant.

"Piece of cake" by Cupcake Brown true story and hard to put down.

Thank you all!

All My Mothers, and The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
Both by Joanna Glen. Beautifully written proper stories.

Thank you

Little by Edward Carey. Its the most gripping book I have read for ages.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

I read Perfect by Rachel Joyce 6months ago and I'm still thinking about it now. The mother character was so brittle - so well written.