REISSUES
Pick of the paperbacks this month: Jo Harkin’s TELL ME AN ENDING ( , 5 January, Penguin). Its Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind-esque premise concerns Nepenthe, a chain of clinics who offer memory removal. After legal proceedings regarding resurfacing memory fragments, the company are obliged to contact clients to offer to restore their memories – creating a dilemma for those who don’t know what exactly they’re missing. We said: “Skilfully handled, compelling and captivating throughout.” Any mother who’s ever felt judged over the quality of their parenting may find that Jessamine Chan’s THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS ( , out now, Penguin) strikes a chord. After its protagonist leaves her daughter unattended for a few hours, she’s sent to a school to be taught to be a better parent. We said: “A compelling story and a distressingly real setting… There’s little resolution here though, just a series of agonies and unfairnesses.” Finally, our reviewer really did not get on with Jay Kristoff’s brick-thick EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE ( , 19 January, Harper Voyager). Set in a world where the sun no longer shines properly, greenery has become fungus, and vampires are slowly taking over, it follows hero Gabriel de Léon’s desperate journey to his former monastery. We said: “Littered with clichés… And laden with references to genitals and breasts, so desperate is the book to seem adult.”