Bestselling author Adele Parks MBE shares her picks of the month, including a house-full-of-secrets thriller, a coming-of-age tale with a quirky heroine, and an honest guide to navigating grief.
PLATINUM EXPERT Adele Parks MBE
AGREATREAD
Adele Parks MBE is the author of 23 bestselling novels including Just Between Us, Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck. She writes compelling, twisty, psychological thrillers that are popular all over the world, with five million English language editions sold. She is dedicated to spreading the joy of reading and is a proud ambassador of the National Literacy Trust. She loves hearing from readers so keep in touch with her via X (formerly Twitter) @adeleparks or at instagram.com/adele_parks.
MRS. GULLIVER
by Valerie Martin (£16.99, Penguin Random House)
This will certainly give your book club some interesting discussion points! Set in 1954, in the tropical haven Verona Island where prostitution is legal, Lila Gulliver runs a brothel that promises her exclusive clientele privacy and discretion. So, a haven for the men then, not necessarily the poor women! To coin my mum’s phrase, “it was ever thus”. The exclusive clientele includes gangsters and corrupt lawmen. Mrs. Gulliver has a new girl working for her, mesmerising and mysterious Carità. A 19-year-old beauty who has been blind since birth. When the son of a wealthy judge visits Mrs. Gulliver’s establishment, he immediately falls madly in love with Carità. Ian Drohan is as naïve as he is ardent, protected by family wealth and connections. Mrs. Gulliver mistrusts him but Carità is fearless and headstrong and holds a different view. The two women must fight for agency in a community too ready to underestimate and dismiss them. The winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Valerie Martin has written an unexpected and witty novel examining the eternal inequalities embedded in this particular trade.
★★★★★
THE DREAM HOME
by T.M. Logan (£16.99, Bonnier Books)
Adam, Jess and their three kids move into a rambling Victorian villa right at the very top of their price range. It’s in need of TLC before it can be considered perfect, but it has potential to be their dream home. However, on the very day they move in, Adam discovers a door hidden behind a fitted wardrobe, concealing a – frankly freaky – secret room. Inside, he discovers a small selection of secreted personal possessions. Obsessed with how the objects got there and who they belong to, Adam sets in motion a series of events that place his f
