Already my TBR pile is nearly full until April of this year, so I thought I would tell you about 3 of the (many) books on that list. My reviews will be up on EmmabBooks.com when publication date is nearing.

Jane and the Year Without a Summer  by Stephanie Barron

This historical fiction is out on 8th February 2022, published by Soho Press.

I put this on my reading list as I googled to see if the Year Without a Summer actually happened. It did, and having never heard of it before I was intrigued – and of course I love all things Austen.  Apparently this novel is inspired by people and events in Jane Austen’s life, so definitely a book for me. 

Find Stephanie Barron on Twitter @SBarronAuthor

Book Blurb (with thanks tohttps://austenprose.com/ )

May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript—about abaronet’s daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain—cannot alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits earned from her last novel, Emma, and treat herself to a period of rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra.
 
Cheltenham Spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane and Cassandra envisaged, however. It is immediately obvious that other boarders at the guest house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses of their own—some of them deadly. But perhaps with Jane’s interference a terrible crime might be prevented. Set during the Year without a Summer, when the eruption of Mount Tambora in the South Pacific caused a volcanic winter that shrouded the entire planet for sixteen months, this fourteenth installment in Stephanie Barron’s critically acclaimed series brings a forgotten moment of Regency history to life.

Off-Target by Eve Smith

Published by Orenda Books the e-version of this speculative fiction is already available, and the paperback version will be out on 17th February. 

I’m looking forward to reading this because I loved Eve Smith’s previous speculative fiction The Waiting Rooms, which was rather too close to reality for comfort, and a brilliant read. 

Find Eve Smith on Twitter @evecsmith

Book Blurb  (with thanks to https://orendabooks.co.uk/ )

A longed-for baby
An unthinkable decision
A deadly mistake

In an all-too-possible near future, when genetic engineering has become the norm for humans, parents are prepared to take incalculable risks to ensure that their babies are perfect – altering genes that may cause illness, and more… Susan has been trying for a baby for years, and when an impulsive one-night stand makes her dream come true, she’ll do anything to keep her daughter and ensure her husband doesn’t find out … including the unthinkable. She believes her secret is safe. For now. But as governments embark on a perilous genetic arms race and children around the globe start experiencing a host of distressing symptoms – even taking their own lives – something truly horrendous is unleashed. Because those children have only one thing in common, and people are starting to ask questions…

Pod by Laline Paull

This novel, set in the ocean, comes out on April 2022 and is being published by Corsair of Little, Brown Book Group.   There is a short video introduction to Pod on Laline Paull’s twitter account  @LalinePaull

I loved both of this author’s previous books, The Ice and The Bees so was thrilled to be offered Pod to read.   Though I read The Bees some years ago now, I am still so enthralled by the novel (and bees themselves) that I was given some lovely bee products for Christmas – candles, soap, honey.    

Book Blurb (taken from https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/ )

Bestselling author of The Bees Laline Paull returns with an immersive and transformative new novel of an ocean world – its extraordinary creatures, mysteries, and mythologies – that is increasingly haunted by the cruelty and ignorance of the human race.

Ea has always felt like an outsider. As a spinner dolphin who has recently come of age, she’s now expected to join in the elaborate rituals that unite her pod. But Ea suffers from a type of deafness that means she just can’t seem to master spinning. When catastrophe befalls her family and Ea knows she is partly to blame, she decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and leave the pod.

As Ea ventures into the vast, she discovers dangers everywhere, from lurking predators to strange objects floating in the water. Not to mention the ocean itself seems to be changing: creatures are mutating, demonic noises pierce the depths, whole species of fish disappear into the sky above. Just as she is coming to terms with her solitude, a chance encounter with a group of arrogant bottlenoses will irrevocably alter the course of her life.

In her terrifying, propulsive novel, Laline Paull explores the true meaning of family, belonging, sacrifice – the harmony and tragedy of the pod – within an ocean that is no longer the sanctuary it once was, and which reflects a world all too recognizable to our own.

*****

All the best,  Emma