20 Brilliant Books To Take On Your Honeymoon
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Brides asked two debut authors to shortlist their top ten honeymoon reads. Prepare to work your way through some exciting new releases and revisit some forgotten favourites.
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By Corrie Jackson
Breaking Dead by Corrie Jackson
A long career in glossy magazines has given me a front-row view of the fashion industry - and all the skeletons in its closet. Which is why London Fashion Week forms the backdrop for my debut; the first book in a compelling crime series starring investigative reporter, Sophie Kent. Following her brother’s suicide, Sophie is hanging on by a thread. But she’s forced to overcome her personal problems when the mutilated body of a Russian model turns up in a luxury hotel. The thriller flits between the glamour of the catwalk and London’s darkest corners, uncovering a toxic underworld rife with drugs, secrets, prostitution and blackmail. If you like your holiday reads fast-paced and edge-of-your-sunlounger, this one’s for you. (Bonnier Zaffre, £7.99)
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The Muse by Jessie Burton
Jessie Burton’s debut, The Miniaturist, sold over a million copies worldwide. And her second book promises to be just as game-changing. It’s a sweeping tale about a young Caribbean immigrant in 1960s London, a bohemian woman in 1930s Spain, and the mysterious painting that connects them both. Love, ambition and obsession? Sign me up. (Picador, £9.09)
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The Girls by Emma Cline
Head to California in the pages of this poignant coming of age tale that’s set over the course of one summer. The year is 1969 and the story follows disillusioned teenager, Evie, who becomes obsessed with a cult and its charismatic leader. This debut – loosely based on the Manson murders - sold for a rumoured two million dollars, and Hollywood heavyweight, Scott Rudin, snapped up the film rights. Get in on the act now. (Chatto & Windus, £9.09)
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Not Working by Lisa Owens
The New York Times described this revenge fantasy as ‘Nine to Five’ meets ‘Thelma and Louise’. It’s a sharp, wry tale about a group of underpaid assistants who hatch a plan to hijack their boss’s expense account to pay off their student-loan debt. But it’s not quite as fluffy as it sounds. At its heart is the struggle of overeducated, underpaid twenty-somethings, aka the workplace issue of our times. (Picador, £7.10)
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In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
Warning: you’re likely to read this in a single sitting. When Nora is invited to her former best friend’s hen weekend, she vows to put the past behind her. But out in the woods, something goes frighteningly wrong. Ware gives her chilling debut a claustrophobic twist by setting it in an isolated cottage. Read, then congratulate yourself that your own hen weekend was nothing like this (I hope). (Vintage, £3.85)
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The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
Buckle up for a road trip through a century’s worth of Portugal. This is Martel’s first novel since The Life of Pi and promises great things. Part-quest, part-ghost story, the plot follows three interlocking threads. A young man in turn-of-the century Lisbon, a pathologist in 1940s Portugal, and a Canadian senator who takes refuge in his Portuguese village fifty years later. Beautiful. (Canongate Books, £8.99)
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Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield
A tongue-in-cheek retelling of Jane Austen’s best-loved novel, Pride & Prejudice. Liz Bennett is a journalist at a women’s magazine, Jane is a yoga teacher and Lydia and Kitty are Cross-fit fanatics. Sittenfield’s knife-sharp observations yank this version into the 21st century (think hate-sex and reality TV), but the really interesting point is how relevant Austen’s themes still feel today. (The Borough Press, £7.99)
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This Must Be The Place by Maggie O’Farrell
Yes, it really is worth the hype. The seventh novel from the award-winning novelist follows linguist Daniel and his second wife, Claudette. A discovery about Daniel’s first-ever love sets him off down a path that will ultimately threaten his marriage. Each chapter is told from a different perspective and O’Farrell, a writer of extraordinary talent, takes the multiple narrators and shifting timelines in her stride. Just don’t expect to speak to your new husband until you’ve finished. (Tinder Press, £7.99)
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Learning to Speak American by Colette Dartford
Despite the harrowing subject matter – the loss of a child – Dartford’s haunting debut is a life-affirming tale about a couple piecing themselves back together in the aftermath of heartbreak and tragedy. Throw in a sun-drenched setting - California’s Napa Valley - and it really is the perfect honeymoon read. (Bonnier Zaffre, £7.99)
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A Way of Life Like Any Other by Darcy O’Brien
Set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, this darkly funny story – written in 1977 - is all about the collapse of a movie-star marriage (bear with me). The narrator is the couple’s child - a self-proclaimed ‘pampered ass’ – who has been dubbed the West Coast’s Holden Caulfield. And, like Catcher in the Rye, the book treads a line between deadpan and heartbreaking. Bonus points for the cover: Slim Aarons’ iconic shot of the fabulous CeeZee Guest at her Palm Beach mansion. Honeymoon inspiration, anyone? (NYRB Classics, £7.99)
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By Rosie Nixon, author and editor of HELLO! magazine
The Stylist by Rosie Nixon
Slip behind the red rope and be whisked from London to Los Angeles and back, with Amber Green a London boutique worker, who accidentally lands herself the job of assistant to infamous jet-setting ‘stylist to the stars’ Mona Armstrong. Amber’s life is turned inside out as she finds herself helping to dress some of tinseltown’s biggest names on the starriest nights of their lives, glittering awards ceremonies, The Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Oscars. But as a love triangle heats up and jaw-dropping designer gowns are paraded on red carpets, Mona seems to be unravelling faster than a hemline. What is her secret? And what the hell will everyone wear? A fast, funny and fashionable read that will make you glad to have found your soul mate, but aching to discover if Amber will end up with hers.
(HQ, Harper Collins - paperback out 11th August)
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Riders by Jilly Cooper (Corgi)
Sex and horses: who could ask for more? This raunchy page-turner starring Rupert Campbell-Black may be rooted in the 1980s but its brilliant plot and strong characters are just as addictive today. Indulge yourself in a world of upper class studs, show jumping, loose morals and plenty of bed hopping. You might just wish you’d packed a whip…
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Heartburn by Nora Ephron (Virago)
This is the anti happy-ever-after read for honeymooners with a sense of humour. Ephron’s first novel (she went on to write When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle) is about the breakdown of a marriage. When pregnant food writer Rachel discovers her husband is having an affair, revenge is sweet. Recipes are weaved through the book and the finale – involving a key lime pie – is as satisfying as it sounds.
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The Interestings: A Novel by Meg Wolitzer (Vintage)
The summer Nixon resigns, six teenagers become best friends at summer camp and this novel tells their stories from that moment through the next few decades, to their 40's. As New York City changes, so does the course of friendship – themes including fate, class, money and power are brilliantly explored.
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After The Last Dance by Sarra Manning (Sphere, Little Brown)
A beautifully written, absorbing story of unexpected love, After The Last Dance, switches artfully between two women and two love affairs sixty years apart. When Rose arrives at Kings Cross station in 1943 she hopes to escape war-weary London and find glamour and romance at Rainbow Corner, the famous dance hall. But falling in love for the first time won’t necessarily change her life for the better. In the present day, Jane is wearing a wedding dress when she asks the random man sat next to her in a Las Vegas bar to marry her, changing the course of her life. The two women’s stories are vividly woven together and you will ache to discover whether they can make peace with their past lives.
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Husbands by Adele Parks (Penguin)
The idea that you might have more that one husband at a time, is probably best kept hidden from your newly wedded love, but you can tell him that this is ultimately a heart-warming tale (it just happens to involve a love triangle made up of Bella and her two husbands). Bella bails on her student marriage and finds love with charming, charismatic Philip, but she never actually filed for divorce. When her first husband, Stevie, re-enters her life, she questions whether their story has fully ended. Funny and tender by turns, told by alternating narrators, this is a great escapist read.
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Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
When he hears a fragment of the famous Beatles song, Toru is transported back to his student days in Tokyo and his first love, the beautiful yet damaged Naoko. When Naoko commits suicide, Toru's life continues, although a part of him has remained frozen in that disturbing winter. When an intriguing young woman called Midori comes into his life he has to decide whether to accept love or carry on in grief. Dark yet filled with warmth, this unique story is Murakami at his best.
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Chances by Jackie Collins (Simon & Schuster)
September marks the first anniversary of Collins’s untimely death to breast cancer and what better way to toast the prolific author’s life from your lounger than by reading this sizzling Collins classic. The first novel to introduce her beloved heroine, Lucky Santiago, the ball-busting, beautiful woman who never takes no for an answer, Chances is a romp through the glamorous playgrounds of Europe to the gambling palaces of Las Vegas with the notorious Santangelo crime family. Suspense, sex and shady dealings, Chances is a riotous quick read.
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Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (Penguin)
If you dream of setting off on a globe-trotting adventure with your love, this is the book for you. From the Italian Riviera in the 1960s, to modern day Hollywood, the story tells of a beautiful American actress who escapes to Italy, thinking she is dying of cancer, and a simple hotelier on whom she creates an enduring impression. Filled with glamour, fun characters and true romance, you will be hooked on the intriguing story. It took 15 years for the author to write this book, and you will devour it in days.
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Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Having hours to spend being idle is the perfect time to catch up on a classic and Pride & Prejudice has to be one of the most romantic novels ever written making it an ideal honeymoon tome. When the five Bennett sisters must be married off by their father, they don't make life easy for him. As far as love stories go, you will be pushed to do better than Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Dreamy.
