With Monica Ali and Isabel Allende returning, it’s a week full of big names…

Fiction

1. Brown Girls By Daphne Palasi Andreades is published in hardback by Fourth Estate, priced £12.99 (ebook £7.99). Available February 3

Daphne Palasi Andreades breaks away from traditional storytelling in this captivating debut. Instead of focusing on a set of characters and following them through life, the book is told from the perspective of ‘we’ – brown girls from Queens. We follow these brown girls, who come from all different backgrounds and have a whole range of experiences, from childhood through to adulthood. While their lives aren’t the same – they fall in love with different people, have different jobs and dreams – there is a definite shared experience in being a brown girl, and a brown woman, in America. The writing is beautifully lyrical, both heart-warming and heart-breaking. At times you might wish there was one particular character to follow and connect with, but there’s still much power to be found in Brown Girls.8/10(Review by Prudence Wade)

2. Violeta by Isabel Allende is published in hardback by Bloomsbury Publishing, priced £16.99 (ebook £11.89). Available now

Born to an upper-class family during the Spanish Flu, young Violeta del Valle must navigate family ruin, loss and exile. In womanhood, she carves her own path in what readers infer is Chile. Despite spanning a century involving the Wall Street Crash, world wars and political upheaval, this is not historical fiction but a story of family. Written as a letter to a loved one, the first-person form reveals its 100-year-old narrator’s love of living. Isabel Allende lays her protagonist bare – Violeta’s mistakes and regrets are chronicled as much as her successes and growth. Despite being Violeta’s story, it would be nothing without the colourful characters who weave in and out of her life: lovers, children and friends. Sometimes Violeta’s existence can feel a bubble of privilege during decades of Latin American turmoil. Frustrating as Violeta can be though, Allende has crafted a genuine person.8/10(Review by Elspeth Keep)

3. Love Marriage by Monica Ali is published in hardback by Virago, priced £18.99 (ebook £9.99). Available February 3

In Love Marriage, Monica Ali’s hotly-anticipated new novel, the Brick Lane author weaves a fast-paced but nonetheless poignant tale of families confronting hidden secrets. The culture clash set up as the novel opens, between junior doctor Yasmin Ghorami’s Indian parents and the world of her future mother-in-law in Primrose Hill, could seem hackneyed, things veer off in unexpected directions. Yasmin’s parents had a ‘love marriage’, but there is more to their story than meets the eye. And when it comes to Yasmin’s own marriage, all is not as blissful as first appears. Ali has written an engaging family drama, with some frank and refreshing sex scenes. Despite being set some years before the pandemic, Love Marriage brings home the dedication, sacrifice and flawed humanity of NHS workers as never before.8/10(Review by Catherine Lough)

Non-fiction

4. Control: The Dark History And Troubling Present Of Eugenics by Adam Rutherford is published in hardback by W&N, priced £12.99 (ebook £6.99). Available February 3

Adam Rutherford takes us on a journey into the history of eugenics to its current-day practice, revealing how it was born with the background of Darwin’s theory of evolution. Embraced by the world and indoctrinated into political movements and policies, it led to genocide in some countries. It could be seen as a companion to Rutherford’s How To Argue With A Racist – it’s an insightful and compelling look into the story of eugenics, showing how its legacies are still prevalent in our language and literature today. It’s a hard one to put down. While no story on this topic would be complete without a bit of a biology lesson first, Rutherford makes it easy to digest.9/10(Review by Sharron Logan)

Children’s book of the week

5. The Window by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Udayana Lugo, is published in paperback by Studio Press, priced £6.99 (no ebook). Available now

Beautifully illustrated and sensitively written, The Window could help guide children mourning the loss of a loved one. For a lot of little ones, the death of a grandparent might be their first experience of loss, and some children are too young to fully comprehend what that means straight away. Gehl is mindful of their feelings in her story, where young Daria loves spending time visiting her grandpa and looking out through his window overlooking the beach. Ultimately, her poorly grandpa passes away, leaving Daria going through many new emotions for a young child, but ones that need to be acknowledged and supported. Readers will appreciate how Gehl is sympathetic to Daria’s memories of happier times with her grandpa. How the author deals with the loss Daria feels will no doubt be something young minds can relate to.8/10(Review by Karen Sykes)

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JANUARY 29

HARDBACK (FICTION)1. Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman2. The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett3. Daughter Of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan4. To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara5. Violeta by Isabel Allende6. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman7. A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe8. The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont9. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney10. The Maid by Nita Prose(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)1. Bigger Than Us by Fearne Cotton2. Pinch Of Nom Comfort Food by Kay Featherstone & Kate Allinson3. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith4. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy5. We Do Lockdown by Miriam Elia6. What I Wish People Knew About Dementia by Wendy Mitchell7. This Is Vegan Propaganda by Ed Winters8. And Away… by Bob Mortimer9. The BBC by David Hendy10. The Storyteller by Dave Grohl(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)1. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith2. The Maid by Nita Prose3. Atomic Habits by James Clear4. Bigger Than Us by Fearne Cotton5. Windswept & Interesting by Billy Connolly6. The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller7. Birthdays For The Dead by Stuart MacBride8. The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman9. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman10. And Away… by Bob Mortimer(Compiled by Audible)