Richard & Judy Summer Read
The 2008 Selections for the Popular British Television Book Club
Taking inspiration from the huge success of Oprah’s Book Club in the United States, in 2004 Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan added the Richard & Judy Book Club to their Channel 4 talk show. While the main Book Club features a selection of ten titles which are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, the Summer Read selection features popular fiction titles.
The books that have been selected for the 2008 Summer Read:
The Outcast by Sadie Jones
(Vintage, 978-0099513421)
In 1957 Lewis Aldridge is nineteen years old and, having recently been released from prison, is returning to his childhood home in the South of England. Ten years earlier, Lewis’ father had also just returned home, in his case from war, and was fitting back into suburban life with ease. However, life in the Aldridge’s comfortable community was shattered forever when young Lewis returned alone from one of the regular picnics he and his mother went on in the woods.
No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
(Orion, 978-0752888606)
Teenager Cynthia Archer awoke on morning with a terrible hangover to discover that her family had disappeared. After twenty-five years the disappearance of her father, mother and brother has still not been solved and so, finally wishing to put the past behind her, Cynthia agrees to take part in a television documentary in the hope that it will jog someone’s memory of what occurred. At first the documentary gets no response but then a mysterious letter arrives that chills Cynthia to the core.
East of the Sun by Julia Gregson
(Orion, 978-0752874364)
Viva Holloway’s advert in The Lady has led to her chaperoning three troubled young charges on their journey to India. Rose is on the way to marry a handsome cavalry officer she has only met a few times previously. Victoria is to be her bridesmaid and is determined to have as much fun as possible before finding a husband of her own. Rounding off the group is the malevolent presence of Guy Glover.
Down River by John Hart
(John Murray, 978-1848540958)
Having left North Carolina labelled as a murderer, Adam Chase hoped never to return but now he has been given no choice. Soon after arriving back, Adam is beaten up, accosted and faced with the hostility of his former friends. And then the murders start.
The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson
(Headline Review, 978-0755343591)
In 1946 Errol Flynn washes up in Jamaica in his storm-ravaged yacht and teenager Ida Joseph makes it her business to meet him. Entranced by the beauty of the Caribbean island, Flynn makes his home there, entertaining Hollywood society with lavish parties and entrancing young Ida. Although Ida does not achieve her dream of marrying Flynn, she does give birth to his daughter, a daughter that he would meet only once.
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller
(Canongate, 978-1847672490)
Pippa Lee seems to have the perfect life complete with great family and wonderful friends but her world begins to unravel when he much older husband suggests that they move to a retirement village in preparation for his inevitable decrepitude. The change in her circumstances awakens memories of Pippa’s wide past and she is forced to examine what would happen if her own life was destroyed in the same way she destroyed another’s.
Addition by Toni Jordan
(Sceptre, 978-0340963777)
Grace lives by an obsessive routine, everyday she must do the same thing at the same time, even going so far as to each the same type of cake with the same number of bites every time. One day, however, Grace’s regular table in her regular café is taken and she is forced to share a table with a stranger, turning her life upside down.
The Resurrectionist by James Bradley
(Faber and Faber, 978-0571232765)
In 1826 Gabriel Swift arrives in London to study with the famous anatomist Edwin Poll. Instead of advancing his own career, Swift is drawn to Poll’s nemesis Lucan and, after being dismissed from his post, plunges into the violence and corruption of London’s underworld.
