The books we'll never forget

Alan Hollinghurst’s latest masterpiece, Our Evenings, offers an exploration of identity, desire, and social ambition in contemporary England. Through the reminiscences of Dave Win, a scholarship student whose later work as an actor leads him through worlds both dazzling and dangerous, Hollinghurst captures the uneasy intersections of class, race, and sexuality. The novel follows Dave from his teenage years – marked by a formative, unsettling weekend at his sponsors estate and a volatile encounter with their son, Giles – through decades shaped by his artistic pursuits and personal entanglements. With its rich prose and piercing wit, Our Evenings meditates on the allure of reinvention, the fragility of happiness, and the enduring marks of youthful wounds.

Amid the crumbling tenements of 1980s Glasgow, Shuggie Bain is an indelible story of loyalty and resilience. Shuggie, a gentle boy in a world weathered by poverty, struggles to nurture his mother, Agnes, whose fierce spirit is eroded by alcoholism. Her dreams of a better life battle against the weight of social despair, leaving Shuggie to navigate a fractured family and the brutal judgments of a community that sees him as an outsider. Douglas Stuart’s unforgettable Booker Prize-winning novel offers a heart-wrenching exploration of unconditional love and the quiet endurance of a child forced to grow up too soon.

Twenty years have passed since Eilis left Brooklyn, now living a secure, happy life with Tony and their two children. But a knock at the door brings an unexpected visitor who unearths buried memories and desires, reigniting Eilis’s longing for the home she once was forced to leave. Long Island – the long-awaited sequel to Colm Tóibín’s beloved Brooklyn – captures the bittersweet pull of nostalgia, as Eilis wrestles with the haunting possibility that she might have made the wrong choice all those years ago. We couldn't forget Brooklyn, and there's no doubt that the sequel we waited fifteen years for is just as memorable.

The fifth novel in the international bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series follows four new customers in their time travelling adventures. The father who could not allow his daughter to get married. A woman who couldn't give Valentine's Day chocolates to her loved one. A boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents. A wife holding a child with no name . . . While each story is unique, they are all beautiful, heartwarming and at points, heartbreaking. But what makes the book truly unforgettable is the questions it asks: who would you meet again if you could travel through time? And what would you change? Questions you’ll be thinking about and discussing long after finishing.

When the Dashwood sisters are suddenly uprooted from their home and plunged into financial uncertainty, their lives take starkly different turns in the search for love and security. In Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen weaves a rich tale of contrasts through Elinor and Marianne – two sisters whose temperaments embody reason and passion, respectively. As they navigate society’s expectations, heartbreak, and their own desires, each sister’s journey reveals Austen’s sharp wit and social insight. 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and we're celebrating with these dazzling, pocket-sized new editions, forming part of a collectable series inspired by Jane Austen’s extraordinary life and work.

There is a reason that Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life is a million copy bestseller and has now been adapted into a West End play. Her flawless character development transports us into the lives of Jude, Willem, JB and Malcolm in a way we can’t leave behind. We follow the central characters as they try to make their way in New York – broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. Gradually, it is Jude’s unspeakable childhood that is revealed. By midlife he is both a terrifyingly talented litigator and an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by trauma. Yanagihara plunges into the depths of this darkness as she follows Jude for decades, yet ultimately tells a story of love and friendship. Readers will never forget A Little Life – and will never forget Jude. 

To five-year-old Jack, ‘Room’ is the entire universe – a place of play, safety, and his mother’s unwavering love. Yet to his mother, it’s a prison, the claustrophobic site of their seven-year captivity. Emma Donoghue’s Room unfolds as Ma begins to reveal the truth of their confinement to Jack, shattering his world of innocent routine and launching a gripping plan for escape. Told through Jack’s innocent yet perceptive eyes, a narrative that is definitely one of its kind, the novel reveals the depth of a mother’s resilience and the courage it takes to face a world that both terrifies and beckons. Donoghue creates an unique narrative that probes the boundaries of love, trauma, and the fierce instinct to protect – even as freedom comes with its own challenges.

A devastating pandemic leaves civilization in ruins, but amid the silence of abandoned cities, resilience emerges. Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven follows a nomadic troupe – the Travelling Symphony – who roam through the remnants of a fallen world, performing Shakespeare to scattered survivors. Among them is Kirsten, an actress haunted by fragments of her pre-pandemic childhood and by a mysterious graphic novel that binds her to Arthur Leander, a famous actor whose death presaged the collapse. As past and present interweave, Mandel explores how art, memory, and human connection endure in the face of extinction. We all remember our recent real world pandemic in different ways, and this fictional one will also leave a lasting impression.

A masterfully well-researched historical fiction, an epic romance, a story of human resilience. . . The World and All That It Holds is all of these – and it is this combination that wins it its place as a book we’ll never forget. The book follows Pinto, a Sephardic Jew, and Osman, a Muslim, both of whom are conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army in World War One. The horrors of war are softened by moments of tenderness between Pinto and Osman, written in a way we rarely see love between two men conveyed. Set among one of humanity’s most cataclysmic eras, this book goes beyond the historical headlines and instead shows how love and the human spirit of ordinary souls can triumph amidst all adversity.  

American Psycho is one of the most controversial novels of all time. Originally due to be published by Simon & Schuster in the US, they then withdrew with CEO Richard E. Snyder claiming, ‘It was an error of judgement to put our name on a book of such questionable taste’. Whatever your personal opinion on the book (and if you’ve read it already, we’re sure you have one), we’re willing to bet that you remember it. This violent and outrageous black comedy about the darkest side of human nature follows Patrick Bateman who, behind a good looking, charming and successful facade, is in fact a sadistic serial killer. You’ll end this novel feeling unsettled, but also with an appreciation of why this is a seminal book.

Empire of Pain will leave your jaw gaping at the limitless potential of humankind – and not in a good way. Award-winning journalist Patrick Radden Keefe unpicks the story of the Sackler family, one of the richest families in the world whose greed and corruption led to a pandemic of drug addiction which has killed nearly half a million people. The book is full of bombshell revelations and “they did what?!” moments, which will both make your blood boil and keep you turning the pages. While anger is likely to be the lasting emotion upon finishing Empire of Pain we can at least feel grateful that Radden Keefe has exposed the Sacklers and the damage they have caused.

This illuminating, eye-opening re-examination of our shared history considers the limitations of what we are taught at school and are fed throughout our adult lives by revealing huge swathes of experiences that have hitherto been underrepresented. Drawing on new genealogical research, original records, and expert testimony, Black and British covers Roman Britain all the way to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. David Olusoga shows how Black British history is not a singular history, but one that belongs to us all. While black British history is too often forgotten by our institutions, this book certainly won’t be.

As a young doctor grappling with the relentless demands of the NHS, Adam Kay offers an eye-opening look into the life of a junior doctor, filled with dark humour and raw humanity. This Is Going to Hurt reveals the unvarnished realities behind hospital doors, from bizarre patient cases to harrowing life-or-death moments, all conveyed through Kay’s sharp wit and startling honesty. His diary entries detail not only the absurdities and heartbreaks of medicine but also the emotional toll it takes on those who serve. Kay’s memoir resonates as both a hilarious and sobering call to appreciate the sacrifice of healthcare workers, leaving readers both moved and enlightened about the hidden costs of care.

Standing on Nigerian soil for the first time, Jackie Kay confronts a heritage that has always felt just out of reach. In Red Dust Road, she chronicles her search for identity, tracing her journey from Scotland, where she was raised by loving adoptive parents, to Nigeria, where she meets her birth father and uncovers long-buried pieces of her past. Kay’s narrative balances humour and vulnerability as she reflects on her mixed-race heritage, adoption, and the deep complexities of belonging. Moving, witty, and profoundly introspective, Red Dust Road resonates as a powerful exploration of race, family, and the uncharted paths that lead us home.

Standing in the aisles of H Mart, surrounded by familiar ingredients, Michelle Zauner feels her mother’s presence most vividly. In Crying in H Mart, the Korean American musician and writer behind the band Japanese Breakfast uses food as a tender connection to the mother she lost to cancer, and as a way of exploring her cultural roots. Each ingredient becomes a touchstone of memory and identity, pulling Zauner into a journey through grief, love, and self-discovery. Through honest, poignant reflections, Zauner captures the complexities of family bonds and the sustaining power of food and tradition.