Six Summer Reads with Sophie Allport

A charming and hilarious book that takes a step back in time celebrating women, friendship, and the importance of lifting each other up even throughout the most challenging times. London, November 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Henrietta Bird from Woman’s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles (now stationed back in the UK) is blossoming, while Emmy’s best friend Bunty, still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, is bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It.

The Number One New York Times bestseller, American Dirt follows the harrowing journey of a Mexican woman who is forced to flee and leave behind her life as an undocumented immigrant to the US with her son. They are not running for the American dream, new opportunities or success but running to save their lives. A gripping and controversial read.

A heart-wrenching tale of a British girl's coming of age that coincides with Kenya's in the 1950s/60s. A touching, insightful telling of a brutal story comprising a tale of love, courage, prejudice, and war. After six years in England, Rachel has returned to Kenya and the farm where she spent her childhood, but the beloved home she’d longed for is much changed. As Rachel struggles to find her place in her home and her country, she initiates a covert relationship, one that will demand from her a gross act of betrayal. One man knows her secret, and he has made it clear how she can buy his silence. But she knows something of her own, something she has never told anyone. And her knowledge brings her power.

Topical for this summer, Where the crawdads sing is due to be released in cinemas this July. Deeply moving, this haunting mystery follows the story of a woman who raised herself in the marshes of the deep South and becomes a suspect in the murder of a man she was once involved with. A summer read to enjoy before the film is released. 

An enchanting story of an unlikely friendship, a classic gripping adventure with a hilarious female view. It’s 1950, and Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may not even exist. She advertises for an assistant to accompany her on her adventure, but her companion is not who she had in mind.

Beautiful, emotional, dazzling, heart wrenching, poetic and realistic. A unique read with an interesting concept. Between life and death, there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything differently, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?