The bookcase

Helen Stevenson

"The child will soon die whose brow tastes salty when kissed," warned an ancient medical textbook. Nowadays we know this to be the genetic condition cystic fibrosis, which prevents salt passing easily from one cell to the next. The life expectancy of such children is improving all the time, but it's still a diagnosis to drive a dagger into a parent's heart. Helen Stevenson's memoir of raising a daughter with cystic fibrosis in rural France - whilst simultaneously dealing with her mother's dementia - is far from being a sisterly, accessible account of the Sandwich Generation. This is a beautiful love letter to her family from an intelligent woman who has had to dig deep just to survive.

The Senility Of Vladimir P

Michael Honig

Nikolai Sheremetev has never quite got the hang of how things work in Russia. During his army service, he was unable to see his captain was hiring his troops out on the side to build apartment blocks. He is now faced with looking after former president Vladimir P, a senile old man who spends his days talking to imagined former minions and judo kicking the head of a Chechen fighter he once had shot by firing squad. The Senility Of Vladimir P is former doctor Honig's second novel and an exciting tale of how even the best of men can face temptation. Right up until the final moments, Sheremetev continues the fight against corruption in an entertaining story which will appeal to anyone with an interest in Russia and all things Russian.

Nice Work (If You Can Get It)

Celia Imrie

Theresa, Carol, William and Benjamin have all escaped to Bellevue-Sur-Mer, a picturesque town in the French Riviera. But instead of sitting back and taking life easy, they decide to start a new enterprise: they're going to open a restaurant. Best known as an Olivier Award-winning actress, Imrie certainly brings her dramatist's eye for plot to this uproarious caper of a novel. Whilst the high drama sometimes descends into farce and the characters are more caricatures, it's a fun jaunt into the ex-pat experience gone wild. Hidden masterpieces, drugs, celebrities, Sardinian mobsters, welcome to Bellevue-Sur Mer!

The Travelers

Chris Pavone

Will Rhodes lives in New York and works as a writer for The Travelers magazine. On a trip to the wine-growing regions of Argentina, he is seduced by an Australian journalist called Elle. Except she's not Australian and she's not a journalist. She's an American CIA agent. Or so she says. She recruits Will as a spy and soon he's travelling the world, identifying "targets". As he is drawn further and further into a web of international intrigue, it becomes apparent nothing is what it seems and it all goes a bit James Bond. It's a stretch to believe that Will, an experienced journalist whose stock in trade is cynicism and asking questions, could really be so gullible and not see that he's being set up, and the outcome is fairly predictable, but this is nevertheless a well-written, entertaining yarn.