PAUL

Daisy Lafarge

Granta, £12.99

Following an academic scandal involving her older male supervisor, graduate student Frances decides to quit Paris for a while and straighten her head out by spending the summer volunteering in rural France. However, at her first stop, an eco-farm called Noa Noa, she is smitten by the charismatic, dominant Paul, and falls into a relationship which has a disturbingly similar dynamic to the one she’s just left behind her. Loosely based on the painter Gauguin, Paul is worldly, experienced and sexually unfettered, and the passive, eager-to-please Frances easily loses her sense of self around him. A trip with Paul to the south of France, where she is alone and disoriented, forces her to deal with the toxicity of their relationship. The first novel from an established poet, who studied in Edinburgh and Glasgow, it’s beautifully written, Lafarge’s well-observed exploration of the power disparity between the pair deepened and textured by intricate, allusive shades of meaning.

The Herald:

A RATTLE OF BONES

Douglas Skelton

Polygon, £8.99

Some 270 years after the dubious conviction and execution of James of the Glen for murder, banners have appeared at his grave proclaiming the innocence of his namesake: one James Stewart, imprisoned for murdering his lover, politician Murdo Maxwell, 10 years earlier. Having survived two previous Skelton novels, journalist Rebecca Connolly feels compelled to find out if Stewart was, in fact, the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Unfortunately for her, this brings her into conflict with her old adversary, Inverness crime boss Mo Burke, who bears a grudge against Connolly and wants revenge. Making good use of its atmospheric Highland locations and picking up a few old threads, A Rattle of Bones continues Skelton’s winning streak. Connolly was a compelling character from the start, and is developing nicely. Shaken by the events of her earlier risky undertakings, she remains determined and idealistic even as menacing storm clouds gather around her.

The Herald:

THE WOMAN IN THE PURPLE SKIRT

Natsuko Imamura

Faber & Faber, £12.99

The Woman in the Purple Skirt drifts through the city oblivious to others. But she’s watched obsessively by someone who calls herself The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. Yellow Cardigan feels invisible and unloved, and she longs to make some kind of connection with Purple Skirt. She learns everything about her that she can, and even finds the unsuspecting Purple Skirt a job in the hotel she works in, hoping that they’ll finally get to know each other. Instead, she entrances the hotel staff while Yellow Cardigan continues to be ignored. Short and spare, Imamura’s English-language debut is a clever and engrossing novel that deals with loneliness and voyeurism in ways that are alternately chilling, poignant and humorous, the fact that Yellow Cardigan has the powers of an omniscient narrator adding another dimension to its stalkery theme. Like its title character, the book exerts a powerful fascination.

ALASTAIR MABBOTT