This week we’re deep diving into the brilliant Maggie O’Farrell’s The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, a novel about Victorian asylums, family secrets, and the tragedy of being yourself.

Also this week, Saph read 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell, Joseph read Day by Michael Cunningham, and Michelle read Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.

This week’s listener recommendation request comes from Skye who loved Milk Teeth by Jessica Andrews and is looking for something with a similarly lyrical first-person style. Joseph recommends Second Self by Chloe Ashby, Saph recommends Tangerine by Christine Mangan, and Michelle recommends Normal People by Sally Rooney.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O’Farrell

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

See the Novel Thoughts bookshop page for all books mentioned in this episode.

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This week we take a look at Small Hours, the highly-anticipated second novel from British writer Bobby Palmer whose debut Isaac and the Egg is already being touted as a contemporary classic.

Also this week, Saph read Turbulence by David Szalay and Joseph read The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor.

This week’s listener recommendation request comes from Rachel who really enjoyed The Watchers by A.M. Shine and is looking for more scary reads. Joseph recommended just about anything by Shirley Jackson and Blood Child And Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler, and Saph recommended The Troop by Nick Cutter and The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Five Children and It by E. Nesbit

The Boy and the Dog by Hase Seishu

The Guest Cat by Takashe Hiraide

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Enchantment by Katherine May

See the Novel Thoughts bookshop page for all books mentioned in this episode.

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In celebration of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2024 on this week’s episode we talk about active female representation in contemporary fiction and recommend some of our favourite books that absolutely smash the Bechdel Test

Boulder by Eva Baltasar

Jungle House by Julianne Pachico

Matrix by Lauren Groff

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

Also this week, Joseph read On Reading, Writing, and Living with Books by Pushkin Press/The London Library, and Saph read The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

This week’s listener recommendation request comes from Mollie who reads a lot of contemporary fiction set in the present day and would like to read more books set in different time periods. Joseph recommends The Dutch House by Anne Patchett, and Saph recommends Hurdy Gurdy by Christopher Wilson and The Glutton by A K Blakemore.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

See the Novel Thoughts bookshop page for all books mentioned in this episode.

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