The perfect reads for this year’s Pride Month, as selected by Charlotte Griffiths
Words by Charlotte Griffiths
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
Young, heartbroken academic Nadia is quitting London for a UN posting in Iraq, leading a team focusing on the rehabilitation of young women who’ve been lured overseas by extremists, popularly known as ‘Isis brides’. She’s escaping a recent break-up with her on-again, off-again lover Rosie, as well as the glare of her disapproving mother, so is seeking a new challenge – but nothing could prepare her for the reality of life in Baghdad.
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
The shock of adjusting is cleverly replicated by the book lurching between UN compound-based escapades more similar to Nadia’s London experiences and her humbling encounters in the camp – where everything gets very real and everyone is very far from home. So, when she meets Sara, a young Londoner who’d been radicalised at just 15 years old, she swings into action. Here’s someone she might actually be able to help – but is Nadia really trying to save herself?
Universally acclaimed and shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, this startling and unexpected novel is gripping, thought-provoking and, though it may sound strange to say, also laugh-out-loud funny. Nadia is at once filter-free, crippled by self-doubt and struggling with her own identity, and Younis’ personal experience of working in international aid is clear to see on every page. There’s the detail-laden stories of women perpetually stuck in refugee camps, the frustrating feeling of taking two steps forward and three steps back, and pointless bureaucracy slowing progress at every turn. But at the heart of this novel are genuine connections, prejudice-challenging points of view and some whip-smart humour.
Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory
Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory
Overachieving, newly single event planner Avery is nearly 30 and fed up with her own uptightness. She’s spending the summer trying new hobbies, dating (especially women) and loosening up. Enter Taylor: notorious flirt, serial monogamist and also freshly single. She seems like the perfect guide for Avery’s quest, and teaching Avery to flirt feels like the perfect summer distraction for Taylor.
The two begin meeting weekly, with Taylor guiding Avery through flirtation lessons – and, inevitably, sparks start to fly between these two exceptionally well-drawn, completely charming leads. Watching them try (and fail) to avoid their growing attachment to one another while also navigating their own friendships and feelings about themselves makes this unputdownable. You’ll laugh, cry and find yourself looking up community gardening and salsa dancing classes.
This gorgeously sweet, spicy and captivating summer romance unfolds in the beautifully depicted Napa Valley with an unforgettable cast. A new Guillory novel is never to be missed – and her first queer romance is absolutely no exception to the rule.
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch
This quietly stunning debut novel jumps in time between 1982 and 2022, laying out the inner workings of a small family turned upside down by a tragedy that didn’t need to happen.
In 2022, Heron is an old man and his daughter Maggie his one remaining family member. He’s spent his life protecting his daughter and cannot bring himself to share his recent medical diagnosis with her. Instead, he busies himself clearing cupboards and clutter, unsettling disturbing documents containing the truth about the small family’s past.
Back in 1982, young mother Dawn is stuck between wanting a life filled with love or remaining trapped in the situation she’s found herself in. Staying put might cost her sanity, but doing what’s right for her will cost everything.
This spectacularly powerful novel blooms with emotion – the domesticity of the setting at odds with the soaring prose and heartbreaking choices facing each member of the family. The pages practically vibrate with the characters’ furious need to be true to themselves but also remain normal – to appear respectable, to not cause a fuss – yet the truth will out.
The author’s historical note at the end of the story will break your already-shattered heart into even smaller pieces, leaving you bereft for families torn apart in the past, and so grateful – and protective – of our society’s evolved thinking.
Classic LGBTQ+ reads
Alongside this year’s new releases, don’t miss these masterpieces of the past
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Experience the sordid glamour of 50s Paris through the eyes of David, a young, engaged American man having a passionate affair with Italian waiter Giovanni, while also wrestling with questions of identity and his own past relationships with men.
The Price of Salt / Carol by Patricia Highsmith
This tale of a new shopgirl and her wealthy customer feels like reading an Edward Hopper painting. Highsmith’s precise prose is packed with moments of vibrant light set against thrillingly dark shade. You need this iconic romance in your life.
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
Deserving of its many accolades, this sci-fi classic challenges gender perception through a world where beings become male or female only once a month – with ramifications for politics and society. But of course, it’s about much more than that.
Check out May’s Book Club and explore amazing women writers
