Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
BOOK OF THE WEEK with Linda Jennings. This week we are featuring some light summer reads from the top 20 uk fiction list. THE ROME AFFAIR, Karen Swan, ISBN 9781509838028 (PAN MACMILLAN) BD3.900 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
The glamorous capital city of Italy is brought to startling life in The Rome Affair, a compelling summer novel by Karen Swan.
It’s 1974 and Elena Damiani is living a gilded life. Born to wealth and a noted beauty, no door is closed to her, no man can resist her. At twenty-six, she is already onto her third husband when she meets her love match. But he is the one man she can never have, and all the beauty and money in the world can’t change it.
It’s 2017 and Francesca Hackett is living la dolce vita in Rome, leading tourist groups around the Eternal City and forgetting the ghosts she left behind in London. When she finds a stolen designer handbag in her dustbin and returns it, she is brought into the orbit of her grand neighbour who lives across the piazza - famed socialite Viscontessa Elena dei Damiani Pignatelli della Mirandola. Though the purse is stolen, Elena greets the return of the bag with exultation for it contains an unopened letter written by her husband on his deathbed, 12 years earlier.
Mutually intrigued by each other, the two women agree to collaborate on a project, with Cesca interviewing Elena for her memoirs. As summer unfurls, Elena tells her sensational stories, leaving Cesca in her thrall. But when a priceless diamond ring found in an ancient tunnel below the city streets is ascribed to Elena, Cesca begins to suspect a shocking secret at the heart of Elena’s life.
FAMILY FAVOURITE
OF THE WEEK
LAST SEEN ALIVE, Claire Douglas, Isbn 9781405926423 (PENGUIN)
BD3.900 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
She can run
Libby Hall needs to hide, to escape from everything for a while- which is why the house swap is a godsend. It’s a chance for Libby and her husband Jamie to exchange their tiny Bath flat for a beautiful haven on the wild Cornish coast.
But she can’t hide
However, before they can begin to heal their fragile marriage, Libby makes some disturbing discoveries about the house. And soon the peace and isolation begin to feel threatening. How alone are they? Why does she feel watched?
Because someone knows her secret
What is Jamie hiding? Is Libby being paranoid? And why does the house bring back such terrible memories? Memories Libby’s worked hard to bury. Memories of the night she last saw her best friend alive . . . and what she did.
Perfect for fans of ‘The Girl on The Train’, a gripping fast paced thriller you won’t want to put down!
My favourite
read of the week
TO KILL THE PRESIDENT, Sam Bourne, Isbn 9780007413720 (HARPER COLLINS) BD3.900 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
A blockbuster thriller from No1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sam Bourne, in which Maggie Costello uncovers an assassination plot to kill the tyrannical new president.
The unthinkable has happened…
The United States has elected a volatile demagogue as president, backed by his ruthless chief strategist, Crawford ‘Mac’ McNamara.
When a war of words with the North Korean regime spirals out of control and the President comes perilously close to launching a nuclear attack, it’s clear someone has to act, or the world will be reduced to ashes.
Soon Maggie Costello, a seasoned Washington operator and stubbornly principled, discovers an inside plot to kill the President – and faces the ultimate moral dilemma. Should she save the President and leave the free world at the mercy of an increasingly crazed would-be tyrant – or commit treason against her Commander in Chief and risk plunging the country into a civil war?
What a topical read! Beyond that I will make no comment.
