Tag archieven: English novels

English novel, Engeland, Engelse romans, Engelse schrijfsters, Engelse schrijvers

New English novels

14 april 2026 Redactie

New English novels. What new novels by English writers are coming out? Who is the author of the new novel from England? When will the book be released and by which publisher? Who is the writer of the novel?

What new English novels are coming out?

This page provides an overview of new English novels and storiebooks that are being released or will soon be available in bookstores. Besides information about the books’ content, you’ll also find information about the author, the publication, and ordering options. Published reviews of the thrillers are also included.

New English novels in 2026

The list of new novels in 2026 by authors from England is organized by publication date, with the newest books at the top. Links lead to detailed information about the book, ordering options, and often to reviews.

Rupert Thomson – Dark Is the Morning

English novel
Publisher: Other Press
Released: June 23, 2026
As a 9-year-old schoolgirl, Franca tells Gino that she will marry him one day, and against all the odds her prophecy comes true. Set in a mountain village in Abruzzo in the early 2000s, Dark Is the Morning is the story of two ordinary young people who fall in love and seem destined for a life of happiness. But there is something in Franca’s past that haunts Gino. His curiosity gradually turns into obsession—an obsession that will have heartbreaking consequences…read on >

Kae Tempest – Having Spent Life Seeking

English novel
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Released: April 30, 2026
Buying options >
The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home. And Dionne’s block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there…read on >

Ben Tufnell – Paradise

Dystopian novel
Publisher: Influx Press
Released: March 5, 2025
Paradise is a crumbling cottage deep in a forest; Nash is free to leave the house but must not leave the woods. It is winter, and this wild and remote place is unknowable and terrifying. He attempts to map his surroundings to find a way out, but they resist him, the land seemingly shifting and changing. Moreover, he begins to suspect that his employers’ intentions may be much darker than anticipated…read on >

Neil Rollinson – The Dead Don’t Bleed

English novel, debut novel
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Released: January 8, 2026
Set against elemental landscapes – the dying coalfields of Northumberland and the barren wastelands of Andalusia – The Dead Don’t Bleed is an unflinching exploration of fraternal rivalry, family trauma and the lasting effects of a violent patriarchy…read on >

Patrick Charnley – This, My Second Life

English novel, Cornwall novel
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
Released: January 6, 2026
Twenty-year-old Jago Trevarno is living a simple life in Cornwall with his uncle following a life-changing brain injury. Slowly adjusting to the reality of his new life, he gets caught up in the murky world of local villain, Bill Sligo, who appears to have designs on Jago’s uncle’s farm and in particular a field. Jago determines to find out why Bill Sligo wants the field – and in so doing puts his own life in grave danger…read on >

New English novels in 2025

The list of new novels in 2025 by authors from England is organized by publication date, with the newest books at the top. Links lead to detailed information about the book, ordering options, and often to reviews.

Abir Mukherjee – The Burning Grounds

historical novel and thriller about Calcutta
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Released: November 4, 2025
Length: 384 pages
Format: hardcover/ ebook
Prize: $ 28.95 / $ 18.99
Order book from: Amazon / Bol
Award-winning crime novelist Abir Mukherjee returns to his brilliant mystery series set in late-1920s Calcutta, as Sam Wyndham and Surendranath Banerjee must reunite to solve a high profile murder and disappearance. In The Burning Ghats of Calcutta, where the dead are laid to rest, a man is found murdered, his throat cut from ear to ear. The body is that of a popular philanthropist and patron of the arts. A man, who was, by all accounts, beloved by all. So what could possibly be the motive for murder? Though out of favour with the Imperial Police Force, Detective Sam Wyndham is assigned to the case, and finds himself thrust into the glamorous world of cinema when his investigation leads him to a film the victim was funding…read on >

Salman Rushdie – The Eleventh Hour

Stories
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Released: 4 November 2025
Do we accommodate ourselves to death, or rail against it? How can we bid farewell to the places that we have made home? How do we achieve fulfilment with our lives if we don’t know the end of our own stories? The Eleventh Hour ponders life and death, legacy and identity with the penetrating insight and boundless imagination that have made Salman Rushdie one of the most celebrated writers of our time…read on >

Ian McEwan – What Can We Know

English climate novel, dystopic novel
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Released: 18 September 2025
Dutch translation: Wat we kunnen weten
2014: A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no copy has yet been found. 2119: The lowlands of the UK have been submerged by rising seas. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. The novel is a masterpiece, a fictional tour de force that reclaims the present from our sense of looming catastrophe, and imagines a future world where all is not quite lost…read on >

Paula Byrne – Six Weeks by the Sea

Novel about Jane Austen
Publisher: Fontana
Released: 12 August 2025
Set against the backdrop of Austen’s family, the tensions of the war against France, and naval and colonial politics, Six Weeks by the Sea is the fascinating story of how Jane Austen, the most famous romance writer of all time fell in love for the first time…read on >

Phoebe Greenwood – Vulture

English novel
Publisher: Europa Editions
Released: 12 August 2025
Catch-22 on speed and set in the Middle East, Vulture is a fast-paced satire of the war news industry and a tragi-comic coming-of-age novel. In November 2012, Sara Byrne, an ambitious young journalist, is sent to Gaza to cover a war from The Beach. At the four-star hotel, staff work tirelessly to provide safety, comfort and generator-powered internet for the world’s media, even as their own homes and families are under threat…read on >

Kasim Ali – Who Will Remain

Birmingham novel
Publisher: 4th Estate
Released: 17 July 2025
Amir has grown up in Alum Rock, Birmingham, under the care of his sensible older brother, Bilal, and his cousin Saqib, born just a few days before Amir. Alum Rock can be a troubled place, but Amir has managed to keep his head down, worked hard and stayed out of trouble … until now…read on >

Benjamin Wood – Seascraper

English novel
Publisher: 4th Estate
Released: 17 July 2025
Shortlist Booker Prize 2025
Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach to scrape for shrimp, spending the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street, and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream…read on >

Irenosen Okojie – Curandera

English hovel
Publisher: Soft Skull Press
Released: 8 July 2025
Set between seventeenth-century Cape Verde and contemporary London, Curandera is a kaleidoscopic story of rebirth and redemption, and a mythic tale of metamorphic recalibrations across time. In Gethsemane, Cape Verde, the appearance of a mysterious new arrival, Zulmira, coincides with a series of strange events. Zulmira is a shamanic disciple of Oni, an omnipotent and loving yet vengeful deity. In contemporary London, botanist Therese lives with Haitian musician Azacca, Peruvian drifter Emilien, and daring Finn…read on >

Nell Stevens – The Original

English historical novel
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Released: 1 July 2025
In a grand English country house in 1899, an aspiring art forger must unravel whether the man claiming to be her long-lost cousin is an impostor. Deftly plotted and shimmering with Nell Stevens’s distinctive intelligence, style, and wit, The Original takes readers on an unforgettable adventure through a world of forgeries, family ties, and the fluctuations in fortune that can change our fate…read on >

Neil Blackmore – Objects of Desire

English novel
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
Released: 15 Mai 2025
Deliciously vicious and darkly funny, Objects of Desire features an astonishing cast of 20th century glitterati. It is at once a colourful glimpse into the scandalous lives of the cultural elite, and a tense, gripping story of betrayal, backstabbing and literary fraud…read on >

Ben Markovitz – The Rest of Our Lives

English Family novel
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
Released: 15 Mai 2025
Shortlist Booker Prize 2025
When Tom Layward’s wife had an affair, the synopsis reads, ‘he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest child turned eighteen. Twelve years later, while driving her to Pittsburgh to start university, he remembers his pact. He is also on the run from his own health issues, and the fact that he’s been put on leave at work after students complained about the politics of his law class – something he hasn’t yet told his wife…read on >

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Image top: Daunt Books, London (A. Kirr, Unsplash)

Engelse romans, Engelse schrijvers, English novel

Kae Tempest – Having Spent Life Seeking

30 maart 2026 Redactie

Kae Tempest Having Spent Life Seeking review en information new and second novel of the English writer en spoken word poet. Jonathan Cape will publish the second Kae Tempest novel on April 30, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Kae Tempest Having Spent Life Seeking reviews and information

Whenever a review of Having Spent Life Seeking, the novel by Kae Tempest, appears in the media, we’ll highlight it on this page.

“If books can still change the world, this one most likely will.” (Colum McCann)
“A wonderful, moving and enlightening state-of-Britain novel.” (Irvine Welsh)
“A scorching story of love, change, homecoming and forgiveness.” (Dawn French)
“A master-craftsman of deep feeling and linguistic intimacy.” (Max Porter)

Having Spent Life Seeking

Author: Kae Tempest (England)
Book type: English novel
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
To be released: April 30, 2026
Length: 352 pages
Format: hardback / ebook
Prize: £ 18.99 / £ 9.99 / £ 14.00
Buying options >

Blurb of the new Kae Tempest novel

Rothko Taylor has washed up with the tide, back in their hometown, Edgecliff. Fifteen years since they left it behind.

The past is accelerating towards them: the skateboard kids on the high street that remind them of their teenage years, the splintered benches looking out to sea, where their mum Meg clutched her cans. The nice bit of town, where their dad Ezra tried and failed to build a happy home. And Dionne’s block. Beautiful, extraordinary Dionne, the only person who had ever looked at them and seen what was there.

Back then, overwhelmed and full of fear, they sank beneath the surface into chaos. But they made it out alive. And this time, Rothko is determined that things will be different.\

A decade since Kae Tempest’s last novel, Having Spent Life Seeking is about family and forgiveness; redemption and atonement; desire and abandon; selfhood and community. The things we seek when we are hiding, and what finds us, if we can let ourselves be seen.

Kae Tempest was born in 1984 in Westminster, London. He has been putting words together since he was a teenager. He has published plays, poetry collections, non-fiction, a Sunday Times-bestselling novel and has released six studio albums. In 2013 Tempest won the Ted Hughes Award, making him the youngest ever poet to receive it. He was named a Next Generation Poet in 2014, a once-in-a-decade honour, and in the same year he received the first of two Mercury Prize nominations. He is the only person to have achieved both accolades. In 2021 he was awarded the Silver Lion in Venice for his work as a playwright and in 2023 he won an Ivor Novello for his songwriting. His books have been translated into multiple languages and published to critical acclaim around the world. He hopes he will continue putting words together for the rest of his life.

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New English Novels

Engelse romans, Beste Romans, Engelse schrijfsters, English novel

Rosemary Tonks – Businessmen as Lovers

24 maart 2026 Redactie

Rosemary Tonks Businessmen as Lovers review and information of the content of the 1969 novel by the English writer. New Directions will publish the reissue of the Rosemary Tonks novel, on March 24, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Rosemary Tonks Businessmen as Lovers review

“Tonks throws out aphorisms, and scorn, like loose change.” (London Review of Books)
“Uncommonly good.” (The Guardian)

Businessmen as Lovers

Author: Rosemary Tonks (England)
Book type: English novel from 1969
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
Released: March 24, 2026
Length: 160 pages
Format: paperback / ebook
Prize: $ 16,95
Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the 1969 novel by Rosemary Tonks

Friends and lovers frolic on a sun-soaked Italian vacation—but in classic Tonks style, everything boils over with operatic drama, misanthropy, and arch silliness.

Mimi and Caroline set off to a beautiful Italian island, where they find themselves part of an eccentric cast of expats and vacationers including their debonair host and his mistress, a proud venture capitalist, an Iranian tycoon, and a villainous, slightly tragic local dentist. There is also Mimi’s great love, Beetle, a quiet and unassuming English journalist. As everyone begins to relax and settle into the vacation, drinking and eating away the stress of everyday life, their impish plots culminate in an odd Mediterranean prank involving the dentist’s prize lemon tree.

Back in print after many decades, Businessmen as Lovers is an extraordinarily jubilant and delightful novel by the inimitable Rosemary Tonks: businessmen fall in love, too, but it is with each other.

Rosemary Tonks was born October 17, 1928 in Gillingham, Kent, Engeland. She published two poetry collections and six novels, and wrote for The Observer, The Times, The New York Review of Books, The New Statesman, and Encounter, and presented poetry programs for the BBC. Tonks died on April 15, 2014.

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Engelse romans, Beste Romans, Engelse schrijvers, Londen

Aldous Huxley – Antic Hay

20 januari 2026 Redactie

Aldous Huxley Antic Hay review and information of the contant of the 1923 novel by the English writer about Londen after World War I. Dalkey Archive Presss wil publish the reissue of the novel by Aldous Huxley on January 20, 2026. On this page you can read information about the content of the novel, the author, reviews and ordering options

Aldous Huxley Antic Hay reviews and information of the 1923 novel

When a book review appears in the media of Antic Hay, the 1923 novel by Aldous Huxley, we will highlight it on this page.

“Huxley is the creator-god of a beautiful new world which is wholly and peculiarly his own and which he peoples with antic folk whose adventures, always keenly intelligent and sparkling with wit, are eloquently and continually amusing.” (Detroit News)
“T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is recalled by the casual allusions to classical lore, the devilishly clever garbling of familiar quotations and the total effect of dissolution. Mr. Huxley has the American poet’s flair for topical wit of a distinctly metropolitan flavor. . . . It is a brilliant, entertaining satire, with a faint suggestion of ‘ungestured sadness.” (The New York Times)
“Antic Hay has the literary delights of the intelligence questionnaire, characters who don’t talk in conversations but in charades, with satire japing sophistication as well as the more obvious targets, engaging naughtiness narrated for its own sake, rising and falling in broad com edy and in episodes deliciously strange and tender.” (New Republic)

Antic Hay

Author: Aldous Huxley (England)
Afterword”John O’Brien
Book type: English novel from 1923
Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
To be released: January 20, 2026
Length: 225 pages
Format: paperback / ebook
Prize: € 15,95 / € 8,95
Buying options >

Blurb of the Aldous Huxley novel from 1923

A social satire dissecting morally bankrupt London society just after World War I, from the author of Brave New World.

Like Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Aldous Huxley’s Antic Hay portrays a world of lost souls madly pursuing both pleasure and meaning. Fake artists, third-rate poets, pompous critics, pseudo-scientists, con-men, bewildered romantics, and cock-eyed futurists all inhabit this world spinning out of control, as wildly comic as it is disturbingly accurate. In a style that ranges from the lyrical to the absurd, and with characters whose identities shift and change as often as their names and appearances, Huxley has here invented a novel that bristles with life and energy.

Aldous Huxley was born on July 26, 1894 in Godalming, Surrey, England. He was an English writer who spent the latter part of his life in the United States. Though best known for Brave New World, he also wrote countless works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and essays. A humanist, pacifist and satirist, he wrote novels and other works that functioned as critiques of social norms and ideals. Aldous Huxley is often considered a leader of modern thought and one of the most important literary and philosophical voices of the 20th century. Huxley died on November 22, 1963 at the age of 69 in Los Angeles County, California in the United States.

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English novel, Engelse romans, Engelse schrijvers

Neil Rollinson – The Dead Don’t Bleed

8 januari 2026 Redactie

Neil Rollinson The Dead Don’t Bleed review and information of the content of the novel by the British author. Jonathan Cape will publish the Neil Rollinson debut novel, on January 8, 2026.

Neil Rollinson The Dead Don’t Bleed review

“This dangerous delight is what happens when one of Britain’s best poets marries Lorca’s landscapes and 1970s gangland Newcastle in fiction – a thrilling, deep-song, high-proof novel that’s brilliantly imagined, gorgeously crafted and several cuts above the usual debut .” (Sarah Hall)
“Throw Sexy Beast and Get Carter in a blender, add some Lorcanian duende from blasted blood-drenched Spain and some of that soul-sadness from sodden, post-industrial far north of England, and you’ll get something like this gripping, compelling, elegiac and dismayed novel. Savage, sorrowful, superb.” (Niall Griffiths)
“Marrying the violence, duende and scouring light of Lorca’s Andalusia to the broken bottles and police sirens of 1970s Newcastle, this compelling, beautifully written story of male heartbreak slyly explores the way poetry helps you survive your past.” (Ruth Padel)

The Dead Don’t Bleed

Author: Neil Rollinson (England)
Book type: English novel
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
To be released: 8 January 2026
Length: 304 pages
Format: hardcover / ebook / audiobook
Prize: £ 16.99 / £ 8.99 / £ 14.00
Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the first novel by Neil Rollinson

Set against elemental landscapes – the dying coalfields of Northumberland and the barren wastelands of Andalusia – The Dead Don’t Bleed is an unflinching exploration of fraternal rivalry, family trauma and the lasting effects of a violent patriarchy.

Frank Bridge turned his back on his family’s gangland conflicts in Northumberland decades ago. His brother, Gordon, fled to Spain with the proceeds of a disastrously botched robbery and has not been heard from since. Frank’s life has taken a different path: he fell in love, studied Lorca and is now writing a book.

But when their gangster father, the head of their savage dynasty, dies, Frank feels he must track Gordon down and tell him that their father’s reign of terror is over. Can Frank’s appearance after twenty-five years prompt a truce, a reconciliation even, or will his arrival merely be the catalyst for more turmoil and brutality?

Taut, elegiac, violent and beautiful, Neil Rollinson’s debut novel is about how family can make or break us. Beneath the scorching, pitiless Andalusian sun, the two brothers are finally brought together for one last reckoning.

Neil Rollinson is the author of four poetry collections: A Spillage of Mercury(1996), Spanish Fly(2001), Demolition (2007) and Talking Dead (2015). He won the National Poetry Competition in 1997, received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors in 2005, and was shortlisted for the 2015 Costa Poetry Prize for Talking Dead. The Dead Don’t Bleed is his debut novel, and won the Deborah Rogers Award for previously unpublished prose writers in 2023.

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English novel, Debuutroman, Engelse romans, Engelse schrijvers

Patrick Charnley – This, My Second Life

6 januari 2026 Redactie

Patrick Charnley This, My Second Life review and information of the content of the new book by the British author. Hutchinson Heinemann will publish the Patrick Charnley novel, on january 6, 2026.

Patrick Charnley This, My Second Life review

“Utterly absorbing, beautifully written and insightful in unexpected ways. This, My Second Life is a moving must-read.” (Jennie Godfrey)
“Thrilling and tender, I enjoyed every word. Jago is a very original and memorable narrator, full of warmth and optimism and entirely lacking in guile.” (Julie Myerson)
“An unexpectedly peaceful and life affirming story woven into the fabric of a thriller.” (Esther Freud)

This, My Second Life

Author: Patrick Charnley (England)
Book type: English novel
Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
To be released: 6 January 2026
Length: 304 pages
Format: hardcover / ebook / audiobook
Prize: £ 16.99 / £ 8.99 / £ 14.00
Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the debut novel by Patrick Charnley

Twenty-year-old Jago Trevarno is living a simple life in Cornwall with his uncle following a life-changing brain injury.

Slowly adjusting to the reality of his new life, he gets caught up in the murky world of local villain, Bill Sligo, who appears to have designs on Jago’s uncle’s farm and in particular a field.

Jago determines to find out why Bill Sligo wants the field – and in so doing puts his own life in grave danger.

Beautifully written, spare and elegiac, filled with shafts of light and darkness as well as the beauty and harshness of the Cornish landscape, Jago’s journey is one of hope, acceptance and of resilience as he comes to terms with this, his second life.

Patrick Charnley grew up in the English West Country where he fell in love with Cornwall, the setting for this novel. While convalescing from a cardiac arrest that very nearly ended his life and left him with a brain injury, he began to write. He now lives in north London with his wife and children. This, My Second Life is his first novel.

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Engeland, Beste Romans, Engelse romans, Engelse schrijfsters

Elizabeth Gaskell – North and South

25 oktober 2025 Redactie

Elizabeth Gaskell North and South review and information about the 1855 English novel. Between 1854 and 1855, American author Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel was published in the Charles Dickens owned magazine Household Words. Here you can read information about the novel’s content, reception, reviews and author.

Elizabeth Gaskell North and South reviews

“Elizabeth Gaskell’s rich weave of storytelling and social chronicle remains a landmark.” (The Guardian)
“An admirable story … full of character and power.” (Charles Dickens)

North and South

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell (England)
Book type: 1855 English social novel
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Length: 479 pages
Format: paperback / ebook / audiobook
Prize: £ 7.99
Editorial Rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (excellent)
Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the 1855 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell

When her father leaves the Church, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the North of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice.

In North and South Gaskell skillfully fused individual feeling with social concern and in Margaret Hale created one of the mostoriginal heroines of Victorian literature.

Elizabeth Gaskell was born September 29, 1810 in London, but grew up in the north of England in the village of Knutsford. Her first novel, Mary Barton, was published in 1848, winning the attention of Charles Dickens, and most of her later work was published in his journals. She was also a lifelong friend of Charlotte Brontë, whose biography she wrote. On November 12, 1865 she died in Holybourne, Hampshire at the age of 55. Her grave is near the Brook Street Chapel, Knutsford.

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English female writers best novels

Beste Romans, Engeland, Engelse romans, Engelse schrijfsters

English female writers best novels

25 oktober 2025 Redactie

English female writers best novels. What are the best novels by written by female authors from the England? When was the novel published and what is its content? Which women’s novels from England are considered the best?

English female writers best novels

Of course, you can debate at length what the best English novels by female authors are. In fact, every reader will have their own personal preferences. So a top-so list of the best novels by female authors from England isn’t entirely useful.

American female writers best novels

What are the best novels written by female authors from England?

Our editors have chosen to compile an alphabetical overview of English women’s novels that many consider more than worth reading. We will also be adding new, excellent novels by authors from England.

Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice

1813 novel
Editorial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (outstanding)
When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows…read on >

Aphra Behn – Oroonoko, or, the Royal Slave

1688 short novel about slavery
Although it was not popular duing Behn’s lifetime, today Oroonoko is Aphra Behn’s most widely read and most highly regarded work remains important. It also influenced the development of the English novel, developing the female narrative voice and treating anti-colonial and abolitionist themes Oroonoko is notable for its groundbreaking depiction of the horrors of slavery, and it has come to be called one of literature’s first abolitionist tracts…read on >

Angela Carter – Nights at the Circus

1984 novel
Editorial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (excellent)
Courted by the Prince of Wales and painted by Toulouse-Lautrec, she is an aerialiste extraordinaire and star of Colonel Kearney’s circus. She is also part woman, part swan. Jack Walser, an American journalist, is on a quest to discover the truth behind her identity. Dazzled by his love for her, and desperate for the scoop of a lifetime, Walser has no choice but to join the circus on its magical tour through turn-of-the-nineteenth-century London, St Petersburg and Siberia…read on >

Elizabeth Gaskell – North and South

1885 novel
Editorial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (excellent)
When her father leaves the Church, Margaret Hale is uprooted from her comfortable home in Hampshire to move with her family to the North of England. Initially repulsed by the ugliness of her new surroundings in the industrial town of Milton, Margaret becomes aware of the poverty and suffering of local mill workers and develops a passionate sense of social justice…read on >

Margaret Kennedy – Lucy Carmichael

1951 novel
Lucy Carmichael is jilted at the altar. But no matter. Her loving and kind family never liked her explorer fiancé anyway. Instead of moping or falling into her supportive family’s arms, however, Lucy abandons their suburban home. Heading for the country, she takes up a teaching position in the industrial town of Ravonsbridge. There, she finds solace in her work, in her new (rather gossipy) colleagues – and rediscovers her sensible young self…read on >

Penelope Lively – Heat Wave

1996 summer novel
Pauline is spending the summer at World’s End, a cottage somewhere in the middle of England. This year the adjoining cottage is occupied by her daughter Teresa and baby grandson Luke; and, of course, Maurice, the man Teresa married. As the hot months unfold, Maurice grows ever more involved in the book he is writing – and with his female copy editor – and Pauline can only watch in dismay and anger as her daughter repeats her own mistakes in love. The heat and tension will lead to a violent, startling climax…reead on >

Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall

2009 historical novel
Editorrial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (outstanding)
Nederlandse vertaling: Wolf Hall
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?…lread on >

Iris Murdoch – The Sea, The Sea

1978 novel
Winner Booker Prize 1978
Editorial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (excellent)
When Charles Arrowby retires from his glittering career in the London theatre, he buys a remote house on the rocks by the sea. He hopes to escape from his tumultuous love affairs but unexpectedly bumps into his childhood sweetheart and sets his heart on destroying her marriage…read on >

Mary Shelley – The Last Man

1826 Engelse dystopian novel
Taal: Engels
Editorial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (excellent)
Set in the late twenty-first century, a deadly pandemic leaves a lone survivor, and follows his journey through a post-apocalyptic world, devoid of humanity and reclaimed by nature. Rather than give in to despair, Shelley imagines a new world where freshly-formed communities and alternative ways of being stand in for self-important politicians serving corrupt institutions, and where nature reigns mightily over humanity…read on >

Dodie Smith – I Capture the Castle

1949 novel
Editorial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (excellent)
Cassandra wittily describes life growing up in a crumbling castle, with her father who suffers from crippling writer’s block, her glamorous but ineffectual step-mother and her vain but beloved sister Rose. When two visiting Americans arrive, all of their lives are turned upside down, and Cassandra experiences her first love…reqd on >

Virginia Woolf – To the Lighthouse

1927 novel
Editorial rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ (outstanding)
To the Lighthouseis at once a vivid impressionistic depiction of a family holiday, and a meditation on marriage, on parenthood and childhood, on grief, tyranny and bitterness. For years now the Ramsays have spent every summer in their holiday home in Scotland, and they expect these summers will go on forever; but as the First World War looms, the integrity of family and society will be fatally challenged…read on >

Virginia Woolf – Mrs Dalloway

1925 novel
Clarissa Dalloway is begin vijftig, elegant en de perfecte gastvrouw, maar ze voelt zich oud en uitgerangeerd. Haar man is succesvol, maar saai, en haar volwassen dochter heeft haar zorg niet meer nodig. Op een dag komt Clarissa, terwijl zij bloemen koopt voor het feest van die avond, haar voormalige aanbidder Peter tegen, die zij in een ver verleden heeft afgewezen. Wat zou er van haar geworden zijn als ze dertig jaar eerder voor een avontuurlijk leven met Peter had gekozen?…read on >

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New English Novels

Afbeelding bovenzijde: Elizabeth Gaskell in 1851 (Public domain)

Gothic novel, Engelse thriller, English novel

Carmella Lowkis – A Slow and Secret Poison

13 oktober 2025 Redactie

Carmella Lowkis A Slow and Secret Poison review and information of the new gothic novel by the English writer. Doubleday will publish the novel by Carmella Lowkis, on January 22, 2026. Here you can read information about the content of the book, the author and the publication.

Carmella Lowkis A Slow and Secret Poison reviews

“Atmospheric and delicious, A Slow and Secret Poison slowly unfolds its mysteries, taking in a 1920s sapphic love story, the class intrigue of The Little Stranger, and a reminder that some parts of the natural world are also poisonous. Carmella Lowkis has done it again with this deeply satisfying and gothic stunner.” (Ally Wilkes, author)
“Carmella Lowkis has a true talent for the creeping gothic. Her characters are alluring and settings entrancing. A Slow and Secret Poison conjures the uncertainty and dark potential of the interbellum in Great Britain in a thoroughly engrossing way. For fans of Sarah Waters, A Slow and Secret Poison is a must.” (Emma Hinds, author)
“A Slow and Secret Poison is one of the best gothic novels the genre has to offer. Twisty, erotic, and atmospheric, this one is sure to linger long after you have finished reading.” (Johanna van Veen, author)

A Slow and Secret Poison

Author: Carmella Lowkis (United Kingdom)
Book type: gothic novel
Publisher: Doubleday
To be released: January 13, 2026
Length: 352 pages
Format: hardback / ebook / audiobook
Prize: £ 16.99 / £ 8.99 / £ 14.00
Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blub of the new gothic novel by Carmella Lowkis

‘We are cursed, here at Harfold, whether you believe in it or not.’

1922, Wiltshire. When Vee Morgan accepts the job of gardener at a crumbling stately home, she’s hoping for a fresh start where nobody knows her troubled history.

But Harfold Manor is shadowed by grief and the memories of long-faded glory, its rooms haunted by the only surviving member of the family, Lady Arabella Lascy. Vee is fascinated by her enigmatic new employer, a woman obsessed with the curse she believes has killed her family one by one. A curse that is coming for her next.

As Vee immerses herself in the world of Harfold, she finds herself increasingly entranced by Arabella and the secrets that poison her.

But Vee has her own things to hide: secrets that caused her to flee Cardiff, secrets that estranged her from her own family, secrets that might finally catch up to her.

Carmella Lowkis grew up in Wiltshire and has a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick. After graduating, she worked in libraries, before moving into book marketing. Her debut novel Spitting Gold was published in 2024. Carmella lives in North London with her fiancée.

Matching books

English novel, Engelse romans, Engelse schrijvers

Rupert Thomson – Dark Is the Morning

13 oktober 2025 Redactie

Rupert Thomson Dark Is the Morning review and information of the content of the novel by the British author. Other Press will publish the new Rupert Thomson novel, on June 23, 2026.

Rupert Thomson Dark Is the Morning reviews

“A masterfully ambiguous depiction of how the sincere convert is often at risk of becoming a dangerous zealot…Dartmouth Park provides a powerfully evocative catalyst for thought and feeling.” (New York Times Book Review praise for Dartmouth Park)

Dark Is the Morning

Author: Rupert Thomson (England)
Book type: English novel
Publisher: Other Press
To be released: 23 June 2026
Length: 272 pages
Format: paperback / ebook
Prize: $ 17.99 / $ 11.99
Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the new novel by Rupert Thomson

A man’s inner demons threaten his chance at love with a childhood friend in this poignant, propulsive novel set against the beauty of modern Italy.

Dark is the morning that passes
without the light of your eyes
—Cesare Pavese

As a 9-year-old schoolgirl, Franca tells Gino that she will marry him one day, and against all the odds her prophecy comes true. Set in a mountain village in Abruzzo in the early 2000s, Dark Is the Morning is the story of two ordinary young people who fall in love and seem destined for a life of happiness. But there is something in Franca’s past that haunts Gino. His curiosity gradually turns into obsession—an obsession that will have heartbreaking consequences.

Dark Is the Morning has a timeless, eternal quality, like a fable or a fairy-tale. In a world where women’s strength often holds communities together, it speaks to male fragility and to the insidious and corrosive power of jealousy. Shifting between tenderness and paranoia, between beauty and tragedy, this is an extraordinary novel from one of the UK’s most unpredictable and celebrated writers.

Rupert Thomson was born 5 November 1955 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. He is the author of more than a dozen acclaimed novels, including Katherine Carlyle, Secrecy, The Insult, which was short-listed for the Guardian Fiction Prize and selected by David Bowie as one of his 100 Must-Read Books of All Time; The Book of Revelation, which was made into a feature film by Ana Kokkinos; and Death of a Murderer, which was short-listed for the Costa Novel of the Year Award. His memoir, This Party’s Got to Stop, was named Writers’ Guild Non-Fiction Book of the Year and his novels Barcelona Dreaming and Dartmouth Park. He lives in London.