Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

When 28 year old Maggie finds herself suddenly, shockingly, divorced after just 608 days of marriage she embarks upon a journey of self-discovery that mostly consists of eating hamburgers at 4am, taking up a variety of new hobbies, and trying to embrace life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™ in the age of dating apps. Acerbically funny with razor sharp dialogue, this painfully relatable book about modern love is the debut novel from comedian, essayist, and Schitt's Creek screenwriter Monica Heisey.

Maame by Jessica George

All her life, Maddie has been told who she is – by her Ghanaian parents, her siblings, her coworkers and friends. She’s the one who keeps the peace... and the secrets. Having spent her adult life so far as the primary caregiver for her sick father, Maddie has yet to live life on her terms. But Maddie knows what kind of woman she wants to be, so when her chance to move out and live independently arrives – she takes it.

A blisteringly funny debut for fans of Such a Fun Age and Queenie that will sincerely move.

The Matchmaker by Saman Shad

Can this matchmaker recognise her perfect match?

Saima runs a matchmaking service that focuses on compatibility. And she's good at her work. But her local Desi community is not so sure about her non-traditional methods, and they're talking about it. With business almost completely dried up, she's readying to move back in with her Ammy when she is presented with a lucrative opportunity. The parents of extremely eligible bachelor Kal want her to find his perfect match, but there's strings galore – Kal can't know his parents have been involved – plus the additional complication of Saima and Kal having clashed in a recent chance encounter. But the biggest complication of all? Saima herself may just be Kal's perfect match.

Weyward by Emilia Hart

In 2019, Kate flees an abusive relationship for the remote Cumbrian cottage that she inherited from an eccentric great aunt. While based in the cottage, and wrestling with the trauma of her past, she begins to uncover her family secrets. In 1619, her ancestor Altha, known for her connection with nature, was trialled for witchcraft. In 1942, her ancestor Violet craves freedom, education and experience – until tragedy changes everything.

This is the story of three interconnected women who are each, in their own way, limited by societal expectations and punished for their differences. Each of their stories are beautifully rendered and, when brought together, show how patriarchal violence silently reverberates through history. Set over five centuries, this is a beguiling historical fiction debut that celebrates the magnamity of female power and nature.

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

Mary Grace, Micah, Thomas Augustus, Cherry Jane and Mercy. These are the names of her children. The five who survived, only to be sold to other plantations. The faces Rachel cannot forget.

It’s 1834, and the law says her people are now free. But for Rachel freedom means finding her children, even if the truth is more than she can bear. With fear snapping at her heels, Rachel keeps moving. From sunrise to sunset, through the cane fields of Barbados to the forests of British Guiana and on to Trinidad, to the dangerous river and the open sea. Only once she knows their stories can she rest. Only then can she finally find home.

The New Life by Tom Crewe

After a lifetime spent navigating his desires, John Addington, a married man, has met Frank, a working-class printer. Meanwhile Henry Ellis's wife Edith has fallen in love with a woman - who wants Edith all to herself.

When in 1894 John and Henry decide to write a revolutionary book together, intended to challenge convention and the law, they are both caught in relationships stalked by guilt and shame. Yet they share a vision of a better world, one that will expand possibilities for men and women everywhere. Their daring book threatens to throw John and Henry, and all those around them, into danger. How far should they go to win personal freedoms? And how high a price are they willing to pay for a new way of living?

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Compulsion by Kate Scott

In some ways Lucy is thriving; a young music journalist whose nights are spent under neon lights with the comfort of the thumping base and promise of glamorous debauchery. In reality, as wild nights begin to bleed into one another, she is drowning. In a bid to escape her compulsive cycle of self-destructive partying she retreats to the seaside town of her youth, Abergele, but Lucy soon discovers moving postcodes and moving forward are two different things.

Compulsion is a charged debut transporting you to the romance and decay of the early 2000s.

In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas

In 1859, in a small town jail, deep in the forests of Canada, an elderly woman sits behind bars. She came to Dunmore via the Underground Railroad to escape enslavement, but an American bounty hunter tracked her down. Now she’s in jail for killing him.

Lensinda Martin, a smart young reporter, wants to tell the woman’s version of events, hoping that it will lead to her acquittal, but the woman will only tell her story on one condition: she gets one from Lensinda in return. As the women swap stories – of family and first loves, of survival and freedom against all odds - it becomes apparent that their histories are interconnected, and a hidden bond between the two women is revealed which will change Lensinda’s life forever.

Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell

It’s 2013 and Circus is a divorced 40-year-old jazz musician. He is selfish, obsessed with women, and afraid he will never make it big – he lives for music. He barely sees his 15-year-old daughter, Koko, and has just found out that the one woman he has ever truly loved is pregnant with his child. Instead of facing the consequences and doing the right thing, he runs.

This is a story of heartbreak, of passion and risk, and, surprisingly, it is a story of redemption. But ultimately, it is a love story.