In Rachel Heng’s novel, the rising cult of #wellness takes centre stage, blurring the lines between lifestyle and belief system. Immortality becomes attainable, but it’s reserved for the select few who adhere to strict regimes of yoga and ample sleep, deeming themselves worthy of eternal life. Meanwhile, a rebellious faction, revelling in indulgence and excess, faces persecution by the authorities. Heng’s narrative prompts reflection on the notion of a “correct” way to live, all while humorously portraying green juice as a double-edged elixir.

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Alderman’s book, lauded as one of Obama’s top reads of 2017, stands out among the rest. Within its pages lies a captivating narrative, unfolding the tale of a world transformed by a seismic event: teenage girls awakening to the power of electricity coursing through their fingertips, altering the course of history. Through the lens of four remarkable women navigating this era of profound societal upheaval, Alderman crafts a richly textured narrative, offering a compelling exploration of how a female-dominated world emerged from the ashes of the old order.

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Ishiguro’s renowned literary prowess, recognised with the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, shines through his body of work. Among his achievements, “Never Let Me Go” stands out, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005. Set in a dystopian 1990s England, the novel unveils a chilling state-run cloning program aimed at perpetuating lives through organ donation. Ishiguro skilfully crafts nuanced dystopian fiction, deftly navigating themes of friendship and humanity. Notably, comparisons were drawn to Charlie Brooker’s “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror.

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My name’s Griz.
I’ve never been to school, I’ve never had friends, in my whole life I’ve not met enough people to play a game of football. My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, before all the people went away, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs.
Then the thief came.
He told stories of the deserted towns and cities beyond our horizons. I liked him – until I woke to find he had stolen my dog. So I chased him out into the ruins of the world.
I just want to get my dog back, but I found more than I ever imagined was possible. More about how the world ended. More about what my family’s real story is. More about what really matters.

I cannot recommend this one enough!

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Of course, the classic! For a more in depth review click here.

The year is 1984 and war and revolution have left the world unrecognisable. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, is ruled by the Party, led by Big Brother. Mass surveillance is everything and The Thought Police are employed to ensure that no individual thinking is allowed. Winston Smith works at The Ministry of Truth, carefully rewriting history, but he dreams of freedom and of rebellion.

It is here that he meets and falls in love with Julia. They start a secret, forbidden affair – but nothing can be kept secret, and they are forced to face consequences more terrifying than either of them could have ever imagined.

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For those intrigued by the unraveling of society amidst illness, Pulitzer Prize-winning “Zone One” offers a compelling narrative. Set in a divided Manhattan, the novel delves into the aftermath of an illness segregating people into the infected and uninfected. Whitehead vividly portrays the task of maintaining order amid chaos, crafting a chillingly realistic world over the span of three intense days.

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The hauntingly prophetic classic novel set in a not-too-distant future where books are burned by a special task force of firemen. Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books. The classic novel of a post-literate future, ‘Fahrenheit 451’ stands alongside Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ as a prophetic account of Western civilisation’s enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity. Bradbury’s powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a novel which over fifty years from first publication, still has the power to dazzle and shock.

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For twelve years Aina and Whitney have been in exile on an island for a crime they committed together, tethered to a croft by pills they take for survival every eight hours. They’ve kept busy – Aina with her garden, her jigsaw, her music; Whitney with his sculptures and maps – but something is not right.

Shipwrecks have begun washing up, supply drops have stopped and on the day their punishment is meant to end, the Warden does not come. Instead a sheep appears; but sheep can’t swim.

Aina becomes convinced that they’ve been abandoned, and that Whitney has been keeping secrets. As she starts testing the limits of their prison, investigating ways she might escape, she is confronted by decisions that haunt her past. Little does she realise that her biggest choice is yet to come.

Amazon – £8.27

Welcome to New London. Everybody is happy here. Our perfect society achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself. Now everyone belongs.

You can be happy too. All you need to do is take your Soma pills.

Discover the brave new world of Aldous Huxley’s classic novel, written in 1932, which prophesied a society which expects maximum pleasure and accepts complete surveillance – no matter what the cost.

Amazon – £7.88

Soon to be an epic drama on Fox from writer Elizabeth Heldens and executive producer Ridley Scott.

Amy Harper Bellafonte is six years old and her mother thinks she’s the most important person in the whole world.
She is.

Anthony Carter doesn’t think he could ever be in a worse place than Death Row. He’s wrong.

FBI agent Brad Wolgast thinks something beyond imagination is coming. It is.

Need I say more?

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