New Life by Sally Emerson

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in New Life by Sally Emerson Novelist, anthologist and travel writer, Sally Emerson brings us another poignant anthology, this time examining the highs and lows of parenthood. New Life, An Anthology For Parenthood captures the joy, puzzlement, wonder, comedy, love and even despair involved in being a parent. Great names such as Dickens and Sylvia Plath are thrown into the mix along with Laurie Lee and John Lennon to cover every hurdle a parent may have to tackle from the unexpected struggle of post-natal depression to the overwhelming love of a new-born baby. Familiar nursery rhymes notes from several unknowns cataloguing the exhilarating journey of parenthood add a lighter note to the book making this the perfect collection for all new parents.

Sally Emerson has edited three anthologies covering the great passages of life including Be Mine, which examines love and marriage and In Loving Memory, which offers comfort and solace for those in grief. All are designed to be inspiring and uplifting, bringing the greatest writers to help and comfort and inspire individuals.

She is also the author of several novels, including Firechild, Separation, Second Sight, Listeners, Heat and Broken Bodies, and has written for the Sunday Times and the Washington Post. Read on to see Sally Emerson’s top 10 summer reads.

New Life by Sally Emerson, £7.69 from Amazon.co.uk

Breakfast At Tiffany\'s by Truman Capote

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in Breakfast at Tiffany\'s Delightful, funny novel set in bohemian New York staring the mesmerising beauty Holly Golightly, one of literature’s great creations, who manages to be utterly manipulating and immoral while remain breathtakingly innocent. It’s impressive how little the narrator, who rents a flat in the same house, gives away about himself and his feelings for her. As we read we have to keep our wits about us to guess at the difference between what she says she does and what she actually does. She is the best little crook in the world, and we love her. It is short and sweet and beguiling. Perfect for any beach or journey.

Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote, £5.99, amazon.co.uk

Mother\'s Milk by Edward St Aubyn

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Loved this. The beginning, which describes one of the four main characters’ entry into the world, is brilliant, and I’ve quoted it in New Life. The author has nerve in describing with hallucinatory brightness the thoughts and feelings of a super brilliant baby. The father Patrick, a lawyer, tries to balance his feelings for his two young sons with his dismay at his wife Mary\'s distance now that she sees herself as a mother and not as a wife. Comic, short, unusual.

Mother’s Milk by Edward St Aubyn, £5.99, amazon.co.uk

Flush by Virginia Woolf

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in Flush by Virginia Woolf Sharp-witted reconstruction of the romantic life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning from the point of view of her pet spaniel, Flush. In New Life I’ve quoted Flush’s comic attitudes to the baby who is at first a foe, then becomes an ally. Both loathe scenery. Little known compared to Woolf’s other books, good one to mention, a very easy and engaging read. Plus makes you look intelligent as you sit on the beach. Remark that it is point of view which turns a story from a good one into a brilliant one.

Flush by Virginia Woolf, £4.79, Amazon.co.uk

The End Of The Affair by Graham Greene

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in The End Of The Affair OK. Just about one of my favourite books but it can be read again and again, and is much better than the film. It is about what love can really be like, full of hate and desire for revenge when it goes wrong. The anti hero is Maurice Bendrix whose love for Sarah and hatred of her good natured husband become an obsession. Twists, turns, comedy, tragedy, plus it explores the nature of love. Sexy too. Definitely a good summer read.

The End Of The Affair by Graham Greene, £4.79, Amazon.co.uk

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in The Great Railway Bazaar Terrifically written, full of comic characters affectionately and vividly observed such as the hapless Duffill, who loses his luggage. A classic. His train journey takes him from London via Iran, India, South East Asia, Japan and Russia. But it is the people you remember. Reminds the jaded traveller that they have only themselves to blame if they are not continually intrigued by who they meet and what they see, whether it is in Corfu or Outer Mongolia.

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux, £6.99, amazon.co.uk

Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in Love in the time of Cholera

Glorious lush prose, perfect for reading anywhere hot because you can just feel the heat in the air in each turn and drift of this miraculous prose – a love story. The heroine gives up the romantic love of her youth, Ariza, for the good and rational Urbino and the story explores these three characters. Again, short. I have read this time and again, like reading a poem.

Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, £5.99, amazon.co.uk

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in Wolf Hall

Let me tell you. This is the best. It is up for the Booker and if it doesn’t win I shall… I don’t know what I shall do. Cry. It is a stunning piece of work, a sympathetic and wide ranging novel about Thomas Cromwell and the court of Henry VIII. Thomas More, Wolsey, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, they are all here, as never before, machinating, betraying, gossiping. It’s like no other historical novel I’ve ever read. It is long, admittedly, but it will keep you going all the holiday and you will feel you’ve taken a break into Tudor times and be surprised to find yourself in this century.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, £10.25, amazon.co.uk

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in The Little Stranger

I am looking forward to this. Sarah Waters is brilliant with plot. A mistress of shifting expectations and of surprise. This ghost story has had excellent reviews and I can’t wait to sit on a balcony overlooking the ocean and give myself up to the author’s skilled treachery. You can never quite trust her, except to know that she never disappoints.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, £8.49, amazon.co.uk

Girl In A Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold

books,relaxation,entertainment news,staying in Girl In A Blue Dress

Again, an intriguing idea, a novel giving a voice to one of the forgotten women of history, Catherine Dickens, the neglected wife of the great genius Dickens. It looks an attractive read. We shall see. On holiday you have to take a few books you are certain to like, and that includes classics (classics, after all, are usually classics because throughout time people have found them readable), a few books you are pretty sure you will like (you’ve read the first few pages and not thrown it to the floor in disgust) and one or two chancers. This is my chancer. Now, roll on the holiday.

Girl In A Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold, £6.99, amazon.co.uk

Summer reading inspiration: 

Farahad Zama\'s Top 10 Summer Reads

Adele Parks\' Top 10 Summer reads