MUST READS
THE ADVENTURES OF MAUD WEST
by Susannah Stapleton (Picador £9.99, 320pp)
There is no shortage of female detectives in fiction, from Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple to Dorothy L. Sayers’ Harriet Vane. But had these imaginary sleuths any counterparts in real life?
Exploring the archives, historical researcher Susannah Stapleton came across the redoubtable figure of Maud West, whose newspaper advertisements described her as a ‘Lady Detective’ who would undertake ‘private enquiries and delicate matters’.
Maud proved to be a brilliant self-publicist — an international traveller and mistress of disguise, who kept a ‘revolver, hypodermic syringe and vial of dope’ in her overnight bag, and published sensational accounts of her exploits in the newspapers.
But what was the reality behind the dashing figure? Stapleton’s swift-paced and thrilling account reveals a tale with as many twists and turns as any sleuth story.
THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF THE SKIN
by Monty Lyman (Penguin £9.99, 304pp)
‘Our skin is a beautiful mystery, cloaked in feelings, opinions and questions.’
Dr Monty Lyman’s interest in skin began when he was an 18-year-old medical student and suffered a bout of eczema, which has ‘shadowed me ever since’.
Our skin, he argues, is ‘invisible in plain sight’. On an average human body it covers two square metres and weighs 9 kg, but it wasn’t considered an organ until the 18th century, and is still often overlooked by the medical profession.
Dr Lyman quotes a colleague who describes skin as ‘the wrapping paper that covers the presents’.
In fact, it is our most communicative organ — a ‘book, in which scars, wrinkles and tattoos tell our story and can be read by others’.
Beautifully written, revealing and surprising, this is a fascinating guide to the secret life of skin.
THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO
by Christy Lefteri (Manilla Press £8.99, 384pp)
In 2016 and 2017, Christy Lefteri worked as a volunteer in a refugee centre in Athens, helping families who had fled Syria and Afghanistan.
Overwhelmed by their accounts of survival and loss, Christy was inspired to write the story of Nuri, a Syrian beekeeper, and his wife, Afra, who was blinded by an explosion in which their son, Sami, was killed.
The novel unfolds in flashback, as Nuri and Afra, now living in temporary accommodation in a British seaside town, recall their former life in Aleppo, the events that drove them to leave their once beautiful home and the terrifying journey that brought them to the UK, where they are waiting to hear if their application for asylum will be granted.
In vivid, haunting prose, this bestseller describes the anguish of the millions of refugees fleeing war and persecution.