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3 November 2023

Â鶹ԼÅÄ Two's bookclub Between the Covers, hosted by Sara Cox and now into its seventh series, has featured a host of new titles alongside favourite books brought in by famous fans. The new series launches in November with a brilliant reading list of the best new fiction - your Autumn reading starts here.

Ahead of the new series, host Sara Cox said, “I can’t wait to get stuck into these six brilliant, brand-new titles. The books we’ve chosen for this series are among the best we’ve ever had; superb writing that will entice and delight our viewers.”

Jo Brand, Rob Delaney, Sandi Toksvig, Adrian Edmondson, Anita Rani, Chris McCausland, Annie Mac and Nish Kumar are just some of the familiar faces discussing the titles listed here, as well as talking passionately about their favourite books, highlighting their literary heroes and telling humorous reading-related stories.

Whether you’re reading on the move or staying cosy at home, here is the best new fiction to update your TBR pile.

The Seventh Son by Sebastian Faulks

When a young American academic Talissa Adam offers to carry another woman's child, she has no idea of the life-changing consequences.

Behind the doors of the Parn Institute, a billionaire entrepreneur plans to stretch the boundaries of ethics as never before. Through a series of IVF treatments, which they hope to keep secret, they propose an experiment that will upend the human race as we know it.

Seth, the baby, is delivered to hopeful parents Mary and Alaric, but when his differences start to mark him out from his peers, he begins to attract unwanted attention.

​The Seventh Son is a spectacular examination of what it is to be human. It asks the question: just because you can do something, does it mean you should? Sweeping between New York, London, and the Scottish Highlands, this is an extraordinary novel about unrequited love and unearned power.

• Sebastian Faulks on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds
  The author talks to Tom Sutcliffe about his new novel on Start the Week.
• Sebastian Faulks in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Books archive
• The Seventh Son is the new book pick for episode one in the series, when Sara Cox is joined by Richard Armitage, Rob Delaney, Anita Rani and Jo Brand.

The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

A girl known only as Red, the daughter of a Cornish fortune-teller, travels with her father making a living predicting fortunes using the ancient method: the Square of Sevens. When her father suddenly dies, Red becomes the ward of a gentleman scholar.

Now raised as a lady amidst the Georgian splendour of Bath, her fortune-telling is a delight to high society. But she cannot ignore the questions that gnaw at her soul: who was her mother? How did she die? And who are the mysterious enemies her father was always terrified would find him?

The pursuit of these mysteries takes her from Cornwall and Bath to London and Devon, from the rough ribaldry of the Bartholomew Fair to the grand houses of two of the most powerful families in England. And while Red's quest brings her the possibility of great reward, it also leads her into grave danger.

• Open Book on Â鶹ԼÅÄ Sounds
  Laura Shepherd-Robinson discusses the allure of magic and mysticism in her latest book.
• Actor and comedian Adrian Edmondson, broadcaster and DJ Annie Macmanus and comedians Chris McCausland and Angela Barne discuss The Square of Sevens in episode two of the new series.

Remember, Mr Sharma by A. P. Firdaus

Delhi, 1997: It is India's fiftieth year of independence, the year of Hindu nationalists and atomic bombs. But twelve-year-old Adi has a bigger problem: his Ma has gone missing - again.

Left with an ailing grandmother, a raging father and no answers, he finds an unlikely ally: a talking vulture who reveals itself to be a bureaucrat from the 'Department of Historical Adjustment'. The Department holds Adi's family files, which will take him on a journey through time and memory, through fifty years of India's history, uncovering the darkest secrets of his Ma's past. But first, he must unlock them by facing his greatest fears.

As bright and hopeful as it is devastating, Remember, Mr Sharma explores the ways in which we view the past, its inescapable hold over us and the stories we tell to set ourselves free.

• Remember, Mr Sharma is the new book selection for episode three in the new series.

Falling Animals by Sheila Armstrong

On an isolated beach set against a lonely, windswept coastline, a pale figure sits serenely against a sand dune staring out to sea. His hands are folded neatly in his lap, his ankles are crossed and there is a faint smile on his otherwise lifeless face.

Months later, after a fruitless investigation, the nameless stranger is buried in an unmarked grave. But the mystery of his life and death lingers on, drawing the nearby villagers into its wake. From strandings to shipwrecks, it is not the first time that strangeness has washed up on their shores.

Told through a chorus of voices, Falling Animals follows the crosshatching threads of lives both true and imagined, real and surreal, past and present. Slowly, over great time and distance, the story of one man, alone on a beach, begins to unravel. Elegiac and atmospheric, dark and disquieting, Sheila Armstrong's debut novel marks her arrival as one of the most uniquely gifted writers at work in literary fiction today.

• Falling Animals is the new book selection for the fourth episode in the new series.

Devil’s Breath by Jill Johnson

Eustacia Rose is a Professor of Botanical Toxicology, who lives alone in London with only her extensive collection of poisonous plants for company. She tends to her garden with meticulous care. Her life is quiet. Her schedule never changes. Until the day she hears a scream and the temptation to investigate proves irresistible.

Through her telescope, Professor Rose is drawn into the life of an extraordinarily beautiful neighbour, Simone, and nicknames the men who visit her after poisonous plants according to the toxic effect they have on her. But who are these four men? And why does Eustacia Rose recognise one of them?

Just as she preserves her secret garden, she feels inexplicably compelled to protect her neighbour, but Eustacia soon finds herself entangled in a far more complicated web than she could ever have imagined. When her precious garden is vandalised and someone close to Simone is murdered with a toxin derived from a rare poisonous plant, Eustacia becomes implicated in the crime.

• Devil’s Breath is the new book featured in the fifth episode of the new Between the Covers series.

The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou by Eleni Kyriacou

London, 1954. Zina Pavlou, a Cypriot grandmother, waits quietly in the custody of the Metropolitan police. She can't speak their language, but she understands what their wary looks mean: she has been accused of the brutal murder of her daughter-in-law.

Eva Georgiou, Greek interpreter for the Met, knows how it feels to be voiceless as an immigrant woman. While she works as Zina's translator, her obsession with the case deepens, and so too does her bond with the accused murderer.

Zina can't speak for herself. She can't clear her own name. All she can do is wait for the world to decide.

• The Unspeakable Acts of Zina Pavlou is the new book selection for the sixth and final episode in the new series.