BookHub's October Highlights
Kia ora koutou and welcome to BookHub’s October Highlights,
Download the newsletter here or read below.
Spooky season is here, and we've chosen a suitably unsettling read for our Book of the Month. Award-winning, bestselling Catherine Chidgey returns with The Starving Bride: a confronting, psychological whirlwind following Hazel Whitlock, a young woman in crisis who signs up for a revived sideshow act in Blackpool. Unnerving and inexorable, Chidgey's stunning prose pulls you through the dark tale whether you like it or not. Perfect October reading!
Beyond that, October is absolutely stacked. Witi Ihimaera returns with The Star Path, his long-awaited follow-up to The Whale Rider. Bonnie Garmus is back with her first book since Lessons in Chemistry. Elif Shafak, Barbara Kingsolver and Audrey Niffenegger all have new titles — and yes, that is the sequel to The Time Traveller's Wife. Dame Judi Dench reflects on a remarkable life, and Andrew Campbell offers a firsthand account of the Jacinda Ardern years from one of her closest advisors. And, as always, there’s plenty of gorgeous new reads for our tamariki.
Here's what Aotearoa's indie booksellers are recommending this month!
Happy reading,
– The BookHub Team
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Book of the Month
The Starving Bride
Catherine Chidgey
England, the near future.
Dumped by her boyfriend, fired from her job and estranged from her parents, Hazel Whitlock signs up for a sideshow act in Blackpool. The seaside resort has revived all the cancelled old favourites and she will be the Starving Bride.
On display in the iconic Blackpool Tower, with a ravenous lion prowling the enclosure, Hazel must lie in silence while strangers view her body. As the days tick down, thousands are captivated by Hazel's transformation. Some are inspired. Some are obsessed. And some are watching far more closely than they should be.
Hazel's old friend Gilda becomes increasingly worried for her welfare. Councillor Frank Marsh warns that the Tower could collapse – but no one will listen. As the spectacle spirals and the world outside grows increasingly unstable, Hazel must confront the truth: how far is she willing to go to be seen?
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Kids & YA
