Book Preview: Most highly anticipated fiction of 2019 [January – June]

Welcome back!

The end of the year is fast approaching so I thought I’d do a preview of the fiction reads I am most excited about for the first half of 2019.

Don’t forget to let me know in the comments below what your most highly anticipated books are for the coming year.

---

Title: The Binding
Author: Bridget Collins
Publication date: 10th January 2019
Publisher: The Borough Press

Synopsis

“Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a letter arrives summoning him to begin an apprenticeship. He will work for a Bookbinder, a vocation that arouses fear, superstition and prejudice – but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.

He will learn to hand-craft beautiful volumes, and within each he will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, he can help. If there’s something you need to erase, he can assist. Your past will be stored safely in a book and you will never remember your secret, however terrible.

In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, row upon row of books – and memories – are meticulously stored and recorded.

Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of them has his name on it.”

— Taken from The Borough Press website

I will confess to having pestered the life out of The Borough Press for a proof of this book, I am that excited about it! The proof alone is gorgeous, and if you want to order a copy, I highly recommend checking out Waterstones or Goldsboro Books for stunning versions with sprayed edges.

---

Title: The Flower Girls
Author: Alice Clark-Platts
Publication date: 24th January 2019
Publisher: Raven Books (Bloomsbury)

Synopsis

“YOU’LL NEVER FORGET THE FLOWER GIRLS

The Flower Girls. Laurel and Primrose.

One convicted of murder, the other given a new identity.

Now, nineteen years later, another child has gone missing.

And the Flower Girls are about to hit the headlines all over again…”

— Taken from Bloomsbury Books website

I had the pleasure of hearing Alice Clark-Platts talk about her forthcoming book at the Cheltenham Book Festival and I’m itching to dig in. I’m curious to find out how she has tackled such a dark and dreaded subject.

---

Title: We Must Be Brave
Author: Frances Liardet
Publication date: 7th February 2019
Publisher: Fourth Estate

Synopsis

December, 1940. As German bombs fall on Southampton, the city’s residents flee to the surrounding villages. In Upton village, amid the chaos, newly-married Ellen Parr finds a girl sleeping, unclaimed at the back of an empty bus. Little Pamela, it seems, is entirely alone.

Ellen has always believed she does not want children, but when she takes Pamela into her home the child cracks open the past Ellen thought she had escaped and the future she and her husband Selwyn had dreamed for themselves. As the war rages on, love grows where it was least expected, surprising them all. But with the end of the fighting comes the realization that Pamela was never theirs to keep…

— Taken from HarperCollins website

This has been sitting in my proof pile for months so I am finally going to get a chance to read and review it over the Christmas period. I’m interested to see what Liardet does with this plot to make it fresh and interesting.

---

Title: Blood Orange
Author: Harriet Tyce
Publication date: 21st February 2019
Publisher: Wildfire Books

Synopsis

Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise – she’s just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems…

Just one more night. Then I’ll end it.

Alison drinks too much. She’s neglecting her family. And she’s having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.

I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.

Alison’s client doesn’t deny that she stabbed her husband – she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.

I’m watching you. I know what you’re doing.

But someone knows Alison’s secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she’s done, and who won’t stop until she’s lost everything….

— Taken from Headline Books website

Finally, on to a book I have actually read, and already know I can recommend. This book is SO. GOOD. It’s a phenomenal psychological thriller. I’ve got a review lined up ready for the publication day so I won’t say any more here. You’ll just have to trust me!

---

Title: The Doll Factory
Author: Elizabeth Macneal
Publication date: 2nd May 2019
Publisher: Picador

Synopsis

London. 1850. The Great Exhibition is being erected in Hyde Park and among the crowd watching the spectacle two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a moment – forgotten seconds later, but for Silas, a collector entranced by the strange and beautiful, that meeting marks a new beginning.

When Iris is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also teach her to paint. Suddenly her world begins to expand, to become a place of art and love.

But Silas has only thought of one thing since their meeting, and his obsession is darkening . . .

— Taken from the Pan Macmillan website

And last but by no means least is The Doll Factory. I am not going to lie, it was the cover that got me first, but the synopsis won me over. I am determined not to be drawn in until I have caught up on my other 2019 ARCs but you know… I’m only human after all.

---

More to come…

If you wish to pre-order any of these books, please consider doing so using my Book Depository affiliate link. It means I get a small cut of the price at no cost to you. This goes towards supporting my blog. Thank you.

I am sure this stack will just be the start. Don’t forget to let me know in the comments below what you’re most looking forward to in 2019 and if you’ve already read any of these books.

Links to blog posts welcome. Have a wonderful weekend!