Cosmopolitan UK – September 2019

WORDS LAURA SILVERMAN. PHOTOGRAPHS GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK

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ORCHID&

THEWASP

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

When Gael’s father

walks out on the family

during the economic

crash of 2008,

enterprising Gael

escapes Dublin for

London and New York

as she tries to rebuild the family’s fortunes.

WHO’S IT BY? Award-winning Irish

poet Caoilinn Hughes.

WHY WE LOVED IT: From blagging

a place at business school to tricking

a billionaire into buying one of her

brother’s paintings, Gael Foess (“gale

force”) is one of fiction’s most likeable

unlikeable characters.

READERS SAY: “The author has such

a way with words. It was powerful

and playful.”

THE FLAT

SHARE

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Tiffy and Leon share

a bed, but have never

met. Tiffy, a book

editor, works 9-5,

while Leon, a nurse

on night shifts, sleeps.

Their relationship

develops through Post-it notes left for

each other.

WHO’S IT BY? Former children’s book

editor Beth O’Leary. Her boyfriend worked

nights so she knows all about living with

someone you never see.

WHY WE LOVED IT: Sharing a flat with

a soulmate – even one you don’t lay eyes

on – might be the future of dating.

READERS SAY: “I fell in love with the

characters and wanted more. I’ll be

looking out for this author again.”

HOWDOYOULIKE

MENOW?

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Tori, a successful

Instagrammer, has

settled down with her

picture-perfect partner.

But behind the filtered

snaps, her relationship

is crumbling and she’s

terrified of exposing her lies (and of being

single at 30). The film rights have been

optioned – welcome to your life on screen.

WHO’S IT BY? Holly Bourne, British author

of bestseller Am I Normal Yet?

WHY WE LOVED IT: This book cleverly

investigates how easy it is to fall into toxic

relationships while also highlighting how

we all exaggerate our lives online.

READERS SAY: “Tori said all the things

I secretly think and feel, but never admit

to, sometimes even to myself.”

AATLAST

S ITABOUT? A Muslim riff on Pride

ejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennet and

y take a high-speed train – we mean,

from 19th-century England to modern-

onto. Ayesha – Lizzie to Austenites –

year-old teacher. She’s independent,

kenand against arranged marriage

e meets Khalid, who’s smart, handsome

nservative. “Love comes after marriage”

other’s idea of a chat-up line. The

htshave already been snapped up.

ITBY? Canadian teacher Uzma Jalaluddin

rprised” when a publisher accepted her

I started it in 2010 and [no one was] as

edin stories about diversity back then.”

E LOVED IT: Anything Austen is OK by

thisis a refreshing take on a classic.

asunavailable for comment, but we

havenodoubtshewouldwholeheartedlyagree.

READERSSAY:“Thisnovelopenedmyeyestoa completely different culture.

It wasreallyfunnyandkeptmehooked.”

“I reallyenjoyedmeetingthecharacters – they were all from different walks

oflifeandhadtheirownstrongviewpoints.”

THE RUNNERS-UP

You’ve seen it all

over Instagram

and the cover

looks great, but

to find a read

that will really

be worth your

time,whatyouneed is a reliable

recommendation. These four

books come with exactly that

• because they’ve all been
  independently judged as part
  of our Big Book Awards 2019,
  where our editors, alongside
  a reader panel, devoured the
  best latest-release fiction on
  the market to select the ones
  that they adored. Here, we
  announce the worthy winners...

AWARDS 2019

AY ESH

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THE WINNER

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WIN NER