The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-24)

FICTION HARDBACKS

Last

week

Weeks in

top 10

1

Portrait of a Thief

Grace D Li

(Coronet £16.99)

Five students are tasked with stealing back

priceless looted sculptures from a museum

(12,090)

—1

2

Young Mungo/Douglas Stuart

(Picador £16.99) The relationship between two teenage

boys is threatened by the sectarian divide (11,865)

—1

3

Lessons in Chemistry/Bonnie Garmus

(Doubleday £14.99) In 1960s America, a chemist

becomes the star of a popular TV cooking show (4,950)

22

4

Storm Tide/Wilbur Smith and Tom Harper

(Zaffre £20) Three generations of the Courtney family

fight on opposing sides of a brutal war (4,655)

—1

5

The No-Show/Beth O’Leary

(Quercus £14.99) Three women have been stood up

on Valentine’s Day, all by the same man (4,630)

—1

6

With This Kiss/Carrie Hope Fletcher

(HQ £12.99) A young woman rejects love after

discovering her kiss reveals a person’s death (4,530)

—1

7

Dream Town/David Baldacci

(Macmillan £20) Aloysius Archer heads to Hollywood

to hunt for a killer and a missing client (3,200)

—1

8

The Man Who Died Twice/Richard Osman

(Viking £18.99) Stolen diamonds worth £20 million

cause chaos for the Thursday Murder Club (2,465)

631

9

Elizabeth Finch/Julian Barnes

(J Cape £16.99) A former student inherits the papers

of an inspirational teacher and thinker (2,400)

—1

10

Run Rose Run/Dolly Parton and James Patterson

(Century £20) A young singer-songwriter strives to

escape her dark past and make it in Nashville (2,310)

36

FICTION PAPERBACKS

Last

week

Weeks

in top 10

1

Better Off Dead

Lee Child and Andrew Child

(Penguin £8.99)

Jack Reacher comes to the aid of an army

veteran searching for her twin brother

(17,265)

13

2

How to Kill Your Family/Bella Mackie

(Borough £8.99) A woman avenges her mother’s death

by bumping off her father and his family (12,545)

—1

3

It Ends With Us/Colleen Hoover

(Simon & Schuster £8.99) A first love’s reappearance

threatens a woman’s present relationship (11,250)

233

4

The Thursday Murder Club/Richard Osman

(Penguin £8.99) Four friends in a retirement village

team up to solve a murder on their doorstep (8,150)

849

5

Klara and the Sun/Kazuo Ishiguro

(Faber £8.99) The tale of a lifelike android bought

to be a companion to an ill teenage girl (7,715)

67

6

Ugly Love/Colleen Hoover

(Simon & Schuster £8.99) The relationship between

“friends with benefits” turns complicated (7,535)

10 11

7

Not Dark Yet/Peter Robinson

(Hodder £8.99) A rape caught on video could cast a

double murder in a different light for DCI Banks (7,385)

33

8

Verity/Colleen Hoover

(Sphere £8.99) A ghostwriter discovers chilling secrets

in her client’s unfinished autobiography (6,985)

11 3

9

The Distant Shores/Santa Montefiore

(Simon & Schuster £8.99) A biographer becomes

entangled in the disputes of her subjects (6,925)

—1

10

Bridgerton: The Viscount Who Loved Me/Julia Quinn

(Piatkus £8.99) Anthony Bridgerton wants to settle

down after years indulging in rakish pleasures (6,585)

54

CHILDREN'S

1

Last

week

1

Weeks

in top 10

5

Five Little

Easter Bunnies

Martha Mumford and

Sarah Jennings

(Bloomsbury £6.99)

A lift-the-flap adventure

for Easter (12,170)

2

Last

week

2

Weeks

in top 10

5

Supertato: The Great

Eggscape!

Sue Hendra and

Paul Linnet

(Simon & Schuster £6.99)

A chocolatey Easter

caper (9,625)

3

Last

week

3

Weeks

in top 10

6

We’re Going

on an Egg Hunt

Martha Mumford and

Laura Hughes

(Bloomsbury £7.99)

Easter bunnies hunt for

Easter Eggs (6,835)

4

Last

week

—

Weeks

in top 10

1

Cat Kid Comic Club:

On Purpose

Dav Pilkey

(Scholastic £10.99)

The third book in the

bestselling graphic novel

series (5,595)

5

Last

week

6

Weeks

in top 10

3

Bluey: Easter Fun

(Ladybird £3.99)

An Easter-themed activity

book for fans of the

Australian animated

TV series, Bluey

(5,410)

their voice. Lost & Found is

both philosophical and

profoundly personal,

unflinching in its efforts to

capture the whole truth about

grief and loss, the banal and

embarrassing as well as the

drama: the sudden physical

clumsiness, the unexplained

toothache, the unexpected

irritability. Schulz’s

reflections and insights often

feel like the articulation of

something dimly glimpsed

and rarely acknowledged, but

they spring out of what is,

essentially, the story of a

family bound by deep bonds

of love.

This is, however, just half

the story. The other half is a

meditation on, and story of,

discovery, of finding a thing,

an experience, a person that

lights up or changes your life.

This story starts, quite

literally, with a falling star.

It moves from a tale of what

seems miraculous to what

also seems miraculous, the

act of meeting a person

and falling in love. Schulz

meets her lover, a writer

she just calls “C”

in the book, at the

suggestion of a friend.

Their second date

lasts 19 days. “What I

understood,” she says with

heart-stopping clarity, “was

that no amount of happiness

was out of proportion to the

fact of having found her.”

Schulz moves, apparently

effortlessly, from the love

story to the loss story, which

is also, of course, a love story.

She meets C 18 months before

her father dies. Schulz is an

atheist Jew, the daughter of

middle-class, metropolitan,

highly educated parents.

C is a devout Christian, the

daughter of church-going,

working-class parents.

Both women are fiercely

intellectual, intense, deep

thinking and happy to quote

Frank O’Hara and Hegel. But

it’s an argument on a hike

about a bear that makes them

both realise that the fear of

losing each other is what has

fuelled nearly all their fights.

They marry on the tip of an

island in Chesapeake Bay just

before an epic storm. Among

the wedding photos there’s

one of Schulz, her mother and

“a wide blue emptiness where

my father should have been”.

She keeps this photo on her

wall by her desk, because “it

honors my joy together with

my grief ”.

Lost & Found is a profound

and beautiful book. It’s a

moving meditation on grief

and loss, but also a sparky

celebration of joy, wonder and

the miracle of love. It’s witty,

wise, beautifully structured

and written in clear, singing

prose. Oh, and just wait till

you hear what happened to

that falling star. c

It’s like taking

a stroll with a

highly erudite

guide

PRIVATE COLLECTION

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
“Experience and history both
teach us,” she says, “that there
is nothing on earth that
cannot be lost — no matter its
value, no matter its size.”
It’s like taking a stroll with
a highly erudite guide, but
one with a piercing urgency in

PAPERBACK

OF THE WEEK

Sorrow and Bliss

by Meg Mason

Weidenfeld £8.99

Sorrow and

Bliss is one

of those

novels that

immediately

feels like

a beloved

friend. The

story of Martha and Patrick,

recently separated, is told

over 20-odd years and

has an unforgettable, fully

realised supporting cast.

An unmannered, truly

entertaining read that is

exquisitely crafted and

deeply serious.

India Knight

ST DIGITAL

FOR MORE PICKS, AND OUR

CHOICE OF THE BEST OF 2022,

GO TO THESUNDAYTIMES.

CO.UK/CULTURE

Loved and lost

Schulz’s

father, Isaac

24 April 2022 33