V Read—The Confession by Jessie Burton

Our favourite book this week is an understated tale that encompasses two different decades in two different cities. The two stories are deeply intertwined but told in such perfect detail that the dual timelines each stand alone as impactful and engrossing as each other.

This is the story of Rose/Laura (it’s too complicated to explain), Elise Marceau, her lover Constance and a daughters search for answers and an even bigger search for her sense of self. From 1980s Los Angeles vignettes, to glimpses of contemporary London, broken and rebuilt relationships, and the fiction of a novelist set against the alternative realities of the main protagonists—there’s so much to absorb and think about.

How do we reconcile what we know we want and want to be with what we actually have? “If getting there is hard, holding on to your dream is possibly even harder” says Rose. And we agree. This is a page turner. But a subtle one. Enjoy.