The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (Fig Tree £20, 656pp)
Big-hearted, bold and brimful of exuberant characters, Stockett's sprawling second novel is as engaging as her debut, the bestselling The Help.
Set in Depression-era Mississippi, it follows the fortunes of a group of broke but resourceful women, who are making the best of compromising circumstances, as the heat swelters and emotions teeter between laughter and tears.
At the heart of the story is smart, sparky 11-year-old Meg, who's attempting to keep her spirits up in an awful orphanage, and burgeoning Birdie Calhoun, who's visiting her rich, pampered, prettier sister, in the hopes of borrowing money.
Birdie's path crosses with the irrepressible Meg, her mother Charlie and a roguish cast of down-on-their-luck ladies, who find a wayward solution to their financial woes in this tale of unexpected friendships.
Noble Beasts is available now from the Mail Bookshop
Noble Beasts by Lucy Waverley (Bonnier £16.99, 400pp)
Lovesick, dizzy with alcohol and haunted by his youthful indiscretions, the ageing, anxious Sir Edwin Landseer is an artist forever on the brink of disaster.
Waverley paints a fantastic, enthralling portrait of him here, all yearning emotion and artistic ambition.
Her narrative flits back and forward in time, alighting on his impoverished beginnings in Victorian London to fame and fortune where his pictures of dogs, deer and the Scottish Glens become sought after, helped by the patronage of the Duke of Bedford.
Waverley deliciously describes the complications of his life as he struggles to complete his greatest commission - sculpting the four proud lions that guard Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square - forever hampered by the fever dream of his past and the memories of the married duchess who enraptured him, loved him and then broke his heart.
The Repentants is available now
The Repentants by Kate Foster (Mantle £18.99, 336pp)
A small town in Fife, Scotland, and the unforgiving landscape of Iceland are the perfect settings for a devious tale of revenge, betrayal and survival, beautifully crafted by Foster.
It's 1790 and Florrie has been caught in an illicit encounter in a shabby hotel.
Forced to publicly repent, she's joined in her shame by salt serf Eliza, who's broken the Sabbath, offering Jonny, Florrie's husband, the perfect opportunity to set up a nefarious scheme involving a salt-making business, a prison ship and Florrie's wealth.
This twisty tale reveals that nothing is quite as it seems as Eliza and Florrie make a daring plan of their own.