It should be easier to choose this time as we've only three suggestions, but what suggestions they are. A book of short stories - we've never had one of those before - and two historical, one set in the 1940s, the other from 1686.
As always, to vote, please make your 1st and 2nd choices in the comments box below. After a count up, the title of the most popular book will be posted on the Purple Coo main site. It then becomes our Purple Coo Book Club Winter Read for 2015
The American Lover by RoseTremain
We’ve never had a book of short stories before. Only
recently published, these are about love, loss and longing, and those turning
points, the pivotal moments in life when everything can change forever. It
includes, ‘The Jester of Astapovo,’ a fictionalised account of Tolstoy’s death.
(Kindle price is £5.99, paperback £12.10 on Amazon.)
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
Set in 1686 Amsterdam, newly married Nella is given a
wedding gift by her husband, a cabinet sized replica of their house. Her
marriage is not what she hoped for and when she comes to furnish her tiny
house, with the help of a mysterious miniaturist, she discovers secrets and
dangers.
The Unexploded by Alison Macleod
This book is set in Brighton in the days after
Dunkirk. Geoffrey and Evelyn Beaumont,
together with her snobby mother and all the other inhabitants of this seaside
town are having to cope with the threat of invasion. It is unsettling for them all, but
particularly for Evelyn, who comes into contact with Otto Gottlieb, a German
artist in the local internment camp. His presence, plus the war itself, changes
their lives for ever.
The picture is by one of my favourite artists, Cheryl Culver
