Whitcoulls Recommends: Clown Town and Fly, Wild Swans

Clown Town by Mick Herron. This is the latest novel in his Slow Horses series, about Jackson Lamb and the cast of MI5 misfits and rejects that he manages in Slough House. They are brilliant books and this one is no exception. There are several seasons of an Apple TV series based on the books which is wonderful television, but as always, the books are even better. Highly recommended for anyone who likes spy stories, and eccentric, interesting and deeply flawed characters.

Fly, Wild Swans by Jung Chang. In 1991, Jung Chang’s memoir about three generations of women in her family in China was on everyone’s reading list - and it was wonderful. This is a follow up, updating things since the impact that success had on her life, change in China and its place in the world over the years and what’s happened to her during that period - it’s really a personal and global memoir, and much of it is a love letter to her mother. Her books are all banned in China, but luckily we have them here.

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