There is no denying that summer has a special hold on us. Some of us look forward to enjoying that sun-kissed glow and holiday hair, while others seek escape in the books that have the power to whisk us on an exciting adventure around the globe. To help you travel in style, we have rounded up 12 immersive reads you will want take with you no matter what plans you have for this summer.
The Gentleman From Peru by André Aciman
It’s been 10 years since a group of college friends made a vow: that the first to get rich would rent a boat and invite the others on a cruise. Now, the friends find themselves marooned at a luxurious hotel on the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
One evening, the stranger approaches their table and places a hand on the shoulder of Mark, a member of the group who recently suffered an injury to that very shoulder. In an instant, Mark’s pain miraculously evaporates. The group is stunned, eager to find out more about this stranger’s healing powers – everyone but Margot, who is suspicious of this man and reluctant to join her friends’ enthusiasm.
Soon, though, even Margot finds herself enchanted by his mystical powers. She allows him to tell her things about herself – testing his unnerving clairvoyance – until she realizes that they may have already met…
Buy it on AmazonSummer by Edith Wharton
“She had always thought of love as something confused and furtive, and he made it as bright and open as the summer air.”
Although Wharton is best known for her New York stories, Summer is set in a small, bleak New England town. The story of an uneducated young girl’s summer fling with a more sophisticated young man is beautifully written and remains emotionally impactful despite more than a century’s worth of changes to accepted social norms.”-R.J.
Read it Free Here Buy it on AmazonLast Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley
ISTANBUL, 1921
Before the Occupation, Nur’s city was a tapestry of treasures: the Grand Bazaar alive with colour, trinkets and spices; saffron sunsets melting into the black waters of the Bosphorus; the sweet fragrance of the fig trees dancing on the summer breeze . . .
Now the shadow of war hangs over the city, and Nur lives for the protection of a young boy with a terrible secret. Stumbling through the streets, carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, she avoids the gazes of the Allied soldiers. Survival is everything.
When Nur chances upon George Monroe, a medical officer in the British Army, it is easy to hate him. Yet the lines between enemy and friend grow fainter…
Buy it on AmazonMadame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Set in the country of romance, this scandalous tale became one of the most talked about novels of the 19th century, catapulting its author to an instant fame. Elegant, yet tragic story portrays Madame Bovary’s pursuit of affection fuelled by her indulgence in sentimental novels. Disappointed in her lacklustre husband and consumed by boredom, Emma is desperate to escape reality to a world of exquisite pleasures. Driven by her carnal desires and her dreams of everlasting love, she gets entangled in a tormenting web of lies, betrayals and indiscretions. But will her new addiction offer her freedom or is she doomed to fall prey to the ecstasies of love?
For the first time in French literature, the wildest fantasies and erotic desires were laid bare in a novel, which promoted sexual liberation. Soon the book became an apple of discord among readers and censors alike, putting Gustave Flaubert on trial for obscenity. A century later, the perceived threat to public decency was so grave, that the British government instructed officials to seize and destroy any copies they found. The wave of condemnation reached even the shores of the U.S.A., when notorious masterpiece was challenged and banned by American Library Association for undermining moral values.
Read it Free Here Buy it on AmazonThe Guests by Nikki Smith
“The Guests by Nikki Smith is a destination thriller set at a luxurious eco-resort in the Maldives. Business deals, affairs, betrayals… and maybe even murder are all on the cards for the guests, each of whom have their own reasons for needing to get away on an idyllic break: ethical investor Zac, his wife Clara and their daughter Alexa need to relax and bond as a family after a terrifying event; eco-influencer Skye wants to review the hotel’s true credentials; other guests just want to be waited on hand and foot by the resentful staff.
As a reader you know trouble is brewing based on the prologue in which a body is found on the beach before we zoom back to the start of the holiday and get to know the guests. We around between characters as their connections become apparent, their secrets are revealed and the tension escalates…” -Kat M.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
For Robinson Crusoe, a mariner on a quest to bring slaves from Africa, the ship’s collision with a raging storm marked the beginning of his spiritual journey. Washed up on the shore by a shipwreck, the lonely castaway struggled against deprivation and hardship on a small desert island near Trinidad. After several years of isolation, Crusoe might offer your guests a unique glimpse into the soul of an exile in his fight for survival in a dangerous world of tranquility.
A great source of survival tips, Robinson Crusoe will add a touch of a tropical flavour to your vacation.
Read it Free Here Buy it on AmazonSeven Summers by Page Toon
Six summers ago, Liv and Finn met working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ended in devastating tragedy they were bound together inextricably. But Finn’s life was in LA with his band, and Liv’s is in Cornwall with her family – so they made a promise. Finn would return every year, and if they were single they would spend the summer together.
This summer, Liv crosses paths with Tom – a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn’t broken every year. Now Liv must make an impossible choice. And when she discovers the shocking reason that Tom has left home, she’ll need to trust her heart even more . . .
The Last Dance by Mark Billingham
“The book begins with DS Declan Miller coming back from leave after a personal tragedy that plays a big part in this story. Not everyone is thrilled to see him back. Middle-aged Miller meets his new partner, DS Sara Xui ,younger and the yin to his yang with her seeming total lack of a sense of humour countering his deluge of wisecracks and one-liners. The ongoing jokes make the book great fun but they can occasionally seem desperate and wearing, with the taciturn but cerebral Ms Xui nailing that perfectly.
The plot involves the killing of a prominent member of a local crime family , found shot dead in a Blackpool hotel room, another body shot with the same gun is found in the next room, someone seemingly with no connection to the first victim.”-Tambok
Buy it on AmazonSaltblood by Francesca de Tores
“What a juicy subject for a historical novel—an infamous female buccaneer during the Golden Age of Piracy and her infamous shipmates, Anne Bonny and Calico Jack Rackham.
Mary’s life begins in hardship. She masquerades as a boy to solicit financial help for her mother from her brother’s paternal grandmother. Making her way through early 1700s society dressed as ‘Mark’ in service as a footman, she is pulled toward that wildest of man’s worlds—the sea.
A woman dressed as a man to become a sailor is a common theme in the mysogynistic world of bygone cultures. She marries and puts on a dress, and they run a tavern in Flanders. But the dampness that seeps into their floorboards threatens to reclaim her for the sea. Perhaps a sailor is something else, neither man nor woman but an identity unto itself. Read’s love of the sea, tinged with fear of its power, shines forth from the pages.”-Ms Helme.
The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Blood, lust and tears all blend into a poignant tale of “Lost Generation”, depicting American expatriates enjoying their decadent lifestyle in Europe. The story unfolds when Brett Ashley, a promiscuous English divorcée, travels with a group of friends to a bullfighting Festival in Pamplona. One by one, the flighty siren lures her male companions to their destruction with her irresistible charms and manners. Her effortless game of seduction is executed with precision of a bloodthirsty matador, who taunts his bull to a point of rage. Sexually liberated and confident, the femme fatale exploits vulnerability of her countless suitors, leaving behind a trail of false hopes and heartbreaks. Revered for his exceptionally-crafted dialogues and unadorned prose, Hemingway serves a boozy menu of jealousy, love and loss that will satisfy even the fussiest readers.
Tess of The d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Set in the 19th century England, this heart-rending tale chronicles the life of a young woman of no means and no prospects in a downward spiral. At the tender age of sixteen, Tess is turning over a new leaf as she leaves her impoverished home to claim her noble lineage with the D’Urbervilles. Soon her hopes and dreams begin to crumble when the hurricane of illusion, obsession and betrayal chases Tess off to the edge of a cliff.
Master of human tragedy, Hardy often sets startling images of nature against brutal cynicism dominating Victorian society where a tender flower stands no chance in the midst of harsh winter.
Read it Free Here Buy it on AmazonJames by Percival Everett
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.
When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
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Stella
Stella is a Marketing Consultant and has been writing content for Full Text Archive since 2015. When she is not writing, she is meticulously planning our social and e-mail campaigns. Stella holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Russian Literature, which has provided a broad foundation from which she continues to explore the written world.
She spends her free time reading, visiting old castles and discovering new coffee shops. She can be reached at stella