AMANDA SMYTH: BLACK ROCK (Serpent's Tail PB)

Celia’s mother died bringing her into the world — when one soul flies in, another flies out, her aunt Tassi says. So she lives in Black Rock, Tobago, with her cousins and Tassi's second husband Roman, a man so sly he could crawl under a snakeÂ’s belly on stilts. Celia thinks he’s the devil, so when he does something that proves her right, she runs away to Trinidad and a new life in service, working for a doctor and his English wife. A lyrically beautiful coming of age story set in the Caribbean of the 1950s, Amanda Smyth's writing matches the lushness of the vivid tropical landscape and is tinged with a sense of the supernatural. BLACK ROCK is shortlisted for a prestigious American NAACP Award for Outstanding Debut Novel. Film rights are optioned, and Amanda is working on the screenplay. If Richard and Judy's Book Club was still enjoying the profile it had before they left terrestrial television for the backwaters of daytime digital, this would undoubtedly have been one of their strongest choices. The story is simple, but the way in which it is told is powerful and evocative - young, teenaged girl coming into womanhood, sharing a house with her aunt and an evil man who rapes her and in so doing persuades her that she can no longer live there. The prose is lyrical in parts, the rape scenes are powerful and harsh, but the overall sense of spirit that pervades this novel makes it compelling and, ultimately, satisfying. You want to know what happens to Celia, you sympathise with her, naturally, but there's more to it than that, there is something about Amanda's writing that transcends kitchen sink and rites of passage as they normally pan out. This is a book that will grab at your heart and twist it. Could have been written fifty years ago, and belongs up there with the likes of the great 1950s/1960s classics. Tremendous.

E V THOMPSON: THE DREAM TRADERS (ROBERT HALE HB)

E.V Thompson's number one bestseller immerses the reader in the greed, misery and ruthlessness of the Chinese opium trade. The opium trade involved Britain in one of the most shameful wars of all time, just as it reached out from Hong Kong to threaten the very throne of China's all-powerful emperor. Young Cornishman Luke Trewarne is in the Far East to make his fortune but his plans are threatened by his ideals, together with a growing love for China, its people and a beautiful Chinese boat-girl. Challenged by the brutal intrigues of those with the most to gain from the squalor and degradation of the opium trade, Trewarne finds an ally in the Tartar hero of China's 'Bannermen' army. Together, they meet with both triumph and disaster. This is one of E.V Thompson's most exciting and readable novels. Thompson describes in minute detail the story of Cornishman Luke Trewarne and his discovery of China, a country torn apart by the misery and riches associated with the dreaded opium trade. Full of atmosphere and great characters, the author never disappoints.

CHRIS CORCORAN: RANDOM THOUGHTS (Accent Press Quick Read PB)

Chris Corcoran opens his mind to share every thought he's ever had, in his own random order. There are insights into his life as he takes readers back to his Eighties school disco days to reveal how the greatest moment of his teenage years was ruined by Queen's Radio Ga-Ga. He also shares the wisdom of his life experience from his time on CBeebies' Doodle Do with a lesson on the dangers of toilet roll. And he answers many of life's great questions...Why isn't optimism enough to complete a marathon? Why does food taste better in a field? And, more importantly, what is the point of Petit Filous? These thoughts and more are all here, delivered in his unique affectionate and charming way.

RACHEL TREZISE: LOOSE CONNECTIONS (Accent Press Quick Read PB)

Mother-of-two Rosemary is a woman under pressure. With two difficult teenaged children, a distant husband and a busy job, the stress is mounting. The loss of her internet connection pushes her over the edge. After waiting a month and two failed attempts to fix the problem, a third repair man arrives. When he too says he can't get her back online, his incompetence forces Rosemary to take drastic action. The repair man realises that Rosemary is not as naive as she first appears. She is a woman with a secret and is capable of causing him harm. Loose Connections is a darkly humorous story about how computers can distance people from the real world around them.

ALFRIC CAMPBELL: THE LOSS ADJUSTOR (Serpent's Tail PB)

Every Sunday, Caro finds herself back in the place where it all began, lured there by memory, a certain guilt and all the accumulating losses to which she cannot be reconciled. Constantly dwelling on now distant events, she chooses a life of impersonal and systematic work, where long hours insulate her from the outside world. For Caro, the present is two dimensional: it is her past that is loaded with colour and scent. Sometimes she tries to force a little perspective on those early years, with a spare retelling of that terrible summer twenty years ago, when her band of three inseparable friends disintegrated forever. Estelle died two weeks after her fifteenth birthday. It was sudden, violent, explicit. Afterwards, Cormac left and never returned. Now she waits for resolution, which comes in the form of an unlikely alliance. Haunting and humane, Aifric Campbell’s second novel is filled with longing, for childhood and the liberating power of friendship. A little too "literary" for my tastes, but the story is a good one, well told.

MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON: LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

The most beautiful gifts may contain the most terrible poison Robert Audley should be delighted that his uncle has found such a pretty young bride, even if her past is shrouded in mystery. But when his old friend Talboys, mourning the loss of his wife, is treated oddly by Lady Audley, then goes suddenly and strangely missing, Robert has no choice but to begin investigations into the enigmatic young woman. What Robert is about to find behind the façade of a perfect lady may be worse than he could ever have imagined

EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON: PAUL CLIFFORD (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

‘It was a dark and stormy night …’ Paul Clifford leads a double life. By day he is a fashionable man about town, the toast of genteel society. By night, he is ‘Captain Lovett’, a dashing masked highwayman, robbing unsuspecting travellers on moonlit roads with his band of fellow brigands. When Clifford falls in love with the beautiful, auburn-haired Lucy, the daughter of a wealthy squire, he wonders if he should abandon his life of vice. But there are many obstacles in his path: his sly love rival Lord Mauleverer, dark secrets from the past, and the threat of the hangman’s noose …

WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH: JACK SHEPPARD (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

A master of drinking, whoring, theft – and escape! While Jack Sheppard seems marked from birth for a terrible end, his wit and charm might just be able to cheat fate. Fate, however, seems eager to cheat him out of an honest living, when Jack begins visiting the notorious Black Lion, drinking den of the worst criminals in London. Soon he is one of the most famous scoundrels in the city – not for his crimes, but for the wonderful fact that not one of the King’s fine prisons can hold him. But Jack’s luck will have to run out eventually.

THOMAS PRESKETT PREST: THE STRING OF PEARLS (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

Beware the blood-soaked razor of Sweeney Todd, demon barber of Fleet Street! Johanna Oakley’s lover, Mark, has gone missing in suspicious circumstances. And the man who was meant to deliver Mark’s last gift to her, a string of pearls, has gone missing too – last seen entering the barber-shop of Sweeney Todd. In desperation, Johanna decides to dress up as a boy in order to gain access to Todd’s premises. There, in a fetid underground crypt, she will discover the grisly truth about what has really happened to Sweeney Todd’s unsuspecting customers – and what they have to do with Mrs Lovett, famed maker of the most delicious pies in London

WILKIE COLLINS: THE WOMAN IN WHITE (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

‘In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop...’ Gentle art teacher Walter Hartright has fallen in love with his student, Laura. But she is marrying the wicked Sir Percival, who wants to destroy her reputation and steal her fortune. In the face of his powerful friends, only Laura’s resourceful sister Marian and faithful Walter can save her from his wicked machinations and the terrors of the insane asylum. But who is the mysterious woman in white who haunts the moonlit roads and hidden graveyards? And will her secret save Laura – or destroy them all?

WILKIE COLLINS: THE MOONSTONE (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

A beautiful diamond – with a terrible curse When Rachel Verinder is given the Moonstone – a large Indian diamond – on her eighteenth birthday, she is delighted to show it off at her celebrations. But that very night, the jewel is stolen from her bedroom. As suspicion falls on each member of the party, the curse of the diamond strikes – and ill-luck threatens to destroy them all.Will the noted detective Sergeant Cuff be able to solve the mystery? Or will the strange case of hypnotism, opium and Indian jugglers defeat even his brilliant mind?

ANN RADCLIFFE: THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

‘Emily’s face was stained with blood…’ Beautiful young heiress Emily St. Aubert is frightened when she finds herself orphaned and in the hands of her cold and distant aunt, Madame Cheron. But her fear turns to terror when Madame Cheron agrees to marry the haughty and brooding Signor Montoni, and she finds herself trapped in the castle Udolpho, threatened by Montoni’s terrible greed and haunted by the secrets of the medieval fortress. Will Emily find the strength to survive this place of nightmares? Or will Montoni and his wicked schemes destroy her completely?

ANN RADCLIFFE: A SICILIAN ROMANCE (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

A desolate castle hides a family’s shameful secrets … On the rocky northern shores of Sicily stands a lonely castle, the home of the aristocratic Mazzini family. The marquis of Mazzini has remarried and gone away to live with his new wife, abandoning his two daughters – sweet-natured Emilia and lively, imaginative Julia – to wander the labyrinthine corridors alone. His only involvement with their lives is to arrange a marriage between Julia and the cruel Duke de Luovo, even though she loves another. But that is not the end of Julia’s troubles. Strange lights and unearthly groaning noises are coming from parts of the castle that have been locked up for years. Is it occupied by some terrible supernatural power? Or do even darker secrets lie within its depths?

HORACE WALPOLE: THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

A haunted castle and a ruined bloodline Manfred, wicked lord of Otranto Castle, is horrified when his son is crushed to death on his wedding day. But rather than witness the end of his line, as foretold in a curse, he resolves to send his own wife to a convent and marry the intended bride himself. However, Manfred’s lustful greed will be disturbed by the terrifying omens that now haunt his castle: bleeding statues, skeletal ghouls and a giant sword – as well as the arrival of the rightful prince of Otranto

MATTHEW LEWIS: THE MONK (Penguin Victorian Bestseller PB)

Lust, sorcery and torture – the secrets of a Spanish monastery Ambrosio, a pious monk, finds himself drawn to his pupil, Matilda, a young woman in disguise. Unable to control himself, he sates his lust, and soon tires of her. But Matilda has more than her body to offer: using black magic, she will help Ambrosio seduce the innocent Antonia. As his desperate acts become more and more depraved, it becomes clear that Matilda is not everything she seems. And Ambrosio’s damnation may be closer than he feared

SOFIE LAGUNA: ONE FOOT WRONG (Allison and Busby PB)

'The stars shine brightest out of the deepest dark'. Hester is a young girl of dark beginnings and few words. She is kept at home by her painfully reclusive parents and allowed no contact with the world outside the front door. And yet Hester finds joy in life's ordinary moments - to her, everything is an Alice-in-Wonderland discovery. But from the moment Hester is forced to attend school, she quickly learns that there are some things she cannot tell her parents. She knows that 'a secret has no sound; it lives in your darkest corner where it sits and waits'. Until the day the secret can no longer be contained and Hester reclaims her freedom with one final, powerful act. Published around the world to huge acclaim, "One Foot Wrong" firmly establishes the arrival of an immensely talented new writer. You will not forget this powerful and haunting story.. The latest in the newish genre involving harrowing and painful memoirs, but Sofie's voice is unique and her narration of her treatment at the hands of her parents will reel you in and keep you hooked. Through it all there's the suggestion of humour and above all, hope.

JUNE FRANCIS: SUNSHINE AND SHOWERS (Allison and Busby HB)

Liverpool 1926. Patsy Doyle is settling into her role as a live-in maid in the Tanner household, but her new job is not going as smoothly as she expected. Since Mr Tanner returned from the Great War, the Tanners' relationship has become increasingly strained. Mrs Tanner's frivolous spending habits and nights out often leave her solicitor husband brooding at home, with only Patsy for company. Caught between the warring spouses, Patsy becomes an unwilling confidante and a keeper of more secrets than she'd care to acknowledge. Joy Kirk is busy planning her wedding. When her first love was killed in the war, she vowed she'd never fall in love again. Now a little older and wiser, Joy realises that there could be some benefits to being a wife and, having spent many years working as Robbie Bennett's cook and housekeeper, she finally accepts his proposal of marriage. But is she letting herself in for more than she bargained for? As Patsy struggles to cope with the challenges her employers throw at her and Joy plans for her special day, they each learn that true happiness comes from those around you and the unconditional love and support of their families. A young girl's journey into womanhood in the 1920s - this tale is full of nostalgia, heartbreak, class warfare, pain and love. The deep, dark secrets of the Tanners is played out with flair and passion. The sort of story you will want to sit and read with a cup of hot chocolate, a packet of biscuits and a box of tissues. Terrific!