The top five books I most enjoyed reading in 2020:
1. Rebecca (1938) by Daphne Du Maurier
Rebecca is a timeless gothic mystery about a young insecure heroine who marries Maxim de Winter, a wealthy widower. She soon realises that Manderley, his sinister stately home, is haunted by the memory of his dead wife, Rebecca.
Suspense grows when the heroine becomes increasingly paranoid that she is upstaged by the late Mrs. de Winter, which causes obsession and jealously to consume her- an irresistibly tense plot that kept me hooked.
2. Everything I Know About Love (2018) by Dolly Alderton
Award winning journalist, Dolly Alderton, gives an honest account of the challenges she faced growing up and navigating the uncertainties of her twenties. She writes of disastrous dates and humiliations, of heartbreak and the moments where finding love feels impossible. But what truly resonates is the emphasis she places on the importance of friends.
Filled with humorous anecdotes and witty insights, she celebrates the love found in friendships and in herself.
3. Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men (2019) by Caroline Criado Perez
Award-winning campaigner and writer, Caroline Criado Perez, has written an eye-opening book on the consequences of ignoring women in data. Perez presents us with an impressive amount of research and statistics on the female body, the unpaid care burden and on violence against women.
Perez achieves to take on the issues surrounding gender data gaps with vigour and insight, which makes for a powerful argument regarding the involvement of women in decision making.
4. The Confession (2019) by Jessie Burton
The Confession is a deeply evocative novel about the connected lives of three women. The young and impressionable Elise falls for the daring and bold Constance. Thirty years later, Rose is seeking answers about her mother, who abandoned her as a baby. When she discovers that Constance (now a reclusive novelist), was the last person to see her alive, she hopes for a confession.
With her complex and compelling characters, Jessie Burton creates a captivating story about secrets, storytelling, motherhood and identity.
5. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a tantalising masterpiece by the queen of crime. When Hercule Poirot, one of Christie’s most beloved detectives, retires to the quiet village of King’s Abbot, a widow mysteriously dies, and a day later Roger Ackroyd, a man who knows too much, is grotesquely murdered.
Poirot’s charm, together with the novel’s ingenious twist, makes it one of the most celebrated mysteries of all time.