Tara Heavey
Sowing the Seeds of Love

Though she doesn’t know it, the day Aoife spots a neglected walled garden is the day her life begins again. The garden casts a spell over her and Aoife persuades its owner to let her take it over and advertises for helpers. Just two turn up: Uri, a retired tailor, and Emily, a gentle student. It’s not promising, but Aoife persists. The tailor’s son joins them and in time even the garden’s crotchety owner joins in. Being newly arrived in Dublin with her little boy, Aoife finds the project gives her an escape from the turmoil in her head. What she does not realise is that in their various ways the other four are just as in need of the garden’s healing powers.

Marina Lewycka
We are all Made of Glue

Georgie Sinclair’s husband has walked out and work is getting her down. So when she spots Mrs Shapiro, an eccentric old neighbour, rummaging through her skip in the middle of the night, it’s just the distraction she needs. And although they mistrust each other at first, a firm friendship is formed. Then Mrs Shapiro is admitted to hospital and, to Georgie’s surprise, she is named as her next of kin. As Georgie steps in to help her new friend, she finds herself unravelling a mystery which takes her from Highbury to wartime Europe to the Middle East, and learning a bit about DIY along the way.

Karan Mahajan
Family Planning

Mr Ahuja, a Government Minister in New Delhi, is beset by problems: 13 children and another on the way, not to mention the daily struggles over whether to resign for the sixty-third time. His wife, Sangita, is mourning the loss of her favourite TV soap star; son Rishi drives everyone mad with his serial apologies; and, finally, there’s Arjun, the oldest and perhaps the wisest of the sprawling, noisy crew. For once, though, Arjun is lost for words: how can he tell his school friend Aarti that he loves her? Serenading her with cover versions of Bryan Adams’ greatest hits perhaps isn’t the answer. In a household pushed to the brink, Arjun’s father also has secrets to spill, and must do so in modernday Delhi in a moving, and fast-moving, portrait of modern family life.