Liane Moriarty’s latest novel Nine Perfect Strangers is a funny read with acute observation and fast paced plot. There are thinly veiled barbs at the wellness industry, selfie culture, and the pressure of modern society are delivered through witty dialogue and clever characterisation. All of the characters are flawed, in entirely relatable ways, and it’s easy to warm to them as you roll your eyes at them. New lottery winners, a grieving family, middle aged women – a whole human range is there, and the experience holds a mirror up to the misfits and makes them see things about their lives, even if it wasn’t what they expected.

Moriarty is the Australian author of seven best-selling novels. Big Little Lies shot to fame as a television show featuring Nicole Kidman. Nine Perfect Strangers will also be hitting the screens, with Kidman’s production company Blossom Films and Big Little Lies producer, Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories having signed a deal for the TV and film rights.

Nine Perfect Strangers is an excellently executed book with a catchy and thrilling storyline and sensitively crafted characters. Definitely worth a read.

Our protagonist, Tess Miller finds her editing career floundering when she’s given a new assignment working with an old and obscure poet Edward Russell. His story of Rebecca Swift, an artist of yesteryear, is compelling, but there’s something else that captures Tess. Could the searing and tragic romance of which he writes be true wonders Tess? In a bid to garner publicity she goes on a quest to explore the true story, and ends up both rekindling an old romance and finding a new one herself.

The past and present are carefully intertwined, and both described with acute detail. It’s elegantly written and the themes of art, authenticity, generational conflict and love are delicately explored, but at the same time a captivating plot keeps the compulsive pace. Poignant moments are frequent, but never overused or overwrought, and there’s plenty of dramatic twists to hook you in further.

Secret Shores is Carey’s third novel, The House by the Lake, From a Paris Balcony and Paris Time Capsule all being bestsellers. It’s out now on Lake Union Publishing.

‘Poetry is a connection. It’s like there’s all these emotions inside, in the soul, and then there’s your wise head sort of watching and knowing, and writing…it bridges the two together. Makes it make more sense.’

Sometimes heavy subjects are given a softer envelope in a sentence. At others the mundane is made sensitively profound. There’s poems on the universal, as well as the highly personal.

Many of the pieces are being shared for the first time. Despite being a regular performer, many of the poems have never been printed on page, even if performed on the stage. If you want to hear them live, make sure you head down to the launch on September 1st at Folkestone’s Lime Bar. And get your hands on a copy here.

In fact, much of what Ed describes in the first person narration will be familiar to anyone who has encountered mental distress or ill health in any way. In the street people edge away from him ‘like they are scared that my sadness is infectious.’ He has friends, but for the main these are pub and club buddies, and besides, when you ask someone how they are, no one actually wants to know. Isolated and fighting, he tries to run away from his reality and emotions. But salvation and happiness isn’t to be found in a piece of cake, a glass of wine, or the harder stuff that he resorts to.

This short novel is punchy and to the point, detailing his pub fuelled nights, coke binges, dealings with dealers, fights and police warnings, and a suicide attempt that sees him in a psychiatric ward. It’s not for the easily shaken, because it does not glamourise addiction, depression, or suicide, but paints them in the stark and bleak colours that they cloud lives with. Simply written, it’s never going to be one of the literary greats, and certain areas of Ed’s life, such as his teaching career and relationships with family are not as satisfyingly developed as they could be, but this honest depiction of a harrowing experience is well worth a read.

Default Setting: A Nervous Breakdown is available as a download for £2.99 on I-tunes, Amazon, Google Play andKobo.