5 British Books to Look Out For in August

5 British Books to Look Out For in August If youre not lucky enough to physically head to the UK for your summer holiday, your brain can, thanks to these books heading across the pond to an American bookstore near you. Is Monogamy Dead?  by Rosie Wilby (Accent Press, 3rd August) I dont know exactly what you call this genre, but its one that (happily) seems to have become popular in recent years: the investigation of a phenomenon with science and facts mixed with personal essay and experience. Here, its mixed with humour too, as comedian Rosie Wilby interrogates romantic relationships in the 21st century. Living the Dream, by Lauren Berry (Holt Paperback, 15th August) If  La La Land  is the optimistic, American version of pursuing your dream, then this novel sounds like its cynical (or perhaps just realistic) British cousin, investigating what life looks like while you and your friend work a dead-end job and plug away at a popular blog thats not earning you a penny but at least you have each other. The Party, by Elizabeth Day (Little, Brown, 15th August) This is upper class Britishness at its most quintessential, with a touch of something darker as we gradually find out what happened at Bens fortieth party and what led up to it. If you loved Liz Nugents  Unravelling Oliver  (also out in the US this month), this is very much in the same vein it explores the impact of childhood and youth on explosive decisions in later years. The Doll Funeral, by Kate Hamer  (Melville House, 15th August) Kate Hamers bestselling first novel  The Girl in the Red Coat  was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and three other prizes, so shes an author to watch, if youre into thrillers. This one is about what happens when thirteen-year-old Ruby sets off  into the forest to find her biological parents, with nothing but a suitcase and an imaginary friend. You Dont Know Me But I Know You, by Rebecca Barrow (HarperTeen, 29th August) Another book with adoption at its heart, this one is a YA about newly pregnant Audrey who has just been given a letter that her biological mother wrote her seventeen years ago. As she ponders the choices that lie before her and the different paths they will lead her down, she questions everything shes ever known about herself.