The Ten Best Beach reads
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Your support makes all the difference.1 Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier
Thisis addictive and breathtaking. Its blending of melodrama and subtlety is ingenious. The Cornish setting never quite leaves the imagination.
Virago Press, £7.99
2 The Talented Mr Ripley Patricia Highsmith
The Italian coastal scenes, beautiful cast and sense of summer languor that disguises evil impulses make this a disturbing but gorgeous read.
Vintage, £7.50
3 The House of Sleep
Jonathan Coe
In an old house, now a sleep clinic, characters reunite. The novel's gothic trappings and romantic longings suit its frenetic plot. Funny and beautiful.
Penguin, £7.99
4 Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen
This is by far the silliest of Austen's novels - a hilarious gothic spoof. It's so mocking, yet forgiving, of the foolish excesses of youth.
Headline Review, £4.99
5 The Story of You
Julie Myerson
A story of bereavement and love for a man who may or may not be real. The weaving of the mundane and the possibly supernatural is superb.
Jonathan Cape, £14.99
6 The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Maggie O'Farrell
A dark 1930s story of a wasted life and family secret. The handling of different time periods is amazing.Published next month by Review, £14.99
7 The Moonstone
Wilkie Collins
No wonder 21st-century novelists are influenced by the great Victorian serial writers with their rip-roaring plots. A twisting detective thriller.
Penguin, £5.99
8 The Light Years
Elizabeth Jane Howard
The first part of the Cazalet Chronicles is a thoroughly juicy read in its own right. Light but well observed, you can't put it down.
Pan, £6.99
9 What I Loved
Siri Hustvedt
This novel about love and loss is dark, tragic, - andunputdownable. It's also amazingly good on the intricacies of relationships.
New English Library, £6.99
10 The Secret History
Donna Tartt
An old favourite but a great one. This story of aspiration, murder and guilt among Classics students pays re-reading for its sublime prose.
Penguin, £7.99
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