Red: December Books

It’s Red Book Club time again. December issue features Lisa Hilton’s Wolves in Winter as Book of the Month, a historical romp set in 15th century Italy. Fans of Philippa Gregory will like this one. “Think of Wolf Hall crossed with Downton Abbey set in the Italian Renaissance.”

The Cook by Wayne Macauley is a riotous stream-of-consciousness novel about Zac, a “young offender” who finds salvation in a Hell’s Kitchen environment. Or does he? Rachel Johnson’s Winter Games is all Nancy Mitford meets Upstairs Downstairs meets Bridget Jones. Dolly: A Ghost Story is the latest from Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black. My favourite this month is Catherine Bailey’s The Secret Rooms. It tells the true story of the mysterious life and death of the Duke of Rutland.