Why am I passionate about this?

As a reader, I love a gripping page-turner but as a writer, thinker, and book club member I need more. My latest novel The Girl in the Van touches on the exploitation of young people by criminal drug gangs, a form of modern slavery. I’ve been passionate about raising awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery since researching my first novel, which led to me being appointed an ambassador for anti-slavery charity, Unseen. Modern slavery isn’t the only societal issue affecting the dispossessed in our world. Where better to explore these themes than in the pages of a book and through book club discussions? 


I wrote

The Girl in the Van

By Helen Matthews,

Book cover of The Girl in the Van

What is my book about?

A tormented mother. An abandoned girl. A deadly game of survival. What happened to Ellie? Traumatised by events, Ellie’s mother,…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Anatomy of a Scandal

Helen Matthews Why did I love this book?

This book is now a huge Netflix series but I’ve noticed the film version has attracted some negative press reviews. In my opinion, they’re missing the point – these characters are posh and entitled. They do outrageous things and get away with them. They are meant to be unpleasant. The sheer awfulness of what happens, as well as page-turner ingredients, provides themes for book clubs to discuss. When the book came out, the #metoo movement was at its height. The novel vividly shows the lasting impact on a woman's self-esteem when she’s preyed on by a powerful man. The characters are obnoxious but convincing. Readers get a fascinating, fictional glimpse inside the heads of men whose sense of entitlement is so embedded it skews their whole perspective on the world. Like the characters or loathe them, a book club could spend hours discussing how privilege bends a life and erases self-awareness.  

By Sarah Vaughan,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Anatomy of a Scandal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOW A HIT NETFLIX SERIES

Instant International Bestseller

“A nuanced story line perfectly in tune with our #metoo times.” —People, Book of the Week

“One of the season’s most buzzed-about thrillers.” —Bookish

“A strong choice for book clubs. Former political correspondent Vaughan makes an impressive debut with this savvy, propulsive courtroom drama.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Vaughan offers gripping insight into a political scandal’s hidden machinations and the tension between justice and privilege…Absorbing, polished.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Skillfully interweaving the story of the unfolding scandal, Vaughan gradually reveals just how shockingly high the stakes are…Sinewy…engrossing, twist-filled.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)…


Book cover of Platform Seven

Helen Matthews Why did I love this book?

Author Louise Doughty's books demonstrate that psychological suspense and crime novels can be literary fiction. Platform Seven is well-written but opens in a location that’s anything but inspiring – Peterborough railway station. What could possibly happen here? But we’re soon drawn into the isolation and menacing sense that it’s something very bad indeed. This novel could be called a ‘genre splice’ – part domestic noir and part ghost story. Doughty’s genius is laying the breadcrumb trail of clues to keep the reader turning the pages and staying ahead of Lisa, the main character. She seems to be unaware of what’s really going on, or perhaps chooses to ignore the signs. An emotional story with a theme of coercive behaviour for book clubs to discuss. 

By Louise Doughty,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Platform Seven as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Louise Doughty leads her unnerved readers into dark territory.' Hilary Mantel

The new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author Louise Doughty

Platform Seven at 4am: Peterborough Railway Station is deserted. The man crossing the covered walkway on this freezing November morning is confident he's alone. As he sits on the metal bench at the far end of the platform it is clear his choice is strategic - he's as far away from the night staff as he can get.

What the man doesn't realise is that he has company. Lisa Evans knows what he has decided. She knows what he…


Book cover of Three Hours

Helen Matthews Why did I love this book?

A school siege is a theme that will strike terror into the hearts of teachers and parents everywhere. It’s that planned-for scenario that will ‘never happen here’ (rural Somerset). And then it does. Lupton slows down the narrative so it feels as if events are unfolding at a pace close to real time. Alongside the stress and anxiety, Lupton draws on her characters’ stories to examine the world we live in and aspects of humanity. There are stories of first love and parental despair, we glimpse the mind of a psychopath and the stoic heroism of two Syrian refugee brothers, who’ve already been through hell at the hands of people smugglers. Dormant racism rears its ugly head. It’s a poignant read with plenty for book clubs to discuss. 

By Rosamund Lupton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Three Hours as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR AND A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'If you read only one thriller this year, make it this one: it is that good' DAILY MAIL

'Gripping...impossible to forget. It should be on every reader's bookshelf' MICK HERRON

------

In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege.

Pupils and teachers barricade themselves into classrooms, the library, the theatre. The headmaster lies wounded in the library, unable to help his trapped students and staff. Outside, a police psychiatrist must identify the gunmen, while parents gather desperate for news.

In…


Book cover of The Silence

Helen Matthews Why did I love this book?

The Silence is a psychological thriller with several layers. There are two timelines: present day, where the main character, Abby is a doctor, married with two daughters, and a ‘Then’ storyline set in the early 1990s when young Abby has been sent to Italy to stay with relatives in an old village house, following her mother’s suicide. Book clubs will be talking until midnight about multiple themes in this novel which include suicide and murder, what unsupervised children get up to, marital tension, blackmail, and the pressures of being a politician in a world of social media. Johnson is a talented author who deserves to be better known.

By Katharine Johnson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Silence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A gripping tale of secrets and lies remembered long after the last page.” – Amanda James, author of Behind the Lie.

Doctor Abby Fenton has a rewarding career, a loving family, an enviable lifestyle - and a secret that could destroy everything.

When human remains are discovered in the grounds of an idyllic Tuscan holiday home she is forced to confront the memories she has suppressed until now and relive the summer she spent at the villa in 1992. A summer that ended in tragedy. The nearer she gets to the truth the closer she comes to losing her sanity.…


Book cover of Invisible Girl

Helen Matthews Why did I love this book?

I was late discovering Lisa Jewell’s psychological thrillers but I’m in awe of how her novels are a masterclass in psychological fiction. I’ve chosen Invisible Girl because it’s rooted firmly in the domestic noir genre with ordinary family life contrasting with what lies beneath. Characters are not what they seem to be. For book club discussion there’s a fascinating theme around how lonely misfit men can be radicalised online into the dark and sinister world of women-hating ‘incels.’ Incel stands for ‘involuntary celibates’: angry men who can’t find a woman to love them and blame all women. At the extreme, these men become unhinged and violent towards women they don’t even know. Others are sad losers, who become victims in other ways. Book clubs will find plenty to discuss in this novel.

By Lisa Jewell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Invisible Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“I absolutely lovedInvisible Girl—Lisa Jewell has a way of combining furiously twisty, utterly gripping plots with wonderfully rich characterization—she has such compassion for her characters, and we feel we know them utterly… A triumph!” —Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone returns with an intricate thriller about a young woman’s disappearance and a group of strangers whose lives intersect in its wake.

Young Saffyre Maddox spent three years under the care of renowned child psychologist Roan Fours. When Dr. Fours decides their…


Explore my book 😀

The Girl in the Van

By Helen Matthews,

Book cover of The Girl in the Van

What is my book about?

A tormented mother. An abandoned girl. A deadly game of survival. What happened to Ellie? Traumatised by events, Ellie’s mother, Laura, can’t bear to stay in the Welsh seaside town where she lives with her partner, Gareth. She escapes to London, breaking all ties with him, and refusing to tell anyone her new address.

After two years of living alone and working in a mundane job, Laura buys an old campervan and joins a singles holiday. Here, she meets Miriana, a teenage girl who bears a chilling resemblance to Ellie. As Laura uncovers Miriana’s story, she’s shocked by the parallels to her own life. But stories can be dangerous, and someone out there will stop at nothing to prevent the truth about Ellie from coming out…

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The Yamanaka Factors

By Jed Henson,

Book cover of The Yamanaka Factors

Jed Henson Author Of The Yamanaka Factors

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Reader Dad Outdoorsman Space cowboy Curious

Jed's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

Fall 2028. Mickey Cooper, an elderly homeless man, receives an incredible proposition from a rogue pharmaceutical company: “Be our secret guinea pig for our new drug, and we’ll pay you life-changing money, which you’ll be able to enjoy because if (cough) when the treatment works, two months from now your body will be youthened to twenty-three years old.”

When his treatment proves more difficult than expected, and corporate espionage turns deadly, Mickey finds himself flanked by internal corruption and powerful external enemies, including Chinese operatives desperate to reverse their country’s aging demographics and amoral U.S. government officials who fear the…

The Yamanaka Factors

By Jed Henson,

What is this book about?

Fall 2028. Mickey Cooper, an elderly homeless man, receives an incredible proposition from a rogue pharmaceutical company: “Be our secret guinea pig for our new drug and we’ll pay you life-changing money, which you’ll be able to enjoy because if (cough) when the treatment works, two months from now your body will be youthened to twenty-three years old.”

When his treatment proves more difficult than expected and corporate espionage turns deadly, Mickey finds himself flanked by internal corruption and powerful external enemies, including Chinese operatives desperate to reverse their country’s aging demographics and amoral U.S. government officials who fear the…


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