The Independent
·Aug 2026
Books of the Month: What to Read in August, Including the Historical Tale of an Odd and Infantile Royal Love Affair
The August recommendations span memoir, fiction, literary biography and royal history. Ayşegül Savaş’s The Wilderness is praised for its candid account of the first 40 days of motherhood and its celebration of female solidarity; Donal Ryan’s Where Are the Kings is celebrated as an emotionally rich coming-of-age story about grief, family secrets and sexuality; and Siân Evans’s 1936: The Year of Three Kings offers a gripping account of the British monarchy’s rapid succession crisis, Edward VIII’s coercive relationship with Wallis Simpson, their pro-Nazi sympathies and the abdication that ultimately redirected the line of succession. Additional recommendations include studies of Kurt Vonnegut and Hannah Arendt, Jane Dalton’s novel The Second Life of Anthony B, and Colin Thubron’s Egyptian love-triangle novel Passage.