Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger

This ghostly tale of secrets and contested identities is gripping and enjoyable, and the parts that deal with the claustrophobic and complex nature of life as a twin are compelling and believable. Some of the characterisation was a bit heavy-handed though, and several key moments in the plot didn't quite ring true, so overall I agreed with the friend who lent it to me that the effort involved in suspending disbelief was too much at times, and this book doesn't manage the difficult challenge of living up to the expectations set by The Time Traveller's Wife.

The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey

Although this account of expat life in Trinidad was well-written, fascinating and believable, I found it hard to get emotionally involved with it. The structure, in which the last part of the story was presented first, added an element of intrigue, but for me this came at too high a price, as I felt that it would have been much easier to care about the characters if I'd first been introduced to them at the start of their story.

Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks

I was totally absorbed in this ambitious and thoughtful saga about two men who bring very different backgrounds and beliefs to their shared passion for unravelling the mysteries of the human mind. As their careers develop and their professional and personal relationships grow more complex, their experiences serve to illustrate different aspects of our psychological makeup. I was particularly interested in the theory (attributed to one of the central characters based on his readings of historic and religious texts, but acknowledged by the author as based on Julian Jaynes' concept of bicameralism) that hearing voices used to be a near-universal experience, only fading with the evolution of a self-aware consciousness. I found this an engrossing and satisfying read, with the only false note being a rather incongruous hint of the supernatural at the end, which seemed a rather heavy-handed way of making the point that "there were things that could not be explained".

One Day - David Nicholls

I felt compelled to read this one to find out what all the fuss was about. I was pleasantly surprised - underlying the romcom-style will-they-won't-they plot was a genuinely moving love story, and it was refreshing to have someone so self-destructive (and even at times unlikable) as one of the central characters. The structure of describing one day in each year worked well for me, allowing for some effective and often amusing period detail, and managing to conceal a thought-provoking twist despite the nature of the ending having been widely signalled as part of the hype surrounding the film of the book.

Bitter Greens - Kate Forsyth

Reading this book was a very mixed experience. After the first couple of chapters I seriously considered putting it aside - very unusual for me - as it struck me as a clumsily written historical novel in which the believability of the narrator's voice was constantly undermined by the intrusion of informative asides describing this or that amusing period detail. However, once the fable of "Petrosinella" (Rapunzel) began to be told, the flaws in the outer story (which did improve significantly, although it then strayed into bodice ripper territory on occasion) were made forgivable by the captivating simplicity of this wonderfully human fairy tale, which I loved because of its engaging and likeable characters (yes, even the witch!) and the psychologically plausible nature of (most of) the magic. I also enjoyed the use of other author's Rapunzel poems to illuminate different perspectives on the story.

Dominion - C J Sansom

I was totally hooked on this huge counterfactual thriller set in a version of 1950s Britain where the Nazis are in power in all but name, and Churchill is a resistance hero. I enjoyed the plausible details, such as the growing tensions between family members with opposing political sympathies and the complex personal histories drawing people into resistance work, and also found the final Historical Note, in which the author warns of his fears about the threat of the SNP, fascinating and eye-opening. The most memorable section of the novel for me was the description of the reactions of passers-by who must choose whether to risk their own safety by protesting when they see Jews being marched away - a scene that's been described so many times, but to my shame I found it had added personal impact when transposed to the familiar streets of London... The only thing I found to dislike in this book was a slightly unpalatable attitude to infidelity: although their motives were presented in a convincing way, I felt that we were invited to celebrate the decency of the lovers' eventual farewell rather than focus on any damage their liaison had done.

Tigers in Red Weather - Liza Klaussman

This family saga was well-written and gripping, but I found it very disturbing, as beneath the sultry summer fun and games, the violence and cruelty that gradually emerges presented a horribly plausible account of how the mistakes and crimes of one generation can affect the next.