This week's paperback releases reviewed

The Story Sisters

Alice Hoffman

HarperPress, £7.99

The Story sisters, Elv, Claire and Meg, are not like most girls. There are three of them, like sisters in a fairy tale, and although they live in suburban Long Island they speak their own made-up language and tell each other stories about a fantasy land called Arnelle. Elv and Claire, however, are haunted by a terrible secret: as children, Elv saved Claire from a paedophile who was trying to abduct her, but she became his victim herself. This event drives Elv farther into her dark fantasy world and away from her sisters. Alice Hoffman has been remarkably prolific over the past decade, producing at least one book a year, and perhaps this is why this book feels slightly rushed; it would have benefited from a bit more editing and fine tuning. But she still writes about family ties and tragedy with insight and tenderness, and The Story Sisters is a haunting novel. Anna Carey

Bicycle Diaries

David Byrne

Faber, £8.99

The raw materials of this book are the travel diaries of Byrne, former front man of the band Talking Heads. Cycling has for decades been Byrne's main method of travelling around New York and, since he bought his first folding bike, in the late 1980s, around the cities he visits when touring with his music or art. The book is broken into chapters about individual cities – San Francisco, Buenos Aires, London – which discuss the local art scene, the people, the architecture and how bike-friendly the cities are. The author delivers intriguing observations from the saddle, theorising about the effects architectural styles might have on local psyches, philosophising on creativity and categorisation, and delighting in bizarre sights, such as the nun on Rollerblades gliding along a New York bike lane with her rosary beads flying out behind her. It's an enjoyable book, more because of the varied contents of Byrne's mind and unusual personality than because of its urban-cycling theme. Colm Farren

A Separate Development

Christopher Hope

Atlantic Books, £8.99

This lively tale of boyhood, set in South Africa, follows the tribulations of Harry Motto, its young protagonist. Harry has a plump chest and annoyingly crinkly hair, and he is constantly ridiculed by his schoolmates. And in a country where race and colour are no small issue, his unusually dark skin for a white person does not go unnoticed. Even his parents can't seem to understand his need for an ID card, the official recognition of his status as white. Harry struggles to overcome his insecurities, his intentions frequently misunderstood – on the way home one day he comes to the defence of a woman during an argument but is dismissed as cheeky and thrown off the bus, the passengers taunting him, calling him "crinklehead" and "white kaffir". As Harry's woes deepen, sometimes with a comical twist, serious questions about South Africa's historical and racial issues are explored. Sorcha Hamilton

The Secret Life of France

Lucy Wadham

Faber, £7.99

Lucy Wadham was 19 the first time a Frenchman proposed to her. And marry him she did, leaving her studies in Oxford when life in Paris beckoned. Twenty-five years later she has written an enjoyable personal analysis of the country with which she has developed a love-hate relationship. With intelligence, wit and an undeniable affection for her adopted home, she recalls rearing a family in a culture that still has the power to baffle her as she strives to balance her own Anglo-Saxon Protestant sensibilities with the famously Catholic-influenced Gallic ones. Among Wadham's many revelations are some very surprising ones, such as her hilarious contention that President Nicolas Sarkozy is a "sex dwarf", an opinion she formed on first meeting him, and which has persisted ever since. Wadham does not set out to shatter our illusions about our glamorous Gallic cousins, and this account of her everyday encounters with all aspects of French society merely enhances our own fascination with La Belle France. Claire Looby

Leaving the World

Douglas Kennedy

Arrow Books, £7.99

On her 13th birthday Jane Howard vows to her warring parents that she will never get married or have children. The next morning her father walks out, and her mother spends the rest of her life blaming her daughter. The resultant trauma is the first of many trials – from an unexpected pregnancy to a brush with the FBI – that Douglas Kennedy thrusts on the protagonist of his latest novel. These culminate in a tragedy so devastating that Jane contemplates "leaving the world" – until the disappearance of a young girl forces her to re-evaluate her decision. This is an entertaining read – Kennedy crams much into its nearly 600 pages – but its hectic pace and focus on Jane's backstory create a lopsided structure, and, squeezed into the final few chapters, her quest for redemption loses much of its impact. If, as Kennedy asserts, it is ultimately impossible to escape one's own legacy, this is nonetheless a good exploration of one such attempt. Freya McClements