Luke Bitmead: 2 books

... I turn to face the city. I gaze out at its concrete horrors and joys, its twists and turns, its ups and downs, its foul, fetid smells and sweet, stagnant dreams. The pleasure. The guilt. I love this place, and hate it. I cannot resolve the two. Trapped in the unrelenting grip of pain and...

This entertaining novel was written in two parts by separate authors, one depicting the animal-loving painter Cassie and the other the good-humored Nick, still reeling from being dumped by his fiancée. With Nick having moved down from north and proud Sheffield to Cassie's southern, sleepy Cotswolds,...