This week's new releases reviewed
The Mitfords Charlotte Mosley Harper Perennial, £10.99
Scandal-raisers, artists, and political extremists: over the years, the subject of the Mitford sisters seems to have been well covered, most recently in Mary Lovell's notable biography of 2001. However, their individual characters and their collective story are undeniably fascinating: it seems there will always be room for more on this family. Moreover, this new work (edited by Charlotte Mosley, daughter-in-law to Diana Mitford and the notorious Oswald Mosley) takes a different form: it is not a biography as such, but a selection of personal letters between the sisters. The biographical passages which punctuate the letters are astute, informative and well-written, but they are decidedly not the focus of the book. Charlotte Mosley's guiding hand is skilful and self-effacing but her aim is to let the Mitfords speak for themselves - and in this they are vivacious, intelligent, and delightfully prolific. The unmediated effect of these voices is truly powerful. - Claire Anderson-Wheeler
The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh Linda Colley Harper Perennial, £9.99
More than simply the personal history of one woman, The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh is that of a changing world at the beginning of the 18th century - a story about colonialism, slavery, economic advances through maritime trade, and bankruptcy.
Colley grounds the narrative in the mainly uneducated yet excessively mobile Elizabeth Marsh, who lived between Jamaica, Britain, and India throughout her life. Colley's wide-scope approach is in part a necessity since so few primary sources by or alluding to Marsh exist (even Marsh's mother's identity is uncertain, and she may have been of mixed race). In a unique approach to the notion of "biography", it is the exploration of the time period in which Marsh lived, the details of how her navy-connected family prospered, and the successes and failures of her entrepreneurial husband, which help to fashion the portrait of this curious and fascinating woman whose life eludes a traditional biographical exploration. - Emily Firetog
Sweet Dreams: The Story of Green Black's Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley Random House, £14.99
Craig Sams is a healthfood pioneer who in the 1960s opened Britain's first macrobiotic restaurant and set up the Whole Earth organic food label. When, in 1991, he and his wife, journalist Jo Fairley, decided to launch a brand of organic, fairtrade chocolate, it was partly as a lark, a project they could work on together. Against the odds, it grew into a multi-million pound business - and a great adventure. They chose the name to reflect the product - Green for its eco-friendly manufacture, Black because at the time it was launched it was the darkest chocolate on the market, and the ampersand to give an impression of class and tradition. The book charts the pair's experience of building a successful business while stubbornly holding to their organic and fairtrade principles - even after they sold the company to Cadbury's in 2006 (Sams remains president). It may be in essence a long, long ad for the product but it is an entertaining and enlightening one. Would-be ethical entrepreneurs in particular should eat up this sweet success story. - Cathy Dillon
Zoology Ben Dolnick Harper Perennial, £7.99
Henry is an 18-year-old college drop-out, living at home with parents and spending most of his time mooching around the block with his dog - an attractive prospect, no doubt. When the opportunity arises to spend the summer in New York with his brother, he leaves in a heartbeat, without a care for the dog, in pursuit of life, love and hollow ambitions of playing jazz. Henry's late-teenage introversion is irritating, but wholly authentic and as he stumbles his way to some form of self-actualisation, his only solace coming from a goat, it's impossible not to empathise. Yes, Salinger may have sewn up this particular niche, but Dolnick's novel is a deft reminder of how difficult it can be to find your place in the world, and should strike a difficult jazz chord with readers in similar situations to Henry. - Laurence Mackin
Family Romance John Lanchester Faber and Faber, £8.99
John Lanchester's account of his parents' lives begins with the opening lines of Anna Karenina: "All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way". According to Lanchester, however, they share one crucial attribute - secrets. Part detective story, part psychological study, Family Romance is an attempt to uncover the secrets of his own family, chief of which is the decision by his Irish mother, a former nun, to lie about her name and date of birth.
This is a colourful, entertaining tale, and the harshness of his mother's upbringing in 1930s Mayo contrasts with the vibrant, globetrotting childhoods of first his father, and then the author himself, in Africa and the Far East. At times the wealth of detail overwhelms, but this is a subtle and sensitive attempt at achieving self-awareness through an understanding of one's parents - even if the result is less Tolstoy and more Larkin: "They fuck you up, your mum and dad . . . ". - Freya McClements