The Left-Behind Child by Romalyn Ante (Chatto & Windus £16.99, 240pp)

Neneng is 11 when her mother, Rosa, leaves their family in the Philippines to work as a nurse in the Middle East.

Before Rosa leaves, she tells her daughter to take care of everyone and Neneng takes this to heart, vowing not to fail her mother.

For a long time Neneng doesn’t understand why their mother had to abandon her family – she imagines she sees Rosa in crowds and worries about her constantly. Neighbours gossip about Rosa betraying them but Neneng refuses to see it.

As Neneng grows older and it becomes impossible to keep her difficult family together, her heart hardens against Rosa and she vows that her life will be different. However, forced to build a new life, Neneng realises she is more like Rosa than she thought. I couldn’t put it down.

Queen Mab by Emily McBride (One £18.99, 304pp)

Madeleine, a promising postgraduate student of Victorian literature, is pregnant but reluctant to tell her supervisors. It’s one thing to be excited at home, with her husband Tom, but she fears being judged.

Adopted out of the care system in Canada as a baby, Madeleine also yearns for a better connection with her distant mother but their relationship feels precarious.

When baby Maud arrives, Madeleine’s own needs seem irrelevant and she slips into delusion, conflating her own experiences with those of the literary heroines she has studied so intently.

Initially suffering from postnatal depression, Madeleine spirals into what looks like psychosis and neither Tom nor her parents know what to do.

This is beautifully written, full of folklore and fairies and pleasing literary references. Clever and compelling.

A Healthy Appetite by Katie Huttlestone (Dead Ink £10.99, 304pp)

Hannah is 30 and suffering from terminal cancer. She has been ill for a decade and the disease is now in multiple sites around her body and has stopped responding to conventional drugs.

Hannah’s doctor tells her she is a great candidate for a clinical trial. Her partner, Scott, is desperate for her to sign up. But when she joins, everything changes.

Always vegetarian, Hannah is astonished to find herself craving meat. Whilst Hannah searches for rare steaks she keeps it from Scott, who became vegetarian for her and is now so committed he won’t allow meat in their house.

As Hannah’s illness recedes she becomes someone she doesn’t recognise, hungry for all kinds of things she shouldn’t have. I raced through this dark, different story.