The Good Divorce Guide Cristina Odone (Harper Press, £7.99) Despite its title, the cover of this book leaves us in no doubt that it is fictional, and, indeed, very lighthearted chick-lit. Erring husband Jonathan Martin has been having an affair, but he tells his wife Rosie he’s hoping the divorce will be “civilised and non-traumatic”. It would make the book very boring if he was proved right, and things take their usual course. The story is interesting partly because author Cristina Odone is a former editor of the Catholic Herald, and she has a very sharp knowledge of the way things pan out for both the dumped and dumpee. Tremendous fun — buy it for a friend who’s having a hard time. It will do more good than months of therapy.

The Two Mrs Grenvilles Dominick Dunne (Arcadia, £8.99) This novel is so authentic I wasn’t sure at first if it was fact or fiction. It tells the story of showgirl Ann Arden, who shot and killed her husband Billy Grenville. She claims the killing was an accident, and is protected by her mother-in-law Alice Grenville, matriarch of one of America’s grand families, who holds social events to show her continuing loyalty to Ann, while privately loathing her. The story is loosely based on the actual shooting of William Woodward Jr. by his wife Ann in 1955, and was made into a film in 1987. The book has been re-released following the author’s death.