The eight titles for the 2012 promotion were selected by a judging panel chaired by John Sutherland, Lord Northcliffe Professor Emeritus of Modern English Literature at UCL, with Katy Guest (Literary Editor, The Independent on Sunday), Jasper Sutcliffe (Head of Buying, Foyles Group) and the writer Matt Thorne.
The titles were part of a summer promotion supported by retailers Foyles, Waterstones, iBookstore, Amazon and independent bookstores across the UK. Fiction Uncovered also worked with The Reading Agency to reach libraries and reading groups. You can see a full list of the 2012 Fiction Uncovered partners here.
Fiction Uncovered events took place throughout the summer, including Fiction Uncovered on the Book Barge and Fiction Uncovered FM at Foyles, Charing Cross Road – a four-day pop-up radio station dedicated to fiction.
Downloadable resources about the 2012 titles for retailers, libraries and reading groups are available here.
See the 2011 selected titles here
‘A delightful adventure full of feisty women, mountaineering, all kinds of escape and Edwardian derring-do, this is narrated by a classic unreliable narrator who looks back on friendships gone catastrophically wrong among the peaks of the Alps. Jones’s fourth novel deserves to put her on the literary map.’
‘Using his trademark dark humour Dan Rhodes draws his protagonist Aurélie Renard, and the reader, deep into the heart of the most romantic city in the world, Paris. Rhodes explores art, politics and modern life, with hilarious and enlightening results.’
‘From the problems between fathers and sons to the perils of going to see Dylan in his dotage, this is a deep and richly pleasurable reading experience.  Park depicts the frustrations and excitements of everyday life with equal clarity.’
‘The whole panel were impressed with the non-stop energy of Hit and Run. Just when you think his protagonist has no further left to fall, he makes another crazy decision that amps up the suspense to an even greater level.’
‘Small-minded readers might object that this is not a novel but two exquisitely packaged short stories. But the stories themselves – sardonic and beautifully chiselled – radiate wonderfully.’
‘With sleight of hand, a little rouge and a mind as sharp as a razor, Queenie Dove does battle with all the Depression, the war and her father have to throw at her. Dawson writes with a pace and humour that is infectious and her cast of characters will stay with you long after finishing the book.’
‘A family saga spanning the second half of the twentieth century, this gentle story of women’s lives in Egypt, Lebanon and the London Blitz is at once tender, comic and wise. Following on from the success of her short stories, My Former Heart marks out Connolly as a novelist to watch.’
‘The tease of a title gradually resolves itself as the delightful comedy of drug-running in rural England plays out. The cartel meets Ambridge.’