The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris

(Sandstone) A debut novel, The Marrying of Chani Kaufman draws on Harris’s own experience of north-west London’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community. Nineteen-year-old Chani has never had physical contact with a man, but is expected to marry a stranger. Soon buried secrets, fear and sexual desire emerge in what the publisher Sandstone describes as “a story of liberation and choice”. Although Sandstone is a small operation, its tracklist includes The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers, which won the Arthur C Clarke award – and was also longlisted for the 2011 Booker. Buy it from the Guardian bookshop