Contemporary Fiction

'An almanac for the heart.' EVIE WOODS, author of The Lost Bookshop'Haunting prose that cracks the English pastoral novel and lets the darkness in. A pleasure to read.'SARAH MOSS, author of Ghost Wall'A clever, heartbreaking, heartwarming depiction of family love, grief and the possibility of hope.'JO BROWNING WROE, author of A Terrible Kindness'Poignant and unexpected . . . brave and subtle.'EMMA HEALEY, author of Elizabeth is Missing'Wonderful . . . brave in its deep truths about loss and love.'INGRID PERSAUD, author of Love After LoveAin't nothing wrong with being broken. Nothing at all. You're like these houses, not a whole brick in em and look how strong they are.As Tess traces the sunrise over the floodplains, light that paints the house a startling crimson, she yearns for the comforting chaos of life as it once was. Instead of Max and Sonny tracking dirt through the kitchen - Tess and Richard's 'rainbow twins' - Tess absorbs the quiet. The nights draw in, the soil cools and Richard fights to get his winter crops planted rather than deal with the discussion he cannot bear to have.Secrets and vines clamber over the broken red bricks and although its inhabitants seem to be withering, in the damp, crumbling soil Sonny knows that something is stirring . . . As the seasons change, and the cracks let in more light, the family might just be able to start to heal.This is the story of a broken family, what they see and what they cannot say laid bare in their overlapping perspectives. It is a tale of life in the cracks, because in the space for acceptance, of passing and of laying to rest, the possibilities of new energy, light and love, are seeded.Readers are loving The House of Broken Bricks:***** 'It's only the first week of January and already I have a strong candidate for my book of the year.' ***** 'Fiona Williams' stunning nature-writing and poetic prose, turns a relatively simple story into a hauntingly beautiful experience.' ***** 'This is one of those books that stays with you long after you've finished reading it.' *****'Absolutely spot-on in how it portrays children's emotional intuition, this is a beaut of a book.' ***** 'Blown away! This books is stunning and haunting and structurally beautiful.'

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From the author of no.1 ebook bestseller and Richard & Judy Book Club pick Away with the Penguins.'Uplifting and full of heart, I couldn't put it down!' Jo Thomas, author of Celebrations at the Chateau-Sometimes it takes a chance encounter to discover what happiness really is . . .Meet Dan: Dan needs peace and order. He likes perfectly triangular sandwiches, the way coffee smells of sunshine and harvest, and the sound of birdsong that drifts into his harp-making workshop on Exmoor. His life is quiet, predictable, and safe from any danger of surprises.Meet Ellie: Ellie is a dreamer. But recently Ellie has stopped dreaming and her world has become very small. Her days are spent keeping a perfect home for her husband, Clive, and trying to keep him happy.When Ellie stumbles across Dan's workshop, they cannot imagine that their lives are about to change forever... -Readers love Ellie and the Harpmaker***** 'Without question this is one of the best books I have read and I read a lot'***** 'The perfect feel-good read!'***** 'Warm, touching and funny, it's a great read that will fill your heart with joy'***** 'A magical tale that leaves you feeling warm and hopeful'***** 'A beautifully written, tender love story ... I didn't want it to end but couldn't put it down'

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Three Egg Dilemma is a visionary novel. Morojele has built worlds and characters that are unforgettable. This audacious novel is set to become a classic work of South African fiction. This is the story of Ex (short for ‘Example’), who lives in a small township on the outskirts of a town in Lesotho. He stays in his dead parents’ house, decorated with all his mother’s things, where he subsists off renting out back rooms. He drinks – too much – at Mada’s down the road, and has two friends: Sticks, who sells eggs on the street, and Latrine, so called because of his meagre digestion. Although Ex used to have broad horizons, his life now is limited by the street he lives on. Once he had a meaningful job, he travelled, had money and hope. Life, and Lesotho, have been badly knocked: the country has suffered droughts, and is periodically thrown into turmoil by violent soldiers, or attacks by roving bandits such as the vicious Zuluboy. Poverty is rife. Early on, we are introduced to a recurring vision, or supernatural phenomenon, that haunts Ex – ‘Mota’s ghost’, a ghastly demon-like being, ghost or representation of death or fate. It first appears to presage the death of a friend, and later returns when death visits his town. The second important figure in the story is Phuleng / Pearl, an innocent young woman who arrives as a refugee when the soldiers are rampaging, and stays in Ex’s house – in his mother’s room. Ex, though much older, predictably enough falls in love with Pearl, but she has other ambitions. She works in a hotel in town, and eventually we learn that she has been impregnated by a white guest. Before the end, Ex will frighten her away, attempting to sexually assault her in the house. She will eventually end up a refugee again, homeless and on the streets outside Ex’s house, after soldiers and gangs have torn the area apart. Major incidents in Ex’s life include an abortive love affair during his time of plenty, when he meets a woman from Botswana at an international aid conference, falls in love with her and travels across South Africa to join her – only to realise that he has misunderstood the signs, and that she is marrying a white man. The other formative moment is when he is tricked into believing that a street child is his son. Each of these moments of hope ends with him, to different degrees, being deceived, humiliated and exploited. The novel ends with Ex back in his house after Zuluboy’s ravages, running the old shop and bar and being counselled in acceptance by the hideous Mota’s ghost. Morojele has written a dystopian masterpiece: one which takes the reader on a darkly comic journey. Three Egg Dilemma is a visionary novel. Morojele has built worlds and characters that are unforgettable. This audacious novel is set to become a classic work of South African fiction.

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The enthralling tale of a powerful Greek goddess maligned in both myth and ancient history, as told by Sunday Times bestselling author Jennifer Saint.''An exceptional achievement'' ELODIE HARPER ''A very special novel'' COSTANZA CASATI ''The essential mythological book of the decade'' NIKITA GILL When Hera, immortal goddess and daughter of the ancient Titan Cronus, helps her brother Zeus to overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side. As they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera suspects that Zeus might be just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed.She was always born to rule, but must she lose herself in perpetuating this cycle of violence and cruelty? Or can she find a way to forge a better world?Often portrayed as the jealous wife or the wicked stepmother, this retelling captures the many sides of Hera, vengeful when she needs to be but also compa

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She’s the last person he wants moving in. But maybe she’s just what he needs? Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley! Gemma Whitehall helps people tie the knot as the local registrar, but watching loved-up couples exchange their vows serves only to highlight what’s missing from her own life. Gemma can’t ignore the fact that life – and love – are slipping through her fingers. Sam Ranworth has spent the best part of a decade building walls around himself after tragedy struck. The last thing he wants is to get tangled up in Gemma’s messy life. When Gemma rents the ramshackle cottage on Sam’s neglected country estate, neither of them can ignore the spark of attraction. Can they leave the past where it belongs and take a chance on happiness? Readers love The Summer of Wishful Thinking: ‘Couldn't put it down…Ideal for reading in the garden on a sunny day’ Catherine ‘Like a warm cup of tea for the soul’ Amazon reader ‘Relatable with a generous helping of fairy dust, hope and the enchantment of new beginnings’ Rachel ‘Perfect for summer when you may need a bit of cheering up!’ Amazon reader ‘A real treasure trove of a book which I couldn't put down’ Amazon reader

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Rosario, a Filipina novelist in New York City, has just learned of her mother''s death in the Philippines. Instead of rushing home, she puts off her return by embarking on a remote investigation into her family''s history and her mother''s supposed inheritance, a place called La Tercera, which may or may not exist. Rosario catalogs generations of Delgado family bequests and detritus: maps of uncertain purpose, rusted chicken coops, a secret journal, the words to songs sung at the family home during visits from Imelda Marcos. Each life Rosario explores opens onto an array of other lives and raises a multitude of new questions. But as the search for La Tercera becomes increasingly labyrinthine, Rosario''s mother and the entire Delgado family emerge in all their dizzying complexity: traitors and heroes, reactionaries and revolutionaries. Meanwhile, another narrative takes shape - of the country''s erased history of exploitation and slaughter at the hands of American occupying forces. La T

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THE NO. 1 BESTSELLERHer husband has betrayed her. Can she forgive him - and should she? From the bestselling author of Three Weddings and a Proposal and The Missing WifeWhat readers are saying about Her Husband's Mistake:'I loved this book. So many will be able to identify' *****'A truly brilliant book' *****'Could not put it down!' *****'Just had to keep on reading to find out what's was happening' *****Dave's made a BIG mistake. What's Roxy going to do about it? The riveting new novel from No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O'Flanagan. Perfect for readers of Marian Keyes and Amanda Prowse. Roxy's marriage has always been rock solid.After twenty years, and with two carefree kids, she and Dave are still the perfect couple.Until the day she comes home unexpectedly, and finds Dave in bed with their attractive, single neighbour.Suddenly Roxy isn't sure about anything - her past, the business she's taken over from her dad, or what her family's future might be. She's spent so long caring about everyone else that she's forgotten what she actually wants. But something has changed. And Roxy has a decision to make.Whether it's with Dave, or without him, it's time for Roxy to start living for herself...More reader opinions: 'An emotional read ... I would happily recommend' *****'Can't put it down' *****'Satisfying, uplifting' *****'A great read, really a feel-good book' *****SHEILA'S FANTASTIC NEW NOVEL 'THREE WEDDINGS AND A PROPOSAL' IS OUT NOW

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Richard Cabut's,"Looking for a Kiss" is an 80s post-punk, twisted tale of drug-fuelled beat, punk, love and hate, set in Camden, Camberwell and New York. The book is a fabulous chronicle of our protagonists Robert and Marlene struggle to find themselves and their lives whilst immersing themselves in drugs, sex, magic, chaos and post-punk music.

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AOK is pure fiction, politically incorrect, vulgar, blasphemous, humorous, sad, and contains some certain life truths. It is a testament for older underachievers as it focuses on the main character, Allen, and his intent at 50 to reinvent himself on a beautiful island in the Greek Aegean Seas. It combines poetry, written by the dyspeptic poet Anthony, the ex-public-school eccentric, with factual history, archaeology, and Essex humour courtesy of Grace. AOK is an entertaining read that is anything but dull.

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'A triumph... tender and gut-wrenching, honest and riveting. A book of astonishing accomplishment and bravery' Guardian A searing, sunlit debut about the powerful bonds that make and break one Iranian-American familyThree young brothers leave Los Angeles in the dead of night for Iran, taken by their father from their mother to a country and an ancestral home they barely recognize. They return to the Valley months later, spit back into American life and changed in inexorable ways.Under the dazzling light of the California sun, our protagonist, the youngest brother, begins to piece together a childhood shattered by his father's violence, a queer adolescence marked by a shy, secret love affair with a boy he meets on the basketball court, and his ever-changing status as a Muslim in America at the turn of the new millennium.Lyrical and open-hearted, I WILL GREET THE SUN AGAIN is an unforgettable portrait of a family being torn apart, and a boy emerging from its ashes.'Exquisite, heart-breaking, incredibly beautiful. The whole narrative thrums with a bright, warm longing' Caleb Azumah Nelson, award-winning, bestselling author of OPEN WATER and SMALL WORLDS'Life-affirming... Khabushani is a talented writer' Sunday Times'This is a novel of survival and longing and love, and in many ways a modern portrait of an artist as a young man. It is now one of my favourite books' Washington Post'A heartbreaking debut' New York Times

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AS SEEN ON ITV'S LORRAINE'An up-lit treasure' Red magazineLife can change in a heartbeat... When struggling actress Heidi has a life-changing accident aged 32, her world falls apart. Stuck in hospital and unable to walk, her only companion is Maud, the elderly lady in the bed next to hers. Heidi misses her flatmate, her life, her freedom - surely 32 is too young to be an amputee?But when Maud's aloof but attractive grandson Jack pays a visit to the ward, Heidi realises that her life isn't over just because it's different. It might not look like the life she dreamed of, but it's the one she's got - and there's a lot she still wants to tick off her bucket list. With Jack at her side, will Heidi take the first step back to happiness? Or is there one more surprise still in store...?A feel-good read based on the inspiring true story of journalist Ella Dove. Sometimes all it takes is one small step...

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From the twice Man Booker longlisted author of From a Low and Quiet Sea 'Poetic, powerful and heart-rending' THE TIMES'An exquisite account of womanhood, friendship, prejudice and tradition that is both intimate in scale and awesome in achievement' IRISH INDEPENDENTMelody Shee is alone and in trouble. Her husband doesn't take her news too well. She can't tell her father yet because he's a good man and this could break him. She's trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming - larger by the day - while the past won't let her go. What she did to Breedie Flynn all those years ago still haunts her.It's a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does. Mary is a young Traveller woman, and she knows more about Melody than she lets on. She might just save Melody's life._________'A joy to read, for all that it breaks your heart' INDEPENDENT'One of the finest writers working in Ireland today ... worthy of Greek Drama' GUARDIAN'A stunning piece of work, utterly truthful and emotionally powerful' JOSEPH O'CONNOR'Work of genius ... I was entranced by it. Buckled by it' SEBASTIAN BARRY

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2020'A story for now, an important story . . . told with incredible freshness' Martha Lane Fox, Chair of Judges, Women's Prize 2020'The harsh reality of immigration is balanced with a refreshing dose of humour' The Times'This compassionate and ingenious novel has an endearing vibrancy in the storytelling that, page after page, makes it addictive reading' Irish Times'Engrossing . . . the story itself and Ana, the protagonist, are terrifically interesting. Loved this' Roxane Gay'This book is a valentine to my mom and all the unsung Dominicanas like her, for their quiet heroism in making a better life for their families, often at a hefty cost to themselves. Even if Dominicana is a Dominican story, it's also a New York story, and an immigrant story. When I read parts of Dominicana at universities and literary venues both here and abroad, each time, audience members from all cultures and generations came up to me and said, this is my mother's story, my sister's story, my story' Angie CruzFifteen-year-old Ana Canción never dreamed of moving to America, the way the girls she grew up with in the Dominican countryside did. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she must say yes. It doesn't matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate. So on New Year's Day, 1965, Ana leaves behind everything she knows and becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a cold six-floor walk-up in Washington Heights. Lonely and miserable, Ana hatches a reckless plan to escape. But at the bus terminal, she is stopped by César, Juan's free-spirited younger brother, who convinces her to stay.As the Dominican Republic slides into political turmoil, Juan returns to protect his family's assets, leaving César to take care of Ana. Suddenly, Ana is free to take English lessons at a local church, lie on the beach at Coney Island, dance with César at the Audubon Ballroom, and imagine the possibility of a different kind of life in America. When Juan returns, Ana must decide once again between her heart and her duty to her family.In bright, musical prose that reflects the energy of New York City, Dominicana is a vital portrait of the immigrant experience and the timeless coming-of-age story of a young woman finding her voice in the world.

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FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS AND MOTHERING SUNDAY, reissued for the first time in Scribner Bill Unwin, an academic of dubious status, has never recovered from the death of his famous actress wife and is now convalescing from a recent brush with his own mortality. He has two tales to tell. One, spanning post-war Paris, 1950s Soho and contemporary sexual and scholarly entanglements, surveys the muddle of his own life. The other, drawn from the notebooks of a Victorian ancestor, is the very different story of Matthew Pearce, a serious-minded man whose happiness is destroyed by his compulsive search for truth. Bill’s recollections of his beautiful wife, his wayward mother and his philandering stepfather, his wry reflections on his present plight and his unexpected bond with the forgotten Matthew combine to form a potent and moving mental quest. Embracing two centuries and a host of subjects—from ballet dancers and prehistoric beasts to the bewildering persistence of love—it asks nothing less than the eternal question: ‘Why should things matter?’‘A perfect piece of literary art’ The Spectator‘Masterfully done’ Washington Post

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From the million-copy bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes an uplifting novel where unexpected challenges and new friendships reveal what 'home' really means. When Tam Lambert learns that her family are about to be evicted from their lovely home, the privileged life she's known is forever changed. Tam and her family must move to a changing Dallas neighbourhood called Blue Sky Hill...New resident Shasta Williams knows nothing of real estate schemes when she and her husband purchase a home in Blue Sky Hill. To her it's the perfect place to raise her children. Better yet is getting to know Tam, who lives next door. When neighbours realize that a corrupt deal could force them from their homes, friendships and loyalties are tested. Over the span of one summer, two young women discover the strength and maturity to do the impossible. They find that in Blue Sky Hill, life-altering relationships and amazing possibilities can begin to blossom...Perfect for fans of Kathryn Hughes and Santa Montefiore.

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Paek Nam-nyong’s Friend is a tale of marital intrigue, abuse, and divorce in North Korea. A woman in her thirties comes to a courthouse petitioning for a divorce. As the judge who hears her statement begins to investigate the case, the story unfolds into a broader consideration of love and marriage. The novel delves into its protagonists’ past, describing how the couple first fell in love and then how their marriage deteriorated over the years. It chronicles the toll their acrimony takes on their son and their careers alongside the story of the judge’s own marital troubles.A best-seller in North Korea, where Paek continues to live and write, Friend illuminates a side of life in the DPRK that Western readers have never before encountered. Far from being a propagandistic screed in praise of the Great Leader, Friend describes the lives of people who struggle with everyday problems such as marital woes and workplace conflicts. Instead of socialist-realist stock figures, Paek depicts complex characters who wrestle with universal questions of individual identity, the split between public and private selves, the unpredictability of existence, and the never-ending labor of maintaining a relationship. This groundbreaking translation of one of North Korea’s most popular writers offers English-language readers a page-turner full of psychological tension as well as a revealing portrait of a society that is typically seen as closed to the outside world.

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'A perfect poolside page-turner' CLOSER'Tender, complex, complicated and passionate. Stunning.' VERONICA HENRY'So evocative. A great summer read!' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING'A truly beautiful story of love, desire, identity and courage - Julie Cohen is at her spellbinding best' ROSIE WALSH'Loved every page!' CLAIRE DYER'A story of love and friendship, it's captivating!' HEAT'A startling beautiful firework of a novel' LoveReadingA love that can't be stopped.A secret that will change everything...Marriages end with a whisper, not a bang. Not an argument, which is after all about passion, waves crashing on a shore, but with the small pockets of coldness that an argument creates. It's like islands. They don't sink like Atlantis. They wear away, little by little, until all you've got left is a single rock and a light. A warning to safer travellers to stay away.The last time Vee left the shores of Unity Island, she thought she'd left forever. But this summer, she's returning with her charming husband, Mike.Vee's unexpected arrival, this time as one of the wealthy 'summer people', sets the small island community alight with gossip. What's more, her childhood best friend, Sterling, is furious that she's come back - Vee abandoned him when he needed her most.And then Vee meets Rachel, Sterling's wife, and a spark is ignited within her that she can't extinguish. And as summer turns to autumn, long-buried secrets emerge that will cause a storm greater than any of them could ever have imagined.But when autumn comes, who will sail away with the tide and who will choose to stay behind on the island...?

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A top ten New York Times bestseller. With the haunting emotional power of American Dirt and the atmospheric suspense of Where the Crawdads Sing: a compulsive debut novel that explores the aftershock of a brutal crime on the women of a small Texas oil town. ‘The very definition of a stunning debut’ Ann Patchett ‘Brilliant, sharp, tightly wound, and devastating’ Elizabeth Gilbert ‘Quite simply one of the best books I’ve ever read’ Jeanine Cummins, author of American Dirt Mercy is hard in a place like this. I wished him dead before I ever saw his face… In a place like Odessa, Texas choosing who to trust can be a dangerous game. Mary Rose Whitehead isn’t looking for trouble – but when it shows up at her front door, she finds she can’t turn away. Corinne Shepherd, newly widowed, wants nothing more than to mind her own business, and for everyone else to mind theirs. But when the town she has spent years rebelling against closes ranks she realises she is going to have to take a side. Gloria Ramírez, fourteen years old and out of her depth, survives the brutality of one man only to face the indifference and prejudices of many. When justice is as slippery as oil, and kindness becomes a hazardous act, sometimes courage is all we have to keep us alive.

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‘A feelgood read that reminds us it’s never too late to live the life you want’ SUN When her walk up the aisle leads to disaster Maya Thomas must forge a new path… Saying ‘I Do’ was meant to be the start of her greatest adventure, but when Maya’s fiancé drops dead just moments before he’s set to kiss the bride, her life is spent spinning out of control. Now, as Maya travels a path she never expected to take, setting off on the mystery honeymoon her fiancé had planned for them, she finds that there is life after loss, that fate has its own way of helping you heal and that those with the courage to grasp love will never go lonely…

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A great mind and a formidable personality, Brahe is also the world’s most illustrious noseless man of his time. Told by Brahe and his assistants—a filthy cast of characters—Sublunar is both novel and almanac. Alongside sexual deviancy, spankings, ruminations on a new nose—flesh, wood, or gold?—Brahe (a choleric and capricious character) and his peculiar helpers (“I would rather watch her globes tonight than icy stars”) take painstainking measurements that will revolutionize astronomy, long before the invention of the telescope. Meanwhile the plague rages in Europe... The second in Voetmann’s triptych of historical novels, Sublunar is as visceral, absurd, and tragic as its predecessor Awake, but with a special nocturnal glow and a lunatic-edged gaze trained on the moon and the stars.

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One fateful encounter upends the lives of two women in this tense domestic thriller, a modern spin on Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train that flips the script on race and gender politics. “I’m a big believer that women should help each other, Tasha,” she says. “Don’t you think?” Tasha Jenkins has finally found the courage to leave her abusive husband. Taking her teenage son with her, Tasha checks into a hotel the night before their flight out of D.C. and out of Kordell Jenkins’s life forever. But escaping isn’t so easy, and Tasha soon finds herself driving back to her own personal hell. As she is leaving, a white woman pounds on her car window, begging to be let in. Behind the woman, an angry man is in pursuit. Tasha makes a split-second decision that will alter the course of her life: she lets her in and takes off. Tasha and Madison Gingell may have very different everyday realities, but what they have in common is marriages they need out of. The two women want to help each other, but they have very different ideas of what that means . . . They are on a collision course that will end in the case files of the D.C. MPD homicide unit. Unraveling the truth of what really happened may be impossible‒and futile. Because what has the truth ever done for women like Tasha and Madison? Master of psychological suspense L.S. Stratton has written a gripping murder mystery about two perfect strangers whose lives become dangerously entangled, a must-read for fans of crime thriller books.

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A “moving and captivating” (Cathy Park Hong, New York Times bestselling author of Minor Feelings) novel following a Korean immigrant pursuing the American dream who must confront the secrets of the past or risk watching the world he’s worked so hard to build come crumbling down. Dr. Yungman Kwak is in the twilight of his life. Every day for the last fifty years, he has brushed his teeth, slipped on his shoes, and headed to Horse Breath’s General Hospital, where, as an obstetrician, he treats the women and babies of the small rural Minnesota town he chose to call home. This was the life he longed for. The so-called American dream. He immigrated from Korea after the Korean War, forced to leave his family, ancestors, village, and all that he knew behind. But his life is built on a lie. And one day, a letter arrives that threatens to expose it. Yungman’s life is thrown into chaos—the hospital abruptly closes, his wife refuses to spend time with him, and his son is busy investing in a struggling health start-up. Yungman faces a choice—he must choose to hide his secret from his family and friends or confess and potentially lose all he’s built. He begins to question the very assumptions on which his life is built—the so-called American dream, with the abject failure of its healthcare system, patients and neighbors who perpetuate racism, a town flawed with infrastructure, and a history that doesn’t see him in it. Toggling between the past and the present, Korea and America, Evening Hero is a “soulful, melodic, rhapsodic novel” (The New York Times) about a man looking back at his life and asking big questions about what is lost and what is gained when immigrants leave home for new shores.

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In a bucolic idyll, a terrorist agonizes over the act of violence he is about to commit. On a remote island in the South Pacific, the investigation of a case of mass suicide reveals further mysteries. In a far-flung colony, a cynical trio sends an unwitting man into the wilderness in search of a chimera. Mixing romance and high adventure, intrigue and the fantastic, these magnificent tales by one of Russia’s most enduringly popular writers deftly probe the depths of human nature and desire.Fandango and Other Stories presents a selection of essential short fiction by Alexander Grin, Russia’s counterpart to Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Alexandre Dumas. By turns a sailor, a dockworker, a vagrant, a gold prospector, a lumberjack, a soldier, a deserter, an agitator, an exile, a prisoner, and a runaway, Grin wrote seven novels and over three hundred short stories that transport the reader to a realm of pure art and imagination. His ingenious plots explore conflicts of the individual and society in a romantic world populated by a cast of eccentric, cosmopolitan characters. Fandango and Other Stories includes works drawn from across the entirety of Grin’s varied career to encompass the range and sophistication of his writing. Bryan Karetnyk’s elegant translations bring Grin’s distinctive voice to a new generation of readers.

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A REESE''S BOOK CLUB PICK!“Emotional, relatable and binge-worthy. -Tessa Bailey“I’ll read anything she writes. An absolute star. -Emily Henry “I was hooked on the very first page. Don''t miss this one! — Carley FortuneTwo writers with a complicated history end up working on the same TV show... Can they write themselves a new ending? A sexy and emotional enemies-to-lovers romance guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings and give you a book hangover from brilliant new voice Yulin KuangNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Entertainment Weekly Today.com  Paste  Daily Waffle The Nerd Daily and more!Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives together forever.Now a bestselli

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An urgent literary phenomenon sold in over 22 languages before publication, a gripping tale of one woman’s desperate battle to survive the dangerous, sometimes deadly, turbulence of modern Venezuela. In Caracas, Venezuela, Adelaida Falcon stands over an open grave. Alone, except for harried undertakers, she buries her mother – the only family Adelaida has ever known. Numb with grief, Adelaida returns to the apartment they shared. Outside her window tear gas rains down on protesters in the streets. When looters masquerading as revolutionaries take over her apartment, Adelaida resists and is beaten up. This marks the beginning of a fight for survival in a country that has disintegrated into violence and anarchy, where citizens are increasingly pitted against each other. From a powerful, new voice, It Would Be Night in Caracas is a chilling reminder of how quickly the world we know can crumble.

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The Kassims are a traditional Indian Muslim family, living in Southern Rhodesia in the 1950s and 60s, where they enjoy a wealth of new opportunities but are held down by white racism and are torn apart by their own changing values.Kulsum wants her daughters to have an education that will expand their horizons; Razaak fears that education will make the girls unmarriageable within the Khumbar caste. Feeling sidelined by Kulsum’s modernity and her other achievements, Razaak defers to his father and sends their daughters to a less sophisticated branch of the family over 1000 miles away in rural Uganda. How should Kulsum respond? In this affectionate picture of a little-documented African cultural milieu, first-time author Fatima Kara digs into her own memories of life as a Gujarati in Bulawayo, conjuring up the brilliant colours, mouth-watering foods and exotic plant life of a region she remains devoted to and wants us to love as she does. The Train House on Lobengula Street is Part One of an entrancing two-part story.

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On this season of The Catch, contestants must compete for love. And their lives. When the final four women in competition for an aloof, somewhat sleazy bachelor’s heart arrive on a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest, they prepare themselves for another week of extreme sleep deprivation, invasive interviews, and, of course, the salacious drama eager viewers nationwide tune in to devour. Each woman came on The Catch for her own reasons—brand sponsorships, followers, and, yes, even love—and they’ve all got their eyes steadfastly trained on their respective prizes. Enter Patricia, a temperamental and woefully misunderstood local living alone in the dark, verdant woods, and desperate for connection. Through twists as unexpected as they are wildly entertaining, the self-absorbed cast and jaded crew each make her acquaintance atop the island’s tallest and most desolate peak, finding themselves at the center of an action-packed thriller that is far from scripted—and only a few will make the final cut. A whirlwind romp careening toward a last-girl-standing conclusion, and a scathing indictment of contemporary American media culture, Patricia Wants to Cuddle is also a love story: between star-crossed lesbians who rise above their intolerant town, a deeply ambivalent woman and her budding self-actualization, and a group of misfit islanders forging community against all odds.'A one-of-a-kind queer horror comedy for people who watch The Bachelor and The X-Files back-to-back.' —Kirkus Reviews

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'What were we, then, if 'English' was a prize out of our reach and 'Tunisian' was the mask we wore at home?' Growing up in London with Tunisian parents, wayward Nessie finds herself caught between cultures. Her parents don't want her becoming too English, while at school she doesn't feel 'white enough' or 'African enough' to fit in with any group. She even has multiple names: Nesrine officially, Susu to her family, Nessie to everyone else. And then there's Mrs Brown: a charismatic woman who befriends her parents and soon becomes the glue holding their dysfunctional family together. Yet after a catastrophic betrayal, Mrs Brown abruptly disappears from their lives. Years later, Nessie seeks independence but struggles to escape a pattern of self-sabotage. As unsolved family mysteries resurface, she begins to wonder: what really happened between her parents and Mrs Brown?

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'Who is to say dreams are insubstantial when whole lives can be lived in their pursuit?' When an office worker receives a mysterious device promising to transport her to a parallel universe, she assumes it is just another marketing stunt. That night, she visits a fantastical place in her dreams; on waking she returns to her normal life, only to return to the same dream the following night. At first she finds the ongoing dreams bizarre, but the more time she spends in the dream world, the less she wants to wake up. Yet as her fantasy begins to encroach on her waking life, dream and reality collide with drastic consequences. With sharp insight, wry humour and Black Mirror-esque themes, Red Dust, White Snow highlights the blurring of reality and fantasy in our increasingly virtual world.

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100th OPRAH WINFREY BOOK CLUB PICK'Radiant and brilliantly crafted' New York TimesLONGLISTED FOR THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD-----Best friends and sisters, the four Padavano girls bring loving chaos to their close-knit Italian American neighbourhood. William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So, when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano, it's as if the world has lit up around him.With Julia comes her family: Sylvie, the family's dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. But when darkness from William's past begins to block the light of his future, it is Sylvie, not Julia, who becomes his closest confidante. The result is a catastrophic rift that leaves the family inhabiting two sides of a fault line.Can they find their way back to each other? Can love make a broken family whole?-----'Beautiful, perceptive, wistful. I loved it'Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace'Ann Napolitano's writing is astonishing'Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups'Another tender tearjerker... She helps us see ourselves - and each other - whole' Washington Post'Napolitano's homage to Little Women, set in late-20th century Chicago, will prompt you to slow down as you read, never wanting the book to end'Oprah Quarterly'A moving, tender family epic' Pandora Sykes

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A darkly funny, sharply observed, and deeply moving novel about the surprises and struggles of life in contemporary Delhi _____________________ 'A beautiful novel exploring tensions in modern India' OBSERVER 'Confirms Anjum Hasan as one of the most important writers of our time' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE Alif is a middle-aged, mild-mannered history teacher, living in contemporary Delhi, at a time in India’s history when Muslims are seen either as hapless victims or live threats. Though his life's passion is the history he teaches, it's the present that presses down on him: his wife is set on a bigger house and a better car while trying to ace her MBA exams; his teenage son wants to quit school to get rich; his supercilious colleagues are suspicious of a Muslim teaching India's history; and his old friend Ganesh has just reconnected with a childhood sweetheart with whom Alif was always rather enamored himself. And then the unthinkable happens. While Alif is leading a school field trip, a student goads him, and in a fit of anger, Alif twists his ear. His job suddenly on the line, Alif finds his life rapidly descending into chaos. Meanwhile, his home city, too, darkens under the spreading shadow of violence. In this darkly funny, sharply observed, and shockingly moving novel, Anjum Hasan deftly and delicately explores the life of Muslims in India and the force and consequence of remembering your people’s history in an increasingly indifferent milieu. 'Hasan's eye is sharp and her aim is unerring. This is a work of sublime elegance' SHRUTI SWAMY, author of The Archer 'Told in a subdued, sad, ironical tenor, it is compassionate without being sentimental' GEETANJALI SHREE, author of the International Booker Prize-winning Tomb of Sand 'Extremely timely … History's Angel helps us view the erasures of the past through a living lens with sensitivity and nuance' DAISY ROCKWELL

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Don't miss the STUNNING new novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Harriet Evans - THE BELOVED GIRLS is available to buy now!'Spellbinding' Independent'My top book of 2019' DINAH JEFFRIES'Her best yet' i newspaper'Gripping' Irish Times'Gorgeous' VERONICA HENRY'A poignant story of love and loss' Daily Mail MUST READS 'I can't remember the last time I was so enthralled' Red'Epic, absorbing . . . full of intrigue and emotion' Fabulous'A sweeping novel you won't put down' Katie Fforde Who would choose to destroy what they love the most? Nightingale House, 1919.Liddy Horner discovers her husband, the world-famous artist Sir Edward Horner, burning his best-known painting The Garden of Lost and Found days before his sudden death.Nightingale House was the Horner family's beloved home - a gem of design created to inspire happiness - and it was here Ned painted The Garden of Lost and Found, capturing his children on a perfect day, playing in the rambling Eden he and Liddy made for them.One magical moment. Before it all came tumbling down...When Ned and Liddy's great-granddaughter Juliet is sent the key to Nightingale House, she opens the door onto a forgotten world. The house holds its mysteries close but she is in search of answers. Something shattered this corner of paradise. But what? Lose yourself in this unputdownable tale of the enduring power of family love, told by three generations of extraordinary women. . . Readers love The Garden of Lost and Found'This sweeping tale is by turns painfully sad and heart-lifting, with characters that stay with you' Good Housekeeping 'Evans' storytelling feels both authentic and satisfying. An immersive mystery' Woman & Home'Evans tells a poignant tale of the Horner family and their magical, mysterious country home' Woman'Engrossing and clever and funny and beautifully observed . . . I recommend it wholeheartedly' Clothes in Books blogDiscover THE BELOVED GIRLS: your next unputdownable novel of family secrets, betrayal and one golden summer . . . Out now!

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Hawa is a child of the grinding hardship of a Palestinian refugee camp. She has had to survive the camp itself, as well as the humiliation and destruction of an abusive family life. But now, later in life, something most unexpected has happened: she has fallen in love. Velvet unfolds over a day in Hawa’s life, as she makes plans for a new beginning that may take her out of the camp. She sifts back through her memories of the past: the stories of her family, her childhood, and her beloved mentor, who invited her into the glamorous world of the rich women of Amman. This is a novel of enormous power and great beauty. Rich in detail, it tells of the women of the camp, and the joy and relief that can be captured amid repression and sorrow.

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From the author of the award winning The Sound of My Voice After being sacked from his day job as a business executive, Morris Magellan has cashed it all in – the house, the car, family life – to be free at last to pursue his true passion: music. He returns to his childhood home to escape city life, face his demons and compose his masterpiece. Very soon, things start to go wrong. Not only does his past catch up with him, but the future becomes more threatening by the day. Bad habits return with a vengeance. Then he meets Jess. Written with humour and compassion, this compelling novel, set in the Borders, sixties London and present-day Edinburgh, touches on music, love in later life and, most of all, how to make the most of one’s time before it is too late.

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Set in the 1950's, this epic, Warholian novel presents a brilliant and wholly original take on the years leading up to the Kennedy assassination.Where were you when you first heard President Kennedy had been shot? This is a question most people can answer, even if the answer is "I wasn't born yet." In this epic novel, David Bowman makes the strong case that the shooting on November 22nd, 1963 was the major, defining turning point that catapulted the world into an entirely new stratosphere. It was the second big bang.In this hilarious, lightning-fast historical novel, Bowman follows the most famous couples of the decade as their lives are torn apart by post-war's new normal. We see Lucille Ball's bizarre interrogation by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and Jackie Onassis' moonlight cruise with Frank Sinatra . We follow Norman Mailer and Arthur Miller as they attempt to get quickie divorces together at a loophole resort in Nevada and watch a young Howard Hunt snoop around South America with the newly founded CIA. A young Jimi Hendrix, now the epitome of counterculture cool, tries his luck as a clean cut army recruit.Written with an almost documentary film like intensity, BIG BANG is a posthumous work from the award-winning author of Let the Dog Drive. A riotous account of a country, perhaps, at the beginning of the end.

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THERE IS NO LAND WITHOUT BLOOD, AND I WATER THIS LAND WITH THE BLOOD OF MY MEN. Ruth’s family were in Budapest when the Nazis came. Now Ruth is in Palestine, amid the bare hills inland from Haifa, breaking the rocky soil of an unyielding land before it breaks her. With her comrades, her fellow kibbutzniks, she will build a better world. There will be green grass, orange trees and pomegranates, a land that is their own and no one else’s. So they till their fields, dig their wells, build their homes and forge a new way of living, fiercely proud of their shared pursuit of a dream. But as one generation begets another, the dream unravels, twisted into a dark tapestry of secrets and lies; sacrificed for revenge, forbidden love and murder. A sweeping historical epic following four generations of a single family as they struggle to hold on to their land and each other. 'Tidhar [is] fast emerging as the leader of a new wave of Israeli literature' Daily Mail 'Adama is an unstoppable masterpiece... If history is a nightmare we’re all trying to wake up from, then Adama is a trumpet blast that rings out the past and into the future' Junot Díaz 'As a study of biblical comeuppance, the land and the blood have the last say. I recommend Adama as an instructive primer for today's generation of Israeli politicians. There are, indeed, lessons to be learned' Jewish Chronicle 'Word by word I was drawn deeper and deeper into this incredible book – a story of inheritance, loss, longing and what could have been. Lavie Tidhar's prose is beautiful, his characters lacerating and heartbreaking by turns. I loved it.' Catriona Ward

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What makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life and not another? The year is coming to a close and Asle, an ageing painter and widower who lives alone on the southwest coast of Norway, is reminiscing about his life. His only friends are his neighbour, Åsleik, a traditional fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in the city. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter but lonely and consumed by alcohol. Asle and Asle are doppelgängers – two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life, both grappling with existential questions about life, death, love, light and shadow, faith and hopelessness. Written in melodious and hypnotic ‘slow prose’, The Other Name: Septology I-II is an indelible and poignant exploration of the human condition by Jon Fosse, ‘a major European writer’ (Karl Ove Knausgaard), in which everything is always there, and past and present flow together.

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Dazzling and ambitious, this multivoiced fusion of prose, playwriting, graphic art, and philosophy spins an epic tale of America’s struggle for civil rights as it played out in San Francisco near the end of the 1960s. As Karen Tei Yamashita’s motley cast of students, laborers, artists, revolutionaries, and provocateurs make their way through the history of the day, they become caught in a riptide of politics and passion, clashing ideologies, and personal turmoil.The tenth anniversary edition of this National Book Award finalist brings the joys and struggles of the I Hotel to a whole new generation of readers, historians, and activists.

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When one of Kuwaits richest businessmen unexpectedly contacts author Taleb Al-Rifai, he has an unusual request: write a biographical novel that traces his ascent from poverty into the upper reaches of Kuwaiti society. As fact mixes with fiction, Al-Rifai is torn over whether writing such a book compromises his integrity as a writer.Al-Rifai is soon plunged into a world of enormous wealth, soaring ambitions, and frustrated love. Its not only Al-Rifais reputation at stake: there are powerful people who dont want this novel to be written, and they will stop at almost nothing to prevent it. Will Al-Rifai write the book? Will the forces lining up against him allow it?

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