Contemporary Fiction

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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This richly imaginative, immersive, and “electrifyingly relevant” (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel follows a shocking disappearance amid the climate crisis of our near future—perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Last Thing He Told Me.Emi Vargas, whose parents helped save the world, is tired of being told how lucky she is to have been born after the climate crisis. But following the public assassination of a dozen climate criminals, Emi’s mother, Kristina, disappears as a possible suspect, and Emi’s illusions of utopia are shattered. A determined Emi and her father, Larch, journey from their home in Nuuk, Greenland to New York City, now a lightly populated storm-surge outpost built from the ruins of the former metropolis. But they aren’t the only ones looking for Kristina. Thirty years earlier, Larch first came to New York with a team of volunteers to save the city from rising waters and torrential storms. Kristina was on the frontlines of a different battle, fighting massive wildfires that ravaged the western United States. They became part of a movement that changed the world­—The Great Transition—forging a new society and finding each other in process. Alternating between Emi’s desperate search for her mother and a meticulously rendered, heart-stopping account of her parents’ experiences during The Great Transition, this novel beautifully shows how our actions today determine our fate tomorrow. A triumphant debut, The Great Transition is “a book for the present and the future—read this and you will be changed” (Michelle Min Sterling, New York Times bestselling author).

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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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A hilarious drama about family secrets, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty. ‘[A] gripping family tale… Stovell is a thoughtful, wise and witty writer’ Daily Mail ‘Funny, compelling and so on point about family dynamics’ The Sun 'We read this brilliant book in one sitting’ Bella Minnie and Bert are over the moon to have their three grown-up children home for the first time in a decade. But having Lizzie, Jess, Owen and the grandchildren under one roof isn’t without its dramas. Lizzie is off the alcohol (although emergency gin doesn’t count), Jess is juggling a toddler and a newborn, but it’s Owen who has the power to throw a grenade into everything. It all stems from an incident that happened years ago. And it involves Nora Skelly – a name you don't mention in front of Minnie. With Nora also back in town, the past is about to come crashing into the present. And what better time to revisit old secrets and resentments than around the family dinner table? * * * What readers are saying about Every Happy Family ‘If you love Liane Moriarty then this is a great book for you…I couldn't stop turning the pages and finished the story in 24 hours.’ Netgalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘What a fabulous family drama this was… superb, funny, heart wrenching read. It read so easily and I just couldn't put it down.’ Netgalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘On the one hand I wanted to devour in one sitting but on the other I wanted to ration because I knew that once I'd finished I was going to miss these true to life characters being in my life.’ Netgalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An absolute must read if you like some family drama (that's not your own!)’ Netgalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘It’s quietly brilliant. My only complaint is that I didn’t want to leave them all. ’ Netgalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Praise for Other Parents: ‘Set to be one of the most talked-about books of 2022’ HELLO! ‘Sensitive, sharply observed and often funny’ Adele Parks, Platinum

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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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'The queen of feel-good' Woman & Home ***The sparkling Christmas novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author Heidi Swain!*** After being let go from her job in a swanky hotel just weeks before Christmas, Hattie is feeling lost. Even more so when her high-flying boyfriend announces he’s landed his dream job in Abu Dhabi and asks her to move with him. Luckily, Hattie’s long-time friend Dolly is on hand to help and invites Hattie to spend one last holiday in the small, festive town of Wynbridge, determined to give her a Christmas to remember . . . Upon Hattie’s arrival, holiday preparations are in full swing. But for Hattie, whose Christmas cheer has long since run out, it’ll take more than mince pies and mistletoe to open her heart to the season once more. Relishing the task of reigniting Hattie’s Christmas spirit, Dolly suggests they create a wish list of all the things the season can offer, and with the helpful hands of Wynbridge’s resident handyman, Beamish, Hattie finds her frosty exterior is starting to thaw. As Wynbridge prepares for its most spectacular Christmas yet, will Hattie leave snowy England behind for life in a sunnier clime, or will she in fact realise that her heart’s desire lies much closer to home?The Christmas Wish List is the perfect read this Christmas, promising snowfall, warm fires and breath-taking seasonal romance. Perfect for fans of Carole Matthews and Cathy Bramley. Praise for HEIDI SWAIN:'Full of Heidi’s trademark gentle charm. Lock the door, pour some mulled wine and settle into this wonderful Christmas treat!' Milly Johnson 'More Christmassy than a week in Lapland - we loved it!' heat magazine 'Sprinkled with Christmas sparkle' Trisha Ashley 'Give yourself a Christmas treat and curl up with this magical book!' Sue Moorcroft, author of The Little Village Christmas 'A real Christmas cracker of a read!' Penny Parkes, author of Practice Makes Perfect 'Cosy, Christmassy and deeply satisfying! Another wonderful read!' Mandy Baggot, author of One Christmas Kiss in Notting Hill

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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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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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Longlisted for the Aspen Literary Prize, 2019Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, 2018Longlisted for Elle's Big Book Award, 2018Evening Standard's Wander List Guide to 2019 Getaways How many lives can one person lead in a single lifetime? When Hero De Vera arrives in America, disowned by her parents in the Philippines, she's already on her third. Her uncle, Pol, who has offered her a fresh start and a place to stay in the Bay Area, knows not to ask about the first and second. And his younger wife, Paz, has learned enough about the might and secrecy of the De Vera family to keep her head down. Only their daughter Roni asks Hero why her hands seem to scream with hurt at the steering wheel of the car she drives to collect her from school, and only Rosalyn, the fierce but open-hearted beautician, has any hope of bringing Hero back from the dead.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | REESE BOOK CLUB PICK | BBC BIG JUBILEE BETWEEN THE COVERS READ'It reminds me of Where the Crawdads Sing . . . it's an amazing book' Rhys Stephenson on BBC's Between the Covers'You won't be able to put this one down!' Reese WitherspoonThey say a tiger that devours too many humans can take the form of a man and walk among us... In 1930s colonial Malaya, a dissolute British doctor receives a surprise gift of an eleven-year-old Chinese houseboy. Sent as a bequest from an old friend, young Ren has a mission: to find his dead master's severed finger and reunite it with his body. Ren has forty-nine days, or else his master's soul will roam the earth forever. Ji Lin, an apprentice dressmaker, moonlights as a dancehall girl to pay her mother's debts. One night, Ji Lin's dance partner leaves her with a gruesome souvenir that leads her on a crooked, dark trail. As time runs out for Ren's mission, a series of unexplained deaths occur amid rumours of tigers who turn into men. In their journey to keep a promise and discover the truth, Ren and Ji Lin's paths will cross in ways they will never forget.Captivating and lushly written, The Night Tiger explores the rich world of servants and masters, ancient superstition and modern ambition, sibling rivalry and unexpected love. Woven through with Chinese folklore and a tantalizing mystery, this novel is a page-turner of the highest order.'An exuberant medley of magic, romance and weirdness' The Times'[A] highly imaginative and a spellbinding read' Woman's Weekly 'I was willingly propelled into a fascinating and exotic world' Daily MailReaders love The Night Tiger'Gripping, enchanting' 5* Reader Review'Captivating from the very beginning' 5* Reader Review'Simply beautiful' 5* Reader Review'Profound' 5* Reader Review'A real feel-good and warming novel' 5* Reader Review

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A powerful new novel about grief and mourning from the acclaimed and prize-winning author of The Old DriftA BARACK OBAMA BOOK OF THE YEAR and NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARI don't want to tell you what happened. I want to tell you how it felt.Cassandra is twelve; her little brother Wayne is seven. One day, when they're alone together, there's an accident and Wayne is lost forever. Though his body is never recovered, their mother can't stop searching.As Cassandra grows older, she sees her brother everywhere: in cafes, aeroplane aisles, subway cars. But it can't be, of course. Or can it? And then one day, there's another accident, and she meets a man both mysterious and familiar, a man who shares her brother's name and who is also searching for someone...'In Namwali Serpell's hands, grief is a kind of possession. The Furrows is a piercing, sharply written novel about the conjuring power of loss' - RAVEN LEILANI, author of Luster

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'This was pure joy to read and left me feeling warm inside!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'This book pulled at my heart strings and broke me in places and then slowly pieced me back together again' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Oh my!!!!!! Cathy Bramley has done it again, a fantastic read and I could not stop reading it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'This book - I absolutely adored it!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Three generations of women, and the summer that saved them.The holidays are here, and in Salcombe, Liz longs for the arrival of her god-daughters, Skye and Clare and Clare's daughter baby Ivy. After years on her own, she needs help to save the catering business she built with Clare's late mother, Jen. However, half-sisters Skye and Clare couldn't be more different, struggling with family secrets and hidden jealousies. As the women navigate this unexpected summer together, truths are revealed and their relationships are put to the test. The Sunrise Sisterhood is a summery slice of joyful escapism as well as an emotional drama about three women healed by the sparkling waves of Salcombe and the power of the sisterhood.***'A heartwarming story of sisterhood and second chances' Lucy Diamond'Total escapism full of joy, hope and heart' Kim Nash'Comforting, funny, warm and wise. No-one does complicated family and friendships like Cathy' Veronica Henry'Beautifully written and richly layered with characters that feel like firm friends, it's full of Cathy's wonderful warmth, wisdom and wit' Alex Brown'A wonderful story of family, sisterhood and finding yourself' Emily Stone'Absolutely loved this summer swoonsome read from Cathy Bramley' Holly Hepburn'Full of sun, humour and heart, it is Bramley's best book yet' Katie Marsh'A gloriously pitched mix of single parenting, unexpected love affairs, a possible drinking problem and beachside yoga work together to create a summer read that is all about escapism with a capital E!' Stylist'Joyfully humorous, wise and heartfelt' Heat BOOK OF THE WEEK 'A slice of pure escapism' Pick Me Up! 'A warm read about friendship' Fabulous Magazine'A wonderfully told story of complicated relationships, Cathy Bramley's heart-warming and uplifting novel is rich, funny warm and wise' Sunday Express'This joyful novel explores grief, family dynamics and friendship' The Sun

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Three women. One family curse. The summer of a lifetime. For generations, no second-born daughter in the Fontana family has married. Lucy desperately wants to find love, but for her cousin Emilia, their family curse is a blessing in disguise. But then their Great Aunt Poppy declares she’ll reunite with her long-lost love on her eightieth birthday – and break the curse once and for all. And so the three women embark on a journey to Tuscany to fulfil Poppy’s last wish. But the secrets they uncover there could change their family forever… *Published in the US as The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany* A gorgeous story about love, family, and finding yourself in the unlikeliest of places, for fans of The Spanish Promise by Karen Swan and The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy.

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