Contemporary fiction titles are those which focus on the present or near past. Stories rooted in the current cultural, social, and political landscape which feature characters we can all recognise.
Contemporary Fiction Books
Little, Brown Book Group Blithe Images
Book SynopsisBeautiful, independent-minded Hillary Baxter was only twenty-one when she swapped the fields of rural Kansas for the bright lights of New York City. Three years later she is a successful model and proud to have made it on her own terms. Now a chance encounter with Bret Bardoff, the charismatic owner of Mode magazine, might just send her career into the stratosphere. But at what cost?Bret is famed for being strong-willed, demanding . . . and brilliant. As Hillary spends more time with him she begins to discover another, softer side to his character. Hillary knows she should keep her distance - with the frosty Charlene Mason on his arm, Bret is very much spoken for. But it''s much easier to strike a pose than it is to control your heart . . .
£8.99
Bonnier Books Ltd Our Fair Lily
Book SynopsisTHE NEW SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Marrying for love was all well and good, but it wasn't always enoughNuneaton, 1875.Lily Moon, the local miner's daughter, spends her days as a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor, and lives a happy life. But one day, everything changes when she becomes lady's maid to the Bellingham's daughter, Arabella, who is pregnant with an illegitimate child.When Arabella suddenly disappears and Lily is left holding the baby, it is only Louis Bellingham, the handsome son and heir of the estate, who shows any interest in the child. Soon a friendship forms between him and Lily, or perhaps more than a friendship if village gossips are to be believed.Could Lily dare to believe that she might be more than just a parlour maid?
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The House on Rye Lane
Book SynopsisBeautifully written and entirely gripping' CHRIS WHITAKERAn evocative, haunting literary thriller' ERIN KELLY''A terrific spine chiller' TELEGRAPH''A sinister tale, beautifully told'' THE SUNThey thought they'd found their dream home. They were wrong.Maxine has bought a huge Georgian townhouse on the edge of Peckham Rye but already the doubts are creeping in.Why are the neighbours so evasive about the previous owner's death?Is her partner Seb all he seems to be?And are there more secrets hiding in this house's dark corners?The House on Rye Lane is a tense, taut, utterly unnerving novel about the many ways the crimes of the past can haunt the present.
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Toward Eternity UK
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Quercus Publishing How To Seal Your Own Fate
Book SynopsisThe much-anticipated sequel to How To Solve Your Own Murder. A page-turning mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters, perfect for fans of Knives Out and Only Murders in the Building.
£15.29
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Big Empty
Book SynopsisPrivate investigator Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner Joe Pike face a cryptic case and a terrifyingly unpredictable killer in this twisty, edge-of-your-seat thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Crais. Traci Beller was only thirteen when her father disappeared in the sleepy town of Rancha, not far from Los Angeles. The evidence says Tommy Beller abandoned his family, but Traci never believed it. Now a super-popular influencer with millions of followers, she finally has the money to hire a new detective to uncover the truth. And that detective is Elvis Cole. Taking on a ten-years-cold missing person case is almost always a losing game, though Elvis quickly picks up a lead in Rancha when he learns that an ex-con named Sadie Givens and her daughter Anya might have a line on the missing man. But when he finds himself shadowed by a deadly gang of vicious criminals, the case flips on its head. Victims becom
£17.09
Faber & Faber The Boyhood of Cain
Book Synopsis''Terrific.'' Guardian ''A powerful, searing tale.'' André Aciman''I read this book with my heart in my mouth and could not put it down.'' Mary Costello''Amherst has created a young protagonist of extraordinary depth and complexity.'' Nathan Filer''A beautiful coming-of-age story.'' Michael MageeA poignant debut novel about a boy on the precipice of adulthood, struggling to understand how he might give and deserve love.Danny''s family live in a large house close to the school where his father is headmaster. At school, his father''s importance gives Danny certain privileges, but it also sets him apart from his classmates. When a new boy Philip, for whom everything seems easy, arrives, he surprises Danny by wanting to be friends. So when he and Philip are invited to work after school with inspiring, artistic teacher Mr. Miller, Danny believes he has found somewhere he can shine.Until Danny''s world tilts: his father loses his job, and their house. And then Danny finds himself shut out from Mr. Miller and Philip''s world too. Desperate to make amends, he keeps trying to find a way back in, but will Danny''s efforts send things spinning beyond everyone''s control?Readers love The Boyhood of Cain ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Beautifully written study of childhood innocence into adolescence Short but perfectly formed.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Emotional and very atmospheric.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐So evocative.''⭐⭐⭐⭐The book captures the delicate, almost ethereal atmosphere of English summers and schoolyard anxieties.'⭐⭐⭐⭐The insight into the mind of the boy is exceptional and the result is very moving.'
£15.29
Granta Books Visitation
Book SynopsisFrom the author of Kairos, winner of the International Booker Prize: an exquisitely crafted, haunting story of a house and its inhabitants, and a country and its ghosts.
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Boxcar Librarian
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Kodansha Comics Wandance 12
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Dialogue The Mothers the New York Times bestseller
Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half.The Mothers is a dazzling debut about young love, a big secret in a small community and the moments that haunt us most.All good secrets have a taste before you tell them, and if we''d taken a moment to swish this one around our mouths, we might have noticed the sourness of an unripe secret, plucked too soon, stolen and passed around before its season. It''s the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother''s recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor''s son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it''s not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance - and the subsequent cover-up - will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. As Nadia hides her secret from eTrade ReviewThe Mothers is a beautifully written, sad and lingering book - an impressive debut for such a young writer * Guardian *Bennett allows her characters to follow their worst impulses, and she handles provocative issues with intelligence, empathy and dark humour. Her risk-taking pays off * New York Times *Brit Bennett is rightfully being hailed a brilliant new voice writing about black women . . . This is a novel with heart - it made me feel; it made me think. And I can't wait to read more of her * The Pool *Brit Bennett's debut is often funny, generous, and brightly written * GQ *[A]n engaging and assured debut novel of depth, and introspective power. It succeeds as a brilliant study of a modern black woman, and as a lyrical and majestic portrait of her place in society -- Chigozie Obioma, author of The FishermenBrit Bennett is so bracingly talented on the page. . .[The Mothers is] astute and absorbing and urgent * Jezebel *A quite beautiful book: shimmering with intelligence; fully alive to both the joyful and the difficult part of love; illuminating on motherhood * Times Literary Supplement *Tenderly written * Elle *Compelling * New Yorker *Bennett has written that rare combination: a book that feels alive on the page and rich for later consideration. If you read The Mothers, you will learn a lot * Washington Post *Bittersweet, sexy, morally fraught * New York Times Book Review *Luminous... engrossing and poignant, this is one not to miss * People *A refreshingly fast-paced story of young love, race, and religious hypocrisy * Vanity Fair *Wonderful - warm and tender and necessary -- Yaa Gyasi, author of Homegoing
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co Hi Five
Book SynopsisYOU'VE NEVER MET A DETECTIVE LIKE IQ... Hi Five is the next instalment in the adventures of LA's coolest new detective, IQ.Trade ReviewSavor the freshness, vividness and ingenuity of the author's prose... Hit men, henchmen, bagmen - they all wander in and out of a highly diverting book that crackles with life and vividness. * New York Times *Engrossing... The author is skilled at developing the humanity of every character, regardless of their perspective. It's a hallmark of Ide's evolving style that allows Hi Five to stand on its own for first-time readers, even as the series deepens longtime fans' engagement... High Five succeeds on so many fronts as it sets IQ and the series' characters on an uncertain path down darker roads. * Los Angeles Times *Stellar... Readers will root for Ide's distinctive lead every step of the way. This innovative series continues to show promise for a long, high-quality run. * Publishers Weekly (starred) *Usually, Ide walks the thin line between light and dark, playing off moments of caper-novel hilarity against outbursts of violence and the angst of misfired relationships, but this time angst wins by TKO. No matter. Ide goes dark with the skill of a noir master, leaving Isaiah in a very bad place and the reader gasping for breath. A stunning change of pace from one of crime fiction's new stars. * Booklist (starred) *PRAISE FOR JOE IDE AND THE IQ SERIES 'Joe Ide is the best new discovery I've come across in a long time. And Isaiah Quintabe is the kind of sleuth not seen on the mystery landscape before' Michael Connelly 'Succeeds in being both highly original and continuing the spirit of Conan Doyle' Guardian on IQ'Full of humour, originality and high-quality writing' The Times (Crime Book of the Month) on IQ'One of the most remarkable debuts I've read' Daily Mail on IQ 'A madly lovable new detective series' New York Times on IQ 'Witty and confident, with a bustling plot, this is a worthy follow-up to Ide's excellent debut' Guardian on Righteous'He is the first new crime writer I have read in ages who truly feels like an heir to Elmore Leonard' Daily Telegraph on Righteous 'Joe Ide is the best thing to happen to mystery writing in a very long time' Janet Maslin, New York Times on Righteous 'Joe Ide is one of the hottest mystery novelists at work' Washington Post on Wrecked 'An electrifying combination of Holmesian mystery and SoCal grit' Time on Wrecked 'Blazing... Ide is still the hottest of recently-emerged crime writers' Janet Maslin, New York Times on Wrecked
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd Freakslaw
Book SynopsisDiscover the dazzling new queer literary horror novel about chosen family and the risks it takes to become the person you want to be. The glittery punk offspring of Katherine Dunn's Geek Love and Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus.' Chelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain HungerA travelling funfair of seductive troublemakers arrive in a repressed Scottish town. What could possibly go wrong?It's the summer of '97 and the Scottish town of Pitlaw is itching for change. Enter the Freakslaw a travelling funfair populated by deviant queers, a contortionist witch, the most powerful fortune teller, and other architects of mayhem. It doesn't take long for the Freakslaw folk to infiltrate Pitlaw's grey world, where the town's teenagers none more so than Ruth and Derek are seduced by neon charms and the possibility of escape. But beneath it all, these newcomers are harbouring a darker desire: revenge. And as tensions reach fever pitch between the stoic locals and the dazzling intruders, a violence that's been simmering for centuries is about to be unleashedPraise for Freakslaw:'A transgressive, inventive dark fantasy' Guardian'Crackling with desire, hedonism, angst, violence and sex' Heat'As frightening as it is seductive' Herald'I'd kill to run away with this circus' Michelle Tea, author of Modern TarotA queer punk masterpiece' Leon Craig, author of Parallel Hells'A strong spiritual successor to Katherine Dunn's Geek Love' Heather Parry, author of Orpheus Builds a Girl
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC A Thousand Splendid Suns
Book SynopsisDyslexia-Friendly Edition of the riveting and powerful story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship and an indestructible love
£16.88
Transworld Publishers Ltd Christmas Shopaholic
Book SynopsisCelebrate Christmas with the ultimate Shopaholic! A Sunday Times bestseller.The brilliant laugh-out-loud festive novel from the Number One bestselling author.Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It's always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.And now it's even easier with online bargain-shopping sites – if you spend enough you even get free delivery. Sorted!But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky's parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she'll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong? With sister Jess demanding a vegan turkey, husband Luke determined that he just wants aftershave again, and little Minnie insisting on a very specific picnic hamper – surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear . . .Will chaos ensue, or will Becky manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas?***** EVERYBODY LOVES CHRISTMAS SHOPAHOLIC: *****'Becky and Christmas is just the perfect combination, and this book is funnier and more loveable than ever' Jenny Colgan'A perfect Christmas read, laced with humor, with plenty to empathise with. A joyful, funny novel' Catherine Alliott'As sparkly as a Christmas tree and full of festive joy, this one's a total cracker' Lucy Diamond'A brilliant, laugh-out-loud read' Woman's WeeklyTrade ReviewAs sparkly as a Christmas tree and full of festive joy, this one's a total cracker. * Lucy Diamond *A brilliant, laugh-out-loud read * Woman’s Weekly *Becky Brandon, everyone’s favourite shopaholic, is back with a festive bang. Hilarious. * Daily Mail *A brilliant, laugh-out-loud read and another fantastically entertaining book in the acclaimed Shopaholic series. * Woman *Becky and Christmas is just the perfect combination, and this book is funnier and more loveable than ever. * Jenny Colgan *
£8.54
Bonnier Books Ltd The Strange Case of Jane O.
Book SynopsisIF THE ONE THING YOU CAN TRUST IS YOUR MEMORYWHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FORGET?A young woman, Jane O., arrives in a psychiatrist's office. She's been suffering a series of worrying episodes: amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations and an inexplicable sense of dread. But as the psychiatrist struggles to solve the mystery of what is happening in Jane's mind, she suddenly goes missing. When she is found a day later, unconscious in a park, she has no memory of what has happened to her. Are Jane's strange experiences related to the overwhelm of single motherhood, or long-buried trauma from her past? Why is she having visions of a young man who died twenty years ago, who warns her of disaster ahead? Jane's symptoms will lead her psychiatrist to question everything he once thought he knew . . . Profound and beautifully written, THE STRANGE CASE OF JANE O. is a speculative mystery about memory, identity and fate, a mesmerising story about the bonds of love between a mother and child, a man and a woman, and the haunting, unexplained mysteries of the human mind. Praise for The Strange Case of Jane O. and Karen Thompson Walker:'Brilliant and unforgettable . . . at once a metaphysical thriller, a psychological mystery, and a profound love story' Karen Russell, Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Swamplandia!'Asks thrilling and vital questions about perception, memory, consciousness, and the limits of our known world . . . The Strange Case of Jane O. is both mind-bending and soul-altering' Jessamine Chan, New York Times Bestselling author of The School for Good Mothers'An astonishing novel-a mind-blowing blend of page-turning mystery and deep philosophical inquiry into the nature of memory and reality itself. Karen Thompson Walker has created an unputdownable book with a haunting twist ending I'll be thinking about for a long time'Angie Kim'Mesmerizing. This one is tough to shake' Publishers Weekly starred review'Harrowing, riveting, profoundly moving and beautifully written . . . this book is stunning' Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven'A captivating, deeply psychological novel . . . I couldn't put it down'Lisa Ballantyne, author of The Guilty One'Beautiful and devastating' Red'A mesmerising read' Psychologies'Thought-provoking and profound' Cosmopolitan'Lyrical and beguiling' Observer'This is a profound novel, and a deeply moving one' Robin Black'Powerful and moving . . . written with symphonic sweep' New York Times 'Imaginative, disturbing and ultimately spellbinding'Vogue
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers The Pyrates
Book SynopsisRepackaged to tie-in with hardback publication of The Reavers' and to appeal to a new generation of George MacDonald Fraser fans, The Pyrates' is a swashbuckling romp of a novel.The Pyrates is all the swashbucklers that ever were, rolled into one great Technicoloured pantomime tall ships and desert islands, impossibly gallant adventurers and glamorous heroines, buried treasure and Black Spots, devilish Dons and ghastly dungeons, plots, duels, escapes, savage rituals, tender romance and steaming passion, all to the accompaniment of ringing steel, thunderous broadsides, sweeping film music, and the sound of cursing extras falling in the water and exchanging period dialogue. Even Hollywood buccaneers were never like this.Trade ReviewPraise for ‘The Pyrates’ ‘Its all there right down to a Dead Man’s Chest, cleavages that are everything they should be and characters in sea bootswho say nothing but “Arr!” and “Me Hearty!” in a plot that is wonderfully absurd.Financial Times ‘Fabulous…you’ll want to stay up all night reading this one.’Washington Post ‘The most wonderfully idiotic lovesong to swashbucklers ever set to Korngold trumpets. Fraser again proves himself the master.’New York Times Praise for ‘Black Ajax’: ‘Mr Fraser is a great historical novelist and in Black Ajax he is at the very top of his form. Damme if he ain’t.’Christopher Matthew, Daily Mail ‘This is not a flashy novel, wearing its learning noisily. It’s rigorous, intelligent, meticulously horrifying. Wonderfully well done.’Nicci Gerrard, Observer
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Nothing Lasts Forever
Book SynopsisA page-turning novel of desire and broken dreams from the internationally bestselling author of The Other Side of Midnight and If Tomorrow Comes.Three young doctors-their hopes, their dreams, their unexpected desires Dr.Paige Taylor: She swore it was euthanasia, but when Paige inherited a million dollars from a patient, the D.A. called it murder. Dr. Kat Hunter:She vowed never to let another man too close again-until she accepted the challenge of a deadly bet. Dr. Honey Taft:To make it in medicine, she knew she''d need something more than the brains God gave her. Racing from the life-and-death decisions of a big major hospital to the tension-packed fireworks of a murder trial, Nothing Lasts Forever lays bare the ambitions and fears of healers and killers, lovers and betrayers. And proves once again that no reader can outguess Sidney Sheldon, the master of the unexpected.Trade Review‘The fast-moving plot…with new surprises on every page…will keep his fans enthralled.’ Publishers’ Weekly ‘A master storyteller at the top of his game.’ USA Today ‘Compulsively readable.’ New York Times Book Review
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Bronze Horseman
Book SynopsisA magnificent epic of love, war and Russia from the international bestselling author of TULLY and ROAD TO PARADISELeningrad 1941: the white nights of summer illuminate a city of fallen grandeur whose palaces and avenues speak of a different age, when Leningrad was known as St Petersburg.Two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, share the same bed, living in one room with their brother and parents.The routine of their hard impoverished life is shattered on 22 June 1941 when Hitler invades Russia. For the Metanov family, for Leningrad and particularly for Tatiana, life will never be the same again. On that fateful day, Tatiana meets a brash young man named Alexander.The family suffers as Hitler's army advances on Leningrad, and the Russian winter closes in. With bombs falling and the city under siege, Tatiana and Alexander are drawn inexorably to each other, but theirs is a love that could tear Tatiana's family apart, and at its heart lies a secret that could mean death to anyone who hears it.ConfTrade ReviewPraise for Paullina Simons Tully‘Pick up this book and prepare to have your emotions wrung so completely you’ll be sobbing your heart out one minute and laughing through your tears the next… Read it and weep – literally’ Company Tatiana and Alexander'This has everything a romance glutton could wish for: a bold, talented and dashing hero, a heart-stopping love affair … It also has – thank goodness – a welcome sense of humour and discernible characters rather than ciphers.'Victoria Moore, Daily Mail The Bronze Horseman‘Pulling off the passionate love story embedded in a truly epic narrative is a difficult thing to do. Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind remains the blueprint for the genre, while Tolstoy's War and Peace carries off the literary honours … it's quickly apparent that the Russian-born author Paullina Simons has the measure of this kind of epic romantic saga … She is able to make some powerful statements about the durability of the human spirit, but never at the expense of descriptive passages refulgent with power and beauty’ Barry Forshaw, amazon
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers The Search for the Dice Man
Book SynopsisThe sequel to the cult classic The Dice Man, this book can also change your life!Larry Rhinehart is the son of an infamous father the renegade psychiatrist Luke Rhinehart, otherwise known as the Dice Man.Luke became a cult figure in the seventies, inspiring thousands to follow him into the anarchic world of Dice Living, where every decision is made not by the self, but by the roll of the dice.Larry, however, is emphatically not a follower. He has grown up to have a great respect for order and control. A wealthy Wall Street analyst, all set to marry the boss's daughter, Larry has got life where he wants it. Until rumours begin to circulate about the reappearance of his long-vanished father and Larry's carefully organized world begins to look a lot less certain.By turns funny, moving and wildly erotic, The Search for the Dice Man is a journey of the body and spirit never to be forgotten.
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Alice Hartleys Happiness
Book SynopsisSocial mores come under bestselling author Philippa Gregory's acute scrutiny in this reissue of a long-unavailable novel of betrayal, revenge and liberationTrade ReviewPraise for Philippa Gregory: ‘Philippa Gregory… is a mesmerizing storyteller.’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ‘Fascinating… engrossing… mesmerising… riveting… compelling… a pacey narrative that is just begging to be read in one sitting.’ SUNDAY EXPRESS ‘A rich brew of passion and intrigue.’ DAILY MAIL
£8.99
HarperCollins Publishers Innocence Assorted Covers
Book SynopsisA new edition of the Booker Prize winner Penelope Fitzgerald's best-loved novel of romance in post-war Italy, with a new introduction by Julian Barnes.The Ridolfis are a Florentine family of long lineage and little money. It is 1955, and the family, like its decrepit villa and farm, has seen better days. Only eighteen-year-old Chiara shows anything like vitality.Chiara has set her heart on Salvatore, a young and brilliant doctor who resolved long ago to be emotionally dependent on no one. Faced with this, she calls on her English girlfriend Barney to help her make the impossible matchTrade Review‘Reading a Penelope Fitzgerald novel is like being taken for a ride in a peculiar kind of car. Everything is of top quality – the engine, the coachwork and the interior all fill you with confidence. Then, after a mile or so, someone throws the steering-wheel out of the window.’ Sebastian Faulks ‘Wise and ironic, funny and humane, Fitzgerald is a wonderful, wonderful writer.’ David Nicholls ‘Penelope Fitzgerald’s Innocence seems to me to be about real people undergoing real experiences, more real and more interesting than most biographies, and it carries absolute conviction as to time and place. What more could one ask of a novel?’ Spectator Books of the Year ‘Innocence weilds a curious fascination, replete with the sense of sleepy, slightly anxious fatalism that pervades much of the Italian cinema of the period. Its magic, and its message, are as oblique and inconclusive as the lives of its characters, but both have a lingering power, refreshingly fictive, deliciously un-English.’ Literary Review ‘I know of no one who expresses so deftly and entertainingly the way in which life seldom turns out as expected. A wonderful book.’ Spectator ‘This is by far the fullest and richest of Penelope Fitzgerald’s novels, and also the most ambitious. Her writing, as ever, has a natural authority, is very funny, warm and gently ironic, and full of tenderness towards human beings and their bravery in living.’ TLS
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers In the Lake of the Woods
Book SynopsisA remarkable novel from the National Book Award-winning author of Going After Cacciato' and The Things They Carried', which combines the power of the finest Vietnam fiction with the tension of a many-layered mystery.In a remote lakeside cabin deep in the Minnesota forests, Kathy Wade is comforting her husband John, an ambitious politician, after a devastating electoral defeat.Then one night she vanishes, and gradually the search for Kathy becomes a voyage into the darkest corners of John Wade's life, a life of deception and deceit the life of a man able to escape everything but the chains of his darkest secret.Trade Review‘Masterfully oblique, inventive and deeply unsettling…a riveting exploration of a tormented and wounded psyche’ Sunday Times ‘Calling Tim O’Brien a Vietnam War novelist is a bit like saying Joseph Conrad was a Polish guy who wrote some good sea tales’ Esquire ‘Striking, telling, deeply unsettling. A novel about the moral effects of suppressing a true war story, about the unforgiveable uses of history, about what happens when you try to pretend that history no longer exists’ New York Times Book Review
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Love Medicine
Book SynopsisBeautiful reissue of Louise Erdrich's most famous novel, from one of the most celebrated American writers of her generation and winner of the National Book Award 2012.Set on and around a North Dakota reservation, Love Medicine' tells the story of the Lamartines and the Kashpaws two extraordinary families whose fates are united and sustained in a harsh world by the strength and diversity of their love.We meet the sensual Lulu Lamartine, whose children have different fathers, but whose passionate tie to her first love, Nector Kashpaw, intensifies over the years; June Kashpaw, who froze to death in a snowstorm; and the philosophical Lipsha Morrissey, June''s abandoned son, who makes a love medicine to keep his grandparents together.Greeted with great critical acclaim when first published in 1984, ''Love Medicine'' won the US National Book Critics'' Circle Award. Louise Erdrich has now substantially revised and expanded the novel for this edition, to complement its companion novels, ''The Beet Queen, Tracks'' and ''The Bingo Palace''.Trade Review‘A masterpiece, written with spellbinding authenticity and animated by a spirited comic energy.’ Philip Roth 'The beauty of ‘Love Medicine’ saves us from being completely devastated by its power.' Toni Morrison 'A powerful piece of work … Louise Erdrich is the rarest kind of writer, as compassionate as she is sharp-sighted.' Anne Tyler 'The impression is of a river of memory bursting its banks and overflowing upon the page in an irresistible flood.' Angela Carter 'Erdrich presents a variety of voices: each forceful in its own way, each adding a different dimension – cruel, sombre, humorous – to what is cumulously a wondrous prose song … ‘Love Medicine’ is finally about the enduring verities of loving and surviving, and these truths are revealed in a narrative that is an invigorating mixture of the cosmic and the tragic.' New York Times
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Tracks
Book SynopsisA New York Times Bestseller, Tracks' is a masterpiece from Louise Erdrich, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction 2012 a story for our times, narrated by a uniquely twentieth century figure.By turns reticent, garrulous, spiritual and profane, Nanapush, like the Native American culture he belongs to, is a living contradiction alien, beguiling, strong and dyingSet in North Dakota, at a time in the early twentieth century when Indian tribes were struggling to keep what little remained of their lands, Tracks' is a tale of passion and deep unrest. Over the course of ten crucial years, as tribal land and trust between people erode ceaselessly, men and women are pushed to the brink of their endurance yet their pride and humour prohibit surrender.The reader will experience shock and pleasure in encountering a group of characters that are compelling and rich in their vigour, clarity, and indomitable vitality.Trade Review‘What gives this novel its resonance is Erdrich’s extraordinary ability to create not an approximation of the past but something that seems like a living, breathing evocation of it. It is a book of powerful, poetic images, in which myth and reality elide…the novel leaves behind an indelible impression.’ Guardian ‘Erdrich may soon come to be recognised as a writer possessed of greatness…Nanapush is a creation of the highest imaginative calibre.’ The Times Literary Supplement ‘There is no one else writing the kind of novel that Louise Erdrich does. She depicts the rural poor, and the heritage and present of the dwindling American Indians with an audacity and passion that continually surprise.’ New Statesman ‘The author captures the passions, fears, myths and doom of a living people, and she does so with an ease that leaves the reader breathless.’ New Yorker
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Bingo Palace
Book SynopsisA reissue of a much-loved classic, from one of America's most celebrated novelists, winner of the prestigious National Book Award for Fiction in 2012.Seeking direction and enlightenment, Lipsha Morrissey, a charismatic young drifter, answers his grandmother's summons to return to his birthplace. As he tries to settle into a challenging new job on the reservation, he falls passionately in love for the first time. But the object of his desire, the beautiful Shawnee Ray, is in the midst of deciding whether to marry his boss, the wealthy reservation entrepreneur, Lyman Lamartine.Matters are further complicated when Lipsha discovers that Lyman is his rival in more ways than one. In league with an influential group of aggressive businessmen, Lyman has chosen to open a gambling complex on reservation land a development which threatens to destroy the community's fundamental links with the pastTrade Review‘Louise Erdrich is the most interesting American novelist to have appeared in years.' Philip Roth ‘Erdrich’s prose has a compelling pulse to it. It is fluent and seductive, with the vigour and erotic potency of good rock music.’ Sunday Times 'Beautiful … ‘The Bingo Palace’ shows us a place where love, fate and chance are woven together like a braid.' New York Times ‘In its empathy, its poetry and its sheer narrative power, 'The Bingo Palace' confirms Erdrich as one of the greatest composers writing today.’ Independent on Sunday 'The power of Louise Erdrich's writing lies in the clear access she has to her characters' thoughts and feelings, and her ability to translate those feelings into words that are both poetic and unforced. ‘The Bingo Palace’ is a beautiful novel, mysterious and revelatory, from a powerful American voice.' Erica Wagner, The Times
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Millennium People
Book SynopsisViolent rebellion comes to London's middle classes.Like every obedient professional, I arrived punctually for my appointment with a revolution.When a bomb explosion at Heathrow airport kills psychologist David Markham's ex-wife, he sets out on a journey to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. As he infiltrates a shadowy group of middle-class revolutionaries based in the comfortable Chelsea Marina, Markham soon finds himself swept up in a bourgeois insurrection that is sending the capital into panic.Trade Review‘Unsettling and subversive … terrifically good’ Sunday Times 'Terrifying and strangely haunting … A riveting work from a writer of rare imaginative largesse, a bearer of bad tidings, unforgettably told' Daily Telegraph 'Wonderfully warped, blackly comic … written with Ballard's customary panache, its potent mix of sex, violence and radicalism will keep his fans happy’ Economist ‘Ballard’s instinct for the future is unnerving … Very few writers possess this kind of intelligence: to use it with such wit is almost criminal’ Independent on Sunday ‘The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?’ Len Deighton
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers THE DEVIL AND MISS PRYM x
Book SynopsisIn this stunning novel, Coelho's unusual protagonist sets the town a moral challenge from which they may never recover.A stranger arrives in the small mountain village. He carries with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars.Burying these in the vicinity, the stranger strikes up a curious friendship with a young woman from the village Miss Prym. His mission is to discover whether human beings are essentially good or evil.A fascinating meditation on the human soul, The Devil and Miss Prym illuminates the reality of good and evil within us all, and our uniquely human capacity to choose between them.Trade Review“His Books have had a life-enhancing impact on millions of people” THE TIMES
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Tatiana and Alexander
Book SynopsisA powerful story of grief and hope, a passionate and epic love story from the Russian-born author of the internationally bestselling novels TULLY and ROAD TO PARADISE.The world at war two people in love.Tatiana is eighteen years old and pregnant when she miraculously escapes war-torn Leningrad to the West, believing herself to be a widow. Her husband, Major Alexander Belov, a decorated hero of the Soviet Union, has been arrested by Stalin''s infamous secret police and is awaiting imminent death as a traitor and a spy.Tatiana begins her new life in America. In wartime New York City she finds work, friends and a life beyond her dreams. However, her grief is inescapable and she keeps hearing Alexander calling out to her.Meanwhile, Alexander faces the greatest danger he''s ever known. An American trapped in Russia since adolescence, he has been serving in the Red Army and posing as a Soviet citizen to protect himself. For him, Russia''s war is not over, and both victory and defeat will meTrade ReviewPraise for Tatiana and Alexander'This has everything a romance glutton could wish for: a bold, talented and dashing hero, a heart-stopping love affair that nourishes its two protagonists even when they are separated and lost, a long and bitter military campaign, plus personal excavations into the past. It also has – thank goodness – a welcome sense of humour and discernable characters rather than ciphers.' Victoria Moore, Daily Mail The Bronze Horseman‘Pulling off the passionate love story embedded in a truly epic narrative is a difficult thing to do. Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind remains the blueprint for the genre, while Tolstoy's War and Peace carries off the literary honours … it's quickly apparent that the Russian-born author Paullina Simons has the measure of this kind of epic romantic saga. The power of her descriptive writing, the vividness of the historical detail and, most of all, the strength of her central characters mark out her novel as a considerable achievement … she is able to make some powerful statements about the durability of the human spirit, but never at the expense of descriptive passages refulgent with power and beauty’ Barry Forshaw, amazon
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Blood on the Tongue
Book SynopsisGuilt, sacrifice and redemption in a freezing Derbyshire winter in this tense psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of Black Dog'.''The sun had dropped over the edge of Irontongue Hill so that the snow-covered moor was in shadow but Marie Tennent would never see the dawn.''Marie''s was not the only body lying undiscovered under the Peak District snow that January morning nor the first. In 1945, the wreckage of a bomber was found on the Hill, full of dead crewmen. The missing pilot was declared responsible, but why would a decorated hero desert? The only other survivor refuses to talk. A young Canadian woman has arrived to uncover the truth the pilot was her grandfather. DC Ben Cooper is intrigued. Perhaps he can help?To his boss DS Fry, investigating two frozen bodies found on the moors, her colleague''s interest is entirely unprofessional. But the past has a way of influencing the present and before either knows it, a long-cold trail in the dead of winter has grown dangeTrade ReviewPraise for Stephen Booth: ‘Stephen Booth creates a fine sense of place and atmosphere … the unguessable solution to the crime comes as a real surprise’ Sunday Telegraph ‘The complex relationship between [Cooper and Fry] is excellently drawn, and is combined with an intriguing plot and a real sense of place: Stephen Booth is an author to keep an eye on’ Evening Standard ‘Stephen Booth makes high summer in Derbyshire as dark and terrifying as midwinter’ Val McDermid 'A leading light of British crime writing' Guardian ‘ 'Best traditional crime novel of the year'Independent, Books of the Year
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers The Antelope Wife
Book SynopsisPast and present combine in a contemporary tale of love and betrayal from Louise Erdrich, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction, 2012''Everything is all knotted up in a tangle. Pull one string of this family and the whole web will tremble.''Rozin and Richard, living in Minneapolis with their two young daughters, seem a long way from the traditions of their Native American ancestors. But when one of their acquaintances kidnaps a strange and silent young woman from a Native American camp and brings her back to live with him as his wife, the connections they all hold to the past rear up to confront them. Soon the patterns of their ancestors begin to repeat themselves with truly tragic consequences.No one is better placed than Louise Erdrich to chronicle the Native American experience. Shrouded in myth and steeped in imagery, this is also a tale of heartbreaking realism which manages to retain a warm and irrepressible humour and belief in the resilience of the human spirit.Trade Review‘A fiercely imagined tale of love and loss, a story that manages to transform tragedy into comic redemption, sorrow into heroic survival.’ New York Times ‘This is realism at its most magical, in a novel as satisfying as any Erdrich has written.’ Kirkus ‘Richly cadenced, deeply textured, Erdrich’s writing has the lustre and sheen of poetry.’ Los Angeles Times ‘[An] extraordinary new offering of history, lore, obsession, loss, and love. Beautifully, extravagantly, in narrative fragments that mix metaphor and story, Erdrich creates a seemingly haphazard, totally absorbing series of oblique snapshots of these characters.’ San Francisco Chronicle
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Great Eastern Hotel
Book SynopsisA rich, teeming, involving epic of war, famine, love and culture-clash in imperial Calcutta during World War Two - Joshi is 'The brand new experience after Rushdie: a megashow, Russian in size, Indian in soul' (India Today)
£17.09
HarperCollins Publishers Bread and Chocolate
Book SynopsisA collection of short stories from one of our most popular novelists the perfect gift.A rich and wonderful selection of short stories. A TV chef who specialises in outrageous cakes tempts a monk who bakes bread for his brothers; a surprise visitor invites mayhem into the perfect minimalist flat in the season of good will; a woman explains her unique view of straying husbands; straying husbands encounter a variety of effective responses. Just some of the delicacies on offer in this sumptuous box of delightsTrade Review‘To those that have feasted on Joanne Harris’s delightful novel Chocolat, the title of this collection of short stories should give ample hint as to their themes…All of these modern morality tales are well observed and tastily enjoyable’ The Times ‘This stunning collection of short stories (is) about modern relationships – and modern women. Every twist and turn, nuance and delicacy of the mating game is portrayed…Throughout, Gregory’s grasp of the female psyche never errs…It is a significant accomplishment’ Daily Mail
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Little Constructions
Book SynopsisThe second novel from Anna Burns, critically acclaimed author of the Man Booker winning novel, Milkman'Brilliant I can't remember the last time I read prose so profound and so punchy' Daily TelegraphAn irate woman bursts into the best gun shop in the town of Tiptoe Floorboard, helps herself to a Kalashnikov rifle and sets off in a taxi on her mission of retribution. So begins this kaleidoscopic, surreal and enigmatic tale of dark deeds in a small town.At the centre of Anna Burns's startling new novel lies the Doe clan, a closely knit family of criminals and victims whose internal conflicts and convoluted relationships propel this simultaneously funny and terrifying story. Bound together by love and loyalty, fear and secrets, the Does and other inhabitants of Tiptoe Floorboard make up an unforgettable cast of characters. In a voice that is by turns chilling and wickedly funny, the narrator documents their struggle to make and maintain connections with each other, and weaving back and Trade Review‘The writing is energetic, convoluted and courageous. It has a gutsy nervousness that matches the subject matter, as if there is no way to write about violence and violation other than with comedy, digression, wordplay and other peculiarities. She gets across her disgust for senseless, needless violence of the Bush/Blair/Northern Irish or merely familial kind, while being pretty damn funny about it at the same time.’ Guardian 'A brilliant second novel…I can't remember the last time I read prose so profound and so punchy, at once scattergun and forensic. It's like the ink's been made from gunpowder. And every line leaves a darkly sparkling residue that you won't be able to wash off.' Daily Telegraph 'Anna Burns second novel is supremely gritty and clever, and draws the reader relentlessly into the story.' Telegraph ‘An often disturbing story, “Little Constructions” is about the (mis)fortunes of the Does, a marauding clan of criminals and damaged children.’ Vogue 'Another powerful second novel by Belfast-born writer, Anna Burns. Displaying the same dark bite and startling humour as her first, “Little Constructions” explodes into tangents from the opening scene of a woman storming into a small town gunshop and demanding a weapon. ' Irish Mail on Sunday 'This is probably the antithesis of the classic holiday novel which is no bad thing in itself. Bold, funny and unrelenting.' Sunday Business Post 'At the centre of Anna Burns' novel lies the Doe clan, a closely-knit family of criminals and victims whose internal conflicts and convoluted relationships propel this simultaneously funny and terrifying story. When unspeakable realities break through, the tale is chilling – and funny.' Belfast Telegraph
£999.99
HarperCollins Publishers Burning Bright
Book SynopsisA visual delight' The TimesA splendidly vital recreation of Georgian London' Sunday TimesTell me, then: would you say you are innocent or experienced?'1792. Uprooted from their quiet Dorset village to the riotous streets of London, young Jem Kellaway and his family feel very far from home. They struggle to find their place in this tumultuous city, still alive with the repercussions of the blood-splattered French Revolution.Luckily, streetwise Maggie Butterfield is on hand to show Jem the ropes. Together they encounter the neighbour they've been warned about: radical poet and artist William Blake. Jem and Maggie's passage from innocence to experience becomes the very stuff of poetic inspirationTrade Review'A subtle clarity of style, quirky but seldom over-drawn characters, engaging touches of domestic detail and a splendidly vital recreation of Georgian London'Sunday Times 'Vivid, romantic and pacey'Daily Mail 'Those who admired Chevalier's atmospheric evocation of 17th-century Delft will find much to enjoy in her vivid reconstruction of late 18th-century London'Guardian 'Burning Bright is an ambitious, impressively-researched novel…You can almost smell the smoke and mildewed clothes, see the gaunt, pock-marked faces of people struggling to survive and sense Jem's wonder as he gazes across the murky Thames to a perplexing world'Daily Express
£999.99
HarperCollins Publishers SeventyTwo Virgins
Book SynopsisBoris Johnson's first novel, Seventy-Two Virgins is a no-holds-barred political satire, a comic romp peopled with a gallery of grotesques which lampoons both the absurdities and the extremes of modern society.Trade Review'A hectic comedy thriller…a rip-roaring knockabout farce…refreshingly unpompous, faintly dishevelled and often very funny.' Mail on Sunday 'At the centre of his first novel, a light comedy, is a terrorist plot of frightening ingenuity…the comedy is reminiscent of Tom Sharpe.' Sunday Times 'Johnson scores in his comic handling of those most sensitive issues…he succeeds in being charming and sincere…Boris Johnson has written a witty page-turner.' Observer 'Among the hilarious scenes of events and the wonderful dialogue which keeps the story moving at a cracking pace, Johnson uncovers some home truths…I can give no higher praise to this book than to say that I lapped it up at a single uproarious sitting.' Irish Examiner 'As an author, the Shadow Arts Minister is in a class of his own: ebullient, exhausting but irresistible.' Daily Mail 'fluent, funny material…the writing is vintage, Wodehousian Boris…it has been assembled with skill and terrific energy and will lift morale in the soul of many.' Evening Standard 'This is a comic novel, but Johnson is never far away from making serious points, which he leads us towards with admirable stealth.' Daily Telegraph
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Dermaphoria
Book SynopsisClandestine chemistry and the LA underworld provide the atmosphere for this kaleidoscopic tale of lost memories and the heartbreak of finding them, from the author of The Contortionist's Handbook'.When Eric Ashworth wakes in jail, he has no idea how he got there, or why. His only memory is a woman''s name: Desiree.Released on bail and holed up in a low-rent motel, Eric starts to piece together his former life as a chemist at the centre of a desert drug ring with the help of a powerful new hallucinogen which simultaneously loosens his grip on the present. As the events of his past begin to emerge from the confusion of his fragmented memory, Eric must contend with a gnawing paranoia and the need for ever-increasing fixes not to mention disturbing visits from an intimidating police detective, his former associate Manhattan White and the ominously named Toe Tag. As his grip on reality becomes more tenuous, past and present, reality and fantasy begin to bleed into each other, bringing thisTrade Review'What makes this worth reading is Craig Clevenger's extraordinary prose: the pleasure of text is everything.' Guardian ‘What makes the book so unique, so compulsively readable, is Clevenger’s ability to make complex images seem so unforced.’ Independent on Sunday ‘A brilliant satire.’ Sainsbury’s Magazine 'It's dizzying stuff…no wonder Chuck Palahniuk is singing his praises on the back cover.' Metro Praise for ‘The Contortionist’s Handbook’: 'A dazzling and highly original debut novel which instantly establishes its author as one of the most interesting writers to emerge in years. This book deserves to be massive and I think it will be.' Irvine Welsh ‘Craig Clevenger has crafted an unforgettable antihero in John Dolan Vincent. This is an extraordinary debut.’ Richard Kelly, director of ‘Donnie Darko’ ‘What sticks out about this remarkable debut are its pitch-perfect shock ending and John Vincent himself – his complex, conflicting mind, original voice and unnervingly self-defeating existence.’ Time Out
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Forest of the Pygmies
Book SynopsisFrom one of the world's best loved storytellers, the trilogy that began with City of the Beasts comes to a thrilling climax.Alexander Cold knows all too well his grandmother Kate is never far from an adventure. When National Geographic commissions her to write an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa, they head with Nadia Santos and the magazine''s photography crew to the blazing, red plains of Kenya. Days into the tour, a Catholic missionary approaches the camp in search of his companions who have mysteriously disappeared. Kate, Alexander, Nadia, and their team, agreeing to aid the rescue, enlists the help of a local pilot to lead them to the swampy forests of Ngoubé. There they discover a clan of Pygmies who unveil a harsh and surprising world of corruption, slavery, and poaching.Alexander and Nadia, entrusting the magical strengths of Jaguar and Eagle, their totemic animal spirits, launch a spectacular and precarious struggle to restore freedom and return leadershTrade ReviewPraise for City of the Beasts: 'Written with Allende's characteristic verve, City of the Beasts is the kind of accomplishment to show young readers that there's more to life than Harry Potter.' Literary Review 'A vivid fable… Allende's prose soars' Guardian 'Marvellous, marvel-filled… Beautifully written and utterly entrancing' Independent on Sunday Praise for Kingdom of the Golden Dragon: ‘Allende again proves her talent for evoking exotic landscapes, spinning tall stories and weaving seductive magic.’ Sunday Times 'This spellbinding novel, like its predecessor, is storytelling at its best' Mail on Sunday
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Book SynopsisThis cult classic of working class life in post-war Nottingham follows the exploits of rebellious factory worker Arthur Seaton and is introduced by Richard Bradford.Working all day at a lathe leaves Arthur Seaton with energy to spare in the evenings. A hard-drinking, hard-fighting hooligan, he knows what he wants, and he''s sharp enough to get it.Before long, his carryings-on with a couple of married women become the stuff of local gossip. But then one evening he meets a young girl and life begins to look less simpleFirst published in 1958, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' achieved instant critical acclaim and helped to establish Alan Sillitoe as one of the greatest British writers of his generation. The film of the novel, starring Albert Finney, transformed British cinema and was much imitated.Trade Review‘That rarest of all finds: a genuine no-punches-pulled, unromanticised working class novel. Mr Sillitoe is a born writer, who knows his milieu and describes it with vivid, loving precision.’ Daily Telegraph ‘His writing has real experience in it and an instinctive accuracy that never loses its touch. His book has a glow about it as though he had plugged it into some basic source of the working-class spirit.’ Guardian ‘Miles nearer the real thing than D.H.Lawrence's mystic, brooding working-men ever came.’ Sunday Express ‘Outspoken and vivid.’ Sunday Times ‘A refreshing originality.’ Times Literary Supplement
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Whale Road
Book SynopsisThe first in the Oathsworn series, charting the adventures of a band of Vikings on the chase for the secret hoard of Attila the Hun.Life is savage aboard a Viking raider. When young Orm Rurikson is plucked from the snows of Norway to join his estranged father on the Fjord Elk, he becomes an unlikely member of a notorious crew. They are the Oathsworn so named after the spoken bond that ties them in brotherhood and they ply a casual trade on the ocean wave, selling their swords to the highest bidder.But times are changing. Loyalty to the old Norse Gods is fading, and the followers of the mysterious ''White Christ'' are gaining power across Europe. Hired as relic-hunters by the merchant rulers of a bustling city, the Oathsworn are sent in search of a legendary sword of untold value to the new religion. With only a young girl as guide, their quest will lead them onto the deep and treacherous waters of the ''whale road'', toward the cursed treasure of Attila the Hun. And to a challenge that will test the very bond that holds them together.Robert Low, a significant up and coming voice in historical fiction, has created a startlingly modern tale in the style of the great Viking sagas. A heady mix of powerful suspense, blockbuster battles and religious intrigue, THE WHALE ROAD is a must for fans of Bernard Cornwell and Tim Severin. The Oathsworn series is sure to hook old and new readers alike.Trade Review'A company of warriors, desperate battles, an enthralling read' BERNARD CORNWELL 'A fantastic book, one of the best I have read for years. There's a wonderful earthiness to proceedings and he creates a tangible sense of being there. There's a sturdy, lyrical and epic quality about the writing which makes it feel like the kind of saga a Viking would recount in his old age.'SIMON SCARROW ‘A stirring Viking series of blockbuster battles and religious intrigue.’Publishing News ‘All the right ingredients are firmly in place…above all there is the storyline itself; told in an earthy, rough-and-ready stylewhich perfectly compliments this saga for the 21st Century.’Yorkshire Evening Post ‘A fascinating read’ The Glasgow Herald ‘The Hangman humour of the band of sworn brothers gives Low’s epic but brutal tale real humanity and the detail of 10th century life is wonderfully vivd. The action is fast and furious…shockingly believably so. Low’s debut novel hits the mark with maximum impact.’Bridlington Today
£999.99
HarperCollins Publishers East of Acre Lane
Book SynopsisAlex Wheatle writes from a place of honesty and passion' Steve McQueen, director of Small AxeEast of Acre Lane is the fast-paced and razor sharp story of a young man trying to do the right thing from celebrated author Alex Wheatle, one of the figures who inspired Steve McQueen's Small AxeIt is 1981, and Brixton is on the verge of exploding. Biscuit lives with his mother, brother and sister, trapped hustling on the frontline for the South London badman Nunchucks. As the patience of the community breaks and the riots erupt, Biscuit must make a choice that could change his life forever.His prose is as sharp as a barber's cutthroat and the hard edged dialogue perfectly captures that London vibe. Thrilling, very funny, and most of all a page turner' Courttia NewlandTrade Review‘Alex Wheatle's second novel is a rhythmic, fast-talking tour of the tower blocks of South London.The strength of the novel lies in the characters who form Biscuit's posse … writing in a street slang that reads like an urgent urban poetry, Wheatle catches the dialogue of the friends and contrasts it with passages of distilled description. He observes meticulously the subcultures within the black community… It is this blend of frantic action and thoughtful writing that ranks Alex Wheatle alongside Courttia Newland as one of the most exciting writers of the black urban experience.' The Times ‘Dubbed the Brixton Bard by his contemporaries, Alex Wheatle was always ambitious… He is first and foremost a story teller.’ The Voice ‘This is a vibrant book pulsing with the reggae beats of the era. The dialogue… has rhythm and inventiveness. And the violent climax is a cathartic one, the logical and positive first stage of a revolution.’ ***** Independent on Sunday ‘Wheatle's novel is a bright, adventurous tale, jammed to the rafters with a parade of fine hustlers, headcases and herbsmen.’ The Latest ‘In East of Acre Lane Alex Wheatle has managed far more than simply pulling off a fast, punchy morlaity tale centring on a young man's dilemma about going straight or opting for a life of crime… Action packed, funny and filled with cocky banter between its teenage male characters, references to reggae music and street stye, its a cool, credible read… Wheatle has written a hardhitting novel which is an incendiary reminder of one of the most explosive events in London's post war history.’ Big Issue
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Book of Tomorrow
Book SynopsisLose yourself in the magical and mesmerising story from Cecelia Ahern of how tomorrow can change what happens today.Sometimes tomorrow has to start todayTamara Goodwin has always lived in the here and now, never giving a second thought to tomorrow. Until a travelling library arrives in her tiny village, bringing with it a mysterious, large leather-bound book locked with a gold clasp and padlock.What she discovers within the pages takes her breath away and shakes her work to its core.Trade Review‘A sweet, life-affirming tale’ Marie Claire 'Told with a sprinkling of magic, this is an endearing tale of family, friendship and secrets' Woman 'The perfect way to escape the normal grind of your everyday life is between the pages of a Cecilia Ahern novel. [She] whisks us away from the mundane with her witty and charming tales of love, mystery and delight' Glamour
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Lessons in Heartbreak
Book SynopsisUpbeat and bursting with emotion this is another gem from the No. 1 bestselling author, Cathy Kelly.Three Lives. Three Loves. Three Reasons to Let Go.Izzie Silver left the small Irish town of Tamarin behind for New York. Life is good until she breaks her own rules and falls for a married man.On the other side of the ocean, Izzie''s aunt Anneliese discovers the pain of infidelity for herself.Then Lily, the wise and compassionate family matriarch, is taken ill. At her bedside back in Ireland, Izzie discovers a past her grandmother has never spoken of, while Anneliese feels despair mount. The one person she could have turned to is starting to slip away.The lessons each of the women learns both past and present bring joy and heartbreak. And the hardest lesson of all is learning to let go.Trade Review‘Kelly reels you into this addictive tale of three generations of women’ Woman & Home ‘A must for Kelly’s many fans; a warm, moving read’ Daily Mail ‘Bursting with emotion, heartache and dreams … realistic and likeable characters that meet life-changing events head on’ Ireland on Sunday
£999.99
HarperCollins Publishers The Complete Short Stories
Book SynopsisFirst in a two volume collection of short stories by the acclaimed author of Empire of the Sun', Crash' and Super-Cannes'. The new edition is introduced by Adam Thirwell.With eighteen novels over four decades from The Drowned World' in 1962 to his final novel Kingdom Come' in 2006 J.G. Ballard is known as one of Britain's most celebrated and original novelists.However, during his long career he was also a prolific writer of short stories; in fact, many people consider that he is at his best in the short-story format. These highly influential stories have appeared in magazines such as New Worlds, Amazing Stories and Interzone, and in several separate collections, including The Terminal Beach', The Venus Hunters', Vermilion Sands', Low-Flying Aircraft' and Myths of the Near Future'.Set out in the original order of publication and frequently the point of conception for ideas he further developed in his novels, these stories provide an unprecedented opportunity to see the imagination of Trade Review‘More than one thousand compelling pages from one of the most haunting, cogent and individual imaginations in contemporary literature’ William Boyd ‘A marvel … there is something a little shaming in reading Ballard: you have to face the fact that there exist writers with such fresh imaginations they can’t write five pages without stumbling on an alternate world’ Zadie Smith ‘Simply a master story writer – the maker of unforgettable artefacts in words’ Jonathan Lethem ‘Indispensable … probably the most original English writer of the last century’ China Miéville
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers The Complete Short Stories From the author of The
Book SynopsisThe second in a two volume collection of short stories by the acclaimed author of Empire of the Sun', Crash' and Super-Cannes'. The new edition is introduced by Adam Thirwell.With eighteen novels over four decades from The Drowned World' in 1962 to his final novel Kingdom Come' in 2006 J.G. Ballard is known as one of Britain's most celebrated and original novelists.However, during his long career he was also a prolific writer of short stories; in fact, many people consider that he is at his best in the short-story format. These highly influential stories have appeared in magazines such as New Worlds, Amazing Stories and Interzone, and in several separate collections, including The Terminal Beach', The Venus Hunters', Vermilion Sands', Low-Flying Aircraft' and Myths of the Near Future'.Set out in the original order of publication and frequently the point of conception for ideas he further developed in his novels, these stories provide an unprecedented opportunity to see the imaginatioTrade Review‘A marvel … there is something a little shaming in reading Ballard: you have to face the fact that there exist writers with such fresh imaginations they can’t write five pages without stumbling on an alternate world’ Zadie Smith ‘Each of Ballard’s 98 short stories is like a dream more perfectly realized than any of your own … Simply a master story writer – the maker of unforgettable artefacts in words, each as absolute and perplexing as sculptures unviewable from a single perspective’ Jonathan Lethem ‘One of the most haunting, cogent and individual imaginations in contemporary literature’ William Boyd
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Midnight Fugue
Book SynopsisThe highly anticipated return of Dalziel and Pascoe, the hugely popular police duo and stars of the BBC TV series, in a new psychological thriller.Gina Wolfe is searching for her missing husband, believed dead, and hopes Superintendent Andy Dalziel can help. What neither realize is that there are others on the same trail.A tabloid hack with some awkward enquiries about an ambitious MP''s father. The politician's secretary who shares his suspicions. The ruthless entrepreneur in question and the two henchmen out to make sure the past stays in the past.Four stories, two mismatched detectives trying to figure it all out, and 24 hours in which to do it: Dalziel and Pascoe are about to learn the hard way exactly how much difference a day makesTrade ReviewPraise for ‘Midnight Fugue’: ‘Back on his old form. Witty, wise and welcome’ Literary Review ‘[Reginald Hill] shows no sign of descending from the high quality of his writing … Beautifully plotted and intriguingly resolved’ Marcel Berlins, The Times 'Fresh and memorable … It's a witty, wise and warm read, with rich characterisation and emotional depth' Val McDermid, The Times 'A sort of genteel, very funny and extremely well-written version of 24' Telegraph ‘A masterly performance … will deservedly be one of this summer’s big bestsellers’ Mark Sanderson, Evening Standard ‘Hill’s ingenuity continues to dazzle’ John O’Connell, Guardian ‘Midnight Fugue has a clever plot, written without whimsy, and one of the best things in it is Dalziel's sense of his advancing age and its impact on his relationship with Pascoe’ The Sunday Times ‘As ever it is steeped in a dry, wry wit and accents almost as thick as good gravy on roast beef and Yorkshire pudding…it is a measure of Hill's masterful grasp that time flies imperceptibly…Hill makes it all look so deceptively simple that it masks a writer on top of his trade’ Sunday Express ‘Hill's plot is elegantly constructed, and his prose is delectable…Witty, slightly surreal and fundamentally humane, the novel is a welcome addition to one of the best crime series around’ Andrew Taylor, Specator
£12.59
HarperCollins Publishers The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Book SynopsisA timeless classic dealing with the complexity and hardships of relationships, addiction and faith.Judith Hearne, a Catholic middle-aged spinster, moves into yet another bed-sit in Belfast. A socially isolated woman of modest means, she teaches piano to a handful of students to pass the day. Her only social activity is tea with the O''Neill family, who secretly dread her weekly visits.Judith soon meets wealthy James Madden and fantasises about marrying this lively, debonair man. But Madden sees her in an entirely different light, as a potential investor in a business proposal. On realising that her feelings are not reciprocated, she turns to an old addiction alcohol. Having confessed her problems to an indifferent priest, she soon loses her faith and binges further. She wonders what place there is for her in a world that so values family ties and faith, both of which she is without.Trade Review'Remarkable…seldom in modern fiction has any character been revealed so completely or been made to seem so poignantly real.' New York Times 'I can't think of another living male novelist who writes about women with such sympathy and understanding.' Times Literary Supplement 'Moore is surely one of the most versatile and compelling novelists writing today.' Daily Telegraph 'A powerful haunting story by a young Irish-Canadian who knows the meaning not only of loneliness, but that of compassion as well.' New York Times 'An almost classic example of the power given by unity of theme…Moore reveals all the qualities of a born novelist.' Sunday Times Praise for Brian Moore: ‘From his first to his last novel, Moore has an uncanny ability to imagine his way into the emotions and sexuality of his characters…there aren’t many writers who do this comparably well – Flaubert, Chekhov, Julian Barnes, William Trevor come to mind.’ Hermione Lee ‘Brian Moore leads the field with a style that can only be called immaculate.’ Guardian ‘Brian Moore’s versatility, his lifelong refusal to keep writing the same book over again, is too much taken for granted. He writes simply and economically, but with a true generosity of vision.’ Observer
£999.99
HarperCollins Publishers If You Could See Me Now
Book SynopsisTender, magical and captivating a story of family, friends, and the unlikeliest of romances from the No. 1 bestselling author, Cecelia Ahern.What if love was right there in front of you you just couldn''t see it?Elizabeth Egan is too busy for friends. As a reluctant mother to her sister Saoirse''s young son Luke and with her own business to run, every precious moment is made to count.But with Saoirse crashing in and out of their lives, leaving both her sister and her son reeling, Luke and Elizabeth are desperately in need of some magic.Enter Ivan. Wild, spontaneous and always looking for adventure, in no time at all Ivan has changed Elizabeth in ways she could never have imagined. But is Ivan too good to be true? Has Elizabeth opened her heart only to risk it being broken again?Trade Review'There's more than a touch of fairytale about Cecelia Ahern's novels…thanks to a liberal sprinkling of magic… A must for die-hard romantics' Glamour ‘A beautifully written love story’ Closer ‘An enchanting, unexpected love story’ You
£8.54
