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
HarperCollins The Charmer
Book Synopsis
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc It Happened One Summer Deluxe Collectors Edition
Book Synopsis
£17.09
HarperCollins Publishers Inc What We Leave Behind
£14.24
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Treasure Movie Tiein
Book Synopsis
£11.69
HarperCollins The Sunflower Boys
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£17.00
HarperCollins Last Night Was Fun
Book Synopsis
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Women of the Rock
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£17.00
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Sisters of Book Row
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£10.44
HarperCollins 32 Days in May
Book Synopsis
£9.49
HarperCollins Like in Love with You
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc This Side of Gone
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Intemperance
£17.00
HarperCollins The Goode Girls of Maple Lane
£15.38
HarperCollins Television
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£16.00
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Toward Eternity Nomad Edition
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£10.44
Cornerstone Wodehouse P Golf Omnibus
Book SynopsisThe Oldest Member''s reverence for golf does not cramp his style in telling some of the funniest, tallest and most joyful stories in the whole Wodehouse canon. In this splendid omnibus, introduced by Wodehouse himself, love and the links are inextricably intertwined, in this bumper collection of hilarious short stories that show the course of true love is racing down the middle of the fairway.Trade ReviewYou don't analyse such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour -- Stephen FryThe greatest comic writer ever -- Douglas AdamsThe funniest writer ever to put words to paper -- Hugh LaurieP.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century -- Sebastian FaulksSublime comic genius -- Ben Elton
£17.09
Cornerstone The Clergy Omnibus
Book SynopsisIn the whole delightful world of Wodehouse, the English clergy offers some of the richest sources of good-natured good humour. Confronted by burglars or belted earls, they plough serenely on with the Advent sermon or the opening of the village fete - until that is, they are swept uncontrollably into fiendish plots which only a well-disposed devil or member of the Drones Club could have contrived.No bishop is more endearingly plump and pompous than a P.G. Wodehouse bishop, no vicar more a pillar of his community (provided his sermons aren''t too long), and in this collection of short stories we watch as they are plunged into one hilarious scenario after another.Trade ReviewYou don't analyse such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour -- Stephen FryThe greatest comic writer ever * Douglas Adams *The funniest writer ever to put words to paper -- Hugh LaurieP.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century -- Sebastian FaulksSublime comic genius -- Ben Elton
£16.99
Ebury Publishing How to be Famous
Book SynopsisCaitlin Moran is the eldest of eight children, home-educated on a council estate in Wolverhampton, believing that if she were very good and worked very hard, she might one day evolve into Bill Murray.She published a children's novel, The Chronicles of Narmo, at the age of 16, and became a columnist at The Times at 18. She has gone on to be named Columnist of the Year six times. At one point, she was also Interviewer and Critic of the Year - which is good going for someone who still regularly mistypes the' as hte'. Her multi-award-winning bestseller How to Be a Woman has been published in 28 countries, and won the British Book Awards' Book of the Year 2011. Her two volumes of collected journalism, Moranthology and Moranifesto, were Sunday Times bestsellers, and her novel, How to Build a Girl, debuted at Number One, and is currently being adapted as a movie. She co-wrote two series of the Rose d'Or-winning Channel 4 sitcom RaTrade ReviewWho better than Caitlin Moran to bring fame down to earth with a bump -- HELEN FIELDING, bestselling author of Bridget Jones's DiaryIt's quite a ride, this book. It's laugh-out-loud funny, sweetly romantic and fiercely angry. Often all at once ... beautifully written * THE TIMES *A deeply satisfying tale of sex, drugs, britpop, unrequited love, London, and a narrator I completely adore. This is funny, philosophical, and poignant in equal measure. Glorious and life-enhancing -- NINA STIBBEBrilliantly funny, caustic social commentary with the best-wish fulfilment revenge scene I've read, like, ever * THE POOL *A rollicking fantasy which leaves a rosy afterglow -- Book of the Day * GUARDIAN *
£8.54
Ebury Publishing How to Build a Girl
Book SynopsisThe phenomenal Number One Sunday Times Bestseller in hardback and now Number One in paperback! My name's Johanna Morrigan. I'm fourteen, and I've just decided to kill myself.I don't really want to die, of course! I just need to kill Johanna, and build a new girl. Dolly Wilde will be everything I want to be, and more! But as with all the best coming-of-age stories, it doesn't exactly go to planA Number One Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and now Number One in paperback, from Caitlin Moran, the award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of How to Be a Woman. (Selected by Emma Watson for her feminist book club Our Shared Shelf')**Caitlin Moran''s second novel, HOW TO BE FAMOUS, sees the return of Dolly Wilde in a riotous coming of age novel set in the epicentre of Britpop London. Out Now**Trade ReviewBrilliantly observed, thrillingly rude and laugh-out-loud funny -- Helen FieldingA Portnoy's Complaint for girls… when I see this book described as "laugh-out-loud funny" I feel affronted; it could make you laugh out loud with one hand tied behind its back, while wanking itself off to fantasies of Satan. Laughing out loud is just the start -- Zoe Williams * The Guardian *spirited coming of age novel romps from strength to strength…I’m a Moran fan -- Lionel Shriver * The Times *This isn’t a sleek, slick novel, but it is a rambunctious, raw-edged, silly-profound and deeply relatable guide to what your worst mistakes can teach you, and it has much to offer teenagers both actual and inner * The Independent *I have so much love for Caitlin Moran -- Lena DunhamBinge-read all of #HowToBuildAGirl in one sitting. Even missed supper. A first -- Nigella LawsonShe writes with breathtaking brio…Moran shows her shining soul — which is even more remarkable than her wit — when she writes about being young, looking for love and the utter vileness of the class system . . .almost every page has something on it which makes you smile, makes you sad or makes you think — often all three at once, in one sentence -- Julie Burchill * The Spectator *A riotous read with jokes galore cut through with lightly handled serious observations about the nature of poverty and the challenges of emerging female sexuality. It is also stunningly rude… * Sunday Express *Exuberant, funny coming-of-age tale with a highly-literate, resourceful Wolverhampton teen at its centre. As building girls goes this is one alternative instruction manual every woman should read * Daily Express *The self-conscious agonies of precocious yet sensitive Dolly ring painfully true, while the witty sex scenes, boozy anecdotes and one-liners make this great fun… * Sunday Mirror *An exuberant coming of age novel in DMs and ripped tights * Tatler *So funny it hurts. How to Build a Girl is Adrian Mole meets Fear of Flying. I predict they’ll be tears a plenty – both of laughter and excruciating recognition – on sun-loungers this summer * Harper’s Bazaar *Moran is a brilliantly funny writer, and How To Build A Girl is brimful of jokes * FT *This very British (and very naughty) coming-of-age novel will have you in literal hysterics! * Company *terrific - funny, honest and deliciously rude -- Alice O'Keefe * The Bookseller *This is going to be a bestseller…A sharp, hilarious and controversial read * The Bookseller *I laughed aloud at this funny, outrageous story of a girl from Wolverhampton council estate who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde * Woman & Home *as irreverent, amusing and vibrant as Moran herself * GQ *rowdy and fearless ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways * New York Times *Ms. Moran['s] ... funny and cheerfully dirty coming-of-age novel has a hard kernel of class awareness ... sloppy, big-hearted and alive in all the right ways. -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *there’s so much real feeling too. Johanna’s vulnerability and bravado, as she moves out of her world and falls in love is beautifully done’ or ‘ and running through it all, with a visceral power that most writers should envy, is the shame and grinding anxiety of being poor * Sunday Times *Moran also writes brilliantly about music, and especially about what music can do. She carries Johanna through this novel with incredible verve, extravagant candour, and a lot of heart. Johanna is … a wonderful heroine. A heroine who cares, who bravely sallies forth and makes things happen, who gives of herself, who is refreshingly unashamed. She’s so confident, it’s glorious * The Independent on Sunday *an entertaining read, with Moran in fine voice – hilarious, wild, imaginative and highly valuable…Moran is in danger of becoming to female masturbation what Keats was to Nightingales… -- Barbara Ellen * The Observer *
£12.34
Ebury Publishing Science of Discworld III Darwins Watch
Book SynopsisIan Stewart (Author) Professor Ian Stewart is the author of many popular science books. He is the mathematics consultant for New Scientist and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. He was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize for furthering the public understanding of science, and in 2001 became a Fellow of the Royal Society.Terry Pratchett (Author) Terry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any. www.terrypratchettbooks.comJack Cohen (Author) Dr Jack Cohen is an internationally-known reproductive biologist, and lives in Newent, Gloucestershire. Jack has a laboratory in his kitchen, helps couples get pregnant by referring them to colleagues, invents biologically realistic aliens for science fiction writers and, in his spare time, throws boomerangs. Jack, who has more letters to his name than can be repeated here, writes, lectures, talks and campaigns to promote public awareness of science, particularly biology. He is mostly retired.Trade ReviewIt is exhilarating to feel yourself immersed in such well-expressed and up-to-date debates... * New Scientist *The hard science is as gripping as the fiction * The Times *Entertaining and illuminating * New Scientist *Fantastic... this is some of the best science writing around today, intelligent and witty, creative and playful... if only science could be taught like this in school, many of us would have paid more attention * Fortean Times *
£14.24
Random House The Butterfly Lampshade
Book Synopsis______________________________________LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD'[A] compact surrealist memory box of a novel .
£15.29
Cornerstone High Water
Book SynopsisDouglas Reeman did convoy duty in the navy in the Atlantic, the Arctic, and the North Sea. He has written over thirty novels under his own name and more than twenty bestselling historical novels featuring Richard Bolitho under the pseudonym Alexander Kent.
£8.54
Random House Go In and Sink
Book SynopsisDouglas Reeman did convoy duty in the navy in the Atlantic, the Arctic, and the North Sea. He has written over thirty novels under his own name and more than twenty bestselling historical novels featuring Richard Bolitho under the pseudonym Alexander Kent.Trade ReviewMasterly storytelling. * The Times *One of our foremost writers of naval fiction. * Sunday Times *
£15.29
Cornerstone Strike From The Sea
Book SynopsisINDO-CHINA 1941Cruising somewhere off Saigon is the world''s largest and most dangerous submarine - the French Soufrière. A rich prize for the enemy, the British navy must capture her for themselves before she is used against them.For Commander Robert Ainslie, it represents the greatest challenge of his career. He must take the foreign submarine and use her against the enemy in the defence of Singapore . . .
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Breathing Lessons
Book SynopsisNearing fifty and married with two children, she and her husband drive from Baltimore to Deer Lick to attend the funeral of a friend one hot summer day. During the course of the journey, Maggie's eternal optimism and her inexhaustible passion for sorting out other people's lives and willing them to fall in love is severely tested...Trade ReviewA work of art * Guardian *Her finest novel * Irish Times *A novel by Anne Tyler is a subject for rejoicing...Breathing Lessons is a pleasure * The Times *Anne Tyler has a real gift for generating tender and amazing moments * Independent *Displays her extraordinary gifts in supreme harmony: exquisite narrative clarity, faultless comic timing, and the Tyler trademark of happy-sad characters inspiring a mid-American domestic drama that somehow slips the surly bonds of the quotidian to become timeless and universal * Guardian, Best 100 Novels of all time *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Songs of Enchantment
Book SynopsisBen Okri has published 8 novels, including The Famished Road, as well as collections of poetry, short stories and essays. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been awarded the OBE as well as numerous international prizes, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Africa, the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction and the Chianti Rufino-Antico Fattore. He is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN and was presented with a Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. He was born in Nigeria and lives in London.Trade ReviewTriumphant...a joyful and entertaining read * Guardian *Passages of extraordinary beauty... Okri paints a convincing surrealist picture * Sunday Times *Reading Okri felt to me like talking to someone who has a secret * New Statesman *Ben Okri writes beautifully... a triumph of inspiration over the everyday. His prose is dense with pungent metaphor, sometimes whimsical, sometimes bawdy... fraught with wild visions * The Times *A love story and an account of the conflict between the parties of the rich and the poor... Okri's voice is all his own * Independent *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Possessing The Secret Of Joy
Book SynopsisWhen Alice Walker finished writing The Color Purple she realised that she needed to tell the story of Tashi, a minor character, who had left Africa but had taken her wound with her to America. This is Tashi''s story, told in her words and the voices of the people who loved her. This extraordinarily courageous and compelling novel explores the tragic consequences of Tashi''s decision to go through the female initiation ceremony.Trade ReviewLike The Color Purple, this novel packs an enormous emotional punch... A direct challenge to the times we live in * Guardian *A true confrontation with the hearts of darkness, this is masterful, honourable, and unforgettable storytelling * Cosmopolitan *Walker's delicate narrative gifts have never been better displayed, her depiction of the unbearable never so unflinchingly believable * Daily Telegraph *
£9.49
Cornerstone California Fire and Life
Book SynopsisThe woman on the bed had died in the fire. Pamela Vale, aged 34. She had been beautiful, and had been heavily insured. Her husband showed little grief. Her children seemed terrified. Insurance investigator Jack Wade is sure he knows what happened. All he has to do is to gather the evidence to prove it. And Wade is the best there is: fires talk to him, tell him exactly what happened, and how. But not everyone shares Wade''s belief that the woman was murdered. California Fire and Life is ready to pay out Nicky Vale''s claim on his wife''s accidental death and the destruction of their house. As Wade fights the decision, as he gathers more evidence, he begins to uncover a world of corruption where nothing is quite what it seems, a world where it''s not fire that talks, but money. . .Trade ReviewA smoking, smoldering threat of a book that flickers and flames and inevitably goes inferno . . . Cover to cover, it is hot, hot, hot * Austin Chronicle *The best crime thriller of the year . . . Mixes two parts of Elmore Leonard with an equal portion of Carl Hiaasen to form an irreverent, ribald hybrid of a thriller that's pure fun * The Providence Journal *[Winslow finds] a dark, sinister lyricism in the forensics of fire * The New York Times Book Review *A jazzy California thriller . . . Think Philip Marlowe if he were still sleuthing - and had taken up surfing * Entertainment Weekly *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Collector Collector
Book SynopsisTo a small flat in South London comes a Sumerian bowl: but the bowl is the Collector Collector, clay with something to say, an object d''art who will offer Rosa, its owner, vast swathes of unrecorded history from the last 5, 000 years. Meanwhile, Rosa tries to centre her life and settle the disturbances caused by an uninvited guest, Nikki. 1001 Nights meets the inner city, The Collector Collector is a comic masterpiece and unquestionably the finest novel ever narrated by a bowl.Trade ReviewFischer's impatience and daring pay off. 'I promise you will want to read it more than once,' said Victoria Glendinning, and I've read it three times now, and not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Which is itself out of the ordinary. -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *Stranger books have seldom been written, and when they have, they've seldom been this fast-paced, this funny, or this effortlessly readable * Detroit Free Press *The freshest, most fascinating novel I've read in years * Tom Robbins *A work of rare enchantment which could charm a smile out of a stone * Sunday Telegraph *So good I promise you will want to read it more than once * Daily Telegraph *
£14.39
Vintage Publishing Tremain R Darkness of Wallis Simpson
Book SynopsisA masterful collection of short stories from the prize-winning and bestselling Rose Tremain.Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced American for whom Edward Vlll abdicated the throne, is on her deathbed in her Paris flat, closely guarded by her lawyer who will not allow her any visitors. An East German border guard, redundant after the fall of the Berlin Wall, tries to reach Russia by bicycling across the hostile wastes of Poland.A jilted man gets his revenge. A baby grows wings. A character in an Impressionist painting escapes from his frame' or does he?Moving and tragic... The darkness of Rose Tremain is never far from the surface in this brilliantly written short story collection' Daily ExpressClassic, breathtaking Tremain' Independent on Sunday, Books of the YearMordantly perceptive tales' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewClassic, breathtaking Tremain * Independent on Sunday, Books of the Year *Mordantly perceptive tales * Sunday Times *Moving and tragic...the darkness of Rose Tremain is never far from the surface in this brilliantly written short story collection * Express *Written with the deft imagination we've come to know and love from Rose Tremain * Good Housekeeping *A distinguished collection -- Stephanie Cross * Observer *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Deadmans Pedal
Book SynopsisWinner of the James Tait Black Fiction PrizeFor 16-year-old Simon Crimmons there is not a lot to do. Going nowhere, fed up with school, he leaves to work as a driver on the trains. That summer he is introduced to a world of grown-up glamour, strikes and girlfriends. When Simon falls for the ethereal, aristocratic Varie, he finds freedom and adventure but will it be at a price? Too posh' for the railways, too working class' for Varie, Simon must navigate what it means to be a man as his world is turned upside down.Trade ReviewA delight: a boisterous, kindly, deep, sweet romp of a thing * Scotsman *Absolutely beautiful... As far as I'm concerned he's emerging as the William Faulkner of British fiction: somebody who's created a body of work that has not only animated a language but a period and a place... He has this incredible talent -- Andrew O'HaganThis is the best Scottish fiction since Lanark * Scottish Review of Books *Morally sensitive, exquisitely written and emotionally mature * Guardian *If you still haven’t read it from last year, Alan Warner’s The Deadman’s Pedal was out in paperback in this. Read it -- Janice Galloway * Scotsman *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Amsterdam
Book SynopsisIan McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; Machines Like Me; and Lessons. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.Trade ReviewA psychologically brilliant study of heartlessness * Sunday Telegraph *A psychologically brilliant study of heartlessness * Sunday Telegraph *One of the finest writers alive * Sunday Times *Full of gusto, straightforward, and delivers blows to the gut...shocking * Literary Review *McEwan writes here with unobtrusive panache * Daily Telegraph *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Elementals
Book SynopsisIn the same delectable format as The Matisse Stories, this collection deals with betrayal and loyalty, quests and longings, loneliness and passion - the mysterious absences at the heart of the fullest lives. A scholar pursues an elusive biographer, stumbling upon buried fragments of distant lives; a woman walks out of her previous existence and encounters an ice-blond stranger from a secretive world; a schoolgirl draws a blood-filled picture of jael; a swimming pool reveals a beauteous monster in its depths. The settings range from the heart of Provence in summer to the cold forests of Scandinavia, form chalk-strewn classrooms to herbscented hillsides, from suburban streets to rocky wilds.Trade ReviewRich physical details, lush sensual descriptions of people and places...Byatt's engaging message is that art, curiosity and stories and save us. Now read on -- Michèle Roberts * Independent on Sunday *Byatt weaves myth and art into bewitching fables...an astonishing display of imagination. The whole collection has a kaleidoscopic beauty -- Mark Sanderson * Time Out *Drenched in colour, spangled with optical effects, the yarns and parables in Elementals pay rapt attention to a world of light -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *"Cold", the story at the centre of Elementals is entirely fabulous...Its tenor is voluptuous and melancholy, like that of Oscar Wilde's fairy stories, with some of the erotic edge of Angela Carter's...These stories are full of colour and light -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Sunday Times *In a sparkling year for short stories, A.S. Byatt takes all the prizes...A wonderful series of reflections on the harsh realities of life (loneliness, death and betrayal) overlaid with a goassamer-light cloak of passion, mystery and ancient magic -- Carolyn Hart * Marie Claire *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Dance of the Happy Shades
Book SynopsisDiscover Alice Munro's first mesmerising and atmospheric short story collection.A remarkable writer whose major characters emerge in shining clarity... A major talent is at work here' Los Angeles TimesAlice Munro''s territory is the farms and semi-rural towns of south-western Ontario.In these dazzling stories she deals with the self-discovery of adolescence, the joys and pains of love and the despair and guilt of those caught in a narrow existence. And in sensitively exploring the lives of ordinary men and women, she makes us aware of the universal nature of their fears, sorrows, and aspirations.Winner of the Nobel Prize in LiteratureWinner of the Man Booker International Prize 200Trade ReviewThe finest writer of short stories working in the English language today * The Times *The greatest living short story writer -- A. S. Byatt * Sunday Times *A remarkable writer whose major characters emerge in shining clarity... A major talent is at work here * Los Angeles Times *Munro's power of analysis, of sensations and thoughts is almost Proustian in its sureness * New Statesman *Read not more than one of her stories a day, and allow them to work their spell: they are made to last * Observer *
£999.99
Vintage Publishing Beloved
Book SynopsisToni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She was the author of many novels, including The Bluest Eye, Sula, Beloved, Paradise and Love. She received the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize for her fiction and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour, in 2012 by Barack Obama. Toni Morrison died on 5 August 2019 at the age of eighty-eight.Trade Review'Toni Morrison was a giant of her times and ours... Beloved is a heartbreaking testimony to the ongoing ravages of slavery, and should be read by all'‘I adored her honesty. I admired the way she occupied her space in the world. I believed her’‘[Toni Morrison] led and we followed, and she showed us the beauty of the language, and the power that was unleashed when that beauty was allied to a great heart and a ferocious mind’‘No other writer in my lifetime, or perhaps ever, has married so completely an understanding of the structures of power with knowledge of the human heart’‘Toni Morrison is the greatest chronicler of the American experience that we have ever known’
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Mighty Walzer
Book SynopsisFrom the beginning Oliver Walzer is a natural - at ping-pong. Even with his improvised bat (the Collins Classic edition of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) he can chop, flick, half-volley like a champion. At sex he is not so adept, but with tuition from Sheeny Waxman, fellow member of the Akiva Social Club Table Tennis Team and stalwart of the Kardomah coffee bar, his game improves.Winner of the 2010 Man Booker Prize.Trade ReviewJacobson is a great storyteller: phrases, anecdotes and atmosphere roll off the page with the ease and sublime, scary grace of drunken eels...he is unsurpassable * The Times *This mature novel has the sustained exuberance and passion of his youthful writing...an achingly funny book...an amazing acheivement... There are few novelists today who can imbue the trifles of life with such poetry * Independent *Marvellous. Jacobson has not just written the first great novel about ping-pong. He has written one of the greatest sporting novels ever...a towering work of authority * Sunday Telegraph *Jacobson's humour is unashamedly savage and his jokes as sharp as a switch-blade...comic vitriol worthy of Evelyn Waugh * Sunday Express *
£13.49
Vintage Publishing The Heat of the Day
Book SynopsisElizabeth Bowen was born in Dublin in 1899, the only child of an Irish lawyer and land-owner. She travelled a great deal, dividing most of her time between London and Bowen's Court, the family house in County Cork which she inherited. Her first book, a collection of shorts stories, Encounters, was published in 1923. The Hotel (1926) was her first novel. She was awarded the CBE in 1948, and received honorary degrees from Trinity College, Dublin in 1949, and from Oxford University in 1956. The Royal Society of Literature made her a Companion of Literature in 1965. Elizabeth Bowen died in 1973.Trade ReviewProbably the most intelligent noir ever written...The situation is surreal, the psychologizing profound, and the eerie inwardness trapped in Bowen's distinctive prose resonates inside a peculiar silence that fills the reader's heart with dread * Los Angeles Times *One of three quintessential London 'war' novels, the others being Patrick Hamilton's Hangover Square and Graham Greene's The End of the Affair. No other novel conjures the spooky solemnity of the Blitz so adroitly * Time Out *A tensely charged story of betrayal * Independent *Marvellously witty, poetic and socially perceptive novels... she is bang on form with The Heat of the Day -- John Bayley * Independent *This world reminds you of both Henry James and Graham Greene...a world both placid and violently fractured...Bowen's prose is crisp and precise, but also suggestive and haunting...She combines moral refinement and pitiless but compasionate understanding * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The House in Paris
Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY A.S. BYATTWhen eleven-year-old Henrietta arrives at the Fishers'' residence in Paris, little does she know what fascinating secrets the house itself contains. Henrietta finds that her visit coincides with that of Leopold, an intense child who has come to Paris to be introduced to the mother he has never known. In the course of a single day, the mystery surrounding Leopold, his parents, Henrietta''s agitated hostess and the dying matriarch in bed upstairs, come to light slowly and tantalisingly.Trade ReviewA compelling story, inspired with a deep insight into human nature * Times Literary Supplement *Her most atmospheric book . . . very eerie and richly descriptive * Daily Telegraph *It seems like [Bowen] is writing pretty conventional novels, they have chapters, they seem to be about recognizable people in recognizable situations, but the syntax of her sentences is completely baroque, they double back on themselves, they twist into cubist sculptures... She's someone who's had a huge influence on my work -- Lauren Elkin * Paris Review *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Risk Pool
Book SynopsisThe Risk Pool is a thirty-year journey through the lives of Sam Hall, a small-town gambling hellraiser, and his watchful, introspective son Ned. When Ned''s mother Jenny suffers a breakdown and retreats from her husband''s carelessness into a dream world, Ned becomes part of his father''s seedy nocturnal world, touring the town''s bars and pool halls, struggling to win Sam''s affections while avoiding his sins.Trade ReviewIf Russo's books possessed only their big-hearted, endlessly revisitable characters, that would be enough. That they also possess belting story lines about broken families, comically recalcitrant pensioners, small-town decay and the indelibility of roots sometimes seems like an act of unparalleled literary generosity * Sunday Times *Perhaps if it was pointed out that here was a US writer who stood somewhere between Anne Tyler at her darkest and Russell Banks, with an occasional hint of Richard Ford at his least bleak, perhaps Russo would become as widely read as he deserves to be * Irish Times *No one writing today catches the detail of life with such stunning accuracy -- Annie ProulxCharms readers with its humour and refreshes with it's vast, Dickensian cast of characters * Guardian *Russo proves himself a master at evoking the sights, feelings and smells of a town... Superbly original and maliciously funny * New York Times Book Review *
£14.70
Vintage Publishing The Spell
Book SynopsisDiscover this sparkling celebration of sexual intrigue' (Telegraph) from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Line of Beauty.The Spell is a comedy of sexual manners that follows the interlocking affairs of four men: Robin, an architect in his late forties, who is trying to build an idyllic life in Dorset with his younger lover, Justin; Robin''s 22 year old son Danny, a volatile beauty who lives for clubbing and casual sex; and the shy Alex, who is Justin''s ex-boyfriend. As each in turn falls under the spell of romance or drugs, country living or rough trade, a richly ironic picture emerges of the clashing imperatives of modern gay life. At once lyrical, sceptical and romantic, The Spell confirms Alan Hollinghurst as one of Britain''s most important novelists.Trade ReviewThe Spell contains the most delicately sensuous portrait-painting...brilliant imagery...and hilarious cross-purpose jokes... Sentence by sentence the novel weaves its magic * Independent *A masterpiece of sustained literary titillation * The Times *Love, lust and loss among a group of middle-class gay Englishmen... Young and old, the town and the country, the wild and respectable: Holinghurst explores each of these uneasy conflicts with wit, generosity and sharply observed comedy * Mail on Sunday *A bewitchingly beautiful tale... confirms his pre-eminence among the prose writers of his generation * Daily Telegraph *Comic fantasy is grounded in a wealth of sharp observation and psychological insight. Hollinghurst has lost none of his authority * Evening Standard *
£9.49
Cornerstone Learning To Swim
Book SynopsisFrom the highly-acclaimed author of SMALL PLEASURES - winner of the 2022 British Book Awards Page-TurnerAbigail Jex never expected to see any of the Radley household again.The Radley''s were extraordinary, captivating creatures transplanted from a bohemian corner of North London to outer suburbia, and the young Abigail found herself drawn into their magic circle: the eccentric Frances, her new best friend; Frances'' mother, the liberated, headstrong Lexi; and of course the brilliant, beautiful Rad. Abigail thought she''d banished the ghost of her life with them and the catastrophe that ended it, but thirteen years later a chance encounter forces her to acknowledge that the spell is far from broken...Praise for Clare Chambers:''Modern, intelligently observed and highly original'' Daily Mail''This delicious novel is a joy from beginning to end - a perfect nTrade Review"An intelligent and escapist read - well written and funny" Daily Express "Modern, intelligently observed and highly original" Daily Mail "A spirited account of growing up and falling in love" Good Housekeeping "This delicious novel - is a joy from beginning to end - a perfect novel" Lisa Jewell "Engagingly written" Prima
£9.49
Cornerstone A Dry Spell
Book SynopsisClare Chambers was born in south east London in 1966. She studied English at Oxford and spent the year after graduating in New Zealand, where she wrote her first novel, Uncertain Terms, published when she was 25. She has since written eight further novels, including Learning to Swim (Century 1998) which won the Romantic Novelists' Association best novel award and was adapted as a Radio 4 play, and In a Good Light (Century 2004) which was longlisted for the Whitbread best novel prize.Clare began her career as a secretary at the publisher André Deutsch, when Diana Athill was still at the helm. They not only published her first novel, but made her type her own contract. In due course she went on to become a fiction and non-fiction editor there herself, until leaving to raise a family and concentrate on her own writing. Some of the experiences of working for an eccentric, independent publisher in the pre-digital era found their way into her novel The Editor's Wife (Century, 2007
£8.54
Cornerstone Thyme Out
Book Synopsis_________________Thank goodness for Katie Fforde, the perfect author to bring comfort in difficult times. She really is the queen of uplifting, feel good romance.' AJ PEARCE_________________Love can grow on you, or can it? A wonderfully romantic novel from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Recipe for Love, A French Affair and The Perfect Match.When Perdita Dylan delivers her baby vegetables to a local hotel and finds that her unpredictable ex-husband, Lucas, has taken over the kitchen, she is horrified - particularly when she discovers he''s being groomed as the latest celebrity chef and needs her picturesque, if primitive cottage, and her, in supporting roles. Her life is further complicated when Kitty, her 87-year-old friend, has a stroke. Perdita needs someone to lean on - and Lucas seems so keen to help that she starts to wonder if he''s really such a villain. Can she cope with all this alone? Or shTrade ReviewJoanna Trollope crossed with Tom Sharpe * Mail on Sunday *
£9.49
Cornerstone The October Horse
Book SynopsisColleen McCullough was born in Australia. A neurophysiologist, she established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, then worked as a researcher and teacher at Yale Medical School for ten years. Her writing career began with the publication of Tim, followed by The Thorn Birds, a record-breaking international bestseller. The author of over ten other novels, including the acclaimed 'Masters of Rome' series, Dr McCullough also wrote lyrics for musical theatre. Until her death in 2015 she lived on Norfolk Island in the Pacific with her husband.Trade ReviewMcCullough's expert command of the historical facts from a broad range of ancient and contemporary sources makes this the kind of novel that tests and expands even an expert's knowledge of Roman history -- James Hawking * Historical Novels Review *This is a marvellous, sweeping story with all the familiar characters - Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Brutus et al - which brings the periods vividly alive, and retells a vital period in world history in a splendidly accessible way * Books Magazine *[A] swiftly moving story ... packed full of political intrigue, romance, drama, and war * Booklist *
£14.39
Cornerstone The Touch
Book SynopsisColleen McCullough was born in Australia. A neurophysiologist, she established the department of neurophysiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, then worked as a researcher and teacher at Yale Medical School for ten years. Her writing career began with the publication of Tim, followed by The Thorn Birds, a record-breaking international bestseller. The author of over ten other novels, including the acclaimed 'Masters of Rome' series, Dr McCullough also wrote lyrics for musical theatre. Until her death in 2015 she lived on Norfolk Island in the Pacific with her husband.Trade Review"'Fast-moving and immensely readable... a page turner from start to finish' Maeve Binchy"
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Cakes And Ale
Book SynopsisWilliam Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St. Thomas' Hospital with the idea of practising medicine, but the success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, published in 1897, won him over to literature. Of Human Bondage, the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame as a successful playwright and writer was being consolidated with acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of several short story collections. His other works include travel books, essays, criticism and the autobiographical The Summing Up and A Writer's Notebook. In 1927 Somerset Maugham settled in the South of France and lived there until his death in 1965Trade ReviewOne of my favourite writers * Gabriel Garcia Marquez *Cakes and Ale is a delightfully tart, meandering meditation on what it means to be an author, and its comments on the fickleness of literary celebrity are prescient and amusing. Maugham sees clearly that books are famous because of who tells you to like them, and that authors are 'good' because they are said to be. * Time Out *A formidable talent, a formidable sum of talents...precision, tact, irony and total absence of pomposity * Spectator *[A] witty Thirties novel… Great fun -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing After the Banquet
Book SynopsisYukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he performed. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves, Enjo which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst for Love and the short story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship. The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On 25 November 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuku (riTrade ReviewKazu is the biggest and most profound thing Mishima has done so far in an already distinguished career * New Yorker *His most novelistic work, with a degree of earthiness and warmth rare in his fiction * New York Times *Japan's foremost man of letters * Spectator *Direct yet allusive, poetic...an amazing feat * Atlantic *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Bagombo Snuff Box
Book SynopsisKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born in Indianapolis in 1922 and studied biochemistry at Cornell University. During the Second World War he served in Europe and, as a prisoner of war in Germany, witnessed the destruction of Dresden by Allied bombers, an experience which inspired the canonic war novel Slaughterhouse-Five. He is the author of thirteen other novels, which include Cat's Cradle, Jailbird, Deadeye Dick, Galápagos and Bluebeard, two collections of stories, and three non-fiction books. He died in 2007.Trade ReviewA brilliant wacky ideas-monger * Observer *A cool writer, at once throwaway and passionate and very funny * Financial Times *One of the 20th century's finest humorists and humanists, a writer who has inherited HG Wells's visionary imagination and his gift for social commentary * Sunday Times *
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