Contemporary Fiction Books

Book SynopsisAmongst the Dark Ones there is one they call The Betrayer, one who is doomed to hand his own kind over to a demon lord... for eternity. But now a small boy has been kidnapped, and it''s up to Nell Harris - a Charmer (no, literally, that''s her job) to rescue him. Problem is, she cant help but find The Betrayer a teeny, tiny bit attractive... is it possible he is not as soul-less as he seems, or has her penchant for bad-boys just gone into overdrive?Trade Review'Buffy... pleasingly cross with Bridget Jones' * Telegraph on A GIRL'S GUIDE TO VAMPIRES *MacAlister continues her delectable contemporary paranormal series with another sinfully sexy, fabulously fun tale of love, vampires, ghosts, and demons * Booklist on SEX AND THE SINGLE VAMPIRE *'Horror romance readers will enjoy this one-bite sitting teeth in cheek (and neck) tale.' * Midwest Book Review on SEX AND THE SINGLE VAMPIRE *'Smart, sexy and funny - Katie delivers!' * Christine Feehan on FIRE ME UP *'With its superb characterization and writing that manages to be both sexy and humorous, this contempary paranormal love story is an absolute delight.' * Booklist starred review for A GIRL'S GUIDE TO VAMPIRES *'A book rich with humor, loaded with sexual tension, and packed with interesting, if sometimes slightly off-beat, characters.' * Romance Reviews Today on A GIRL'S GUIDE TO VAMPIRES *

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Book SynopsisRealistic, sexy, brutally honest - this notorious international bestseller was a publishing phenomenon, became a popular classic, and is now a Great Read.Trade Review'It is not quite proper to have printed The Carpetbaggers between the covers of a book. It should have been inscribed on the walls of a public lavatory.' * New York Times *'With Harold's books, we'd play the guessing game. Who is that mogul, who is that actress, who is this sexually available babe?' * Jackie Collins *

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Book SynopsisIreland's answer to Jane Green is back with a brilliantly warm, funny and touching love story.Trade Review'A great holiday read!' * Woman *Praise for Melissa Hill * : *'Laugh-out-loud humour and a thrill to read' * B *'Feels as good as a gossip with your mates' * New Woman *'More twists and turns than a rollercoaster a cracker of a read' * Mail on Sunday *'A melodrama for our times' * MX magazine, Sydney *

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Book Synopsis'You have been with me from the very first life. You are my first memory every time, the single thread in all of my lives.' MY NAME IS MEMORY is a heartbreaking, mysterious and completely unforgettable story of true love.Trade ReviewA well-written love story * Heat *There are a lot of books I like and there are a lot of books I love and this is by far a love that I'm sure if I was to read it again and again I would see it a new light each time. * thereadingsofabusymum.blogspot.com *The centuries-old background to their story is as compelling as the action in the present and makes their constant near misses tear-provokingly frustrating. And the involvement of Daniel's evil brother adds the heart-racing pace of this thriller. It's a book that will inevitably draw comparisons to The Time Traveller's Wife, and stands up well to that modern classic. * News of the World *It has everything you could want from a good book . . . I cannot recommend this book highly enough . . . I suggest you all add it to your summer reading list. You won't be disappointed. * daisychainbookreviews.blogspot.com *'It's the type of book that takes all those questions we ask ourselves about destiny and the meaning of life and explores them so convincingly that it's almost as thought the author has stumbled upon a secret. Magical'. * I Was A Teenage Book Geek *'[T]his beautifully written novel is already on its way to becoming a Hollywood movie'. * Star Magazine *'This clever story about someone trying to catch-up with a long lost love, will be a hit with fans of Branshares'. * Press Association *A magical, suspenseful, heartbreaking story of true love... * American Saturday Review *My Name is Memory is a captivating, open-ended story that begs for a sequel. I'll be watching for it. * Long and Short Reviews *

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Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of Me Before You and the new 2023 novel Someone Else''s Shoes.When twenty-one year old Joy meets handsome naval officer Edward at an ex-pat party in 1950s Hong Kong, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. Quickly wedded, she leaves to travel the world with her new husband. But she soon discovers that married life isn''t all that it seems . . .In 1980, Joy''s young daughter Kate mysteriously flees the family home. Fifteen years later, Kate''s own daughter Sabine leaves London in search of grandparents she has never known. When the family is finally reunited, hidden tensions come to the surface, uncovering a dark secret which has been deeply buried for years . . .Trade ReviewAn enjoyable read and a promising debut novel. * Sunday Express *A thoughtful first novel about mothers, daughters and lovers. * Daily Mail *An emotional roller-coaster of a read. * Company *

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Book SynopsisThe spellbinding winner of the Romantic Novelists' Association Novel of the Year Award from bestselling author Jojo Moyes.Trade ReviewIf you liked Chocolat by Joanne Harris, you'll love FOREIGN FRUIT . . . blissful, romantic reading. * Company *A novel that irrevocably throbs with romance, intrigue and betrayal. * Woman & Home *Moyes evokes the strictures of time beautifully, as well as the enervating charms of a sleepy resort. * Good Housekeeping *

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Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of Me Before You and the new 2023 novel Someone Else''s Shoes.Australia, 1946. 650 brides are departing for England to meet the men they married in wartime. But instead of the luxury liner they were expecting, they find themselves aboard an aircraft carrier, alongside a thousand men.On the sun-baked decks, old loves and past promises become distant memories, and tensions are stretched to the limit as brides and husbands change their minds. And for Frances Mackenzie, one bride in particular, it soon becomes clear that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.Trade ReviewBrimming over with friendship, sadness, humour and romance, as well as several unexpected plot twists, it's a tremendously satisfying read and (for my money) even better than ... Me Before You * Daily Mail *Wonderfully romantic and moving. * Daily Mail *Gloriously entertaining. * Mirror *

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Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of Me Before You and the new 2023 novel Someone Else''s Shoes.In a hidden corner of London, Henri Lachapelle is teaching his granddaughter and her horse to defy gravity, just as he had done in France, fifty years previously. But when disaster strikes, fourteen-year-old Sarah is left to fend for herself. Forced to share a house with her charismatic ex-husband, her professional judgement called into question, lawyer Natasha Macauley''s life seems to have gone awry. When her path crosses that of Sarah, she sees a chance to put things right. But she doesn''t know that Sarah is keeping a secret, one that will change all their lives forever . . .Trade ReviewI had to keep reminding myself that I was not, in fact, reading Dickens . . . Moyes's vision of people lifted from despair by nothing more than love (and a little money) is nothing if not poignant. * Washington Post *A tale brimming with tenderness and romance. * Marie Claire *A strikingly original tale which captivates from the first page. * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisThe sixth instalment of Number One bestselling author Jasper Fforde''s sensational Thursday Nextseries. ''Fforde''s books are more than just an ingenious idea. They are written with buoyant zest and are tautly plotted. They have empathetic heroes and heroines who nearly make terrible mistakes and suitably dastardly villains who do. They also have more twists and turns than Christie, and are embellished with the rich details of Dickens or Pratchett'' - IndependentIt is a time of unrest in the BookWorld. Only the diplomatic skills of ace literary detective Thursday Next can avert a devastating genre war. But a week before the peace talks, Thursday vanishes. Has she simply returned home to the RealWorld or is this something more sinister?All is not yet lost. Living at the quiet end of speculative fiction is the written Thursday Next, eager to prove herself worth of her illustrious namesake. The written Thursday is soon Trade Review'Fforde's books are more than just an ingenious idea. They are written with buoyant zest and are tautly plotted. They have empathetic heroes and heroines who nearly make terrible mistakes and suitably dastardly villains who do. They also have more twists and turns than Christie, and are embellished with the rich details of Dickens or Pratchett' * Independent *A riot of puns, in-jokes and literary allusions that Fforde carries off with aplomb * Daily Mail *'Fans of the late Douglas Adams, or, even, Monty Python, will feel at home with Fforde' * Herald *

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling second novel from the author of GOLD and INCENDIARY.Trade ReviewA powerful piece of art... shocking, exciting and deeply affecting...[a] superb novel... Besides sharp, witty dialogue, an emotionally charged plot and the vivid characters' ethical struggles, THE OTHER HAND delivers a timely challenge to reinvigorate our notions of civilized decency. * Independent *Exquisitely balanced between terrible sadness and brilliant humour. * Observer *Big themes, high emotion and cliffhangers aplenty... an enormously affecting investigation of love, guilt and global responsibility, told with a bittersweet urgency. * Justine Jordan, Guardian *Searingly eloquent. * Daily Mail *An ambitious and fearless gallop from the jungles of Africa via a shocking encounter on a Nigerian beach to the media offices of London and domesticity in leafy suburbia...Cleave immerses the reader in the worlds of his characters with an unshakable confidence. * Lawrence Norfolk, Guardian *totally believable... the author has a knack of explaining human suffering... I look forward to his next offering. * Daily Express *impresses as a feat of literary engineering... the plot exerts a fearsome grip. * Daily Telegraph *An exhilarating, disturbing read. * James Urquhart, Independent (Books of the Year) *You stay in thrall to the bittersweet end. * Scotland on Sunday *It would be hard not to romp through it. * Financial Times *By turns funny, sad and shocking * Sainsburys Magazine *The next Kite Runner. * Library Journal *Warm, witty and beautifully written. * Sunday Tribune *In a novel that tackles serious and uncomfortable subject matter, Cleave's writing makes one laugh and despair in equal measure. (4 stars) * Time Out *I felt the same excitement discovering this as I did Marina Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and Paul Torday's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. There is an urgency here, an inability to put it down and a deep sense of loss once finished. It is a very special book indeed. Profound, deeply moving and yet light in touch, it explores the nature of loss, hope, love and identity with atrocity its backdrop. Read it and think deeply. * Sarah Broadhurst, Bookseller *'Immensely readable and moving . . . an affecting story of human triumph' * New York Times *Artfully plotted... [a] strong yarn. * Sunday Telegraph *A better book than Chris Cleave's THE OTHER HAND may be published this year, but I wouldn't bet on it. This exquisitely written story of a Nigerian refugee and a British glossy magazine editor is the most powerful novel I've read in a long time. . . it's also a very funny book about brave, funny people who the reader quickly grows to love. . . But the heart of the book is Little Bee; naïve yet insightful and sophisticated, damaged yet capable of great courage and humour, she is an unforgettable character. I finished THE OTHER HAND in tears, and I still can't get it out of my head. Just read it. * The Gloss *Will blow you away... the best kind of political novel: You're almost entirely unaware of its politics because the book doesn't deal in abstractions but in human beings. * Washington Post *So far it's the best book of 2009, no question. * Metro (US) *

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Book SynopsisFor fans of The Rosie Project, ADDITION is a unique and witty debut novel with added OCD.Trade ReviewToni Jordan is always a special pleasure -- Liane MoriartyIt's laugh-out-loud funny and painfully sad in turns . . . It is a quick read and extremely hard to put down, as you get addicted to Grace's addictive personality -- Amanda Ross, Richard & Judy Summer ReadA moving and intelligent comedy about finding love without losing yourself -- Graeme SimsionBringing a quirky humour and a sympathetic view of diversity to her story, the author sustains the momentum to the end of this engaging romantic comedy * The Times *An unusual and intriguing novel, written with a very light touch * Daily Mail *Brimming with sarcastic humour * Guardian *Toni Jordan's debut is mature, witty and entertaining * The Times *A sweet, charming, witty, romantic book * BBC Radio 2 *Bringing a quirky humour and a sympathetic view of diversity to her story, the author sustains the momentum to the end of this engaging romantic comedy * The Times *An unusual and intriguing novel, written with a very light touch * Daily Mail *Brimming with sarcastic humour * Guardian *Toni Jordan's debut is mature, witty and entertaining * Irish Times *It's laugh-out-loud funny and painfully sad in turns . . . It is a quick read and extremely hard to put down, as you get addicted to Grace's addictive personality * Amanda Ross, Richard & Judy Summer Read *You'll be hearing more from this talented author * Choice *A sweet, charming, witty, romantic book * BBC Radio 2, The Weekender *A moving and intelligent comedy about finding love without losing yourself. * Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project *

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Book SynopsisA heartbreaking, soul-baring novel about the repercussions of choice from the award-winning author of The Welsh Girl and The Fortunes.Trade ReviewA powerful account of fatherhood . . . a complicated story, told with fearless honesty. The prose is rueful, spare and matter-of-fact, but emotions churn beneath the clean surface. It can be very funny, but it can also stop you in your tracks. -- James Smart * Guardian *His deceptively simple, pared-back style is ideal for detailing difficult emotions . . . Davies's bold tell-all policy makes for moving and compelling reading . . . admirable for the brave new things it has to say about shame, regret, fatherhood and love -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *His recollections fizz with tell-all voltage . . . Tender yet clear-eyed, this is a thoughtful, consistently intriguing book, covering a lot of ground in a short space. -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *Davies encompasses some of the hugest questions of life, sex, morality and mortality. The prose might be spare and elegant, but the mess, muddle and sheer silliness of ordinary life is sharply evoked. -- Suzi Feay * Financial Times *A courageous, honest book . . . has a light touch in exploring other moral dilemmas and uncertainties with which we all grapple, putting your emotions through the wringer in prose full of piercing emotional shards . . . This tender, thought-provoking novel captures the doubts, the worries, the pain and the sheer joy of being a parent -- Martin Chilton * Independent *A funny, tender and unflinchingly honest account of fatherhood, of the ways it can wound you and confound you, but also of its potential for transcendent, transformative joy. -- David Annand * Times Literary Supplement *Davies treats twists of fate with clear-eyed realism, humor, and grace * New Yorker *[It] creates controlled art out of life's messy pain . . . There is nothing superfluous in these pages . . . A novel about the comedy and travails of parenting a "twice exceptional" child that earns its place on the shelf alongside the frank and sometimes acerbic memoirs of Rachel Cusk and Anne Enright. -- Claire Messud * Harper's Magazine *Fierce paternal love spills off every page of this masterful book in a way that recalls Max Porter's Grief Is The Thing With Feathers; lean and darkly funny, it contains not a shred of mawkishness . . . This has been billed as autofiction; however you classify it, it's exceptional. -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *Davies's novel is a touching, thoughtful portrait of parenthood, with valuable insights into America's corrosive debate on abortion. -- Anthony Gardner * Mail on Sunday *This book is so damn good. -- Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires EverywhereThere are some stories that require as much courage to write as they do art. Peter Ho Davies's achingly honest, searingly comic portrait of fatherhood is just such a story. A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself enacts to profound effect the dark shames, fears, and absurdities that are an inescapable part of family life. The world needs more stories like this one, more of this kind of courage, more of this kind of love. -- Sigrid Nunez, National Book Award-winning author of The FriendA raw, intimate look at a couple's journey into parenthood . . . a resonant treatise on identity, family, grieving, writing, and "the taking and telling of other people's stories. * Booklist *A radiant conclusion affirms the daunting cost and overwhelming rewards of raising a child. Perfectly observed and tremendously moving: This will strike a resonant chord with parents everywhere. * Kirkus Reviews *Davies explores their emotions with unflinching honesty . . . [His] meditation on the complexities of parenthood is at once celebration and absolution, finding truth in human contradictions. * Publishers Weekly *I never miss a new book by Peter Ho Davies and A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself is his best yet. A taut, raw, clever work of autofiction with a real beating heart, this is the audacious tragicomic novel about fatherhood and long-term love we've been missing. -- Claire Vaye Watkins, author of Battleborn and Gold Fame CitrusPeter Ho Davies has long written brilliantly about accidents of culpability and their winding trails. In A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself he has given us a stunning novel of family life, scrupulous and astute, full of home-truths in every sense. Another triumph by an author whose books I love. -- Joan Silber, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of ImprovementThe former Granta Young British Novelist lays himself bare in a moving account of a terminated pregnancy. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA heartbreaking, soul-baring novel about the repercussions of choice from the award-winning author of The Welsh Girl and The Fortunes.Trade ReviewA powerful account of fatherhood . . . a complicated story, told with fearless honesty. The prose is rueful, spare and matter-of-fact, but emotions churn beneath the clean surface. It can be very funny, but it can also stop you in your tracks. -- James Smart * Guardian *His deceptively simple, pared-back style is ideal for detailing difficult emotions . . . Davies's bold tell-all policy makes for moving and compelling reading . . . admirable for the brave new things it has to say about shame, regret, fatherhood and love -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *His recollections fizz with tell-all voltage . . . Tender yet clear-eyed, this is a thoughtful, consistently intriguing book, covering a lot of ground in a short space. -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *Davies encompasses some of the hugest questions of life, sex, morality and mortality. The prose might be spare and elegant, but the mess, muddle and sheer silliness of ordinary life is sharply evoked. -- Suzi Feay * Financial Times *A courageous, honest book . . . has a light touch in exploring other moral dilemmas and uncertainties with which we all grapple, putting your emotions through the wringer in prose full of piercing emotional shards . . . This tender, thought-provoking novel captures the doubts, the worries, the pain and the sheer joy of being a parent -- Martin Chilton * Independent *A funny, tender and unflinchingly honest account of fatherhood, of the ways it can wound you and confound you, but also of its potential for transcendent, transformative joy. -- David Annand * Times Literary Supplement *Davies treats twists of fate with clear-eyed realism, humor, and grace * New Yorker *[It] creates controlled art out of life's messy pain . . . There is nothing superfluous in these pages . . . A novel about the comedy and travails of parenting a "twice exceptional" child that earns its place on the shelf alongside the frank and sometimes acerbic memoirs of Rachel Cusk and Anne Enright. -- Claire Messud * Harper's Magazine *Fierce paternal love spills off every page of this masterful book in a way that recalls Max Porter's Grief Is The Thing With Feathers; lean and darkly funny, it contains not a shred of mawkishness . . . This has been billed as autofiction; however you classify it, it's exceptional. -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *Davies's novel is a touching, thoughtful portrait of parenthood, with valuable insights into America's corrosive debate on abortion. -- Anthony Gardner * Mail on Sunday *This book is so damn good. -- Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires EverywhereThere are some stories that require as much courage to write as they do art. Peter Ho Davies's achingly honest, searingly comic portrait of fatherhood is just such a story. A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself enacts to profound effect the dark shames, fears, and absurdities that are an inescapable part of family life. The world needs more stories like this one, more of this kind of courage, more of this kind of love. -- Sigrid Nunez, National Book Award-winning author of The FriendA raw, intimate look at a couple's journey into parenthood . . . a resonant treatise on identity, family, grieving, writing, and "the taking and telling of other people's stories. * Booklist *A radiant conclusion affirms the daunting cost and overwhelming rewards of raising a child. Perfectly observed and tremendously moving: This will strike a resonant chord with parents everywhere. * Kirkus Reviews *Davies explores their emotions with unflinching honesty . . . [His] meditation on the complexities of parenthood is at once celebration and absolution, finding truth in human contradictions. * Publishers Weekly *I never miss a new book by Peter Ho Davies and A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself is his best yet. A taut, raw, clever work of autofiction with a real beating heart, this is the audacious tragicomic novel about fatherhood and long-term love we've been missing. -- Claire Vaye Watkins, author of Battleborn and Gold Fame CitrusPeter Ho Davies has long written brilliantly about accidents of culpability and their winding trails. In A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself he has given us a stunning novel of family life, scrupulous and astute, full of home-truths in every sense. Another triumph by an author whose books I love. -- Joan Silber, National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of ImprovementThe former Granta Young British Novelist lays himself bare in a moving account of a terminated pregnancy. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisStunning debut women's fiction that reaches out to the fashion/zeitgeist conscious with a tale of vintage frocks and new loveTrade ReviewStyle queens and Mad Men fans will love this heart-warming story * Bella *Love a romance? Love fashion? You'll lap up this cute tale of a woman who looks after her grandmother's shop and discovers all sorts of life secrets in the pocket of a dress. * Heat *Ever slipped into a vintage dress and wondered who wore it first? Then you'll adore The Secret Lives of Dresses. Penned by US fashion blogger Erin McKean, it follows Dora, who takes over her gran's clothes shop and finds that in the pocket of every dress lies a history. * Look *A lovingly stitched tale * Now *McKean's gentle, stylish and bittersweet tale is made even more enjoyable due to her obvious love and knowledge of timeless fashion * Press Association *Sweet and enjoyable... a heartwarming read * Image *A girlie, captivating tale of frocks and love * Closer *'Utterly beguiling' * Marie Claire *an enchanting novel for anyone with a love of dresses * Irish Tatler *This delicious novel began as a series of stories on the author's blog, each told from the point of view of a beauteous vintage frock . . . Bliss * Saga magazine *

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Book SynopsisDoesn''t every girl dream of getting something from Tiffany''s?''A blissfully escapist romp''Marie ClaireIt''s Christmas Eve, and on New York City''s 5th Avenue, two very different men are shopping for gifts for the women they love.Gary is buying his girlfriend Rachel a charm bracelet. Partly to thank her for paying for their holiday-of-a-lifetime to New York, but mainly because he''s left his Christmas shopping far too late.Whereas Ethan is looking for something a little more special - an engagement ring, for the first woman to have made him happy since he lost the love of his life.But when the two men''s shopping bags get confused, Rachel somehow ends up with Ethan''s ring, and the couples'' lives become intertwined. And, as Ethan tries to reunite the ring with the woman it was intended for, he quickly learns it won''t be an easy task . . .Was the mixTrade Review'You'll love this enchanting, warm and fun read' **** * Closer *'Another blissfully escapist read that also keeps readers guessing from page to page... a bit of modern fairy-tale magic... an absorbing tale' * Irish Independent *Praise for Melissa Hill:'Hill's ninth paperback is a blissfully escapist romp, with a hint of mystery.' * Marie Claire *A gulp-in-one-go page-turner * Evening Herald *'A thriller of a novel that will keep you turning the pages until the very end' * Woman *'The kind of book that you can't put down' * Sunday Independent *'Be warned, you won't want to put it down' * Sunday World *'Laugh-out-loud humour and a thrill to read' * B *More twists and turns than a rollercoaster - a cracker of a read * Mail on Sunday on THE LAST TO KNOW *

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Book SynopsisTake a trip through New York City at Christmas with this gorgeous novel from Melissa Hill, the international number one bestselling author who keeps you guessing to the very end.Trade ReviewFull of twists and turns and engaging characters. This book is the perfect read for the Christmas break. * Take a Break *'A fab read' **** * Star magazine *'Wow, Melissa Hill has done it again. This was an absolutely fantastically amazing book! The writing was beautiful, the story was beautiful, the cover was beautiful . . . I could go on. 10/10' * www.debrasbookcafe.blogspot.co.uk *This is a charming and entertaining novel, and I couldn't put it down. And the ending is fantastic. * www.internationalchicklitmonth.com *'The book was amazing from start to finish and I loved every single page. Melissa Hill manages to keep you guessing all the way through about the charm bracelet, and the way she weaves the tale will leave you wanting more and more . . . Simply a delight to read, I loved it all.' * www.chicklitchloe.blogspot.co.uk *'I can not recommend this book enough, I am sure this is one that you will all want on your To Be Read piles . . . A perfect little package which will pull at those heart strings.' * www.reabookreview.blogspot.co.uk *'An absolutely fantastic read, and certainly one that I would recommend for all you 'old romantics' out there. 5/5' * www.bestbookstoread.co.uk *

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Book SynopsisWill Cara''s family turn her dream wedding into a nightmare?When funny, kind and gorgeous Shane proposes, Cara is over the moon, and can''t wait to share the news of their engagement with all their friends and family.Excitement, however, quickly turns to apprehension when it seems that everyone has a fixed idea of the perfect wedding and offers to ''help'' with the planning. With tussles over the ceremony and the size of the guest list, sibling rivalry and insistent in-laws-to-be, Cara can see her vision of the big day being ripped to shreds.So she and Shane determine to make a stand and do things their way. But when they announce their plans for a beach wedding on a beautiful Caribbean island, there is uproar. Threats are made, family secrets are revealed, and things turn decidedly stormy. Will Cara and Shane manage to overcome all obstacles? Or will their dream wedding turn into a nightmare?Trade ReviewAnother feel-good tale that's bound to top the bestseller list. * Irish Independent *Praise for THE CHARM BRACELET * : *'Stylish and uplifting . . . It's perfect froth for whiling away a few hours on the sun lounger.' * Irish Independent *'The kind of book you can't put down. A brilliant read' * Woman's Way *This is a charming and entertaining novel, and I couldn't put it down. And the ending is fantastic. * www.internationalchicklitmonth.com *'The book was amazing from start to finish and I loved every single page. Melissa Hill manages to keep you guessing all the way through about the charm bracelet, and the way she weaves the tale will leave you wanting more . . . Simply a delight to read, I loved it' * www.chicklitchloe.blogspot.co.uk *

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Book SynopsisThe new novel from the Booker-shortlisted author of ASTONISHING SPLASHES OF COLOUR, an absorbing and thought-provoking tale about the impact on a happy family when the husband mysteriously vanishes.Trade ReviewDown at the core, beneath its several layers, THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED is a well-crafted suspense story...Morrall digs beneath the surface to mine psychological nuggets, some of them gold. * Rachel Hore, Independent on Sunday *A wise, intelligent and surprising novel, in which - as in life - nothing is simple * Kate Saunders, The Times *A highly achieved, engrossing read... Superbly imagined, it reads like documentary truth. * Tom Adair, Scotsman *Compelling...In clear, concise prose, Morrall movingly depicts Kate's strength in the face of adversity, and Felix's excoriating regret at the damage done. * Marie Claire *An absorbing novel about deception and self-discovery * Grazia *An inspiring story about a woman who finds inner strength as her world crumbles * TV Times *an engaging, unpretentious read * Scottish Sunday Herald *

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Book SynopsisList item 2: Never speak German on the upper decks of London buses. Jack Rosenblum is five foot three and a half inches of sheer tenacity. He''s writing a list so he can become a Very English Gentleman. List item 41: An Englishman buys his marmalade from Fortnum and Mason.It''s 1952, and despite his best efforts, his bid to blend in is fraught with unexpected hurdles - including his wife. Sadie doesn''t want to forget where they came from or the family they''ve lost. And she shows no interest in getting a purple rinse. List item 112: An Englishman keeps his head in a crisis, even when he''s risking everything.Jack leads a reluctant Sadie deep into the English countryside in pursuit of a dream. Here, in a land of woolly pigs, bluebells and jitterbug cider, they embark on an impossible task...Trade ReviewPrepare to be seriously charmed. * The Times *The descriptions of England - as friend, adversary and eventually homne - are exquisite. Jack Rosenblum, a foolish, deeply sympathetic protagonist, is exasperating and admirable in equal measure. A touching, surprising and satisfying read. * Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast *Utterly charming and very funny * Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen *In her charming debut, Natasha Solomons folds together Jewish baking, golf and Dorset folklore to create a singular comic confection... Solomons crafts a fine pastoral comedy from Jack's eccentric endeavours to reshape the land and from his encounters with rustic labourers who seem to have absconded from the pages of a Hardy novel... Sadie provides a touching counterpoint to the comedy... Much of the delight in this novel stems from Solomons' feeling for types of traditional knowledge that are on the verge of obsolescence. * Telegraph *The light yet poignant tone makes for an unusual, richly comic novel...a treat of a book. * Guardian *An affectionate portrait of a spirited man trying to find a little corner of the world where he can truly belong...[Solomons] successfully treads the fine line between comedy and the precarious plight of refugees in an entertaining tale that has resonances in contemporary Britain. * Herald *A subtle and moving examination of the dilemma faced by immigrants to modern Britain. * Observer *A tender exploration of the nature of home. * Marie Claire *Written with and skill, humour and sympathy * The Lady *[Solomons] has an exceptional feel for the Dorset countryside. * Country Life *A delightful tale of one man's determination to fulfil his dream. * Stylist *'The descriptions of England - as friend, adversary and eventually homne - are exquisite. Jack Rosenblum, a foolish, deeply sympathetic protagonist, is exasperating and admirable in equal measure. A touching, surprising and satisfying read.' * Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast *'Utterly charming and very funny' * Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen *'In her charming debut, Natasha Solomons folds together Jewish baking, golf and Dorset folklore to create a singular comic confection... Solomons crafts a fine pastoral comedy from Jack's eccentric endeavours to reshape the land and from his encounters with rustic labourers who seem to have absconded from the pages of a Hardy novel... Sadie provides a touching counterpoint to the comedy... Much of the delight in this novel stems from Solomons' feeling for types of traditional knowledge that are on the verge of obsolescence.' * Telegraph *delightful debut...Solomon's narrative has shades of both P.G. Wodehouse and Isabel Allende...There are also echoes of Jez Butterworth's play Jerusalem in this whimsical novel's deep seam of inquiry into the nature of Englishness. * TLS *almost irritatingly impressive...she strikes the perfect note with simple, evocative metaphors. I was forced to accept that this was a rare treat; a debut novel that is pretty much flawless... * The Times *Sprinkled with a hint of magic, this debut is a delight. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisIn the spring of 1938 Elise Landau arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay. A bright young thing from Vienna forced to become a parlour-maid, she knows nothing about England, except that she won''t like it. As servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn, Elise wears her mother''s pearls beneath her uniform, and causes outrage by dancing with a boy called Kit. But war is coming and the world is changing. And Elise must change with it. At Tyneford she learns that you can be more than one person. And that you can love more than once.Trade Review'A deeply touching and blissfully romantic elegy for a lost world.' * The Times *A vivid and poignant story about hope, loss and reinvention * Psychologies *A warm story with a lovely uncloying sweetness. * Saga Magazine *Solomons's confident timing means that we sense what is about to happen only moments before it occurs, and are compelled to read on, not as one might expect for the frisson of a new event, but for the thrill of having our intuition confirmed. * Stephanie Bishop, TLS *For Mr Rosenblum's List:'The descriptions of England - as friend, adversary and eventually home - are exquisite. A touching, surprising and satisfying read.' * Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast *'Utterly charming and very funny' * Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen *'An unususal, comedy-rich novel... a treat of a book'. * Guardian *'a subtle and moving examination of the dilemma faced by immigrants to modern Britain'. * Observer *'Prepare to be seriously charmed'. * The Times *For Mr Rosenblum's List:'The descriptions of England - as friend, adversary and eventually home - are exquisite. A touching, surprising and satisfying read.' * Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast *'Utterly charming and very funny' * Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen *'An unususal, comedy-rich novel... a treat of a book'. * Guardian *'a subtle and moving examination of the dilemma faced by immigrants to modern Britain'. * Observer *'Prepare to be seriously charmed'. * The Times *'both a love story and an elegy to the English country house...the greatest pleasure is its stirring narrative and the constant sense of discovery within the historical sweep of Elise's life...Solomon's confident timing means that we sense what is about to happen only moments before it occurs, and are compelled to read on, not as one might expect for the frisson of a new event, but for the thrill of having our intuition confirmed.' * Stephanie Bishop, TLS *'An engaging read ... ripe for the screen' * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisNED BEAUMAN HAS BEEN NAMED AS ONE OF GRANTA MAGAZINE''S BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2013Longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the for the Guardian First Book Award, Ned Beauman was chosen by The Culture Show as one of the twelve Best New British Writers in 2011.This is a novel for people with breeding. Only people with the right genes and the wrong impulses will find its marriage of bold ideas and deplorable characters irresistible. It is a novel that engages the mind while satisfying those that crave the thrill of a chase. There are riots and sex. There is love and murder. There is Darwinism and Fascism, nightclubs, invented languages and the dangerous bravado of youth. And there are lots of beetles. It is clever. It is distinctive. It is entertaining. We hope you are too.Trade Reviewa piece of staggeringly energetic intellectual slapstick . . . it's crammed with strange, funny and interesting things * Sam Leith, Guardian *an enjoyable confection; witty, ludicrous and entertaining * James Urquhart, Financial Times *An astonishing debut...buzzing with energy, fizzing with ideas, intoxicating in its language, Boxer, Beetle is sexy, intelligent and deliriously funny * Jake Arnott *A rambunctious, deftly-plotted delight of a debut * Observer *Ned Beauman's astonishingly assured debut starts as it means to go on: confident, droll, and not in the best of taste . . . Many first novels are judged promising. Boxer, Beetle arrives fully formed: original, exhilarating and hugely enjoyable. * Peter Parker, Sunday Times *Frighteningly assured * Katie Guest, Independent on Sunday *Exuberant . . . There are politics, black comedy, experimentation and wild originality - and I haven't even got to the beetles. Terrific. * The Times *Debut bout is a real knockout . . . dazzling * Daily Express *Its ambitions are enormous, in terms of the range, energy and quality of the writing * Literary Review *Dazzling . . . As in PG Wodehouse and the early Martin Amis the tone is mischievous and impudent without being merely jaunty or wacky . . . in Erksine and Broom we have two endlessly curious heroes whose thoughts are fascinating even at their silliest. * Leo Robson, Express *A witty, erudite debut . . . thick with trivia, it confidently takes on British fascism, the Thule society, anti-Semitism, atonal composition, sex, and the class system . . . An articulate and original romp . . . often gobsmackingly smutty. Beauman is one to watch. * Katie Allen, Time Out *Not one for the easily shocked, young scribe Ned Beauman subjects the reader to a parade of ghoulish events and ghastly theories throughout his dazzling first novel Boxer, Beetle . . . deeply researched and punchily written, this is an utterly unique work that marks the London-based author out as an exciting new voice in fiction. * The List *Beauman skips with panache between his dreadful version of the present and the macabre absurdities of a period when cock-eyed science and rabid anti-Semitism provided a toxic cocktail for the upper classes. His killer irony evokes early Evelyn Waugh, and his lateral take on reality Will Self at his unsettling best. This is humour that goes beyond black, careening off into regions of darkness to deliver the funniest new book I've read in a year or two. * Pete Carty, Independent *Clever, inventive, intelligently structured, genre-spanning, as magpie-like in its references as any graphic novel, and above all, an enjoyable, high-octane read through a fascinating period in history. * Rob Sharp, Independent on Sunday *The 1930s are wonderfully evoked, and the historical sections of the novel are taut, thematically rich and extremely well written . . . it takes real skill to make a tragic hero out of the five-foot, nine-toed alcoholic Seth Roach . . . it's clear from this compelling debut that Beauman can perform the complicated paradoxical trick required of the best 21st-century realist novelists: to take an old and predictable structure and allow it to produce new and unpredictable connections. * Scarlett Thomas, Guardian *An edifying treatise on the absurdity of eugenics and racial theories, and probably the most politically incorrect novel of the decade - as well as the funniest . . . Monstrous misfits with ugly motives are beautifully rendered in a novel where Beauman's scrupulous research is deftly threaded through serious themes in a laugh-out-loud-on-the-train history lesson. * Anna Swan, Sunday Telegraph *I can only gape in admiration at a new writing force and wonder what he's going to produce next. * Victoria Moore, Daily Mail *The scenes set in the past are reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall in their grotesque stupidity and amorality, and the present-day characters are as ruthless as any in modern noir fiction. It also makes a persuasive argument for the moral repercussions of Darwinism and the absurdities of fascism and repressed homosexuality, but that's just three aspects of a witty, fascinating and romping read. * James Medd, Word *Beauman writes with wit and verve. * Carl Wilkinson, Financial Times *'This first novel is as oddball and rambunctious as it sounds. It's also funny, raw and stylish.' * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisNED BEAUMAN HAS BEEN NAMED AS ONE OF GRANTA MAGAZINE''S BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2013LONGLISTED FOR THE 2012 MAN BOOKER PRIZEAN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEARA DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEARAN EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEARThe fantastically inventive, ingenious and hilarious second novel from Ned Beauman, author of the acclaimed and prizewinning BOXER, BEETLE.HISTORY HAPPENED WHILE YOU WERE HUNGOVERWhen you haven''t had sex in a long time, it feels like the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone.If you''re living in Germany in the 1930s, it probably isn''t.But that''s no consolation to Egon Loeser, whose carnal misfortunes will push him from the experimental theatres of Berlin to the absinthe bars of Paris to the physics laboratories of Los Angeles, trying all the while to solve two mysteries: whether it was really a deal with Satan that claimed the life of his hero, Trade ReviewLess than two years after his multi-award-winning debut BOXER BEETLE Ned Beauman returns with another fizzing firework of a caper, featuring as many cracking escapades as its predecessor . . . His prose is wonderfully discursive and buzzes with originality, while scenes of pure farce nod respectfully to Thomas Pynchon and Hunter S Thompson . . . his bold characterisations, slapstick humour, slick similes and tangential subplots are sublime. A strong, smart follow-up that proves Beauman is more than comfortable with the hype he's created for himself. * Time Out *I'm sure it's the funniest novel on the list. * Evening Standard *Terrific . . . if there was ever any worry that he might have crammed all his ideas into his first book, this makes it clear he kept a secret bunker of his best ones aside. * Guardian *'If you care about contemporary writing, you must read this . . . BOXER, BEETLE was acclaimed as the most inventive fictional debut in years, buzzing with energy and ideas, and Beauman's second novel keeps up the pace' * Tatler *I hugely enjoyed Ned Beauman's clever-dick conflation of modern east London with Thirties Berlin . . . the antihero Egon Loeser is as deft and witty a portrait of blinkered self-obsession as I have read * Nick Curtis, Evening StandardBooks of the Year *'THE TELEPORTATION ACCIDENT is a hilarious picaresque that begins in Thirties Berlin (though one so littered with ketamine, haircuts and sad young literary men that it could pass for Dalston in 2012) . . . Beauman manages to be seriously intelligent and seriously funny at the same time' * Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph Books of the Year *Funny and startlingly inventive . . . Beauman is a writer of prodigious talent, and there are enough ideas and allusions and comic set pieces in this work, longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, to fill myriad lesser novels. * FT *[Beauman] is blisteringly funny, witty and erudite . . . Beauman manages to combine the intrigue of a thriller with the imagery of a comedy. It makes for an excellent read. * Daily Telegraph *This is an unquestionably brilliant novel, ribald and wise in equal measure . . . a witty and sometimes deeply moving fictional exegesis of the Modernist twilight. * TLS *A glorious, over-the-top production, crackling with inventive wit and seething with pitchy humour . . . A beguiling success . . . Ingenious . . . There is such an easy felicity in Beauman's writing and such a clever, engaging wit . . . that one feels he could write something as much fun every two years. The prospect of which makes me very, very happy indeed. * Scotsman *An extraordinary, Pynchonesque flea-circus of a book...Ned Beauman's pyrotechnical comic novel, his second, is as violently clever as you'd expect from his earlier book, BOXER, BEETLE... [a] frantically entertaining pasteboard extravaganza * The Sunday Times *He's done it again . . . Beauman does adolescent male lust and anomie with the verve of a young Amis and this is a great romp of a novel, delightful in its inventiveness. * Prospect *A hoot - very clever and charming, with an awesone range of reference. * Sunday Telegraph *Funny, scandalous, decadent and erudite, THE TELEPORTATION ACCIDENT is a hugely enjoyable madness with flavours of Pynchon, Huysmans and Jerome K. Jerome. * Nick Harkaway *Beauman, whose first novel BOXER, BEETLE was widely acclaimed, sets out his stall as a latter-day Evelyn Waugh in this dazzling satire that begins in 1930s Berlin. Biting black comedy. * The Times *Ned Beauman is a very funny writer, but also a very serious one. His second novel is a glorious rigmarole of satire, insanity, genre tropes and aching romantic pain, but never doubt that it is an essentially serious book. * Independent *Its meticulously crafted plot skitters from sci-fi to noir thriller; with comedic interludes and some romance for added sizzle . . . you'll be left bedazzled. * Daily Mail *Beauman has a huge gift for satire and the wry phrase...brought together so immaculately you never notice how hard he's working. * Word Magazine *A novel that turns everything on its head, Beauman's book is critical, funny and deliciously deviant. * The List *Ned Beauman is a writer of unceasing invention and his second novel is replete with ideas. * Metro *Popping with ideas, fizzing with vitality and great fun to quaff. * Independent on Sunday *Ned Beauman has written another very pleasing comic romp through the 1930s, offering a second offbeat perspective on the rise of the Third Reich. It is, once more, full of good jokes, erudite winks and historical whimsy . . . Beauman excels at both the grand, jostling structure and the individual sentence. His similes are often inspired, his dialogue is frequently hilarious, and his ability to keep all the plates spinning, as the story dashes between years and continents, is very impressive. * Literary Review *Lovable, brilliant and entertaining . . . Beauman takes a huge range of styles and genres and pushes them and bends them often to glorious effect . . . Beauman has a huge talent for metaphor and simile and hits with almost all of them. My personal favourite was 'there was enough ice in her voice for a serviceable daiquiri' - very Raymond Chandler. Also brilliant are some of his characters - notably Colonel Gorge who suffers from 'ontological agnosia' brought on by sniffing too much of the car polish that has made him rich, which means that he cannot differentiate between pictures and reality. That this references back to the Brechtian approach to theatre is just one example of the cleverness of Beauman's approach. But mostly, Gorge is just hilarious . . . Beauman is one of the most innovative young writers around and is one to follow. * www.thebookbag.co.uk *It is brilliantly witty, with a pace edging on breathless. Every stage is like the denouement of a great crime novel refigured as science. The reader is constantly challenged (and rewarded) as occurrences alternate between being clear and nebulous. Genuinely exhilarating. * We Love This Book *At times THE TELEPORTATION ACCIDENT is as bloody-mindedly difficult as Egon Loeser, but it builds slowly, brings its threads together with great skill, and Ned Beauman turns a good phrase as his characters dance their line between the cleverly obnoxious and the obnoxiously clever. * SFX *A shape-shifting, time-travelling, genre-teasing treat. * Seven *

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Book SynopsisIn this thrilling novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra—the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sleepers, Gangster, and Midnight Angels—organized crime goes to war with international terrorism in the name of one man’s quest for revenge.   My name is Vincent Marelli, though most people call me The Wolf. You’ve never met me, and if you’re lucky you never will. But in more ways than you could think of, I own you.   I run the biggest criminal operation in the world. We’re invisible but we’re everywhere. Wherever you go, whatever you do, however it is you spend your money, a piece of it lands in our pockets.   You would think that with that kind of power I would be invincible. You would be wrong. I made a mistake, one that a guy like me can never afford to make. I let my guard down. And because I did, my wife and daughters are gone. Murdered by terrorists with a lethal ax to grind.<

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Book SynopsisEven down to its well-set Georgian townhouses, Edinburgh is a hymn to measure and harmony. But on Scotland Street, domestic accord is in short supply. Matthew and Elspeth welcome three new arrivals, though the joys of multiple parenthood are somewhat lost due to sleep deprivation and the difficulties of telling their brood apart. Angus and Domenica are to marry, and Domenica has ambitious and disturbing plans for their living arrangements, especially when it appears that Antonia, in Italy recuperating from Stendhal Syndrome, may not return. And little Bertie, feeling blue, puts himself up for adoption on eBay. Can Edinburgh''s most deliciously dysfunctional residents forsake discord and learn to dance to the same happy tune? Trade ReviewPraise for the 44 Scotland Street series: 'A joyous, charming portrait of city life and human foibles' Sunday Express

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Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi comes a funny and emotional story about two estranged sisters and how far they''ll go to save one of their lives - even if it means swapping identities.Jayne and June Baek are nothing alike. June''s three years older, a classic first-born, know-it-all narc with a problematic finance job and an equally soulless apartment (according to Jayne). Jayne is an emotionally stunted, self-obsessed basket case who lives in squalor, has egregious taste in men, and needs to get to class and stop wasting Mom and Dad''s money (if you ask June). Once thick as thieves, these sisters who moved from Seoul to San Antonio to New York together now don''t want anything to do with each other.That is, until June gets cancer. And Jayne becomes the only one who can help her.Flung together by circumstance, housing woes, and family secrets, will the sisters learn more about each other than they''re willing to confront? ATrade ReviewSneaks up on you with its insight and poignancy * Entertainment Weekly *[Choi] has a knack for capturing the frenetic, vibrating voices and perspectives of young people as they enter and navigate the world * Conde Nast Traveler *The slow reveal that Jayne has plenty of her own demons is skilfully done. A nuanced backstory involving the whole family lets this be much more than a 'problem novel'; these are complicated, real characters to become invested in. * Irish Times *Emotional and multilayered, Yolk is a heartfelt story about the messy, complicated power of family in the face of the unknown. * The Bookseller *

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Book Synopsis''A marvellously exciting - and thought-provoking - time-travelling murder mystery. Smart, funny, moving, atmospheric - I laughed a lot, cried once, could not stop reading, and now actually believe in time travel'' Simon Mason''This book is equal parts tension, explosive drama, and heart. I loved it'' Ben OliverMillie has seven days to save Annie Driscoll from a terrible fate. Millie doesn''t know how or why she has been brought into Annie''s life.But she''s sure of one thing: Annie has already been dead for 68 years. Struggling to come to terms with her uprooted life, Millie is living with her father and his new girlfriend in a building which used to house the most famous women''s prison in the UK. The only remnants of that place is the old prison clock in the hall - a clock that has long been silent. When the clock begins to strike again one night, Millie meets a young, terrified woman in a ce

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Book SynopsisIn An Unrestored Woman, the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 cuts a jagged path through the lives of ordinary women and men, leaving ripples of sorrow through time and space. Each couplet of stories spans the Indian subcontinent, from refugee camps and torched trains to the spacious verandas of the British Raj, and billows into the wider world. An old woman recounts the murdering of what was most precious to her, and the many small cuts that led her to that act. A girl forced into prostitution wields patience as deftly as a weapon, and manages to escape her fate. An Indian servant falls in love with his employer, and spins a twisted web of deceit.The characters in these fearless stories stumble - occasionally towards love, more often towards survival - and find that history, above all, is their truest and greatest opponent. And what emerges, in the midst of newly erected barriers, boundaries, and nations, is a journey into the centre of the only place that mattTrade ReviewShobha Rao writes, with equal power, of the turmoil and tragedy of Great Events, but also the small, intimate lives of those doomed to live through them. In her vivid descriptions of other times and places, people rise above or fall beneath the wheel of history, but all have stories to tell and the wonderful Rao to tell them. This transporting debut will linger in your mind long past the last page -- Karen Joy Fowler, Booker-shortlisted author of We Are All Completely Beside OurselvesWith a sophisticated sense of pacing and patience, the stories build on one another by focusing on how the actions of those in power affect vulnerable women and children on both sides of the divide . . . Though the characters are meticulously developed within each story, the collection as a whole examines how little power a person might have over his or her own destiny when confronted with war and international disputes. Stunning and relentless * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisBY THE AUTHOR OF THE HANDMAID''S TALE, THE TESTAMENTS AND ALIAS GRACE''Dark and witty tales from the gleefully inventive Margaret Atwood. Witty verve, imaginative inventiveness and verbal sizzle vivify every page'' Sunday TimesA recently widowed fantasy writer is guided through a stormy winter evening by the voice of her late husband. An elderly lady with Charles Bonnet syndrome comes to terms with the little people she keeps seeing, while a newly formed populist group gathers to burn down her retirement residence. A woman born with a genetic abnormality is mistaken for a vampire, and a crime committed long ago is revenged in the Arctic via a 1.9 billion-year-old stromatolite.''A collection of nine acerbic, mischievous, gulpable short stories'' Harper''s Bazaar''Atwood''s prose is so sharp and sly that the effect is bracing rather than bleak'' Guardian''[Look at thTrade ReviewDark and witty tales from the gleefully inventive Margaret Atwood . Witty verve, imaginative inventiveness and verbal sizzle vivify every page -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *Atwood illuminates heavy themes with a lightness of touch, giving insight not only into the nature of stone but the trials and tribulations of flesh and blood -- Anita Sethi * Observer *This collection of short stories is charged with a delightful cheekiness . Atwood has characters here close to death, dead already, unwittingly doomed or - in one memorable case - freeze-dried; but her own curiosity, enthusiasm and sheer storytelling panache remain alive and kicking. Anyone keen to consign literary fiction to an early grave will have to deal with her first * Independent *Realism and ridiculousness, play and deadly seriousness, are held in fine balance throughout. This long view throughout the collection is entirely unsparing, both of the vanished past and the vanishing present, but Atwood's prose is so sharp and sly that the effect is bracing rather than bleak * Guardian *Atwood is as puckish as ever with these 'nine wicked tales' . . . 'Lusus Naturae' is a deliciously gothic treat in which the language is so rich you could lick it and 'The Freeze-Dried Groom' is a spine-tingling mini-thriller -- Marcus Field * Independent *Danc[es] over the dark swamps of Horror on the wings of satirical wit. . . . Look at these tales . . . as eight icily refreshing arsenic Popsicles followed by a baked Alaska laced with anthrax, all served with impeccable style and aplomb. Enjoy! -- Ursula K. Le Guin * Financial Times *Astonishing . . . Powerful . . . I loved these strange, sharp and wild stories -- Meg Wolitzer * NPR *Dark and witty tales from the gleefully inventive Margaret Atwood . Witty verve, imaginative inventiveness and verbal sizzle vivify every page -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *Atwood illuminates heavy themes with a lightness of touch, giving insight not only into the nature of stone but the trials and tribulations of flesh and blood -- Anita Sethi * Observer *This collection of short stories is charged with a delightful cheekiness . Atwood has characters here close to death, dead already, unwittingly doomed or - in one memorable case - freeze-dried; but her own curiosity, enthusiasm and sheer storytelling panache remain alive and kicking. Anyone keen to consign literary fiction to an early grave will have to deal with her first * Independent *Realism and ridiculousness, play and deadly seriousness, are held in fine balance throughout. This long view throughout the collection is entirely unsparing, both of the vanished past and the vanishing present, but Atwood's prose is so sharp and sly that the effect is bracing rather than bleak * Guardian *Atwood is as puckish as ever with these 'nine wicked tales' . . . 'Lusus Naturae' is a deliciously gothic treat in which the language is so rich you could lick it and 'The Freeze-Dried Groom' is a spine-tingling mini-thriller -- Marcus Field * Independent *

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Baileys Women''s Prize for Fiction''Extraordinarily affecting'' Alex Preston, Observer''This is a novel whose engine is flesh and blood, not cold ideas . . . Grant brings the 1950s - that odd, downbeat, fertile decade between war and sexual liberation - into sharp, bright, heartbreaking focus'' - Christobel Kent GuardianAll over Britain life is beginning again now the war is over but for Lenny and Miriam, East End London teenage twins who have been living on the edge of the law, life is suspended - they''ve contacted tuberculosis. It''s away to the sanatorium - newly opened by the NHS - in deepest Kent for them where they will meet a very different world: among other patients, an aristocract, a young university grad, a mysterious German woman and an American merchant seaman with big ideas about love and rebellion. They are not the only ones whose lives will be changed forever. ''Grant is so good atTrade ReviewExhilaratingly good . . . This is a novel whose engine is flesh and blood, not cold ideas . . . Grant brings the 1950s - that odd, downbeat, fertile decade between war and sexual liberation - into sharp, bright, heartbreaking focus -- Christobel Kent * Guardian *A Grant novel is always a treat . . . Grant captures the stigma that surrounded TB perfectly * Evening Standard *A writer whose language crackles with vitality and whose descriptive powers are working at such a high level * Spectator *Linda Grant brings a forgotten slice of social and medical history to life by conjuring a rich cast of disparate - though equally desperate - characters observed with wry humour and affection to produce an absorbing and profoundly moving story -- John Harding * Daily Mail *The novel is funny but also poignant . . . I loved it * Stylist *The Dark Circle is, beneath its narrative surface, fiercely political. She poses a large, naggingly relevant, question. What would (will?) privatisation of the NHS mean? Read this fine, persuasive, moving novel and contemplate - if you can dare to - that awful possibility -- John Sutherland * The Times *Fascinating . . . a revealing insight: both funny and illuminating, it is a novel about what it means to treat people well, medically, emotionally and politically -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *Grant is so good at conjuring up atmosphere and writes with earthy vivacity -- Anthony Gardner * Mail on Sunday *Contemporary issues linger ominously in Grant's margins, silently enriching what's already an astonishingly good period piece -- Lucy Scholes * Independent *Her cast of characters is nothing less than a portrayal of post-war, class-riven Britain from the indolent aristocracy, to Oxford-educated blue stockings, and from car salesmen to the bottom of the pile, German emigres and East End Jewish lowlifes . . .This is a novel, above all, about trauma caused by the "dark circle" of tuberculosis, and results in a "tight circle" of comradeship. The ambitious reach of the novel is wisely held in check by its focus on a time when Lenny and Miriam had to discover for themselves what it was to be human * Jewish Chronicle *A rich, engaging novel, further proof that Grant can conjure up a special mood in a specific period with great humour -- Ben Lawrence * Sunday Telegraph *Extraordinarily affecting -- Alex Preston * Observer *An extraordinary depiction of the physical and emotional experience of illness. She marvellously communicates the poignancy of youth and sexuality in the presence of impending death. Grant's voice is unlike any other writer; so immediate and engaged even when writing historical fiction -- Natasha WalterAn amazing subject, wonderfully depicted, with plausible people whom I grew to love . . . the most surprising plot developments. So original and full of life -- Joan Bakewell

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Book Synopsis''A treat for Ferrante fans, exploring the bonds of friendship and how female ambition beats against the strictures of poverty and patriarchal societies'' Huffington PostAn electrifying debut novel - the story of the unbreakable bond between two girls driven apart, and their journeys across continents to find each other again.Poornima and Savitha, born in poverty, have known little kindness in their lives until they meet as teenagers. When an act of devastating cruelty drives Savitha away, Poornima leaves behind everything she has ever known to find her friend.Alternating between the girls'' perspectives as they face apparently insurmountable obstacles on their travels through the darkest corners of India''s underworld and across an ocean, Girls Burn Brighter introduces two heroines who refuse to lose the hope that burns within.Trade Review'Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao blew my heart up. Heart-shards everywhere. I am in awe of the warmth and humanity in this book, even as it explores some incredibly dark places. I'm going to be thinking about Girls Burn Brighter for a while, and you're going to be hearing a lot about it' -- Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the SkyBurns with intensity . . . [Rao] is clearly a writer of great ambition * USA Today *A searing portrait of what feminism looks like in much of the world * Vogue *Shobha Rao writes cleanly and eloquently about women who, without their brightness, might have been left to die in their beds. She writes them into life, into existence, into the light of day * Los Angeles Times *Rao evokes the landscape of poverty with great skill . . . this is a timely portrayal of human traffi cking, cultural misogyny and the battles still fought every day by millions of women worldwide -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *Elegant and eloquent . . . this emotionally devastating story is at times almost too harrowing to read -- Eithne Farry * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisFrom the acclaimed author of Eve Green (a Richard & Judy pick) and Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew, a compelling, wonderful historical gothic novel about lies, love and ghosts set against the backdrop of a Britain on the cusp of the First World War.Trade ReviewBrilliant characterisation, beautiful and mesmerising story: like entering a dream. I was spellbound and couldn't do anything else but keep reading -- Jill DawsonA gorgeous, darkly gothic treat -- Amanda CraigHouse of Glass may start as a ghost story but turns into something much more profound: a lyrical examination of how women carve lives out of a male-dominated society, even with a war looming that will change everyone. I was surprised and moved -- Tracy ChevalierMagical and often extremely moving. A gem * Daily Mail *Moody and atmospheric - and just as compelling [as Daphne du Maurier] . . . Tense, thrilling and a true page-turner * Image magazine *Fletcher's prose is dreamily sensual, full of the light and heat of an English summer, an eerie contrast to the shadows of the oncoming First World War . . . House Of Glass is a beautifully written, gloriously Gothic story of gardens, ghosts and old, uneasy grudges -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *With echoes of Daphne du Maurier, House of Glass is a mesmerising ghost story set in a dilapidated country house where things go bump in the night * Good Housekeeping *A very satisfying read with a clever twist. I loved it * Four Shires *Offers readers many of the pleasures of her earlier work . . . The novel is haunted by secondhand memories of empire and by trees and flowers transplanted from warmer climates, its version of England sustained and undermined by dependence on faraway places * Guardian *As her heroine faces increasing dangers, Fletcher neatly changes the direction in which her story is heading. What seems initially a tale of the supernatural develops into something more * Sunday Times *

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Book Synopsis* This bestselling collection of stories extols the female virtues of discontent, sexual disruptiveness and bad manners - reissued in a HB edition as a companion to Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales

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Book SynopsisDenham Dobie has been brought up in Andorra by her father, a retired clergyman. On his death, she is snatched from this reclusive life and thrown into the social whirl of London by her sophisticated relatives. Denham, however, provides a candid response to the niceties of ''civilised'' behaviour. CREWE TRAIN is one of Macaulay''s wittiest satires. The reactions of Denham to the manners and modes of the highbrow circle in which she finds herself provide a devastating - and very funny - social commentary as well as a moving story.This bitingly funny, elegantly written comedy of manners is as absorbing and entertaining today as on the book''s first publication in 1967.Trade ReviewRose Macaulay is ripe for rediscovery * The Times *One of her very wittiest books * Observer *A pleasure and a triumph -- Eric LinklaterRose Macaulay, who is probably the cleverest of our novelists, has given us yet another of her glittering novels * Country Life *One of the few authors of whom it may be said she adorns our century -- Elizabeth Bowen

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Book Synopsis''Frost in May is the unsurpassed novel of convent school life. This story of a clash between a determined young girl and an authoritarian regime is both perceptive and painfully emotional, convincing in every detail'' - Hermione Lee, ObserverWith a new introduction by Tessa HadleyNanda Gray, the daughter of a Catholic convert, is nine when she is sent to the Convent of Five Wounds. Quick-witted, resilient and eager to please, she accepts this closed world where, with all the enthusiasm of the outsider, her desires and passions become only those the school permits. Her only deviation from total obedience is the passionate friendships she makes.Convent life is perfectly captured - the smell of beeswax and incense; the petty cruelties of the nuns; the eccentricities of Nanda''s school friends.Books in the VMC 40th anniversary series include: Frost in May by Antonia White; The Collected Stories of Grace Pal

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 1967 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, Angela Carter's brilliant imagination and starting intensity of style explore and extend the nature and boundaries of love.Trade ReviewThe boldest of English women writersHer writing is pyrotechnic - fuelled with ideas, packed with images and spangling the night sky with her starry language * Observer *She can glide from ancient to modern, from darkness to luminosity, from depravity to comedy without any hint of strain and without losing the elusive power of the original tales * The Times *Beneath its contemporary surface, this novel shimmers with blurred echoes-from Lewis Carroll, from 'Giselle' and 'Coppelia,' Harlequin and Punch . . . It leaves behind it a flavor, pungent and unsettling * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisA hugely entertaining novel of sex, lies and Americans in Paris, dripping with the sarcasm those Americans are not supposed to have. Published as part of a beautifully designed series to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics.Trade ReviewReaders turn to it again and again for its jokes, which are very funny and remain so after a dozen readings -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *A champagne cocktail . . . Rich, invigorating, and deceptively simple to the taste . . . One falls for Sally Jay Gorce from a great height from the first sentence * Observer *As delightful and delicate an examination of how it is to be twenty and in love and in Paris as I've ever read * Sunday Times *I had to tell someone how much I enjoyed The Dud Avocado. It made me laugh, scream, and guffaw (which, incidentally, is a great name for a law firm)For a highly likeable and amusing narrator, who throws herself into Parisian life. A cult classic to reconnect me with France and feed my love of sharp observational humour . . . a hedonistic whirlwind in Paris and the South of France, pulled along by its whip-smart American heroine, Sally Jay Gore (out of the way, Emily In Paris). This is someone I am desperate to drink Pernod with. Where life has felt so constrained, this was such a liberating read -- Emma Reed * Daily Telegraph *Scandalous and entertaining . . . Both funny and true * Evening Standard ***'A champagne cocktail ... Rich, invigorating, and deceptively simple to the taste ... One falls for Sally Jay Gorce from a great height... * OBSERVER *** 'As delightful and delicate an examination of how it is to be twenty and in love and in Paris as I've ever read’ *SUNDAY TIMES ** 'Both funny and true * EVENING STANDARD *

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Book SynopsisA brilliant novel about the London of today - a shifting, exciting, dangerous place where people search for the meaning of home. Peopled with wonderful characters and, as is usual for this author, a provocative story about our times.Trade ReviewGrant is superb on London life, which is at once atomised and seen as a web of unlikely connections. However, as her by turns humorous and horrifying tale circles and deepens, her deft peeling back of the capital's layers raises increasingly unsettling questions about where all of us might be heading * Daily Mail *A Stranger City is a lush love letter to London that asks questions about what cost Brexit will have on [Grant's] adopted city and its diverse inhabitants . . . the history and ideas about what makes a city tick tumble out of her pen, and she draws her characters with a realist's attention to detail * The Times *[A] shimmering new novel . . . Grant's book is as much a love letter to London as a lament, an ode to pink skin after sunny days and lost gloves waving from railings * The Economist *There is a richness in this novel, found in a migrant experience that is deeply embedded rather than distinct from its environment. Everyone has a complex heritage; even comfortable, integrated lives seem precarious . . . the real achievement of A Stranger City is the way in which its narrative is as fractured and uncertain as the London it portrays. And despite its contemporary relevance, the novel avoids becoming a "state of the nation" tract - it's far too emotionally intelligent for that. It's as much a novel of feelings as ideas, and this is what makes it a compelling read * Guardian *The novel is fleet-footed . . . Londoners of all ages, backgrounds and hues throng the novel . . . The plot's seemingly haphazard quality mirrors the contingency of urban life but the way Grant makes even the minor characters flare into life gives the novel richness and depth. A compelling portrait of contemporary London, it's a novel fit for shifting, uncertain times * Financial Times *There's a Dickensian quality to the opening scene of Grant's seventh novel, yet it's one of the most bitingly contemporary publications of the year - a shifting, polyphonic narrative that seamlessly braids terrorism, climate change, racism, social media and, of course, Brexit * Mail on Sunday *Grant conveys how these sentiments affect her individuals with insightful emotional accuracy * Sunday Times *This is a book to whizz through breathlessly. And to laugh at... A Stranger City feels like a very important novel for right now: no politically ponderous diatribe but a witty, sunlounger-accessible and deeply humanising story about people - about us - and the societal shipwreck we're stuck in * Evening Standard *[A] stunning novel . . . Grant weaves together lots of intricate strands into a meaningful, poignant tale about the loneliness and randomness of big-city life * Good Housekeeping *One of the great novels about London. Unsparing about what makes it ugly, cold-hearted, fractured; but also a hymn of love, full of characters so generously, so compassionately portrayed. And, of course, it's beautifully written * Tom Holland *I really enjoyed A Stranger City, a book that begins with a body in the Thames and with a bold nod at Dickens's Our Mutual Friend. This is a dangerous London of bristling present and haunting future, in which nothing is quite as it seems and everyone has a past that may stretch tolerance or demand surveillance. It's a gripping read * Tablet *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE PULITZER PRIZE AND NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST, GRACE PALEY''Grace Paley''s is exceptional'' KASIA BODDY, GUARDIAN ''Her unladylike gutsiness and friendliness are nonpareil'' EDMUND WHITE, OBSERVER ''They are stories full of the stories we all tell and live by, tall stories as well as short'' SALMAN RUSHDIE Here are all Grace Paley''s classic stories in one volume. From her first book The Little Disturbances of Man (1959) to Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1974) and Later the Same Day (1985), Grace Paley''s quirky, boisterous characters and rich use of language have won her readers'' hearts and secured her place as one of America''s most accomplished short story writers. Her stories are united by her signature interweaving of personal and political truths, her extraordinary capacity for empathy and her pointed depiction of the small and large events that make up daily lifTrade ReviewPaley is as clever a mimic as Philip Roth, as cheerfully zany and aleatory in her vision of New York as Christina Stead, as serendipitous as Donald Bartheleme, but her unladylike gutsiness and friendliness are nonpareil -- Edmund White * Observer *This is a collection full of energy and stunning, quiet innovation . . . it spills over with contempt, raucous humour, sadness and generosity. In it, life and language are synonymous, and there is no higher praise. What a wonderful bookAn understanding of loneliness, lust, selfishness and fatigue that is splendidly comic and unladylikeGrace Paley makes me weep and laugh - and admire. She is that rare kind of writer, a natural, with a voice like no one else's: funny, sad, lean, modest, energetic, acuteThese stories, brief and extended, burn with a high-energy commitment to the great work of being alive. They are stories full of the stories we all tell and live by, tall stories as well as short . . . And they are stories in which the whole of a world, its children, its dead, its furniture, its snacks, is lovingly and unsentimentally named. Named, and not forgivenGrace Paley is one of the great writers of voice of the last century. There's an experience one has reading a stylist like her that has to do with how rich in truth the phrase-or-sentence-level bursts are and how quickly they follow upon one another . . . A writer like Paley comes along and brightens language up again, takes it aside and gives it a pep talk, sends it back renewed, so it can do its job, which is to wake us upGrace Paley's work makes the novel as a form seem virtually redundant. Each one of her stories has more abundant inner life than most other people's novels . . . Her prose presents a series of miracles of poetic compressionGrace Paley is the most intelligent, generous, incorruptible writer I ever knew. Her daughter says, 'I learned from her that precision requires a warm eye, not a cold one,' and so did we all. Keen wit and real modesty seldom occur in such happy alliance. Who she was is what she writes. She never shows off, never bullies. She asks us what do you think about this? and is interested in our answer. She takes nothing for granted and everything as worth rethinking. Her writing on social issues remains timely because it was never superficial; she held understanding more useful than judgment. Very few writers can match the offhand voice, with its unmistakable oral cadence, in which her poignant, funny short stories are toldAs long as there are human beings wondering who they are, and how they can be better - looking for a more full-hearted way of being In the world - there will be readers for the great, beloved, much-missed Grace Paley

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Book Synopsis''The wonderful Noel Streatfeild''s Christmas Stories collects, for the first time, nine festive stories originally written for annuals and magazines in the 1940s and 1950s . . . As ever, Streatfeild''s children always feel utterly real and relatable. A beautifully produced treat'' Anna Carey, Irish Times In this captivating collection of stories by the author of Ballet Shoes, there are auditions on stage and antics on ice, trips to the pantomime, holiday adventures, and laughter shared with family and friends. Charming, heartwarming and funny, this collection will bring joy to readers of all ages.Originally written in 1940s-60s for annuals, magazines and the radio, these stories have never been collected before.With enchanting line drawings by by Peter Bailey.Stories include:The AuditionThe Bells Keep Twelfth NightThe Moss RoseThimbleThe PrincessThe ChainChristmas at CollersThe Pantomime GooseSkating to the StarsTrade ReviewStreatfeild was an accomplished writer of short stories and this lovely collection highlights some of her festive best. The perfect present to read with your children this Christmas * Independent i *[Expect] escapism and writerly ease as Noel Streatfeild recounts stories of auditions on stage, adventures on ice and holiday mayhem. They're social records and thrilling reads * The Times *The wonderful Noel Streatfeild's Christmas Stories collects, for the first time, nine festive stories originally written for annuals and magazines in the 1940s and 1950s ... As ever, Streatfeild's children always feel utterly real and relatable. A beautifully produced treat -- Anna Carey * Irish Times *Not only is this a gorgeous little book, the short stories in Noel Streatfeild's Christmas Stories have never been collected together in one place before. A treat for readers of all ages * Good Housekeeping *

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Book Synopsis''One of the most impressive accounts of madness to be found in literature'' ANITA BROOKNER''Lyrical, touching and deeply entertaining'' JOHN MORTIMER, OBSERVER''Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking'' ELEANOR CATTON''I was now an established citizen with little hope of returning across the frontier; I was in the crazy world, separated now by more than locked doors and barred windows from the people who called themselves sane.''When Janet Frame''s doctor suggested that she write about her traumatic experiences in mental institutions in order to free herself from them, the result was Faces in the Water, a powerful and poignant novel.Istina Mavet descends through increasingly desolate wards, with the threat of leucotomy ever present. As she observes her fellow patients, long dismissed by hospital staff with humour and compassion, she reveals her original and questing mind. This Trade ReviewOne of the most impressive accounts of madness to be found in literature . . . A masterpieceLyrical, touching and deeply entertaining * Observer *What an extraordinary woman she is, overcoming such obstacles, and making fresh and good use of them in her workJanet Frame's luminous words are the more precious because they were snatched from the jaws of the disaster of her early life . . . and yet to read her is no more difficult than breathingJanet Frame is the greatest New Zealand writer. She is utterly herself. Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking

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Book Synopsis* 'A surefire hit' Jo Spain * 'Masterful' Karen Thompson Walker * 'I could not put it down' Eliza Robertson *THIS DAY NEVER HAPPENED.YOU HEAR ME?By a frozen lake, ten-year-old Jesse waits for his father.It's New Year's Day, and his dad promised a fresh start.But Jesse messed it all up. And that's when he meets the woman.In the months ahead, the woman's sudden disappearance sets off a chain of events in Whale Bay, spanning out like fracture lines into the lives of her husband, the detective trying to solve her case, and of Jesse and his family - a young boy cracking like ice under the weight of a terrible secret. How A Woman Becomes a Lake is a chilling literary mystery that asks what happens when we are failed by the ones we love.

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Book Synopsis''[Her work] defines universal truths about what it means to be human'' Barack Obama''Marilynne Robinson is one of the greatest writers of our time'' Sunday Times ''Jack is the fourth in Robinson''s luminous, profound Gilead series and perhaps the best yet'' Observer Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the American National Humanities Medal, returns to the world of Gilead with Jack, the final in one of the great works of contemporary American fiction.Jack tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the loved and grieved-over prodigal son of a Presbyterian minister in Gilead, Iowa, a drunkard and a ne''er-do-well. In segregated St. Louis sometime after World War II, Jack falls in love with Della Miles, an African-American high school teacher, also a preacher''s child, with a discriminating mind, a generous spirit and an independent will. Their fraught, beautiful stTrade ReviewRadiant and visionary, the fourth Gilead novel explores whether a minister's prodigal son can be redeemed by love . . . [Marilynne Robinson is] a writer of magisterial wisdom and skill . . . This has been Robinson's project: to perceive "this teeming world", as she puts it, "so steeped in its sins", and all the same to insist on what is best and loveliest -- Sarah Perry * Guardian *Marilynne Robinson is one of the greatest writers of our time. In 2008 I concluded my article: "I'm not saying that you're actually dead if you haven't read Marilynne Robinson, but I honestly couldn't say you're fully alive." I have not changed my mind -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *The fourth in Robinson's luminous, profound Gilead series and perhaps the best yet, a sad story about love, race and midwestern mores * Observer *Each of [Robinson's] novels has celebrated the fact that the ineffable is inseparable from the quotidian, and rendered the ineffable, quotidian world back to us, peculiar, luminous and precise . . . There are passages when Jack's eye glimmers so clearly on the moment, when his dream logic feels so apt, that the whole world Robinson has illuminated with such care and attention reappears, and we are returned to the prophetic everyday -- Jordan Kisner * Atlantic *Marilynne Robinson's novel has some of the beats of a romantic comedy. The principals are charismatic, their conversation sparky. Jack can be read as a stand-alone, but the book gains much from what many readers will bring to it of their knowledge of its central character from his appearances in the trilogy of novels that preceded this one. Every time Robinson tells this story, it is both a better story and truer -- Dr Nikhil Krishnan * Telegraph *If your soul isn't stirred by a novel about Jack, chances are you haven't signed up to the doctrine of Marilynne Robinson, one of America's defining writers . . . Robinson's writing is numinous but never alienating to secular readers, because the issues she tackles are universal, with complicated parent-child dynamics a favourite -- Susie Mesure * The i *It could be said that the attempt to understand how things are is at the heart of Robinson's remarkable body of work. Jack fits beautifully into the subtle weave of Robinson's Gilead books; that said, it could perfectly well be read on its own -- Erica Wagner * Financial Times *It is an immensely satisfying and bittersweet end to an astonishing series. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about these four books taken as a whole is the whole-hearted commitment to the novel as a moral endeavour. They are beautiful, and they are true -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *This is a sunnier book than anyone might have expected, an unlikely love story, both funny and sublime: we see two souls awakening to love in that down-to-earth yet transcendent vein that is Robinson's special hallmark -- Nonnie Minogue * Literary Review *In Gilead, the first volume, the Rev. John Ames writes that 'a good sermon is one side of a passionate conversation,' and Ms. Robinson's novels work that way, too, replying to one another, querying, clarifying or rebutting, but always sustaining a dialogue that feels as grand and as inexhaustible as the mysteries they explore . . . These novels honor creation by affording us something we only occasionally find in the vastness of existence: a glimpse of eternity, such as it is * Wall Street Journal *Jack Boughton has been present, even when he was painfully absent, throughout Robinson's profound saga and now he steps forward to illuminate the hidden facets of his peripatetic life of lies, thievery, bad luck and dangerous love. Robinson's latest glorious work of metaphysical and moral inquiry, nuanced feelings, intricate imagination and exquisite sensuousness begins at night inside the locked gates of a St. Louis cemetery where Jack, an alcoholic, sarcastic and self-loathing white man living rough, encounters the woman he loves, Della Miles, who is a disciplined, poetry-loving, Black and a devoted high school history teacher . . . Myriad manifestations of pain are evoked, but here, too, are beauty, humour, mystery and joy as Robinson holds us rapt with the exactitude of her perceptions and the exhilaration of her hymnal cadence, and so gracefully elucidates the complex sorrows and wonders of life and spirit * Booklist *On one, rapturous level, this book is a romance. Nothing can be wrong, at least for the moment, between these lovers. "And then they embraced, and what an embrace it was, as if they two had survived flood and fire, as if they had solved loneliness." It is a remarkable fact of Marilynne Robinson's genius that every page or paragraph of Jack could stand for the whole book -- Anne Enright * London Review of Books *A sometimes tender, sometimes fraught story of interracial love in a time of trouble . . . The story flows swiftly- and without a hint of inevitability - as Robinson explores a favorite theme, 'guilt and grace met together'. An elegantly written proof of the thesis that love conquers all - but not without considerable pain * Kirkus (starred review) *Robinson has won multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Her latest novel, the fourth in the Gilead series, is the story of the fraught but life-changing relationship between John Ames Boughton, a white man who has recently been released from prison, and Delia Miles, an African American teacher, in 1950s St Louis * Good Housekeeping *Jack - the fourth in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead series - follows a wayward son who absconded from the rigours of his Calvinist home into a life of petty crime and moral doubt. This is his story: the hesitant wooing of a black schoolteacher, their blossoming love, her family's rejection of that love and his settling of their future. The segregationist background makes for troubled events; the characters' inner confusions make for tenderness in the telling. Robinson rewards our high expectations -- Joan Bakewell * New Statesman (Best books of 2020) *It is the strangest beginning of a romance: a night locked in a graveyard in St Louis. And so staggeringly complex, ethereal and witty is the dialogue and interaction between the two principle players . . . we are with them through every minute of their blossoming connection. This is the fourth in Marilynne Robinson's magnificent Gilead series and delves deep into the heart of the American spirit * Sainsbury's magazine *A meditation on human decency and the capacity for redemption * New York Times *Can love save a man from perdition? That question, braided with romance and religion, is at the heart of Marilynne Robinson's new novel . . . Robinson cradles [Jack's] love for Della with the tenderness of a gracious creator -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *Not just a meditation on faith and human suffering but a singular portrait of the divine -- Leah Greenblatt * Entertainment Weekly *Jack is the fourth novel in Robinson's Gilead series, an intergenerational saga of race, religion, family, and forgiveness centered on a small Iowa town. But it is not accurate to call it a sequel or a prequel. Rather, this book and the others - Gilead, Home, and Lila - are more like the Gospels, telling the same story four different ways . . . At seventy-six, she is still trying to convince the rest of us that her habit of looking backward isn't retrograde but radical, and that this country's history, so often seen now as the source of our discontents, contains their remedy, too -- Casey Cep * New Yorker *the rare treat of a new novel from Marilynne Robinson * Guardian *I have been hoping for this book for six years, ever since I read Marilynne Robinson's last novel, Lila. She writes with breathtaking grace and intelligence and Jack will be the fourth in the now classic series that began with Gilead. Where to read such a treasure? Somewhere very quiet where you can savour each word - in front of the fire, wrapped in the finest blanket -- Rachel Joyce * Sainsbury's magazine *Feckless, reckless Jack meets pious Della, a black teacher, and the unlikely pair fall in love. Poetry, God and a playful humour illuminate their relationship in a world benighted by racial segregation. Jack is an elegant study of faith and love in troubled times -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *Robinson's genius lies her ability to inhabit the voices of her very different characters so completely; this book is no different, and I loved it. * Church Times (Best books of the year) *From the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and American National Humanities Medal comes Jack, an exploration into faith and pastoralism set in the richly imagined community of Gilead. Touching on themes of love, racism and religion in post-World War II small-town America, it's a fraught love story between John and Della. Praised for being one of Robison's greatest achievements, it's no wonder this featured in Obama's favourites * Independent *

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Book Synopsis''A literary giant, and one of my absolute favourite writers'' TAYARI JONES, AUTHOR OF AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE''An American writer with a powerful sense of vital inheritance, of history in the blood'' JOHN UPDIKE, NEW YORKER''Eva''s silence, and her status here as legally insane, are eloquent testimony to the condition of being a woman in this man''s world'' KIRKUS REVIEWS Eva Medina Canada sits in her psychiatric ward, silent and unremorseful. She has murdered her lover and they want to know why. Her memories weave back and forth over encounters with the men in her life - the schoolboy who played doctors and nurses with a dirty popsicle stick; her mother''s boyfriend; her cousin; her husband; a stranger on the bus. She''s been propositioned and abused for as long as she can remember.Trade ReviewAn American writer with a powerful sense of vital inheritance, of history in the blood * New Yorker *Corregidora was a small, fiercely concentrated story, harsh and perfectly told . . . Original, superbly imagined, nothing about the book was simple or easily digested. Out of the worn themes of miscegenation and diminishment, Gayl Jones excavated the disturbingly buried damage of racism. Eva's Man is a deepened exploration of the woman's inner life; of the pressures, the cruelties, the imposed expectations * New Republic *Gayl Jones . . . accomplishes the almost impossible: a second novel that's every bit as intense, brutally honest and haunting as her first * Mademoiselle *Jones's writing powerfully blends narrative and lyricism. Her people speak a spare, lean, Southern black language . . . Her imagination seems to thrive on outstripping one's expectations * Newsweek *Gayl Jones's work remains essential and vital; I will be rereading her catalogue for the rest of my life * Nylon *Gayl Jones is one furious, lacerating writer. You don't read her easily, and you can't forget her at all . . . Hyper-real and traumatic as this novel is, it's one that's been waiting to be written since Samuel Richardson gave us the male point of view of Clarissa, that other fallen woman whose only acceptable alternative to ravishment was death. Eva's silence, and her status here as legally insane, are eloquent testimony to the condition of being a woman in this man's world * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisA humorous yet moving novel of redemption, featuring an original protagonist with an eccentric past and her own brand of wisdom.Trade ReviewAn American writer with a powerful sense of vital inheritance, of history * New Yorker *An important American writer . . . The Healing examines precisely what its title announces: healing from silence, from physical attacks and treachery, from spiritual and cultural isolation, from the pain of old-fashioned, aching, bluesy love . . . It is also a very funny book . . . A moving affirmation of forgiveness and trust . . . The Healing should be cause for hope, sustenance and even celebration * New York Times *Compelled by the southern speech and taut, sparring dialogue of the early fiction, [The Healing] has a witty, savvy, sometimes cynical edge . . . As Harlan trawls black culture, Jones slyly combines folksy, vernacular wisdom with discursive flights. Into this fluid pastiche she mixes pop culture - Oprah, Denzel, Tina Turner - with allusions to Chaucer, Henry James, Ralph Ellison, Ishmael Reed . . . the novel's richness lies in its entertaining meandering, and the vitality of its spoken rhythms * Guardian *Gayl Jones's work remains essential and vital; I will be rereading her catalogue for the rest of my life * Nylon *One of the most distinguished African American women of letters, Jones offers her first novel to be published in twenty years. It is gripping, beautiful and well worth the wait * Ms. Magazine *

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Book SynopsisBY ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WRITERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY With a new introduction by JESMYN WARD ''Fierce, insightful and often devilishly funny'' COLIN GRANT, GUARDIAN ''One of the greatest writers of our time'' TONI MORRISON ''A bold and beautiful book'' CARL SANDBURG Born on the wrong side of the creek, John Buddy Pearson, the son of a slave, has come a long way since his shoeless days. With some schooling, a job and marriage to clever Lucy Potts, his fortunes are looking up. But, unable to resist the lure of women or a fight, he''s forced to flee town or face life on the chain gang.John finds himself in Sanford, Florida, and sends for Lucy and the children. There, he discovers a talent for preaching, and, with the support of his wife, becomes pastor of Zion Hope Church, rousing his congregation with his fervent sermons. He is now a pillar of the community, respected and popular. BeforTrade ReviewFierce, insightful and often devilishly funny, her satirical writing is particularly biting -- Colin Grant * Guardian *One of the greatest writers of our timeZora Neale Hurston was a knockout in her life, a wonderful writer and a fabulous person. Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixtureA bold and beautiful book, many a page priceless and unforgettable

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