Contemporary fiction titles are those which focus on the present or near past. Stories rooted in the current cultural, social, and political landscape which feature characters we can all recognise.
Contemporary Fiction Books
Transworld Publishers Ltd Bryant May and the Invisible Code
Book SynopsisWinner of CrimeFest 2013''s ''eDunnit Award'' for ''the best crime fiction ebook published in 2012 in both hardcopy and in electronic format''.Two small children are playing a game called ''Witch-Hunter''. They place a curse on a young woman taking lunch in a church courtyard and wait for her to die. An hour later the woman is indeed found dead inside St Bride''s Church - a building that no-one else has entered.Unfortunately Bryant & May are refused the case. Instead, there are hired by their greatest enemy to find out why his wife has suddenly started behaving strangely. She''s become an embarrassment to him at government dinners, and he is convinced that someone is trying to drive her insane. She has even taken to covering the mirrors in her apartment, and believes herself to be the victim of witchcraft.Then a society photographer is stabbed to death in a nearby park and suddenly a link emerges between the two cases. And so begins an investigation thTrade ReviewThese crime novels have enjoyed a cult following, thanks to Fowler's writing which has been compared to Agatha Christie and Ben Aaronovitch. A cracking summer read. * STYLIST MAGAZINE *Bryant and May series... is witty, charming, intelligent, wonderfully atmospheric and enthusiastically plotted. -- Marcel Berlins * The Times *This quirky series, which describes the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly stars, Bryant and May, does include macabre and horrifying passages, but they are rendered almost cheerful by the wit and humour of the writing... if you like oddities, this series is a very good example. * The Literary Review *
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd Bryant May The Bleeding Heart
Book SynopsisIt's a fresh start for the Met''s oddest investigation team, the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Their first case involves two teenagers who see a dead man rising from his grave in a London park. And if that''s not alarming enough, one of them is killed in a hit and run accident. Stranger still, in the moments between when he was last seen alive and found dead on the pavement, someone has changed his shirt...Much to his frustration, Arthur Bryant is not allowed to investigate. Instead, he has been tasked with finding out how someone could have stolen the ravens from the Tower of London. All seven birds have vanished from one of the most secure fortresses in the city. And, as the legend has it, when the ravens leave, the nation fallsSoon it seems death is all around and Bryant and May must confront a group of latter-day bodysnatchers, explore an eerie funeral parlour and unearth the gruesome legend of Bleeding Heart Yard. More graves are desecrated, further deaths occur, and the sy
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd Night School
Book SynopsisI know I say this every year. . .But. Best. Reacher. Ever. (Karin Slaughter)It''s just a voice plucked from the air: ''The American wants a hundred million dollars''.For what? Who from? It''s 1996, and the Soviets are long gone. But now there''s a new enemy. In an apartment in Hamburg, a group of smartly-dressed young Saudis are planning something big.In the morning they gave Reacher a medal, and in the afternoon they sent him back to school.Jack Reacher is fresh off a secret mission. The Army pats him on the back and sends him to a school with only three students: Reacher, an FBI agent, and a CIA analyst. Their assignment?To find that American. And what he''s selling. And to whom. _________Although the Jack Reacher novels can be read in any order, Night School is 21st in the series.And be sure not to miss Reacher''s newest adventure, no.29, In Too Deep! Trade ReviewEver more gripping...Night School is the closest that Reacher has come to being a secret agent, making this expertly paced thriller and addictive combination of spy yarn, detective story and beat-'em-up fightfest. * Sunday Times *I know I say this every year...But. Best. Reacher. Ever. -- Karin SlaughterReacher... wins all fights, charms all women and outsmarts all rivals, friend or foe.What makes Night School the best of the Reacher novels I've read is that Child has concocted a brilliant plot...battling to save America, or maybe the entire civilised world, from a terrorist plot that is original, engrossing and all too believable...one of the best thrillers you'll read this year. * Washington Post *Dripping with irony and oozing dread...utterly gripping...Acute observation reveals "every detail of the glowing scene". Many so-called literary novels lack such skill. -- Mark Sanderson * Evening Standard *This latest instalment has all the classic ingredients: a great setting, a good villain, and a mystery that draws you in efficiently, escalates unpredictably, and has a satisfying resolution. -- John Lanchester * New Yorker *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Where Theres Smoke
Book SynopsisThere is no more running, only the need to hide...Imagine not knowing the father of your child. Although she is desperate for a baby, that is something that Kate Powell cannot accept. Then Kate meets a man who seems to be the answer to all her problems.Trade ReviewBrilliant. One of the best novels I've read in years * MARTINA COLE *A strong heroine penned by a man . . . should grip readers of both sexes all the way to its incendiary climax * MICHAEL CORDY, bestselling author of The Miracle Strain *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Past Tense
Book SynopsisJACK REACHER NEVER LOOKS BACK . Accept no substitutes.' - Mick Herron.The present can be tense .Trade ReviewAbsolutely loved Past Tense – Lee Child just gets better and better, which is a very rare quality in a writer of a long-run series. Whip smart, always compelling, always fun, he is dangerously addictive. -- Peter JamesJack Reacher is today's James Bond, a thriller hero we can't get enough of -- Ken FollettI loved it. One of the best. -- Jonathan RossIt’s Lee Child. Why would you not read it? -- Karin SlaughterSometimes you just want someone who can beat the s*** out of people! I pick up Jack Reacher when I’m in the mood for someone big to solve my problems -- Patricia Cornwell
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd No Middle Name
Book SynopsisJack 'No Middle Name' Reacher, lone wolf, knight errant, ex military cop, lover of women, scourge of the wicked and righter of wrongs, is the most iconic hero for our age. This book collects all Lee Child's shorter fiction featuring Jack Reacher. It sheds new light on Reacher's past.Trade ReviewAfter 21 missions in 20 years no one can be in any doubt that messing up bad guys is what the ex-military policeman does best — and these 12 tall tales suggest he’s been doing it all his life... Lee Child, like his creation, always knows exactly what he’s doing — and he does it well. Time in his company is never wasted. The first three chapters of his next Reacher novel, The Midnight Line — due in November — leave you wanting more. -- Mark Sanderson * Evening Standard *The Midnight Line...won't be published until early November. This collection of every short story Child has penned about the rootless Reacher will serve to keep any cravings at bay...True fans will love this. * Irish Independent *If you ever wonder about the past of Jack Reacher - the action hero whose adventures shift millions - then get this collection of short stories. Including a new novella, the clever, twisty tales reveal that even the 13-year-old Reacher was a force to be reckoned with. * Sunday Mirror *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Bryant May Englands Finest
Book Synopsis''Winningly eccentric . . . London, in all its non-homogenous, sprawling splendour, is as much a character as Fowler''s sleuthing duo'' Barry Forshaw, Financial TimesThe Peculiar Crimes Unit has solved many extraordinary cases over the years, but some were hushed up and hidden away. Until now.Arthur Bryant remembers these lost cases as if they were yesterday. Unfortunately, he doesn''t remember yesterday, so the newly revealed facts could come as a surprise to everyone, including his exasperated partner John May.Here, then, is the truth about the Covent Garden opera diva and the seventh reindeer, the body that falls from the Tate Gallery, the ordinary London street corner where strange accidents keep occurring, the consul''s son discovered buried in the unit''s basement, the corpse pulled from a swamp of Chinese dinners, a Hallowe''en crime in the Post Office Tower, and the impossible death that''s the fault of a forgotten London legend. All
£8.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd Bryant May Oranges and Lemons
Book Synopsis''The most consistently brilliant, entertaining and educational voice in contemporary British crime fiction, the utterly fabulous Christopher Fowler.'' Cathi Unsworth, CRIMESQUADIt''s a Sunday morning, and the outspoken Speaker of the House of Commons has just been crushed under a mountain of citrus fruit . . .Bizarre accident or something more sinister? The government needs to know because here''s a man who knows a thing or two that could compromise its future.Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit should be on the case, however it seems the PCU is no more with one detective is in hospital, the other gone AWOL with the rest of the team having been dismissed. But events escalate, and soon a series of brutal yet undeniably clever killings linked to an old English nursery rhyme threaten society''s very foundations and out-of-the-blue the PCU is (temporarily) back in business.And if the two detectives - ''old men in a wo
£9.49
Transworld Sweet Fury
Book SynopsisSash Bischoff is a writer and director. She attended Princeton University, where she trained under Jeffrey Eugenides and Joyce Carol Oates, won Princeton's Creative Writing Fiction Award, and founded the Princeton Writers Group. She has written numerous plays that have been developed at theatres throughout the US, and has held residencies at Ragdale, PLAYA, the Albee Foundation, Caldera, and Sirenland Writers Workshop. As a director, she has worked on Broadway and Off. She grew up as an actor, and won the National Arts Award (NFAA) for Acting. She currently lives in New York with her husband and their many pets.
£16.14
Transworld Publishers Ltd Relight My Fire
Book SynopsisBorn in Limerick and raised in Dublin, C K (Caimh) McDonnell is a former stand-up comedian and TV writer. He performed all around the world, had several well-received Edinburgh shows and supported acts such as Sarah Millican on tour before hanging up his clowning shoes to concentrate on writing. He has also written for numerous TV shows and been nominated for a Kid's TV BAFTA.His debut novel, A Man With One of Those Faces - a comic crime novel - was published in 2016 and spawned The Dublin Trilogy books and the spin-off McGarry Stateside series. They have been Amazon bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic. As C. K. McDonnell, he is the author of The Stranger Times series contemporary comic fantasy series.Caimh lives in Manchester. To find out more, visit whitehairedirishman.comTrade ReviewMcDonnell's world is transgressively hilarious, grimly banal and beguilingly warm. Of course there's a story that the intrepid journalists of The Stranger Times have to tease out: grave-robbing, cryogenics, a very angry witch, and a washed-up indie legend looking for a lost album, but the real joy lies in the pitfalls and pratfalls of getting there. -- Jamie Buxton * DAILY MAIL *An absolute riot of a read. * DAILY EXPRESS *Laugh-out-loud funny and full of colourful characters. * DAILY MIRROR *It’s no secret that here at SciFiTowers we’re massive fans of the Stranger Times series by C. K. McDonnell. Following the success of Love Will Tear Us Apart (which made February 2023’s list of best books), he’s back with book number four and we return to Manchester and the world of The Stranger Times newspaper who cover anything weird and wonderful. * SciFiNOW *I loved the dry and embedded humour of this book, it's the stuff of life . . . the whole thing is great fun. * SFCROSWNEST *
£17.09
Random House USA Inc Untitled 2
Book SynopsisSince winning the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her first novel, The Hungry Tide, Val Wood has become one of the most popular authors in the UK.Born in the mining town of Castleford, Val came to East Yorkshire as a child and has lived in Hull and rural Holderness where many of her novels are set. She now lives in the market town of Beverley.When she is not writing, Val is busy promoting libraries and supporting many charities. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Hull for service and dedication to literature.Find out more about Val Wood's novels by visiting her website: www.valwood.co.uk
£17.00
Transworld House of Monstrous Women
Book SynopsisDaphne Fama was born in the American South, embedded in the tight-knit Filipino community. Like many of her peers, she became an attorney, but prefers fiction to contracts and forms. When she's not writing stories about monsters and broken women full of yearning, she's writing about video games. And when she's not writing, she's spending every minute adoring her partner and pup.
£15.29
Transworld A Slow Fire Burning
Book SynopsisTHE ADDICTIVE NEW SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN''Shocking, moving, full of heart . . . A Slow Fire Burning shows a writer at the height of her powers.'' Observer (Thriller of the Month)''Superbly told, its twists and turns reveal the slow fire burning inside each which might just destroy them. Utterly compelling.'' Daily Mail''What is wrong with you?''Laura has spent most of her life being judged. She''s seen as hot-tempered, troubled, a loner. Some even call her dangerous.Miriam knows that just because Laura is witnessed leaving the scene of a horrific murder with blood on her clothes, that doesn''t mean she''s a killer. Bitter experience has taught her how easy it is to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.Carla is reeling from the brutal murder of her nephew. She trusts no one: good people are capable of terri
£17.00
Transworld Undercurrent
Book Synopsis''Lyrical'' Daily Mail''Beautiful'' Spectator''Skilled'' Financial Times''Vulnerable'' Guardian''Deft'' Independent''Profound'' Observer''The beginning of summer. Perhaps it crosses my mind even now while I wait for news of Amy that something is coming towards us. Like sighting the first slow swell of a wave.''Years ago, in an almost accidental moment of heroism, Ed saved Amy from drowning. Now, in his thirties, he finds himself adrift. He''s been living in London for years - some of them good - but he''s stuck in a relationship he can''t move forward, has a job that just pays the bills, and can''t shake the sense that life should mean more than this. Perhaps all Ed needs is a moment to pause. To exhale and start anew. And when he meets Amy again by chance, it seems that happiness might not be so far out of reach. But then tragedy overtakes him
£13.59
Transworld Publishers Ltd Thud
Book SynopsisTerry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books which have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood for services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any. www.terrypratchettbooks.comTrade ReviewPratchett can make you giggle helplessly and then grin grimly at the sharpness of his wit. * A.S. Byatt *'Thud! has a serious theme: racial intolerance. That Pratchett can explore this while still making us laugh is a tribute to the integrity of his created world ... Extremely funnym but it's also very near the knuckleduster.' * Scotland on Sunday *
£14.24
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Travelling Cat Chronicles
Book SynopsisHiro Arikawa (Author) HIRO ARIKAWA is the multi-million-copy bestselling author of THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES and THE GOODBYE CAT. Passing through a scenic mountainous region of Japan, the famous Hankyu line is a privately run railway that connects Osaka and Kyoto and is famous for its maroon-coloured vintage-style carriages. One of its much-visited stops is the city of Takarazuka, where the author of this book lives. Published twenty years ago, this enduring Japanese classic has sold 1.4 million copies and has been published worldwide.Philip Gabriel (Translator) Philip Gabriel is the author of Mad Wives and Island Dreams: Shimao Toshio and the Margins of Japanese Literature and Spirit Matters: The Transcendent in Modern Japanese Literature and has translated many novels and short stories by the writer Haruki Murakami and other modern writers. He is recipient of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the TranslationTrade ReviewAnyone who has ever unashamedly loved an animal will read this book with gratitude, for its understanding of an emotion that ennobles us as human beings, whether we value it or not * GUARDIAN *Fleet, funny and tender... Arikawa clearly knows cats as well as any human can. * TIME *It has the warmth, painterly touch, and tenderness of a Studio Ghibli film - and it is a delight to read * FINANCIAL TIMES *Bewitching… as self-possessed and comforting as – well, a cat * Sunday Telegraph *The Travelling Cat Chronicles is delightful. Like a tender feline companion the uniqueness of this book is its subtle yet persistent charm that insinuates itself into your heart long after the encounter has ended. * FIONA MELROSE *A book about kindness and love, and about how the smallest things can provide happiness * STYLIST *Arikawa has a lightness of touch that elevates this to a tale about loyalty and friendship ... while speaking to our basic human need for companionship * IRISH TIMES *Heart-wrenching but uplifting * RED MAGAZINE *The Travelling Cat Chronicles is why I read books. This beautiful story has everything. It's funny, heart-warming, heart-breaking and kind. * FOREWORD BOOKS *Prepare to have your heart strings tugged by this quirky tale . . . It's a deceptively gentle story that you won't need to be a cat lover to fall for. * SUNDAY MIRROR *Sweet, sad and lovely, this is a roadtrip novel with a difference * PSYCHOLOGIES MAGAZINE *This is the book I am giving everyone . . . the book I am recommending to anyone buying something Japan-related or cat-related, and, quite possibly, the book I am placing in someone's hand when they ask me what my favourite book is. For a bookseller, that is the highest accolade a book can ever receive * WATERSTONES YORK *A beautiful travelogue * SYDNEY MORNING HERALD *This story of a cat, a man, self-sacrifice and friendship will have you totally captivated ... An addictive tale of friendship and love. * WOMAN'S WEEKLY *i found myself sobbing ... unable, unwilling to let this joyful little book go * NPR *Stunningly beautiful. Tender, warm, sad and uplifting * THE LAST WORD REVIEW *I would urge people not to dismiss this as a 'cat book'; it is too much about human interaction and relationships to be so simply defined. A novel with wide appeal. I predict it will make a popular Christmas gift. * READINGS, BOOK GUIDE, AUSTRALIA *I'm not ashamed to say it had me at meow. * WASHINGTON POST *A book that stands out within the world of cat literature ... and it's a world worth exploring. * TIME MAGAZINE *I found myself sobbing ... unable, unwilling, to let this little book go. * NPR *The Travelling Cat Chronicles is as much a loving tribute to Japan’s obsession with and reverence for cats as it is an endearing introduction for non-Japanese readers to the country’s ever-fascinating culture and deeply rooted traditions. * SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE *A book that speaks volumes about our need for connection - human, feline or otherwise. * SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE *This touching novel of a brave cat and his gentle, wise human will resonate with lovers of animal tales, quiet stories of friendship, and travelogues alike. * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *Gentle, soft-spoken, and full of wisdom * KIRKUS REVIEWS *A delight to read * FINANCIAL TIMES *Prepare to have your heartstrings tugged by this quirky tale * SUNDAY MIRROR *
£9.49
Transworld You have a friend in 10A
Book SynopsisBY THE AUTHOR OF THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AND 2022 WOMEN''S FICTION PRIZE-SHORTLISTED GREAT CIRCLE''The same chilling brilliance of Daphne du Maurier''s most unsettling short fiction'' FINANCIAL TIMES''Has an innate charm of its own. Beautifully realised'' DAILY MAIL ''It''s a rare writer who can create a world as convincingly over a few pages as in a 600-page novel; Shipstead''s fluency in both forms is testament to the skill she modestly casts as a work in progress'' Stephanie Merritt, GUARDIAN''Maggie Shipstead combines cinematic scope with a poet''s attention to detail'' THE TIMESA collection of sparkling award-winning stories from Maggie Shipstead, epic storyteller and astonishing chronicler of the daring and the damaged. Diving into eclectic and vivid settings, from an Olympic village to a deathbed in Paris to a Pacific atoll, and i
£15.29
Transworld The Dictators Muse
Book Synopsis''Richly evocative'' The Times''Fascinating'' The Observer''Riveting ... fast-paced, brilliantly constructed'' Spectator''Profound and moving... a beautifully written evocation of turbulent times'' Daily ExpressIt is the early 1930s, and Europe is holding its breath. As Hitler''s grip on power tightens, preparations are being made for the Berlin Olympics. Leni Riefenstahl is the pioneering, sexually-liberated star film-maker of the Third Reich. She has been chosen by Hitler to capture the Olympics on celluloid but is about to find that even his closest friends have much to fear. Kim Newlands is the English athlete ''sponsored'' by the Blackshirts and devoted to his mercurial, socialite girlfriend Connie. He is driven by a desire to win an Olympic gold but to do that he must first pretend to be someone he is not. Alun Pryce is the Welsh communist sent to infiltrate the Blackshirts. When
£15.29
Transworld Publishers Ltd Eddie Winston Is Looking for Love
Book SynopsisMarianne Cronin was born in 1990 and grew up in Warwickshire. After gaining her PhD in applied linguistics, she worked in academia until becoming a writer. Her first novel, The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, published by Doubleday in 2021, was voted 'most uplifting book of 2021' by The Independent and shortlisted for a Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction. She lives in the Midlands with her family and her cat.
£15.29
Transworld Separation Anxiety An uplifting novel about life
Book Synopsis'Separation Anxiety charmed me...it's quirky, comic, honest' MARIAN KEYES, author of GROWN UPS'Separation Anxiety was exactly what I needed for a change of pace, funny and charming' JUDY BLUMEIf you've ever wondered whether you love your dog more than your partner... Life hasn't gone according to Judy's plan. Her career as a children's book author has taken an embarrassing nose dive. Her teenage son Teddy treats her with a combination of mortification and indifference. Her best friend has enough to deal with. And her husband, Gary, has become a pot-addled 'snackologist' who she can't afford to divorce. On top of it all, she has a painfully ironic job writing articles for a self-help website-a poor fit for someone seemingly incapable of helping herself. Gleefully irreverent, tender, funny and uplifting, Separation Anxiety is a contemporary novel that celebrates the 'squeezed generation'; a book filled with heart and humour for anyone fumbling their way towards happiness. ___________
£11.69
Transworld Bluff
Book SynopsisFrancine Toon's debut novel Pine was a Sunday Times bestseller and number one Times bestseller. It won the 2020 McIlvanney Prize, was shortlisted for Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and longlisted for the Highland Book Prize and the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award.Her poetry, written as Francine Elena, has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Best British Poetry 2013 and 2015 anthologies and Poetry London, among other places. Her short story Ghost Kitchen' was published in the anthology Of The Flesh.
£15.29
Transworld Publishers Ltd Deacon King Kong
Book Synopsis⭐ NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND OPRAH''S BOOK CLUB PICK⭐ CHOSEN BY BARACK OBAMA AS A FAVOURITE READ⭐ TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR, NEW YORK TIMES & WASHINGTON POST''Brilliantly imagined, larger than life, a tragicomedic epic of intertwined lives.'' JOYCE CAROL OATES''Deeply felt, beautifully written and profoundly humane.'' JUNOT DIAZ, New York Times Book ReviewThe year is 1969. In a housing project in south Brooklyn, a shambling old church deacon called Sportcoat shoots - for no apparent reason - the local drug-dealer who used to be part of the church''s baseball team. The repercussions of that moment draw in the whole community, from Sportcoat''s best friend - Hot Sausage - to the local Italian mobsters, the police (corrupt and otherwise), and the stalwart ladies of the Five Ends Baptist Church.DEACON KING KONG is a book about a community under threat, about theTrade ReviewThe sheer volume of invention in Deacon King Kong commands awe...And the sentences! The prose radiates a kind of chain-reaction energy. * NEW YORKER *Deacon King Kong is full of heart, humor, and compassion...I say we give him another National Book Award for this one. It's that good. * NPR *Deacon King Kong reaffirms James McBride's position among the greatest American storytellers of our time. * BOOKPAGE *Hilarious...A rich and vivid multicultural history. * TIME *Perhaps you wouldn't expect your next great read to be a sort of comic opera set in a Brooklyn housing project circa 1969 starring a drink-addled church deacon named Sportcoat, his best friend Hot Sausage and a melancholic amateur gardener with mafia ties known as the Elephant. Best put on your seat belt, because McBride (The Good Lord Bird, Five-Carat Soul) will take you on a fast, funny, farcical ride. * WASHINGTON POST *McBride is operating in the realm of social allegory, a lineage that extends back through generations of writers: Ralph Ellison, Terry Southern, Darius James. Like them, he telegraphs his intentions through the use — or better yet, the reinvention — of history, which as Deacon King Kong progresses becomes a kind of floating opera, touching but not always overlapping with events as they occurred. * LA TIMES *Deacon King Kong cements McBride as a master storyteller. * SHELF AWARENESS *Dazzling, spiritually rich. * OPRAH magazine *Peopled with wondrously quirky and charismatic individuals...both hilarious and affecting, the patter a treat, and in wise, drunk, old Sportcoat James McBride has given us a character for the ages. * BIG ISSUE *
£8.54
Transworld Bitter Honey
Book SynopsisCaryl Lewis is a multi-award-winning Welsh novelist, children's writer, playwright and screenwriter. Her breakthrough novel Martha, Jac a Sianco (2004) is widely regarded as a modern classic of Welsh literature, and sits on the Welsh curriculum. The film adaptation - with a screenplay by Lewis herself - went on to win six Welsh BAFTAS and the Spirit of the Festival Award at the 2010 Celtic Media Festival. Lewis's other screenwriting work includes BBC/S4C thrillers Hinterland and Hidden. Lewis is a visiting lecturer in Creative Writing at Cardiff University, and lives with her family on a farm near Aberystwyth. Drift is her debut novel in the English language.
£15.29
Transworld Publishers Ltd Plaything
Book Synopsis''I just loved it it truly wedged itself into my brain. Absolutely vile and brilliant. Plaything is an unhinged melody, and it will serenade fans of the darkest narratives.'' ALICE SLATER, author of Death of a Bookseller''A gloriously tense tale of obsession'' Financial TimesAnna is smart. Smarter than you, probably. But when she falls for the beautiful, enigmatic Caden, her need to get under his skin, to truly know him becomes overpowering.Anna's new life in Cambridge is full of promise she's the top student in her PhD cohort, she has great friends and she has met an exhaustingly attractive man but something is a little off. Perhaps it's the routine violence of her lab work with animals, or maybe it's something to do with her boyfriend's icy reserve but it seems there is a kind of menace hiding beneath the Cambridge dream.When Anna and Caden''s lives become tightly entangled, her obsession with Caden's seemingly
£17.09
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone
Book Synopsis''Small Things Like These meets Under Milk Wood - this slim but devastating novel captures an entire village, an entire world, and the many ways in which a woman can be trapped. A real gem.'' RUTH GILLIGAN, author of The ButchersA wonderful novella, full of atmosphere and feeling'' SARA BAUME, author of A LINE MADE BY WALKING''Beautiful, incredibly painterly and full of breathtaking details. A devastating portrait of a particular place, which draws you in with its brutality and beauty'' CARYL LEWIS, author of DRIFT''Incredibly assured, carefully observed, full of heart. A quietly devastating read which lingers long after the final page'' JAN CARSON, author of THE RAPTURES_____________Tucked into the Welsh valleys and encircled by silver birch and pine, the village of Cwmcysgod may appear a quiet, sleepy sort of place. But beneath the surface, tensions simmer, hearts ache, andTrade ReviewBold storytelling, lyrical observations and a cast that includes an octogenarian drug dealer propel an atmospheric novella full of questions about female strength. * OBSERVER *McCarthy... combines poetic lyricism with an unflinching social realism in a jagged little novel full of predatory male violence and feminine resilience. * DAILY MAIL *Beautiful, incredibly painterly and full of breathtaking details. It is simultaneously dreamlike and nightmarish, funny and heartbreaking. A devastating portrait of a particular place, which draws you in with its brutality and beauty. * Caryl Lewis, author of DRIFT *An incredibly assured debut, carefully observed, sparsely written yet full of heart. A quietly devastating read which lingers long after the final page * Jan Carson, author of THE RAPTURES *A wonderful novella, full of atmosphere and feeling * Sara Baume, author of SPILL SIMMER FALTER WITHER and A LINE MADE BY WALKING *
£11.69
Transworld Publishers Ltd Sweet Soft Plenty Rhythm
Book SynopsisFinalist of the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction''Told in a rich array of voices, this gorgeously written debut explores the myriad syncopations of love and desire'' Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere''Beautifully and cleverly written...The novel''s tender, sensual, enchanting prose entices you into a world of deep longing'' Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church LadiesLove is messy. Love can make us feel alive. It can also bring us down. Sometimes we look for it in all the wrong places. This is a novel about longing, desire and dreams; about passion and risk and all the places in between.Maggie is pregnant with Circus Palmer''s child. This may be her last chance, but she craves her freedom.Pia is Circus''s ex-wife, still in love with the fantasy of the man who conjured jazz tunes for her into the night, but who left many years before.Koko, Circus''s daughter, is lost in the maelstrom ofTrade ReviewLaura Warrell makes a striking debut with the musical Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, weaving together women's voices like a jam session . . . Warrell's sentences are sinuous, her characters fully formed, as they perform a dance of seduction and rebuttal, pursuit and withdrawal, yearning and regret. Using an elegant structure with echoes of Bernardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other, she weaves a lushly textured tale of real emotional depth, conjuring a world of voices moving in concert. * TELEGRAPH *Set to be one of 2023's biggest books with plaudits from Celeste Ng and Oprah, this multi-narrative story is all about the power of being a woman, destructive love and hopeful endurance. * STYLIST *Soulful . . . Structured like a jam session, the novel favors a series of riffs over any one melodic theme. Warrell gives a supporting cast of women their own solos, through close-third-person chapters that detail their entanglements with the elusive Circus . . . Elegant, unexpected and wrenching as the "fierce" sounds that emerge from Circus's trumpet . . . Unforgettable. -- Lauren Christensen * NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW *[An] emerging literary superstar . . . Warrell writes a mean bad boy! This sensual and sensuous debut is a kaleidoscopic character study, a polyphonic riff on the modern-day Casanova from the perspectives of the myriad women in his wake. Both visceral and finely observed, the novel captures social nuance and emotional wreckage with precision and compassion. * OPRAH DAILY, 30 of the Best Fall Fiction Books of 2022 *Told in a rich array of voices, this gorgeously written debut explores the myriad syncopations of love and desire. Laura Warrell writes with an enormous understanding of human nature, a boundless sympathy for life's complications, and a keen eye for life's unexpected joys. * Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere *Beautifully and cleverly written, Laura Warrell's Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is a stunner. The novel's tender, sensual, enchanting prose entices you into a world of deep longing and so much heartache. Still, I didn't want to leave it. A truly mesmerizing debut! * Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies *The most memorable novels of my life are boiling over with insatiably written secondary characters that crave their own books. The same can be said about our most jamming jazz quartets. This peculiar cacophony is exactly what we see in at least five characters in Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm. Koko, for example, is a once in lifetime, once in a galaxy character. Laura Warrell has crafted a world within the world with the achy mystery, wonder and subtexual bounce of the greatest jazz. Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is a soulful, fleshy and absolutely stunning debut. Warrell will re-teach us how to wail, pause and reckon. I am thankful. * Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy *Jazz sets the tone in this tender debut from Laura Warrell . . . Through smoky bars and clubs, hotel rooms, and bedrooms in New York, Boston, and Miami, Warrell spins a big-hearted multicultural world that never ignores race but still allows each character to live their lives as they see fit. * APARTMENT THERAPY, If You’re Going to Read One Book in September, Make It This One *Moody, sexy, and (sometimes painfully) real. * PEOPLE, Best Fall Books of 2022 *A deeply engaging multifocal debut novel . . . [Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm] is built like a hastily assembled jazz ensemble, a group of players taking turns on a rough theme, gathering their solos into a rich, indelible composition, so much stronger than the sum of its parts. * LITERARY HUB *Circus Palmer, a 40-year-old jazz trumpet player, has spent a lifetime fleeing from romantic entanglements. Left in his wake are all the former wives, single mothers and other women he has avoided, including his teenage daughter, Koko. Warrell's engaging debut novel spotlights their stories, weaving together the lives of indelibly created characters as they struggle to forge and maintain intimate connections. * WASHINGTON POST *A buzzed-about debut that takes readers behind the scenes of jazz clubs and into the private lives of touring musicians. * BOSTON GLOBE *Soulful and gripping . . . In her debut novel, Warrell assembles a lush orchestra of female voices to sing a story about passion and risk, fathers and daughters and the missed opportunities of unrequited love. * THE MILLIONS *Jazz music is to be played sweet, soft, plenty rhythm,' proclaimed Jelly Roll Morton, and Warrell plays her exceptional first novel with plenty of rhythm and tenderness, delivered in brisk, mordantly gorgeous language that has its own natural flow. Each woman has her own life, her own story . . . and as in any good jazz piece these stories play off one another seamlessly. A highly recommended story of love and life that makes beautiful music. * LIBRARY JOURNAL, Starred Review *An impressive debut novel weaves storylines of lost love, coming-of-age, and midlife crisis . . . Warrell displays delicately wrought characterization and a formidable command of physical and emotional detail. Her more intimate set pieces deliver sensual, erotic vibrations . . . she knows how to write about the way it feels to deliver jazz-and receive it. A captivating modern romance evoking love, loss, recovery, and redemption. * KIRKUS REVIEWS, Starred Review *Warrell unfurls in her engaging debut the story of a peripatetic trumpet player. . . [She] evocatively describes the women who inspire Circus's music and his lust . . . and finds the sadness deep in his heart. Warrell hits all the right notes. * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *In an exceptional debut, Warrell turns love, or at least the love life of musician Circus Palmer into the proverbial jazz club: dark and sexy, freeing and frightening, ecstatic and lonely. This story is an example of how love, in all of its polyrhythms, can sometimes sound like song, and other times like noise. And this book is an example of how a great story can become a bass drum, kicking and thumping in your belly far after it's over. A modern masterpiece. * Jason Reynolds, author of Look Both Ways *Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is a sultry and subversive debut. Laura Warrell's prose sparkles, but it's what she's got to say about sex and love and being a woman that will take your breath away. This book is a love song, and Warrell knows how to hold all the right notes. * Rachel Beanland, author of Florence Adler Swims Forever *Lyrical, sweeping, and life affirming, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is an astonishing debut that wraps you in the passionate pulse of its characters and their world, and doesn't let go until its pitch perfect final note. * Liska Jacobs, author of Catalina and The Pink Hotel *Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm kept me turning the pages to see what shenanigans the titular jazz musician pulled next, while also waiting to cheer the moment when the women in his life finally blocked his number. Laura Warrell has cooked up one of the most compelling, entertaining, and heartfelt reads in recent memory. * Chris Terry, author of Black Card *In Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, we meet trumpet player Circus Palmer, as problematic as he is enigmatic, as irresistible as your favourite song, and the women whom he seeks out, and walks away from, are just as compelling. Laura Warrell writes with such assurance and grace - her sentences sing - and she has created a world I didn't want to leave: it's sexy and profound, painful and joyful. A remarkable, unforgettable debut. * Edan Lepucki, author of California and Woman No. 17 *A book about desire and about love, about where these emotions meet and part and sometimes interlace in inescapable ways. But it is about so much more: these characters, for instance, painted by Warrell's uniquely masterful brush so that even in small moments they seem entirely whole, entirely alive. Sentence by sentence, this is a novel showing its author at the top of her game - a classic in the making. * Brian Castleberry, author of Nine Shiny Objects *Told in a rich array of voices, this gorgeously written debut explores the myriad syncopations of love and desire. Laura Warrell writes with an enormous understanding of human nature, a boundless sympathy for life's complications, and a keen eye for life's unexpected joys. * Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere *Beautifully and cleverly written, Laura Warrell's Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is a stunner. The novel's tender, sensual, enchanting prose entices you into a world of deep longing and so much heartache. Still, I didn't want to leave it. A truly mesmerizing debut. * Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies *An exceptional debut...This story is an example of how love, in all of its polyrhythms, can sometimes sound like song, and other times like noise. And this book is an example of how a great story can become a bass drum, kicking and thumping in your belly far after it's over. * Jason Reynolds, author of Look Both Ways *
£15.29
Transworld Births Deaths and Marriages
Book SynopsisLaura Barnett is the author of four novels including the number one bestseller, The Versions of Us, Greatest Hits, Gifts and This Beating Heart. As an arts journalist and theatre critic, she has written regularly for the Guardian, Observer, the Daily Telegraph and Time Out London. Laura lives with her husband Andy, son Caleb and cat Eno in rural Kent.
£15.29
Transworld Family Politics
Book Synopsis''The funniest book about politics I have ever read'' Alistair Campbell''Blending sharp satire with wit... a comedic reflection on the divided world'' The Scotsman''The perfect read for anyone hooked on politics and enjoys good plot laced with humour'' Sunday ExpressHilariousO'Farrell knows his stuff and, in an election year, his wry take on British politics at its most febrile is terrific value' Mail on Sunday_________________All across Britain, a generation of grown-up children are graduating from university, moving back in to their old bedrooms and showing their gratitude by berating their parents for their out-of-date politics.All across Britain, a generation of grown-up children are graduating from university, moving back in to their old bedrooms and showing their gratitude by berating their parents for their out-of-date politics. But for proud and high-profile left-wing
£17.00
Transworld Ruth
Book SynopsisKate Riley was born in New York City and now lives on a farm in rural Virginia. Drawn from her experience living in such a community, Ruth is her first novel.
£15.29
Transworld True Love
Book SynopsisPaddy Crewe was born in Middlesbrough and studied at Goldsmiths. His debut novel, My Name Is Yip, has been shortlisted for the Betty Trask, the Wilbur Smith, a South Bank Sky Arts Award and The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize.
£15.29
Transworld The Garden
Book SynopsisNick Newman is the pseudonym of critically acclaimed children's author Nicholas Bowling. He has written four novels for young readers including In the Shadow of Heroes (shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award) and The Undying of Obedience Wellrest (Financial Times Best YA Books of 2023, Guardian Children's Roundup December 2023). He works as a bookseller at Daunt Books.
£16.14
Canongate Books The Fall of the Stone City
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2013.In September 1943, Nazi troops advance on the ancient gates of Gjirokastër, Albania. The very next day, the Germans vanish without a trace. As the townsfolk wonder if they might have dreamt the events of the previous night, rumours circulate of a childhood friendship between a local dignitary and the invading Nazi Colonel, a reunion in the town square and a fateful dinner party that would transform twentieth-century Europe. A captivating novel of resistance in a dictatorship, and steeped in Albanian folklore, The Fall of the Stone City shows Kadare at the height of his powers.Trade ReviewOne of the most important voices in literature today * * Metro * *A master storyteller -- John CareyOne of the world's greatest living writers -- Simon Sebag MontefioreThere are very few writers alive today with the depth, power and resonance of this remarkable novelist * * Herald * *His fiction offers invaluable insights into life under tyranny - his historical allegories point both to the grand themes and small details that make up life in a restrictive environment. He is a great writer, by any nation's standards * * Financial Times * *One of the great writers of our time * * Scotsman * *Ismail Kadare has sometimes been compared with Kafka, and you can see why * * Scottish Mail on Sunday * *There are books which seem less the second-time round; Kadare's seem more . . . one can relish his mastery of tone and the tireless probing intelligence of narrative -- Allan Massie * * The Scotsman * *Both in his deployment of material and in his vision of life, Kadare is the equal of the often invoked Kafka * * Literary Review * *Ismail Kadare is a great writer, by any nation's standards * * Financial Times * *He is seemingly incapable of writing a book that fails to be interesting * * New York Times * *One of the most compelling novelists now writing in any language * * Wall Street Journal * *Kadare is one of Europe's most consistently interesting and powerful contemporary novelists, a writer whose stark, memorable prose imprints itself on the reader's consciousness * * Los Angeles Times * *An outstanding feat of imagination delivered in inimitable style, alternating between the darkly elusive and the menacingly playful -- Peter Carty * * Independent on Sunday * *This novel is a perfect showcase for [Kadare's] wonderfully powerful, eccentric storytelling -- Kate Saunders * * The Times * *Brilliant but unsettling * * Irish Mail on Sunday * *The Fall of the Stone City is written with a persuasive lightness of touch. Kadare's authorial tone is invariably ironic and his fiction is playful, as if he has never lost sight of exactly how ridiculous humankind tends to be * * Irish Times * *A mysterious and masterful novel that captures a pivotal moment in Albania's history * * Independent * *[Kadare] is on brilliant but unsettling form here * * The Mail on Sunday * *The story is a tragic-comic satire of the inhuman senselessness of the Albanian (and any other) dictatorship . . . [Kadare's] work gives a unique insight into the history of this, the strangest corner of Europe -- Edward James * * Historical Novel Society * *A dreamworld where history and fiction come together. . . Ismail Kadare's subject, as always, is the presence of the past. . . more astonishing and truthful than any mere documentary chronicle * * Guardian * *In his latest novel, Kadare features many of his motifs-bloody Balkan histories; bleak totalitarianism lives under silky threads of magical realism-that have made him a perpetual shortlister for Noble Prize laureate. A thoughtful exploration of the colluding forces of fascism and communism and a country caught between them that is at once obscure and enigmatic, lucid and insistent * * Publishers Weekly * *Mesmerizing. . . A well-crafted translation of a European masterpiece * * Booklist (starred review) * *A harsh but artful study of power, truth and personal integrity... [The Fall of the Stone City is] an ironic, sober critique of the way totalitarianism rewrites history, from an Albanian author who's long been the subject of Nobel whispers * * Kirkus Reviews * *The Fall of the Stone City is playful, supremely sarcastic, mystifying, charming and bleak, by turns and all at once. Kadare raises ambiguity to an art form, and perfectly evokes the uncertainties of life under arbitrary rule * * New Zealand Herald * *
£9.49
Canongate Books Me And You
Book SynopsisEVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY, SOMETIMES . . .Lorenzo Cuni is a fourteen-year-old loner. His wealthy parents think he is away on a school skiing trip, but, in fact, he has stowed away in a forgotten cellar. He plans to live in perfect isolation for a week, keeping the adult world at bay. Then a visit from his estranged half-sister, Olivia, changes everything.Trade ReviewExuberant and audacious. * * Observer * *The new Italian word for talent is Ammaniti. * * The Times * *A fearsomely gifted writer. * * Independent * *A master storyteller. * * Guardian * *The story of a young boy who's heading towards adulthood. This book amazed me -- Bernardo BertolucciNear perfect [...] this small gem of storytelling has the balance just about right. * * Scotland on Sunday * *Ammaniti's matter-of-fact, unadorned prose captures Lorenzo's angst-ridden, incomprehending world-view with a confident clarity, and as resolution back in the present day beckons, he plots the course of their filial relationship with a deft, understated skill -- Bram E Gieben * * The Skinny * *Me and You is a slim volume which takes only a couple of hours to read. But thanks to the skilfully presented Lorenzo and the poignant reconciliation of the boy with his half-sister, it lingers in the memory for much, much longer -- Alastair Mabbott * * The Herald * *
£9.49
Canongate Books The Automobile Club of Egypt
Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Yacoubian Building comes a novel bursting at the seams with Egyptian lifeTrade ReviewA microcosm of corruption and oppression in Egypt . . . Aswany brings a mix of burning indignation and unstoppable exuberance that is all his own to this swarming picture of a world on the brink of shattering change * * Sunday Times * *One of Egypt's most valuable writers * * Guardian * *A scathing, brilliantly executed novel * * New York Times * *A wonderful storyteller * * Spectator * *Among the best writers in the Middle East today . . . Al Aswany has his own magic * * Guardian * *A master observer of the human condition . . . unputdownable * * Literary Review * *Gripping . . . a page-turner * * Toronto Star * *Seductive . . . boasts rich and rewarding material * * Boston Globe * *Wonderful . . . almost impossible to put down . . . combines terrific storytelling with historical empathy * * Star Tribune * *[A] raucous, technicolor novel . . . its blazing heart is the seething discontent that led to the 1952 Revolution * * Booklist * *A sharp, humorous novel -- CAROLINE MOORHEAD * * Spectator * *The Yacoubian author is back with another swarming depiction of a changing world * * Sunday Times * *There are many stories here. The book is elaborate to bursting point, but always controlled, always whole. It is as juicy and satisfying as a shiny apple, its taste both strange and familiar, compassionate and bitter * * The Times * *Fabulous, acutely observed story of human foibles, full of vivid scenes and extraordinary characters * * Mail on Sunday * *Addictively readable * * Independent * *Absorbing * * Observer * *Bewitching * * Scotsman * *Myriad colourful details, intertwining narratives, and dramatic cliffhangers form an earthy, entertaining contrast to the novel's sober preoccupations - namely, the human spirit's capacity to both transcend and be crushed by oppressive systems * * Publishers Weekly * *Praise for Chicago:Brilliant . . . Al Aswany is like an Egyptian Anne Tyler * * Sunday Times * *A powerful, political page-turner * * Daily Mail * *A masterpiece, the warmest and finest and most involving Egyptian novel in the last thirty years * * Open Letters Monthly * *
£999.99
Canongate Books The ConeGatherers
Book SynopsisIn the shadow of a war that rages through Europe, brothers Calum and Neil work to gather pine cones in the grounds of a Scottish estate. When Calum releases two mutilated rabbits from a snare, he comes face to face with Duror, the gamekeeper. In retaliation, in the depths of the wood, Duror lays a trap for the cone-gatherers.Neil prophesises that forces of evil will encroach upon the harmony of their lives. It is a prophesy that comes true when Duror commits an act so brutal it destroys all sense of humanity in the once thriving wood. Powerful and unforgettable, Robin Jenkins'' masterpiece is a haunting story of love and violence, and an investigation of class-conflict, war and envy.Trade ReviewLet me alert everyone to the best-kept secret in modern British literature. If you love the novel; if you are interested in books that are humane and wise, not slick and cynical; then treat yourself this year to some Robin Jenkins -- Andrew MarrLike all great masters, his skill is lightly worn, his sentences singing with what he does not say * * The Times * *A masterpiece of concision and terrible pathos -- Isobel MurrayFew novels in our heritage have the bell-like harmonies of this book . . . it has a strange haunting poetic quality, conjuring from a few props a fable of eternal significance -- Iain Crichton SmithIt would not be too demonstrative to claim that The Cone-Gatherers is Scotland's Cherry Orchard . . . It feels as eerily prescient today as it did when it was first published in the 1950s and is the kind of book that offers up new, modern meanings with every reading -- STUART COSGROVE * * The List * *
£9.49
Canongate Books The Haunted Book
Book Synopsis? What unspeakable horror glimpsed in the basement of a private library in West Yorkshire drove a man to madness and an early grave?? What led to an underground echo chamber in a Manchester recording studio being sealed up for good?? What creature walks the endless sands of Lancashire''s Fleetwood Bay, and what connects it to an unmanned craft washed ashore in Port Elizabeth, nearly six thousand miles away?In 2009 Jeremy Dyson was contacted by a journalist wanting help bringing together accounts of true life ghost stories from across the British Isles.The Haunted Book chronicles the journey Dyson, formerly a hardened sceptic, went on to uncover the truth behind these tales.Trade ReviewDyson nestles in the little vacant chink between Roald Dahl and Borges * * Observer * *Darkly surreal humour . . . seemingly innocent scenarios that veer into deep weirdness * * Daily Express * *Dyson's one of those rare authors who can write from the heart while still creating something deceptively clever and complex * * Independent of Sunday * *Gripping, twisted and devilishly enjoyable -- MARK GATISS, * * author of The Vesuvius Club and The Devil in Amber * *The Haunted Book sets out not merely to entertain, but to embody a creeping menace in the text itself . . . Open if you dare -- Suzi Feay * * The Independent on Sunday * *Genre defying . . . a boxing of stories within stories that reinforces the folkloric essence of ghost tales while also playing tricks as mind-bending as the image of a ghost caught in a photograph * * Metro * *Keeps you guessing. The stories themselves are all wonderfully eerie . . . like the bookish version of walking through a haunted house at a fairground * * Savidge Reads Blog * *A must have for fans of all things spooky -- Joel Watson * * Literature Works * *
£10.44
Canongate Books Sarah Thornhill
Book Synopsis*NEW NOVEL RESTLESS DOLLY MAUNDER SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024*FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-SHORTLISTED AND WOMEN''S PRIZE-WINNING AUSTRALIAN NOVELIST Sarah is the youngest daughter of William Thornhill, a ruthless man who made a life for himself and his family in New South Wales after being sentenced from England. When Sarah finds true love with Jack, an older boy with mixed ancestry, she also encounters disapproval: someone in her family will not tolerate their relationship. The reason lies in both the past and the present, and it will take Sarah across an ocean, to a place she never imagined she would go, to discover if her love is ever going to be enough.Trade ReviewGripping and illuminating -- Diana AthillA graceful, passionate story of love, loss and treacherous family histories * * Marie Claire * *Her description of the harshly beautiful Australian landscape is unforgettable, more poetry than prose * * Guardian * *Grenville has emerged not only as the truth-teller but also something of a hero . . . her novels are important quests that go beyond art * * Irish Times * *It will wrench your heart * * Guardian * *Kate Grenville is one of Australia's finest writers . . . her great skill as a writer is to take the barest of biographical details and spin them into something of intricate moral complexity * * Telegraph * *Grenville inhabits characters with a rare completeness . . . She writes with a poet's sense of rhythm and imagery * * Guardian * *I will thrilled to find myslf back beside the river I'd come to know so well in The Secret River. The power with which Kate Grenville evokes places and people is so remarkable that I could remember the smell of the air there - and it was no surprise to discover that Sarah Thornhill's story is gripping and illuminating as her father's was -- Diana AthillBoth brilliant fiction and illuminating personal history * * Independent * *This is a novel that stands by itself and that will be treasured, I'm sure, by generations to come. It is that rare book that manages to wholly engage both head and heart, and it's a long time since I've been quite so sorry to say goodbye to a character at the end of a book as I was saying goodbye to Sarah * * Weekend Australian * *Sarah Thornhill is the book of a writer of the first rank and there are plenty of things in it that are powerfully realised and that touch the heart. . . she is a gift of a writer. . . a haunting performance * * Age * *If you read just one Australian novel this year, make it this one. Sarah Thornhill is a powerful story simply told * * Melbourne Weekly * *
£9.49
Canongate Books The Cove
Book SynopsisIt is 1918 and the world is at war. But this feels a million miles away for Laurel Shelton. In the house where her parents toiled and died, in the wilds of the Appalachian Mountains, Laurel aches for her life to begin. And then one day a stranger is discovered in the cove near her house. What follows is an unforgettable story of love, fate and divided loyalties.Trade ReviewRash tells great stories, raw and powerful ... He understands the way life works * * Irish Times * *An unmitigated joy to read * * Independent on Sunday * *Ron Rash is the best American novelist I have come upon in the last twenty years * * Scotsman * *Exquisite. A breathless sequence of events lead the book to its devastating final sentence * * New York Times * *Recalls both Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy * * New Yorker * *The Cove is a novel that speaks intimately to today's politics. Beautifully written, tough, raw, uncompromising, entirely new. Ron Rash is a writer's writer who writes for others -- Colum McCannRon Rash is a writer of both the darkly beautiful and the sadly true; The Cove solidifies his reputation as one of our very finest novelists -- Richard Russo, author of EMPIRE FALLSWhen writers gather and tipple while discussing those not present at the table but admired, the name Ron Rash quickly comes up. He uses language wiith such apparently effortless skill that it is as though he found words in his barn as a child and has been training them to fit his needs ever since. There's not much he doesn't know about humans in turmoil, or his region, a place where nothing ever changes until all of a sudden it does and often too much. Rash throws a big shadow now and it's only going to get bigger -- Daniel Woodrell, author of WINTER'S BONEThe Cove is a marvelous novel, bristling with power, humanity and the exceptional quality of characterisation and storytelling we have come to expect from Ron Rash -- Irvine WelshRemarkable . . . Mr. Rash certainly knows how to rivet attention * * New York Times on Burning Bright * *Finds a narrow sweet spot between Raymond Carver and William Faulkner * * Washington Post on Burning Bright * *This book calls to mind Snow Falling on Cedars and Cold Mountain, but the poet in Ron Rash and his lyrical prose elevate this novel to its "Book of the Year" status * * Irish Times on Serena * *Serena could sit comfortably on any bookshelf alongside Cormac McCarthy or Charles Frazier . . . it's a spectacular book * * Guardian * *A superb book written by a talented author. Fans of Cormac McCarthy and John Steinbeck will love The Cove * * Nudge * *
£9.49
Canongate Books Sombrero Fallout
Book SynopsisA heartbroken American writer starts a story about an ice-cold sombrero that falls inexplicably from the sky and lands in the centre of a small Southwest town. Devastated by the departure of his gorgeous Japanese girlfriend, he cannot concentrate on his writing and in frustration he throws away his beginning.But as the man searches through his apartment for strands of his lost love''s hair, the discarded story in the wastepaper basket - through some kind of elaborate origami - carries on without him. Arguments over the sombrero begin, one thing leads to another and before long all hell breaks loose in the normally sleepy town.Brautigan''s fertile imagination twists and pulls at the ensuing chaos to come up with a tender, moving, surreal and incredibly funny tale that is told by a writer at the very peak of his creative powers.Trade ReviewBrautigan's comic touch is predictably unerring and the hilarious narrative development is studded with wry surreal gags * * New Statesman * *As always with Mr Brautigan, the more preposterous the situation, the funnier the book * * Sunday Telegraph * *A born writer . . . he can't be dull * * Sunday Times * *His style and wit transmit so much energy that energy itself becomes the message. Only a hedonist could cram so much life onto a single page * * Newsweek * *Delicate, fantastic and very funny . . . A highly individual style, a fertile, active inventiveness . . . It's cool, joyous, lucid and pleasant to readDefies reality with complete success an original and charming view of the worldIf you like a little eccentricity and humour in your fiction, this novel of tiny punchy chapters is a revelation * * Bath Life * *
£9.49
Canongate Books The Colour of Memory
Book Synopsis''In the race to be first in describing the lost generation of the 1980s, Geoff Dyer in The Colour of Memory leads past the winning post. ''We''re not lost,'' one of his hero''s friend''s says, ''we''re virtually extinct''. It is a small world in Brixton that Dyer commemorates, of council flat and instant wasteland, of living on the dole and the scrounge, of mugging, which is merely begging by force, and of listening to Callas and Coltrane. It is the nostalgia of the DHSS Bohemians, the children of unsocial security, in an urban landscape of debris and wreckage. Not since Colin MacInnes''s City of Spades and Absolute Beginners thirty years ago has a novel stuck a flick-knife so accurately into the young and marginal city. A low-keyed style and laconic wit touch up The Colour of Memory.'' The TimesTrade ReviewOf all the hyped novels about 1980s London, it remains one of the most genuine -- Peter Jukes * * New Statesman * *Captures the vigour and life of Brixton . . . There are vivid tableaux of street life, shot through a compassionate lens . . . sustained and powerful * * Sunday Times * *Dyer writes crisp Martin Amis-inflected prose, full of acute and neat phrases * * TLS * *In the race to be first in describing the lost generation of the 1980s, Geoff Dyer in The Colour of Memory leads past the winning post. Not since Colin MacInnes's City of Spades and Absolute Beginners thirty years ago has a novel stuck a flick-knife so accurately into the young and marginal city. A low-keyed style and laconic wit touch up The Colour of Memory * * The Times * *
£10.44
Canongate Books The Search
Book SynopsisWalker is at a party where he meets Rachel. Two days later she turns up at his apartment. However, it''s not Walker she wants but her husband Malory, who has gone missing. She asks Walker to find him. So begins this strange, beautiful, road-movie of a novel that takes the hero across the vast landscape of middle America on the trail of a man he has never met. And as Walker''s search grows in its weird intensity, it seems that somebody else is following, searching for him too.Trade ReviewA short, brilliant novel, The Search offers more in 150 pages than most books twice that length * * Guardian * *As elegant as a mathematical theorem correctly expressed -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * * Sunday Times * *Dyer injects an almost magical randomness into what ought to be the most conventional of tales, and gives us Surrealism where we might have expected Dirty Realism... It is a vivid and puzzling alternative to the everyday, and its after-image is hard to erase -- Erica Wagner * * Spectator * *One of the best thriller scenarios I've ever read -- Tom Hiney * * Independent * *
£10.44
Canongate Books Galahad at Blandings
Book SynopsisA major mix-up at Blandings Castle, in which Galahad introduces yet another imposter to Lord Emsworth''s residence and the Empress of Blandings gets sloshed in her sty. Formidable comic characters designed to interrupt Lord Emsworth''s peace include his overbearing sister Lady Hermione Wedge who comes complete her own meddling secretary, and Dame Daphne Winkworth who has her eye on becoming the next Countess. As ever the stage is set for Gally to try and restore order to the ensuing chaos! Latest recording from the popular Blandings saga of novels. Abridged to 5 hours worth of hilarious listening entertainment.Trade ReviewOn Summer Lightning: Get it soonest, Jarvis is the lick * * The Guardian * *On Service with a Smile: Martin Jarvis carries it all off once again with the consummate ease of the great entertainer he is * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *Mr Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to delight and live in * * Evelyn Waugh in a BBC broadcast * *
£21.11
Canongate Books Lace
Book SynopsisWHICH ONE OF YOU BITCHES IS MY MOTHER?1980. In Manhattan''s most exclusive hotel, four friends come face to face with a young, mega-watt film star. She has a question for them that has brought her from the streets of Paris to the playgrounds of the rich and famous - and it has almost destroyed her. . . Kate, Maxine, Judy and Pagan have soared to the top in fashion, PR and interior design. Now they are forced to look back at their lives: their wicked behaviour at school, the building of careers and the breaking of hearts. These women have never questioned their friendship, but now they must answer to Lili.Lace is the book that every mother kept hidden from her daughter. Originally published in 1982, it is the debut novel from the million-copy bestselling author of Superwoman.Trade ReviewLace gave me prolonged pleasure -- Helen FieldingThere was life before Lace and life after Lace, and nothing was ever the same again. I envy anyone who hasn't read it -- India KnightSex, glamour, and bitchery to an epic degree. Lace is the classic that secured Shirley Conran's place in the same high-octane sorority as Jackie Collins, Judith Krantz and Jacqueline Susann, and it still thrills. It changed my life -- J.J. Salem, author of Tan LinesAs sexy and smart now as the first day it came out -- Lauren LaverneA gorgeous, glorious, ground-breaking saga of sex, scandal and family secrets. Here is the return of an awesome blockbuster classic, as fearless and fabulous as it was thirty years ago. Lace is the definitive drama of passion, friendship, intrigue and betrayal. It is hands-down one of the best things to come out of the eighties. I adore it -- Victoria Fox, author of Hollywood SinnersLace features women you would be proud to call friends. Pick up this book and be sucked into the lives of four female characters who use their own intelligence and confidence to get ahead by themselves. I've loved Lace since I was a teenager and it's still as gripping as it ever was -- Harriet Evans, author of The Love of Her LifeA big, brash, bouncy book * * Mail on Sunday * *Money and sex is what Lace is about - clothes, décor and haute cuisine * * Sunday Times * *In its gloriously melodramatic way, the book showed a group of bright, aspirational women making sense of their sexuality while fighting to the top of their professional trees -- Helen Brown * * The Daily Telegraph * *Superwoman author, Shirley Conran, has really hit the literary jackpot . . . you can spend a few enjoyable hours finding out if it's more than sex and scandal that's the secret of its success * * News of the World * *
£10.44
Canongate Books Paris Trance
Book SynopsisIn Paris, two couples form an intimacy that will change their lives forever. As they discover the clubs and cafés of the eleventh arrondissement, the four become inseparable, united by deeply held convictions about dating strategies, tunnelling in P.O.W. films and, crucially, the role of the Styrofoam cup in American thrillers. Experiencing the exhilarating highs of Ecstasy and sex, they reach a peak of rapture - but the come-down is unexpected and devastating. Dyer fixes a dream of happiness - and its aftermath. Erotic and elegiac, funny and romantic, Paris Trance confirms Dyer as one of Britain''s most original and talented writers.Trade ReviewA Tender is the Night for the Ecstasy Age. -- Tim PearsA beautifully composed rave generation rhapsody . . . dripping with eroticism. -- Sunday TimesSexy, hopelessly romantic and almost sneakily meditative, Dyer's novel invokes the shades of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, but as they might be imagined by Truffaut. * * New Yorker * *A skilfully crafted map of the human heart. * * Independent * *
£9.49
Canongate Books Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best Blandings Castle
Book SynopsisBlandings Castle is the home of Lord Emsworth, who likes nothing better than to potter at home in his enormous castle garden. But his rural idyll is once again set to be disturbed. No peace is possible when his sister Constance is let loose, and she is constantly trying to reorganise the household! Without great success . . .The nieces are unhappy, McAllister leaves at a difficult time, and then The Empress of Blandings - Emsworth''s prize pig - goes off her pig-food! Set this against the continuing tangled love affairs of Freddie Threepwood, and the stage is once more set for classic Wodehouse hilarity!Trade ReviewJarvis is the lick * * The Guardian * *A master, a genius of inventiveness and versatility, brilliant in his use of language, more adroit than almost any novelist since Dickens at working out a complex package of plot, sub-plot, and sub-sub-plot' -- Susan Hill * * Daily Telegraph * *
£21.11
Canongate Books Twilight of the Eastern Gods
Book Synopsis1958. In a dorm room in Moscow, a young writer is woken by the sound of angry voices on the radio. Through the fog of a hangover he hears the news that a novel called Doctor Zhivago has earned its author the Nobel Prize. There is uproar. The author, Boris Pasternak, faces exile, the press hound him and demand that he refuse the award. A few days earlier the young writer found a copy of this book - could those simple pages really be so dangerous?Based on Ismail Kadare''s own experience, Twilight of the Eastern Gods is a portrait of a city, a story of youthful disenchantment and a reminder of the incredible importance of the written word.Trade ReviewIsmail Kadare is this generation's Kafka * * Independent * *Compelling . . .absorbing . . .deeply personal . . . With a new transation of Twilight of the Eastern Gods, Ismail Kadare is finally receiving the recognition he deserves * * New Statesman * *Kadare writes . . . with a light of touch and with consummate literary skill. This is the work of a strange and mysterious master * * Sunday Business Post * *One of the most compelling novelists now writing in any language * * Wall Street Journal * *Enigmatic and beguiling . . . pockmarked with brilliance * * The National * *Fascinating . . . Twilight of the Eastern Gods is reflective of a culture of paranoia and suspicion, in which anyone who made a wrong move or uttered anything that might be deemed subversive could expect reprisals * * Herald * *One of the world's greatest living writers -- Simon Sebag MontefioreLike Coetzee's Youth . . . For its poetry, its pastiche and its tonic bitterness, this is a book that was worth redeeming . . . It smacks gorgeously of the bitchiness that pervaded Soviet literature * * The Times * *Skilfully mixes the personal and the political . . . [Kadare is] a forceful example of how to function as a writer under communism * * Independent * *His fiction offers invaluable insights into life under tyranny . . . great writer, by any nation's standards * * Financial Times * *There are very few writers alive today with the depth, power and resonance of this remarkable novelist * * Herald * *One of the most important voices in literature today * * Metro * *Kadare is one of Europe's most consistently interesting and powerful contemporary novelists, a writer whose stark, memorable prose imprints itself on the reader's consciousness * * Los Angeles Times * *Frequently hilarious . . . Puts me in mind of Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives locked in a freezer, or a version of Adelle Waldman's The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. set in a Brooklyn where it was always snowing, all the young writers in the city lived in the same building, everyone regularly consumed debilitating quantities of vodka and each was suspected of being a government informer . . . I intend to keep laying an annual £20 bet of Mr. Kadare [to win The Nobel Prize for Literature] for as long as he lives * * New York Times * *Highly atmospheric * * Times Literary Supplement * *The personal, against a political backdrop, is drawn out slowly and mesmerisngly * * Glasgow Sunday Herald * *Kadare's sexual desire shines brightly against the dull torpor of the cold war * * Guardian * *
£9.49
Canongate Books The Last Banquet
Book SynopsisJean-Marie Charles d''Aumout is many things. Orphan, soldier, diplomat, spy, lover. And chef.This is his story.We meet Jean-Marie d''Aumout as a penniless orphan eating beetles by the side of a road. His fate is changed after an unlikely encounter finds him patronage and he is sent to military academy. Despite his lowly roots, and thanks to wit and courage in great measure, he grows up to become a diplomat and spy.Passion, political intrigue and international adventure abound in Jean-Marie''s life, yet his drive stems from a single obsession: the pursuit of the perfect taste. Three-Snake Bouillabaisse, Pickled Wolf''s Heart and Flamingo Tongue are just some of the delicacies he devours on his journey toward the ultimate feast. Rising through the ranks of eighteenth-century French society, he feasts with lords, ladies and eventually kings, at the Palace of Versailles itself.But beyond the palace walls, revolution is in the air and the cTrade ReviewRacily picaresque, energetic and clever * * Guardian * *An astonishing, sensual feast which will appeal to those who enjoyed Patrick Susskind's Perfume -- David Barnett * * Independent on Sunday * *A true feast for the senses * * Scotsman * *Intriguing, fanciful, philosophical and told with an admirable lightness of touch * * Daily Mail * *The Last Banquet is a feast for the senses; dark, sensual and unexpected. I loved it -- JOJO MOYESWonderfully enjoyable. Grimwood captures the colour, the decadence and tawdry glamour of Versailles beautifully. I loved the complexity of the relationships, and sensual quality reminded me at times of Angela Carter. Masterful -- CAROL BIRCH author of JAMRACH’S MENAGERIEA delicious sensory overload -- Marina O'LoughlinJonathan Grimwood's intelligent story of lost innocence... follows convincingly in the traditions established by Patrick Suskind's Perfume and Andrew Miller's Pure * * Times Literary Supplement * *As a piece of historical fiction, there is not an ounce of fat on it - a compliment, even for a work so concerned with the food of France * * The Times * *A tantalising tale, be prepared for some dark mystery and decadent recipes. A must for lovers of Suskind's Perfume and Miller's Pure * * The Bookseller * *Grimwood takes us on a journey that is both fantastic and fascinating . . . A delightful read * * Curious Book Fans * *Mr. Grimwood has written a truly exceptional book. This will come as no surprise to those who have been reading him for years, and I'm delighted to say that one of the books I was most anticipating not only met my inflated expectations, but exceeded them. The Last Banquet is like a cake, an onion, a feast, a clock, a . . . it is your metaphor of choice: something both simple and complex, instantly comprehensible and infinitely layered. Filthy and beautiful, provocative and sensitive, this is one for the ages * * Pornokitsch * *By the end of the book you can't help but feel that if France had been peopled by a few more eccentrics like D'Aumont it may have never torn itself apart * * We Love This Book * *A piece of fiction with a superb central premise * * Daily Telegraph * *Vibrantly original, filled with vividly descriptive passages and with a brilliantly playful cover, The Last Banquet rivals The President's Hat as my best read of 2013 so far * * A Life in Books * *From A Tale of Two Cities to Les Miserables, the French Revolution has it all in terms of sweeping adventure stories - and The Last Banquet is a worthy addition -- Tinna Jackson * * Metro * *As delicious and as full of surprises as one of the young Jean-Marie's rabbit stews * * Sunday Express * *I will never look at tigers, or candles, or cheese in the same way. A sensuous ride through eighteenth century France -- JESSIE BURTON, author of The Miniaturist
£10.44
Canongate Books Nothing Gold Can Stay
Book SynopsisRon Rash has been acclaimed as ''the best American novelist I have come upon in the last twenty years'' (Scotsman), a writer with an ''exceptional quality of characterisation and storytelling'' (Irvine Welsh). Set deep in the heart of the Appalachian mountains, this new collection of short stories confirms his reputation again and again. Nothing Gold Can Stay transports the reader to another place, and illuminates the world around us in unexpected ways.Trade ReviewRash can create a character in a single sentence; this is the great American short story at its best * * The Times * *Rash's prose is at once strong and supple, masculine and poetic, and lit up by a wealth of precise detail * * Sunday Times * *Nothing Gold Can Stay is excitingly versatile, covering time periods from the Civil War to the present and ranging in mood from wryly comic to brutal. The 14 stories are united by clean, tough specificity, courtly backwoods diction, and a capacity for sending shivers * * New York Times * *All these stories speak about relationships, and at their heart is often the desire for something better, something more. Rash's unforgettable, beautifully crafted, sure and strong stories tap into whan human beings want from each other, and want from the world -- Lesley McDowell * * Independent on Sunday * *Nothing Gold Can Stay is excitingly versatile, covering periods in time from the American Civil War to the present day, and ranging in mood from wryly comic to brutal. The 14 stories are united by clean, tough specificity, courtly backwoods diction, and a capacity for sending shivers down the spine... Nothing Gold Can Stay contains more fine stories than can be done justice here -- Janet Maslin * * The Scotsman * *With Nothing Gold Can Stay, Ron Rash cements his reputation as one of the foremost chroniclers of that mythic uber-America known as the South. . . At his best, Rash evokes an understated poignancy that is genuinely affecting. . . * * Washington Post * *Burning Bright netted Ron Rash the 2010 Frank O'Connor Short Story Award and earned him comparisons to Raymond Carver, John Steinbeck, William Trevor and Cormac McCarthy . . . If you haven't read Ron Rash yet, you have a treat in store * * Irish Times * *A collection of short stories about Appalachia that are actually more like diamonds: cold, glittering, valuable * * New York Magazine * *There's a powerful certainty that these short stories at least - the finest by a very fine writer - will stay with you for a long time to come * * Washington Independent Review of Books * *Nothing Gold Can Stay is lyrical and honest, grounded in place yet sweeping in scope * * Boston Globe * *Remarkable . . . Mr Rash certainly knows how to rivet attention * * New York Times * *Technically absolutely beautiful - incredibly well-wrought . . . Ron Rash is a real storyteller -- Nadine O'Regan, judge of the Frank O'Connor Award, on BURNING BRIGHTCould sit comfortably on any bookshelf beside Cormac McCarthy and Charles Frazier * * The Guardian on SERENA * *These are tales that put you in another place, another kind of life * * Daily Mail on BURNING BRIGHT * *Another fine collection from Ron Rash . . . his oneness with the region and its people makes an indelible impression * * Kirkus Reviews * *All I need to write here is read this book. Read everything he has written. Scoop up all his books, secrete yourself in a quiet room, and then emerge pale, shaken and amazed * * The Puffin Review * *Rash impresses with clear-eyed, sympathetic writing about flawed and troubled characters * * Publishers Weekly * *They are beautiful, moving stories. Rash's prose is so clear, so controlled that he manages to convey huge amounts about character, situation and motivations in just a few perfect words -- Doug Johnstone * * The Big Issue * *
£9.49
