Contemporary Fiction Books

Book SynopsisFrom an internationally acclaimed, multi award-winning author: this is a story of love and betrayal set in Berlin during the years before and after the fall of the Wall.

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Book SynopsisHow to Kill Your Family meets The Power in this entertaining and thought-provoking read, that asks:  If you had the power between life and death, what would you do?   Thea has a secret. She can tell how long someone has left to live just by touching them. Not only that, but she can transfer life from one person to another – something she finds out the hard way when her best friend Ruth suffers a fatal head injury on a night out. Desperate to save her, Thea touches the arm of the man responsible when he comes to check if Ruth is all right. As Ruth comes to, the man quietly slumps to the ground, dead. Thea realises that she has a godlike power: but despite deciding to use her ability for good, she can’t help but sometimes use it for her own benefit. Boss annoying her at work? She can take some life from them and give it as a tip to her masseuse for a great job. Creating an ‘Ethical Guide to Murder’ helps Thea to focus her new-found skills. But as she embarks on her mission to punish the wicked and give the deserving more time, she finds that it isn’t as simple as she first thought. How can she really know who deserves to die, and can she figure out her own rules before Ruth’s borrowed time runs out? ‘Relatable, poignant, and filled with unexpected twists, An Ethical Guide to Murder is near-impossible to put down. I was hooked all the way up to the ending, which I can't stop thinking about. A must-read for 2025’ Jenny Hollander, author of Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead ‘An Ethical Guide to Murder is a fabulous book! Jenny Morris has taken the 'with great power comes great responsibility' concept and applied it to someone who struggles to be responsible for her own laundry. Thea is a relatable, messy character whose trials and tribulations kept me laughing all the way to the emotional gut punch. What a marvellous debut!’ Alice Bell, author of Grave Expectations  ‘An Ethical Guide to Murder is the best type of book – one that’s as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. With Thea, Jenny Morris has created one of the most interesting characters that I’ve read in a long time’ Kellye Garrett, award winning author of Missing White Woman ‘Is Thea a serial killer? Is she an avenging angel? Maybe she’s both. Fresh and fun, I loved this original take on the crime genre. Combining ethics with a good old revenge story, I raced through this unexpectedly poignant novel. A fabulous debut!’ Sam Holland, author of The Echo Man

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Book SynopsisI was supposed to be having the time of my life.When Esther Greenwood wins an internship on a New York fashion magazine in 1953, she is elated, believing she will finally realise her dream to become a writer.

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Book Synopsis''Just read it...Outstanding'' Matt Haig''To say I love this book is an understatement...It moved me to tears'' Reese Witherspoon''Beautifully written, completely charming, and extremely wise on the subject of adolescence and influence'' Nick HornbyEveryone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down. In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned - from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town - and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia''s past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost...And if you loved Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere, pre-order Celeste Ng''s brilliant new novel, Our Missing Hearts, nowWhat readers are saying:''Highly recommended, beautifully written and thought-provoking''''An engrossing read'' ''Absolutely brilliant''''Great characters, interesting plot that leaves you desperate to read more and written beautifully. I loved it and highly recommend it!''

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Book SynopsisNext, dive into TOM LAKE – the breath-taking newest novel from Ann Patchett Lose yourself in the story of a lifetime – the unforgettable Sunday Times bestseller ‘Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature’ Guardian Nominated for the Women’s Prize 2020 A STORY OF TWO SIBLINGS, THEIR CHILDHOOD HOME, AND A PAST THAT THEY CAN’T LET GO. Like swallows, like salmon, we were the helpless captives of our migratory patterns. We pretended that what we had lost was the house, not our mother, not our father. We pretended that what we had lost had been taken from us by the person who still lived inside. In the economic boom following the Second World War, Cyril Conroy's real estate investments take his family from poverty to enormous wealth. With it he buys the Dutch House, a lavish mansion in the Philadelphia suburbs. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. Danny Conroy grows up in the opulence of the Dutch House. Though his father is distant and his mother is absent, Danny has his beloved sister Maeve: Maeve, with her wall of black hair, her wit, her brilliance. The siblings grow and change as life plays out under the watchful eyes of the house’s former owners, in the frames of their oil paintings. Then one day their father brings home Andrea, a new stepmother. Though they cannot know it, her arrival to the Dutch House sows the seed of the defining loss of Danny and Maeve’s lives: exiled from the house and tossed back into the poverty from which their family rose, Danny and Maeve have only each other to count on. ‘The best book I’ve read in years’ Rosamund Lupton ‘Her finest novel yet’ Sunday Times ‘The buzz around The Dutch House is totally justified. Her best yet, which is saying something’ John Boyne ‘A masterpiece’ Cathy Rentzenbrink ‘Bliss’ Nigella LawsonTrade ReviewPatchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature * Guardian *Her finest novel yet * Sunday Times *A wonderful hypnotic masterpiece of a novel. The best book I’ve read in years -- Rosamund LuptonBliss -- Nigella LawsonThe buzz around The Dutch House is totally justified. Her best yet, which is saying something -- John BoyneWhat a spectacular novel. A masterpiece, I’d say -- Cathy RentzenbrinkA gloriously immersive family saga about lost inheritance * Guardian, Books of the Year *One of my top favourite contemporary writers. I don’t think that there’s a book of hers that I haven’t put down at the end and been haunted by for weeks after * Gillian Anderson *The vicissitudes of life in a step-family unfold over five decades … A moving portrait of an unusual house and the unhappy family living in it * The Times, Book of the Year *A rare book, the kind you ration, one that grabs you by the heart and brain and pulls you right in -- Philippe Sands * Evening Standard *The Dutch House is a novel that assures Patchett, alongside John Irving and Anne Tyler, a place as one of the foremost chroniclers of the burdens of emotional inventory and its central place in American lives -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *Indelibly poignant in its long unspooling perspective on family life, The Dutch House brilliantly captures how time undoes all certainties * Observer *An intimate and transporting novel … The Dutch House is a novel brimming with pain and tenderness in which Patchett’s gifts as a storyteller are on full display … A searching, exquisitely wrenching novel about family, sacrifice and obsession * Sunday Times *One of the most celebrated novelists of our times … But it is her new book, widely billed a one of this autumn’s best new reads, where she truly comes into her own * Sunday Times Magazine *A family story full of love and pain and insight * Herald, Books of the Year *Impeccably fine … A thoughtful, quietly profound book * i paper *The Dutch House offers … A simultaneous awareness of human fragility and human resilience * Daily Telegraph *As always, Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life, rather than literature * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year *She uses her signature blend of wry humour, rage and regret in a tale of siblings who cannot escape the shadow of their childhood home * i *Masterly * The Times *An outstanding novel, wryly funny, heart-breakingly sad and entirely engrossing -- Eithne Farry * S Magazine *We’re calling it now: The Dutch House will be the book of the autumn ... Her finest novel yet * Sunday Times *Few novelists today combine such a forensic eye with an acute and humane understanding of human nature. I would read Ann Patchett’s shopping list -- Jojo MoyesPatchett is a master at pacing and detail … The question of what makes a home pervades this gripping book -- Erica Wagner * New Statesman *She rivals Tyler for emotional acuity -- Anthony Cummins * Metro *Ann Patchett writes novels that quietly and thoroughly devastate the reader – in a good way. Her new novel is no exception * Red *Patchett well deserves her reputation for compelling novels, and The Dutch House is her most enthralling yet * Vogue *Wise and funny and unwraps the complexities of human beings with heartbreaking tenderness. I love this book -- Renée KnightIf there’s a better, more poignant or involving novel than The Dutch House published this year, I will be very, very surprised * Andrew Holgate *A dark modern fairy tale, a delicately woven portrait of a family in flux * Evening Standard *The plot is gentle but firm while Patchett’s prose dazzles with detail and nuance, spinning a story that tucks itself inside your heart * i paper *Wonderfully astute ... Patchett’s books … have a sly comic undertow -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *A marvellously romantic and evocative novel about the nostalgic pull of a lost home … Beautifully written and often tender … That rare thing: a novel which reveals greater riches on a second reading -- Cressida Connolly * Spectator *Beautifully imagined … Patchett has excelled herself to produce one of the most moving and engaging novels this year * Daily Express *Engrossing … A captivating family saga about injustice and forgiveness * Daily Mirror *Gothic and slyly comic, it’s full of smart observations about sibling power struggles * Mail on Sunday *

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Book Synopsis_______________ THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER _______________ 'A powerful love story spanning generations… Full of ambition and humanity' - Sunday Times 'One of the strongest and most affecting works in Allende's long career' - New York Times Book Review _______________ On September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles’ splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe. Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile. When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised ‘long petal of sea and wine and snow’. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world. A masterful work of historical fiction that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers. _______________ 'A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging' - Independent Online 'A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us' - Daily Telegraph 'A grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago' - Khaled Hosseini 'A novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time' - Colum McCann 'Allende's style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable' - Guardian ‘Epic in scope, yet intimate in execution’ - iTrade ReviewAllende has everything it takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing humanity * New York Times *Isabel Allende is a grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago. She will be celebrated, by readers and writers alike, for generations to come -- Khaled HosseiniA historical saga that sweeps from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of General Pinochet -- Highlights for 2020 * Daily Telegraph *Although this is fiction, Allende’s epic is deeply rooted in fact, and often reads like a biography – of her homeland not least . . . [The characters] are brought alive by Allende’s generous imagination and brisk, vivid prose * Daily Mail *A decades-spanning tale of war, exile and belonging . . . Grounding the novel is the love story between Victor and Roser, all the more touching for being unconventional . . . The book is all-encompassing, both in its sweep through history and the sheer number of lives crammed into it . . . The writing is unadorned but affecting, shot through with sad details * Sunday Telegraph *Her latest novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, is built on a recurring theme in Allende’s work: the displacement of people . . . It is difficult not to see this novel as a reminder of the endless recurrence of history, or half a million Franco refugees fleeing Spain with many interned in harsh camps in France – of people fleeing from countries in which refuge is now sought * Irish Times *Allende marries the fictional and the historical in lush, sprawling epics. A Long Petal of the Sea takes its place in the unparalleled canon she has created, exploring the sacrifices we make for the sake of those we love, and the love we sacrifice for the sake of our families -- Jodi PicoultAllende's stories are delicate, their images akin to poetry -- Barbara KingsolverIf Allende's life depended on her narrative gifts, she'd not only survive, but reign * Los Angeles Times *In this stunning historical novel, Allende traces one couple’s escape from the Spanish Civil War to Chile . . . A powerful story about love and belonging – and how displacement doesn’t have to mean defeat * People *Allende transcends the ordinary * Tatler *A gripping novel for our times, this confirms – again – that Allende is a consummate storyteller . . . Historical fact is exquisitely interwoven with personal stories as families are displaced by war, torn apart and reunited. A stunning portrayal of love, courage and hope -- Book of the Month * Woman & Home *Both an intimate look at the relationship between one man and one woman and an epic story of love, war, family and the search for home, this gorgeous novel, like all the best novels, transports the reader to another time and place, and also sheds light on the way we live now. Isabel Allende is a legend and this might be her finest book yet -- J. Courtney Sullivan, author of 'Saints for All Occasions'Allende has everything it takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing humanity * New York Times *Like many of Allende’s books, it features strong women, displaced people and a powerful love story spanning generations . . . Allende identifies closely with the experience of upheaval that her characters endure . . . The theme of belonging runs deeper than just a sense of nationality. It is also a sense of belonging to a family, a spouse, a group of friends * Sunday Times *This is a novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time. She knows that all stories are love stories, and the greatest love stories are told by time -- Colum McCann

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Book SynopsisA child raised to believe he was God by a cult built on hatred, by zealots utterly confident in the purity and absolute moral authority of their religion Enter a world ruled by The Magnificent Leader, where such a cult imposed their will on an entire world to create the ultimate theocracy. Join up and buy-in or be cast out to suffer in the toxic slums with the masses of humanity. The story of Napalm Lullaby begins 50 years after the cult's subjugation of Earth, when two of the messiah's bastard childreneach with powers that are strange and difficult to controlset out to escape the slums of their birth. Determined to infiltrate the Magnificent Leader's domed fortress of adulation, they'll stop at nothing to kill the man responsible for the nightmare they were raised in. The bestselling creative duo behind fan-favorite series Death or GloryRick Remender and Bengalreteam for an all-new dystopian epic in, Napalm Lullaby. Collects issues #1-6.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis'One of the most endearingly amusing English novels of the twentieth century' Alexander McCall SmithTrade ReviewI'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym -- Richard Osman * Guardian *I pick up her books with joy, as though I were meeting an old, dear friend who comforts me, extends my vision and makes me roar with laughterOne of the finest examples of high comedyWhy shouldn't the lives of cardigan-wearing spinsters and fussy confirmed bachelors be the engines of some of the finest comic writing in English? Not only was Pym a comic genius but she was ever so wise * The Times *I don't think I've ever before recommended a novel as one that everybody will enjoy and yet - even with a certain assurance - I'm prepared to vouch for Excellent Women * Observer *Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday life -- Anne TylerOne of the most endearingly amusing English novels of the twentieth century -- Alexander McCall Smith

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Book SynopsisThe circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. The black sign, painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, reads: Opens at Nightfall Closes at Dawn. When the tents are all aglow, the sign appears. Le Cirque des Reves The Circus of Dreams. Now the circus is open. Now you may enter.Trade ReviewThe Night Circus made me happy. Playful and intensely imaginative, Erin Morgenstern has created the circus I have always longed for. This is a marvelous bookEnchanting, and affecting... A strikingly beautiful world, in spite of its darkness * Guardian *Dazzling * Marie Claire *Deliciously inventive... Don't imagine this is a light, frothy tale. For all her humorous touches, Morgernstern...has produced something darker than night * Scotsman *The only response to this novel is simply: wow. It is a breathtaking feat of imagination, a flight of fancy that pulls you in and wraps you up in its spell * The Times *Charming, magical, mysterious, enthralling * Daily Mirror *Lushly imagined, extremely charming and very, very readable * Scotland on Sunday *Morgenstern displays a conjurer's dexterity as she develops her tale, and you'd need a heart of stone not to melt at the melodramatic denouement * Daily Mail *The Night Circus pulls you into a world as dark as it is dazzling, fully-realized but still something out of a dream. You will not want to leave itPure pleasure... Erin Morgenstern is a gifted, classic storyteller, a tale-teller, a spinner of the charmed and mesmerizing - I had many other things I was supposed to be doing, but the book kept drawing me back in and I tore through it. You can be certain this riveting debut will create a group of rêveurs all its own

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Book SynopsisThe Times top ten bestsellerGranta Best of Young British Novelists 2023Scots Book o the Year 2021Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award & Betty Trask Award 2021‘Trainspotting for a new generation’ – Independent‘An instant Scottish classic’ – The Skinny2005. Glasgow is named Europe’s Murder Capital, driven by a violent territorial gang and knife culture. In the housing schemes of adjacent Lanarkshire, Scotland’s former industrial heartland, wee boys become postcode warriors.2004. Azzy Williams joins the Young Team [YTP]. A brutal gang conflict with their deadly rivals, the Young Toi [YTB] begins.2012. Azzy dreams of another life. He faces his toughest fight of all – the fight for a different future.Expect Buckfast. Expect bravado. Expect street philosophy. Expect rave culture. Expect anxiety. Expect addiction. Expect a serious facial injury every six hours. Expect murder.Hope for a way out.Inspired by the experiences of its author, Graeme Armstrong, The Young Team is an energetic novel, full of the loyalty, laughs, mischief, boredom, violence and threat of life on these streets. It looks beyond the tabloid stereotypes to tell a powerful story about the realities of life for young people in Britain today.‘A swaggering, incendiary debut’ – Guardian‘Dialect that fizzes off the page’ – Observer‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – The TimesTrade ReviewA swaggering, incendiary debut . . . The non-standard English forges a dazzling poetry of its own . . . pitches Armstrong straight into the first division of Scottish writers. -- Jude Cook * Guardian *The Young Team is a landmark in Scottish literature. It reminds me of Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby. -- Damian Barr, author of Maggie & MeArmstrong’s hard-hitting novel is Trainspotting for a new generation. * Independent *Raw and lyrical . . . written in a voice that recalls Irvine Welsh and Alan Warner – dialect that fizzes off the page. * Observer *[A] gripping debut novel . . . he is quite a phenomenon . . . one of the most admired young voices in British fiction. -- Mike Wade * The Times *A riveting debut novel . . . it crackles with teenage energy . . . has already engendered a buzz that many other debut novelists would kill for. * Herald *It is Trainspotting meets Clockwork Orange in this depiction of gang life in North Lanarkshire . . . it gives us a voice from a place - geographically and socio-economically - we don’t often hear from. -- John Self * The Times *The Young Team is a book full of guts, power, humour and humanity. -- Kerry Hudson, author of LowbornBright, brittle and boiling with immediacy . . . His work is vivid, dynamic and sharp as a whip. -- Janice Galloway, author of The Trick is to Keep BreathingPhenomenal. It’s been ages since I read a book so funny, visceral, or powerful. -- David Whitehouse, author of Bed

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 'A vibrant historical novel... Potent' New Yorker, Books of the YearIn a remote Newfoundland port settlement, ruthless company man Abe Strapp is set to secure his dominance over the shore and its rich resources by marrying the daughter of a rival merchant - until the Widow Caines stands up in church and throws the wedding and Abe's plans into chaos. As the bitter feud between these two competitors - each determined to ruin the person they despise most - spirals further into vendetta and violence, the locals too are forced to take sides, with devastating consequences. A compulsive, exuberant and uncompromising historical adventure to equal Deadwood or The North Water, The Adversary is a wildly entertaining evocation of power, grievance and retribution.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024AN IRISH TIMES BEST IRISH BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY THE TIMES NOVEL OF THE YEARAnd a Guardian, FT, Economist, Irish Times, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, Irish Independent and Independent Book of the Year ''I could not put it down.'' ANNE ENRIGHT''It''s very moving, also very funny.'' PAUL MURRAYMy favourite book I've read this year.'' PANDORA SYKESI lived and breathed beside her narrator.' DAISY JOHNSONIn her wildly acclaimed new novel Claire Kilroy creates an unforgettable heroine, whose fierce love for her young son clashes with the seismic change to her own identity.As her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy, creativity and the passing of time, an old friend makes a welcome return - but can he really offer a lifeline to the woman she used to be?Readers adore Soldier Sailor:***** ''About as perfect a piece of writing as you''ll find.''***** ''Unbearably tense and frequently hilarious.''***** ''An entirely different voltage to anything I''ve read ... she somehow manages to verbalise *exactly* the feelings and thoughts I, certainly, had at points when I was a young mother''***** ''This story touched me on such a visceral level.''***** ''I was held captive by this novel ... an utterly absorbing depiction of motherhood''***** ''I loved this book. Any woman, with or without children, will see themselves mirrored in this narrative''***** ''An excellent, interesting and rather unforgettable creation.''

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Book SynopsisDiscover a chilling twentieth century classic, delving into the dark and complex heart of childhood''Some people are coming here today, now you will have a companion.''But young Edmund Hooper doesn''t want anyone else in Warings, the rambling Victorian house he shares with his widowed father. Nevertheless Charles Kingshaw and his mother are soon installed and Edmund sets about persecuting his fearful new playmate.From the dusty back rooms of Warings through the gloomy labyrinth of Hang Wood to the very top of Leydell Castle, Edmund pursues Charles, the balance of power slipping back and forth between bully and victim. With their parents oblivious, the situation speeds towards a crisis...Darkly claustrophobic and morally ambiguous, Susan Hill weaves a classic tale of cruelty, power, and the dangerous games we play as children.''A brilliant tour de force'' Guardian''Equalled for poignancy and horror only in Lord of the Flies'' Sunday Telegraph''Delves beneath the surface of complex young minds, exposing not only their vulnerabilty and tenderness, their cruelty and malevolence, but also how parents end up turning a blind eye to their pain'' Anita SethiTrade ReviewHill's exploration of a juvenile ghoul and his natural prey is a brilliant tour de force * Guardian *Equalled for poignancy and horror only in Lord of the Flies * Sunday Telegraph *Delves beneath the surface of complex young minds, exposing not only their vulnerability and tenderness, their cruelty and malevolence, but also how parents end up turning a blind eye to their pain -- Anita Sethi, 'Guardian'

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Book SynopsisAn astonishingly frank and deeply autobiographical account of homosexual relationships in an era when love between men was not only stigmatised, but also illegal, E.M. Forster''s Maurice is edited by P.N. Furbank with an introduction by David Leavitt in Penguin Classics.Maurice Hall is a young man who grows up confident in his privileged status and well aware of his role in society. Modest and generally conformist, he nevertheless finds himself increasingly attracted to his own sex. Through Clive, whom he encounters at Cambridge, and through Alec, the gamekeeper on Clive''s country estate, Maurice gradually experiences a profound emotional and sexual awakening. A tale of passion, bravery and defiance, this intensely personal novel was completed in 1914 but remained unpublished until after Forster''s death in 1970. Compellingly honest and beautifully written, it offers a powerful condemnation of the repressive attitudes of British society, and is at once a moving love story and an intimate tale of one man''s erotic and political self-discovery.In his introduction, David Leavitt explores the significance of the novel in relation to Forster''s own life and as a founding work of modern gay literature. This edition reproduces the Abinger text of the novel, and includes new notes, a chronology and further reading.E. M. Forster (1879-1970) was a noted English author and critic and a member of the Bloomsbury group. His first novel, Where Angels Fear To Tread appeared in 1905. The Longest Journey appeared in 1907, followed by A Room With A View (1908), based partly on the material from extended holidays in Italy with his mother. Howards End (1910) was a story that centred on an English country house and dealt with the clash between two families, one interested in art and literature, the other only in business. Maurice was revised several times during his life, and finally published posthumously in 1971.If you enjoyed Maurice, you might like Forster''s A Room With a View, also available in Penguin Classics.

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Book SynopsisA YEAR OF MARVELLOUS WAYS is the much anticipated and utterly beguiling new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international bestseller WHEN GOD WAS A RABBITTrade ReviewFanciful imagery and beautiful prose that ebbs and flows * Independent *Fanciful imagery and beautiful prose that ebbs and flows * Independent *Fanciful imagery and beautiful prose that ebbs and flows * Independent *Winman excels in her sweeping prose and her unwavering theme of love in all its forms * Stylist *Winman excels in her sweeping prose and her unwavering theme of love in all its forms * Stylist *Winman excels in her sweeping prose and her unwavering theme of love in all its forms * Stylist *Beautifully written * Sun on Sunday, Fabulous Magazine *Beautifully written * Sun on Sunday, Fabulous Magazine *Beautifully written * Sun on Sunday, Fabulous Magazine *One to read slowly so you can savour every beautiful sentence * Good Housekeeping (Book of the Month) *One to read slowly so you can savour every beautiful sentence * Good Housekeeping (Book of the Month) *One to read slowly so you can savour every beautiful sentence * Good Housekeeping (Book of the Month) *A lavish and clever read which will stand the test of time * Irish Examiner *A lavish and clever read which will stand the test of time * Irish Examiner *A lavish and clever read which will stand the test of time * Irish Examiner *Moving... offbeat and memorable * Woman & Home *Moving... offbeat and memorable * Woman & Home *Moving... offbeat and memorable * Woman & Home *A Year of Marvellous Ways is like Dylan Thomas given a sexy rewrite by Angela CarterA Year of Marvellous Ways is like Dylan Thomas given a sexy rewrite by Angela CarterA Year of Marvellous Ways is like Dylan Thomas given a sexy rewrite by Angela CarterA glorious poem of a novel - a story to read slowly and to marvel at the beauty of itA glorious poem of a novel - a story to read slowly and to marvel at the beauty of itA glorious poem of a novel - a story to read slowly and to marvel at the beauty of itYet again Sarah Winman has written a beautiful, beautiful novel. A Year of Marvellous Ways will hypnotise, seduce, until you can do nothing but pick it up and read it againYet again Sarah Winman has written a beautiful, beautiful novel. A Year of Marvellous Ways will hypnotise, seduce, until you can do nothing but pick it up and read it againYet again Sarah Winman has written a beautiful, beautiful novel. A Year of Marvellous Ways will hypnotise, seduce, until you can do nothing but pick it up and read it againA gripping waiting game ... The novel's surprising denouement is also well worth the wait * Observer *A gripping waiting game ... The novel's surprising denouement is also well worth the wait * Observer *A gripping waiting game ... The novel's surprising denouement is also well worth the wait * Observer *In this warm, kindly novel, the sea is both magical and healing. Lovely * The Times *In this warm, kindly novel, the sea is both magical and healing. Lovely * The Times *In this warm, kindly novel, the sea is both magical and healing. Lovely * The Times *The book demonstrates vividly how we need family around us, whether homegrown or grafted, to live our fullest lives... By the end of this novel, we too belong in the world of Marvellous Ways * Sunday Express, S Magazine *The book demonstrates vividly how we need family around us, whether homegrown or grafted, to live our fullest lives... By the end of this novel, we too belong in the world of Marvellous Ways * Sunday Express, S Magazine *The book demonstrates vividly how we need family around us, whether homegrown or grafted, to live our fullest lives... By the end of this novel, we too belong in the world of Marvellous Ways * Sunday Express, S Magazine *The sense of magic infused through the novel casts a spell over the reader that makes you not want to put the book down until you've turned the final pageThe sense of magic infused through the novel casts a spell over the reader that makes you not want to put the book down until you've turned the final pageThe sense of magic infused through the novel casts a spell over the reader that makes you not want to put the book down until you've turned the final pageA book to savour, to read in wonderful, rich little bits like dark chocolate. Winman's prose is poetry, with a rhythm, a heartbeat, that carries you through like musicA book to savour, to read in wonderful, rich little bits like dark chocolate. Winman's prose is poetry, with a rhythm, a heartbeat, that carries you through like musicA book to savour, to read in wonderful, rich little bits like dark chocolate. Winman's prose is poetry, with a rhythm, a heartbeat, that carries you through like musicA truly enchanting book * Irish Times *A truly enchanting book * Irish Times *A truly enchanting book * Irish Times *A breathtaking reading experience... a beautiful book that is unafraid to reveal the ugliness of the world * Toronto Star *A breathtaking reading experience... a beautiful book that is unafraid to reveal the ugliness of the world * Toronto Star *A breathtaking reading experience... a beautiful book that is unafraid to reveal the ugliness of the world * Toronto Star *She is particularly good at bringing the sensations of landscape to bear - its smell, sound and look - and in Marvellous has created a character of warmth and eccentricity * Metro *She is particularly good at bringing the sensations of landscape to bear - its smell, sound and look - and in Marvellous has created a character of warmth and eccentricity * Metro *She is particularly good at bringing the sensations of landscape to bear - its smell, sound and look - and in Marvellous has created a character of warmth and eccentricity * Metro *The stories are touching and the twist of magical realism lends them a joyful, fairytale element * Daily Record *The stories are touching and the twist of magical realism lends them a joyful, fairytale element * Daily Record *The stories are touching and the twist of magical realism lends them a joyful, fairytale element * Daily Record *What struck me was Winman's gorgeous imagery, beautiful passages and imaginative storytelling. Quirky and slightly hairbrained, A Year of Marvellous Ways is an unforgettable book * Mitford Society Summer Reads *What struck me was Winman's gorgeous imagery, beautiful passages and imaginative storytelling. Quirky and slightly hairbrained, A Year of Marvellous Ways is an unforgettable book * Mitford Society Summer Reads *What struck me was Winman's gorgeous imagery, beautiful passages and imaginative storytelling. Quirky and slightly hairbrained, A Year of Marvellous Ways is an unforgettable book * Mitford Society Summer Reads *

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Book SynopsisAfter two decades spent in the US, L-J is on a flight back to his native Suffolk to visit family and his childhood coastal home. His flight is straightforward, as per design, until it hits a glitch – an unexpected and dramatic cabin decompression – which suggests that all that L-J expects from this trip cannot be counted on.

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR TV SERIES on Drama and UKTV PlayI want to be Judith Potts when I grow up' Reader review ?????Read the whole thing in one day . . . I was hooked. It had me laughing to myself all day. Would recommend'' Reader review ?????Comedy, thrilling, suspenseful. It was a brilliant read' Reader review ?????A deftly plotted, funny and unexpected murder mystery . . . Highly recommended!' Reader review ?????* * *To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible heroSeventy-seven-year-old Judith Potts is blissfully happy. She lives alone in a faded mansion in Marlow, sets crosswords for The Times, and there's no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink.One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. When the local police don't believe her story, Judith and two unlikely friends decide to investigate for themselves. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club.But soon another body turns up, and it seems they have a real-life serialTrade Review‘A hugely enjoyable murder mystery written with wonderful verve, humour and compassion. Utterly delightful’ ROBERT WEBB ‘I love Robert Thorogood’s writing’ PETER JAMES ‘A great read’ YOURS ‘Has the feel of an Agatha Christie with a modern twist’ SUN ‘An Agatha Christie-inspired puzzle of a novel … beautifully crafted … a criminal success’ MY WEEKLY ‘I really enjoyed it. A great escapist yarn from start to finish’ SIMON KERNICK ‘Murder and mayhem in the sleepy Home Counties, done with style, panache and just the right amount of humour’ PAUL FINCH ‘Light relief’ SAGA ‘Witty and charming, and filled with a cast of winning characters and fiendish puzzles. Guaranteed to entertain!’ CHRIS EWAN ‘An absolute joy to read. Funny, entertaining and beautifully written’ B. A. PARIS ‘Laugh-out-loud humour, superb plotting and a full-throttle finale … entertaining and enjoyable … the perfect read to fill the long, lockdown nights of winter’ LANCASHIRE POST ‘A delightful read – Judith is the hero that everyone needs’ LOUISE JENSEN ‘‘Thrilling and heartfelt, gripping and wonderfully humorous, The Marlow Murder Club is an absolute joy from first page to last’ CHRIS WHITAKER ‘This is just the kind of book I love to read – a proper whodunit with clues, suspects, and engaging characters. Great location too, and lots of charm and humour. I loved it’ FAITH MARTIN ‘'The perfect book for these troubled times – fiendishly clever and funny, with delightful and original characters. I loved it!' ROZ WATKINS ‘Assured cosy crime from an ingenious author … Damn right funny and heartwarming at times, this is great fun indeed’ CRIME TIME ‘Beautifully crafted, funny and thrilling, Thorogood has created a delightful read’ DEON MEYER ‘A hugely entertaining mystery’ MARK EDWARDS ‘One of the most original and beguiling characters I have read about for a long time … a delight from start to finish. Robert Thorogood has brought the fun back into crime fiction’ SIMON BRETT

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Book SynopsisHis best novel yet A Middlemarch-like triumph' TelegraphA pleasure bomb of a novel' VogueA true modern master' IndependentIt's 23 December 1971, and the Hildebrandts are at a crossroads. Fifteen-year-old Perry has resolved to be a better person and quit dealing drugs to seventh graders. His sister Becky, the once straight-laced high school social queen, has veered into counterculture, while at college, Clem is wrestling with a decision that might tear his family apart. As their parents Russ, a suburban pastor, and Marion, his restless wife tug against the bonds of a joyless marriage, Crossroads finds a family, and a nation, struggling to do the right thing.Funny, moving, crackling with life, it has what all great fiction should have' Financial TimesIntoxicating a luxuriant domestic drama' GuardianTHE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A GUARDIAN BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2021 AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR A WHITE REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEAR A LIT HUB BOOK OF THE YEARTrade Review‘[Franzen’s] talents as a comic storyteller are such that his capacious tales are a treat to get lost in. This one is no exception … This is a novel whose momentum often derives from the altered states of its characters — obsession; intoxication; lust; religious fervour; mania — and the humour is usually of the painful variety as their lives uniformly crumble and they agonise over how — or indeed whether — to be good’ Daily Mail ‘[A] pleasure bomb of a novel … Few [writers] can take human contradiction and make it half as entertaining and intimate as Franzen does … A magnificent portrait of an American family on the brink’ Vogue ‘In Crossroads, Jonathan Franzen goes back to family-anatomising basics – and it's his best novel yet … The result is a Middlemarch-like triumph’ Telegraph ‘Franzen has laid the ground beautifully, and his first act is intoxicating – a luxuriant domestic drama that opens out into politics, running against the grain of the counterculture with its focus on the friction between conservatism and radicalism, Christianity and social activism’ Guardian ‘Crossroads is classic Franzen fodder: a slice of suburban life ripe not for satire but for the far deadlier scrutiny that comes from taking it seriously’ New Yorker ‘A mellow, marzipan-hued ’70s-era heartbreaker. Crossroads is warmer than anything [Franzen has] yet written, wider in its human sympathies, weightier of image and intellect’ New York Times Book Review ‘The compelling dialogue, the authenticity of place, time and character, the assured insights and the exquisite minutiae of description, all confirm that the reader is in the hands of a true modern master … a simply stunning novel’ iNews ‘A firecracker’ Irish Times ‘A mesmerising tale … he writes sentences that are as addictive as opioids’ Herald

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Book SynopsisOut running an errand, Valeria Cossati gives in to a sudden impulse - she buys a shiny black notebook. She starts keeping a diary in secret, recording her concerns about her daughter, the constant churn of the domestic routine and her fears that her husband will discover her new habit. With each entry Valeria plunges deeper into her interior life, uncovering profound dissatisfaction and restlessness. As she finds her own voice, the roles that have come to define her-as wife, as mother, as daughter-begin to break apart. Forbidden Notebook is a rediscovered jewel of Italian literature, published here in a new translation by the celebrated Ann Goldstein and with a foreword by Jhumpa Lahiri. A captivating feminist classic, it is an intimate, haunting story of domestic discontent in postwar Rome, and of one woman's awakening to her true thoughts and desires.

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Book Synopsis''Sarah Waters'' masterly novel is gripping, confident, unnerving and supremely entertaining'' Hilary MantelIn a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners - mother, son and daughter - struggling to keep pace with a changing society. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his. ''The #1 book of the year... several sleepless nights are guaranteed'' Stephen King''Chilling... a meditation on the nature of the British and class, and how things are rarely what they seem'' Kate Mosse''Waters has determined to scare the pants off her rightly devoted audience. She succeeds unquivocally'' Erica Wagner, The Times''A brilliantly observed story, verging on the comedy, about Britain on the cusp of modern age'' Independent on Sunday

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Book SynopsisThe American poet John Shade is dead; murdered. His last poem, Pale Fire, is put into a book, together with a preface, a lengthy commentary and notes by Shade''s editor, Charles Kinbote. Known on campus as the ''Great Beaver'', Kinbote is haughty, inquisitive, intolerant, but is he also mad, bad - and even dangerous? As his wildly eccentric annotations slide into the personal and the fantastical, Kinbote reveals perhaps more than he should. Nabokov''s darkly witty, richly inventive masterwork is a suspenseful whodunit, a story of one-upmanship and dubious penmanship, and a glorious literary conundrum.Trade ReviewThis centaur work, half-poem, half-prose . . . is a creation of perfect beauty, symmetry, strangeness, originality and moral truth. Pretending to be a curio, it cannot disguise the fact that it is one of the great works of art of this century -- Mary McCarthy

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Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING, BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHORSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE 2025''Stunning, deeply felt and profoundly intelligent'' GuardianIt's autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer, Lucy Barton, who lives nearby in a house next to the sea. Together, Lucy and Bob talk about their lives, their hopes and regrets, and what might have been.Lucy, meanwhile, befriends one of Crosby's longest inhabitants, Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive's apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known unrecorded lives, Olive calls them reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.Brimming with empathy and pathos, TELL ME EVERYTHING is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love.***''A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own'' Hilary Mantel''A terrific writer'' Zadie Smith''Strout's ability to reveal the wonder in unrecorded lives continues to astonish'' TelegraphOPRAH''S BOOK CLUB PICK: ''A beautiful read reminding us that there is extraordinary love in ordinary actions'' Oprah WinfreyElizabeth Strout, Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 2022

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDALFINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZEFINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDSWINNER OF THE STONEWALL BOOK AWARD - BARBARA GITTINGS LITERATURE AWARDFINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES FICTION AWARD''Stirring, spellbinding and full of life'' Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger''s WifeIn 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup: bringing an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDs epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico''s funeral, he finds his partner is infected, and that he might even have the virus himself. The only person he has left is Fiona, Nico''s little sister.Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago epidemic, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways the AIDS crisis affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. Yale and Fiona''s stories unfold in incredibly moving and sometimes surprising ways, as both struggle to find goodness in the face of disaster.Trade ReviewStylish and ambitious . . . a deeply affecting novel that is full of death, yet simultaneously spirited and hopeful about love and life * Observer *Makkai has created a moving story about Chicago and Paris, the past and present, the young men lost to AIDS and the ones who survived. And just as her novel evokes art's power to commemorate the departed, The Great Believers is itself a poignant work of memoir * Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Sympathizer *This expansive, huge-hearted novel conveys the scale of the trauma that was the early AIDS crisis, and conveys, too, the scale of the anger and love that rose up to meet it. Makkai shows us characters who are devastated but not defeated, who remain devoted, in the face of death, to friendship and desire and joyful, irrepressible life. I loved this book * Garth Greenwell author of What Belongs to You *Time is a healer and a heartbreaker in Makkai's brilliant and beautiful novel. The Great Believers kept me hoping and guessing, heart in hand, until the very last page * Carol Rifka Brunt, author of Tell the Wolves I'm Home *an antidote to our general urge to forget what we'd rather not remember, but it's also - which is more important - an absorbing and emotionally riveting story about what it's like to live during times of crisis -- Michael Cunningham * New York Times *Stirring, spellbinding and full of life -- Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s WifeThe Great Believers is by turns funny, harrowing, tender, devastating, and always hugely suspenseful. It reminds us, poignantly, of how many people, mostly young, often brilliant, were lost to the AIDS epidemic, and of how those who survived were marked by that struggle. This is Rebecca Makkai at the height of her powers * Margot Livesy, New York Times bestselling author of Mercury *Well imagined, intricately plotted, and deeply felt, both humane and human -- Rabih Alameddine, author of The Angel of History and An Unnecessary WomanSure to become a classic Chicago novel . . . a deft, harrowing novel that's as beautiful as its cover * Chicago Review of Books *Magnificent . . . it doesn't set a foot wrong . . . Makkai has full command of her multi-generational perspective, and by its end, The Great Believers offers a grand fusion of the past and the present, the public and the personal. It's remarkably alive * Chicago Tribune *The Great Believers is beautiful and compelling * Running in Heels *Spookily relevant in the age of Trump. Makkai has created a gorgeous and compassionate narrative, one which asks how we can move forward from disaster * Rumpus *A sprawling, heart-wrenching novel * Refinery29 *Makkai handles her material with humour and sensitivity, ensuring that we truly care when the tentacles of Aidsbegin to engulf Yale, Fiona and their friends. At its heart too it is a devastating secret . . . As a novel of the Aids crisis The Great Believers is a powerful, beautifully handled addition to the canon. As an exploration of the cost of living with guilt, grief and the terrible power of even a little hope, it is magnificent * i news *Makkai creates a powerful, unforgettable meditation, not on death, but rather on the power and gift of life. This novel will undoubtedly touch the hearts and minds of readers * Publishers Weekly *Makkai's rich portraits of an array of big personalities and her affecting depiction of random, horrific death faced with varying degrees of gallantry make this tender, keening novel an impressive act of imaginative empathy. As compulsively readable as it is thoughtful and moving: an unbeatable fictional combination * Kirkus *

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Book Synopsis_______________WINNER OF THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION WINNER OF THE LONDON HELLENIC PRIZEA BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, EVENING STANDAND AND NEW YORK TIMES_______________The book for our times' - Judges of the Women's Prize''Elegant and evocative ... A powerful exploration of the clash between society, family and faith in the modern world'' - Guardian''Builds to one of the most memorable final scenes I've read in a novel this century'' - New York Times_______________Isma is free. After years spent raising her twin siblings in the wake of their mother's death, she is finally studying in America, resuming a dream long deferred. But she can't stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London or their brother, Parvaiz, who's disappeared in pursuit of his own dream: to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew.Then Eamonn enters the sisters' lives. Handsome and privileged, he inhabits a London worlds away from theirs. As the son of a powerful British Muslim politician, Eamonn has his own birthright to live up to or defy. Is he to be a chance at love? The means of Parvaiz's salvation? Two families' fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined in this searing novel that asks: what sacrifices will we make in the name of love?A contemporary reimagining of Sophocles' Antigone, Home Fire is an urgent, fiercely compelling story of loyalties torn apart when love and politics collide confirming Kamila Shamsie as a master storyteller of our times._______________NOW A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIMESHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2017SHORTLISTED FOR THE DSC PRIZE FOR SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE 2018LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017

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Book SynopsisWINNER of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for FictionLonglisted for the Booker PrizeOne of Barack Obama's Favourite Books of the YearThe Sunday Times BestsellerTrust is a sweeping puzzle of a novel about power, greed, love and a search for the truth that begins in 1920s New York.Can one person change the course of history?A Wall Street tycoon takes a young woman as his wife. Together, they rise to the top in an age of excess and speculation. Now a novelist is threatening to reveal the secrets behind their marriage. Who will have the final word in their story of greed, love and betrayal?Composed of four competing versions of this deceptive tale, Trust by Hernan Diaz brings us on a quest for truth while confronting the lies that often live buried in the human heart.**Soon to be an HBO Limited Series starring Kate Winslet**'One of the great puzzle-box novels . . . a page-turner' – The Telegraph'Genius' – The Observer'I've never read anything quite like this' – Natalie Portman'Metafiction at its best, unpredictable, clever and massively enjoyable' – The Sunday Times'Enthralling' – Daily MailTrade ReviewBrilliant . . . Destined to be known as one of the great puzzle-box novels, it’s the cleverest of conceits, wrapped up in a page-turner * Telegraph *Fascinating . . . Diaz could master any genre and Trust is metafiction at its best, unpredictable, clever and massively enjoyable * Sunday Times *Genius . . . You’re propelled forward by the twists and turns of the novel’s form, the conviction that Diaz has another trick up his sleeve * Observer *Diaz is a narrative genius whose work easily encompasses both a grand scope and the crisp and whiplike line. Trust builds its world and characters with subtle aplomb. What a radiant, profound and moving novel -- Lauren Groff, author of Fates and FuriesSharp and affecting . . . In this literary Rubik’s Cube, Diaz provides a viable, and hugely entertaining, argument that once a pen is put to paper an element of veracity is always lost. And when money is thrown into the mix, then the lies really multiply * Financial Times *A tricksy, tantalising delight . . . Enthralling — delicate, detailed and deliciously stealthy * Daily Mail *Intricate, cunning and consistently surprising . . . Diaz has the whole literary past at his fingertips . . . [an] exhilarating and intelligent novel * New York Times Book Review *A sublime, richly layered novel. A story within a story within a story. -- Roxane Gay, author of Bad FeministExquisite . . . A clever, literary kaleidoscope that constantly challenges the realities it puts forward, requiring you to step back, and look again * i *Destined to become one of the great novels of our time . . . A literary page-turner that offers compulsive reading with exquisite prose . . . Surprising, engrossing and beautifully executed * Irish Times *Engrossing . . . Diaz perfects different voices with remarkable agility * The Herald *Through perfectly formed sentences and the skilful unpicking of certainties, Trust creates a great portrait of New York across an entire century of change . . . A work possessed of real power and purpose . . . It’s a testament to Diaz’s cunning abilities as a writer that you end his book thinking that – if truth is your goal – you might be better off relying on a novelist than a banker * Guardian *Trust glints with wonder and knowledge and mystery. Its plotlines are as etched and surreal as Art Deco geometry, while inside that architecture are people who feel appallingly real. This novel is very classical and very original: Balzac would be proud, but so would Borges. -- Rachel Kushner, Man Booker-shortlisted author of The Mars RoomA rip-roaring, razor-sharp dissection of capitalism, class, greed, and the meaning of money itself that also manages to be a dazzling feat of storytelling on its own terms . . . Uniquely brilliant . . . exhilarating . . . a novel for the ages. * Vogue *Immaculate. TRUST is a work of assured virtuosity, lightly-worn wisdom, and immense impact. -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sunday Times bestselling author of The MerciesThat rare jewel of a book - jaw-dropping storytelling against the backdrop of beautiful writing. Amidst all the noise in the world, whole days found me curled up on the couch, lost inside Diaz’s brilliance -- Jacqueline Woodson, author of Red at the BoneA virtuoso performance . . . A spellbinding tale that illuminates the impact of money on all of our lives . . . Trust is that rare thing: a beautifully crafted novel that dares to confront some of our deepest socioeconomic schisms * Oprah Daily *Like four exquisite dioramas, Diaz has set up all of these stories with great precision to present two fundamental questions: Why do we tell stories? And at what cost are those stories told? . . . A remarkably accessible treatise on the power of fiction. This unquestionably smart and sophisticated novel not only mirrors truth, but helps us to better understand the truth. * Boston Globe *For all its elegant complexity and brilliant construction, Diaz's novel is compulsively readable . . . A captivating tour de force that will astound readers with its formal invention and contemporary relevance. -- Booklist, starred reviewDiaz's Trust exposes the wild power that narrative holds . . . over the economy, historiography, hierarchies, over a person's life, truth, over the reader. A powerful, sinister tale in the form of a nesting doll, around which the modern economy fashions larger and larger macho casings -- Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Wild LaughterRich and prismatic . . . Excellent * Wall Street Journal *An elegant, irresistible puzzle * Washington Post *Riveting story of class, capitalism, and greed. The result is a mesmerizing metafictional alchemy of grand scope and even grander accomplishment * Esquire *Trust speaks to matters of the most urgent significance to the present day . . . Cleverly constructed and rich in surprises, this splendid novel offers serious ideas and serious pleasures on every beautifully composed page -- Sigrid Nunez, author of The FriendLike a tower of gifts waiting to be unwrapped, Trust offers a multitude of rewards to be discovered and enjoyed . . . compelling . . . engrossing . . . a beautifully composed masterpiece * BookPage *Trust proves that Diaz is a writer of singular talent. This book is a kaleidoscopic dazzler that works as both an engrossing literary mystery and a capitalistic takedown for the ages. Don't miss it. * Chicago Review of Books *Diaz cleverly weaves the disparate strands together while showing how our shifting perception of the story relates to wealth’s ability to “bend and align reality” to its own motives * New Yorker *Gripping . . . Trust is about the bigger lies we tell about capitalism and individual ability, about our society and ourselves, and about the price we are willing to pay to maintain such illusions * Vulture *In this glorious puzzle of a novel, perspectives keep shifting and the wealth of one early-twentieth-century family keeps changing its origin-story. What a joy this is to read, suspenseful at every turn, the work of a rare and impressive talent. -- Joan Silber, author of Secrets of HappinessThe audacity and scope of Hernan Diaz’s extraordinary novel - a prism, a mystery, a revelation - are brilliantly matched by the quality of his prose. -- Jean Strouse, author of Morgan: American FinancierThis masterpiece of a book-within-a-book explores how public perception and reality can get twisted * Good Housekeeping *Wondrous . . . a kaleidoscope of capitalism run amok in the early 20th century, which also manages to deliver a biography of its irascible antihero and the many lives he disfigures during his rise to the cream of the city’s crop. Grounded in history and formally ambitious, this succeeds on all fronts * Publishers Weekly *Diaz has organized his nesting-doll novel so ingeniously that the tricks merely thrum in the background as the intricate plot unfolds, following a tycoon couple forward to a novel about their “history,” then back and forth through diaries, recriminations and reversals. The result shouldn’t be missed. * LA Times *Engrossing . . . Diaz's ingenious new fiction, told in four overlapping parts, challenges conventional story lines of another favorite American theme: capitalism and the accumulation of vast wealth. * Star Tribune *A dazzling novel about wealth, capitalism and who exactly gets to tell the story. * The Bookseller *Ingenious, thrilling . . . the novel brilliantly weaves its multiple perspectives to create a symphony of emotional effects . . . A clever and affecting high-concept novel * Kirkus, starred review *A uniquely layered novel . . . Each page peels back another mystery, making for an utterly riveting read * Buzzfeed *A novel that unpeels like an onion, upending the story you first hear. The Pulitzer Prize-finalist explores wealth, power, the dynamics of American capitalism, and the nature of truth in an inventive way that stacks up to one engaging, beautiful whole * Daily Beast *Trust makes a surprisingly un-postmodern case for what the novel can do * The New Yorker *This is now part of my collection of books that I must read more than once. Hernan Diaz keeps the reader engaged by playfully architecting individual and collective narratives of power, love and the meaning of financial success. -- Dan Houston, Chairman, president and CEO, Principal Financial Group, Bloomberg, Top Business Leaders Pick the Year’s 58 Must-Reads

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Book SynopsisThis book features eight transformative tales across global landscapes, delving into multiple dimensions. Central to the stories is a female protagonist. The book promises to captivate with its mystical allure, Vedantic depth, and empowering narrative, inspiring readers through real-life mystical encounters woven into an engaging collection.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE 2022SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2022 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG FICTION AWARD 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE BETTY TRASK PRIZE 2022LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2022''Diamond-sharp, timely and urgent'' Observer, Best Debuts of 2021''Subtle, elegant, scorching'' Vogue''Virtuosic, exquisite, achingly unique'' Guardian''I''m full of the hope, on reading it, that this is the kind of book that doesn''t just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible'' Ali Smith''Exquisite, daring, utterly captivating. A stunning new writer'' Bernardine EvaristoCome of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Step out into a world of Go Home vans. Go to Oxbridge, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy a flat. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going.The narrator of Assembly is a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend''s family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can''t escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?''One of the most talked-about debuts of the year . . . You''ll read it in one sitting'' Sunday Times Style''Expertly crafted, remarkable, astonishing... A literary debut with flavours of Jordan Peele''s Get Out'' Bookseller, Editor''s Choice''Virginia Woolf''s Mrs. Dalloway meets Citizen by Claudia Rankine... As breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true'' Olivia Sudjic''Bold and original, with a cool intelligence, and so very truthful about the colonialist structure of British society'' Diana Evans ''This marvel of a novel manages to say all there is to say about Britain today'' Sabrina MahfouzTrade ReviewDiamond-sharp, timely and urgent... Written in a distilled, minimalist prose, Assembly is illuminating on everything from micro aggressions in the workplace, to the reality of living in the "hostile environment", to the legacy of British colonialism * Observer, Best Debuts of 2021 *A quiet, measured call to revolution. It's about everything that has changed and still needs to change, socially, historically, politically, personally... Its impact is massive; it strikes me as the kind of book that sits on the faultline between a before and an after. I could use words like 'elegant' and 'brilliantly judged' and literary antecedents such as Katherine Mansfield/Toni Morrison/Claudia Rankine. But it's simpler than that. I'm full of the hope, on reading it, that this is the kind of book that doesn't just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible -- Ali Smith, author of 'How to be both' and 'Summer'In just 100 pages Natasha Brown delivers a body blow of a book. Assembly is extraordinary, each word weighed, each detail meticulously crafted... Brown is mercilessly clear-eyed in her delineation of how British culture is also "assembled" - its history whitewashed and arguing against it near-impossible when "the only tool of expression is the language of this place". Yet she wields that language like a weapon and hits her mark again and again with devastating elegance * The Times *Incredible. [Assembly] moves the English novel on. Slim book, massive importance -- Max Porter, author of 'Grief is the Thing With Feathers'Stunning, blisteringly eloquent... Assembly heralds a powerful new voice in British literature * The Sunday Times *Assembly is brilliant. Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway meets Citizen by Claudia Rankine. Natasha Brown's ability to slide between the tiniest, most telling detail and the edifice of history, the assemblage of so many lives in so many times and places, is as breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true -- Olivia Sudjic, author of 'Asylum Road'Daring and distilled... A hauntingly accurate novel about the stories we construct for ourselves and others... A completely captivating read you won't be able to put down * Independent *Assembly fulfils, with exquisite precision, Virginia Woolf's exhortation to "record the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall... [It] calls to mind Frantz Fanon's work on the psychic ruptures caused by the experience of being colonised, or W. E. B. Du Bois's idea of double consciousness. Assembly is the kind of novel we might have got if Woolf had collaborated with Fanon... Brown nudges us towards an expression of the inexpressible - towards feeling rather than thought, as if we are navigating the collapsing boundaries between the narrator's consciousness and our own * Guardian *I read it compulsively in a single sitting. Assembly expertly draws out the difficulties of assembling a coherent self in the face of myriad structural oppressions. Casting a wry look at faded aristocrats, financial insiders and smug liberals, Natasha Brown takes the conventional tics of the English novel - the repressed emotion and clipped speech - and drains away the nostalgia. What's left is something hard and true -- Will Harris, author of 'Mixed Race Superman' and 'Rendang'It more than lives up to the hype. Propulsive, devastating, unflinching and deft... This is a heartbreaking novel that offers glimmers of hope with its bold vision for new modes of storytelling... Brown's voice is entirely her own - and Assembly is a wry, explosive debut from a coruscating new talent * inews *A powerhouse of a book * Stylist *Set over 24 hours as an unnamed Black British woman prepares to attend a garden party hosted by her boyfriend's wealthy parents. With a clear eye she assesses her experience of corporate culture with its embedded racism, her awful boss, the myth of true social mobility... A short but exceptionally powerful novel from a gifted new writer * Bookseller (Editor's Choice pick) *In this excoriating indictment of the white supremacy underpinning the office space, Natasha Brown shows us the triple bind under which Black British Women live. How can there be wholeness in a society which demands so often that Black women melt parts of themselves down so that the machinery can shape them anew? I have scarcely read a work of fiction which confronts me so clearly and viscerally with the nature of injustice in our contemporary moment. This is an important work from a writer I hope we'll be hearing from for a long, long time -- Kayo Chingonyi, author of 'A Blood Condition'One of the buzziest debuts of the summer * Vogue *Natasha Brown's exquisite prose, daring structure and understated elegance are utterly captivating. She is a stunning new writer -- Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize winning author of 'Girl, Woman, Other'This marvel of a novel manages to say all there is to say about Britain today in the most precise, poetic prose and within the story of one complicated, compelling woman. Formally thrilling, politically captivating, endlessly absorbing... I will never forget where I was when I read it, how I felt at the start of it and by the end - it takes you on a complete carousel of a life lived both in dread and in defiance. Superb. -- Sabrina Mahfouz, poet & playwright, ‘A History of Water in the Middle East’Like the fictional companion to Jamaica Kincaid's nonfiction masterpiece A Small Place... A book like a finely honed scalpel - marking a new and electrifying dawn -- Elaine Castillo, author of 'America is Not the Heart'Tightly conceived and distinctively written, perceptive, precise and unsparing... An elegiac examination of a Black woman's life and an acerbic analysis of Britain's racial landscape. Brown's rhythmic, economic prose renders the narrator's experiences with breathless clarity * New York Times *Stunningly good -- Elizabeth Day, presenter of the 'How to Fail' podcastAssembly is an astonishing work. Formally innovative, as beautiful as it is coolly devastating, urgent and utterly precise on what it means to be alive now -- Sophie Mackintosh, author of 'The Water Cure'Searing... A rousing, inspired voice demanding to be recognized and heard * Washington Post *Deft, essential, and a novel of poetic consideration, Assembly holds (the Black-British) identity in its hands, examining it until it becomes both truer and stranger - a question more than an answer. I nodded, I mhmmed, I sighed (and laughed knowingly, bitterly) -- Rachel Long, Folio Prize-shortlisted author of 'My Darling From the Lions'Bold and original, with a cool intelligence, and so very truthful about the colonialist structure of British society: how it has poisoned even our language, making its necessary dismantling almost the stuff of dreams. I take hope from Assembly, not just for our literature but also for our slow awakening -- Diana Evans, author of 'Ordinary People'Mind-bending and utterly original. It's like Thomas Bernhard in the key of Rachel Cusk but about black subjectivity -- Brandon Taylor, author of 'Real Life'Brilliantly sharp and curiously Alice-like... It centres on a gifted and driven young Black woman navigating a topsy-turvy and increasingly maddening modern Britain... Her indictment is forensic, clear, elegant, a prose-polished looking glass held up to her not-so-post-colonial nation. Only one puzzle remains unsolved: how a novel so slight can bear such weight * Times Literary Supplement *A piercing, cautionary tale about the costs of assimilating into a society still in denial about its colonial past. Brown writes with the deftness and insight of a poet -- Mary Jean Chan, author of 'Flèche'Bold, elegant, and all the more powerful for its brevity, Assembly captures the sickening weightlessness which a Black British woman, who has been obedient to and complicit with the capitalist system, experiences as she makes life-changing decisions under the pressure of the hegemony -- Paul Mendez, author of 'Rainbow Milk'This is a stunning achievement of compressed narrative and fearless articulation * Publisher's Weekly *One of the most talked-about debuts of the year . . . you'll read it in one sitting * Sunday Times Style *Thrilling... Brown gets straight to the point. With delivery as crisp and biting into an apple, she short-circuits expectation... This is [the narrator's] story, and she will tell it how she wishes, unpicking convention and form. Like The Drivers' Seat by Muriel Spark, it's thrilling to see a protagonist opting out and going her own way * Scotsman *A nuanced, form-redefining exploration on class, work, gender and race * Harper’s Bazaar *Across 100 lean pages, Brown deftly handles a gigantic literary heritage... Her style rivals the best contemporary modernists, like Eimear McBride and Rachel Cusk; innocuous or obscure on a first reading, punching on a second... Assembly is only the start * Daily Telegraph *There's something of Isherwood in Brown's spare, illuminating prose... A series of jagged-edged shards that when accumulated form an unhappy mirror in which modern Britain might examine itself * Literary Review *A debut novel as slender and deadly as an adder * Los Angeles Times *A razor-sharp debut... This powerful short novel suggests meaningful discussion of race is all but impossible if imperialism's historical violence remains taboo * Daily Mail *Bold, spare, agonisingly well-observed. An impressive debut * Tatler *Excoriating, unstoppable... The simplicity of the narrative allows complexity in the form: over barely a hundred pages, broken into prose fragments that have been assembled with both care and mercilessness * London Review of Books *Beguiling and beautifully written, this is the work of an author with a bright future * Tortoise *Coruscating originality, emotional potency, astonishing artistic vim... This signals the arrival of a truly breathtaking literary voice... A scintillating tour de force * Yorkshire Times *Fierce and accomplished, Assembly interrogates the high cost of surviving in a system designed to exclude you * Economist *I was blown away by Assembly, an astonishing book that forces us to see what's underpinning absolutely everything -- Lauren Elkin, author of 'Flaneuse'Coiled and charged, a small shockwave... Sometimes you come across a short novel of such compressed intensity that you wonder why anyone would bother reading longer narratives... [Assembly] casts a huge shadow * MoneyControl *A masterwork . . . it contains centuries of wisdom, aesthetic experimentation and history. Brown handles her debut with a surgeon's control and a musician's sensitivity to sound -- Tess Gunty * Guardian *An extraordinary book, and a compelling read that had me not only gripped but immediately determined to listen again... Highly recommended * Financial Times on 'Assembly' in audiobook *'As utterly, urgently brilliant as everyone has said. A needle driven directly into the sclerotic heart of contemporary Britain. Beautiful proof that you don't need to write a long book, just a good book' -- Rebecca Tamas, author of 'Witch'Every line of this electrifying debut novel pulses with canny social critique * Oprah Daily *Devastatingly eloquent, bold, poignant * Shelf Awareness *An achievement that will leave you wondering just how it's possible that this is only the author's very first work... Brown packs so much commentary and insight inside of every single sentence... Original and startling all at once. After reading Assembly, I cannot wait to see what Natasha Brown does next * Shondaland *[Brown's] work is like that of an excellent photographer - you feel like you are finally seeing the world sharply and without the common filters. That is hypnotising -- Rowan Hisayo Buchanan * Guardian *A brilliantly compressed, existentially daring study of a high-flying Black woman negotiating the British establishment -- Guardian, 'Best Fiction of 2021' * Justine Jordan *

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Book SynopsisWilliam Warwick and Ross Hogan will return, for one last time, in a gripping and unputdownable finale. Available to pre-order now!

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Book SynopsisSalman Rushdie is the author of sixteen novels, including Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), The Satanic Verses, and Quichotte (which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022.Trade ReviewA wonderful, rich and humane novel that is safe to call a classic. * Guardian *Midnight's Children is also full of such zest for every messy aspect of life that you can't help but feel inspired * Guardian *Rushdie’s novel took a post-colonial “empire fights back” spirit, and a deep personal understanding of the politics of Indian partition, and exploded them into something teeming with imaginative life… He inhabits a hybrid consciousness, with a telepathic connection to the other children of midnight, and tells its stories for all he is worth. * Observer *The extraordinary alchemy of Midnight’s Children was its miraculous fusion of the fantastical and the historical. * Evening Standard *A magical-realist reflection of the issues India faced post-independence including culture, language, religion, and politics… It’s a truly incredible work. * Verdict *

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Book SynopsisTreat a loved one to this joyful, big-hearted read from Booker Prize-winning novelist Bernardine Evaristo...''[Mr Loverman is] Brokeback Mountain with ackee and saltfish and old people'' Dawn FrenchWINNER OF THE JERWOOD FICTION UNCOVERED PRIZE 2014 and FERRO GRUMLEY AWARD FOR LGBT FICTION 2015Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he''s lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather - but he is also secretly homosexual, lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris.His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manaTrade ReviewBernardine Evaristo can take any story from any time and turn it into something vibrating with life -- Ali SmithThis riproaring, full-bodied riff on sex, secrecy and family is Bernardine Evaristo's seventh book. If you don't yet know her work, you should - she says things about modern Britain that no one else does * Guardian *Transforms our often narrow perceptions of gay men in England . . . Comical, agonising and, ultimately, moving * Independent *Evaristo has a lot going on in this unusual urban romance, but beneath her careful study of race and sexuality is a beautiful love story. Not many writers could have two old men having sexual intercourse in a bedsit to a soundtrack of Shabba Ranks's Mr Loverman and save it from bad taste, much less make it sublime. But the hero of this book, and his canny creator, make everything taste just fine * Daily Telegraph *An undeniably bold and energetic writer, whose world view is anything but one-dimensional * Sunday Times *Audacious genre-bending, in-yer-face wit and masterly retellings of underwritten corners of history are the hallmarks of Evaristo's wit * New Statesman *Heartbreaking yet witty, this is a story that needed to be told * Observer *I loved this novel. Barrington is flamboyant, complex and in love with his childhood friend Morris. It really makes you think of all the stories, forbidden and forgotten, from the elders who made England their home -- Luan Goldie * Guardian *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis**SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 2019**15th century Oakham, in Somerset; a tiny village cut off by a big river with no bridge. When a man is swept away by the river in the early hours of Shrove Saturday, an explanation has to be found: accident, suicide or murder? The village priest, John Reve, is privy to many secrets in his role as confessor. But will he be able to unravel what happened to the victim, Thomas Newman, the wealthiest, most capable and industrious man in the village? And what will happen if he can’t?Moving back in time towards the moment of Thomas Newman’s death, the story is related by Reve – an extraordinary creation, a patient shepherd to his wayward flock, and a man with secrets of his own to keep. Through his eyes, and his indelible voice, Harvey creates a medieval world entirely tangible in its immediacy.Trade ReviewMy Ancient Mariner novel, the book I’m destined to traipse around fervently pressing into people’s hands . . . [The Western Wind is a] breathtaking exploration of guilt, communal and individual, secrecy and power . . . It made me gasp, and when I’d finished it, I started it again. -- Alex Clark * Times Literary Supplement **Books of the Year 2018** *Beautifully rendered, deeply affecting, thoroughly thoughtful * New York Times *A rich and sumptuous delight . . . Even the most glowing reviews of [Samantha Harvey's] work have tended to be accompanied by a rueful acknowledgement of how underrated she is. The Western Wind will surely mean that she’s not underrated anymore. -- James Walton * Daily Telegraph *A wonderful creation . . . less like reading a novel and more akin to time travel — something I’ve only previously encountered in the work of Hilary Mantel. -- Melissa Harrison * Financial Times *So ingenious in its plotting and characterisation that it begs to be read twice – the second reading a confirmation of what is slowly, tantalisingly revealed in the first. ***** -- Eithne Farry * Express *

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Book SynopsisLily the Tiller is a nomadic gardener on the permanent lam from a bleak, abusive past. Scouring the lanes of South West England looking for temporary work, she pitches up at Motthoe, a now dilapidated, but once grand, country estate, where Dreamer Harry Motthoe's reluctant owner via recent inheritance falls for her with only the slimmest hopes of reciprocation. In Lily's care, a walled garden at Motthoe begins to blossom and the greening magic of this new life touches each of Motthoe's cast of idiosyncratic inhabitants. But, even in the midst of this community blossoming, dark hints and ill-omens suggest Lily's grim history can be run from no longer.

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Book SynopsisDiscover the classic novel of ''a modern master'' (Irish Times), described by Stephen Mangan on BBC2s Between the Covers as ''a gorgeous, gorgeous book'' ''His great masterpiece.'' Kevin Barry''A rare and powerful book.'' E. Annie Proulx''One of those books that makes its own language.'' Anne EnrightJack Ferris, playwright, drunk, is mired in contemplative misery in a fisherman''s cottage on the windy bleak west coast of Ireland. Mourning his love affair with Catherine Adams, an actress and Protestant from the North, he summons her instead in his imagination. In doing so, he tells the story of her father Jonathan, failed parson and retired RUC man, shamed into exile by a moment of violence in Derry years ago. Masterly, elegiac, A Goat''s Song conjures the contrasting landscapes and opposing myths of a nation divided.

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