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 What Alice Knew
Book Synopsis'Intriguing ... an impressive debut' Shari Lapena, author of The Couple Next Door'It made me look at marriage in a different light' Jane Corry, author of My Husband's Wife'T. A. Cotterell masterfully conjures up the suffocating atmosphere that envelopes the couple as they navigate the mental trauma of maintaining a complex web of lies ... An intriguing, well-constructed and dramatic debut' TLSHow far would you go to keep a secret?Alice has a perfect life – a great job, happy kids, a wonderful husband. Until he goes missing one night; she receives a suspicious phone call; things don’t quite add up. Alice needs to know what’s going on. But when she uncovers the truth she faces a brutal choice. And how can she be sure it is the truth?Sometimes it’s better not to know.An FT ' Reader Pick' Books for Summer Reading.Trade ReviewAn intriguing and layered psychological thriller, What Alice Knew will hold you fast till its startling conclusion—and then you’ll want to talk about it to anyone who will listen. An impressive debut. * Shari Lapena, author of 'The Couple Next Door' *Intriguing and compelling – it made me look at marriage in a different light … * Jane Corry, Author of 'My Husband's Wife' *The suspense [is] beautifully sustained ... the writing is finely crafted. * Joanne Harris *A tale of crime and morals ... an intriguing crime mystery that blends elements of psychological suspense and marital drama ... If you read this thinking you know where the story is going to go, just you wait. What Alice Knew is a tale of what it means to be a woman, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister and an artist. But more than anything, it’s a story of humanity, in all it’s ugliness and beauty, and the things people are willing to do for the ones they love. * Culturefly *T. A. Cotterell masterfully conjures up the suffocating atmosphere that envelopes the couple as they navigate the mental trauma of maintaining a complex web of lies ... An intriguing, well-constructed and dramatic debut. -- Justin Warshaw * Times Literary Supplement *
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Forest of Wool and Steel: Winner of the Japan
Book SynopsisOVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD''A mesmerising reading experience for all of us seeking a meaningful life' JAPAN TIMESWhat he experienced that day wasn’t life-changing . . . It was life-making.Tomura is startled by the hypnotic sound of a piano being tuned in his school. It seeps into his soul and transports him to the forests, dark and gleaming, that surround his beloved mountain village. From that moment, he is determined to discover more.Under the tutelage of three master piano-tuners – one humble, one jovial, one ill-tempered – Tomura embarks on his training, never straying too far from a single, unfathomable question: do I have what it takes?Set in small-town Japan, this warm and mystical story is for the lucky few who have found their calling – and for the rest of us who are still searching. It shows that the road to finding one’s purpose is a winding path, often filled with treacherous doubts and, for those who persevere, astonishing moments of revelation.Mega-bestselling winner of the Japan Booksellers Award, selected by bookshop staff as the book they most wanted to hand-sell: A tender and uplifting novel for fans of A WHOLE LIFE by Robert Seethaler.[Contains 5 exquisite hand-drawn illustrations]
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Strange Flowers: The Number One Bestseller
Book SynopsisWinner of the An Post Irish Novel of the Year 2020Longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award'You have to truly love people to write like this' RACHEL JOYCE'One of the greatest novels of this century' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT'Gorgeously wrought' GUARDIANIn 1973, twenty-year-old Moll Gladney takes a morning bus from her rural home and disappears.Bewildered and distraught, Paddy and Kit must confront an unbearable prospect: that they will never see their daughter again.Five years later, Moll returns. What - and who - she brings with her will change the course of her family's life forever.Beautiful and devastating, this exploration of loss, alienation and the redemptive power of love reaffirms Donal Ryan as one of the most talented and empathetic writers at work today._________'Outstanding ... Tender and beautifully written' INDEPENDENT'All the beauty and sorrow of life can be found in these pages' KATHLEEN MACMAHON'Exquisite . . . Beautiful' ANNE GRIFFIN, author of WHEN ALL IS SAID'Ryan gathers together the fragments of broken lives and makes us something new and beautiful from them' RÓNÁN HESSION, author of LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAULTrade ReviewHere is love as a weapon and a balm. Love as faith, fate and redemption ... a gorgeously wrought book - compassionate without dissolving into nostalgia * Guardian *Endlessly surprising and incredibly moving * David Nicholls *A triumph ... Ryan slowly and beautifully reveals the way that even broken people can open the door fully to the truth of themselves * Independent, Best Books of 2020 *His moving story of love and loss deserves to win a host of awards. It's an outstanding read * Sunday Express *I think you have to truly love people to write like this * Rachel Joyce *A triumph of quiet but devastating power, by some distance the best novel I've read so far this year -- Joseph O'ConnorA big-hearted, beautiful work of art, full of truth and intensity * Kit de Waal *Classic Ryan; poignant and atmospheric storytelling ... quiet but intermittently explosive * Observer *I knew Donal Ryan's latest would be good and I was right - it's a risky act of imagination that works, and the sentences are as beautiful as ever -- Sarah Moss * The Times *The lyricism of Ryan's prose, laced with compassion, is astonishing -- Best Irish Novels of the Year * Irish Independent *With each new novel Donal Ryan's ink seems to sink deeper into the page. In Strange Flowers he gathers together the fragments of broken lives and makes us something new and beautiful from them * Rónán Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul *A book so exquisite in its language it pushes me to want to write better ... you will love the quiet world of Paddy & Kit Gladney and all it is their daughter Moll brings to their door. Beautiful * Anne Griffin, author of When All Is Said *A beautiful, almost unbearably moving novel. Donal Ryan's compassion shines through every word he writes * Louise O’Neill *This is a novel to savour, for its mastery of language, its power of storytelling and its sure hand as it covers the sweep of time. Irish fiction was in a great place already, but Donal Ryan has gone and raised the bar again. All the beauty and sorrow of life can be found in these pages -- Kathleen MacMahonThe lyricism of the prose can be pitch perfect, placing Ryan among the great writers of rural Ireland such as John McGahern and Mary Lavin * Sunday Times *It is the sweetest, gentlest story of love ... each character so tenderly evoked * Saga Magazine *Ryan's beautifully written story reads like coming home and is a breath of fresh air -- Best Novels of 2020 * Image Magazine *Tender and beautifully written ... We read this outstanding book in one sitting and will definitely return to it again * Independent *What a beautiful book, I loved it * Sinéad Morrissey *Beautifully observed Tipperary setting and tenderly created characters telling a story of loss and redemption ... Love permeates Ryan's work * Irish Times *
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Second Wife
Book Synopsis‘A mesmerising, beautifully-written domestic thriller that really stands out from the crowd. I flew through it.’ Mark Edwards, author of HERE TO STAY‘A domestic noir to race through’ Sunday Mirror'Enjoyably twisty, this is most impressive for its chilling insights into obsession and where it can lead' Observer ******Everyone brings baggage to a new relationship.When Alex met Natalie she changed his life. After the tragic death of his first wife, which left him a single parent to teenage daughter Jade, he’s determined to build a happy family.But his new-found happiness is shattered when the family home is gutted by fire and his loyalties are unexpectedly tested. Jade insists she saw a man in the house on the night of the fire; Natalie denies any knowledge of such an intruder.Alex is faced with an impossible choice: to believe his wife or his daughter? And as Natalie’s story unravels, Alex realises that his wife has a past he had no idea about, a past that might yet catch up with her.But this time, the past could be deadly . . . *******************‘Beautifully written and well-crafted. I read it in two days, though I would have read it in one if I could’ Sandie Jones, author of THE OTHER WOMAN'Engrossing, original and hugely enjoyable' Emma Curtis, author of THE NIGHT YOU LEFTPraise for Rebecca Fleet:‘This is very much a heart-thumping, read-in-one-sitting story, and absolutely delivers on its smart and original hook’ Heat‘A fantastic thriller – dead-on domestic noir, full of tension and surprises. I loved it.’ Lee Child‘An enthralling thriller that lives up to its chilling premise.’ Renee Knight, author of Disclaimer‘Rebecca Fleet has created a perfectly contained cast of credible characters in a story so intriguing that you will be guessing right up to the last page. And it’s beautifully written too. I loved this book.’ Liz Nugent, author of Lying in Wait'Dark, smart, sexy, gripping, totally brilliant.’ Erin Kelly, author of He Said She Said'Sinister and compelling' Woman & Home'You'll be whipping through the pages' StylistTrade ReviewBeautifully written and well-crafted, the characters of Natalie, Rachel, Sadie and Alex stayed with me long after I finished reading and I resented anything that stopped me from getting back to them. I read it in two days, though I would have read it in one if I could! * Sandie Jones, author of THE OTHER WOMAN *A mesmerising, beautifully-written domestic thriller that really stands out from the crowd. I flew through it. * Mark Edwards, author of FOLLOW YOU HOME *Engrossing, original and hugely enjoyable. * Emma Curtis, author of THE NIGHT YOU LEFT *A fabulous read. * Woman & Home *A menacing new thriller . . . Expect to be gripped! * That's Life! *
£7.59
Transworld Publishers Ltd Call of the Curlew
Book Synopsis'Unforgettable' - ROSAMUND LUPTONVirginia Wrathmell has always known she will meet her death on the marsh.One snowy New Year's Eve, at the age of eighty-six, Virginia feels the time has finally come.New Year's Eve, 1939. Virginia is ten, an orphan arriving to meet her new parents at their mysterious house, Salt Winds. Her new home sits on the edge of a vast marsh, a beautiful but dangerous place. War feels far away out here amongst the birds and shifting sands - until the day a German fighter plane crashes into the marsh. The people at Salt Winds are the only ones to see it.What happens next is something Virginia will regret for the next seventy-five years, and which will change the whole course of her life.Trade ReviewLike Daphne du Maurier…powerfully conjures up a place, a time, and a story that are unforgettable. -- ROSAMUND LUPTONAn atmospheric, beautifully paced novel about sacrifice, the urge to belong and revenge. It's full of well-drawn characters I loved to hate, and those that I didn't want to let go, even after I closed the last page. -- CLAIRE FULLERA beautifully written, atmospheric novel -- reminiscent of Jane Eyre... bewitching and haunting -- EOWYN IVEYMelodic and beautiful * Prima *Really special * Good Housekeeping *
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd I Owe You One: The Number One Sunday Times
Book SynopsisThe irresistible standalone from Sophie Kinsella is a story of love, empowerment and an IOU that changes everything . . .Fixie Farr can't help herself. Straightening a crooked object, removing a barely-there stain, helping out a friend . . . she just has to put things right. It's how she got her nickname, after all. So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, Fixie not only agrees, she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank her, the computer's owner, Sebastian, scribbles her an IOU - but of course Fixie never intends to call in the favour.That is, until her teenage crush, Ryan, comes back into her life and needs her help - and Fixie turns to Seb. But things don't go according to plan, and now Fixie owes Seb: big time.Soon the pair are caught up in a series of IOUs - from small favours to life-changing debts - and Fixie is torn between the past she's used to and the future she deserves. Does she have the courage to fix things for herself and fight for the life, and love, she really wants? ***** EVERYBODY LOVES SOPHIE KINSELLA: *****'Left me giddy with laughter. I loved it' JOJO MOYES'Life doesn't get much better than a new Sophie Kinsella novel' RED'One of the most relatable books I've read in a long time, I couldn't put it down.' LOUISE PENTLAND (SprinkleofGlitter)OUT NOW the joyful new standalone novel from Sophie Kinsella: LOVE YOUR LIFETrade ReviewI love having the opportunity to escape with a Sophie Kinsella book, and I OWE YOU ONE came just when I needed it. Fixie’s story is one of missed cues, mistakes, and the realization that you can’t fix someone else’s mess until you fix your own — a smart lesson, wrapped in a gem of a novel. * Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A SPARK OF LIGHT and SMALL GREAT THINGS *Compulsively readable . . . I adored it. * Sara Lawrence, Daily Mail *Compulsively readable . . . I adored it. * Sara Lawrence, Daily Mail *This book is a shot of pure joy. * Jenny Colgan *Another clever, witty story of love and empowerment * Scotsman *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Whispering House
Book Synopsis'Shimmering, lush...will keep you up all night' - Rene Denfeld, author of THE ENCHANTED'Eerie and addictive' - New York TimesWhen I think of Byrne Hall - which I do more often than I'd like - it's the dead weight of the heatwave that comes back to me, and the smell of things going rotten.Freya Lyell is struggling to move on from her sister Stella's suicide five years ago. Visiting the bewitching Byrne Hall, only a few miles from the scene of the tragedy, she discovers a portrait of Stella - a portrait she had no idea existed, in a house Stella never set foot in. Or so she thought.Driven to find out more about her sister's secrets, Freya is drawn into the world of Byrne Hall and its owners: charismatic artist Cory and his sinister, watchful mother. But as Freya's relationship with Cory crosses the line into obsession, the darkness behind the locked doors of Byrne Hall threatens to spill out.Trade ReviewShimmering, lush, with prose that beats at the heart, The Whispering House will keep you up all night -- Rene Denfeld, author of THE ENCHANTEDEerie and addictive...A chilling, masterly study in all the ways love can lead to misery. Like Wuthering Heights...terrifying yet wholly believable * New York Times *A spellbinding gothic story ...an exquisitely creepy page-turner * Publishers Weekly *A slow-simmering, psychological, gothic novel about grief and longing * Booklist *A gothic romance for the contemporary age * Kirkus Reviews *
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd Once Upon a River: The Sunday Times bestseller
Book Synopsis'I was completely spellbound' - Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things'Setterfield is a master storyteller' - Madeline Miller, author of Circe Some say the river drowned her... Some say it brought her back to life On a dark midwinter's night in an ancient inn on the Thames, the regulars are entertaining themselves by telling stories when the door bursts open and in steps an injured stranger. In his arms is the drowned corpse of a child. Hours later, the dead girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? And who does the little girl belong to? An exquisitely crafted historical mystery brimming with folklore, suspense and romance, as well as with the urgent scientific curiosity of the Victorian age.____________________ Praise for Diane Setterfield:'An absolute feast of a book, which will keep you engrossed' RED magazine'Brimming with folklore, intrigue and romance, this is a story to savour' Woman & Home'Once Upon a River continues to demonstrate [Setterfield's] mastery of the Gothic genre in a way that will appeal to modern readers' The IndependentReaders are captivated by Once Upon a River: ***** 'Pure escapism, a beautifully written story.' ***** 'It felt as comforting as the fantastical stories you read as a child yet with a darker edge.' ***** 'I was entranced from the beginning to the end.'Trade ReviewA story, no matter how cleverly it is structured, lives or dies on the vividness of its characters. Setterfield, a true storyteller, makes us care about all her players in this beguiling novel. * The Times *Exploring themes of storytelling, parenthood, science and society on the cusp of change, this is a richly evocative novel. * Observer *Diane Setterfield's debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale, came out in 2006 to wide acclaim. She made her mark by delivering her own take on the classic romantic mystery novel, infused with the spirit of Jane Eyre, Rebecca and The Woman in White. Once Upon a River continues to demonstrate her mastery of the Gothic genre in a way that will appeal to modern readers...Setterfield knows how to make the words sing. It is worth taking a journey down the Thames with her. * Independent *Once Upon a River is magical, in every which way...it's the power of her storytelling that allows readers to suspend disbelief, and draws them through each tangled, dazzling chapter...This riverine novel has the mood and feel of a ghost story told late into the night, and will win over readers who enjoy a touch of age-old enchantment. * Financial Times *I was completely spellbound by this book. Numerous strands of the same story are skilfully woven into a magical web from which I, as a reader, had no desire to escape. Setterfield’s prose is beautiful, dark and eerily atmospheric, and her rich cast of characters convincingly illustrate the best and worst of humanity. Utterly brilliant! -- Ruth Hogan,bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost ThingsOnce Upon a River is one of the most pleasurable and satisfying new books I've read in a long time. Setterfield is a master storyteller, her language flowing with a dark magic very like the river at the heart of her tale: swift and entrancing, profound and beautiful. Give yourself a treat and read it! -- Madeline Miller,Orange Prize-winning author of The Song of Achilles and CirceI so didn't want to leave the world of Once Upon a River but now I have and I'm bereft of the company of country folk and river spirits. This charming story about stories and the mystery of life & death captured my heart. A truly extraordinary book. -- Dinah JefferiesHer characters are so vivid, one feels as though one has met them, spent an evening in their company, telling stories around the hearth...Setterfield is a master storyteller herself, giving us all the depth and plot and richness of the great narrative novelists. This is dazzling, alive, all-consumer writing: one reads each page greedily, the beautiful sentences shining like jewels under the pulling current of the tale itself. * Daily Telegraph *A satisfying, thickly characterised tale that plunges you into an evocatively realised historical setting. You care for its characters. * Sunday Times *A finely drawn cast and bravura storytellling. * Mail on Sunday *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Lost
Book Synopsis'A brilliantly paced, imaginative thriller with plenty of dark twists that had me turning the pages well into the night.' Heidi Perks, author of Now You See Her ___________________________________HOW CAN YOU SOLVE A CRIME IF YOU CAN'T REMEMBER THE CLUES? ___________________________________There is an explosion at a military ball. The casualties are rushed to hospital in eight ambulances, but only seven vehicles arrive. Captain Harry Peterson is missing.His girlfriend calls upon her old friend Dr Augusta Bloom to support the investigation. But no one can work out if there is a connection between the bomb and the disappearance.When Harry is eventually discovered three days later, they hope he holds the answers to their questions. But he can't remember a single thing.Without any clues, will Dr Bloom find herself lost in this puzzle too? ___________________________________'Another cracking read from Leona Deakin and my favourite so far! I was totally gripped by this complex and intriguing story.' Lauren North, author of The Perfect Betrayal ___________________________________Readers love the Dr Bloom Thrillers:'The ultimate suspense novel' *****'Gripping, mysterious, fast-paced' *****'An intelligent psychological thriller' *****'What a book! Completely mind-twisting' *****'Debut novels don't get better than this' *****'A smart and intricate cat-and-mouse tale' *****'Dark, riveting, twisting, cruel' ***** 'I could not put it down' *****Trade ReviewI was totally gripped by this complex and intriguing story. Another cracking read from Leona Deakin and my favourite so far! The tension between Bloom and Jameson created a whole new layer to this fascinating read. I gave up trying to figure out what was going on and just enjoyed the drip feed of clues and red herrings. Can't wait for the next one! * Lauren North, author of THE PERFECT BETRAYAL *A brilliantly paced, imaginative thriller with plenty of dark twists that had me turning the pages well into the night. * Heidi Perks, author of NOW YOU SEE HER *
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd Gone
Book SynopsisWOMAN & HOME'S BEST THRILLER OF THE YEAR'If you like a proper, twisty nerve-wracking thriller, here's one for you!'Emma Curtis, author of One Little MistakeFour strangers are missing. Left at their last-known locations are birthday cards that read:YOUR GIFT IS THE GAME. DARE TO PLAY? The police aren’t worried – it’s just a game. But the families are frantic. As psychologist and private detective Dr Augusta Bloom delves into the lives of the missing people, she finds something that binds them all.And that something makes them very dangerous indeed.As more disappearances are reported and new birthday cards uncovered, Dr Bloom races to unravel the mystery and find the missing people.But what if, this time, they are the ones she should fear?WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT GONE: 'Sensational' *****'I will say phenomenal. Although that doesn't cover how good this book is' *****'Complete mind-twisting and gripping suspense' *****'I raced through it desperate to get to the end while not wanting it to end' *****'What a riveting psychological thriller' *****'It is dark, riveting, twisty and cruel' *****'Wow . . . this book was fabulous' *****'Belter of a psychological thriller' *****'Please write another novel soon, I need the adrenaline rush' *****Trade ReviewDark, with a focus on psychopathy, this is undoubtedly our favourite thriller of 2019. Shiver as Dr August Bloom is drawn into a chilling game with very high stakes. What sets this novel apart is the final reveal, which comes as a genuine shock, and will linger in your mind long after finishing the book. * Woman & Home *Fabulous. Beautifully imagined, beautifully written, immediately immersive, and scary as can be. * Lee Child *If you like a proper, twisty nerve-wracking thriller, here's one for you! * Emma Curtis, author of 'One Little Mistake' *With a scorching finale and a psychologist-cum-private detective to savour, this is the one to watch! * T A Cotterell, author of 'What Alice Knew' *One of the best books to buy this Christmas! * Gransnet *
£9.86
Transworld Publishers Ltd You Think It, I'll Say It: Ten scorching stories
Book SynopsisA dazzling, smart and razor-sharp story collection by Curtis Sittenfeld, Sunday Times bestselling author of Rodham and American Wife.The theme that unites these stories is how even the cleverest people tend to misread others, and how much we all deceive ourselves. Sharp and tender, funny and wise, they show Sittenfeld's knack for creating real, believable characters that spring off the page, while also skewering contemporary mores with brilliant dry wit.'DO-OVER', ONE OF THE STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION, WAS SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 SUNDAY TIMES EFG SHORT STORY AWARD.
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd Follow Me To Ground
Book Synopsis'A tangled, gnarled, wonderfully original, strange, beautiful beast of a book' DAISY JOHNSON, author of Everything Under'Beautiful and terrifying' SUNDAY TIMES'Seethingly assured debut fuses magical realism with critical and feminist theory' GUARDIANIn house in a wood, Ada and her father live peacefully, tending to their garden and the wildlife in it. They are not human though. Ada was made by her father from the Ground, a unique patch of earth with birthing and healing properties. Though perhaps he didn’t get her quite right. They spend their days healing the local human folk – named Cures - who visit them, suspiciously, with their ailments. When Ada embarks on a relationship with a local Cure named Samson, and is forced to choose between her old life with her father, and a new one with her human lover. Her decision will uproot the town – and the Ground itself – for ever.A poised and simmering tour-de-force, FOLLOW ME TO GROUND is a sinister vision of desire and freewill, voiced in earthy prose and eviscerating detail by an astoundingly original new writer.'Equal parts beauty and horror, and unlike anything you will read this year’ TEA OBREHT'Fierce, palpable, hynoptic. A dazzling, troubling dream' COLIN BARRETT'A writer to watch' METRO'An astonishing debut heralding the career of an exciting new writer. Strange, lyrical, and arresting, this novel will draw readers into its extraordinary spell.' KIRKUS starred review LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE 2019Trade ReviewSeethingly assured ... odd and muscular enough to resist easy interpretation. It can be read on many levels – as a fable about female yearning, or about containment and contagion; as an investigation into toxic relationships or a puzzle over the borders between human and non-human – but it is always singularly and entirely itself * GUARDIAN *Enthralling . . . Lyrical, dark and detailed, the story twists like a root, bent in one way by desire, in another by fate. * Daily Mail *Impressive . . . Rainsford is a writer to watch. * Metro *A tangled, gnarled, wonderfully original, strange, beautiful beast of a book * DAISY JOHNSON *Rainsford writes beautifully with a lyrical, earthy prose which is evocative and eviscerating yet mesmerising. She gives Ada a unique voice which fills and haunts the narrative. One of the strangest books I've read in a long time, it is utterly compelling and will linger, uninvited, in your consciousness long after you've turned the last page. * Irish Independent *
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd All We Shall Know
Book SynopsisFrom the twice Man Booker longlisted author of From a Low and Quiet Sea 'Poetic, powerful and heart-rending' THE TIMES'An exquisite account of womanhood, friendship, prejudice and tradition that is both intimate in scale and awesome in achievement' IRISH INDEPENDENTMelody Shee is alone and in trouble. Her husband doesn't take her news too well. She can't tell her father yet because he's a good man and this could break him. She's trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming - larger by the day - while the past won't let her go. What she did to Breedie Flynn all those years ago still haunts her.It's a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does. Mary is a young Traveller woman, and she knows more about Melody than she lets on. She might just save Melody's life._________'A joy to read, for all that it breaks your heart' INDEPENDENT'One of the finest writers working in Ireland today ... worthy of Greek Drama' GUARDIAN'A stunning piece of work, utterly truthful and emotionally powerful' JOSEPH O'CONNOR'Work of genius ... I was entranced by it. Buckled by it' SEBASTIAN BARRYTrade ReviewPoetic, powerful and heart-rending * The Times *A joy to read, for all that it breaks your heart * Independent *One of the finest writers working in Ireland today ... worthy of Greek drama * Guardian *An exquisite account of womanhood, friendship, prejudice and tradition that is both intimate in scale and awesome in achievement * Irish Independent *Work of genius ... I was entranced by it. Buckled by it. -- Sebastian Barry
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Before I Saw You: A joyful read asking ‘can you
Book Synopsis'A charming page-turner of a romance' Laura Jane Williams, bestselling author of Our Stop'A heart-warming tale . . . sure to tug at your heart-strings' Woman's Own_________________Alice and Alife couldn't be more different.He's charming, talkative and outgoing. She's reserved, efficient and a workaholic.Forced together by circumstance, they can't see each other but they can talk - and as Alfie slowly brings Alice out of her shell, they start to get to know each other better.The connection between them feels real, but can you really fall for someone you've never seen? ___Readers are falling in love with Before I Saw You:***** 'One of the must-reads of 2021! It is beautifully written with characters that have such great depth.'***** 'An absolute joy and a love story about falling in love and allowing yourself to be loved.'***** 'A funny, heart-wrenching and beautiful love story. Absolutely loved it.'Trade ReviewA charming page-turner of a romance with characters I cared about enormously. I inhaled it! * Laura Jane Williams, bestselling author of Our Stop *The perfect read for fans of Me Before You * Candis *A heartwarming and heartbreaking debut * Heat *An emotional and character-led story that is sure to tug at your heartstrings * Woman's Own *Such a moving book about loving someone, both inside and out. Just lovely * Alice Peterson, bestselling author of Monday to Friday Man *A beautiful, uplifting story with characters that made me smile on every page * Jessica Ryn, author of The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside *This is a beautifully-written, emotionally rich story about hope, love and new beginnings. I fell in love with Alice and Alfie, along with the other hospital residents, immediately * Lynsey James *A warm, captivating love story that will break your heart and put it back together again. The story was totally unique and really beautiful, with characters so real that finishing the book felt like saying goodbye to friends. * Olivia Beirne, author of The Accidental Love Letter *Love and compassion is compressed into the pages of this book [...] I found myself staying up way past my bed time to read, and read, and read * Anything Goes Lifestyle *Billed as the love story of the year * That's Life *Heart-warming love story * The Up Coming *Engaging and smile-inducing * The Connaught Telegraph *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing While My Eyes Were Closed
Book Synopsis'Clever and compelling' Dorothy Koomson'Very punchy and terrifyingly plausible' Sunday Mirror'Linda Green is bloody brilliant!' Amanda ProwseA nail-biting psychological drama for fans of the Richard & Judy bestseller THE LAST THING SHE TOLD MEOne, two, three . . .Lisa Dale shuts her eyes and counts to one hundred during a game of hide-and-seek. When she opens them, her four-year-old daughter Ella is gone. Disappeared without a trace. The police, the media and Lisa's family all think they know who snatched Ella.But what if the person who took her isn't a stranger? What if they are convinced they are doing the right thing? And what if Lisa's little girl is in danger of disappearing forever?*****WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT WHILE MY EYES WERE CLOSED'Very gripping and wonderfully written' *****'I was hooked' *****'A thrilling page-turner' *****Trade ReviewClever and compelling, While My Eyes Were Closed tells the story of the disappearance of a child in many different authentic voices. You feel the effect it has on all the characters, even the ones you're not sure you're supposed to feel sympathy for. This is brave story, which is touching right down to the final word. I so enjoyed this book * Dorothy Koomson, Sunday Times top ten bestselling author *A beautifully crafted novel of knife-edge suspense that held my attention to the very end. I wanted to compare the author to Gillian Flynn or Alice Sebold, but that wouldn't be right. This book is one hundred percent Linda Green, and Linda Green is bloody brilliant! * Amanda Prowse, #1 bestselling author *The suspense becomes quite unbearable - and there's a final flourish in the form of a very punchy twist. A terrifyingly plausible story, that will have parents looking over their shoulders * Sunday Mirror *A powerful and provocative read that will get under your skin * Sun *This novel is fantastic. I couldn't put it down . . . I read it with my stomach fluttering the whole time * BBC Radio Leeds Book Club *An ambitious premise, brilliantly executed * The Lady *Expertly plotted and truly terrifying, this book forensically dissects every parent's nightmare * Barbara Nadel *Packed with emotion, the suspense of the devastation situation this family find themselves thrust into through circumstance is apparent through every page of this thrilling read. A real page turner * Telegraph & Argus *Terrifying, brilliantly plotted. Linda Green manages to construct an amazing scenario out of every parent's worst nightmare and make it incredibly plausible * Emily Barr, author of The Perfect Lie *A vivid and unnerving story about the terrifying knife-edges of motherhood. Nail-biting, creepy and so sad * Isabelle Grey, author of THE BAD MOTHER *A vivid and unnerving story about the terrifying knife-edges of motherhood. Nail-biting, creepy and so sad * Isabelle Grey, author of The Bad Mother *
£8.54
Quercus Publishing All Their Minds In Tandem
Book SynopsisThe setting is October 1879. The stage is New Georgetown, West Virginia.A mysterious figure by the name of 'The Maker' has entered this small community and, almost immediately upon doing so, started entering the minds of the townsfolk.Townsfolk who are as curious as The Maker himself. Like Dr Umbründ, the pint-sized physician with a prodigious capacity for sin; like the three sisters in the house on the hill - one stern, one wild, one mysterious; like the tavern's semi-mythical siren, 'The Bird', who plays spellbinding music from behind a black velvet curtain, and whom no patron has ever laid eyes on; like Odell, a youth with dreams and ambitions that his craven disposition will forever prevent him from seizing; and who has spent the entirety of his erstwhile existence under the crushing heel of Clay, New Georgetown's lead cad and chief alpha male.As we enter these characters' lives, and lightly tread our way through their brains, their bedrooms, their backstories and beyond, we will see what it is they all hope for and hide - and learn just why The Maker has chosen to meet them.
£11.24
Quercus Publishing A Harvest of Thorns
Book SynopsisA gripping new thriller that unpacks the horrors of exploitation in the garment industry, blending the nailbiting courtroom drama of John Grisham with the emotional heart of Khaled Hosseini.'Poignant and engrossing ... Corban Addison will hold you spellbound with his elegant prose from his first word to his last' Wilbur SmithIn Dhaka, Bangladesh, a garment factory burns to the ground, claiming the lives of hundreds of workers, mostly young women. Amid the rubble, a bystander captures a heart-stopping image-a teenage girl lying in the dirt, her body broken by a multi-storey fall, and over her mouth a mask of fabric bearing the label of one of America's largest retailers, Presto Omnishops Corporation. When the photo goes viral, it fans the flames of a decades old controversy about sweatshops, labour rights, and the ethics of globalization.A year later, in Washington, D.C., Joshua Griswold, a disgraced former journalist for the Washington Post, receives an anonymous summons from a corporate whistleblower promising information about Presto. He offers Griswold confidential information about Presto's apparel supply chain.For Griswold, the challenge of exposing Presto's wilful negligence is irresistible, as is the chance, however slight, at redemption. Deploying his old journalistic skills, he builds a historic case against Presto, setting the stage for a war in the courtroom and in the media that Griswold is determined to win - both to salvage his reputation and to provoke a revolution of conscience in Presto's boardroom that could change the course of the fashion industry across the globe.Trade ReviewA must-read book that uncovers what lies behind what we wear every single day. You will never be able to look at your clothes the same way again -- Livia Firth, OXFAM Global AmbassadorPoignant and engrossing ... Corban Addison will hold you spellbound with his elegant prose from his first word to his last -- Wilbur Smith
£9.49
Quercus Publishing F: A Novel
Book Synopsis'A comic tour de force, a biting satire on the hypnotized world of artificial wants and needs that Huxley predicted, a moving study of brotherhood and family failure, F is an astonishing book, a work of deeply satisfying (and never merely clever) complexity' - John Burnside Artful and subversive, F tells the story of the Friedland family - fakers, all of them - and the day when the fate in which they don't quite believe catches up with them. Having achieved nothing in life, Arthur Friedland is tricked on stage by a hypnotist and told to change everything. After he abandons his three young sons, they grow up to be a faithless priest, a broke financier and a forger. Each of them cultivates absence. One will be lost to it. A novel about the game of fate and the fetters of family, F never stops questioning, exploring and teasing at every twist and turn of its Rubik's Cube-like narrative.**Shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2015**Trade ReviewA comic tour de force, a biting satire on the hypnotized world of artificial wants and needs that Huxley predicted, a moving study of brotherhood and family failure, F is an astonishing book, a work of deeply satisfying (and never merely clever) complexity . . . It is a novel of deep beauty, psychological insight and, finally, compassion; a book that, in a world of fakes and manufactured objects of desire, is the real article: a bona fide, inimitable masterpiece -- John Burnside * Times Literary Supplement *Daniel Kehlmann braided art, religion and finance into a typically effervescent but heartfelt comedy-of-ideas about faith and fakery * Independent *It is this sense of a world potent with significance that seems at once within our reach and beyond our grasp that forms the central concern of this most accomplished, humane and unsettling of novels - a work that registers how it is to feel so alive to the 'terrible beauty of things' as to feel the world is talking to us * Literary Review *Daniel Kehlmann's subtly yet masterly constructed puzzle cube of a new novel . . . conveying the implicit message that Fate with a capital F has already decided the answer for us . . . Yet Kehlmann's ambitious narrative structure - the novel itself - provides the strongest rebuke of that deterministic claim. For the novel, with its sly Möbius-strip-like connectedness, doesn't just hint at the possibility of a plan behind the scenes; it enacts that plan in the very telling, its elegant, unfolding construction revealing the author's intended pattern by book's end; a sign of hope, perhaps, or even faith * New York Times *Intelligent, acerbic and quietly surreal . . . Powering the narrative is the explosive fallout from the collision between fate and self-determination . . . Subtle and clever in all the right ways. Kehlmann's world is fully convincing while being philosophically challenging. He has a hypnotic effect, seducing us with his storytelling while provoking us to find meanings of our own -- Toby Lichtig * Saturday Telegraph *It cannot be an easy thing to write a comic novel about the death of God. Still, Daniel Kehlmann may just have pulled it off . . . In a godless world, love counts for a great deal. And failing love, ordinary human decency goes a long way. Since Kurt Vonnegut died, there has really been no one to tell us this; the reminder is welcome . . . F is about the world's absurdity, and this makes a huge difference morally. The world is big, and ultimately unknowable, and life is short and memory pitifully limited . . . It is very hard to express how funny this all is. But laughter matters most in the dark -- Simon Ings * Guardian *What a strange and beautiful novel, hovering on the misty borders of the abstract and the real. Three brilliant character studies in the brothers - religion, money and art. What else is there? The answer, Kehlmann suggests, without ever saying so, is love, and its lack is the essence of the failures of all three men. But while these fates unroll in the idiom of psychological realism, there is a cooler geometry working on the reader, a painterly sense of the symmetry in human fates. It's a deeply writerly novel with a stout backbone of wonderful characterization. High achievement -- Ian McEwanWith the wizardry of a puzzle master Daniel Kehlmann permutes the narrative pieces of this Rubik's Cube of a story - involving a lost father and his three sons - into a solution that clicks into position with a deep thrill of narrative and emotional satisfaction. Kehlmann is one of the brightest, most pleasure-giving writers at work today, and he manages all this while exploring matters of deep philosophical and intellectual import. He deserves to have more readers -- Jeffrey EugenidesF is an intricate, beautiful novel in multiple disguises: a family saga, a fable, and a high-speed farce. But then, what else would you expect? Daniel Kehlmann is one of the great novelists for making giant themes seem light -- Adam ThirlwellCompelling combination of digestible philosophy and buzzy page-turning thriller . . . the ideas in this book are big, exciting, an irresistible puzzle, and the prose flows like the Rhine - increasingly dramatic, occasionally soulful. F might be for Friedland and family and fraud but it is also for fun. And a fecking good read * Big Issue *
£8.99
Quercus Publishing All Things Cease to Appear: now a major Netflix
Book Synopsis'Ghosts, murder, a terrifying psychotic who seems normal, and beautiful writing. Loved it' Stephen King'Can make you gasp in astonishment or break your heart with a single line' Wall St Journal'Superb. Think a more literary, and feminist, Gone Girl' VogueBASIS FOR THE NETFLIX FILM THINGS HEARD & SEEN This begins the morning Catherine Clare died. The day her daughter spent in the house with her. The evening her husband came home to find her.This becomes the tale of their marriage, and the ones around them. A tale of bonds between families, between lives living and lost and of the lonely ones that share no bonds at all. Who should be pitied. Who must be feared.Trade ReviewBrundage's brilliant new novel is as terrifyingly unsettling-and as beautiful-as cracking ice over a raging river. Part murder mystery, part ghost story, it's also a profound look at how past guilt informs the present, how what we yearn for is not always what we get, and how it's not only houses that can be haunted, but people as well. One of the most ambitious, original and gorgeously written novels that I've ever read-and been unable to forget. * Caroline Leavitt *All Things Cease to Appear is a riveting ghost story, psychological thriller, and literary page turner. It's also the story of four women: Ella, Catherine, Justine, and Willis. With masterful skill and brilliant empathy, Brundage brings each of them to vivid and remarkable life. At its heart, this is a story about women's grit and courage, will and intelligence. It's a powerful and beautiful novel * Kate Christensen *At once high art and a spellbinding thriller, this is a book of many wonders, including a character as creepily sinister as any created by Patricia Highsmith * Beverly Lowry *A dynamic portrait of a young woman coming into her own [and] of a marriage in free fall. . . . It rises to [great] literary heights and promises a soaring mix of mysticism * Booklist *Brundage's searing, intricate novel epitomizes the best of the literary thriller, marrying gripping drama with impeccably crafted prose, characterizations, and imagery . . . Succeeding as murder mystery, ghost tale, family drama, and love story, her novel is both tragic and transcendent * Publisher's Weekly *I bloody loved this. I could have taken weeks over it, lingering on the harmony and beauty of her language and the creeping delicacy of what was going on - but the plot and the people pull you in. It's an iceberg in disguise. Beneath the daisies and farmhouses, the drinks parties and local dramas something grand, tense and terrifying is shifting, between men and women, between townies and newcomers, between adults and children. And then a crack shoots through - unexpected light, the clarity of hatred, inevitability . . . A lot of people will be getting this for their birthdays this year. * Louisa Young *Superb . . . think a more literary, and feminist, Gone Girl. As the seemingly perfect marriage at its core reminds us, the most lethal deceptions are the stories we tell ourselves * Vogue *A book as lyrically written, frequently shocking and immensely moving as Elizabeth Brundage's All Things Cease to Appear transcends categorization . . . Reading this book is at once wrenching and exhilarating thanks to Ms. Brundage's prose, which can make you gasp in astonishment or break your heart with a single line -- Tom Nolan * Wall Street Journal *Ghosts, murder, a terrifying psychotic who seems normal, and beautiful writing. Loved it * Stephen King *What, at first, seems to be a crime novel is much more, working on several levels. It's the painful story of a marriage that should never have happened . . . Furthermore, it's a chilling portrait of a pyschopathic killer. Not so much a whodunnit as a whydunnit, this richly imagined, sprawling novel contains scalpel-sharp dissections of the characters and their increasingly complex relationships -- Fanny Blake * Daily Mail *Haunting . . . Brundage exposes the mind of the killer in slow and forensic detail -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times *A portrait of a dysfunctional marriage with supernatural shadowing . . . so beautifully written, so full of neat observations and telling details -- John O'Connell * Guardian *Mesmerising . . . This isn't a whodunit - the mystery's easy enough to solve. Instead, it's a psychological portrait of a whole community . . . [the] novel is compelling, as coldly beautiful as it is unsettling. It's haunting, in the best possibly way -- Sarah Dobbs * Crime Scene *If I could choose just one thriller from all that I have read this year to recommend as a Christmas present for a friend, it would be All Things Cease to Appear. This remarkable novel, an utterly compelling tale that is part supernatural ghost story, part acutely observed psychological thriller and part gripping family saga -- Myles McWeeney * Irish Independent *
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Quercus Publishing Rotherweird: Rotherweird Book I
Book Synopsis'A book with special and dangerous properties' Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of Wolf Hall'Enthralling' M.R. Carey, bestselling author of The Girl With All the Gifts 'An imaginative tour de force' The Times1558: Twelve children, gifted far beyond their years, are banished by their Tudor queen to the town of Rotherweird. Some say they are the golden generation; some say the devil's spawn. But everyone knows they are something to be revered - and feared. Four and a half centuries on, cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I and still bound by its ancient laws, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history. Then an Outsider arrives, a man of unparallelled wealth and power, enough to buy the whole of Rotherweird - deeply buried secrets and all . . . Welcome to Rotherweird. 'A remarkable achievement' Sunday Independent 'Compelling' GuardianTrade ReviewA history-tragic-comedy all rolled into one, Rotherweird is intricate and crisp, witty and solemn: a book not unlike other books, but with special and dangerous properties. Line by line, silent and adroit, it opens a series of trap-doors in the reader's imagination * Hilary Mantel, two-time Man Booker prize winner *An imaginative tour de force * The Times *Baroque, Byzantine and beautiful - not to mention bold. An enthralling puzzle picture of a book * M R Carey, author of the bestselling The Girl With All The Gifts *Compelling . . . the love child of Gormenghast and Hogwarts * Guardian *Sublime . . . Call me greedy, but I'm already itching to return to Caldecott's universe * The Irish Times *One of this year's most anticipated debut novels * SFX *This novel is a remarkable achievement. It's also extremely funny, in a typically British sort of way . . . a delightful Harry Potter for grown ups * Sunday Independent *Truly, sinisterly magical. 10/10 * Starburst *A great introduction to its strange and mesmerising world, and a feat of imagination, packed with ideas and extraordinary people. It's well worth the visit * SciFiNow *This is a twisty, hilarious, magical story crammed full of intricate characters and nefarious plots * The Little Squid *I LOVED this book. It just did something to me. I was utterly immersed from page one . . . This is a novel of magnificence and detail, of science and nature * Fantastical Library *Assured and ambitious . . . deeply impressive debut * Nick Curtis, Evening Standard on Higher than Babel *Hugely entertaining . . . this novel is a remarkable achievement. It's also extremely funny, in a typically British sort of way * Independent.ie *Vivid and absorbing and grapples with big ideas without being dry, difficult or patronising * Sarah Hemming, Financial Times on Higher than Babel *What an enjoyable read! So vividly written, I could visualise every winding street and twisting chimney of Rotherweird . . . If you like Ben Aaronovitch, Neil Gaiman or Susanna Clarke, this book is for you! * Book Geek Girl *If J. K. Rowling had given Jasper Fforde permission to document a decade of derring-do in Diagon Alley, the result would read rather like Rotherweird * Tor.com *A quirky portal fantasy peppered with singular names . . . Top marks for inventiveness * Speculative Herald *This is an immensely enjoyable, Gothic(ish) / steampunk/ Gormanghast-esque romp with Dickensian overtones. Rotherweird itself is a great imaginative creation . . . A fun, often funny, exciting and highly readable story. Get it now * Blue Balloon *Highly recommended, I think this novel will eventually be viewed as a modern classic * The Eloquent Page *One of the most appealing and fascinating books I've read in some time now. There is darkness and humour here together with invention and originality. For me there are echoes of the work of both Mervyn Peake and Neil Gaiman here * Books and More Books *This is quite possibly the best fantasy novel I have read this year * Silvia Kay on YouTube *The writing is a true pleasure . . . an airy, yet incisive quality; a purposeful dreaminess; images that stick with me, yet prose that does not labor to describe * Strange Horizons *A highly unusual book, a kind of portal fantasy/historical fantasy/contemporary urban fantasy blend. It reminds me most of Robert Holdstock or Charles de Lint, though less ominous in tone than either * The Review Curmudgeon *Unusual, mannered, quirky * Library Thing *A fun blend of absurdist humour, creepy peril and fecund magic to be found here * Press Reader *History, fantasy, tragedy and comedy collide in new and unusual ways, to create a novel that is full of intrigue and mystery * The Book Muse *Rotherweird definitely delivered. The flippant way to describe it would be as a Midsomer Murders episode as told by Jeff VanderMeer with a touch of Agatha Christie. That doesn't do it justice though because joking aside it's a very good book * Stefen’s Books *I loved the blend of past, present and other worlds. I loved the characters, the intricate plotting and the playfulness with words, English and Latin * Boffins Books *A mystical tale of suspense and adventure, mixed in with the macabre and Tudor England. Andrew Caldecott's ability to create and shape worlds and the characters in them, draws the reader into an intense narrative of plot and subtext that keeps you guessing. Enchanting and beautifully written * lifehasafunnywayofsneakinguponyou.wordpress.com *Intricate . . . while the focus might be on the oddball inhabitants, Rotherweird is the true heart and soul of the narrative, a character in its own right * Publishers Weekly *A strange, twisting tale of dark magic and horrible experimentation . . . Caldecott uses parallel storylines and mysterious, absurd twists and turns to entertain, painting a tale of strange stones, a patch of starless sky, tiles that transport to other worlds, and plants with unexpected properties. The characters are vivid and complex and make up the larger character of a town that is coping with a growing menace * Booklist *If you like strange, mysterious fantasy, this is the book for you * Lost in a Good Book *The Rotherweird trilogy is a sprawling absorbing saga that is breathtaking in conceit and accomplishment. Fans of deeply immersive fiction, such as that created by Neal Stephenson, will love losing themselves in this nightmarish vision of a parochial English town * GeekDad *Rotherweird is a great read when you want to break out of the mold and take a step out of time . . . Returning to the citizens of Rotherweird will surely be as wild a ride as the start * Novel Lives *Merrily weird fun * Locus *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing The Factory Girls: The Bomb Girls 3
Book SynopsisFor fans of Daisy Styles, a heart-warming wartime saga about a group of women who work in an armaments factory. No matter how hard the times, despite bombing, short rations, cruel men, unwanted pregnancy, through thick and thin friendship will pull you through. Autumn, 1944. Doodlebugs are the latest threat to war-battered southern England. At Priddy's Hard munitions factory though, Em Earle is about to suffer a threat to her livelihood from much nearer home. Local crook Samuel Golden is back and up to his old tricks, trying to find ways to exploit people's hardship for his own gain.As well as Samuel's unwanted attentions, Em has to deal with some huge revelations from within her own family. Her daughter Lizzie is pregnant, and a strange woman has turned up on Em's doorstep claiming to be her sister. Em is excited, but wary - could this woman be too good to be true? Once again it will be up to the girls from the bomb factory to rally round and support one of their own.Trade ReviewA nostalgic story packed with drama, tension, passion and the grim realities of life in wartime England * Lancashire Evening Post *
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Quercus Publishing The Madwoman Upstairs
Book Synopsis'A funny, smart read with a kick-ass heroine' Sun on Sunday. A witty, light-hearted comedy about love and fiction, and the all-important difference between the two. Think you know Charlotte, Emily & Anne? Think again. Samantha Whipple is the last remaining descendent of the illustrious Brontë family, of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre fame. After losing her father, a brilliant author in his own right, it is up to Samantha to piece together the mysterious family inheritance lurking somewhere in her past - yet the only clues she has at her disposal are the Brontë's own novels. With the aid of her handsome but inscrutable Oxford tutor, Samantha must repurpose the tools of literature to unearth an untold family legacy, and in the process, finds herself face to face with what may be literature's greatest secret.Trade ReviewA funny, smart read with a kick-ass heroine * Sun on Sunday *A perfectly paced and plotted literary mystery with a wonderful heroine at its heart -- Anna James, Literary Editor * Elle magazine *An absolutely brilliant, fun debut * Open Book, BBC Radio 4 *My pick is this fast-paced, very funny mystery about the (fictional) last-remaining descendant of the Brontes trying to unravel clues that will reveal long hidden secrets about the famous sisters * Elle Magazine, Best New Books for 2016 *It's a super premise, stylishly written and the bits about the sisters are great * Mail on Sunday *Filled with gothic twists and leading [the protagonist] - and the reader - down pathways strewn with Brontë arcana * New York Times Book Review *Blending a detective story with a Jane/Mr Rochester-style romance, it has something for everyone * Stylist *If you liked the page-turning historical mystery of The Discovery of Witches trilogy, are just a little bit obsessed by the Brontës and have a small crush on Mr Rochester, this entertaining literary romp has got your name all over it * The Pool *A witty story that brilliantly weaves together history with the present day * Red Magazine *An enjoyable academic romp that successfully combines romance and intrigue, one that benefits from never taking itself too seriously * Publisher's Weekly *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing The Early Birds
Book SynopsisThe Early Birds is the touching and funny follow-up to The Future Homemakers of America. 'Funny, heartwarming and a real treat. I would recommend it to anyone!' Katie Fforde'Wit and insight to match Nick Hornby, and the entertainment value of Helen Fielding' Independent on The Future Homemakers of America'Why is Laurie Graham not carried on people's shoulders through cheering crowds? Her books are brilliant!' Marian KeyesPeggy, the southern belle. Kath, the pragmatist with the only Norfolk accent in New York state. Gayle, the preacher with healing hands. Mrs Colonel Audrey Rudman, forever keeping up the standards of the Officers' Wives Club. Lois, who's never had a thought she didn't voice. Loudly. Their menfolk may be long retired, but once a US Air Force wife, always an Air Force wife, and the bonds of friendship forged in base after military base are still going strong fifty years later. Time is rendering its Accounts Payable for all of them now: hip replacements, eye problems, forgetfulness and departures. In this hymn to lifelong female friendship, Peggy soldiers on through new upheavals, including her ex-husband Vern's Alzheimer's diagnosis, the death of one of her nearest and dearest, a life-changing house move and the world-shattering events of 9/11 with the help of her sharp-tongued, often eccentric, but always loyal group of friends.Trade ReviewShe has wit and insight to match Nick Hornby, and the entertainment value of Helen Fielding, as well as depth . . . It amounts to a picture of the way women's lives have changed, without ever sacrificing the particular to the generalisation - Independent on The Future Homemakers of AmericaSuperlative. The writing sparkles from first to last - Sunday Telegraph on The Future Homemakers of AmericaThis novel crackles with energy and snappy American dialogue. Laurie Graham conjures up five tough, funny, mouthy women, thrown together at an American airbase in Norfolk . . . Graham has pulled off an absolute triumph; the voice of her sassy narrator, the redoubtable Peggy, never falters as she unfolds 40 years of friendship - Daily Mail on The Future Homemakers of AmericaLaugh-out-loud funny; intelligent; moving; has more delicious roll-off-the-tongue one-liners than Seinfeld. One of those books you buy six copies of to send to all your old friends - Scotsman on The Future Homemakers of AmericaA delightfully smart and sophisticated historical novelist - Sunday TimesOne of my favourite writers
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Quercus Publishing Wyntertide: Rotherweird Book II
Book Synopsis'Intricate and crisp, witty and solemn: a book with special and dangerous properties' Hilary Mantel on Rotherweird'Baroque, Byzantine and beautiful - not to mention bold' - M.R. Carey on RotherweirdWELCOME BACK TO ROTHERWEIRD For four hundred years, the town of Rotherweird has stood alone, made independent from the rest of England to protect a deadly secret. But someone is playing a very long game. An intricate plot, centuries in the making, is on the move. Everything points to one objective - the resurrection of Rotherweird's dark Elizabethan past - and to one date: the Winter Equinox. Wynter is coming . . .Trade ReviewA history-tragic-comedy all rolled into one, Rotherweird is intricate and crisp, witty and solemn: a book not unlike other books, but with special and dangerous properties. Line by line, silent and adroit, it opens a series of trap-doors in the reader's imagination * HILARY MANTEL, two-time Man Booker prize winner *Baroque, Byzantine and beautiful - not to mention bold. An enthralling puzzle picture of a book * M.R. CAREY, bestselling author of The Girl With All the Gifts *Beautifully handled sequel that cooks up a banquet of dark delights. Once again, we are captivated by the compelling alchemy of plot, place and people: the quirks, the mysteries, the saintliness and the sheer bloody evil * Daily Mail *To his lawyerly eye for detail he adds a conjurer's flourish in Wyntertide, the darkly hypnotic sequel to last year's bestseller Rotherweird . . . Rotherweird, Caldecott's fictional English town, has antecedents in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast, C S Lewis's Narnia books and, inevitably, a certain bespectacled boy-wizard * Sunday Telegraph *Darkly hypnotic -- Ed Power * The Daily Telegraph *I loved every single thing about it. Wyntertide perfectly continues the journey that began in Rotherweird. Highly recommended * The Eloquent Page *Wyntertide builds on all the best parts of its predecessor, introducing the reader to the wider history of Rotherweird, while relishing its small town drama * SciFiNow *Even better than the first book . . . Seamlessly structured and reads at a galumphing pace . . . As Wynter's go, this is one cold snap that's very welcome indeed. 10/10 * Starburst *I'd strongly recommend you to read it, and to keep reading * Blue Book Balloon *Fiendishly plotted and carefully crafted * SFCrowsnest *Caldecott's writing is literally spellbinding * The Digital Fix *Well-written, an intriguing world and premise * Cannonball Read *Enjoyable and highly original * Pile by the Bed *Wonderfully inventive once again with that Heath Robinson feel that I noted last time. The characters are rich and vivid * Books and More Books *Rollicking blend of historical fiction and fantasy, mixed together with an abundance of intricate (often word-related) puzzles, Wyntertide is a wonderful sequel to Rotherweird. I loved the characters, and found the curious mix of Elizabethan and modern setting and sensibility very appealing * Boffins Bookshop *Compelling . . . the love child of Gormenghast and Hogwarts * Guardian on ROTHERWEIRD *This novel is a remarkable achievement. It's also extremely funny, in a typically British sort of way . . . a delightful Harry Potter for grown-ups * Sunday Independent on ROTHERWEIRD *Sublime . . . Call me greedy, but I'm already itching to return to Caldecott's universe * Irish Times on ROTHERWEIRD *Truly, sinisterly magical. 10/10 * Starburst on ROTHERWEIRD *I LOVE this book. It just did something to me. I was utterly immersed from page one . . . This is a novel of magnificence and detail, of science and nature * FANTASTICAL LIBRARY on ROTHERWEIRD *What an enjoyable read! So vividly written, I could visualise every winding street and twisting chimney of Rotherweird . . . If you like Ben Aaronovitch, Neil Gaiman or Susanna Clarke, this book is for you! * Book Geek Girl on ROTHERWEIRD *Highly recommended, I think novel will eventually be viewed as a modern classic * The Eloquent Page on ROTHERWEIRD *
£10.44
Quercus Publishing The Lost Village: A Haunting Page-Turner With A
Book Synopsis'Neil Spring is Agatha Christie meets James Herbert' STEPHEN VOLK A haunting and spooky thriller, with an unforgettable twist! The remote village of Imber - remote, lost and abandoned. The outside world hasn't been let in since soldiers forced the inhabitants out, much to their contempt.But now, a dark secret threatens all who venture near. Everyone is in danger, and only Harry Price can help. Reluctantly reunited with his former assistant Sarah Grey, he must unlock the mystery of Imber, and unsurface the secrets someone thought were long buried. But will Sarah's involvement be the undoing of them both?Trade ReviewSinister ... A real page-turner * Tatler *A tense supernatural page-turner, loaded with atmospheric dread. Perfect for those long autumn nights -- Paul FinchMasterfully mixing history with a damned fine ghost story, The Lost Village contains echoes of James Herbert at his spectral best. Neil Spring has produced another atmospheric read, and his Sarah Grey is a narrator who's hard to forget -- Angela Slatter * author of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings *There's nothing like a good ghost story, and this supernatural mystery kept me guessing to the last page. Neil Spring is Agatha Christie meets James Herbert * Stephen Volk *With Halloween looming, there's no better time to curl up with something truly spooky - and The Lost Village is certainly that ... [a] sinister tale -- Isabelle Broom * Heat *Chilling... an intelligent ghost story * The Lady *Spooky and tense with a truly horrifying denouement. * Sunday Express, S Magazine *Prepare to be spooked * Candis *Prepare to be pleasantly scared * Metro on The Ghost Hunters *A deft, spooky psychological drama based on a true story * Daily Mail on The Ghost Hunters *Surprising, serpentine and clever * Sunday Times on The Ghost Hunters *Spring's fast-paced and often deliciously creepy novel has an orphaned hero, a spooky, isolated farmhouse and things that go bump in the night . . . highly readable * The Herald on The Watchers *Genuinely spine chilling . . . an excellent blending of fact and fiction * Light Magazine on The Ghost Hunters *Brimming with suspense and ghostly apparitions, Spring's scorching thriller moves at a cracking pace and with a stunning twist in its devil's tail, this is the perfect reading companion for the witching hours of winter. * Lancashire Evening Post *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing After the Silence: The An Post Irish Crime Novel
Book Synopsis'Chillingly good' Elizabeth Day'Her best book to date and that's really saying something' Marian Keyes'A powerfully atmospheric, darkly compelling mystery' Lucy Foley'A superior psychological thriller' Liz NugentNessa Crowley's murderer has been protected by silence for ten years.Until a team of documentary makers decide to find out the truth.On the day of Henry and Keelin Kinsella's wild party at their big house a violent storm engulfed the island of Inisrun, cutting it off from the mainland. When morning broke Nessa Crowley's lifeless body lay in the garden, her last breath silenced by the music and the thunder.The killer couldn't have escaped Inisrun, but no-one was charged with the murder. The mystery that surrounded the death of Nessa remained hidden. But the islanders knew who to blame for the crime that changed them forever. Ten years later a documentary crew arrives, there to lift the lid off the Kinsella's carefully constructed lives, determined to find evidence that will prove Henry's guilt and Keelin's complicity in the murder of beautiful Nessa.In this bold, brilliant, disturbing new novel Louise O'Neill shows that deadly secrets are devastating to those who hold them close.Trade ReviewThis superior psychological thriller...absolutely gripping, intriguing and superbly written...a compulsive read - Liz Nugent -- Liz NugentImagine Emily Bronte crossed with a Netflix true-crime documentary and with a dash of Big Little Lies thrown in. After the Silence is gripping, clever and beautifully written. O'Neill has a gimlet eye for the telling detail ...Chillingly good - Elizabeth Day -- Elizabeth DayElegant, assured, gripping and moving, it's her best book to date and that's really saying somethingThis is good. Really good. Dark and tragic and anger-inducing. Succession meets West Cork with a fire of feminist fury. * Harriet Tyce *Chilling and atmospheric, After the Silence is sharp and perceptively written, with a mystery at its heart that will keep you gripped. I think this is Louise's best book yet. -- Beth O'LearyA gripping new direction for Louise O'Neill but still with her distinctive powerful voice. I raced through it, guessing until the very - satisfying - end. -- Cecelia AhernDevastating, chilling and enviably accomplished... I haven't been so gripped by a book in years * Laura Jane Williams * A powerfully atmospheric, darkly compelling mystery characterised by Louise O'Neill's exquisite writing and powerful psychological insight. Seriously good. -- Lucy FoleyLouise O'Neill has done it again. . .her writing captivates me in a visceral way every time. After The Silence does what Louise does best: addictive and scalpel-sharp fiction that addresses important topics that should demand our attention, while feeling both deep discomfort and fire in our belly. -- Emma GannonLouise O'Neill's After the Silence is a devastatingly beautiful book full of secrets, mystery and a story so powerful and enthralling you cannot look away. An absolute masterpiece and one of my favourite books in the world! -- Nikita GillA clever, sleight of hand psychological thriller set on the small Irish island of Inisrun * Red *dark, haunting, almost claustrophobic read, but the writing is still both beautiful and lyrical * Fabulous *You'll be absorbed by this chilling tale of controlling and toxic relationships * Sunday Mirror *A subtle slow-burn, this evocative mystery spins into an intricate portrait of gas-lighting and sacrifice * heat *Dark, windswept, suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat. Bravo to a wonderful writer and wonderful woman -- Jessie BurtonThis multi-layered, sinister chiller is a real page-turner. * Best *The plot is intricate and intelligent, but the drama gets its real energy from the author's obvious anger about what men get away with, and why some women always pay the price. * Daily Mail *O'Neill has made her name as one of Ireland's foremost feminist writers, and this is a detailed examination of a toxic marriage as well as an absorbing mystery * Sunday Times *This is O'Neill at her best: splintered portraits of relationships so sharp you could cut yourself on them, deeply empathetic characterisation and a vivid exposure of the brutality of all forms of domestic abuse, including the ones that so often remain hidden in the shadows. A tour de force from a spectacular storyteller, it will have you gripped from the first page to the last, but it will stay with you long after that as well. O'Neill is one of our finest feminist writers and this is her best book yet. -- Laura BatesWith impeccable research into domestic violence on women, O'Neill conjures a disturbing and uncomfortable atmosphere, made darker by the remote island where the story is set * CultureFly *This compulsive novel tells a claustrophobic tale of violence, control and domestic abuse. * Sunday Express (S Mag) *The atmosphere of it is dream-like and it's completely compelling * Good Housekeeping *
£10.44
Quercus Publishing The People We Were Before
Book SynopsisIf war is madness, how can love survive?Yugoslavia, summer 1979. A new village. A new life. But eight-year-old Miro knows the real reason why his family moved from the inland city of Knin to the sunkissed village of Ljeta on the Dalmatian Coast, a tragedy he tries desperately to forget. The Ljeta years are happy ones, though, and when he marries his childhood sweetheart, and they have a baby daughter, it seems as though life is perfect. However, storm clouds are gathering above Yugoslavia.War breaks out, and one split-second decision destroys the life Miro has managed to build. Driven by anger and grief, he flees to Dubrovnik, plunging himself into the hard-bitten world of international war reporters.There begins a journey that will take him ever deeper into danger: from Dubrovnik, to Sarajevo, to the worst atrocities of war-torn Bosnia, Miro realises that even if he survives, there can be no way back to his earlier life. The war will change him, and everyone he loves, forever.Trade ReviewTender, truthful, moving and at times painful * Sunday Mirror *I loved the way the author merges the compelling personal stories of this family against the dramatic background of the troubles of Yugoslavia in the 1980s. Miro is strong but flawed - an utterly realistic character - and when he is flung into the war his life is changed forever. How he copes with what he witnesses; with loss, disillusion and guilt, makes for a fascinating story which is told with integrity and authenticity -- Rosanna Ley, author of The Villa and Bay of SecretsA rattlingly good read, pacily plotted and ambitious in scope * Wendy Holden, Daily Mail *Thorpe's moving, powerful tale examines how easy it is for us to lose humanity in the face of evil * Daily Express *An important chronicle of one of the most disgraceful conflicts of the late 20th century . . . and quite apart from the history lesson, it's a fascinating read * Irish Independent on Sunday *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing The Ropewalker: Between Three Plagues Volume I
Book SynopsisThe first part in an epic historical trilogy - The Estonian answer to Wolf Hall - by the nation's greatest modern writer Jaan Kross's trilogy dramatises the life of the renowned Livonian Chronicler Balthasar Russow, whose greatest work described the effects of the Livonian War on the peasantry of what is now Estonia. Like Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell, Russow is a diamond in the rough, a thoroughly modern man in an Early Modern world, rising from humble origins to greatness through wit and learning alone. As Livonia is used as a political football by the warring powers of Russia, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania, he continues to climb the greasy pole of power and influence. Even as a boy, Russow has the happy knack of being in the right place and saying the right thing at the right time. He is equally at home acting as friend and confidante to his ambitious patron and as champion for his humble rural relatives. Can anything halt his vertiginous rise? Like most young men he is prey to temptations of the flesh . . .Trade ReviewHe's a marvellous novelist - his scope and depth make him a world writer - and they should just hurry up and give him the Nobel -- Doris Lessing.He deserved a Nobel prize and would probably have got it had he written in any other language but Estonian -- Neil Taylor * Guardian. *He's almost alone in writing in the older European tradition of the large-scale historical novel. I'd argue that Kross is heir to the 'great' Russo-European 19th century novelists; his fiction has Tolstoyan sweep. On reading him, moreover, we rediscover that Estonia was always resolutely in Europe and not some obscure outpost this side of the Urals -- Fiona Sampson.No stranger to oppression himself, Kross writes about it with a poignancy devoid of anger -- Adam Zamoyski.
£11.69
Y Lolfa Tu Ôl i'r Awyr
Book SynopsisA pioneering début novel by a talented young writer. It follows the journey of two teenage characters, Deian and Anest, and their amazing relationship through the angst of their lives. A novel that will move you to tears and make you laugh out loud as you wonder at the author''s skill in delving deep into the minds of two characters who will remain with you for a long time.
£12.00
Salt Publishing Liminal
Book SynopsisMorning Star Best of 2018: FictionEsther, a pregnant amputee, and her husband, Dan, are seeking a new life, setting up home – restoring an abandoned railway station called Rosgill, far away in the Scottish Highlands.Spanning the course of a week, Bee Lewis’s gothic fantasia follows Esther as her marriage, life and body begin to dramatically change. By day, she is isolated physically and mentally within her marriage and her new environment. By night, she explores a forbidding forest, pursued by a shadowy figure.Symbolism, dreams and violence abound in this spellbinding unsnaring of a soul.Trade ReviewA mysterious and atmospheric literary thriller with complex and fascinating characters, which explores themes of marriage and family, loss and grief, and the power of dreams. * The Owl on the Bookshelf *No spoilers here: it’s enough to say that Lewis is adept at showing not telling, and sewing items of unfinished business into the fabric of the narrative, which pique the readers desire to read. It’s a dark thriller, which unfolds within the timeframe of a single week. Fay Weldon meets Steven King? It would make a good film. -- Alex Leith * Viva Lewes *Beautiful, and unsettling. * Ashleigh’s Bookshelf *Liminal is a suspenseful novel, well told. The new life, new baby story trope may be one of cliche, but here, bound up as it is in the landscape and ancient mythology of the glens, in Esther’s isolation, it takes a new and surprising direction. I enjoyed this very much. * Shiny New Books *Liminal by Bee Lewis (Salt) is an assured debut novel that explores the ways in which myth, dream and landscape affect our behaviour and perception. It’s also a gripping thriller concerning a damaged marriage, a pregnant amputee and the ambiguous motives of a menacing visitor. Lewis’s prose is vivid and assured and Liminal offers provocative ideas, emotional clout and a gripping plot. -- Andy Hedgecock * Morning Star *Lewis writes lyrically and well, bringing an intriguing plot to life. -- Anne Hill * Sussex Life *
£7.49
Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Serious Foul Play
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Gracekeepers
Book SynopsisA flooded world. A floating circus. Two women in search of a home. North lives on a circus boat with her beloved bear, keeping a secret that could capsize her life.Callanish lives alone in her house in the middle of the ocean, tending the graves of those who die at sea. As penance for a terrible mistake, she has become a gracekeeper.A chance meeting between the two draws them magnetically to one another - and to the promise of a new life. But the waters are treacherous, and the tide is against them.'The Gracekeepers is enchanting and heart-tugging. If you love Margaret Atwood you'll love this' Sunday Telegraph'A wondrous read' Stylist'Clever and original' The Times'Truly magical' HeatTrade ReviewThis is truly an extraordinary novel...This has a delightful fantasy quality in the mould of The Snow Child or The Night Circus... Memorable and captivating * Red *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Gustav Sonata
Book SynopsisWhat is the difference between friendship and love? Gustav grows up in a small town in Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem a distant echo. But Gustav's father has mysteriously died, and his adored mother Emilie is strangely cold and indifferent to him. Gustav's life is a lonely one until he meets Anton. An intense lifelong friendship develops but Anton fails to understand how deeply and irrevocably his life and Gustav's are entwined until it is almost too late...'A perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers...' Kate Kellaway, Observer'Heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain.' John Boyne, The Irish TimesTrade ReviewThis is a perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers... Remarkable and moving novel. -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain. -- John Boyne * The Irish Times *Beautifully tender and brilliantly written novel... A tale of the most powerful part of any friendship: love. ***** * Stylist *In The Gustav Sonata, Tremain once again proves herself to be a writer of exceptional talent ... Previous novels like The Road Home have already showcased her staggering sensitivity and capacity for empathy but they're here again, magnificently undiminished. Tremain is a writer who understands every emotion ... and it's ultimately this understanding that has produced another exquisite book -- Matt Cain * i *Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect... Glorious. -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Laughing Monsters
Book Synopsis‘In this land of chaos and despair, all I can do is wish for magic armour and the power to disappear.’Freetown, Sierra Leone. A city of heat and dirt, of guns and militia. Alone in its crowded streets, Captain Roland Nair has been given a single assignment. He must find Michael Adriko – maverick, warrior, and the man who has saved Nair's life three times and risked it many more.The two men have schemed, fought and profited together in the most hostile regions of the world. But on this new level – espionage, state secrets, treason – their loyalties will be tested to the limit.This is a brutal journey through a land abandoned by the future – a journey that will lead them to meet themselves not in a new light, but in a new darkness.Trade ReviewThis high-suspense tale offer a more convincing portrait of amoral intelligence agents and the havoc they wreak than almost any journalistic account of Third World skullduggery * Washington Post Sunday *For all its chaos and complexity, The Laughing Monsters is one of Johnson’s most disciplined efforts -- Nathaniel Rich * Atlantic *This echoes of Graham Greene’s bleak cynicism and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, it’s a gripping romp through a world of corruption, government interference, big business manipulation and all sorts of other shenanigans to boot -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue *It has an irresistible sense of hopelessness -- Eva Dolan * Metro *The Laughing Monsters is part espionage thriller and part screwball comedy, and it straddles those far-flung genres with more grace than you might think possible -- Edmund Gordon * Sunday Times *
£13.49
Vintage Publishing Beautiful Animals
Book SynopsisThe best intentions can be deadlyDuring a white-hot summer on the idyllic Greek island of Hydra, two girls fall into one another’s lives to devastating effect. When Samantha, a young, impressionable American, meets Naomi, a Brit with a taste for danger, their relationship quickly takes on a special intensity. Amid the sun, sea and high society of island life, their imaginations are sparked when one day they find a young Arab man, Faoud, washed up on shore, a casualty of the crisis raging across the Aegean. But when their seemingly simple plan to help the stranger goes wrong, all must face the horrific consequences they have set in motion.Trade ReviewBoth impossible to put down and beautifully written: a great combo -- Lionel Shriver * Observer Books of the Year *An astute, unsentimental critique of the contemporary world in crisis... Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can do. Beautiful Animals is his most accomplished book so far -- a big, clever, crazed beast of a novel -- Deborah Levy * Financial Times *Often almost literally bristling with menace… his Hydra is rugged with physical immediacy. Silhouetted against it, emotions fluctuate, sexual frissons flicker back and forth, destinies tremble in the balance… It’s the brilliance with which Osborne conjures all this up that leaves you eager to see where his nomadic imagination will take him next -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *Osborne is a startlingly good observer of privilege, noting the rites and rituals of the upper classes with unerring precision and an undercurrent of malice * New York Times Book Review *Osborne is a startlingly good observer of privilege, noting the rites and rituals of the upper classes with unerring precision and an undercurrent of malice… The novel takes on the tone of an existential noir, evoking writers like Jean-Patrick Manchette and Georges Simenon... An heir to Graham Greene... he shares with Greene an interest in what might be called the moral thriller * New York Times Book Review *Complex and thrilling, Beautiful Animals confirms Osborne as one of Britain’s very best novelists -- Anthony Gardner * Mail on Sunday *Beautiful Animals is terrifically well constructed, written with mean authority, brilliantly evocative about place … A masterpiece of disaffection -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *Spare, subtle… brilliantly achieved -- Frances Wilson * Times Literary Supplement *Osborne is interested in what his characters do when events are wrested out of their control, his narratives unfurling like a set of carefully lined-up dominoes… It’s exciting for sure, but cuts closer to the bone than Osborne’s previous novels and is all the more distressing and depressing for it -- Lucy Scholes * Independent *Superlatively gripping… Osborne plunges his characters far from the luminescent surface and into the darkest depths -- Anita Sethi * i *
£999.99
Vintage Publishing New Boy
Book Synopsis‘A compact and intense read full of twists, turns and intrigue’ Daily ExpressThe bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Last Runaway returns with a tale of jealousy, bullying and revenge. Arriving at his fourth school in six years, diplomat’s son Osei knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day – so he’s lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can’t stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players – teachers and pupils alike – will never be the same again. The tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970s suburban Washington schoolyard in Tracy Chevalier's powerful drama of friends torn apart.Trade ReviewHigh school, with its crushes, insecurities and politics, works as the perfect backdrop to Shakespeare's original plot... New Boy, with its angsty teenagers, racial frictions and a magnificently fleshed out antagonist, is a tense and tight read... It can be read in a single afternoon and it really is a heady rollercoaster of emotions, right to the breathless and shocking last line -- Tanya Sweeney * Irish Independent *This is a compact and intense read full of twists, turns and intrigue. The fast-moving shifting allegiances and rivalries that dominate the playground provide a backdrop full of heightened emotion that cleverly reflects the atmosphere of the original play -- Mernie Gilmore * Daily Express *Chevalier is at her best when describing the tenderness of young love or conveying the inner thoughts of her protagonists ... Chevalier deftly and succinctly gives [her characters] all more of a backstory than Shakespeare ever allowed ... transposing this story to the playground makes absolute sense. It is of interest as an exercise in illustrating the universality of the original, and works equally well as a standalone piece which tells of a tightly wound, intimately imagined situation hurtling towards inevitable tragedy -- Kirsty McLuckie * Scotland on Sunday *What Chevalier has done is recast the play to illuminate the peculiar trials of our era... a fascinating exercise ... In Chevalier's handling, the insidious manipulations of Othello translate smoothly to the dynamics of a sixth-grade playground, with all its skinned-knee passions and hop-scotch rules ... How Chevalier renders Iago's scheme into the terms of a modern-day playground provides some wicked delight. She's immensely inventive about it all -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *Chevalier’s modern interpretation of Othello deftly explores race relations in the schoolyard in 1970s suburban Washington, and captures how it feels to be an outsider -- Anita Sethi * i, 2017 Books of the Year *Othello as a Seventies schoolyard drama? Yes, it works marvellously. The emotions of emerging adolescence are a potent brew, with friendships, rivalries, budding sexuality, and the desire to fit in combining unflinchingly with the racism of the teachers (and some of the pupils). This is an evocative retelling of Shakespeare, and his characters’ interactions and motivations fit surprisingly well into the brutal world of childhood -- Joanne HarrisPowerful and intriguing -- Deidre O'Brien * Sunday Mirror *To add urgency to an everyday story of high-school bullying, [Chevalier] compresses the action into the cycle of a school day. It's a clever strategy, executed with typical aplomb by the gifted author of Girl With a Pearl Earring... Her New Boy is an often inspired riff on adolescence and alienation -- Robert McCrum * The Observer *New Boy is in the tradition of movies such as 10 Things I Hate About You or West Side Story, or Toni Morrison's play Desdemona ... A deft examination of the accommodations a boy such as Osei must make wherever he goes ... Chevalier is delicate in her description of the emotional and mental cost of all this careful avoidance -- Ellah Wakatama Allfrey * The Guardian *Tracy Chevalier's powerful drama of friends torn apart by jealousy, bullying and betrayal will leave you reeling * MumsNet *
£999.99
Vintage Publishing Hunters in the Dark
Book Synopsis'A modern Graham Greene' Sunday TimesRobert Grieve – pushing thirty and eager to side-step a life of quiet desperation as a small-town teacher – decides to go missing. As he crosses the border from Thailand to Cambodia, he tests the threshold of a new future. And on that first night, a small windfall precipitates a chain of events involving a bag of ‘jinxed’ money, a suave American, a corrupt policeman and a rich doctor’s daughter, in which Robert’s life is changed forever.Alive with malice and grace, this is a taut tale reminiscent of the nightmares of Patricia Highsmith: a story of double identities, and innocence in the midst of evil, from a master of atmosphere and observation.Trade ReviewOsborne’s brilliance as a travel writer places his web of deceit, greed and need … in a world conjured up with dazzling immediacy … Sumptuous and sinister, languorous and tense, this is a novel that gives Osborne’s remarkable talents haunting scope -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *If the purpose of a novel is to take you away from the everyday and show you something different, then Osborne is succeeding, and handsomely. Hunters in the Dark is a novel of immersion… shaped like a quiet dream. As such, it’s an unqualified success, and I hope it enjoys a wide readership -- Lee Child * New York Times *Cambodia…comes splendidly to life in Osborne’s prose… This is a tip-top thriller. Osborne knows how to keep the pages turning; he is a name to watch -- Ian Thomson * Independent *Edgy and gripping … Written with unfailing precision and beauty, Hunters in the Dark stakes out territory different to the many writers to whom Osborne has been compared. -- Neel Mukherjee * Guardian *Besides being a gripping thriller, it's a fine meditation on luck, fate and chance and a wonderful evocation of Cambodia, a country of ghosts, spirits and shadows -- Sebastian Shakespeare * Daily Mail, Books of the Year *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing A Decent Ride
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2015 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for comic fictionA rampaging force of nature is wreaking havoc on the streets of Edinburgh, but has top shagger, drug-dealer, gonzo-porn-star and taxi-driver, ‘Juice’ Terry Lawson, finally met his match in Hurricane ‘Bawbag’?Can Terry discover the fate of the missing beauty, Jinty Magdalen, and keep her idiot-savant lover, the man-child Wee Jonty, out of prison?Will he find out the real motives of unscrupulous American businessman and reality-TV star, Ronald Checker?And, crucially, will Terry be able to negotiate life after a terrible event robs him of his sexual virility, and can a new fascination for the game of golf help him to live without… A DECENT RIDE?A Decent Ride sees Irvine Welsh back on home turf, leaving us in the capable hands of one of his most compelling and popular characters, ‘Juice’ Terry Lawson, and introducing another bound for cult status, Wee Jonty MacKay: a man with the genitals and brain of a donkey. In his funniest, filthiest book yet, Irvine Welsh celebrates an un-reconstructed misogynist hustler – a central character who is shameless but also, oddly, decent –and finds new ways of making wild comedy out of fantastically dark material, taking on some of the last taboos. So fasten your seatbelts, because this is one ride that could certainly get a little bumpy…Trade ReviewRaucous, filthy and funny. -- James Naughtie * Radio 4 Today Programme *Without question, our most distinguished living exponent of the so- called “excremental vision of life” — a line that goes back (to pick a few names) via James Joyce, Swift, and Ben Jonson, to Chaucer, writers who have explored what meanings of human existence are to be found in the toilet bowl. -- John Sutherland * The Times *Irvine Welsh, I think it’s safe to say, is not a writer who’s mellowing with age... Welsh’s [language is an] astonishingly supple invention: one that can combine scabrousness and lyricism, comedy and ruefulness in the same paragraph... [if] you fancy an authentic and often thrilling blast of full-strength Irvine Welsh, then you’re in for a treat. -- James Walton * Spectator *It's a stern reader who wouldn't fall for his filthy charm. * Sunday Telegraph *Whether your interest is piqued by the ridiculously expensive bottles of whiskey and the extraordinary lengths an American will go to own them or your heart strings are pulled by Wee Jonty’s anguished love story, there’s a multitude of ideas and human emotions that Welsh brings out among the laughter. -- Claire Inman * Curious Animal Magazine *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Lives of Girls and Women
Book SynopsisThe only novel from bestselling author Alice Munro, winner of the Nobel Prize in LiteratureCatching frogs, grazing knees, singing songs to save England from Hitler - that was childhood for Del Jordan, and now she's impatient for more. More than she can find in the encyclopedias sold by her mother, or in the half-understood innuendos dispensed by best friend Naomi, or in the whispers of boys during Friday night dances. Just like the girls in the movies, she wants to get started on real life. In her only novel, Alice Munro turns her eye to the frustrations, embarrassments, glee and bewilderment of adolescence, and to the brushes with sex, death, violence and birth that shape the lives of girls and women.'I am the perfect audience for her brand of quiet, seething feminism'Lena Dunham'Superb'Independent'In Munro's work, nothing can be predicted. Emotions erupt. Preconceptions crumble. Surprises proliferate'Margaret Atwood'Exact and unflinching'Guardian 'She is one of the handful of writers, some living, most dead, whom I have in mind when I say that fiction is my religion'Jonathan FranzenTrade ReviewI still feel that Alice Munro is mine. I am the perfect audience for her brand of quiet, seething feminism -- Lena DunhamMunro is so good that one gropes for superlatives * Daily Telegraph *Superb. Its dense weave of colour and texture offers manifold witty surprises and the poetry of place that is the hallmark of Munro’s stories -- Steve Davies * Independent *In Munro's work, nothing can be predicted. Emotions erupt. Preconceptions crumble. Surprises proliferate -- Margaret AtwoodHer prose is exact and unflinching, coolly anatomising vengeful grudges, dark crimes and curdled emotions * Guardian *The Nobel laureate’s mastery of the miniature is clear in this early portrait of small-town life -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *She is one of the handful of writers, some living, most dead, whom I have in mind when I say that fiction is my religion -- Jonathan FranzenShe knows us better than we know ourselves. She always has * Washington Times *Reading Munro's cut-crystal prose is unadulterated pleasure * Daily Telegraph *A compelling portrait of the artist as a young girl -- Maggie Doherty * The Times Literary Supplement *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The End of the Day
Book Synopsis'A writer with a profound comprehension of emotional destruction, loss and redemption' Sunday TimesA retired widow in rural Connecticut wakes to an unexpected visit from her childhood best friend whom she hasn't seen in forty-nine years. A man arrives at a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania hotel to introduce his estranged father to his newborn daughter and finds him collapsed on the floor of the lobby.A sixty-seven-year-old taxi driver in Kauai receives a phone call from the mainland that jars her back to a traumatic past. These seemingly disconnected lives come together as half-century-old secrets begin to surface over the course of one fateful day...Trade ReviewQuietly devastating... A finely-wrought masterpiece... -- Francesca Carington * Sunday Telegraph *Novel of the Week* *Reading The End of the Day is like studying a stained-glass window up close...a large, beautiful, mysterious work of art. -- David Ebershoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Danish Girl and The 19th WifeA writer with a profound comprehension of emotional destruction, loss and redemption... -- Francesca Angelini * Sunday Times *Fabulously rich and compelling. * Daily Mail *[A] glorious novel. -- Helen Macdonald * Guardian *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Woman Next Door
Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION Read this funny, sharp, delicately woven story of two women’s complicated relationship set in post-apartheid South Africa.Hortensia and Marion are next door neighbours in a charming, bougainvillea-laden Cape Town suburb. One is black, one white. Both are successful women with impressive careers behind them. Both have recently been widowed. Both are in their eighties. And both are sworn enemies, sharing hedge and hostility pruned with zeal. But one day an unforeseen event forces the women together. Could long-held mutual loathing transform into friendship?Love thy neighbour? Easier said than done. 'At once historical and contemporary, The Woman Next Door is charged with beauty, precision, nuance, and hope. Yewande Omotoso is a stunning, essential voice - NoViolet Bulawayo, author of We Need New Names‘Wit, charm and playful energy... An insightful and fascinating diptych of two women, with the history of colonialism and slavery lurking in the background’ HeraldTrade Review[A] charming novel that brings the South African city [of Cape Town] to life * i *Wit, charm and playful energy... An insightful and fascinating diptych of two women, with the history of colonialism and slavery lurking in the background -- Nick Major * Herald Scotland *Cape Town's answer to Mapp and Lucia, a war of wits and witticisms amid the bougainvillea of an impossibly smug neighborhood. Yewande Omotoso's deft writing and subtle weaving in of difficult history will leave you in love with these two stubborn old women. Delightful -- Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last StandA finely observed account of female prejudice, redemption and that often elusive commodity - friendship -- Deidre Conroy * Irish Independent *At once historical and contemporary, The Woman Next Door is charged with beauty, precision, nuance, and hope. Yewande Omotoso is a stunning, essential voice -- NoViolet Bulawayo
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Accordionist
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER 2018When two Parisian women are murdered in their homes, the police suspect young accordionist Clément Vauquer. As he was seen outside both of the apartments in question, it seems like an open-and-shut case.Desperate for a chance to prove his innocence, Clément disappears. He seeks refuge with old Marthe, the only mother figure he has ever known, who calls in ex-special investigator Louis Kehlweiler.Louis is soon faced with his most complex case yet and he calls on some unconventional friends to help him. He must show that Clément is not responsible and solve a fiendish riddle to find the killer...Trade ReviewIt’s all rather delightfully bonkers, a playful and subversively unorthodox take on the private eye novel by a master of her craft -- Declan Burke * Irish Times *A real wonder of a book, in all senses of the word * Waterford Today *The book is as beguiling as previous entries in the Three Evangelists series, with the pleasure here coming from the comic interplay between the unconventional sleuths -- Barry Forshaw * Guardian *Vargas is the poet of modern French crime writing, her work has a slightly ethereal feel… this is solid gold Euro-noir crime fiction. A high calibre literary thriller that entertains with aplomb… The Accordionist is cleverly plotted, the intensity builds and what starts out as intriguing becomes more involving as the reader is gripped by the fundamental question, ‘who did it?’ More than other crime novels, you have to surrender to Vargas’s vision of the world, one that you will not instantly recognise but may come to love… The Accordionist satisfies the most ardent noir strictures; slightly subversive, strong plotting, droll humour, inventive twists and elegant prose. This is a real treat for lovers of intelligent crime fiction -- Paul Burke * Nudge *Shockingly original, disturbingly eccentric and massively involving, Vargas books are a step beyond ordinary crime fiction and take you on a startling journey… Their quirky interplay and unconventional way of thinking…makes for a droll, entertaining read. Translator Sián Reynolds has a knack of rendering their cadences and ticks into readable English * Connexion *
£13.49
Vintage Publishing A State of Freedom
Book SynopsisLonglisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian LiteratureWhat happens when we attempt to exchange the life we are given for something better? Five people, in very different circumstances, from a domestic cook in Mumbai, to a vagrant and his dancing bear, and a girl who escapes terror in her home village for a new life in the city, find out the meanings of dislocation, and the desire for more. Set in contemporary India and moving between the reality of this world and the shadow of another, this novel delivers a devastating and haunting exploration of the unquenchable human urge to strive for a different life.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary, compassionate, complex, hard-hitting wonder of a book. It is in a class of its own. -- Rose TremainNeel Mukherjee's breathtaking A State of Freedom is that rarest, most wonderful of things: a book both literarily dextrous, full of unforgettable scenes, images, language, and characters, as well as a furious, unsparing, clear-eyed study of how a society's gross inequities of money and power demean and deform the human condition. The most astonishing and brilliant novel I have read in a long, long time. -- Hanya YanagiharaFans of Neel Mukherjee expect that his books will be exceptional and once again he has produced just that. A State of Freedom is formally audacious, vividly observed, and deeply imagined. Unsentimental yet full of heart, grimly real yet mysteriously dreamlike, with characters who continue to live their complicated lives long after you've turned the last page. Just a beautiful, beautiful piece of work. -- Karen Joy FowlerA State of Freedom is an extraordinary achievement. Subtle and multi-layered, it's a study of the brutality of social divisions, written with tremendous tenderness; a work that insists on the dignity of figures obliged to lead undignified lives. A powerful, troubling novel. The moment I finished it, I began it again. -- Sarah WatersA State of Freedom is a novel like no other -- its prose is so rich, unequivocally precise and graceful that it allows Mukherjee to illustrate the most horrific of experiences with stunning compassion. A State of Freedom is more than a novel—it is an immersive experience. He writes like a painter, his language is his palette, one reminiscent of the late Howard Hodgkin's. Mukherjee brings to life the variation of India’s cities and towns in a dense multi-layered world where modern life, by accident or intention, tears at traditions that are centuries old. Throughout we are reminded of how little power many have over their lives and of emotional and financial economies so fragile that something as small as a single egg can carry great weight. -- A.M. HomesThis is a great hymn to poor, scabby humanity—a devastating portrait of poverty and the inhumanity of the rich to the poor. A masterpiece! -- Edmund Whitean extraordinary account of the tenacious will to survive… He seeds his tales with images of unexpected beauty… Freedom here is relative, complicated, fissured and often won at another’s expense -- Siobhain Murphy * The Times *Neel Mukherjee shows himself to be one of those contemporary authors who invites readers to make connections between seemingly disparate story strands… Combined with Mukherjee’s rich realisation of the novel’s individual elements, this indeterminacy makes A State of Freedom a powerful, memorable treatment of a theme too often reduced to uninvolving didacticism -- Adam Lively * Sunday Times *The beauty of Mukherjee’s prose sucks the reader into an alternative world, where misery, deprivation and the struggle to exist another day are normal -- John Harding * Daily Mail *Mukherjee… homes in on the restless, the disinherited, the socially trapped… Mercilessly observant, he does not spare the reader but leavens scenes of savagery, squalor and despair with moments of rainbow vividness, all the more striking for the muddy, cacophonous backdrop from which they are brought forth… In a significant and porous work, Mukherjee gives congruence and visibility to these fractured, hidden lives -- Catherine Taylor * New Statesman *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing Dunbar
Book SynopsisFrom the author of the Patrick Melrose novels, now a major Sky Atlantic television series starring Benedict CumberbatchHenry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he handed over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan. But relations quickly soured, leaving him to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. Now imprisoned in a care home in the Lake District with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. Who will find him first, his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate?Trade ReviewSt Aubyn has a natural talent for keeping you on the edge of your seat… His prose has an easy charm that masks a ferocious, searching intellect * The Times *Malevolently enjoyable… A fable of fatherly neglect and daughterly cruelty * Financial Times *Deeply affecting…and funny * Observer *Powerful… Entertaining * Spectator *
£999.99
Vintage Publishing Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights
Book SynopsisBlending history, mythology and a timeless love story, this is a satirical, magical masterpiece. In the near future, after a storm strikes New York City, the strangenesses begin. A down-to-earth gardener finds that his feet no longer touch the ground. A graphic novelist awakens in his bedroom to a mysterious entity that resembles his own comic book creation. Abandoned at the mayor's office, a baby identifies corruption with her mere presence, marking the guilty with blemishes and boils. A seductive gold digger is soon tapped to combat forces beyond imagining. Unbeknownst to them, they are all descended from the whimsical, capricious, wanton creatures known as the jinn. Centuries ago, Dunia, a princess of the jinn, fell in love with a mortal man of reason. Together they produced an astonishing number of children, unaware of their fantastical powers, who spread across generations in the human world. 'A riotous, exuberant and sometimes maddening celebration of the power of storytelling' Sunday TimesTrade Review[The book] moves between gentle irony and moments of profound emotion. It is a riotous, exuberant and sometimes maddening celebration of the power of storytelling, and of the importance of education and culture. -- Christina Patterson * Sunday Times *His usual seamless blend of the realistic and fantastic. * Travel Guide *Two Years, Eight Months & Twenty-Eight Nights blends Arabian myth, history and sci-fi into a whirlwind fable. * Good Housekeeping *Rollicking, lyrical and very enjoyable tale. -- Darragh McManus * Irish Independent *A powerful indictment of religious violence. -- Francesca Wade * Literary Review *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Girls: ‘Take it to the beach and savour every
Book SynopsisA gripping and dark fictionalised account of life inside the Manson family from one of the most exciting young voices in fiction.If you’re lost, they’ll find you…Evie Boyd is fourteen and desperate to be noticed. It’s the summer of 1969 and restless, empty days stretch ahead of her. Until she sees them. The girls. Hair long and uncombed, jewelry catching the sun. And at their centre, Suzanne, black-haired and beautiful.If not for Suzanne, she might not have gone. But, intoxicated by her and the life she promises, Evie follows the girls back to the decaying ranch where they live.Was there a warning? A sign of what was coming? Or did Evie know already that there was no way back? ‘Taut, beautiful and savage, Cline’s novel demands your attention’ GuardianTrade ReviewA coming-of-age tale like no other … the book of the summer * Grazia *Stunning…thrilling… A spectacular achievement * The Times *This book will break your heart and blow your mind * Lena Dunham *The read of the summer -- India Knight * Sunday Times *A tense and claustrophobic read * Stylist *Taut, beautiful and savage, Cline’s novel demands your attention * Guardian *An exhilarating read * Emma Healey, author of Elizabeth is Missing *Darker than anything Gone Girl had to offer * Shortlist *A seductive and arresting coming-of-age story...spellbinding * New York Times Book Review *An intensely atmospheric story that perfectly captures the aching loneliness and longing of a teenage girl. -- Sarra Manning * Red *One of the best novels I've read about female adolescence... And as with so many novels about cults, The Girls is set to inspire a cultish devotion all of its own * Evening Standard *A joy to read… Intense, clever, beautiful * Sunday Times *Brimming with intelligence and ideas… Buy it for the Mansonesque plot but savour it for its insights * Irish Times *I don't know which is more amazing, Emma Cline's understanding of human beings or her mastery of language. -- Mark Haddon
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Vintage Publishing Fen
Book SynopsisRevisit the haunting debut short story collection from the Booker-shortlisted author of Everything Under.'Full of unabashedly, refreshingly angry women... In a year that made me furious, Daisy Johnson’s Fen was a howl I didn’t know I needed' Celeste NgThe Fen is a liminal land. Real people live their lives here. They wrestle with sex and desire, with everyday routine. But the wild is always close at hand, ready to erupt.This is a place where animals and people commingle and fuse, where curious metamorphoses take place, where myth and dark magic still linger. So here a teenager may starve herself into the shape of an eel. A house might fall in love with a girl. A woman might give birth to a, well, what? 'Instant classic...a bold, take-no-prisoners collection situated somewhere between Angela Carter and Deborah Levy' Jeff VanderMeerTrade ReviewDaisy Johnson’s story collection Fen was unanimously beloved... firmly situating her among the UK’s most exciting new voices. -- Marta Bausells * Elle *Just finished rereading Daisy Johnson’s story collection Fen. Just as powerful and beautiful and dark and strange as the first time. One of my favourite books of all time. -- Jeff VandermeerJohnson's heady broth of folklore, female sexuality and fenland landscape reads like a mix of Graham Swift and Angela Carter… For atmosphere, originality and plain chutzpah, this is an impressive first collection. -- Sarah Crown * Guardian *Poetic, risky… Johnson’s slippery and sensual stories-cum-chapters have an amphibious elemental quality and a contemporary provincial witchiness of their own. -- Phil Baker * Sunday Times *There is big, dangerous vitality herein - this book marks the emergence of a great, stomping, wall-knocking talent. -- Kevin BarryReading the stories brought the sense of being trapped in a room slowly, but very surely, filling up with water. You think: this can't be happening. Meanwhile, hold your breath against the certainty it surely is. -- Cynan Jones, author of The Dig
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Submission
Book SynopsisAs the 2022 French Presidential election looms, two candidates emerge as favourites: Marine Le Pen of the Front National, and the charismatic Muhammed Ben Abbes of the growing Muslim Fraternity. Forming a controversial alliance with the political left to block the Front National’s alarming ascendency, Ben Abbes sweeps to power, and overnight the country is transformed. This proves to be the death knell of French secularism, as Islamic law comes into force: women are veiled, polygamy is encouraged and, for our narrator François – misanthropic, middle-aged and alienated – life is set on a new course. Submission is a devastating satire, comic and melancholy by turns, and a profound meditation on faith and meaning in Western society.Trade ReviewA work of real literary distinction…[Houellebecq] has been the novelist who has most fearlessly and presciently tackled the rise of Islamic extremism in recent years…He is a writer with a gift for telling the truth, unlike any other in our time – I’ve been consistently saying he is the writer who matters most to me for many years now. I’ve read Submission twice in the last week with ever growing admiration and enjoyment. There’s been no English-language novel this good lately. With Submission Houellebecq has inserted himself right into the centre of the intellectual debate that was already raging in France about Islam and identity politics…There is nobody else writing now more worth reading. -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *One cannot be said to be keeping abreast of contemporary literature without reading his work. -- Karl Ove Knausgaard * New York Times *One cannot be said to be keeping abreast of contemporary literature without reading his work. -- Karl Ove Knausgaard * New York Times *The narration is enjoyably sardonic, a pungent mixture of deadpan jokes about sexual politics and close reading…Darkly clever and funny. * Guardian *A fine, deeply literary work…It is genuinely more admiring than critical of Islam…It’s electrifying; no recent English-language novel compares. * Spectator *Houellebecq’s placid dystopias have been among the only contemporary novels worth dropping things for – and this is arguably the best of the lot…a bleakly funny satire on submission and salvation…I can’t think of another contemporary writer who bares their soul so fearlessly – or with such rewards. * Evening Standard *Witty and deft…The polemical power of his imagination…approaches that of two 20th-century masterpieces, Nineteen Eighty Four and Brave New World…This is an important novel…It’s worth remembering that Houellebecq has form in demonstrating that life sometimes imitates art. * Financial Times *Houellebecq’s latest, Submission, brings his project to its most accessible realization yet. What’s the project? Jerking your chain at the highest possible level, which a lot of people can sense from the vibe around Houellebecq, and therefore pre-emptively avoid. You shouldn’t. The free and wild play of his hatred for modernity and its usual self-flattering reassurances is a tonic to be relished. Houellebecq’s respect for his avowed models – Lovecraft, and here, Huysmans, reveals a sturdy commitment to older narrative forms, even genres – he’s a horror writer, here updating the ‘Deal-with-the-devil’ tale. Lorin Stein’s relaxed translation catches how Houellebecq’s insouciant revulsion for propriety, and his congenital self-loathing, trickles down into a vernacular full of tiny slippages in and out of bourgeois formality, somewhat akin to Inspector Clouseau trying to recapture his authoritativeness after a pratfall. In the past these have read as errors of tone, but in Submission, they’re as funny as I think Houellebecq intends. -- Jonathan LethemNo question about the book of the year: it’s Michel Houellebecq’s Submission in Lorin Stein’s fluent translation…Following its publication, the Guardian asked brightly: ‘Does Houellebecq really hate women and Muslims, or is he just a twisted provocateur?’ But the book is more nuanced and more troubling than that. The narrator doesn’t register women who aren’t young and shaggable – tell me that’s not how men see women – and in this story, it’s libidinous intellectuals who succumb to the new order because it suits them. Plausible? Sort of. Worrying? Yep. Important? Very. -- Melanie McDonagh * Spectator, Books of the Year *Submission is both a more subtle and less immediately scandalous satire than the brouhaha surrounding it might suggest…All described with lashings of Houellebecq’s characteristically phosphorescent bile…That we feel Houellebecq’s satire (like all the best from Swift to Céline to Waugh) is only half in jest makes reading Submission a shifty, discomfiting affair: we’re never sure quite how many steps ahead of us the author is; how much of the nastiness is meant and how much mere drôlerie; how many levels lie beneath, just waiting to suck us down from our moral high ground. * Observer *It is a fascinating and disturbing vision of a society which becomes an accidental theocracy... A rather brilliant conceit, worthy of George Orwell…Submission is a fascinating and original dystopia – challenging and ambiguous. It is a vision of what could happen if the West finally abandoned liberal enlightenment values and fell into the arms of religion. * Herald *Houellebecq has an unerring, Balzacian flair for detail, and his novels provide an acute, disenchanted anatomy of French middle-class life … Houellebecq writes about Islam with curiosity, fascination, even a hint of envy. * London Review of Books *There are echoes of Albert Camus’s outsider, Meursault, in François’ lack of emotion and relentless cynicism…Submission, expertly translated by Lorin Stein, can be read on a number of levels. As much as it is about Islamic and political tensions in France, Houellebecq also explores the inner world of his chauvinistic antihero who struggles to find meaning in his life and seeks solace in sex. * Independent on Sunday *Michel Houllebecq's Submission is many things: comic, profound, and at times unexpectedly moving. It is much more about human nature than Islam, and to think otherwise is to misunderstand it. Of the several suicide notes for the west Houellebecq has written, this is his best. -- Richard Flanagan * Observer *Extraordinary… if there is anyone in literature today, not just in French but worldwide, who is thinking about the sort of enormous shifts we all feel are happening, it’s him. -- Emmanuel Carrère * Le Monde *
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