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
Headline Publishing Group Between the Lies
Book Synopsis''Excellent psychological thriller that hooks you from the get go and won''t let you go until you''ve read every last page.'' ***** Goodreads reviewerYOU WAKE UP IN HOSPITAL. YOU DON''T REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. SO WHO CAN YOU TRUST?Totally gripping and full of twists, this unputdownable psychological thriller will keep fans of Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena''s THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR and Laura Marshall''s FRIEND REQUEST guessing until the last page.CHLOE DANIELS WAKES IN A HOSPITAL WITH NO MEMORY OF HOW SHE GOT THERE. She doesn''t recognise the strangers who call themselves family. She can''t even remember her own name.As she slowly recovers, her parents and sister begin to share details of her life. The successful career. The seaside home. The near-fatal car crash.But Chloe senses they''re keeping dark secrets - and her determination to uncover them will have devastating consequences as the shocking truTrade ReviewIn Elle, Michelle Adams has created a truly terrifying character who exerts her power from the first page, drawing you in to the last. Intricately plotted, My Sister kept me gripped to the stunning finale. * Amanda Reynold, author of Close to Me *A fabulously chilling tale of two twisted sisters . . . grabs you by the throat from the first page to last * Camilla Way, author of Watching Edie *A magnificent exploration of the toxic relationship between two sisters and the hold they exert on each other . . . chilling and tragic in equal measure * Nuala Ellwood, author of My Sister's Bones *
£8.54
Headline Publishing Group Common Ground
Book Synopsis*An Evening Standard Must Read, Grazia Best Book of 2021 and Independent Debut Not to Miss*''Beautifully written, this is a book of real hope and connection'' StylistDid you ever have a friend who made you see the world differently?Stan did, and his name was Charlie. They crossed paths by chance one day, cycling on Goshawk Common. Fearless, clever, older, Charlie was everything Stan - bullied and adrift after his father''s death - wanted to be. Charlie taught Stan to ask questions, to stand on his own two feet. But could their friendship endure in a world that offered these two boys such different prospects?When the two meet again, as adults, the tables have turned, and while Stan is revelling in all the city has to offer, Charlie is the one struggling. But will Stan be there for the man who once showed him the meaning of loyalty?Trade ReviewAn attentive and considered tribute to friendship, reminding us that, for all our human messiness, to have a friend is to enter an enduring pact to face the world together -- Ronan Hession, author of LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAULA generous and disarming tale of loyalty, injustice and hope * New Statesman *Tender and savvy... engrossingly old fashioned * Daily Mail *Captured our imagination from the outset... thought-provoking, and beautifully observed * Independent *Her writing is so brilliant * Evening Standard *A heartwarming tale of a passionate and beautiful friendship * TLS *Long after finishing, Charlie and Stan refuse to be forgotten. I couldn't put this one down -- Molly Aitken, author of THE ISLAND CHILDA heartfelt, moving depiction of growing up in a complex world together. A joy to read -- Nick Bradley, author of THE CAT AND THE CITYI loved it. When so many of us are missing friends and feeling isolated, this novel feels like balm on a wound -- Megan Bradbury, author of EVERYONE IS WATCHINGA timely and bittersweet novel, full of hope -- Helen Cullen, author of THE LOST LETTERS OF WILLIAM WOOLFA bittersweet perspective on the importance of friendship across cultural lines and a magnified glimpse into some of Britain's most glaring social issues * Bad Form *Immersive... here is a writer whose imagination is propelled by compassion, but who underpins her fiction with steely realism * Herald *I adored this book. Quietly stole my heart, and the ending was breathtaking., It left me with so much to think about. A beautiful novel -- Ericka Waller, author of DOG DAYSTender but never sentimental, COMMON GROUND is a glorious novel about friendship, prejudice and injustice, which exposes the common threads that bind us together -- Gemma Reeves, author of VICTORIA PARK
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group The Music of Bees
Book Synopsis''It''s simultaneously heart-breaking and uplifting, and I loved it'' Abi Daré, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl with the Louding Voice''This heart-warming, uplifting story will make you want to call your own friends, not to mention grab some honey'' Good Housekeeping* A Good Housekeeping Book Club Pick * Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by BookRiot and the New York Post *_________________________________________To the outside world Alice, Jake and Harry have little in common.Alice is a social outsider: reclusive, middle-aged, and with only 850,000 honeybees for company. Jake, following an accident at a high school party, is grappling with life in a wheelchair and dashed dreams of music school.And Harry is an aimless twenTrade ReviewA hopeful, heart-warming, uplifting story about the power of chosen family . . . but it's the bees, with all their wonder and intricacy and intrigue, that make this story sing * Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author of This Is How It Always Is *A special treat for nature lovers, The Music of Bees is full of warmth and hope and decency * Rebecca Hardiman, author of Good Eggs *The Music of Bees is a transportive tale to lighten the heart. Eileen Garvin has woven a hypnotic human story of perseverance and second chances with a glittering love letter to our pollinators. It combines a cast of marvellous characters with an utterly exquisite excursion into the buzzy life of bees. Every page hums with hope, gleaming with a message of our inextricable interconnectedness, both within our own species and to our home of the natural world. The Music of Bees is an enchanting book of belonging, overcoming adversity and the journey to find a hive of one's own. * Kira Jane Buxton *
£10.99
Headline Publishing Group Booked on a Feeling
Book SynopsisIf you love Jasmine Guillory, Lauren Layne and Helen Hoang, you''ll devour Jayci Lee''s delicious romantic comedies!Readers are loving Booked on a Feeling!''Absolutely loved this one! Very relatable and a perfect beach read''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review''Set against the backdrop of a small town bookshop . . . this book hits my heart in lots of ways . . . a lovely read that I flew through it in one afternoon''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review................................................Lizzy Chung has her life mapped out: * Become a lawyer. Check. * Join a prestigious law firm. Check. * Make partner. In progress. If all goes to plan, she''ll be checking off that last box in a couple of years, making her parents proud, and living a successful, fulfilled life in L.A. One thing that
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group A Guide to Being Just Friends
Book Synopsis''A refreshing romance with a strong sense of setting and a charismatic cast'' Publishers Weekly on How to Love Your NeighbourA frothy, effervescent rom-com from sparkling romance author Sophie Sullivan.............................................Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind:Get her salad shop off the ground. Do everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rear-view mirror, Hailey''s one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions. For Wes Jansen, companionship, not passion, is the name of the game. After the pain from his parents'' angry divorce and a string of lacklustre first dates, he''d much rather find someone who he likes, but won''t love. Following a disastrous meet cute that wasn''t even intended for them, Hailey and Wes go their sepTrade ReviewImpossible to read without smiling - escapist romantic comedy at its heartwarming best -- Lauren LayneI adored this book! Sophie Sullivan has written a fast-paced, sweet romance full of heart and truth. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put it down -- Lyssa Kay AdamsA funny, sweet rom com from a fresh, sparkling new voice. Everly's social anxiety was instantly relatable, and I was rooting for her every inch of the way to her happily-ever-after -- Andie J. ChristopherI loved this sweet, funny story! Fun, refreshing premise that had me wanting to make a few lists of my own and an ending that had me choking up and happy clapping -- Kira Archer
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group Clays Ark
Book Synopsis''A book that shifted my life... Epic, game-changing, moving and brilliant'' VIOLA DAVIS on Wild Seed''Butler''s evocative, often troubling novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human'' NEW YORK TIMESA PATTERNIST NOVEL: BOOK THREE Blake Maslin is a doctor. In an alternate America marked by volatile class warfare, he and his twin daughters are taken captive by armed men demanding urgent medical care.In an isolated desert compound, the family encounter a collective of people suffering from an unknown and deadly disease. They appear sickly yet possess unnatural strength, torn between the dangerous compulsion to infect others or to hold on to their own humanity.In the following hours, Blake and his daughters each must make a vital choice: risk everything to escape infection and warn the rest of the world, or accept their place in this strange new society.Trade ReviewOne of the most significant literary artists of the twentieth century. One cannot exaggerate the impact she has had -- Junot DiazButler's prose, always pared back to the bone, delineates the painful paradoxes of metamorphosis with compelling precision * Guardian *A dark, compelling and still horribly resonant time travel story * Independent *[Her] evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human * New York Times *No novel I've read this year has felt as relevant, as gut-wrenching or as essential... If you've ever tweeted "All Lives Matter", someone needs to shove Kindred into your hand, and quickly * The Pool *Kindred is that rare magical artifact . . . the novel one returns to, again and again * Harlan Ellison *One cannot finish Kindred without feeling changed. It is a shattering work of art * Los Angeles Herald-Examiner *[A] must-read novel * BBC *Everyone should read at least one novel by the grand dame of science fiction, and Kindred is a perfect (and harrowing and disturbing and brilliant) place to start * Refinery 29 *The immediate effect of reading Octavia Butler's Kindred is to make every other time travel book in the world look as if it's wimping out... This is a brilliant book, utterly absorbing, very well written, and deeply distressing. It's very hard to read, not because it's not good but because it's so good * Tor *A searing, caustic examination of bizarre and alien practices on the third planet from the sun * Kirkus *One of the most original, thought-provoking works examining race and identity * Los Angeles Times *Impossible to turn away from once you've devoured the first few pages * Starburst *If you haven't read Butler, you don't yet understand how rich the possibilities of science fiction can be * Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction *Butler's books are exceptional * Village Voice *Few writers in our field are so good at blending page-turners with philosophical questions so seamlessly -- Cory Doctorow
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group All the Little BirdHearts
Book Synopsis*LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2023**WINNER OF THE AUTHORS'' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2024**SHORTLISTED FOR THE SOCIETY OF AUTHORS ADCI LITERARY AWARD*''Delicate and strong... I loved it'' Maggie O''Farrell''''Darkly vivacious... mesmerising'' Guardian''Immaculate'' Financial Times''A triumph'' Daily TelegraphFor readers who loved Sorrow and Bliss or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - an unforgettable story of a mother and daughter whose lives are upended when a charming new couple move in next door.Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of Sicilian folklore. The one thing very much out of her control Trade ReviewA novel both delicate and strong, illuminating the disturbing and the extraordinary to be found in the every day. Sunday is a beguiling and beguiled narrator, and her story an examination of the disjunction between humans' private and public selves. I loved it -- Maggie O'FarrellLloyd Barlow makes her wary, vigilant, poetic voice the star in a mesmerising debut * Guardian *Lloyd-Barlow's prose sings... a beautiful, bittersweet debut * Daily Telegraph *What a glorious, unforgettable character Vita is. And I loved Sunday's voice too, so unique, right from the off. It showed me things about autism that will stay with me. A genuinely valuable book, but more importantly I enjoyed being inside its world -- Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the BarleyA memorably authentic, at times painfully affecting, portrait of a singular woman navigating life's challenges and still finding her way to happiness on her own terms * Daily Mail *Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow's is a distinct and poetic new voice. This novel about the complex desires behind our closest relationships is undercut with the darkness of Sicilian folklore: the fisherman who promises away his child; the lover who is a wolf; a caged magpie; burning fields -- Clare Pollard, poet and author of DelphiFunny, lyrical, deft and devastating. Full of longing and love -- Amy Sackville, author of Painter to the KingAt once sharply perceptive and lyrically written, All The Little Bird-Hearts is an emotional and though-provoking exploration of autism * CultureFly *Moving, funny and lyrical * iPaper *Expect to be moved * Sainsburys Magazine *Scintillating... a tense and subtly nuanced look at an intense friendship between two women -- Elizabeth Morris * Crib Notes *A mesmerising story, impeccably written: I couldn't put it down -- Anstey Harris, author of WHEN I FIRST HELD YOUIf you would like your heart smashed into tiny pieces in the most beautiful way possible, then here you go -- Jen Campbell
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group One Last Gift
Book SynopsisTHIS CHRISTMAS, WILL YOU FOLLOW YOUR HEART?''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ It felt like a BIG HUG in a book, filled with love and hope''''Sweepingly romantic, full of joy, hope and love'' CATHY BRAMLEY''Should be on EVERYONE''S reading list!'' LAURA JANE WILLIAMS''Romantic and full of warmth'' SARAH MORGANFrom Christmas in sparkling London to cosy Cornwall, curl up and enjoy this uplifting love story from the bestselling author of ALWAYS, IN DECEMBER and THE CHRISTMAS LETTER.__________For as long as Cassie can remember, it had been the three of them: Cassie, her big brother Tom, and Tom''s cocky, gorgeous best friend Sam. Now, Tom is sorted, Sam is flying high, and Cassie thinks she''s figured it all out. Then life takes an unexpected turn. For Cassie starting again seems unimaginable. UntTrade ReviewPraise for Emily Stone: 'Will wrap around you like a hug in any season. Heart-tugging and life-affirming -- JOSIE SILVERTender and gorgeously romantic. I LOVED it -- CATHY BRAMLEYMax stole my heart! A sweeping story of love, loss and self discovery. I LOVED it -- EMMA COOPERPacked with Richard Curtis-style moments. If you're looking for a true will-they-won't-they tearjerker to capture your heart, look no further -- HOLLY MILLERLOVED this emotional story about love, grief and taking the chances life throws at your -- CLAIRE FROSTKept me reading late into the night. Absolutely gorgeous -- JO LOVETTA real stay-up-till-you-finish-it emotional read * FABULOUS *Truly an unforgettable and heart-tugging novel * USA TODAY *One Last Gift is the most beautiful love story. Tender and poignant, yet full of warmth and heart. It's an emotional rollercoaster of a book that will tug on your heartstrings. -- ANNA BELLPoignant, warm and full of hope, this is a gift of a story that made me laugh, cry and smile -- ELLA ALLBRIGHT
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group Fuccboi
Book Synopsis''Got under my skin in the way the best writing can'' SHEILA HETIA fearless and savagely funny examination of masculinity under late capitalism, from an electrifying new voiceSet in Philly one year into Trump''s presidency, Sean Thor Conroe''s audacious, freewheeling debut follows our eponymous fuccboi, Sean, as he attempts to live meaningfully in a world that doesn''t seem to need him. Reconciling past, failed selves -- cross-country walker, SoundCloud rapper, weed farmer -- he now finds himself back in his college city, trying to write, doing stimulant-fueled bike deliveries to eat. Unable to accept that his ex has dropped him, yet still engaged in all the same fuckery -- being coy and spineless, dodging decisions, maintaining a rotation of baes -- that led to her leaving in the first place. But now Sean has begun to wonder, how sustainable is this mode? How much fuckery is too much fuckery?Written in a riotous, utterly original idiom, and slyTrade ReviewTerse and intense and new and sort of fucked up but knowingly so. I loved it -- Tommy Orange, author of THERE THEREA book to argue and laugh with; be appalled and impressed by. Fuccboi wrestles with big questions about masculinity and modernity, but best of all are its intimate and domestic moments: like Knausgaard, Conroe has a knack for making the mundane enthralling -- Chris Power, author of A LONELY MANDare I be so despotic as to proclaim Fuccboi a necessary novel? You bet I do. How brilliant to finally have a novel that examines contemporary masculinity with such candour, with such humour and style as to immediately read like a modern classic. Sean Thor Conroe is a real one -- Barry Pierce * Irish Times *A blistering debut * i-D magazine *A debut coming-of-age (but probably not in the traditional sense!) novel about hypocrisy and self-awareness * Nylon *Conroe's writing percolates with savage humour and wry observations on human complexity . . . Conroe works with a really rare audacity and slyness -- Anna Cafolla * AnOther Magazine *Admirably fresh . . . [Conroe is] thoughtful, insecure and questing. And he has a distinctive, compelling voice that strikes me as utterly of its moment, of this moment . . . A genuine attempt to speak to some of those who don't normally give a shit about books, or at least, those who don't read The Paris Review and The New York Review of Books -- while also being worth the attention of those who do. -- Jay McInerney, author of BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY * Wall Street Journal *Fuccboi's main claim to newness lies in the narrator's middle-way attitude to the ball-aching social justice religion that clogs the air of American cultural life . . . The internalized contradictions of his dementing culture manifest in amusing ways . . . I enjoyed being led through the vagaries of Sean's 'sus hetero bro' existence and appreciated his attempt to do what in 2020s America is tricky verging on taboo: to write like a man, not an ideal. -- Rob Doyle, author of THRESHOLD * Observer *Modern mores and a certain type of twentysomething male energy clash colourfully in the vibrant voice of this debut novel * Observer *One of literature's most exciting new voices . . . explosive. Fuccboi has crawled up people's backsides in a way only the best fiction does, especially when it holds a mirror up to the cultural zeitgeist. -- Jade Wickes * The Face *Fresh prose, colloquial and poetic * Vanity Fair *Conroe confronts the anxieties at the Fuccboi's core, with verve, humour and empathy. It's essentially a bildungsroman for a generation of disaffected men * Hunger *The novel is about something more interesting than sex. It's an account of a highly specific crack-up, and a largely self-inflicted one, though a few of the usual suspects, among them capitalism and the American healthcare system, share some of the blame. -- Christian Lorentzen * London Review of Books *The infectious vigour of Conroe's show-stealing voice means Fuccboi lands like a grenade in the ecosystem of better-mannered literary fiction -- Anthony Cummins * Metro *Je suis Fuccboi . . . So much of the novel's success lay in its ability to invoke a feeling of often disquieting recognition . . . [Conroe] creates a bridge, a conversation, and I see my own feelings reflected in his, despite the differences in how our respective feelings have emerged. If a gender divide indeed exists, finally it feels surmountable. -- Huda Awan * Review 31 *[Conroe's protagonist's] crisis of masculinity is also modern America's crisis of masculinity. If men are still choking on the toxicity of historical conventions of gender, then literature should be a welcoming space for exploring, questioning and airing the "savage, ugly, testosterone-fuelled, shameful" things that we would all rather repress - regardless of gender -- Katie Goh * The Skinny *Mesmerizing . . . Our narrator's slangy bravado may be a little cringey and his hypermasculinity just a bit sus, but he is also endlessly charming, particularly in his willingness to mock his own swaggering persona -- Alec Gewirtz * LA Review of Books *It's hard to give a sense of how funny, clever and infectious Conroe's writing can be: how supple an instrument this voice is, how rhythmically and cumulatively rewarding when it feeds off its own energy. For internal riffs we could be in the absurd, side-shuffling mind of one of George Saunders's characters. -- Jonathan McAloon * Financial Times *In an age of quick intolerance and polarised positions, Fuccboi delivers a nuanced account of the darker, more desperate attitudes of the young hetero-male today; those flagrant tendencies not excusable, but which might be understood as rooted in, say, insecurity and poverty (of the financial-social-educational-emotional kinds) -- Fi Churchman * Art Review *Got under my skin in the way the best writing can -- Sheila Heti, author of MOTHERHOODSean Conroe isn't one of the writers there's a hundred of. We won't tell somebody 'Sean Conroe' when we meant to say the name of another writer we got confused with Sean Conroe. He writes what's his own, his own way -- Nico Walker, author of CHERRYBlazes a sonic trail through the tangles of experience. A contemporary künstleroman - a coming of age of an artist. So much about the struggle to find a nourishing and communally beneficial but still honest and not self-suppressing way to be a man -- Sam Lipsyte, author of HARKA completely unique voice . . . sounds like no one I know -- Scott McClanahan, author of THE SARAH BOOK
£14.74
Headline Publishing Group Meant to be Mine
Book SynopsisWhat if you knew exactly when you''d meet the love of your life?''(A) fun yet surprisingly emotional romp that''s tailor-made for beachside reading'' VOGUE''Beach-reading at its best'' COLLEEN OAKLEY''Orenstein is the master of the modern romance'' ELYSSA FRIEDLANDA witty and modern new love story in the vein of Rebecca Serle and Chloe Benjamin about a woman who knows the date she''ll meet her true love - only he isn''t quite as perfect as she always imagined.''I LOVED this book! It had an incredibly unique and fun premise and I absolutely fell in love with Edie''s family''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review''Orenstein writes fabulous rom-coms, full of delightful characters, guaranteed to melt your heart and make you smile, and this is no exception''⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ reader review''A romance with a very unique t
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group Valley Verified
Book SynopsisIT''S TIME TO SWAP HAUTE COUTURE FOR HTML.On paper, Zoe Zeng has made it in New York''s fashion world . . . but life in the city isn''t quite what Zoe imagined.Her editor at Chic magazine wants to censor her opinions to please the big brands; she shares her ''quaint'' (read: small) apartment with three roommates who never let her store kimchi in the fridge; and how is she supposed to afford all the designer clothes on her meagre salary?When Zoe is offered a job at FitPick - a startup based in Silicon Valley - the salary and office perks are great, but moving across the country and leaving her best friends behind? Not so much.Taking a leap of faith, Zoe trades high fashion for high tech. But she soon realizes that in an industry claiming to change the world for the better, not everyone''s intentions are pure. And with an eight-figure investment on the line, Zoe must find a way to revamp the app''s image despi
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group The Plus One
Book SynopsisIt started as a fake date for the wedding from hell . . . The next sparkling and swoony enemies-to-lovers rom-com from the author of the TikTok-hit A Brush with Love and Lizzie Blake''s Best Mistake.''Mazey Eddings''s writing is authentic, emotional, and intensely romantic! To me, it''s like a Taylor Swift song in book form'' Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author Readers gave A Brush with Love FIVE SHINING STARS!''Swoony, steamy, adorable . . . Read. This. Book. You won''t be disappointed. It''s a keeper and Mazey Eddings is on my auto-read list forever''''There was so much to love about this book . . . Thank you to Mazey Eddings for this romance with its messy, true, and painfully real representation of anxiety . . . We need more books like this in the world''............................................Some facts are indisputable:
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Christmas on Nantucket
Book SynopsisA warm and enchanting festive novel from New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand. Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn and his family busily preparing for the holiday season. Though the year has brought tragedy, the Quinns have much to celebrate: Kelley has reunited with his first wife Margaret, Kevin and Isabelle have a new baby; and Ava is finally dating a nice guy. But when Kelley''s wife Mitzi shows up on the island, along with Kevin''s devious ex-wife Nora and a dangerously irresistible old fling of Ava''s, the Inn is suddenly overrun with romantic feuds, not to mention guests. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it''s going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns - and the Inn - through the holidays intact.Trade ReviewPraise for Winter Street * : *A holiday package filled with humor, romance, and realism -- Jocelyn McClurgWinter Street...[will] get you in the holiday mood * Kirkus Reviews *The holidays wouldn't be complete without a little family dysfunction, and Hilderbrand writes it well * Library Journal *Praise for Elin Hilderbrand's other novels * : *A page-turner * Coastal Living *It provides a pacey read, with colourful characters that have fascinating motivations. I couldn't get them out of my head for days. * Sunday Express *
£9.49
John Murray Press A History of Running Away
Book SynopsisA brilliantly written novel about running away, growing up and finding out who you are, from the author of Generation.Trade ReviewThis beautifully written novel is urgently contemporary in its concerns but is also a quietly compelling exploration of the notions of home and belonging. Paula McGrath is a wonderful storyteller with a vivid sense of place and person * Joseph O'Connor *A thoroughly modern, engaging and sophisticated novel about women who reach for better lives and are forced to run away to achieve them * Liz Nugent *Depicts a brutal world with astonishing tenderness and builds a clever, intriguing story, creating memorable characters along the way * Emma Henderson *McGrath captures Dublin of the 1980s perfectly . . . Ambitious, both structurally and narratively, and elegantly written * John Boyne, Irish Times *Elegant . . . Compelling reading * Daily Mail *The writing is fluid and accessible, the dialogue and setting authentic, proving Paula McGrath both a consummate storyteller and an excellent observer of human interactions * Sunday Independent *McGrath writes well and delivers some fine flourishes * Irish Sunday Times *A keen eye for both poignancy and humanity * Irish Independent *Sparkling prose * Guardian *
£11.69
Hachette Books Ireland The Getaway
Book SynopsisTo the outside world, bestselling author Linda Costa has it all: a successful career, a wonderful marriage and two gorgeous children. But appearances can be deceiving ...
£10.49
Hodder & Stoughton Saltwater Winner of the Portico Prize
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE PORTICO PRIZE ''A distinctive new voice for fans of ''Fleabag'' or Sally Rooney'' Independent''Raw, intimate and authentic'' The Sunday Times''Gorgeous . . . Andrews''s writing is transportingly voluptuous, conjuring tastes and smells and sounds like her literary godmother, Edna O''Brien.'' New York TimesWhen Lucy wins a place at university, she thinks London will unlock her future. It is a city alive with pop up bars, cool girls and neon lights illuminating the Thames at night. At least this is what Lucy expects, having grown up seemingly a world away in working-class Sunderland, amid legendary family stories of Irish immigrants and boarding houses, now defunct ice rinks and an engagement ring at a fish market. Yet Lucy''s transition to a new life is more overwhelming than she ever expected. As she works long shifts to make ends meet and navigates chaotic parties from EastTrade ReviewRaw, intimate and authentic . . . Andrews obviously has talent. * The Sunday Times *Luminous * Observer New Review *A stunning new voice in British literary fiction. * Independent *Lyrically poetic * Evening Standard *Andrews writes about life as we experience it in memory, melding trauma, joy and sensory half-recollections. Saltwater is a moving debut which portrays an ordinary young life in an original and refreshing way. * TLS *This book is sublime. It dares to be different, to look in a different way. Andrews is not filling anyone's shoes, she is destroying the shoes and building them from scratch. * Daisy Johnson, author of Everything Under *Visceral, high-definition sections - which also record Lucy's growing awareness of, and estrangement from, her working-class background - are highlights . . . a sharply observed and poignant first outing. * Daily Mail *The writing is disarmingly honest . . . I found parts of this novel intensely moving. I wish I had read it when I was 19. * Guardian *Startling immediacy * Stylist Loves *Saltwater moved me to tears on several occasions; here is proof of the poetic idiosyncrasies of every family, of every person's narrative being worthy of literature, of the fact that a good novel shouldn't bring voices in from the margins, but travel outwards towards them, and let them tell their own story, in their own voice, in their own, unique way. * Andrew McMillan *Saltwater revels in the possibilities of its form, using fragments to shift tone and texture, reminding us of those pivotal moments that can upend a life . . . This book holds disparate elements in a finely wrought balance that is difficult to achieve at any stage of a writing life let alone in a debut. * Kayo Chingonyi, winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize *A book of breathtaking beauty. Saltwater is a visionary novel with prose that gets deep under your skin. The short, sharp chapters thrum with life. Lucy is a memorable character, her journey one that is moving and totally compelling, telling a series of deep truths about the state of our divided nation. Andrews is a major new voice in contemporary British fiction. * Alex Preston *Powerful * Observer New Review *Captures that overwhelming sense of the possible and how daunting and disorientating it can be when the change you craved doesn't expand your horizons but instead hollows you out. **** * Sunday Express *Lyrical . . . a carefully pieced-together exploration of the way we connect with a landscape, of how a place might help us to return to ourselves . . . a sensitive and intelligent exploration of the ravages of austerity . . . a book about belonging. * Irish Independent *A distinctive new voice for fans of 'Fleabag' or Sally Rooney . . . Jessica Andrews's debut novel shimmers with promise: it's one of those books where, from the first pages, you're grabbed by a distinctive new voice. * Independent *Mesmerising. Jessica is a brilliant, original writer. She's a name to watch. * Irish Examiner *Fluid, crisp and bracing. Quietly experimental in form - short numbered snippets that recall the writing of Maggie Nelson and Jenny Offill - the book explores familial bonds, class identity, the longing for home and the simultaneous desire to escape it. * Irish Times *Works perfectly...the astute observations of working class life pour off every page. * The Crack *Tender and beautiful. * Bookseller *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton When All is Said
Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE IRISH BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD''A rare jewel'' John Banville''A genuine page-turner'' Donal Ryan''This is how you tell a story'' Cecelia AhernAt the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He''s alone, as usual - though tonight is anything but. Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories - of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice - the life of one man will powerfully and poignantly be laid bare.''A book to savour and pass on. An absolute joy'' Sunday Mirror''A rich and moving story, a poetic voice and unforgettable character in Maurice'' ElleTrade Review[An] impressively confident debut ... Maurice Hannigan emerges as an engaging, compassionate creation * Guardian *[An] impressively confident debut ... Maurice Hannigan emerges as an engaging, compassionate creation * Guardian *Anne Griffin's debut novel is a must read. Beautifully observed, masterful story telling - stunning!Anne Griffin's debut novel is a must read. Beautifully observed, masterful story telling - stunning!There is something special here . . . The next big name to emerge from the Irish writing scene.There is something special here . . . The next big name to emerge from the Irish writing scene.Griffin is a magical storyteller whose prose is effortless and clear. She conjures an intimate, poignant and ultimately enthralling portrait of a man who has battled loneliness and other demons throughout his life. Maurice is superbly well-realised: a character who tries to make amends and, in so doing, cracked my heart. * Daily Mail *Griffin is a magical storyteller whose prose is effortless and clear. She conjures an intimate, poignant and ultimately enthralling portrait of a man who has battled loneliness and other demons throughout his life. Maurice is superbly well-realised: a character who tries to make amends and, in so doing, cracked my heart. * Daily Mail *A book to savour, and pass on. An absolute joy * Sunday Mirror *A book to savour, and pass on. An absolute joy * Sunday Mirror *A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner.A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner.Maurice Hannigan is a wonderful invention, whose bitter-sweet meditations will stay long in the reader's mind. Anne Griffin has fashioned a rare jewel.Maurice Hannigan is a wonderful invention, whose bitter-sweet meditations will stay long in the reader's mind. Anne Griffin has fashioned a rare jewel.This is how you tell a storyThis is how you tell a story[Anne Griffin] builds a remarkably rich sense of place, while also tracing the wider changes affecting Ireland. ...Maurice is a lovingly rendered example of the current vogue for characters who have fallen through the cracks * Sunday Times *[Anne Griffin] builds a remarkably rich sense of place, while also tracing the wider changes affecting Ireland. ...Maurice is a lovingly rendered example of the current vogue for characters who have fallen through the cracks * Sunday Times *Beautifully written, unhurried and thoughtful, and a character you love from the off.Beautifully written, unhurried and thoughtful, and a character you love from the off.As candid a portrait of human frailty as you're likely to find. Griffin is uncannily accurate in her depiction of that peculiarly Irish emotional paralysis we're all familiar with. * Sunday Independent *As candid a portrait of human frailty as you're likely to find. Griffin is uncannily accurate in her depiction of that peculiarly Irish emotional paralysis we're all familiar with. * Sunday Independent *Pitch-perfect prose ... Moving and beautifully written, this is a wonderfully assured debut. * Mail on Sunday *Pitch-perfect prose ... Moving and beautifully written, this is a wonderfully assured debut. * Mail on Sunday *A proper tear-jerker, but one that will ultimately leave you feeling hopeful * Grazia *A proper tear-jerker, but one that will ultimately leave you feeling hopeful * Grazia *A warm and wise treasure of a book with a character whose voice draws you in from the start * The I *A warm and wise treasure of a book with a character whose voice draws you in from the start * The I *A rich and moving story, a poetic voice and unforgettable character in Maurice * Elle *A rich and moving story, a poetic voice and unforgettable character in Maurice * Elle *It's all beautifully done; a tale told in the plain but poetic prose of a man who recognises the tragic truths gleaned from a life of love and loss. A gem of a book * Sunday Express *It's all beautifully done; a tale told in the plain but poetic prose of a man who recognises the tragic truths gleaned from a life of love and loss. A gem of a book * Sunday Express *This could be one of the big book hits of 2019 * Red Magazine *This could be one of the big book hits of 2019 * Red Magazine *An atmospheric debut ... The most impressive aspects of this first novel are its rich, flowing prose, its convincing voice and its imaginative and clever structure ... Griffin is a welcome arrival to the literary scene * Irish Times *An atmospheric debut ... The most impressive aspects of this first novel are its rich, flowing prose, its convincing voice and its imaginative and clever structure ... Griffin is a welcome arrival to the literary scene * Irish Times *Griffin's strength is in voice and in the rhythm of her prose ... She is excellent at interrogating the complexity of Maurice's barriers * Irish Independent *Griffin's strength is in voice and in the rhythm of her prose ... She is excellent at interrogating the complexity of Maurice's barriers * Irish Independent *A rich, fluid debut novel * The I Newspaper *A rich, fluid debut novel * The I Newspaper *A heartfelt and impressive debut novel * Sunday Business Post *A heartfelt and impressive debut novel * Sunday Business Post *Poetic and touching without being sentimental, When All Is Said by Anne Griffin is something special. * Good Housekeeping *Poetic and touching without being sentimental, When All Is Said by Anne Griffin is something special. * Good Housekeeping *An emotional yet uplifting novel - we defy you not to fall in love with Maurice Hannigan and his heart-warming story. * Woman's Weekly *An emotional yet uplifting novel - we defy you not to fall in love with Maurice Hannigan and his heart-warming story. * Woman's Weekly *Will stay with you long after you close the cover * Irish Mail on Sunday *Will stay with you long after you close the cover * Irish Mail on Sunday *Beautifully written, this is a feast of Irish storytelling * Choice *Beautifully written, this is a feast of Irish storytelling * Choice *A powerful page-turner ... wonderfully poetic, atmospheric and moving. * Best *A powerful page-turner ... wonderfully poetic, atmospheric and moving. * Best *When All Is Said captures the texture of a night catching up with an old friend - the pleasures and comforts, the stories and surprises - one that you never want to end, and all the more bittersweet because you know, of course, that it must.When All Is Said captures the texture of a night catching up with an old friend - the pleasures and comforts, the stories and surprises - one that you never want to end, and all the more bittersweet because you know, of course, that it must.Maurice Hannigan is one of those rare and unforgettable characters whose lives we enter, inhabit for a time all too brief, and emerge from deeply changed. Anne Griffin is a writer with a bright, bright future.Maurice Hannigan is one of those rare and unforgettable characters whose lives we enter, inhabit for a time all too brief, and emerge from deeply changed. Anne Griffin is a writer with a bright, bright future.A warm and nourishing story from a writer of much promise. * RTE Guide *A warm and nourishing story from a writer of much promise. * RTE Guide *Griffin's debut is a beautiful and poignant page-turner. * Image Magazine *Griffin's debut is a beautiful and poignant page-turner. * Image Magazine *A fine literary debut from a writer I'm sure we'll hear more from * Mature Times *A fine literary debut from a writer I'm sure we'll hear more from * Mature Times *Superb ... incredibly moving without ever straying into sentiment * People *Superb ... incredibly moving without ever straying into sentiment * People *[Maurice's] story will make you laugh and cry - When All Is Said is a wonderful debut novel from Anne Griffin. She says she "wanted to write a damn good story". She has succeeded beyond her dreams. * My Weekly *[Maurice's] story will make you laugh and cry - When All Is Said is a wonderful debut novel from Anne Griffin. She says she "wanted to write a damn good story". She has succeeded beyond her dreams. * My Weekly *When All Is Said tells the tale of an imperfect man who you will not be able to forget. * Irish Country Magazine *When All Is Said tells the tale of an imperfect man who you will not be able to forget. * Irish Country Magazine *A beautifully written, perfectly paced, heartfelt novel * Saga *A beautifully written, perfectly paced, heartfelt novel * Saga *Tissues at the ready for what is a confident yet carefully written debut . . . I adored it. Utterly recommended. * Woman's Way *Tissues at the ready for what is a confident yet carefully written debut . . . I adored it. Utterly recommended. * Woman's Way *Achingly poignant and wryly funny, Irish author Anne Griffin's luminous debut is a celebration of stolen joy and lost opportunities * Waterstones Weekly *Achingly poignant and wryly funny, Irish author Anne Griffin's luminous debut is a celebration of stolen joy and lost opportunities * Waterstones Weekly *A heart-warming, heart-breaking and poignant debut of rare power. * NetGalley Books of 2019 *A heart-warming, heart-breaking and poignant debut of rare power. * NetGalley Books of 2019 *Griffin's stunning debut, brimming with irresistible Irish-isms, is an elegy to love, loss and the complexity of life. * People Magazine *Griffin's stunning debut, brimming with irresistible Irish-isms, is an elegy to love, loss and the complexity of life. * People Magazine *An accomplished debut. A sensitive layered description of grief and regret . . . excellent * Minneapolis Star Tribune *An accomplished debut. A sensitive layered description of grief and regret . . . excellent * Minneapolis Star Tribune *Beautifully realized * LitHub *Beautifully realized * LitHub *A portrait of a life in which revenge, love, loss, and misunderstanding all play their part . . . This is a wonderful piece of story-telling that is intimate, compassionate and extraordinarily assured. * Daily Mail *A portrait of a life in which revenge, love, loss, and misunderstanding all play their part . . . This is a wonderful piece of story-telling that is intimate, compassionate and extraordinarily assured. * Daily Mail *Anne Griffin's first novel has taken Ireland by storm . . . Immediate, often funny, sometimes dark and, on occasion, devastatingly sad. * The Times *Anne Griffin's first novel has taken Ireland by storm . . . Immediate, often funny, sometimes dark and, on occasion, devastatingly sad. * The Times *Nearly 40 years of publishing has made me a cynical reviewer of books, but, oh my god, it's impossible to be churlish about discovering such a fabulous and unforgettable character. A one-hit wonder this is not * NB Magazine *Nearly 40 years of publishing has made me a cynical reviewer of books, but, oh my god, it's impossible to be churlish about discovering such a fabulous and unforgettable character. A one-hit wonder this is not * NB Magazine *A gentle tale of an irascible Irish farmer, who spends the last day of his life toasting the five people who have meant the most to him- sure to move even the stoniest of hearts * Independent *A gentle tale of an irascible Irish farmer, who spends the last day of his life toasting the five people who have meant the most to him- sure to move even the stoniest of hearts * Independent *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Memories of the Future
Book SynopsisFROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WHAT I LOVED''Few contemporary writers are as satisfying and stimulating to read as Siri Hustvedt'' Washington Post''A 21st-century Virginia Woolf'' Literary ReviewA provocative, wildly funny, intellectually rigorous and engrossing novel, punctuated by Siri Hustvedt''s own illustrations - a tour de force by one of America''s most acclaimed and beloved writers.Fresh from Minnesota and hungry for all New York has to offer, twenty-three-year-old S.H. embarks on a year that proves both exhilarating and frightening - from bruising encounters with men to the increasingly ominous monologues of the woman next door.Forty years on, those pivotal months come back to vibrant life when S.H. discovers the notebook in which she recorded her adventures alongside drafts of a novel. Measuring what she remembers against what she wrote, she regards her younger self witTrade ReviewA multilayered portrait of the artist as a young woman . . . S. H. lays an array of selves, fictive and autobiographical, over each other like transparencies, to reveal deeper patterns. The fallibility of memory, madness and the artistic process are all incisively traced, but male entitlement emerges as the most insistent motif . . . Hustvedt has the imaginative mastery to encase complex ideas in the flesh and blood needed to render them visceral. -- Benjamin Evans * Observer *Provocative and mysterious, this fictionalised portrait of the author as a young woman is comic and sensual as well as thematically meaty, touching on memory, witchcraft and male violence. -- Hephzibah Anderson * Mail on Sunday *This is playful, self-referential, cerebral stuff . . . [the] unlikely combination comes off marvellously, like a freewheeling doodle by an artist who has spent years perfecting their craft. The humorous, wise voice of SH holds everything lightly together with clever observations on writing, time and imagination. -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *A portrait of the artist, certainly, and of New York in the 1970s, which Hustvedt joyously depicts as hot, dirty and cacophonous. But it's also far more than that. As layered as a millefeuille, as dense and knotted as tapestry, it feels, by the time you reach the final pages, less like a novel and more like an intellectual reckoning; an act of investigation into how, as a woman, it is possible to live well in the world, and enter effectively into the conversation about it. It's a mark of Hustvedt's thoroughgoing intelligence that the idea of investigation is another of the novel's explicit themes, as well as an aspect of its undertaking . . . [a] teasing, complex, disconcerting novel -- Sarah Crown * Guardian *[Hustvedt] writes beautifully on memory . . . And she captures the power of past narrative to shape a life to come . . . This is a book that merits rereading, not least because it's trying to build something new . . . Hustvedt's novelistic renovation is nostalgic and brave in equal measure. She's made just enough architectural moves to make you look at the space anew. -- Sophie Ratcliffe * Daily Telegraph *Reading a Hustvedt novel is like consuming the best of David Lynch on repeat . . . [SH's] gauche girl detective persona conceals (of course) a formidable intellect roving among Hustvedt's favoured subjects of neuroscience, philosophy, literature and gender, and what is most interesting in the book is to see how that gradually assimilates with events around her . . . Ideas somersault nimbly in the novel as memoir jostles with memories . . . both SH and her creator appear, in this intense, high-spirited Bildungsroman, to have come full circle. -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *Captivating, smart and witty -- Hayley Thompson * Stylist *Few contemporary writers are as satisfying and stimulating to read as Siri Hustvedt. Her sentences dance with the elation of a brilliant intellect romping through a playground of ideas, and her prose is just as lively when engaged in the development of characters and story. Her wonderful new novel is, among other things, a meditation on memory, selfhood and aging . . . an intricate, multiform text similar in its freewheeling, postmodern structure to Hustvedt's previous masterpiece, The Blazing World. . . how much of this is autobiographical doesn't matter. Any material drawn from the writer's life has been triumphantly transmuted into fiction that skillfully weaves disparate narrative strands into a vast tapestry encompassing personal, political and cultural struggle. -- Wendy Smith * Washington Post *Wise, graceful and often formidably bracing -- Paul Connolly * Metro *The reader has simply to play along, enjoying the deft and elegant writing while appreciating Hustvedt's timely exploration of questions about authenticity, memory and demarcations of literary genre . . . Writing with the swing and energy of a Parisian prose poet, Hustvedt re-creates her younger self as an eager New York City flâneuse . . . Gender politics is what gives this book its energy . . . She deftly masters postmodern fictional techniques while also tapping into the broader liberal humanist tradition and placing feminism in that context. She's a 21st-century Virginia Woolf, with many intellectual and creative rooms of her own - including a delightful talent for drawing cartoons, a host of which appear throughout her book. -- Carol Rumens * Literary Review *[Hustvedt] tackles misogyny, memory and the artistic process with provocative brio. * The i *Just as memory plays games with us, Hustvedt plays an exuberant game between it and fiction . . . There are lovely ironies and twists . . .it's under the control of a consummate intelligence. Hustvedt wears her erudition lightly and her cool intellect has a playful and warming passion. To experience her witty, speculative and incisive mind makes her book an unusual and great pleasure to read. -- Anne Haverty * Irish Times *Siri Hustvedt has never been afraid to go against the grain, and her seventh novel, Memories of the Future, confirms it. She has important things to say about sexual politics, capitalism and art . . . there is a great deal of transformative joy to be found in this story of a young woman arriving in New York to find her voice as a writer . . . Hustvedt brilliantly pinpoints how a woman might appear to willingly acquiesce to a man's demands to avoid a worse fate. She also skewers the guilt a woman might feel when she has escaped an assault. -- Alex Peake-Tompkinson * Evening Standard *A clever, elegant novel * Good Housekeeping *Hustvedt deftly weaves and juxtaposes all these strands to explore the mechanics of story-making, the fallibility of memory, and the injustices of gender. She is absorbing, acute and frighteningly clever. -- Ella Walker * Herald, Glasgow *Various forms of detection, anchored to Hustvedt's deep knowledge of neuroscience and art, propel this rapier attack on sexism; this is a lusciously layered and suspenseful "portrait of the artist as a young woman," electric with wit, curiosity, and storytelling magic -- Donna Seaman * Booklist *Among the many riches of Siri Hustvedt's portrait of a young woman finding her way as an artist are her reflections on how acts of remembering, if they reach deep enough, can heal the broken present, as well as on the inherent uncanniness of feeling oneself brought into being by the writing hand. Her reflections are no less profound for being couched as philosophical comedy of a Shandean variety. * J. M. Coetzee *Hustvedt is that rarest of beasts: a deeply intellectual writer whose work is joyful and not intimidating in the slightest. This is terrific -- Editor's Choice * Bookseller *Like all the best postmodern novels, this metafictional investigation of time, memory, and the mutating self is as playful as it is serious. * Kirkus *The dialogue is . . . playful but punchy, insisting at once on the right of the female writer to claim a different authority from that of her male counterparts, and on her freedom to combine the male and female within her own head . . . the affectionate portrait of young people forging lives and personalities in solidarity with each other is movingly done . . .The diary sections are written with compelling energy, and bring the young woman easily to life, with her enticing combination of strength and weakness . . . it is this battle between the sexes that gives the book its bite . . . playful, thoughtful book about the workings of memory and the relationship between our older and younger selves. It is a paean to the pleasures of reading, celebrating the ways that a lifetime with books enhances and complicates selfhood. It's a work of autofiction that offers truthful fiction to counter an era of fake news. But it is most formidable as a novelistic take on the past fifty years of feminism, told through its parallel snapshots of 1978 and 2016. In this respect we can see it as a kind of successor to Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook . . . the older S.H. has held fast. She knows, as she informs her male interlocutor, that the stories told here aren't over. They may never be over, and we are lucky to have novelists like Siri Hustvedt to help us to complicate and understand them. -- Laura Feigel * TLS *There is power here, fearsome and electric, bursting with rage at the patriarchy -- Philip Womack * Independent *
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co Violets
Book Synopsis''Dreamy, immersive and evocative'' TLS''Darkly beautiful'' Frances Cha''Strange and gripping'' GuardianSan is twenty-two and alone when she happens upon a job at a flower shop in Seoul''s bustling city centre.Haunted by childhood rejection, she stumbles through life - painfully vulnerable, stifled, and unsure. She barely registers to others, especially by the ruthless standards of 1990s South Korea.But over the course of one summer, San meets a curious cast of characters: the nonspeaking shop owner, a brash co-worker, aggressive customers and an enigmatic magazine photographer. Fuelled by a quiet desperation to jump-start her life, she dares, briefly, to dream of connection in an unforgiving world.Translated by Anton Hur
£9.49
University of Nebraska Press Do What They Say or Else
Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1977, Do What They Say or Else tells the story of a fifteen-year-old girl named Anne who lives with her working-class parents in a small town in Normandy, France.Trade Review“A powerful portrait of a searching adolescent.”—Publishers Weekly“In this, her second published novel, Annie Ernaux writes the psycho-biology of being fifteen years old with perfect recall. Do What They Say or Else conveys the cost of upward mobility and the desire to just throw it all away. Ernaux is in perfect control of her narrator’s wildness. The result is vivid and tough.”—Chris Kraus, author of After Kathy Acker: A Literary Biography“Annie Ernaux is often celebrated for her minimalist and documentary style. Yet this second novel, very funny at times, is narrated from the perspective of a teenage girl, with a vindictive and self-deprecating tone that ranges from the colloquial to the outright vulgar. This translation is a true tour de force!”—Bruno Thibault, author of Danièle Sallenave et le don des morts
£13.29
Kensington Publishing Blindsided
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£12.79
Kensington Publishing Beats and Blow
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£12.79
Kensington Publishing Her Pleasure
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£8.54
Kensington Publishing Empty Vows
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£18.74
Kensington Publishing Thug Matrimony
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£14.39
Kensington Publishing Playing Their Games
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£14.39
Kensington Publishing Such Good Friends
Book Synopsis“Fans of Capote and the era of Camelot should be delighted.” —Shana Abé, New York Times bestselling author of The Second Mrs. Astor A must-read for fans of Truman Capote and Jackie Kennedy, this star-studded, evocative novel revels in the glamor, gossip, and casual betrayal of 1960s and ’70s high society New York and the socialite “swans” that ruled this scandalous world.On a Thursday morning in May 1961, a well-mannered twenty-one-year-old named Marlene enters the Fifth Avenue apartment of Lee Radziwill to interview for the position of housekeeper and cook. The stylish wife of London-based Prince Stanislaw Radziwill, Princess Lee is intelligent and creative, with ambitions beyond simply jet-setting. But to the public, she is always First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s little sister.As Marlene becomes a trusted presence in the Radziwill household, she observes the dazzling array of famous
£14.39
Kensington Publishing The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
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£13.59
Kensington Publishing The Night Parade
Book SynopsisIn the tradition of Stephen King''s The Stand, acclaimed horror writer Ronald Malfi takes readers on a nightmarish journey through a post-pandemic landscape, as a devoted father seeks a safe haven for his young daughter, who may hold the key to humanity''s survival...First the birds disappeared. Then the insects took over. And the madness began… They call it Wanderer’s Folly—a disease of delusions, of daydreams and nightmares. A plague threatening to wipe out the human race. After two years of creeping decay, David Arlen woke up one morning thinking that the worst was over. By midnight, he’s bleeding and terrified, his wife is dead, and he’s on the run in a stolen car with his eight-year-old daughter, who may be the key to a cure. Ellie is a special girl. Deep. Insightful. And she knows David is lying to her. Lying about her mother. Lying about what they''re running from. And lying
£15.29
Kensington Publishing Up Island Harbor
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£13.59
Kensington Publishing Cold Snap
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£999.99
Pan Macmillan Shotgun Lovesongs
Book SynopsisHenry, Lee, Kip and Ronny grew up together in rural Wisconsin. Friends since childhood, their lives all began the same way, but have since taken different paths. Henry stayed on the family farm and married his first love, whilst the others left in search of something more. Ronnie became a rodeo star, Kip made his fortune in the city, and musician Lee found fame – but heartbreak, too. Now all four are back in town for a wedding, each of them hoping to recapture their old closeness but unable to escape how much has changed. Amid the happiness of reunion and celebration, old rivalries resurface and a wife’s secret threatens to tear both a marriage and a friendship apart . . . This is a novel about the things that matter – love and loyalty, the power of music and the beauty of nature – told in a uniquely beautiful, warm-hearted and profound way and exploring the age-old question of whether we can ever truly come home.Trade Review‘Shotgun Lovesongs is as true as an honest day’s work, as serious as a busted heart, as welcoming as a warm home fire burning… Nickolas Butler has written a Midwestern masterpiece and has done for the modest splendor of verdant farmlands what Larry McMurtry did for the brutal beauty of small town Texas.’ Amber Dermont, author of The Starboard Sea‘Listen to the unforgettable characters and their chorus of voices – as they sing about longing, about betrayal, about friendship and marriage, about the green explosion of summer and the white music of winter, about the gravity of home – and you will be moved to laughter and tears, plugged in to a melody that brilliantly shares the story of all our lives.’ Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon and The Wilding‘Nickolas Butler ripped my heart out with rare honesty and good old-fashioned unapologetic love. A book that makes you want to call old friends. A writer who makes you feel more human than you thought possible.’ Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook‘An unswervingly big-hearted and compelling novel about an indie-rocker made good and his best friends back home in Wisconsin, all of them navigating their way through different iterations of the America Dream, trying to make authentic lives and find meaningful love... Nickolas Butler conducts a soaring, meditative chorus of voices in his first novel. And it’s absolutely beautiful.’ Dean Bakopoulos, author of My American Unhappiness‘In this deeply-felt debut, Nickolas Butler paints a place and its people with such love that you’ll find yourself falling for them, too. This is a novel about home, and home is how the book feels. With all the pull and power of the word, it brings us face to face with the most important things: how hard it is to love well, to stay loyal, to act right, to know what that means.’ Josh Weil, author of The New Valley ‘A beautifully written, heartfelt novel about young men in the Midwest grappling with the slipperiest bits of life. Butler has the gift of making the everyday seem new – from the odd way fame silently separates old friends, to the disheartening foibles of a new marriage. This is a talented, thoughtful writer who throws his characters against the singular Wisconsin backdrop and coaxes them to live and breathe.’ Katie Crouch, author of Girls in TrucksWhat a cracking book. Full of heart, full of compassion, full of characters who have you rooting for them from the very first page. Butler's sense of place is so strong that, reading Shotgun Lovesongs, I became a temporary resident of small-town Wisconsin - and once I'd finished it, I wanted to go right back there. -- Shelley Harris, author of * Jubilee *A wonderful book, filled with moments of gut-wrenching anguish and also of soaring hope. It is a beautiful tale of small towns and growing up and of trying to find a place in the world when home doesn't feel like home any more. A new American classic. -- Matt Haig, author of * The Humans *Nickolas Butler has written a novel to fall in love with: a paean to the American Midwest that explores the shifting relationships between old friends and the bonds between people and places. One of a group of boyhood friends has made it good as a famous rock star; others haven't. From that simple premise an addictive, deeply enjoyable literary page-turner is born. -- Jonathan Lee, author of * Joy *Nickolas Butler's Shotgun Lovesongs explores the complex relationship between four old friends in a poetic novel that pays tribute to the power of music and nature. -- Hot Books of 2014 * Daily Express *I fell in love with the title of this book, and fell even deeper in love with it from page one. It is quiet, achingly sweet and melancholy . . . A top contender for my book of 2014 * Absolutely West *A big-hearted take on a small-town life from a new voice in American fiction . . . Gorgeous, unforgettable novel. * Marie Claire *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Darkest Day
Book SynopsisThe Darkest Day is the first novel in the five part Inspector Barbarotti series from renowned Swedish crime author Håkan Nesser.It’s December in the quiet Swedish town of Kymlinge, and the Hermansson family are gathering to celebrate father Karl-Erik and eldest daughter Ebba’s joint landmark birthdays. But beneath the guise of happy festivities, tensions are running high, and it’s not long before the night takes a dark and unexpected turn . . . Before the weekend is over, two members of the Hermansson family are missing, and it’s up to Inspector Barbarotti – a detective who spends as much of his time debating the existence of God as he does solving cases – to determine exactly what has happened. And he soon discovers he’ll have to unravel a whole tangle of sinister family secrets in the process . . .Trade ReviewBarbarotti has to disentangle years of bad blood and resentment to get to the heart of a thrillingly complex case -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times *Told with wry humour and compassion, Nesser has four more Barbarotti stories to come — cherish them all -- Geoffrey Wansell * Daily Mail *In an exemplary translation by Sarah Death, this tangled tale of guilt and betrayal whets the appetite for translations of the other Barbarotti novels -- Barry Forshaw * Financial Times *A top-notch investigation into some grisly goings-on, courtesy of his latest crime-fighting duo Barbarotti and Backman * Riveting Reads *
£15.29
Pan Macmillan Everyone is Watching
Book SynopsisBeautiful, kaleidoscopic . . . everyone should be watching Megan Bradbury from now on' Eimear McBride, Baileys Prize-winning author of A Girl Is a Half-formed ThingNew York: A city that inspires. A city that draws people in. A city where everyone is watching, waiting to see what will happen next. 1967. Robert Mapplethorpe knows he is an artist. From his childhood home in Queens he yearns for the heat and excitement of the city, the press of other people's bodies. He wants to be watched, he wants to be known. 1891. Walt Whitman has already found fame, and has settled into his own sort of old age. Still childlike, still passionate, he travels with his friend and biographer Bucke to the city he has always adored, the scene of his greatest triumphs and rejections.1922. Robert Moses is a man with a vision. Standing on the edge of Long Island he knows what it could become. Walking down a street in Brooklyn he sees its future. He is the man who will build modern New York.2013. Edmund White is back in New York. It's the city of his youth, of his life and loves. He remembers days of lazy pleasure, nights of ecstasy and euphoria. But years have gone by since then. Everyone is Watching is a novel about the men and women who have defined New York. Through the lives and perspectives of these great creators, artists and thinkers, and through other iconic works of art that capture its essence, New York itself solidifies. Complex, rich, sordid, tantalizing, it is constantly changing and evolving. Both intimate and epic in its sweep, Everyone is Watching is a love letter to New York and its people - past, present and future.Trade ReviewI loved Megan Bradbury’s debut novel, Everyone Is Watching, a book ostensibly about a century or so of life in New York, but really about how cities themselves are works of communal action and art, and about how, even in the most draconian and reactionary of times, the vibrancy of these two things will light, reveal, challenge and reshape the fabrics of where and how we live. It’s a beating heart of a novel -- Ali Smith * Guardian *A highly original and elegantly written debut . . . a genuine attempt to evolve the form of the novel while trying to find a new way to tell a person's story . . . one has to applaud the great ambition of this book . . . There's a hypnotic effect to the prose and a sense that the author both understands and loves this most complicated of cities . . . a fascinating gift . . . [Megan Bradbury] is an extraordinary talent. -- John Boyne * The Irish Times *A kaleidoscopic dreamscape of New York seen through the eyes of some of its most celebrated inhabitants . . . immersive and compelling . . . hypnotic . . . dirty, dangerous and delicious, this is a novel that understands the cost of contact and bets on it anyway -- Olivia Laing * New Statesman *I have been haunted by Megan Bradbury's debut, Everyone Is Watching, ever since I read an early copy months ago. Through the lives of four historical New Yorkers, it dramatises more powerfully than any other novel I know the interdependence of artistic making and urban life -- Garth Greenwell * Guardian *It's one of the best debuts I've read in years -- Eimear McBride * Times Literary Supplement *The insouciant audacity of Megan Bradbury’s Everyone Is Watching took me by surprise. It has darknesses but its spirit of joy and the sheer sense of purpose of the famous characters lifted me in this bleak year -- James Meek * Guardian *I loved it . . . Bradbury's writing is beautiful: unusual, intoxicating and bold . . . I finished Everyone Is Watching on a high * Guardian *New York City as a creative catalyst is an enticing subject matter and one that receives a delightfully unexpected treatment in Bradbury's elegant debut * GQ *A short book with a big bold sweep. It pulses with the life of the great city and rattles along with its energy. -- John Harding * Daily Mail *In a narrative about art, creativity and vision, she shows the flair of an artist, capturing snapshots, vignettes of the characters who inhabited New York through the culturally, socially and sexually transformative period from the 1890s through to the present day . . . Megan Bradbury's idiosyncrasy and chutzpah are a fitting epitaph to a city that, as F. Scott Fitzgerald put it, has the 'wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world' * Herald *A mesmerising read, Everyone is Watching throws you into the heart of New York * Stylist *By interleaving a series of parallel New York narratives spanning 120 years, she makes that great metropolis seem intimate, its inhabitants connected across the decades by shared desires * Daily Telegraph *Fascinating novella, almost a work of philosophy . . . Bradbury makes connections between people and places, and across time, that are edifying and moving * Herald Scotland *Bradbury's idiosyncrasy and chutzpah are a fitting epitaph to a city that , as F Scott Fitzgerald put it, had the "wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world" * Press Association *I like boldness in a writer, and you don't get much bolder than writing a meditative, intertwining narrative of four New Yorkers . . . * National *An impressively original debut . . . Everyone is Watching manages to be both intimate and epic at the same time - quite an achievement * The Bookseller *Vivid, full of deadpan humour and very, very unusual -- Emma Healey, author of Elizabeth is Missing This beautiful, kaleidoscopic imagining of the artists' creation of New York means everyone should be watching Megan Bradbury from now on -- Eimear McBride, Baileys Prize-winning author of A Girl Is a Half-formed ThingMegan Bradbury's daring, urgent novel is a thrilling act of psychic and historical excavation, a profound examination of the relationship between urban spaces and the making of art. A moving portrait of lives linked across time, Everyone is Watching is an important addition to the literature of New York. -- Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to YouMegan Bradbury writes with the elegance of a Tiffany's diamond and the intensity of Times Square at rush hour. Through the eyes of Robert Mapplethorpe, Walt Whitman, Robert Moses and Edmund White, we experience the passion, heartbreak and soaring ambition that defines New York City. -- Patricia Morrisroe, author Mapplethorpe: A BiographyThis is a wonderful book, unique and surprising, alive to the energy and mystery of New York, written in language that swings between spare poetry and raw, gnarly sex. -- Joe Dunthorne, author of SubmarineA wonderful read . . . Everyone is Watching reaches beyond itself in such fascinating ways . . . I was left with a much richer sense of New York as a city, and a much deeper sense of the creative life of cities (and people!) in general. So, a very satisfying, thought provoking read indeed. -- Al Robertson, author of Crashing HeavenSentence by sentence, scene by scene, Everyone is Watching is as beautifully constructed as the city it celebrates. Here is New York through the eyes of its artists, in a novel as striking and memorable and brave as the art it describes. -- Andrew Cowan, author of Worthless Men An astonishing debut novel from a true original, whose talent pours out of these pages. A magical interweaving of New York stories from the perspectives of the architects and artists who made Manhattan in their image and whose loves, schemes, ambitions and dreams all connect through time, pyschogeography and Megan Bradbury's luminous prose. -- Cathi Unsworth, author of Without the Moon Everyone is Watching is an astonishing debut. Megan Bradbury has written a subtle and powerful novel of New York, its architects, artists and - her greatest achievement - the consciousness of the city itself. -- Jean McNeil, author of The Ice Lovers Illuminating . . . It sends you back to its sources while demanding that you read on. -- David Flusfleder, author of The Gift A first novel by a talented young writer . . . written with imagination, great assurance and a painterly eye, it builds up a fine portrait of the city * Scotsman *Bradbury has this astonishing ability to capture a lifetime in a line and to evoke the tangibility of longing in the human heart. Everyone is Watching in an exquisite orchestra of lyrical narrative that deserves a book-prize recognition * Attitude *Megan Bradbury's epic feels like a love letter to the city . . . an intimate, elegant and sweeping novel of such depth and richness, you'll feel energised and rejuvenated by the power the individual has on the personality of a city * Reader's Digest *Speculative and daring, by turns brash, brutal, tender and elegiac, Everyone is Watching is a love song - one that is as protean, multifaceted, elusive and captivating as the city that is at its heart. Written in a direct, spare prose, it is ambitious and brave, a virtuoso performance. * Evening News *Everyone is Watching offers a fascinating glimpse into a creative world * BBC Arts Online *
£7.59
Pan Macmillan Connect
Book Synopsis'A work of genius' Donal RyanNevada; the near future; a family in crisisBiologist and single mother Naomi is worried about the impact her ground-breaking research might have on the world. And of the impact the world might have on her painfully awkward, home-schooled, ever-growing teenage son, Colt.Colt is so brilliant he can code virtual realities our world hasn’t even thought of yet; and so socially inept that he struggles to order takeaway pizza.When Colt secretly sends his mother’s breakthrough research paper to a biotech conference in New York, and the conference is closed down, Naomi’s worst fears come true. Colt’s father crashes back into their lives, backed by the secretive security organisation he heads. The US government wants Naomi’s research . . . and Colt.Colt will soon have to leave the comfort of his virtual reality world, and face the challenge of discovering who he really is.And Naomi will have to decide how far she will go to protect her child. Would she kill a man? Would she destroy the world?From one of the most original voices in Irish writing, Connect by Julian Gough is a thrillingly smart novel of ideas that explores what connection – both human and otherwise – might be in a digital age. It is a story of mothers and sons, but also about you, your phone, and the future.Trade ReviewA dazzling technothriller . . . propulsive and engrossing * Guardian *Connect is so plugged into the technological zeitgeist . . . This is the world we know, several operating systems down the line . . . Instantly convincing . . . It will subtly change the way you see the world. * Sunday Times *I found Connect propulsively paced and ingeniously twisting. Gough has written a hyperactive, adrenaline-junkie dystopian thriller that deserves to be made into a belter of a film franchise. * The Times *This stimulating tale of a coder and his mum is a hyper-digital thriller . . . a story of family dysfunction plugged into larger questions about reality, evolution and the west’s self-definition as “the good guys”. * Observer *An exciting literary thriller with plenty of interesting ideas. * Mail on Sunday *Read Connect by the absurdly brilliant Julian Gough, a mind-expanding technothriller with a hotly beating human heart. -- Emma DonoghueConnect really is a work of genius. It confronts and explores the nature of humanness and existence in a thrilling, immersive, addictive way, and marks Julian out as a prophet among writers. -- Donal RyanA wonderful novel, a tour de force. -- Joseph O'ConnorThis is a novel of enormous danger and risk . . . It is in the lightness of the writing, the compelling force of the narrative that the author achieves real brilliance. Gough has undoubtedly arrived, as a master storyteller. -- Michael HardingConnect has all the hallmarks of such futuristic classics as War Of The Worlds and Brave New World, but it is also a strong stand alone novel full of excitement, twists, and turns, and stands shoulder to shoulder with any thriller being published today. * Galway Advertiser *A mind-warping futuristic thriller wrapped in a smorgasbord of ideas . . . inventive and entertaining . . . Connect might just be the perfect combination of beach read and literary torchpaper. * Sunday Business Post (Ireland) *
£8.54
Pan Macmillan I Follow You
Book SynopsisA nerve-shredding story of obsession and destruction, I Follow You is a standalone thriller from the number one bestselling author of the Roy Grace series, Peter James.To the outside world, suave, charming and confident doctor Marcus Valentine has it all. A loving wife, three kids, a great job. But there’s something missing. There always has been.Driving to work one morning, his mind elsewhere, Marcus almost mows down a woman jogging. As she runs on, he is transfixed. Infatuated. She is the spitting image of a girl he was crazy about in his teens. A girl he has never been able to get out of his mind . . .Lynette had dumped him harshly. For years he has fantasized about seeing her again and rekindling their flame. Might that jogger possibly be her, all these years later? Could this be the most incredible coincidence?Despite all his attempts to resist, he is consumed by cravings for this woman. And, when events take a tragically unexpected turn, his obsession threatens to destroy both their worlds. But still he won’t stop. Can’t stop.Trade ReviewAnother stonking story from the master of the craft * Express *Peter James is on form again with I Follow You, which explores the mind of a stalker * Independent *Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business -- Karin SlaughterPraise for Absolute Proof: Sensational -- Lee ChildMeticulous research gives his prose great authenticity * Sunday Express *
£8.54
Pan Macmillan The Idea of Perfection: Picador Classic
Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Evie WyldThe Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville is a funny and touching romance between two people who've given up on love. Set in the eccentric little backwater of Karakarook, New South Wales, pop. 1374, it tells the story of Douglas Cheeseman, a gawky engineer with jug-handle ears, and Harley Savage, a woman altogether too big and too abrupt for comfort. Harley is in Karakarook to foster 'Heritage', and Douglas is there to pull down the quaint old Bent Bridge. From day one, they're on a collision course. But out of this unpromising conjunction of opposites, something unexpected happens: sometimes even better than perfection.Trade ReviewGrenville makes awkward atmospheres and fumbling encounters wonderfully vivid. Read it and cringe * The Times *From these two reticent characters, besieged by two lifetimes of regret, doubt and dismay, Grenville manufactures an extraordinary comedy of manners, made all more powerful by her own reticence as a writer * Guardian *Outrageously entertaining * Daily Mail *Mined throughout with little pockets of danger and depth * Guardian *A truly amazing writer -- Rosie Boycott, chair of the Orange Prize juryAn honest and compelling celebration of imperfection * Observer *A funny and touching romance * Daily Express *Being the only book voted for the Orange Prize shortlist by both the official judging panel, always an all-female affair, and a shadow panel of men sitting for the first time, was testament to The Idea of Perfection's universal appeal * Australian News *Grenville has created a unique exploration of human weaknesses and how combining these weaknesses can make a strength * Irish Independent *A funny, off-beat love story * Daily Mail *A very fine, albeit terrifying, writer . . . another assured and intelligent performance . . . very funny, skillfully written but also very moving . . . brilliant comic set pieces * Irish Times *This is an arresting and penetrating read . . . an honest and compelling celebration of imperfection * Observer *An exquisite, minutely observed study of two people meeting in their middle years . . . A truly amazing writer -- Rosie Boycott, Chair of the Orange Prize 2001 Judging Panel[Grenville is] always self-possessed, graceful, ingratiating . . . an amusing, touching, occasionally macabre tale * Spectator *The Idea of Perfection is a very fine novel . . . Grenville's paean to the heroism of imperfection could easily slide into sentimentality. That it doesn't is a testament to her skill. There's nothing trite about the violent, sensual colour in her descriptions of the Australian bush, or her compassion for her eccentric characters * Times *Mined throughout with little pockets of danger and depth * Guardian *It's an outrageously entertaining book - witty, tender and full of a no-nonsense lyricism . . . by alerting us to novels this good, the [Orange] Prize more than justifies its existence * Daily Mail *Grenville makes awkward atmospheres and fumbling encounters wonderfully vivid. Read it and cringe * Times *Quirky and spirited * Independent *A writer of extraordinary talent * New York Times Book Review *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Dance Prone
Book Synopsis 'A raw and raging celebration of music . . . astounding.' Megan Bradbury'Funny, filthy, erudite, and rude.' Carl Shuker'A magnificent novel.' Alan McMonagleDuring their 1985 tour, two events of hatred and stupidity forever change the lives of a band’s four members. Neues Bauen, a post-hardcore Illinois group homing in on their own small fame, head on with frontman Conrad Wells sexually assaulted and guitarist Tone Seburg wounded by gunshot. The band staggers forth into the American landscape, traversing time and investigating each of their relationships with history, memory, authenticity, violence and revelling in transcendence through the act of art.With decades passed and compelled by his wife’s failing health to track down Tone, Conrad flies to North Africa where her brother is rumoured to be hiding with a renowned artist from their past. There he instead meets various characters including his former drummer, Spence. Amongst the sprawl and shout of Morocco, the men attempt to recall what happened to them during their lost years of mental disintegration and emotional poverty.Dance Prone is a novel of music, ritual and love. It is live, tense and corporeal. Full of closely observed details of indie-rock, of punk infused performance, the road and the players’ relationship to violence, hate and peace. Set during both the post-punk period and the present day, Dance Prone was born out of a love of the underground and indie rock scenes of the 1980s, a fascination for their role in the cultural apparatus of memory, social decay and its reconstruction.Trade ReviewHis book is many things. A giddy rush of indie excess, punk mayhem, outsider art, blurred memory, lapsed existence and sudden grace. A mind-bending trip that plays out in that liminal space between innocence and insanity; drift and purpose; rational and rogue; anarchy and calm; between what was lost and what may endure. Cut with a cast of characters sawn through the bone, language that giddies-up the heart, and always, always, alive with a throbbing pulse that insists you read on. Lyrical. Violent. Elegiac. Epic. I adore David Coventry's writing and Dance Prone is a magnificent novel. -- Alan McMonagle, author of Ithaca. Taught and intelligent, this story of music, trauma and artistic ambition has all the precision, spookiness and elegance of the best post-rock. -- Matt Thorne'What a brute fucken show, man.’ David Coventry's new novel is a gorgeous panegyric to the purity, poison and impossibly high stakes of punk. A young band of fleeting genius tours the living rooms and crappy bars of early 80's US before imploding in violence and horror. Dance Prone captures that thing about beautiful doomed brilliance sanctified by its miniature life expectancy. It's funny, filthy, erudite, and rude, like LCD Soundsystem’s "Losing My Edge" as retold by the mid-period DeLillo of The Names and Mao II. -- Carl Shuker, author of A MistakeA novel that interrogates music and it’s capacity for producing societal change, the bonds of friendship and family, and the manner in which we avoid confronting ourselves with the truth . . . An attempt to create the novel in it’s essence: looking for the new, resisting the obvious, denying the familiar. * Red Close blog *Pitch-perfect and nuanced . . . extraordinary . . . remarkable . . . Coventry’s work is some of the finest in recent NZ literature. * Herald (New Zealand) *A transcendental quest through the mind, body and through landscape, and a raw and raging celebration of music . . . This book is astounding. -- Megan Bradbury, author of Everyone is Watching
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Rest of Their Lives
Book SynopsisFilled with all the larger-than-life characters and enchanting storytelling that made readers fall for The Reader on the 6.27, Jean-Paul Didierlaurent’s follow-up novel, The Rest of Their Lives, is set to charm the world.It’s difficult to find love in a profession like Ambroise’s – even his father despises what he does . . .And while Manelle – a home-help for the elderly in the same small French town – adores her days spent with her eccentric clients, she too often ends her evenings alone.So when an unusual request from Manelle’s favourite client – eighty-two-year-old retired chef-gourmand Samuel – brings the two of them together for an unlikely road-trip to Switzerland, along with Ambroise’s cake-loving grandmother, it might just be time for the rest of their lives to begin . . .Trade ReviewReaders will find the same sensitivity, the same poetry, the same humour as in The Reader on the 6:27 . . . A charming story * RTL *
£8.54
Pan Macmillan Often I Am Happy
Book SynopsisWhen Ellinor addresses her best friend Anna, she does not expect a reply. Anna has been dead for forty years, killed in the same skiing accident that claimed Henning: Ellinor’s first husband and Anna’s lover.Ellinor instead tells her that Georg has died – Georg who was once Anna’s, but whom Ellinor came to love in her place, and whom she came to care for, along with Anna’s two infant sons. Yet with Georg’s death Ellinor finds herself able to cut the ties of her assumed life with surprising ease.Returning to the area of Copenhagen where she grew up, away from the adopted comfort of the home she shared with Georg, Ellinor finds herself addressing her own history: her marriage to Henning, their seemingly charmed friendship with the newly-wed Anna and Georg, right back to her own mother's story – a story of heartbreaking pride.Because there are some secrets – both our own and of others – that we can only share with the dead. Secrets that nonetheless shape who we are and who we love. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl is a profoundly moving work of fiction.Trade ReviewIn Danish novelist Grøndahl’s stunning latest, a recently widowed 70-year-old woman reexamines her life and past decisions . . . A compassionate and often edifying commentary on the elasticity of love, the strength it takes to move forward after a death, and the power of forgiveness. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *This atmosphere of nonchalance, of indifference, of cracked glass, is the signature atmosphere of Jens Christian Grøndahl . . . Often I Am Happy is [among Grøndahl’s works] one of the most condensed, most suffused with grief and mixed beauty . . . His characters, so perfectly drawn, nevertheless thrive only as they disappear. The real, in the work of this great novelist, also has about it something of the haziness of memory. * Livres Hebdo *
£8.54
Pan Macmillan Marlena
Book SynopsisTell me what you can't forget,and I'll tell you who you are . . . Cat is fifteen and the lonely new girl in town. Until she meets her neighbour, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. Cat is quickly lured into Marlena's roller-coaster orbit by little more than an arched eyebrow and a shake of white-blonde hair. Within one intense, obsessive year of friendship, Marlena is dead, drowned in six inches of icy water in the woods nearby. Decades later, when a ghost from that pivotal year surfaces unexpectedly, Cat must try again to move on, even as the memory of Marlena calls her back. Marlena is a riveting, intelligent and brilliant novel from debut author Julie Buntin. 'If you loved The Girls, this is for you . . . totally addictive' GraziaTrade ReviewThe gifted young writer Julie Buntin has written a novel of deep and exquisite intelligence, humour and riveting sensitivity. A terrific debut -- Lorrie MooreJulie Buntin captures that unique moment at the precipice of adulthood with emotional honesty and insight. She writes the kind of piercing, revelatory sentences you have to read to whomever is near, sentences you find yourself remembering years later -- Jonathan Safran Foer[A] vivid debut. . . .Buntin's prose is emotional and immediate, and the interior lives she draws of young women and obsessive best friends are Ferrante-esque * Booklist *Sensitive and smart and arrestingly beautiful, makes coming-of-age stories feel both urgent and new. It could so easily be clichéd or sentimental. It is neither. Buntin creates a world so subtle and nuanced and alive that it imprints like a memory. Devastating; as unforgettable as it is gorgeous. * Kirkus *One of this year's buzziest debuts * Vogue *Smart, sassy, sexy * Red *Marlena felt urgent and alive. It's shocking and disturbing, but its depiction of an intense, obsessive friendship felt nuanced and heartbreakingly real. * Stylist *In Marlena, Julie Buntin revitalizes a classic story making it all her own with sensuous, vibrant prose and a narrator who feels deeply even as she feints certain painful truths about herself. In these pages I not only saw my own story, I came to understand it better. Many readers will too. This is a fierce and gorgeous debut -- Edan Lepucki, bestselling author of CaliforniaMarlena slayed me. Gorgeously written, with a sense of place so perfect I didn't even have to close my eyes to pretend I was there, this novel is rich and sensuous and beautifully conceived. Buntin writes about the all-consuming bond between teenage girls with urgency and suspense and despair. I loved every word -- Anton DiSclafani, bestselling author of The After Party and The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for GirlsMesmerizing . . . an indelible portrait of friendship, the power of influence and the kind of regret that can last a lifetime * Harpers Bazaar *Buntin’s prose crackles like static electricity . . . she explores addiction and loss with poetic tenderness * New York Observer *Beautifully descriptive . . . This generous, sensitive novel of true feeling is at its most moving when it sweeps you up . . . a painful exorcism and a devoted memorial to friends and selves who are gone * New York Times Book Review *
£11.07
Pan Macmillan The Double Life of Daisy Hemmings: This Year's
Book Synopsis'Unflinching, unforgettable . . . a step up for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid' - The Bookseller'Totally absorbing and evocative' - Kate Riordan, bestselling author of Summer FeverWhat happens when truth and lies collide? The Double Life of Daisy Hemmings is an intoxicating mystery across past and present from Joanna Nadin.1988, Cornwall. At seventeen, Jason wants much more from life than working in his father's pub. So when twin sisters Daisy and Bea, and their small circle of friends, arrive for a holiday in his village, Jason is determined to become part of their glamorous, intoxicating world.2018, London. When famous actress Daisy Hemmings decides it's time to write her autobiography, she chooses James Tate to help her. James is a ghost-writer and his job is to tell other people's stories for them. He's good at it, and why wouldn't he be? He's spent years pretending to be someone else . . .Trade ReviewUnflinching, unforgettable . . . Nadin should be this year's summer sensation -- a step up for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid. * The Bookseller *The writing fizzes with energy and charm, and the story is bewitching. I didn't want it to end -- Emylia Hall, author of The Book of SummersTotally absorbing and evocative -- Kate Riordan, author of Summer FeverA gloriously shimmering and captivating novel, with a mystery at its heart that keeps you turning its pages -- Emily Koch, author of Keep Him Close and What July KnewA clever novel . . . about truth, lies and what happens when the secrets we keep are exposed * Red *A gem. Atmospheric and thrilling and sexy and so clever -- Laura Pearson, author of Missing Pieces
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Double Life of Daisy Hemmings
Book SynopsisThe characters in this book are works of fiction. But, then, isn’t everyone . . . ?1988, Pencalenick, Cornwall.At seventeen, Jason wants much more from life than working at his father’s pub and when fate, in the form of twins Daisy and Bea and their small circle of friends, offers him a glimpse of another, more glamorous, world, he’s determined to become a part of it. It’s Daisy who Jason is most entranced by, though. Everyone is: she’s the sun around which others orbit.The trouble with the sun, of course, is that those who get too close risk getting burned – and by the end of the summer, one of the group will be dead.2018, Camberwell, London. When famous actress Daisy Hemmings decides it's time to publish her autobiography, she chooses James Tate to write it. James is a ghost writer: it’s his job to step into other people’s shoes; to tell their stories for them. And he’s good at it. Very good. After all, he’s had years of practice at pretending to be someone he’s not. But what happens when past and present – and truth and lies – collide?Joanna Nadin’s The Double Life of Daisy Hemmings is an unflinching, unforgettable novel about the people we are, the people we’d like to be, and the price we pay for getting what we want . . .Trade ReviewUnflinching, unforgettable . . . Nadin should be this year's summer sensation -- a step up for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid. * The Bookseller *The writing fizzes with energy and charm, and the story is bewitching. I didn't want it to end -- Emylia Hall, author of The Book of SummersTotally absorbing and evocative -- Kate Riordan, author of Summer FeverA gloriously shimmering and captivating novel, with a mystery at its heart that keeps you turning its pages -- Emily KochA clever novel . . . about truth, lies and what happens when the secrets we keep are exposed * Red *A gem. Atmospheric and thrilling and sexy and so clever -- Laura Pearson
£15.29
Pan Macmillan The Manor
Book SynopsisThe enemy is close to home in The Manor, a gripping gangland thriller from the top five bestseller Jessie Keane.Charlie Stone and Terry Barton have been blood brothers since the cradle. They grew up in the East End skimming along the bottom of the underworld, until Charlie took over the manor from the local mob and a twist of fate put him and his best mate on the road to the high life.When Charlie and Terry both marry and have kids, everything is set. Both families have everything they ever wanted. But things begin to turn sour when Charlie’s adopted son Harlan starts to cause trouble.It soon becomes clear that Harlan doesn’t just want to be number one son; he wants to be number one, full stop, and he wants Terry’s daughter Belle Barton by his side.As the feud caused by Harlan spirals out of control it is left to Belle to pick up the pieces. Is she strong enough to take on Harlan Stone? And has she got what it takes to rule the manor . . .Trade ReviewSwift-moving intrigue * Woman & Home *Perfect for fans of Martina Cole and Lynda La Plante * Glamour *Another brilliant gangland thriller * Bella Magazine *
£13.49
Pan Macmillan Give Me Your Hand
Book Synopsis'Megan Abbott at her very best. Cool, crisp, chilling.' Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the TrainKit has risen to the top of her profession. She's on the brink of achieving everything she wanted, but someone is standing in her way - Diane. Diane made Kit who she is today, lit the ambition that's driven her – and now she knows something that could burn Kit's world to the ground.But Diane has a secret of her own, and Kit hasn't forgotten. She remembers the worst thing Diane ever did, and how it blew their friendship apart. Diane is beginning to think that Kit is just like her. Maybe she's right.Ambition: It's in the blood . . . Give Me Your Hand is a blistering thriller from Megan Abbott.Trade ReviewBeautifully written and unbearably tense, this is a standout study of ambition, rivalry and fear. * Guardian *Megan Abbott is one of the smartest storytellers around and her thought-provoking ideas lift her books to another level. * Daily Mail *[A] searing, fierce novel of female friendship and ambition. * Observer *[Give Me Your Hand] should cement [Abbott's] position as one of the most intelligent and daring novelists working in the crime genre today. -- Ruth Ware * New York Times Book Review *Megan Abbott at her very best. Cool, crisp, chilling. -- Paula HawkinsSO. GOOD. A tense, pitch-perfect thriller about ambition and female friendship and a forensic examination of what it takes for women to rise through male-dominated spaces. It felt in places like a dark inversion of The Secret History. -- Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She SaidGive Me Your Hand is sublime. -- Laura Lippman, author of Life Sentences What THESE black shadows under my eyes? Why they're courtesy of Give Me Your Hand. SO UNBEARABLY TENSE. -- Tammy Cohen, author of When She Was Bad A psychological thriller about women in science, twisted female relationships and toxic secrets, Give Me Your Hand is just irresistible. I devoured it with escalating discomfort. Abbott’s writing is elegant, her themes expansive and her research utterly convincing. An addictive, unsettling and distinctive read - I loved it! -- Lucy Atkins, author of The Other ChildDark, daring and smart, this psychological thriller is ragingly good. * Psychologies *Give Me Your Hand is dark, unsettling, brilliantly tense, and I raced through it without pausing for breath. -- Paula Daly, author of The Mistake I MadeMegan's writing is masterful, suspenseful and believable . . . The suspense does not let up – I was gripped from the first page. -- Debbie HowellsGive Me Your Hand is dark, smart, twisty, and thoroughly addictive. -- Tom Perrotta, author of Little ChildrenWhile Megan Abbott's magnetic new novel mines themes of ambition, competition, excellence, and friendship, what perhaps struck me the most was its exploration of the long, undeterrable reach of memory. Give Me Your Hand is darkly effective, uneasy-making, and beautifully, absorbingly written. -- Meg Wolitzer, author of The InterestingsI adore Megan Abbott and devoured this new one in one sitting! -- Bookriot.comAbbot writes female characters who are smart and complex and capable of very bad things . . . I read it with my shoulders scrunched . . . genuinely awestruck by every twist and turn . . . It’s bloody horrifying and absorbing and so very good. * Marie Claire *I loved this book-for its cleverness and fast pacing. I was compelled to read quickly, the plot construction was brilliant, the characters sharply drawn. -- Jane Shemilt, author of DaughterAbbott deliciously draws out tension . . . a baroque thriller. * Washington Post *Megan Abbott proves she’s still the queen of uncovering the dark complexity of the female psyche . . . It uses all the strengths she’s known for and gives them more room to develop. * Los Angeles Review of Books *[A] fiery new novel . . . Even if you have committed no crimes and harbor no weighty secrets, this book will leave you nauseous with the memories of your own manic, pulsing teenage nature, the emotions you barely kept in check and the ones that overflowed. * Slate *Abbott is expert at the twists and turns of a good thrillers, and a long the way she's brilliant at examining complex mindsets, the subconscious drives of her main characters . . . Sublime stuff. * Big Issue *
£8.54
Pan Macmillan The Shepherd's Hut
Book SynopsisFierce and lyrical, The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton is a story of survival, solitude and unlikely friendship. Most of all it is about what it takes to keep hope alive in a parched and brutal world.For years Jaxie Clackton has dreaded going home. His beloved mum is dead, and he wishes his dad was too, until one terrible moment leaves his life stripped to nothing. No one ever told Jaxie Clackton to be careful what he wishes for.And so Jaxie runs. There’s just one person in the world who understands him, but to reach her he’ll have to cross the vast saltlands of Western Australia. It is a place that harbours criminals and threatens to kill those who haven't reckoned with its hot, waterless vastness. This is a journey only a dreamer – or a fugitive – would attempt.'A page-turning heartbreaker' – Emma Donoghue, author of Room.Trade ReviewIt may be that this is his best book yet . . . triumphantly good . . . blisteringly original * The Times *A page-turning heartbreaker -- Emma Donoghue, author of RoomOutstanding . . . compulsively suspenseful . . . dazzlingly good -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *Exhilarating, compelling . . . elegiac, transcendent * Guardian *Wonderful. Brutal, agonizing, tender -- Sarah Winman, author of When God Was a Rabbit and Tin ManRaw, brutal and merciless . . . Holden Caulfield, you have been eclipsed * Spectator *Remarkable . . . astonishing . . . extraordinary . . . Winton has written a novel which - and I can have no higher praise - I wish to re-read . . . it is clever, canny and complex * Scotland on Sunday *Winton’s novel is layered, lyrical and intense . . . unforgettable . . . heartstopping * Mail on Sunday *A transfixing performance -- Philip Hensher, Books of the Year, SpectatorLayered, lyrical and thrilling * Daily Mail *A master novelist at the very peak of their craft. Full of heart and life and beauty -- Evie Wyld, author of All The Birds, SingingA novel that reminds us what fiction can do. Here is a voice that digs into your viscera and changes you from the inside -- Ross Raisin, author of God's Own CountrySearing, ardent and deeply empathetic . . . Jaxie Clackton, plangent and profane, is destined to become one of the greatest characters in Australian literature -- Geraldine Brooks, author of Year of WondersSuperb. It's rare to feel fury and hope on the surface of the skin at the same time, and more rare to find that convincing in a story -- Cynan Jones, author of CoveA fierce, pungent, slangy, humdinger of a book, with a real kick in the tail. Fiction doesn't get much better than this -- Rupert Thomson, author of Divided KingdomLandscape and destiny are inextricable in Tim Winton’s latest novel, and the result is a gritty realism that ultimately propels the story into the timelessness of a parable. All that I love about Winton’s work is here: the poetry of the colloquial, fully realized characters, and the fearlessness to enter the deepest mysteries of being. The Shepherd’s Hut is a brilliant reminder that Winton is one of the world’s great living novelists. -- Ron Rash, author of SerenaWinton is, as always, a superb painter of Australian space. He takes this drear landscape and invests it with what can only be described as majesty . . . Winton's achievement in these pages is of a piece with his larger fictional project. He seeks to re-enchant the world, and to provide, via the essentially sceptical machinery of literature, a sense of secular communion. A novel is not a church, and Winton is not a preacher. But he is a voice of sanity and his art is tuned to the possibility of care, even grace * Australian *Tim Winton’s Jaxie Clackton brings to mind the voices of other great survivors in literature, such as Huckleberry Finn and Oliver Twist, who struggle against impossible odds with pluck, common sense, and a refreshingly keen command of the vernacular. Once you start reading this book, you won’t want to put it down. A powerful, most compelling story -- Brad Watson, author of Miss JaneA richly compassionate work, deeply informed by Winton’s poetic genius -- Alex Miller, author of Journey to the Stone Country Shot through with the breathtaking evocation of landscape that is Winton’s forte, The Shepherd’s Hut is a hymn to the wild forces of nature and unsentimental belonging. Winton’s enviable ability to elicit passion for Jaxie through his immaculate, poetic and troubled rush of vernacular—no matter how terrible Jaxie’s actions—is broken, beautiful and ugly in all the best ways. -- Ray Robinson, author of ElectricityA masterpiece from a masterful storyteller. We have not seen many people like Jaxie in Australian literature. When reading this book I wondered if Winton had actually found someone like Jaxie and had simply recorded him telling his incredible story. This is the magic of this book. The voice is so authentic and the language of this young character rings true to the people I have met throughout my life. I will not forget this book -- Alexis Wright, author of Carpentaria Describes the chaotic struggle of new masculinity better than anything else I’ve read. As an exploration of the intergenerational trauma that plagues men, it couldn’t be more timely. Seriously, it’s incredible -- Ben QuiltyA voice that shaves to the bone and then keeps going. Wonderful. -- Alan McMonagle, author of IthacaA tour de force . . . what makes this lonely romp so technically impressive is that Winton manages to maintain the tension, while Jaxie's musings are punctuated with flashes of demotic poetry . . . The book's conclusion, looping back to its opening, is beautifully poised. 'Change is slow and hope is violent' reads the epigraph to The Shepherd's Hut. It certainly turns out to be so in this novel. But there is hope none the less, not just for Jaxie but for some kind of understanding and empathy across generations, and for that Winton makes us very grateful. * Literary Review *Exploring ideas of masculinity, exile and hope, The Shepherd's Hut is a wise and compassionate novel, demonstrating Winton’s deep engagement with issues of moral complexity * Observer *A distinctly Down Under story by this most Australian writer . . . Winton still remains in Western Australia, where he was born, and that long experience with the place and the language is baked deep into his prose . . . here’s survivalist fiction at its rawest from a novelist who sometimes sounds as bleak as our own Cormac McCarthy . . . But this tale of tooth and claw is deepened by Jaxie’s abiding dignity. Fear of capture isn’t really pushing him across these hundreds of miles so much as his determination to reach a young woman he loves -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *Clackton is an absolutely wonderful creation, with . . . a voice as hardscrabble and jagged as the bush itself . . . an uncompromising novel that’s as tender as it is savage * Daily Mail *A modern Australian Huckleberry Finn, in which a desperate teenager embarks on a gruelling trek. * The Times, The 100 best books to read this summer *In language so tangy it feels almost edible, Winton tells the story of young Jaxie Clackton, on the run across Australia, who finds an all-too-brief salvation in a short-lived friendship with a reclusive priest. Cosmic themes intermingle with an old-fashioned adventure yarn, delivered in prose of the highest order. * Daily Mail *Tense, compassionate and profound . . . the language of Tim Winton's mesmerizing new novel is double-distilled: Fintan speaks a honeyed melody while Jaxie's is craw-bunged, staccato, gleefully sprung with beauty and vitality . . . The Shepherd's Hut is a story of seeing and being seen, of sight and insight. -- Jay Griffiths * Times Literary Supplement *A sense of place dominates The Shepherd’s Hut . . . Winton’s descriptive energy makes its topography seem not exotic and other, but vividly present. The novel builds like a thriller, or more precisely like an Australian western . . . reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road . . . a parable of the rites of passage from boyhood to manhood conducted in the implacable hinterland of the Australian interior . . . The Shepherd’s Hut is the equivalent of land art. -- Ludovic Hunter-Tilney * FT Weekend *As in all of Winton's work - there is a profound note of spirituality running throughout this book. In Australian writing, the most appropriate comparison is perhaps with Voss, Patrick White's great novel of spiritual hunger and desolation . . . Winton has created two models of masculinity in The Shepherd's Hut. The one is brutal and to all intents and purposes incoherent; it uses fist and belt to express rage; and it has the backing of society into the bargain. But Jaxie himself is a poet of sorts, in spite of his taciturn ways: his idiom is lyrical; and his life is a search for a different expression of how a man might live -- Neil Hegarty * Irish Times *Think The Catcher in the Rye, The Color Purple, Portnoy’s Complaint, Jane Eyre, or Lolita. The Shepherd’s Hut….belongs to that group of novels remarkable for their narrator’s voice….Winton’s prose – and storyline – is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s. His nimble sentences wield an irresistible power that seems like literary legerdemain. Jaxie’s peripatetic tale is harrowing, though humorous in places, and a coming of age saga like no other….the slow burn of the opening chapters changes to a high-octane thriller….is as powerful as anything he has ever written….Young Jaxie Clackton – you’ll want to follow him anywhere, even into the burning hell of his self-imposed expatriation. -- Corey Mesler * The Memphis Flyer *Winton’s story is worthy of a Peckinpah film – and splendidly written, if disturbing to the core. * Kirkus *The Shepherd’s Hut is a thrilling and thought-provoking novel, rooted in both the internal and physical worlds, in the perils of the present and the weight of history, in questions of identity, faith and nature. While at times shockingly violent, and frequently ugly, it also contains, at its heart, a sense of hope, of grace. -- Robert Wiersema * Toronto Star *A fast-paced noir-ish outback crime thriller by a writer who in the reading of his fiction seems capable of anything….he writes with extraordinary pace and economy as well as an acute ear for the Australian vernacular….The Shepherd’s Hut moves with a kinetic garishness akin to a Mad Max film and is the compelling work of a novelist who has mastered his craft. * Irish Independent *Winton thrusts the reader into the barren and unforgiving salt land in Western Australia. With the author’s intimate knowledge of the harsh landscape, it serves as a catalyst for action. Jaxie’s distinctive, gritty language renders his story visceral, and an absolute thrill to read. -- Michael Ruzicka * Booklist *He has carved a voice that is uniquely Australian, finding poetry and an austere beauty in local vernacular and landscape….A fable about acceptance and forgiveness, teenager Jaxie Clackton is a victim of domestic violence in a desperate quest that mirrors both “Huckleberry Finn” and the knights from the tales of King Arthur, he must overcome physical deprivation to reach the girl he loves. Along the way, he finds a different intimacy: friendship with exiled Irish priest Fintan MacGillis who lives in a shepherd’s hut with only the kangaroos for company. -- Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore * The New York Times *Winton’s novel is alive with pain and suffering, but it is also full of moments of grace and small acts of kindness. Gorgeously written and taut with eloquent, edge suspense, Jaxie’s journey is a portrait of young manhood amidst extreme conditions, both inward and outward. * Publishers Weekly *Winton wraps up his tale with some heightened tension and visceral thrills. Far more gripping, though, is Jaxie’s full-bodied narrative voice, which is the driving force of the novel….Winton is a master ventriloquist of Australian vernacular….Jaxie is a captivating hero….Winton has triumphed again. This is a terrifying, electrifying novel charged by a singular voice and expert storytelling. -- Malcom Forbes * Star Tribune *It is so powered by elemental forces, by a kind of wild poetry, that it soars into the literary stratosphere and into the human heart as if it were itself an arrow of light….the author introduces a plot twist so terrifying the book should have come with a warning….And in Jaxie Clackton, Winton seems to have reached deep into the landscape to breathe life into a character who is timeless as he is timely….The Shepherd’s Hut assails the senses. -- Bron Sibree * South China Morning Post *Jaxie tells the story in a laconic, unshockable voice that is varied by some remembered dialogue. The novel is an Antipodean Huckleberry Finn…its narrative makes The Shepherd’s Hut a powerful experience. -- Brenda Niall * Australian Book Review *This novel charms with its intense evocation of one of the most landlocked stretches of WA….Winton sets one of his most moving and memorable explorations of father/son relationships in the interaction between a teenage Jaxie Clackton and an elderly Irish priest….In a lifetime of fine literary achievements The Shepherd’s Hut is likely to be recognized as one of Winton’s deepest and most memorable. -- Katherine England * The Advertiser *It is a story of redemption, but one in which the author and his characters stare unblinkingly at the human animal – redeemed not in spite of its animality but through it….this is a very beautiful novel -- Richard King * The Monthly *Austere, beautiful and compelling. It has a subtle moral clarity that stands out even in a career that has relentlessly searched for the gold hidden in human rubble….After three readings it is still yielding the riches of its unblinking vision of hope, a vision that will renew readers for generations to come. -- Michael McGirr * The Age, The Canberra Times *Jaxie is destined to be a new Aussie literary hero. Tim Winton is a modern-day master; he seems to be able to produce gem after gem that remain in the reader’s consciousness long after the last page. -- Scot Whitmont * Books + Publishing *The Shepherd's Hut has a grittiness that fills your mouth, eyes and nostrils. This reviewer devoured it mostly in one sitting, but the story lingers on. If only for a bit longer with Jaxie. Verdict: A masterstroke. -- Shelley Hadfield * Herald Sun *Winton’s achievement in these pages is a piece with his larger fictional project. He seeks to re-enchant the world, and to provide, via the essentially sceptical machinery of literature, a sense of secular communion. -- Geordie Williamson * Weekend Australian Review *Tim Winton really is one of Australian literature’s great tenebrists, a master of forced intensities of light and shadow and a connoisseur of images that linger in the mind like obscure portents. -- JR * The Saturday Paper *There are no wasted words and there’s no literary meandering on the way to “the point”. This is freestyle, no-crash-helmet prose -- Paul Robinson * Qantas *Quite why this chewy slab of literary fiction didn’t make the Man Booker long list is a mystery . . . A visceral meditation on faith, salvation and guilt, delivered with the hard-boiled brio of a western * Metro *Compelling and moving * New Statesman *
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Double Kiss
Book SynopsisDouble Kiss is the fast-paced, thrilling sequel to Framed, by snooker champion Ronnie O’SullivanThe race is on. The stakes are high.Frankie James thought his troubles were behind him. He’s busy running his Soho Club, and his brother’s finally out of prison. But when a postcard arrives from Mallorca, he’s stopped in his tracks . . . Is it from his mother – the woman who’s been missing for eight years?When the goddaughter of London’s fiercest gangster, Tommy Riley, goes missing in Ibiza, Tommy knows there’s one man for the job – Frankie James. Just when Frankie was on the straight and narrow, he’s now faced with an impossible choice. If he agrees to help find Tanya, he’ll be thrown into a world of danger. If he doesn’t, Tommy could destroy him.For Frankie James, old habits die hard. One thing’s for sure, playing with this gang is no game. But with everything at stake, how can Frankie say no?Trade ReviewLike O’Sullivan playing at his best, the book is tight, pacey and keeps you guessing. * The Big Issue (Framed) *Ronnie's first crime novel draws on his early years . . . a world of gangsters and bent coppers which he writes about with uncomfortable authenticity. * Choice (Framed) *Packed with intrigue, action, brutal villains and a beguiling hero, this is a cracking first novel delivered with all the sidespin and clever swerves one would expect from the king of the trick shots! * Lancashire Evening Post (Framed) *Running is a chaotic race through O'Sullivan's life, but this does little to dethrone him as the people's champion - it simply adds further to his legend. * Press Association on Running *
£11.07
Pan Macmillan Amnesty
Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling, Booker Prize-winning author of The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga, comes the story of an undocumented immigrant who becomes the only witness to a crime and must face an impossible moral dilemma.'Alive with empathy, indignation and the sharp satiric reportage at which Aravind Adiga excels, this novel grippingly extends his concern for deprivation and injustice.' - Sunday Times 'Books of the Year'Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin AwardDanny – formerly Dhananjaya Rajaratnam – is an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. Denied refugee status, working as a cleaner and living out of a grocery storeroom in Sydney, for four years he has been trying to create a new identity for himself, finally coming as close as he ever has to living a normal life.One morning, Danny learns that his client Radha Thomas has been murdered. A jacket was left at the scene, which he believes belongs to another client, a doctor with whom Radha was having an affair. Suddenly Danny is confronted with a choice: Come forward as a witness and risk being deported? Or say nothing, and let justice go undone? Over the course of a single ordinary, yet extraordinary day, he must wrestle with his conscience and decide if a person without rights nevertheless has responsibilities . . .Suspenseful, propulsive, and full of Aravind Adiga’s signature wit and magic, Amnesty is both a timeless moral struggle and a universal story with particular urgency today.'[Adiga] is a startlingly fine observer . . . You come to this novel for its author's authority, wit and feeling on the subject of immigrants' lives.' - New York TimesTrade ReviewThe kind of sharp social anthropology at which Adiga excels . . . Brimming with empathy as well as indignation, this novel . . . extends Adiga’s fictional concern with deprivation and injustice. * Sunday Times *What makes Amnesty an urgent and significant book is the generosity and the humanity of its vision . . . Amnesty is an ample book, pertinent and necessary. It speaks to our times. -- Juan Gabriel Vásquez * New York Times *A mesmerising, breakneck quest of a novel; a search for the true sense of self, for the answer to a moral dilemma which damns either way. -- Andrew McMillan[Adiga] has more to say than most novelists, and about 50 more ways to say it . . . Adiga is a startlingly fine observer, and a complicator, in the manner of V.S. Naipaul . . . This novel has a simmering plot . . . You come to this novel for . . . its author’s authority, wit and feeling on the subject of immigrants’ lives. -- Dwight Garner * New York Times *Adiga is one of the great observers of power and its deformities, showing in novels like his Booker Prize winning White Tiger and Last Man in Tower how within societies, the powerful lean on the less powerful, and the weak exploit the weaker all the way down. Telling the tale of Danny’s immigration along the story of one tense day, he has built a forceful, urgent thriller for our times. -- John Freeman * Lit Hub *A forceful, urgent thriller for our times * Lit Hub *Danny's voice, in its sheer everyday ordinariness, will stay with you a long time. * Daily Mail *Scrutinizes the human condition through a haves-vs.-have-not filter with sly wit and narrative ingenuity . . . Adiga's smart, funny, and timely tale with a crime spin of an undocumented immigrant will catalyze readers. * Booklist *Engrossing . . . vivid . . . Adiga’s enthralling depiction of one immigrant’s tough situation humanizes a complex and controversial global dilemma. * Publishers Weekly *A taut, thrillerlike novel . . . A well-crafted tale of entrapment, alert to the risk of exploitation that follows immigrants in a new country. * Kirkus, starred review *
£9.49
