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
Quercus Publishing Expiration Dates
Book SynopsisThe breathtaking new novel from New York Times bestseller Rebecca Serle
£9.49
Quercus Publishing Water Baby
Book SynopsisA beautiful coming-of-age story based on the real settlement of Makoko in Nigeria. Perfect for readers of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
£9.49
Quercus Publishing A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author of Seven Days in June, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is an epic love story one hundred years in the making.
£9.49
Quercus Publishing Float Up Sing Down
Book SynopsisFrom National Book Award finalist Laird Hunt, a masterful collection of interwoven stories capturing one summer's day in Reagan-era Indiana.
£9.49
Quercus Publishing Life Hacks For a Little Alien
Book SynopsisTender, life-affirming and full of humour, Life Hacks for a Little Alien is the story of a young girl growing up in the nineties and noughties, trying to navigate a world that makes her feel like she's from another planet. It's about the wonder of libraries, the power of language and finding a path that fits when you yourself do not.
£15.29
Quercus Publishing The Saffron Trail
Book SynopsisAn escapist summer read of long-lost family secrets and hidden histories, from the bestselling author of The Villa
£9.49
Random House What Will Survive of Us
Book SynopsisHoward Jacobson has written seventeen novels and six works of non-fiction. He won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award in 2000 for The Mighty Walzer and then again in 2013 for Zoo Time. In 2010 he won the Man Booker Prize for The Finkler Question; he was also shortlisted for the prize in 2014 for J.
£10.44
Zando Woodworking
Book SynopsisBig-hearted and hilarious, an ode to authenticity and a must-read in our current times. Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright CreaturesAn unforgettable and heartwarming book-club debut following a trans high school teacher from a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other trans woman she knows: one of her students. Erica Skyberg is thirty-five years old, recently divorcedand trans. Not that she's told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn't exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit. Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High's resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It's a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She's also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertaintyand lonelinessthat comes with it. Besides, Erica isn't the only one struggling to shed the weight of others' expectations. As their unlikely friendship evolves, it comes under the scrutiny of their community. And soon, both womenand those closest to themare forced to ask: Who are we if we choose to hide ourselves? What happens once we disappear into the woodwork? Detransition Baby meets Fleishman is in Trouble in this remarkable debut novel from an incisive contemporary voice. A story about the awkwardness of growing up and the greatest love story of all, that between us and our friends, Woodworking is a tonic for the moment and a celebration of womanhood in all its multifaceted joy.
£18.99
Soho Press The Audacity
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Deep Vellum Publishing Tetra Nova
Book SynopsisTetra Nova tells the story of Lua Mater, an obscure Roman goddess who re-imagines herself as an assassin coming to terms with an emerging performance artist identity in the late-20th century. The operatic text begins in Saigon, where she meets a little girl named Emi, an American of Vietnamese-Japanese descent visiting her mother’s country for the first time since the war’s end. As the voices of Lua and Emi blend into one dissociated narration, the stories accelerate out of sequence, mapping upon the globe a series of collective memories and traumas passed from one generation to the next. Darting between the temples of Nagasaki, the mountains of Tucson, and an island refugee camp off the coast of Malaysia, Lua and Emi in one embodied memory travel across the English language itself to make sense of a history neither wanted. When a tiny Panda named Panda suddenly arrives, fate intervenes, and the work acts as a larger historical document, unpacking legacies of genocide and the radical modes of resistance that follow. At the heart of this production lies a postcolonial identity in exile, and the performers must come to terms with who may or may not carry their stories forward: Emi or Lua. Part dreamscape, part investigative poetics, multiple fragmenting identities traverse across time and space, the mythic and the profane, toward an understanding of humanity beyond those temple chamber doors.
£13.29
Amazon Publishing The Mulligan Curse
Book SynopsisFrom the author of All We Could Still Have comes a charming tale about one woman who embraces a family curse, laying bare the dreams we give up—and the chances we take to get them back.Mary Mulligan has two problems: her wisdom teeth…and everything else. Her only daughter is moving overseas. Her husband would rather go golfing than spend time with her. And Mary’s left to wonder why she abandoned her career ambitions when loneliness is all she has to show for it.Plus her teeth really, really hurt.But that’s one problem she can fix—never mind the stories that say if she gets her wisdom teeth removed, the last thirty years of her life will be erased. In fact, Mary wouldn’t mind if the Mulligan curse were actually true.Turns out, it is.The world around her hasn’t changed, but Mary is suddenly twenty-four again, with the life she once dreamed of still ahead of her. As she embarks on this new beginning, Mary comes to realize that those dreams aren’t nearly as important as everything she once had. If only she knew how to get it all back.
£8.54
Amazon Publishing Best Friends for Never
Book SynopsisThe movie star and the small-town girl he left behind. They have a lot of catching up to do in an emotional and rousing romantic comedy about fame, second chances, and making dreams come true.Parker Pruitt?s dream is to restore her small town?s long-shuttered theater?one to be named in honor of Noel Carter, the boy who followed his dream from Emerald Grove, Washington, to Hollywood?and broke Parker?s heart. Now he?s back to attend the kickoff ceremony, and for Parker, that means smiling through a swell of mixed emotions at seeing her former best friend for the first time in a decade.Noel may be one of the hottest actors in the world, but he?s still touched by the tribute. And a little nervous about seeing Parker again. But when his weekend jaunt extends into a six-week stay, long-repressed memories and feelings come rushing back. As the simmering attraction between them builds, Noel is determined not to ruin this second chance even if his return to LA is hanging over them.They?re making the best of the time they have left, but is there any chance of a Hollywood ending?
£12.74
Amazon Publishing The Rules of Fortune
Book SynopsisA gripping novel about power, money, and secrets. Mindy KalingA daughter's investigation into her family history threatens to destroy their legacy in a gripping novel about power, money, and secrets by the author of Token Black Girl. On their Martha's Vineyard estate, the Carter family prepares to celebrate. But when the billionaire patriarch dies right before his seventieth birthday, the media is quick to question the future of the multi-industry conglomerate that makes the Carters living legends. Amid the succession crisis, his daughter, Kennedy, is questioning her father's past. Kennedy is an aspiring filmmaker, and the documentary she'd planned to present at her father's party begins an inquest into the life of a man she never really knew. A thoughtful outlier in an elite and fiercely guarded dynasty, she's not interested in keeping up the appearances that define her impeccably poised mother or in the capitalist games her ruthless brother plays. Kennedy wants only to understand the origins of their empire, and the lethally ambitious man behind it. That understanding comes at a cost. As a twisted history emerges, the fault lines in the family grow. Torn between morality and the promise of maintaining wealth, Kennedy must decide what's most importantthe Carter legacy or exposing the shocking truth of how it was built.
£16.99
Amazon Publishing Theres Something About Mira
Book SynopsisFrom USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes the heartfelt story of a woman determined to reunite a lost ring with its owner, who ends up finding herself along the way.Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn’t a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone.While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira does: journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story.As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life. She had to have found this ring for a reason…right? Maybe, like the owner of the lost ring, her happy ending hasn’t been written yet either.
£16.99
Amazon Publishing Sweet Escape
Book SynopsisA free-spirited singer falls for her best friend’s brother—and discovers her muse—in a heartfelt novel about finding love in unexpected places by Jillian Liota and #1 New York Times bestselling author Meredith Wild.After a heartbreaking betrayal, singer-songwriter Vivian Walsh needs a getaway. Her best friend Murphy’s family vineyard is the perfect refuge to focus on her new album, free from unnecessary distractions—like men. Few are more tempting than Murphy’s workaholic brother, Memphis. He’s infuriatingly handsome, and Vivian can’t resist teasing him whenever she gets the chance.Memphis has a lot on his plate with his struggling family business. The last thing he needs in his life is a spitfire like Vivian. They have nothing in common but the heat between them. The good news is that neither of them are looking for a relationship. Just release from the pressure. One no-strings night with Vivian couldn’t hurt. Or two. Or three. Maybe a distraction is exactly what they need.When Vivian’s life back in LA comes calling, both realize their feelings might have grown far more than they planned. They will have to decide: Is it time to say goodbye? Or can their sweet escape turn into their forever?
£8.54
Hermits United Goddess of the Void
Book SynopsisIn this dreamlike novella, in the bewitching melancholy of nocturnal India, an art dealer pursues the goddess of the void. La Deesse du vide was first published in Rue du Regard (P.O.L editeur, 2012). The present publication is a bilingual edition, comprising a new translation in English and a revised version in French.
£10.44
CB Editions Mrs Calder and the Hyena
Book SynopsisThe second collection of short stories by an acclaimed writer who is now in her late nineties.
£10.44
Les Fugitives Gloss
Book SynopsisAri, Eleni and Hesper meet one summer at Golden Apples Farm in rural California, where the charismatic Lee, an apple farmer and cook, runs an alternative therapy programme for young women suffering from eating disorders. A year later, they reunite to testify at his trial.
£11.69
Ultimo Press The Paris Cooking School
Book SynopsisThe Australian Women's WeeklyGreat Read there is a freshness and vivacity to this cooking school novel that is utterly beguiling.' The Australian Women's Weekly Life rarely serves up the perfect dish, but second chances are always on the menu . . . There's nothing quite so beautiful as Paris in the spring; and when you add in the chance to learn the French way of food, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, who can resist? Not Gabi Picabea or Kate Evans who have come from Australia to Sylvie Morel's Paris Cooking School. Both are at a crossroads, and learning to cook the French way in Paris, far away from all their troubles, seems like the perfect escape. Still bruised from a shocking betrayal by her ex-husband, Kate is trying to find a new place for herself in life, and emotional peace, while FrenchAustralian artist Gabi is struggling with a crippling creative block. Meanwhile, Sylvie is facing challenges of her own a mysterious harassment campaign against the school and a reassessment of her relationship with her commitment-shy lover, Claude. For each of the women, that extraordinary April in Paris will bring unexpected twists and transformations that will change the course of their lives. A delectable novel about love, hope and the consolations of the perfect strawberry tart, The Paris Cooking School is a treat for the soul. Praise for The Paris Cooking School A delicious read.'New Idea
£8.54
Pushkin Press Miss Iceland
Book SynopsisNamed after one of Iceland's most magnificent volcanoes, Hekla always knew she wanted to be a writer. In a nation of poets, where each household proudly displays leatherbound volumes of the Sagas, and there are more writers per capita than anywhere else in the world, there is only one problem: she is a woman. She decides to try her luck in Reykjavik, and moves in with her friend Jon, a gay man who longs to work in the theatre, but can only find dangerous, backbreaking work on fishing trawlers. Hekla's opportunities are equally limited: marriage and babies, or a job as a waitress, in which harassment from customers is part of the daily grind. They both feel completely out of place in a small and conservative world. And yet that world is changing: JFK is shot, hemlines are rising, and in Iceland another volcano erupts, and Hekla knows she must escape to find freedom abroad, whatever must be left behind.
£9.49
Pushkin Press The Trials of Lila Dalton
Book SynopsisAn inventive and ambitious speculative courtroom thriller - Shutter Island meets The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
£9.49
Granta Books The Lodgers
Book SynopsisA burlesque, dark comedy about lodgings, lovers, and mother-daughter bonds that falter across time and tenancies.
£9.49
LEGARE STREET PR The War in Hungary 18481849 Tr. by J.E. Taylor
Book Synopsis
£26.55
Blurb, Inc. Editorial Wild Oats Esprios Classics
Book Synopsis
£13.16
Pan Macmillan They Dream In Gold
Book SynopsisMai Sennaar is a writer, playwright and filmmaker. She lives between Baltimore and Dakar, and she speaks French and Wolof. They Dream in Gold is her debut novel.
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Fair Play
Book SynopsisLouise Hegarty's stories have appeared in Banshee, The Tangerine, The Stinging Fly and The Dublin Review and have been featured on BBC Radio 4. She was the inaugural winner of the Sunday Business Post/Penguin Ireland Short Story Prize and her story Now, Voyager' was produced as part of A City and A Garden, a new state-of-the-art sonic experience commissioned by Sounds from a Safe Harbour in association with Body & Soul and presented as part of Brightening Air Coiscéim Coiligh. Fair Play is her debut novel.
£15.29
Pan Macmillan A Beautiful Family
Book SynopsisWith a background in photography and children's publishing, Jennifer is now a full-time writer living in Wellington, New Zealand, with her husband, son, daughter, dog and cat. When not at her writing desk, Jennifer can usually be found in the garden. A Beautiful Family is her debut novel
£15.29
Pan Macmillan The Paris Express
Book SynopsisBorn in Dublin in 1969, and now living in Canada, Emma Donoghue writes fiction (novels and short stories, contemporary and historical), as well as drama for screen and stage. Room was shortlisted for the Booker, Commonwealth and Orange Prizes, selling nearly three million copies in forty languages. Donoghue was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film adaptation starring Brie Larson. She also co-wrote the screenplay for the film of her novel The Wonder, starring Florence Pugh, and adapted The Pull of the Stars for the stage.
£17.09
Headline Publishing Group Now or Never
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group Secrets and Lies
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group Secrets of the Toffee Factory Girls
Book SynopsisA compelling new saga filled with romance, drama and tragedy, ideal for lovers of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin!
£7.59
Headline Publishing Group The Listeners
Book Synopsis
£17.00
Headline Publishing Group The Secrets of Maidens Cove
Book SynopsisOne from the land. One from the sea. Summer soul sisters, forever we shall be. ''An enchanting and emotional story, full of magic and hope'' - KATE STOREY????? ''A delightful read''????? ''Get lost in the magic of what ifs, second chances, and summer on the water''????? ''Emotional journey of forgiveness, love and second chances''????? ''The most glorious novel''Once upon a time, a girl called out to the sea, and the sea answered back... Welcome to a magical seaside village in Chesapeake Bay, where the ocean glitters and glows as it calls friends and family home.Grace Cleary is finally home. When Grace inherits her late father''s restaurant in her enchanting childhood hometown of Maiden''s Cove - a magical Cove where rumours of mermaids abound - it seems like the perfect escape for her and her daughter from her controlling husband. Isla was said to be a mermaid. But to Grace, Isla was her best friend, until one Summer by the sea fifteen years ago tore them apart. When Grace finally calls out to the sea once more, Isla is drawn back to Maiden''s Cove, where forgiveness and peace might just be found.The Secrets of Maiden''s Cove asks us what it means to have a home, as midnight swims, reunited friends, and a reawakened love await Grace as she fights to revive her family restaurant and forge a new life for herself and her daughter.''This is a warm, glowing summer night of a book; a book that makes you feel like you''re floating in the vast starlit ocean while falling in love; a book as delicious and satisfying as the food in its pages'' - JEFF ZETNER? seaside town escapism? delicious food that brings people together? healing relationships? myths and legends and mermaid town lore? fun fishing festivalsThe next magical escapist read from No. 1 bestselling author Erin Palmisano is full of heart and hope, and a tinge of magic. Readers adore Erin''s novels:''Beautiful, magical, and enchanting'' ?????''A stunning story all about the magic of female friendship, and finding your way in life'' ?????''An absolute feast of a novel'' ?????''Palmisano must have some magic herself because this book was written so beautifully, capturing locale, food, and emotions perfectly'' ?????''Warm, easy, and delightful'' ?????
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group The Heirloom
Book Synopsis''A fabulous family legacy tale'' Peterborough TelegraphA surprise inheritance. A hidden past.Brisbane, 2024 Barista and budding artist Mia Curtis is shocked to receive a package all the way from England informing her she''s the heir to her late grandmother''s cottage. Feeling lost in her own life, Mia travels across the world to claim her inheritance, where she begins to unravel the secrets passed down through the generations of women in her family.Sussex, 1821 Philadelphia Boadle wakes to find her husband, the tailor Jasper Boadle, dead. As the daughter of the local cunning woman, Philadelphia is soon accused of murder by witchcraft. Her future and that of her own daughter is at stake, unless she can convince the village she''s done no wrong...Acclaim for Julie Brooks: ''A sweeping tale of family secrets, betrayal, jealousy, ambition and forbidden romance . . . Fans of The Thorn Birds and Downton Abbey will love the epic scope of this novel'' ALI MERCER ''I thoroughly enjoyed this immersive story . . . and I can pay it no greater compliment other than to say, I wish I''d written it'' KATHRYN HUGHES
£10.44
Headline Publishing Group One Year Ago in Spain
Book Synopsis''An utterly romantic story about second chances and the power of love. Every romance reader will adore this novel!'' Ali Hazelwood''A sumptuous love story full of what-ifs and second chances'' Julie Soto''Effervescent and romantic, a novel that gives hope and credence to the concept of ''ever after'' Tif Marcelo''Sparkling with wit and humor, One Year Ago in Spain is the perfect combination of charm and depth. Skye draws you in and keeps you reading until the very last word'' Addie Woolridge''One Year Ago in Spain is a feast for the hopeless romantic. Evelyn Skye''s beautiful storytelling reaches for your heart and captures your soul. Sweeping, smart, and utterly magical'' Dana ElmendorfA woman must woo her lover''s soul back into his body to wake him from a coma - or risk losing him forever - in this moving novel from the author of The Hundred Loves of Juliet.......................Claire Walker has her life in perfect order. Yet the one thing she is missing is a perfect love to complete it, until fate pushes Spanish artist Matías de León into her path. Matías is free-spirited and creative, chaos to her order. She falls for him, hard - and he for her. A year later, however, Claire begins to question how they can possibly work long-term when they''re so different. Might it be best to end it before they are in too deep? Then tragedy strikes while Matías is visiting family, leaving him gravely wounded in a Madrid hospital. Claire drops everything to race to his side, and finds she is the only one who can see and talk to Matías''s soul, detached from his comatose body. But that soul has no memories of his year in New York, of her, or of their relationship. In order to lure Matías back to his body, Claire will have to convince him to fall in love with her all over again. But can the same magic that brought them together once do so again?
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group Trump The Prison Diaries
Book SynopsisIn this explosive first-person account of swapping the White House for the Big House, Donald Trump aims to Make Prison Great Again.MARCH 31It''s been two weeks since they put me in The Hole. Very unfair! No-one is treated as unfairly as Trump. Many people say that solitary confinement is a kind of torture. I''m not so sure. I''m getting to spend a lot of time with my favourite person in the world. I say to him: Mr President, remember when you met Bo Derek at the PGA Tour Championship? She had the hots for you, believe me. And he''ll reply: I agree, Mr President. Also, I was a better golfer than anyone in the tournament.And that''s without cheating, which I would never do, believe me.So I''m doing amazing. Incredibly well. Some would say I''m the best Hole Guy ever. Not like those losers who go nuts...Of course the verdict was VERY UNFAIR - they were meant to be a jury of his peers, but none of them were billionaires. Still, the trial got AMAZING ratings. Now locked up in Smallhand State Prison, our presidential protagonist goes full Samuel Pepys and attempts the first BESTSELLER to be written entirely on toilet paper.Life inside is tough for Trump: he experiences withdrawal symptoms from social media and is no longer able to watch Fox News all day. But he soon realises that incarceration isn''t a punishment, it''s an OPPORTUNITY, and attempts to conquer the clink as he once conquered AMERICA. Can Donald rise to become prison kingpin, smuggling McDonald''s Filet-O-Fish and tutoring fellow inmates in the Art of the Deal?Interspersed with reports from Smallhand''s resident psychologist, Trump: The Prison Diaries is a satirical riot - The Apprentice meets The Shawshank Redemption. So brace yourself, because orange is the new orange.
£10.44
Austin Macauley Publishers Playing Mrs Patel
Book Synopsis
£7.59
Austin Macauley Publishers The Dark Side of White
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Austin Macauley Publishers A Coastal Shelf
Book Synopsis
£11.55
Austin Macauley Publishers Clubland
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Austin Macauley Publishers Elim15
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Austin Macauley Publishers Little Girl Lost
Book Synopsis
£6.74
Austin Macauley Publishers Sarah Sommerfeld So Deep Is the Heart WWII
Book Synopsis
£7.59
Austin Macauley Publishers Sarah Sommerfeld So Deep Is the Heart WWII
Book Synopsis
£10.79
Austin Macauley Publishers Football Aquarium
Book Synopsis
£7.59
Austin Macauley Publishers The Corona Chronicles
Book Synopsis
£6.99
Austin Macauley Publishers This Silken Twist
Book Synopsis
£10.79
Austin Macauley Publishers The Night Queens of Bankal
Book Synopsis
£9.49
