Contemporary Fiction Books

Book SynopsisBy the prize-winning author of Heaven My Home, a taut crime novel perfect for reading groups. Bury your bodies deep and your secrets deeper. Just after dawn, Caren inspects the grounds of Belle Vie, the historic plantation house she manages. Back at her office, the gardener calls to tell her she missed something. Something terrible. At a distance, she didn't see. A young woman lying face down in a shallow grave, her throat cut clean. So there will be police, asking questions. The family who own Belle Vie will have to be told. There's a school group on the way to visit. Where is Donovan, the member of staff no one has seen? And all the time, Caren is thinking that there are only so many keys, only so many ways in to Belle Vie with its six foot high perimeter fence. And as she lives on site with her daughter, she wonders: how much danger are they in? A thriller with as much heart as it has pace, Attica Locke combines a riveting mystery with a shattering story of how our history is never just the past.Trade ReviewRich in atmosphere, strong in story, hinges on human complexity -- Val McDermid * Guardian *Genuinely unnerving ... interested in subtle, complex questions of identity, family and history * Daily Mail *Locke was shortlisted for the Orange prize for her debut. This is even better * Observer *Far more than a crime novel, covers the fallout from divorce, regret, poverty and bitter family secrets * Psychologies *An intelligent and beguiling mystery that examines how our past haunts our present, told by a unique voice in contemporary crime fiction -- Stuart NevilleAttica Locke writes with equal amounts grace and passion. After just two novels, I'd probably read the phone book if her name was on the spine -- Dennis LehaneAttica Locke is a stand-out in every way -- James EllroyAttica Locke's work raises searingly important questions that demand to be answered. The Cutting Season is about the dark possibilities that lie within us all. A thrilling read -- Esi EdugyanA good crime novel on its own, but Locke has woven through it an engrossing exploration of freedom in all its trickiest aspects ... an involving and moving novel -- N J CooperA well-crafted warning about the damage wrought - generational, social, romantic - when the past is distorted or denied * Financial Times *Beautifully conveys the atmosphere of a sad past haunting a benighted present * The Times *This is a highly engrossing and genuinely thought-provoking piece of crime fiction: one that reminds us of the genre's potential to go well beyond simple entertainment * Independent *A subtle thriller with real historical heft -- Fachtna Kelly * Sunday Business Post *

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Book SynopsisA masterpiece' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH Ambitious, demanding and profoundly melancholy' GUARDIANDr. Robert Hendricks has just received a mysterious invitation. Psychiatrist Alexander Pereira has asked him to stay at his villa on a French island. But what starts out as an intellectual exchange soon becomes a cat and mouse game that brings to the surface a history of war and a lost love that Hendricks had thought buried.A gripping exploration of the mysteries of memory, Where My Heart Used to Beat is a stunning and thrilling novel of past lives and the indelible scars of love. An intelligent and moving examination of the traumas of war' SCOTSMANWill leave you gulping back sobs' OBSERVER

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for The Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize andThe Highland Book PrizeA battle lost. A daring escape. A long walk into obscurity. The ultimate failureIn the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Culloden, a lonely figure takes flight with a small band of companions through the islands and mountains of the Hebrides. His name is Charles Edward Stuart: better known today as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He had come to the country to take the throne. Now he is leaving in exile and abject defeat.In prose that is by turns poetic, comic, macabre, haunting and humane, multi- award-winning author Alan Warner traces the frantic last journey through Scotland of a man who history will come to define for his failure.''Written in carefully crafted prose . . . this reimagining of Charles Edward Stuart's escape from Culloden is a triumph'' Stuart Kelly,The Scotsman

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Book Synopsis'Ingeniously plotted and compulsively well-paced' Sunday Times'A cracking detective story that seems to be investigating its own existence' Jeff Noon'Are you there, Tom?'I stood in the doorway, staring at the phone.My father had been dead for almost seven years.When Thomas Quinn receives a seemingly impossible voice message, he can't help but wonder if Andrew Black - a legendary, reclusive mystery writer and his father's protégé - is somehow involved.Thomas knows that Black can't be trusted, that he should be avoided at all costs. But as the search for answers spirals into an examination of the nature of time, entropy, the true forms of angels, fictional stalkers and the secrets of the nativity set . . . Thomas realises that he might not have a choice.Trade ReviewThirteen years after The Raw Shark Texts, Steven Hall comes back with another dazzlingly smart postmodern treat. Maxwell's Demon is both steeped in high European theory - think Calvino and Eco - and enormously enjoyable * * Observer * *Ingeniously plotted and compulsively well-paced, a blend of detective story and science fiction with an epistemology course thrown in * * Sunday Times * *A postmodern mystery . . . Ingenious fun . . . Showily postmodern, full of odd typographical elements, altered realities and intertextual jokes . . . Maxwell's Demon is consistently fun and often impressive * * Guardian, Book of the Day * *An engaging, pacy mystery as well as an exploration of reality, entropy and the language of a modern creative landscape . . . The book is full of conceptual and typographic trickery and it's soaked in an appreciation of the written word * * Independent, Books of the Month * *A Pynchonesque, footnote-and theory-heavy mystery novel that's as postmodern as they come . . . A smart, teasing and (above all) lovable mystery tale . . . Superb * * Telegraph * *Dazzlingly clever, wickedly playful, devastatingly poignant -- M.R. CAREYLabyrinthine, mind-twisting and deliciously diabolical, yet also unexpectedly warm-hearted. Maxwell's Demon is fantastic -- CHRIS BROOKMYREAs melancholy as it is captivating. Whether pertaining to thermodynamics or company kept around a manger or autumn leaves born of text and set free, Maxwell's Demon is hard to put down. Even when you're done -- MARK Z. DANIELEWSKIA cracking detective story that seems to be investigating its own existence -- JEFF NOONMoves at an exhilarating lick . . . The genius of the book is that despite it seeming like an elegant orrery, all these wheels within wheels are a carapace, a psychic armour against a grief (and it's not the grief you were expecting). Beneath this truly beautiful astrolabe is a beating human heart -- Stuart Kelly * * Scotsman * *An entropic and sprawling mystery . . . Mind-twisting . . . Introspective and philosophical, the novel explores the dangers that occur when fatalistic urges take over * * New Statesman * *Anyone who enjoyed The Raw Shark Texts will be delighted -- TOBY LITTWritten in the first person and paced like a thriller, there's an intimacy and immediacy that quickly grips, and even the long digressions on theory - a trademark of the form - are enjoyable to read * * Spectator * *Hall takes great pleasure in his half of the job and leads us playfully through the book's various twists and turns . . . This is a novel that requires patience, but the sheer jouissance of Hall's writing means that that patience . . . will not go unrewarded * * TLS * *With Maxwell's Demon, Steven Hall has created a kaleidoscopic, disconcerting God game in which reality itself is thrown into deep shape-shifting shade. Like David Mitchell, Mark Z. Danielewski and the Christopher Nolan of Inception, Hall has created his own unique world in which readers take a journey as mercurial and unexpected as life itself. Maxwell's Demon is a radiant and unique achievement -- BRADFORD MORROWIt's Raymond Chandler meets Dan Brown meets Albert Einstein. Meets Christopher Nolan. Meets Jorge Luis Borges. It's a mind-expanding page-turning adventure-mystery that crackles with intelligence and intrigue; a book about books (sort of) that's been beautifully rendered in book form -- FOYLESA postmodern literary thriller about a difficult second novel . . . Anyone who has a taste for postmodern hijinks . . . will be drawn to the menace and profusion, the game-like brilliance and black hilarity * * Australian * *A wonderfully imaginative, splendidly baroque novel that is a combination of the baffling, teasing and tantalising. Part fantasy, part mystery, it is altogether delightful and filled with surprises - in a word, exceptional. No, make that two words; the second is fantastic. A rare, sui generis treat * * Booklist (starred review) * *There's really nothing like this book - long contemplations of philosophy, personality, religion and history are all woven into something of a mystery in which no one is truly reliable . . . Hall manages to put a whole world on the page that shifts and changes as weirdly and wildly as the ones in the novel's fictional books . . . Written with verve and a vast appreciation for the power of language * * Kirkus Reviews * *

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Book Synopsis''Superb'' OBSERVER''Cunningly crafted'' FINANCIAL TIMES''Faulks is doing what he does best' SUNDAY TIMESIn the depths of the archive, Hannah dances with the ghosts of Vichy France, lost in testimony and a desire to hear the voices of the past. Back in her apartment, Moroccan teenager Tariq crashes on her sofa, consumed by his search for the mother he barely knew. Their excavations will unearth rich histories that will teach them both just how much the future is worth fighting for.Paris Echo is a propulsive and haunting novel of empire and identity, told with biting wit and tenderness, which exposes the shadows of the city of lights.[Paris Echo] is brimming with Faulks's deep affection for Paris . . . and ambition to evoke that place, its ghostliness, those spectres of history, lurking around every beautiful avenue' GUARDIAN

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Book SynopsisPre-order your copy of Sarah Morgan’s new novel Beach House Summer now – coming May 2022! Praise for Sarah Morgan: ‘I loved every sparkly, big-hearted, warm-hug moment of this gorgeous wintry tale’ Miranda Dickinson ‘Queen of Christmas and award-winning women’s fiction author Morgan has done it again’ Sunday Post * * * She'll risk everything for her own Christmas miracle…. Determined to conquer a lifetime of shyness, Harriet Knight challenges herself to do one thing a day in December that scares her, including celebrating Christmas without her family. But when dog-walker Harriet meets her newest client, exuberant spaniel Madi, she adds an extra challenge to her list – dealing with Madi's temporary dog-sitter, gruff doctor Ethan Black, and their very unexpected chemistry. Ethan thought he was used to chaos, until he met Madi – how can one tiny dog cause such mayhem? To Ethan, the solution is simple – he will pay Harriet to share his New York apartment and provide 24-hour care. But there's nothing simple about how Harriet makes him feel. Ethan's kisses make Harriet shine brighter than the stars over moonlit Manhattan. But when his dog-sitting duties are over, and Harriet returns to her own home, will she dare to take the biggest challenge of all – letting Ethan know he has her heart for life, not just for Christmas? * * * Readers have fallen in love with MOONLIGHT OVER MANHATTAN ‘One of the best books I’ve read . . . A very funny and romantic book that I would 100% recommend!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘If you do one thing today it should be buy this book and start your Sarah Morgan addiction. Cannot wait for her next masterpiece’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book was a wonderful read . . . Just reading her books cheers me up’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘The perfect book to curl up on the sofa with’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Trade Review‘It’s everything a romantic novel should be – an absolute delight.’Veronica Henry 'Wonderfully romantic and sumptuously atmospheric.’Alex Brown, author of The Secret Orchard Cottage ‘The perfect book to curl up with’Heat ‘Sarah’s a master at creating the moments when the reader seriously doubts the hero and heroine are really going to get together… until phew, they do. Bliss!’Sue Moorcraft ‘Lovers of romance will relish this tale of friendship, fun and flirting set in beautiful New York.’My Weekly ‘Morgan excels in balancing the sweet and sexy to create the perfect blend.’Booklist 'A gorgeously sparkly romance about letting go and learning to love again.Julia Williams, bestselling author of Coming Home for Christmas ‘Morgan’s novel delivers the classic sweep-you-off-your-feet romantic experience.’Publisher’s Weekly ‘Perfect chick-lit’BEST Magazine

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Book SynopsisThe new uplifting romance from New York Times bestselling author, Brenda Jackson, that readers are finding impossible to put down: ''Another wonderful Catalina Cove Novel!! Every book in this series is a page turner!!'' ?????All he needs is a second chanceAll she wants is no strings attachedThe biggest mistake of Jaye Colfax's life was letting Velvet Spencer leave him. For three years, they were together exclusively and it was great. But Jaye wouldn't commit to anything more. He just didn't believe in falling in love or marriage. When Velvet left him without so much as a goodbye, Jaye realised he'd been too foolish to see he loved her. But it was too late. His stubbornness had cost him the love of his life.It took Jaye two years to find out where Velvet had gone. Now he's come to Catalina Cove to prove his love and win her back but will Velvet have him?Don''t miss the other books in the Catalina Cove series, which can be read in any order:Book 1: Love in Catalina CoveBook 2: Forget Me NotBook 3: Finding Home AgainBook 4: Follow Your HeartBook 5: One Christmas WishBook 6: The House on Blueberry LaneBook 7: The Cottage on Pelican BayReaders love Brenda Jackson:I love all of the books I have read from Brenda so far and it''s been quite a few, her stories get better and better.'?????Brenda Jackson is a great story teller, loved it and looking forward to the next Catalina Cove book hopefully there will be many more.'?????I love Brenda's writing because she adds so much more to her stories.'?????A very good read, as always by Brenda Jackson A must have in your library!''?????

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Book SynopsisRichard Powers has published thirteen novels. He is a MacArthur Fellow and received the National Book Award. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Overstory and his most recent novel, Bewilderment, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He lives in the Great Smoky Mountains.

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Book SynopsisA man stands at the edge of the lake, a golden skimming stone in his hand. He has been waiting his whole life for this moment. But now that it has arrived, he is full of doubt. If he throws the stone will it plummet to the depths of the lake, or will it skim gracefully along the surface, as it deserves to after all this time? ple, heartfelt tale from Dominic Wilcox part of a new series of inspirational stories from Do Books is in equal parts charming and profound. A story of making the ordinary extraordinary, of hard work and anticipation, of learning to let go of fear, of having the courage to seize opportunities as and when they present themselves it will speak to each reader in different ways. With simple yet elegant watercolour illustrations by Leonora Oppenheimer and a beautiful clothbound finish, it will be a treasured addition to any bookshelf.

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Book Synopsis'YOU CANNOT INTERFERE WITH FATE. WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE WHO SHOULD LIVE AND WHO SHOULD DIE?'Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.Death is the Grim Reaper of the Discworld, a black-robed skeleton with a scythe who ushers souls into the next world. He is also fond of cats and endlessly baffled by humanity. Soon Death is yearning to experience what humanity really has to offer, but to do that, he'll need to hire some help.It's an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse - and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job - until Mort falls in love with Death's daughter, Ysabell, and discovers that your boss can be a killer on your love life . . .'Incredibly funny, compulsively readable' The Times'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy' Sunday TimesMort is the first book in the Death series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.Trade ReviewPratchett is a comic genius * Daily Express *Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy... Pratchett has a subject and a style that is very much his own * The Sunday Times *He is screamingly funny. He is wise. He has style * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisPost-pandemic, a tiny forest community gathers, bringing their ghosts and fears, hopes and secrets. And theirs are not the only voices. The forest also has stories of grief and resurrection, asking us what we mean by a life well-lived, human or non-human.

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Book SynopsisThe third novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin's best-selling San Francisco saga.An enormously talented writer By writing about what''s seemingly different Armistead Maupin always manages to capture what''s so hilariously painfully true for all of us' Amy Tan____________________The calamity-prone residents of 28 Barbary Lane are at it again in this deliciously dark novel of romance and betrayal. While Anna Madrigal imprisons an anchor-woman in her basement, Michael Tolliver looks for love at the National Gay Rodeo, DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track a charismatic psychopath across Alaska, and society columnist Prue Giroux loses her heart to a derelict living in a San Francisco park.Hurdling barriers both social and sexual, Maupin leads the eccentric tenants of Barbary Lane through heartbreak and triumph, through nail-biting terrors and gleeful coincidences in 1970s San Francisco. The

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Book Synopsis'The Man Who Wore His Wife's Sarong', Suchen Christine Lim's short stories of the unsung, unsaid and uncelebrated in Singapore, delve beneath the sunlit island's prosperity and coded decorum. Her characters chip away prejudice and sculpt it into acceptance of the other.

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Book SynopsisAsle is an ageing painter and widower who lives alone on the southwest coast of Norway. His only friends are his neighbour, Asleik, a traditional fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in the city. There, in Bjorgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter but lonely and consumed by alcohol. Asle and Asle are doppelgangers - two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life, both grappling with existential questions. In this second instalment of Jon Fosse’s Septology, ‘a major work of Scandinavian fiction’ (Hari Kunzru), the two Asles meet for the first time in their youth. They look strangely alike, dress identically, and both want to be painters. At art school in Bjorgvin, Asle meets and falls in love with his future wife, Ales. Written in ‘melodious and hypnotic slow prose’, I is Another: Septology III-V is an exquisite metaphysical novel about love, art, God, friendship, and the passage of time.Trade Review‘Fosse’s fusing of the commonplace and the existential, together with his dramatic forays into the past, make for a relentlessly consuming work: already Septology feels momentous.’ — Catherine Taylor, Guardian‘The reader of I is Another is both on the riverbank and in the water being carried forward, and around, by the great, shaping, and completely engrossing, flow of Fosse’s words. It’s a doubleness of view that is reflected in the characters, named Asle, who are both one and other, and through which we can see and feel the world, and ourselves, more clearly.’ — David Hayden, author of Darker with the Lights On‘Jon Fosse is a major European writer.’ — Karl Ove Knausgaard, author of My Struggle

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Book SynopsisAlice and her mother meet a stranger, Rachel, and minutes later find her on a bench panicking. For Alice, itâs simple: the three of them need each other. Rachel fights against imposing her disability on the pair. Rachelâs seizures trigger painful childhood memories for Beth, and Alice is torn between loyalty to her mother and standing by Rachel.

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Book Synopsis"It's mid morning. Cool. Not many coffee bars open. I, the brave one, god of any telephone kiosk, walk down Dean Street, see the man of the day; raincoat, shoulders round, hair black, falling out; heavenly blue eyes cast down into his own hell. Bold as brass I cross the road stopping dead in front of him. He raises his eyes, so sadly that I love him for it." Leda is lost. Bouncing from job to job, from coffee bar to house party, he spends his days watching the hours pass and waiting for the night to arrive. Trysts in the rubble of a bombsite follow hours spent in bedsits with near strangers, as Leda is forced to find intimacy in unusual places. Semi-homeless and estranged from his given family, he relies on the support of his chosen one: a community of older gay men and divorced women who feed and clothe him, gently encouraging him to find a foothold in a society which excludes him at every turn. And then there is Daniel, a buttoned-up man of the Lord, for whom Leda nurses an unrequited obsession - one which sends him spiralling into self-destruction. With a foreword by Huw Lemmey, this newly discovered, never-before-published novel - which pre-dates the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 - is a portrait of lost a Soho, as well as an important document of queer, working-class life, from a voice long overlooked.Trade Review'Acerbic yet wistful, indecent, caffeinated, raw, suddenly profound - a hip flask of a novel, brimful of phenomenal lines.' - Jeremy Atherton Lin, author of Gay Bar; 'Love Leda is a transgressive, wriggling slice of queer, working class life in 1960s London. Hyatt is an important literary parent to everyone writing queer London, dreaming of lives free of drudgery and asking what the point of living is.' - Yara Rodrigues Fowler, author of there are more things; 'An unearthed treasure of its time, Mark Hyatt's compelling and emotive novel Love, Leda recounts a whirlwind of intimacies and embodiment, philosophy and humour, in a daring depiction of queer desire, impulse and need, laced through a context of disconnection. With an intensity of life-in-motion, a lyric of spirit and survival in pursuit of the existential, Hyatt vividly conjures his protagonist's navigation of an era's incipient edges. An absorbing, melancholy odyssey of love both transactional and yearned-for, the publication of Love, Leda honours a unique literary voice rediscovered.' - Peter Scalpello, author of Limbic

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Book SynopsisA junkie looking for one last fix in a town full of ghosts . This is a ghost story. A junkie has gone to El Zapotal to die to rent a room in this crumbling backwater, melt into one last fix, and not come back. For someone so ready to no longer be alive, though, he can't stop clinging to the past. His old dog, Kid, who he abandoned. His love, Valerie, who he introduced to drugs. There's no such thing as a good memory. El Zapotal doesn't want him either. The people aren't welcoming, the streets are empty except for strays, and he's having trouble pacing his supply. As the drugs run out, the line between what's real and what's not blurs to the point of illegibility, and we're left wandering a tenderly described hinterland of despair, hunger, and regret. García Elizondo has given us an homage to Pedro Páramo , a descent for the ages, a long goodbye with no clear line between the living and dead.

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Book SynopsisA breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin American's feminist gothic. Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires, on the run from the Church. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and, most importantly, be discreet. In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother's terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women and they cross a threshold from which there's no turning back. Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures.

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Book SynopsisWhen Clementine and Edouard's last child leaves home, the cracks in their marriage become impossible to ignore. Her work as a perfumer is no longer providing solace and her sense of self is withering. Then, her former lover resurfaces, decades after the end of their bisexual affair, and her world tilts irreversibly. Set in Paris and Provence, this is an intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires and a troubled past whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.Trade Review'It is very, very good - an intense and unflinching expose of desire and its legacy'. Elizabeth Buchan. 'A skilled storyteller. Inventive, vivid and distinctive'. Mary Loudon. 'Vividly passionate, this is assured, addictive precision storytelling. Costello's prose is reminiscent of masters like Leila Slimane - but her voice is entirely unique. Thrillingly stylish.' Daisy Buchanan. 'Costello poses unwavering questions about choice and honesty, about submerging pain to orchestrate survival. Showing how sacrifice can impair an entire existence and that profound passion will return always.' Catherine McNamara.

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Book SynopsisLove, second chances and new beginningsWhen Kim Reynolds learns how unhappy her daughter is, she realises the perfect remedy is a completely fresh start. Giving up the corporate job she's worked towards her entire life, Kim is determined to make Berry Grove Bed & Breakfast a success, but more importantly, she's determined to support her daughter Mia as she settles into her new life. But when Danny, Kim's childhood sweetheart, turns up, buried feelings and a complicated secret threaten to jeopardise their newly discovered peaceful lifestyle. Can the two people Kim loves most in the world understand and forgive her for keeping them apart?A heartwarming story of family, love and friendship, perfect for fans of Holly Martin, Jessica Redland and Polly Babbington.

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Book SynopsisA year has passed since the premature death of the narrator's husband. She falls in love again. M is seventeen years younger than her, but the connection between them is intense. Then, as his vulnerability starts showing, so does his troubling rage. In this novel, Hanne Ørstavik returns to her theme of love, asking: How do you recognise love?

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Book SynopsisA collection of eighteen short stories whose main focus is the experience of growing up black or mixed race in small towns in England's West Country.

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Book Synopsis''Wow . . . non-stop twists and turns'' Freida McFadden, internationally bestselling author of The Housemaid''Stunning, accomplished, addictive'' B.A. Paris, bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors ''First-class thriller writing'' Sarah Pearse, bestselling author of The Sanatorium''Wickedly entertaining'' Jeneva Rose, bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage ***TWO STRANGERS. ONE FLIGHT. NO ONE IS WHO THEY SEEM . . .Two women - strangers - board a plane. Different lives, different purposes for their trip.Three days later, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man. They say they''ve fallen for handsome stranger Trent McCarthy and are running away with him. And then the texts go cold, the red flags go up, and the woman are declared missing. Who''s telling the truth? Who is this Trent, and what has he done with these women? Or, what have they done with him? . . . Twist upon twist, where nothing is it as it seems, The Business Trip takes you on a descent into the depths of a mastermind manipulator. But who is playing who? Perfect for fans of Freida McFadden and Alice Feeney.

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Book Synopsis''Beth O''Leary is that rare, one-in-a-million talent who can make you laugh, swoon, cry and ache all in the same book'' Emily HenryAddie and her sister are on an epic road trip to a friend''s wedding in rural Scotland. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into theirs. The driver is none other than Addie''s ex, who she hasn''t seen since their traumatic break-up two years earlier.Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. And with four hundred miles to go, they can''t avoid confronting the very messy history of their relationship . . .Will they make it to the wedding? And, more importantly, is this really the end of the road for Addie and Dylan?Readers LOVE The Road Trip***** ''Pure joy''***** ''Another triumph from Beth O''Leary''***** ''Loved it from start to finish''***** ''Unputdownable''<

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Book SynopsisThe climate apocalypse has finally come to pass. The Eurasian landmass had become one vast desert scorched by ferocious heat. Most of humanity has been obliterated by the ferocity of heat, rising oceans and storms of unimaginable force. All knowledge of today's science and technology and of our civilisation has been lost.Amanaar and Mayzaar, who live in the underground city of Kaimakla, discover that the oasis on which the city depends is drying up, and that they will all die soon from thirst and starvation. As a desperate measure, Amanaar organises a journey to cross the vast desert to their north in search of a safe haven. On their journey they face many terrors, but also stumble upon objects from today's world which are incomprehensible to them. They meet Stinna who passionately believes in the truth of the legends of great cities and a vanished hugely advanced technological civilisation. Stinna persuades the two men to join her in the search for the truth and for an explanation of what happened. This is their story.

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Book SynopsisA brand-new historical romance for 2024 and the second book in the Flower Girls collection from Britain's best-loved saga author. Will she ever find her way back home?Nuneaton, 1880Twenty year old Daisy Armstrong lives a happy life with her loving father, Jed.

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Book SynopsisA gripping story following the lives of Issy and Jamie as they navigate relationships, divorce and family life.

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Book SynopsisFrom a Costa Book of the Year winner,Booker nomineeand double Granta-selected Best Young British novelist comes a searing portrayal of trauma,policeabuse and the power of hope.Teaching nine-year-olds on Zoom. A relationship interrupted by enforced distance. A teenaged son who cannot leave the house. Anna McCormick is already struggling to cope with the unwanted twists 2020 has served up. But when an unstamped envelope arrives overnight, her past begins to cast its own long shadow on the present. With an uncaring government compounding her woes and a hostile threat drawing closer, Anna must dig deep to keep hope alive for herself and those around her.This is a twisty, heart-racing page-turner and viscerally rendered portrayal of abuse of power by the state, by the police and by the villains much closer to home.

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Book SynopsisGray-haired sleuths Angela Benbow and Caledonia Wingate investigate the death of a new neighbour, who fell or was pushed into the path of an oncoming train.

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Book SynopsisThe murder of the gardener at Camden-sur-Mer is a break in routine for Angela Benbow and Caledonia Wingate's retirement community.

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Book SynopsisHAZEL PRIOR lives on Exmoor with her husband and a huge ginger cat. As well as writing, she works as a freelance harpist. Hazel is the author of Ellie and the Harp-Maker, the #1 ebook and audiobook bestseller Away with the Penguins and its follow-up, Call of the Penguins. Life and Otter Miracles is her fourth novel.

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Book SynopsisThe Patrick Melrose Novels hilariously dissect the English upper class, conjuring a world of decadence, amorality, greed, snobbery, and cruelty, but never without the possibility of grace. Taken together, they are one of the most thrilling reading experiences in contemporary fiction.Edward St. Aubyn chronicled the life of Patrick Melrose across five short novels, painting an acrid portrait of a beleaguered and self-loathing world of privilege. Never Mind unfolds over a day and an evening at the family's chateau in the south of France, where the sadistic and terrifying figure of David Melrose dominates the lives of his rich and unhappy American wife, Eleanor, and their five-year-old son, Patrick.Bad News opens as Patrick, now twenty-two years old, sets off to collect his father's ashes from New York, where he will spend a drug-crazed twenty-four hours.Back in England, Some Hope offers Patrick the possibility of recovery (and the most debauc

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Book SynopsisA fascinating and darkly funny novel giving readers front-row access to the world of EMS and other first responders — and the stink, sweat, and sex that accompanies long days caring for others at their most vulnerable.Following in the footsteps of their beloved Boston cop father, Alex Flynn trains as an EMT, and spends years chasing emergencies in an ambulance. But the person Alex becomes is a far cry from the hero they signed up to be.Over four decades in public safety, Alex encounters a changing America, where veterans are left to rot on streets, women are welcome in dangerous fields but abusers still walk free, and service providers are subjected to intense public scrutiny while being denied the resources they need. After moving from bustling Boston to small town Vermont, Alex discovers an escalating feud between emergency operators and must decide which to protect: their community, or their legacy.

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Book Synopsis'There is no living author who writes about the intricacies of family life quite like Sinéad' Claudia CarrollA great read, I highly recommend it' Claire Byrne'Fans of Sinéad know they can expect honesty, humour and great story-telling' HelloMoriarty captures the intricacies of contemporary family life with flawed, relatable characters in a heartfelt and humorous tale.' Christina Hession, Sunday Independent'Moriarty has perfected the fine dance between light and shade, turning some of the most substantial and challenging of life's realities into compelling, companionable reads' Irish Independent---After losing their beloved mother, the Devlin sisters need each other more than ever. Single parent Louise is trying to help her fragile young daughter to navigate life. So, when the nine-year-old insists on finding out who her father is, Louise organizes a sisters' outing to track down her Italian one-night stand. Meanwhile, due to her teenage sons' sporting success, mother-of-four Julie is anointed Cook-Bottlewasher-and-Cheerleader-in-Chief for the rugby parents' WhatsApp group. Worst. Job. EverFinally, glamorous Sophie is determined that her daughter Jess won't be boy-crazy and image-obsessed like she was. But when things go horribly wrong at a teen party, Sophie and her sisters are forced to take drastic measures to protect Jess's future. Squeezed from every side, Louise, Julie and Sophie want to be good sisters but sometimes that's easier said than done . . .

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Book SynopsisAn unsettling novel about the secrets, lies and omissions of a small rural community by bestselling novelist Suzannah Dunn.

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Book SynopsisDEREK OWUSU NAMED GRANTA'S BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2023LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2023LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2023SHORTLISTED FOR PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE - FICTION 2023LONGLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS 2023'A highly enigmatic, affectionate and robustly written portrayal of a mother-son relationship . . . very relatable' Diana EvansDriven by a deep-seated desire to understand his mother's life before he was born, Derek Owusu offers a powerful imagining of her journey. As she moves from Ghana to the UK and navigates parenthood in a strange and often lonely environment, the effects of her displacement are felt across generations.Told through the eyes of both mother and son, Losing the Plot is at once emotionally raw and playful as Owusu experiments with form to piece together the immigrant experience and explore how the stories we share and tell ourselves are just as vital as the ones we don't.Trade ReviewMasterful . . . This novel is a reflection of a son attempting to embrace the entirety of his mother - all her vulnerability, spikiness and unknowability. And Owusu does so with extraordinary compassion -- MICHAEL DONKOR * * i * *A love letter - sometimes dense, often moving - written by a son to his mother * * Guardian * *A highly enigmatic, affectionate and robustly written portrayal of a mother-son relationship . . . very relatable -- DIANA EVANSOwusu is one of the most original writers today -- STEFAN TOBLEROwusu's prose is fragmentary and lucid . . . Losing the Plot is a masterclass in distilled writing and a stirring ode to motherhood * * Irish Times * *A densely poetic act of resistance * * Times Literary Supplement * *Losing the Plot is a timeless piece, crafted and written with immense emotion and exquisite detail. If you want to enter the lived experiences of our seniors, journey through their joys and pains, then this is the book for you * * Bad Form * *Owusu reimagines his mother's journey to the UK in order to process generational trauma and find peace in empathy. Owusu's writing is bold, wise, and generous; he amplifies and validates the complexities of inter-generational love * * British Blacklist * *Owusu's intricate layering of form and language (in all its meanings), and the blur of the author and his mother's life with that of their fictional counterparts, reflects the complexity of identity and memory in the most unique of ways . . . Losing the Plot will forever linger in your mind * * Arts Desk * *A biting glimpse of the immigrant experience relayed in a distinctive Ghanaian-British voice * * Financial Times * *

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