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 Untitled Lauren Connolly 2
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Happiness and Love
Book SynopsisYears after escaping her unbearable artworld friends in New York for a new life in London, an unnamed writer finds herself back on the Lower East Side attending a dinner party hosted by Eugene and Nicole an artist-curator couple and attended by their pretentious circle. It's the evening after the funeral of their mutual friend, a failed actress, and if the narrator once loved and admired Eugene and Nicole and their important friends, she now despises them all. Most of all, however, she despises herself for being lured back to this cavernous apartment, to this hollow, bourgeois social set, for a dinner party that isn't even being thrown in their deceased friend's honour, but in the honour of an up-and-coming actress who is by now several hours late.As the guests sip at their drinks and await the actress's arrival, they are unaware that the narrator, from her vantage point in the corner seat of a white sofa, is silently and mercilessly eviscerating them and everything they stand for. And when the guest of honour finally does arrive, she sets in motion a catastrophic end to the evening, laying bare the hypocritical decadence of the hosts' vacuous little lives.Vicious, hilarious, propulsive, and at times unexpectedly tender, Happiness and Love is scintillating in its magnificent cruelty and its monstrous, absurd humanity too.
£15.29
Vintage Publishing Slaughterhouse 5
Book SynopsisRead Kurt Vonnegut''s powerful masterpiece, which is as timely now as when it was first published.Billy Pilgrim hapless barber''s assistant, successful optometrist, alien abductee, senile widower and soldier has become unstuck in time. Hiding in the basement of a slaughterhouse in Dresden, with the city and its inhabitants burning above him, he finds himself a survivor of one of the most deadly and destructive battles of the Second World War. But when, exactly? How did he get here? And how does he get out?Travel through time and space on the shoulders of Vonnegut himself. This is a book about war. Listen to what he has to say: it is of the utmost urgency.An extraordinary success. A book to read and reread. He is a true artist' New York Times Book ReviewThis series of war novels from Vintage Classics presents eight powerful stories about the horror and waste of war - each a passionate plea to prevent its repetition.
£9.49
Bonnier Books Ltd Ordinary Saints
Book Synopsis*WINNER OF THE INAUGURAL PFD QUEER FICTION PRIZE**SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE DISCOVERIES AWARD*An arresting, unmissable debut novel shortlisted for the Women's Prize Discoveries award - an exploration of family, grief, queer identity, and the legacy of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Can you imagine it? I'd say to them. Can you imagine me there in the front row in Saint Peter's Square? The lesbian sister of a literal saint. Brought up in a devout household in Ireland, Jay is now living in London with her girlfriend, determined to live day to day and not think too much about either the future or the past. But when she learns that her beloved older brother, who died in a terrible accident, may be made into a Catholic saint, she realises she must at last confront her family, her childhood and herself . . . Inspired by the author's own devout upbringing, Ordinary Saints is a brilliant debut novel from a fresh, exciting new voice which asks - who gets to decide how we are remembered - and who we will become?Praise for Ordinary Saints:'The best debut novel I've read in a long time. Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin is a writer of immense delicacy, perception and heart, drilling deep into questions of faith, family and love. A beautiful novel and a huge talent'Jessica Moor'Funny and deeply moving. I adored it'Chloe Michelle Howarth, author of Sunburn'Mesmerising and original, Ordinary Saints is quite a novel: an empathetic, heart-felt and nuanced exploration of the Catholic church in modern Ireland, queer identity, family and so much more. I absolutely loved it'Victoria Mackenzie, award-winning author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain'An engrossing and absorbing read . . . Uplifting and absolutely gripping' Rachel Dawson, author of Neon Roses'Ní Mhaoileoin's writing has a real magic to it that hits you right from the first sentence'Okechukwu Nzelu'I both learnt - and felt - a lot reading Ordinary Saints. An intriguing, compelling and deeply original debut'Roxy Dunn, author of As Young As This
£15.29
Random House Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way
Book SynopsisElaine Feeney is an acclaimed novelist and poet from the west of Ireland. Her debut novel, As You Were, was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the Irish Novel of the Year Award, and won the Kate O'Brien Award, the McKitterick Prize and the Dalkey Festival Emerging Writer Award. How to Build a Boat was also shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year, longlisted for the Booker Prize, and was a New Yorker Best Book of the Year. Feeney has published the poetry collections Where's Katie?, The Radio Was Gospel, Rise and All the Good Things You Deserve, and lectures at the University of Galway.
£15.29
Verso Books The Last Sane Woman
Book SynopsisNicola Long is a few years out of a fine arts degree, listless and unenthusiastically employed in London. She begins to spend her hours at a small underfunded archive dedicated to women’s art. There she discovers one side of a correspondence beginning in 1976 and spanning a dozen years, written from one woman - a ceramics graduate, uncannily like Nicola - to a friend living a contrasting and conventionally moored life. As Nicola reads on, an acute sense of affinity turns into obsession.She abandons one job after another to make time for the archive. The litany of coincidences in the letters becomes uncanny, and Nicola’s feeling of ownership begets a growing dread: should she be afraid of where these letters are leading?
£10.44
Canongate Books Pity
Book SynopsisThe debut novel from award-winning poet Andrew McMillan exploring community, masculinity and post-industrialisation in Northern England
£9.49
Cipher Press Terry Dactyl
£11.39
Orion Publishing Co The Grapevine
Book SynopsisA gripping and atmospheric debut novel about a mysterious murder that exposes the secrets behind closed doors in 1970s suburban Australia
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd A Month in the Country
Book SynopsisA haunting novel about art and its power to heal, J. L. Carr''s A Month in the Country published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.''That night, for the first time during many months, I slept like the dead and, next morning, awoke very early.''One summer, just after the Great War, Tom Birkin, a demobbed soldier, arrives in the village of Oxgodby. He has been invited to uncover and restore a medieval wall painting in the local church. At the same time, Charles Moon - a fellow damaged survivor of the war - has been asked to locate the grave of a village ancestor. As these two outsiders go about their work of recovery, they form a bond, but they also stir up long dormant passions within the village. What Berkin discovers here will stay with him for the rest of his life . . .
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd The Bastard of Istanbul
Book SynopsisOne rainy afternoon in Istanbul, a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I need to have an abortion', she announces. She is nineteen years old and unmarried. What happens that afternoon will change her life. Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul.Trade ReviewUnquestionably an ambitious book, exuberant and teeming . . . a novel crammed with characters and themes, not unlike Istanbul itself * Guardian *Wonderfully magical, incredible, breathtaking . . . will have you gasping with disbelief in the last few pages * Sunday Express *Heartbreaking . . . the beauty of Islam pervades Shafak's book * Vogue *A writer whose artistry matches her ambition . . . she has taken on a subject of deep moral consequence * New York Times *A brave and passionate novel * Paul Theroux *Tremendous exuberance . . . I do like a writer with a purpose * Margaret Forster *An astonishingly rich and lively story ... handled with an enchantingly light touch' * Kirkus Reviews *Overflows with a kitchen sink's worth of zany characters ... an entertaining and insightful ensemble novel that posits the universality of family, culture and coincidence -- (starred review) * Publishers Weekly *
£9.49
Cornerstone Virgins: An Outlander Short Story
Book SynopsisFIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE JAMIE MET CLAIRE IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW OUTLANDER SHORT STORY.1740: Young Jamie Fraser has left Scotland and, with his best friend Ian Murray, is running with a band of mercenaries in France.Both men have good reason not to go back to their homeland: both are nursing wounds, and despite their best efforts to remedy the situation, both are still virgins.So when a Jewish doctor hires them to escort his granddaughter to Paris, they readily agree. Both men are instantly drawn to the beautiful young lady. What neither know is that their lives and their friendships are about to become infinitely more complicated - and a lot more dangerous ...
£9.99
Little, Brown Book Group The Sympathizer
Book Synopsis*** WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016***WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL 2016WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION 2016''A fierce novel written in a refreshingly high style and charged with intelligent rage'' Financial TimesIt is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that one among their number, the captain, is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong. The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Rosarita
Book SynopsisBorn and educated in India, Anita Desai is the author of many novels, including Rosarita, and short stories, and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times for her novels Clear Light of Day, In Custody and Fasting, Feasting. She is the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and the Royal Society of Literature.
£9.49
Cornerstone Stranger Things Flight of Icarus
Book SynopsisTwo years before the events of Stranger Things Season 4, Eddie Munson-Hellfire Club leader, metalhead, and Hawkins outcast-has one shot to make it big.Hawkins, Indiana-for most, it''s simply another idyllic, manicured all-American town. But for Eddie Munson it''s like living in a perpetual Tomb of Horrors. Luckily, he only has a few more months to survive at Hawkins High. And what is senior year, really, but just killing time between Dungeons & Dragons sessions with the Hellfire Club and gigs with his band?It''s at the worst dive bar in town that Eddie meets Paige, someone who has pulled off a freaking miracle. She escaped Hawkins and built a wickedly cool life for herself working for a record producer out in Los Angeles. Not only is she the definition of a badass-with a killer taste in music-she might be the only person that actually appreciates him as the bard he is instead of the devil incarnate. But the best thing? She''s offeri
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd Medea
Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERFrom an unmissable new voice comes the powerful and epic story of mythology''s darkest heroine''Delightfully devastating'' Bea Fitzgerald, author of Girl, Goddess, Queen''A fiery and dramatic novel, starring one of mythology''s most notorious women, this is a fascinating descent into darkness'' Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne''Full of thwarted love and dark magic . . . Vivid and powerful, this is a book with teeth'' Luna McNamara, author of Psyche and Eros_____________________________________Shunned. Persecuted. Tormented.Medea longs for a different life. Since childhood, she has been separated from her sister, shunned by her mother, and persecuted and tormented by her brother and father. All because of a unique and dangerous talent: witchcraft.Fierce. Powerful. Sorceress.But when a dashing young hero, Jason, arrives to claim the famed Golden Fleece that her father fiercely protects, Medea sees her opportunity for escape. Her offer to help Jason overcome the trials set by her father sets in motion a journey that will test every ounce of her strength, magic and loyalty; a journey that will see her battle monsters, dethrone kings and fall in love.When faced with the ultimate betrayal, Medea is driven to an act of desperation so brutal it rips apart the lives of everyone involved...--------------------------------------------Readers have fallen under Medea''s spell...''This book is up there with Song of Achilles as one of my all-time favourite retellings''''Heart-breaking and beautiful''''Any readers of mythological retellings struggling to find a rival to Madeline Miller should look no further than Rosie Hewlett''''Absolutely spellbinding''''Dark, moody, at times heartbreaking, and utterly phenomenal, this book is an absolute must read for any fans of Circe or Ariadne!''
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Almond Nomad Edition
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd About a Boy
Book SynopsisTHE MILLION COPY NO. 1 BESTSELLER THAT BECAMEAN ACCLAIMED FILM STARRING HUGH GRANT AND NICOLAS HOULT ''A very entertaining and endearing read'' The Times___________________Thirty-six-year-old Londoner Will loves his life. Living carefree off the royalties of his dad''s Christmas song, he''s rich, unattached and has zero responsibilities - just the way he likes it.But when Will meets Marcus, an awkward twelve-year-old who listens to Joni Mitchell and accidentally kills ducks with loaves of bread, an unlikely friendship starts to bloom. Can this odd duo teach each another how to finally act their age?Hugely funny and equally heartfelt, Nick Hornby''s classic proves you''re never too old to grow up. Perfect for fans of David Nicholls and Mike Gayle.___________________''A stunner of a novel. Utterly read-in-one-day, forget-where-you-are-on-the-tube-gripping'' Marie Claire
£8.99
Penguin Books Ltd On the Road
Book SynopsisOn the Road swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat. Now recognized as a modern classic, its American Dream is nearer that of Walt Whitman than Scott Fitzgerald, and it goes racing towards the sunset with unforgettable exuberance, poignancy and autobiographical passion.
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British
Book Synopsis''Sometimes - not often - a book comes along that feels like Christmas. Philip Hensher''s timely, but timeless, selection of the best short stories from the past 20 years is that kind of book. His introduction is as enriching as anything that has been published this year'' Sunday TimesA spectacular treasury of the best British short stories published in the last twenty yearsWe are living in a particularly rich period for British short stories. Despite the relative lack of places in which they can be published, the challenge the medium represents has attracted a host of remarkable, subversive, entertaining and innovative writers. Philip Hensher, following the success of his definitive Penguin Book of British Short Stories, has scoured a vast trove of material and chosen thirty great stories for this new volume of works written between 1997 and the present day.Includes short stories by A.L. Kennedy, Tessa Hadley, Kazuo Ishiguro,Trade ReviewSometimes - not often - a book comes along that feels like Christmas. A Santa's sack of goodies to be unwrapped, revealing ever more lovely treats. Philip Hensher's timely, but timeless, selection of the best short stories from the past 20 years is that kind of book. In fact, his introduction is as enriching as anything that has been published this year. -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times *Like its predecessors, this volume is a feast, and every morsel worth savouring * Literary Review *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd A Passage to India Penguin Classics
Book SynopsisE. M. Forster's beloved classic and sharp critique of imperialismA Penguin ClassicWhen Adela and her elderly companion Mrs. Moore arrive in the Indian town of Chandrapore, they quickly feel trapped by its insular and prejudiced British community. Determined to explore the real India, they seek the guidance of the charming and mercurial Dr. Aziz, a cultivated Indian Muslim. But a mysterious incident occurs while they are exploring the Marabar caves with Aziz, and the well-respected doctor soon finds himself at the center of a scandal that rouses violent passions among both the British and their Indian subjects. A masterly portrait of a society in the grip of imperialism, A Passage to India compellingly depicts the fate of individuals caught between the great political and cultural conflicts of the modern world.The Penguin Classics edition reproduces the authoritative Abinger text and also includes four of Forster's finest essays on India, a chronolo
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Sister Europe
Book Synopsis''Sister Europe is so ambitious and ethically interested that it makes it clear that Zink is one of our most important contemporary writers.'' Guardian As a Berlin night draws in around the pristine glass exterior of the Hotel Interconti, a ragtag group of friends, family, and potential lovers find themselves frustrated. By promise or threat, they have all gathered at a lavish celebration of an elderly author's venerable career. But dinner is delayed, the speeches are a drag and the gang a young trans teen and her father; an ageing publisher and his flakey date; a dog, a troubled heiress and an Arab Prince begin to feel the pinch of boredom, hunger and horniness. Together they will make their bid for freedom, and will soon embark on an exhilarating odyssey through the city's shadow and light. . .Sophisticated, sexy and exquisitely funny, Sister Europe is the remarkable new novel from one of the most singular, brilliant writers working today: a vivid tale of growing up, growing old and getting down.''Nell Zink is a writer of extraordinary talent and range. Her work insistently raises the possibility that the world is larger and stranger than the world you think you know'' Jonathan Franzen''To stay out late in Zink's world, loitering, is a pleasure. Her voice is cool and fastidious, but she has a screwball quality a comic sensibility rooted in pain.'' New York Times''An extraordinary talent Zink is in the company of not only Jonathan Franzen, but also Donna Tartt, Philip Roth and Tom Wolfe'' Daily Telegraph
£14.62
Little, Brown Book Group Jane And Prudence
Book SynopsisA charming and funny tale of match-making misadventures by an author whose fans include Philip Larkin, Alexander McCall Smith and Jilly Cooper.Trade ReviewI'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane AustenThere is a thrill of humanity through all her workShe is the rarest of treasures; she reminds us of the heartbreaking silliness of everyday lifeOver the years, as Barbara Pym replaced Nancy Mitford, Georgette Heyer, even Jane Austen, as my most loved author, I devoured all her books, but Jane and Prudence remains my favourite. Even an umpteenth reading this weekend was punctuated by gasps of joy, laughter, sympathy and wonder that this lovely book should remain so fresh, funny and true to life -- Jilly CooperThis comedy of manners is a salutary reminder of just how good Barbara Pym was . . . This book is a gem * The Times *I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym -- Richard Osman
£8.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd Case Histories
Book SynopsisThe first Jackson Brodie novel: literary crime from the prizewinning, number-one bestselling author of Big Sky and Transcription.'An astonishingly complex and moving literary detective story that made me sob but also snort with laughter.Trade ReviewHer best book yet, an astonishingly complex and moving literary detective story that made me sob but also snort with laughter. It's the sort of novel you have to start rereading the minute you've finished it * Guardian *Sharp humour, together with a number of unexpected twists makes this a typically pacey and intelligent read * Daily Mail *A greedy feast of a story by a masterful author...A profound, exciting and lingering read * Daily Express *Triumphant...Her best book yet...A tragi-comedy for our times * Sunday Telegraph *To read it is to enter a hall of mirrors...Part complex family drama, part mystery, it winds up having more depth and vividness than ordinary thrillers and more thrills than ordinary fiction...A wonderfully tricky book * New York Times *As satisfying as anything dreamed up by Raymond Chandler, but the beauty of the novel lies in its spot-on characterizations, pitch perfect observations of contemporary culture and a sharp, wisecracking narrative voice * Time Out *Shot through with sharp, black humour, and introducing a loveable hero in Brodie, this is storytelling that satisfies at every level * Marie Claire (Book of the Month) *Atkinson is very good indeed... more satisfying than many detective novels. Everyone who picks it up will feel compelled to follow it through to the last page * Guardian *Brilliantly playful, witty and original... massive and consistent talent for comedy * The Scotsman *Intriguing and affecting... she has also created a compelling central chracter in world-weary private investigator Jackson Brodie, who is determined to bring justice to all the lives that lie fractured around him * Red (Book of the Month) *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Light Between Oceans
Book SynopsisDiscover the sweeping Richard and Judy Book Club pick and Sunday Times bestselling historical romance, now a major motion picture starring Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, and Rachel Weisz.OVER FOUR MILLION COPIES SOLD''An extraordinary bookUnforgettable'' Guardian''A moving tale . . . prepare to weep'' New York Times''Irresistible . . . a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page'' Oprah Magazine____________________After experiencing the horrors of The Western Front, Tom moves to Janus Island to work as a lighthouse keeper. He hopes that life on the remote island with his wife Izzy will bring him peace following the war.The two of them are happy together, although frustrations rise the longer they try for a child that never comes.But then, one day, a boat washes up on the shore of their little island. In it, lies a dead man - and a crying baTrade ReviewA love story that is both persuasive and tender * The Sunday Times *An extraordinary book . . . Unforgettable * Guardian *A description of the extraordinary, sustaining power of a marriage to bind two people together in love * Daily Mail *It is not only the plot that it so compelling . . . What makes this wonderful novel stand out is the cast of emotionally fragile characters, all of whom inspire tremendous sympathy in the reader * Daily Express *A moving tale . . . prepare to weep * New York Times *Irresistible . . . seductive . . . a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page * Oprah Magazine *A spectacularly sure storyteller . . . Reading The Light Between Oceans is a total-immersion experience, extraordinarily moving. * Monica Ali, author of BRICK LANE and LOVE MARRIAGE *The Light Between Oceans unfurls in small acts, at first feeling slight to touch, then building in emotional substance. Into the spaces between words, Stedman breathes an anxiety and pulsating intensity that roils with the ocean and the lighthouse beacon * Sydney Morning Herald *The characters are beautifully drawn . . . A completely unique read. **** * Heat Magazine *A moving tale. One of this year's must-reads * Stylist Magazine *Told with the authoritative simplicity of a fable . . . engrossing . . . immediate and familiar * The New Yorker *Mesmerising . . . the sheer passion and poetry of Stedman's prose carries us on a wave of emotion and heartbreak * Australian Woman's Weekly *Pick of the month: The memorable and moving tale of one couple’s search for happiness * Woman and Home *A haunting story peopled with characters you care about * Choice Magazine *Lyrical . . . Stedman’s debut signals a career certain to deliver future treasures * People *Stunning and memorable * Booklist *Heart-wrenching * Publisher's Weekly *Exquisite * Kirkus *Delicate and imaginative . . . beautifully written . . . deserves every single bit of its success * Scotsman *Like a lighthouse, [The Light Between Oceans] shines a light in dark places, and its emotional resonance will stay with you for days * Irish Examiner *
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co Death of the Author
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£9.49
Headline Publishing Group Pelican Girls
Book Synopsis''Stunning, moving, and remarkable'' Nguyen Phan Que Mai, internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child''A celebration of complicity and love among women'' Pilar Quintana, shortlisted for the National Book Award, author of The Bitch and Abyss''I haven''t been this swept away by a piece of historical fiction since Maggie O''Farrell''s Hamnet'' Jess Walter, bestselling author of Beautiful RuinsParis, 1720. The Hospice of La Salpêtrière is overrun with ''difficult'' women. Halfway around the world, on the American frontier, French settlers are in want of wives. At the asylum, a list is drawn up: eighty-eight women of childbearing age to be shipped to New Orleans. Among them are Charlotte, Geneviève and Pétronille - a sharp-tongued orphan, an accused abortionist and a rumoured madwoman. They make the voyage over the ocean, knowing nothing
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Death in Her Hands
Book Synopsis'This is a story about what might happen when a woman takes charge... A glorious visceral mystery' The TimesWhile on her daily walk with her dog in the woods near her home, Vesta comes across a chilling handwritten note. Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body. Shaky even on her best days, Vesta is also alone, and new to the area, having moved here after the death of her husband. Her brooding about the note grows quickly into a full-blown obsession: who was Magda and how did she meet her fate? From the Booker-shortlisted author of Eileen comes this razor-sharp, chilling and darkly hilarious novel about the stories we tell ourselves and how we strive to obscure the truth. __________________________PRAISE FOR DEATH IN HER HANDS:'Routinely hailed as one of the most exciting young American authors working today' Guardian'A new kind of murder mystery' New Yorker 'Dark, devious' Observer'A fine line between shocking realism and the absurd' New Statesman'A brilliant off-kilter detective story' Evening Standard'A beautiful novel' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewA masterclass in suspense. * Economist *Moshfegh is one of the most original and astute young novelists working today. -- Orlando Bird * Daily Telegraph *Routinely hailed as one of the most exciting young American authors working today... Her work takes dirty realism and makes it filthier. But it is is also beautiful...the depravity of her material matched by the purity and precision of her prose. -- Lisa Allardice * Guardian *Ottessa Moshfegh's Death in Her Hands is a new kind of murder mystery... The work of a writer who is, like Henry James or Vladimir Nabokov, touched by both genius and cruelty... Like a surgeon, or a serial killer, Moshfegh flenses her characters, and her readers, until all that's left is a void. It's the amused contemplation of that void that gives rise to the dark exhilaration of her work -- its wayward beauty, its comedy, and its horror. -- Kevin Power * New Yorker *Much more than a whodunnit... This is a story about what might happen when a woman takes charge... A glorious visceral mystery... Moshfegh is as wise and wild as Ali Smith or Rebecca Solnit, and as gifted a scribe of nature as Annie Dillard or Thoreau. -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times *
£9.49
Amazon Publishing Under a Greek Sky
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Amazon Publishing The Girl Who Died Twice
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£8.54
Europa Editions (UK) Ltd Guapa
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE 2017 “A remarkable debut.” - The Huffington Post “Freewheeling and incendiary.” - London Review of Books “…vibrant, wrenching début novel...sensuous and caustic, full of smoke and blood.” - The New Yorker A Middle-Eastern capital caught in the revolutionary wave of the Arab Spring. A day in the life of a young man disillusioned with both East and West and struggling to find a place for himself in a society ruled by hypocrisy and contradictions. Rasa works as an interpreter for Western journalists by day and divides his nights between the Guapa, an underground nightclub where the city’s clandestine LGBT community congregates, and his secret lover Taymour. Every night Taymour sneaks into the house Rasa shares with his overbearing grandmother, the woman who raised him. When she finds them in bed together on the eve of Taymour’s wedding day, all hell breaks loose. That same day Rasa learns his best friend, the famous drag queen Majid, has been arrested by the police. Unable to go home, afraid for Majid’s fate, and heartbroken by Taymour’s determination to keep living a double life, Rasa’s fragile balance collapses, while all around him the brief, intense season of public protest is cut short by the regime’s repression and the rapid rise of the hard-line Islamist movement. “This immensely readable novel is fluent, passionate and emotionally honest. Equally astute in its analysis of Arab and American mores, the book’s characters are nuanced and dynamic; it gives fresh life to the maxim 'the personal is political'.” - The Guardian “Guapa offers an intimate, complex portrait of gay life in the Arab world, a subject rarely explored in fiction.” - Gay TimesTrade Review“Freewheeling and incendiary.” * London Review of Books *“This immensely readable novel is fluent, passionate and emotionally honest. Equally astute in its analysis of Arab and American mores, the book’s characters are nuanced and dynamic; it gives fresh life to the maxim 'the personal is political'.” * The Guardian *"A vibrant, wrenching début novel...sensuous and caustic, full of smoke and blood.” * The New Yorker *“Guapa offers an intimate, complex portrait of gay life in the Arab world, a subject rarely explored in fiction.” * Gay Times *“A remarkable debut.” * Huffington Post *“Guapa sets Haddad up as a literary voice capable of narrating untold stories of the modern gay experience, from one of the most complicated parts of the world.” * Attitude Magazine *
£8.54
Europa Editions (UK) Ltd. Shibboleth
Book SynopsisWant to make it among the wealthy, upper-class students at the University of Oxford? Then you'd better have something interesting to say when people ask about your identity.Luckily, Edward does. Though he can boast neither an expensive education nor a nice room in college, he does have a long-dead Muslim grandfather from an obscure African country... At the beginning of his second year, everyone wants to get close to himincluding, to his astonishment, the beautiful and highly unstable Angelica Mountbatten-Jones. As Edward scrabbles to fit in, his new friends start to grow suspicious. How will they react when they realise he hasn't been entirely honest? What will Angelica do if she finds out about his complicated feelings towards a Jewish girl on his course? Will Edward manage to carve out a space for himself at Oxford, or will the truth get in the way?A darkly comic debut, Shibboleth drags the English campus novel into the divided, multicultural, hyperactive present day.A talent for comedy is rare in fiction. Lambert has it, in abundance.Tim Parks, author of Mr GeographyEngrossing and thought-provoking.Tomiwa Olowade, author of This is Not America?Gloriously impious and thrillingly alive."Rob Doyle, author of Threshold
£13.49
Atlantic Books Shy Trans Banshee
£15.29
Scribe Publications Thirst
Book Synopsis
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers His and Hers
Book Synopsis * SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SERIES, WITH JESSICA CHASTAIN AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER* ‘Stunning, addictive … this book should not be missed!’ Samantha Downing, Sunday Times bestselling author of My Lovely Wife Trade Review Praise for His and Hers ‘Deliciously twisted and full of shocks’ Amanda Jennings, author of The Cliff House ‘Filmic and gripping’ Helen Monks Takhar, author of Precious You Praise for Alice Feeney ‘What a ride, I loved this book and the brilliant Hitchcockian twist!’ Sarah Michelle Gellar ‘Twisty and gripping’ Jane Fallon ‘A fiendishly well-plotted, deliciously dark and twisting read … you are in for a huge treat!’ Lucy Foley ‘Clever, compulsive’ Louise Candlish 'Dark, but utterly compelling' Ruth Jones ‘I could not put it down, another compelling and devilishly twisted tale from Alice Feeney’ Kate Silverton ‘Will shock you to your core’ Woman & Home ‘Clever and tense’ Red magazine ‘A twisty, gripping thriller’ The Sunday Times ‘Leaves you longing for more’ Daily Mail ‘Feeney weaves an addictive plot that’s confident and the right side of jaw-dropping. Pick it up and you’ll gulp it down within hours’ Stylist '[A] fast-moving thriller…The story propels toward a climax that reveals not just the killer but the reliability, or otherwise, of the narrators…in a twisty tale.’ New York Times Book Review
£8.54
Simon & Schuster Ltd Abide With Me
Book SynopsisA beautiful new edition of one of acclaimed writer Elizabeth Strout's much-loved novels Katherine is only five-years-old. Struck dumb with grief at her mother's death, it is down to her father, the heartbroken minister Tyler Caskey, to bring his daughter out of silence she has observed in the wake of the family's tragedy. But Tyler Caskey is barely surviving himself. His cold, church-assigned home is colder still since Lauren's death, and he struggles to find the right words for his sermons; struggles to be a leader to his congregation when he himself is lost. When Katherine's schoolteacher calls to discuss his daughter's anti-social behaviour, it sparks a chain of events that begins to tear down Tyler's defences. The small-town rumour-mill has much to make of Katherine's odd behaviour, and even more to say about Tyler's relationship with his housekeeper, Connie Hatch. And in Tyler's darkest hour, a startling discover
£10.44
Fitzcarraldo Editions Pond
Book SynopsisFeverish and forthright, Pond is an absorbing chronicle of the pitfalls and pleasures of a solitudinous life told by an unnamed woman living on the cusp of a coastal town. Broken bowls, belligerent cows, swanky aubergines, trembling moonrises and horrifying sunsets, the physical world depicted in these stories is unsettling yet intimately familiar and soon takes on a life of its own. Captivated by the stellar charms of seclusion but restless with desire, the woman’s relationship with her surroundings becomes boundless and increasingly bewildering. Claire-Louise Bennett’s startlingly original first collection slips effortlessly between worlds and is by turns darkly funny and deeply moving.Trade Review‘Wielding a wry but implacable logic, Claire-Louise Bennett dives under the surface of “ordinary” experiences and things to reveal their supreme and giddy illogic. Like Gail Scott and Lydia Davis before her, she writes an impeccable affect-less prose that almost magically arrives at something extraordinary.’ — Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick‘This is an extraordinary collection of short stories – profoundly original though not eccentric, sharp and tender, funny and deeply engaging. A very new sort of writing, Bennett pushes the boundaries of the short story out into new territory: part prose fiction, part stream of consciousness, often truly poetry and always an acute, satisfying, delicate, honest meditation on both the joys and frustrations of a life fully lived in solitude. Take it slowly, because it is worth it, and be impressed and joyful.’ — Sara Maitland, author of A Book of Silence‘I’d heard more good whispers about Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett than almost any other debut this year so, by the time I read it, expectations were high and – as it turned out – not disappointed. These stories are intelligent and funny, innovative and provocative, and it’s impossible to read them without thinking that here is a writer who has only just begun to show what she can do.’ — Eimear McBride, author of A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing‘Claire-Louise Bennett is a major writer to be discovered and treasured.’ — Deborah Levy, author of Swimming Home‘Bennett’s language is an ornate and long-winded riposte to all those pared-back minimalists, and I love it.’ — Jon McGregor, The Guardian‘This is a truly stunning debut, beautifully written and profoundly witty.’ — Andrew Gallix, The Guardian‘Claire-Louise Bennett sets the conventions of literary fiction ablaze in this ferociously intelligent and funny debut. Don't be fooled by Pond’s small size. It contains multitudes.’ — Jenny Offill, author of Weather‘As brilliant a debut and as distinct a voice as we’ve heard in years – this is a real writer with the real goods.’ — Kevin Barry, author of City of Bohane‘A touch of William Gaddis. A touch of Lydia Davis. A touch of Samuel Beckett. A touch of Edna O’Brien. And yet Claire-Louise Bennett’s Pond feels entirely unique. Quiet and luxurious all at once, this will be one of the most sensational debuts of the year.’ — Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Less Than Zero
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Naked Lunch
Book SynopsisNightmarish and fiercely funny, William Burroughs'' virtuoso, taboo-breaking masterpiece Naked Lunch follows Bill Lee through Interzone: a surreal, orgiastic wasteland of drugs, depravity, political plots, paranoia, sadistic medical experiments and endless, gnawing addiction. One of the most shocking novels ever written, Naked Lunch is a cultural landmark, now in a restored edition incorporating Burroughs'' notes on the text, alternate drafts and outtakes from the original.''A masterpiece. A cry from hell, a brutal, terrifying, and savagely funny book that swings between uncontrolled hallucination and fierce, exact satire'' Newsweek ''Naked Lunch is a banquet you will never forget'' J. G. Ballard
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton A Son of War
Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Booker Prize After the upheavals of the Second World War, the Richardson family - Sam, Ellen and their young son Joe - settle back to working-class life in the Cumbrian town of Wigton. Yet for them, as for so many, life will never be the same again. As the old order begins to be challenged and new vistas open, Sam and Ellen forge their future together with differing needs and desires - and conflicting expectations of Joe, who grows up with his own demons to confront.Trade Review[A] deeply humane and acutely truthful novel * Peter Kemp, Sunday Times *A compelling sequel to his award-winning tour de force, THE SOLDIER'S RETURN * Frank Egerton, Financial Times *Full of a simple poetry that is deeply evocative . . . even better than THE SOLDIER'S RETURN * Carol Birch, Independent *A novel of remarkable power and grace . . . his authenticity is astounding * Roy Hattersley, The Times *Shot through with blazing integrity and authenticity * Val Hennessy, Daily Mail *
£10.44
Orion Publishing Co Pale Fire
Book Synopsis''One of the greatest books I''ve ever read. Its heart is strange, but it is huge; let yours beat in response'' MARY GAITSKILLPale Fire, a 999-line poem, is the final work of the celebrated - and recently murdered - American author, John Francis Shade.Here that poem is transcribed, introduced and annotated (at length) by Shade''s fellow scholar, neighbour and apparent friend, Charles Kinbote.Approaching this task with gusto, Kinbote''s annotations reveal conclusive evidence of his own impact on Shade, disguised references to the northern land of Zembla, which he may or may not have once ruled over, and fuel for his many preoccupations and paranoia.And - as his annotations become more desperate, more deluded, more deranged - Kinbote unintentionally sheds new light on the poet''s last days and the pair''s ''glorious friendship''.A murder mystery, a work of wild invention, a reimagining of what the novel can do, a piece of exquisite
£10.44
Canongate Books The Cafe with No Name
Book SynopsisThe international bestselling author of A Whole Life and The Tobacconist returns with a captivating historical tale set in 1960s Vienna
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers The Drop
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Testament of Mary
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2013Colm Tóibín''s The Testament of Mary is the moving story of the Virgin Mary, told by a novelist famous for writing brilliantly about the family.From the author of Brooklyn, in a voice that is both tender and filled with rage, The Testament of Mary tells the story of a cataclysmic event which led to an overpowering grief. For Mary, her son has been lost to the world, and now, living in exile and in fear, she tries to piece together the memories of the events that led to her son''s brutal death. To her he was a vulnerable figure, surrounded by men who could not be trusted, living in a time of turmoil and change. As her life and her suffering begin to acquire the resonance of myth, Mary struggles to break the silence surrounding what she knows to have happened. In her effort to tell the truth in all its gnarled complexity, she slowly emerges as a figure of immense moral stature as well as a woman from history rendered now as fully human.Praise for The Testament of Mary:''This is a short book, but it is as dense as a diamond. It is as tragic as a Spanish pieta, but it is completely heretical...Tóibín maintains all the dignity of Mary without subscribing to the myths that have accumulated around her'' Edmund White, Irish Times''Depicting the harrowing losses and evasions that can go on between mothers and sons...Tóibín creates a reversed Pièta: he holds the mother in his arms'' Independent ''A beautiful and daring work...it takes its power from the surprise of its language, its almost shocking characterization'' Mary Gordon, New York TimesTrade ReviewBeguiling and deeply intelligent...In a single passage - and in a rendition, furthermore, of one of the most famous passages of western literature - Tóibín shows how the telling and the details are all-important. -- Robert Collins * Sunday Times *Tóibín's weary Mary, sceptical and grudging, reads as far more true and real than the saintly perpetual virgin of legend. And Tóibín is a wonderful writer: as ever, his lyrical and moving prose is the real miracle. -- Naomi Alderman * Observer *This is a flawless work, touching, moving and terrifying. -- Linda Grant * New Statesman *There is a profound ache throughout this little character study, a steely determination coupled with an unbearable loss. Although it has some insightful things to say about religion and the period - the descriptions of the Crucifixion are visceral - it has a universal message about the nature of loss. -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *This novel is the Virgin's version of the life of Christ. After a lifetime listening to everyone else's versions of that life, she is angry and frustrated because they are all questionable. * Irish Independent *Toibin has created an impressive work of religious imagination...haunting, highly original. * TLS *Beautifully crafted * The Times *Fearsomely strange, deeply thoughtful * Guardian *With deceptively modest prose, Tóibín presents the Virgin Mary's story as one of human loss rather than salvation. By doing so he gives us a Mary to identify with rather than venerate. * Metro *Daring and very moving -- John Banville * "Books of the Year", Irish Times *The Testament of Mary, a novella of absences and silences, achieves a shimmering power -- Joseph O'Connor * Irish Times, "Books of the Year" *Tóibín's take on the most famous mother in history ... is all too believable * Financial Times, "Books of the Year" *Finely written * Spectator 'Books of the Year' *Channels the memories of the Virgin Mary into a subversive tour de force of economy andlacerating style -- Roy Foster * TLS 'Books of the Year' *Stands out for its bold conception and blazingly brilliant execution -- Claire Harman * TLS 'Books of the Year' *A miniature masterpiece -- Marina Warner * TLS 'Books of the Year' *The miracles are real, but unsettling and sinister; Toibin's writing can be stunning beautiful; another should-have from this year's Booker shortlist -- Kate Saunders * The Times 'Books of the Year' *Toibin's short, powerful book offers itself up as an additional gospel -- Gaby Wood * Telegraph 'Books of the Year' *
£9.49
Simon & Schuster Ltd These Mortal Bodies
Book SynopsisI’m ready to be part of something bigger, I told myself, whispering the words over and over, visualizing myself at the centre of things, never alone again. It’s the start of the new academic year and Ivy is ready for her future to begin at a prestigious university far from home. But her first year will be everything and nothing like she expected. Flung into a world of rigorous academics, secret societies and intense relationships, Ivy finds her feet quicker than she expected – things couldn’t be going better if she had planned them. But Ivy is keeping secrets. She hasn’t told anyone about her best friend, who drowned just months ago. She can’t tell anyone about the way water grounds and guides her, or about the heron she sees everywhere she goes, her own personal talisman. As she immerses herself into her new life, becoming the heart of an elite social circle and uncovering the truth behind the witchy
£15.29
Hodder & Stoughton BLOB
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co Another Marvelous Thing
Book Synopsis''Warm, wise, witty, and just plain fun'' Maggie Shipstead At a perfectly ordinary cocktail party, Francis is introduced to Billy and - although it slips right by him at the time - he falls in love with her at once.Billy is a serious, often glum person. An economic historian, she is indifferent to a great many things (clothes, food, home décor), frowns easily and is frequently irritated. Francis is older. He likes routine and a well-run household; he likes to pay for dinner, open car doors and call Billy at night to make sure she is safe. Both are happily married - but not to each other. So begins a whirlwind love affair, perfectly captured in this frank, funny irresistible novel, from its fabulous inception to its inevitable end. A W&N Essential with an introduction by Caroline O''Donoghue
£9.49
Cornerstone Idle Grounds
Book SynopsisKrystelle Bamford's work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, bath magg, PANK, Under the Radar and a number of anthologies including the Best New British and Irish Poets 20192021 (Eyewear). She is a 2019 Primers (Nine Arches Press) poet and was awarded a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. Born in France and raised in a haunted little corner of Massachusetts, she now lives with her partner and two kids in Edinburgh. Idle Grounds is her debut novel.
£15.29
