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
Pushkin Press Aednan: An Epic
Book SynopsisIn Northern Sámi, the word Ædnan means the land, the ground, the earth. In this majestic verse novel, Linnea Axelsson chronicles the fates of two Indigenous Sámi families, telling of their struggle and persistence over a century of colonial displacement, loss and resistance. It begins with Ristin and Ber-Joná, who are trying to care for their troubled young sons while migrating their reindeer herd in northernmost Scandinavia during the 1910s. The coming of the Swedes brings new borders that lay waste to Sámi customs and migration paths - and mean devastating separation for this family. In the 1970s, Lise grapples with how she was forced to adapt to Swedish society, haunted by her time in a 'nomad school' where she was deprived of her ancestors' language and history. Lise's daughter, Sandra, seeks to reclaim that heritage, becoming an activist struggling for reparations from the Swedish state. As one generation succeeds another, their voices interweave and form a spellbinding hymn to lands and traditions lost and reclaimed. Written in sparse, glittering verse that flows like a current,?Ædnan is a profound and moving epic of Sámi life.Trade Review'Crystalline... reads like poetry and myth at once. There are intricate layers of beauty and meaning here in sparse clusters across a vast new landscape as I've never read before. The music of this book is old, and it is new, and it is old' - Tommy Orange, author of 'There, There''Mesmerising. A beautiful, poetic weaving of language, character and place... Evocative and heart-breaking' - Audrey Magee, author of 'The Colony''A soul-gripping and enthralling journey into what it feels like to be othered in your own land... Axelsson offers us a profound invitation into understanding what it means to be deeply intertwined with nature' - Lola Akinmade Akerstrom, author of 'In Every Mirror She's Black''A sharp-edged tale in verse of colonial suppression, resistance, and survival' - Kirkus Reviews, starred review'Incredibly beautiful and magnificent... With AEdnan, Swedish literature has been enriched' - Dagens Nyheter
£17.00
EnvelopeBooks A Sin of Omission
Book SynopsisWinner of The Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards. Shortlisted for the Walter Scott PrizeTorn from his parents and tribe as a boy in the 1870s, Stephen Mzamane is picked by the Anglican church to train at the Missionary College in Canterbury to be a rural preacher in Southern Africa’s Cape Colony.He is a brilliant success but troubles stalk him: his unresolved relationship with his family and people, the condescension of church leaders towards their own native pastors, and That Woman—seen once in a photograph and never forgotten.And now he has to find his mother and take her a message that will break her heart.In this raw and compelling story, Marguerite Poland employs her considerable experience as a writer and specialist in South African languages to recreate the polarised, duplicitous world of Victorian colonialism and its betrayal of the very people it claimed to be enlightening.Trade ReviewThe Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, 2020: It's a rare book that punishes the sins of the past with beauty, but Marguerite Poland knows the power of doing just that. Quietly, implacably, in writing that cuts to the heart of the matter, she draws us into the life of Stephen Mzamane, a young South African trained for Christian missionary work, eager to serve both God and his own people but hampered by conflicted loyalties and the entrenched prejudices of both society and the Anglican Church. Set in the late nineteenth century, the bells of Canterbury and the bells of Africa ring out a story of what was, what might have been, and what in some places, shamefully, still is. An important story, then, and a difficult one, but in the hands of Marguerite Poland, a story luminously told. +++++ The Sunday Times CNA Literary Awards, South Africa, 2021 Book of the Year: A wrenching, deeply felt story about Stephen Malusi Mzamane, a young Anglican priest, trained in England but now marooned in a rundown mission in Fort Beaufort ... battling the prejudices of colonial society, and the church itself. +++++ John Mbangyeno, Africa Now: An emotional rollercoaster-the astonishing love story of a man for a church, an ideal and a woman. Heart-wrenching. +++++ Reverend Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town: Marguerite Poland, as always, is able to use words to paint reality. She has written an incredibly moving and compassionate yet piercing historical account which both demands apologies for the sins of the past yet is also redemptive. +++++ Dr Sindiwe Magona, writer: I love the book and admire its courage, to say nothing of its skilfulness. The subject is painful. Reading the manuscript, I was driven to tears more times than I care to remember. I couldn't stop thinking: if this is what priests thought, why do we wonder Apartheid happened? It is horrifying but also humbling to see how, with the best intentions, we err and betray the very values we preach. Marguerite Poland is to be commended for writing such a revelatory account of societal attitudes. The book is fiction but is based on church history and bigotry parading as decency. This is a painful and humbling reminder that none of us is above erroneous judgment. +++++ Mark Gevisser, novelist and critic: "Poland is a worthy descendant of Olive Schreiner in her heritage and passions.
£999.99
Zaffre The Summer of Secrets: Escape into a Gripping
Book SynopsisIn this emotional novel based on Greece's real history we follow three generations of one family, broken apart by secrets and war, as Olivia travels to the island of her mother's birth to piece together a century's worth of her family's past.On the Greek island of Castellorizo young Sofía must put her big dreams on hold to support her older sister Maria with her large family. But World War II is looming and while the idyllic island may seem far from harm at first, there are unspeakable dangers on the horizon - perils that will change the sisters' lives forever . . .Devastated by her divorce and the death of her dear mum, Olivia seeks solace on Castellorizo. Her Granny Sofía fled the beautiful Greek island during the war, but Olivia knows little else about her family's history. The only link to the Island she has left is her elderly great-uncle George. As his memory begins to fail, Olivia feels her one chance at uncovering the truth about her grandmother start to slip away.As a mother's sacrifice echoes throughout the generations, will Olivia discover some things are best left in the past?Trade ReviewThis book would for me have been a perfect beach read. Instead it made a great lockdown read as I sat in my garden with a glass of rose, imagining I was on holiday * Fab After Fifty *We race to the end with our hearts thumping. Full of local colour and tradition this is a little slow to start but certainly builds to unexpected conclusions. Terrific stuff * Love Reading, on Villa of Secrets *Full of raw emotion * Sunday Post, on Villa of Secrets *One for the suitcase - whether real or imaginary. You'll feel you're in Greece as soon as you start reading * Frost Magazine, on Secrets of Santorini *Packed with intrigue, danger and romance, Wilson's passion for the classics and an endless fascination with foraging into the vibrant corners of history, this is a poignant and beautifully written story best read on a sunlounger with a glass of chilled ouzo * Lancashire Telegraph, on Secrets of Santorini *Wilson delves into Greece's war-torn history, weaving the past and present together to create an evocative and emotional drama that tugs at the heartstrings. It's an equally enjoyable novel whether you're hiding inside from the British rain or lounging outside in the sun * Culture Fly *
£8.54
Canongate Books The Coward
Book SynopsisA BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICKAfter a car accident Jarred discovers he'll never walk again. Confined to a 'giant roller-skate', he finds himself with neither money nor job, a shoplifting habit, an addiction to painkillers and strangers treating him like he's an idiot. Worse still, he's forced to live back home with his estranged father.Trying to piece himself together, Jarred comes to realise that things don't have to stay broken after all. The Coward is about hurt and forgiveness, how the world treats disabled people, and how we write and rewrite the stories we tell ourselves about our lives - and try to find a happy ending.Trade ReviewSings from its first lines . . . unbearably poignant . . . a truly uplifting emotional journey; a tender, wise, brutally funny novel * * Guardian * *Written with insight and savage wit . . . it is uplifting because McGinnis is a realist who never tries to sweeten the bitter experience of learning to navigate life in a wheelchair. His characters are vivid and impossible to forget, and he has an underlying optimism about the various ways in which muddled lives shake down and settle into something better * * The Times * *This beautiful book is a testament to the way people can, in spite of everything, reforge shattered emotional bonds and repair seemingly doomed relationships. You won't find a more uplifting read in these dark times -- IRVINE WELSHBlack comedy alternates with fragile tenderness in this vivid and fiercely honest novel * * Daily Mail * *Laceratingly funny, beautiful and true, true, true - right into its very human and very twisted heart. Read this book -- A.L. KENNEDYVisceral yet immensely witty . . . The sections describing the immediate aftermath of the crash are incredibly powerful * * Herald * *Both absolutely devastating and ridiculously funny, sometimes within the span of a single paragraph. You'll want to murder McGinnis' mouthy anti-hero and also take him out for several pints. A big-hearted, quick-witted sucker punch of a first novel; readers who like their brutal honesty with a side of hope are really going to love The Coward -- JAN CARSONRiotously funny . . . the book is also a testament to our ability to forgive * * Big Issue * *Efficient, bracing and bleakly comic * * New Statesman * *A raw and unflinching look at a broken father-son relationship. At times viscerally honest but always gripping as the difficult journey to redemption and hope takes place against a backdrop of addiction, recrimination and an emotionally troubled history. Jarred McGinnis finds truth and humour in the brutal honesty that makes for a compelling read -- MARK STRONG
£9.49
Canongate Books McGrotty and Ludmilla
Book SynopsisMungo McGrotty's career in Whitehall is going nowhere. But when he finds the mysterious (and deadly) Harbinger Report, he realises he can blackmail his way to the very top.This twisted Grayian retelling of the Aladdin story under the Thatcher regime sees our hero rise from pawn to power. But at what cost?Trade ReviewA necessary genius -- ALI SMITHOne of the brightest intellectual and creative lights Scotland has known in modern times -- NICOLA STURGEONGray is a true original, a twentieth century William Blake * * Observer * *The best Scottish novelist since Sir Walter Scott -- ANTHONY BURGESSOne of the most gifted writers to have put pen to paper in the English language -- IRVINE WELSHGray transformed our expectations of what Scottish literature could be -- VAL McDERMID
£9.49
Lume Books The Scandalous Life of Nancy Randolph
Book SynopsisIn this retelling of one of America's greatest scandals, Kate Braithwaite brings Nancy Randolph's extraordinary story to vivid and memorable life. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Emilia Hart, Kristin Hannah, Philippa Gregory, Stephanie Dray and Stacey Halls
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers John Henry Days
Book SynopsisFrom the author of ‘The Underground Railroad’, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and Longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize. ‘John Henry Days’ is a novel of extraordinary scope and mythic power. It established Colson Whitehead as a pre-eminent American writer of our time. Building the railways that made America, John Henry died with a hammer in his hand moments after competing against a steam drill in a battle of endurance. The story of his death made him a legend. Over a century later, J. Sutter, a freelance journalist and accomplished expense account abuser, is sent to West Virginia to cover the launch of a new postage stamp at the first 'John Henry Days' festival. John Henry Days is a riveting portrait of America. Through a patchwork of interweaving histories Colson Whitehead triumphantly reveals how a nation creates its present through the stories it tells of its past.Trade Review‘Funny and wise and sumptuously written.’ Jonathan Franzen 'Blithely gifted…an ambitious, finely chiselled work.' John Updike 'Witty, acerbic and immensely compelling …Whitehead is a first-rate writer.’ Financial Times ' Hugely talented…Colson Whitehead has produced an immensely rich, many stranded novel. The writing is inspired on every page. Just Wonderful! One of my books of the year.' Time Out 'Such is the buoyancy of his talent, and the protean assuredness of his prose, that the result is controlled, poignant, wittily observed and often gleefully comic.' Guardian 'Dazzling … It may be nothing new to suggest that history is fiction; but the pleasure of reading this ingenious patchwork lies in how it reminds us of the vitality of those fictions.' Independent on Sunday
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Twenty-Seventh City
Book SynopsisThe critically acclaimed first novel from Jonathan Franzen, author of the prize winning and internationally bestselling, ‘The Corrections’. By the author of the bestseller ‘The Corrections’ and the sensational ‘Freedom’, ‘The Twenty-Seventh City’ is a novel of intrigue, humour and fear. St. Louis, Missouri, is a quietly dying river city until it hires a new police chief: a charismatic young woman from Bombay, India, named S. Jammu. No sooner has Jammu been installed, though, than the city's leading citizens become embroiled in an all-pervasive political conspiracy. A classic of contemporary fiction, ‘The Twenty-Seventh City’ shows us an ordinary metropolis turned inside out, and the American Dream unravelling into terror and dark comedy.Trade Review 'A huge and masterly drama…gripping and surreal and overwhelmingly convincing.' Laura Shapiro, Newsweek 'A novel so imaginatively and expansively of our times that is seems ahead of them.' Richard Eder, Los Angeles Times 'Franzen has managed to put together a suspense story with the elements of a complex, multi-layered psychological novel…A riveting piece of fiction that lingers in the mind long after more conventional pot-boilers have bubbled away.' Peter Andrews, The New York Times Book Review ‘Unsettling and visionary…“The Twenty-Seventh City” is not a novel that can be quickly dismissed or easily forgotten: it has elements of both “Great” and “American”…A book of memorable characters, surprising situations, and provocative ideas.’ Washington Post
£13.49
Canongate Books A History Maker
Book SynopsisA tale of border warfare, military and erotic, set in the twenty-third century, where the women rule the kingdom and the men play war games. This is the fictional memoir of Wat Dryhope - edited, annotated and commented upon. History has come to an end, war is regulated as if it's all a game. But Wat, the History Maker himself, does not play entirely by the rules, and when a woman, Delilah Puddock, joins the fray, this 'utopian' history is further enlivened. Alasdair Gray cleverly plays with the notion and writing of history, as well as perennial modern debates on war, sexism and society - entertaining and thought-provoking, this is a delightful satire illustrated throughout by the author.Trade ReviewAs ripping yarns masquerading as political/social metaphors go, A History Maker is in a field of its own. * * GQ * *Fantasist, Realist, Parodist, Postmodernist - in just over a decade Alasdair Gray has become no mean literary history maker himself. * * Scotsman * *A History Maker sees Gray at his most playful. The reference points are all over the place, just waiting to be unpicked and savoured - from Scott to Orwell to 70s sci-fi classic Rollerball. Gray drags them all together to form a clever, form-bending and brilliant read. * * Big Issue * *A satire on Utopian fictions . . . Gray's Scottish border fantasy jokes at its own expense all the better to examine the inherent flaws in a future that might work . . . very entertaining indeed. -- Liz Heron * * Times Educational Supplement * *
£9.49
Canongate Books You're An Animal, Viskovitz!
Book SynopsisA parrot who speaks of love, a police dog who's a Buddhist, a microbe with an inferiority complex, a chameleon hoping to find himself, a scorpion with the fastest sting in the West?Viskovitz is each of these animals and many more; yet it is the human condition with all its highs and lows which is portrayed in these hilarious metamorphoses. You're an Animal Viskovitz is a whirlwind of ironic fables, a tour de force of comic inventiveness and intelligence unlike anything that you have read before.
£999.99
Little, Brown Book Group Frost In May
Book SynopsisNanda Gray, the daughter of a Catholic convert, is nine when she is sent to the Convent of Five Wounds. Quick-witted, resilient and eager to please, she accepts this closed world where, with all the enthusiasm of the outsider, her desires and passions become only those the school permits. Her only deviation from total obedience is the passionate friendships she makes.Convent life is perfectly captured - the smell of beeswax and incense; the petty cruelties of the nuns; the eccentricities of Nanda's school friends.Trade ReviewFrost in May is the unsurpassed novel of convent school life. This story of a clash between a determined young girl and an authoritarian regime is both perceptive and painfully emotional, convincing in every detail -- Hermione Lee * Observer *Evelyn Waugh called [her] one of the very best novelists of the day - a title she still deserves -- Carol ShieldsIntense, troubling, semi-miraculous ... IT is not the only school story to be a classic; but I can think of no other that is a work of art * Elizabeth Bowen *A masterpiece. Beautifully written, it is a calm and factual record of the slow death of the soul -- Selina HastingsA small masterpiece, the compelling and passionate story of young girls at a repressive religious school, told with such lyricism and elegant economy, such subtle understanding -- Tessa Hadley
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group A Boy in Winter
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the International Dublin Literary AwardFrom the Man Booker-shortlisted author of The Dark Room, an extraordinary new novel: `A spellbinding evocation of fear and threat tinged with the possibility of hope and change'' - Philippe Sands, author of East West StreetEarly on a grey November morning in 1941, only weeks after the German invasion, a small Ukrainian town is overrun by the SS. A Boy In Winter tells of the three days that follow and the lives that are overturned in the process. And in the midst of it all is the determined boy Yankel who will throw his and his young brother''s chances of surviving to strangers.A Boy In Winter is a story of hope when all is lost, and of mercy when the times have none.''Superb, delicately poised'' FT''Magnificent'' Linda Grant''A joy to read '' Helen Dunmore
£8.99
Granta Books The Fox Was Ever the Hunter
Book SynopsisRomania, the last months of the dictator's regime. Adina is a young schoolteacher. Paul is a musician. Clara, Adina's friend, works in a wire factory. Pavel is Clara's lover. But one of them works for the secret police and is reporting on the group. One day Adina returns home to discover that her fox fur rug has had its tail cut off. On another day, a hindleg. Then a foreleg. The mutilation is a sign that she is being tracked - the fox was ever the hunter. Images of photographic precision combine to form a kaleidoscope of reflections, deflections and deceit. Adina and her friends struggle to keep living in a world permeated with fear, where even the eyes of a cat seem complicit with the watchful eye of the state, and where it's hard to tell the victim apart from the perpetrator.Trade ReviewExtraordinary... Muller lays bare the totalitarian attack on the individual and the everyday horror of life under a repressive regime. There is a cinematic intensity to the narrative... This ethereal, other-worldly atmosphere gradually gives way to the horrors of a more defined reality... The mounting tension made tangible by such scenes is felt most intensely in Muller's language. Short, clipped sentences accumulate, overlapping and building into a noisy, symphonic whole... A profoundly unsettling novel, which renders palpable the cruelty of life under the regime, as well as the brittle exhilarations of its overthrow -- Charlotte Ryland * TLS *Her prose - as poetic as it is blunt -works like a prism, shattering and illuminating a world that is always watching, waiting. [A] dark collage, which glints with fear - and with beauty * The Atlantic *Poetic [and] haunting... deftly rendered by Philip Boehm... In her writing, Müller inches closer to narrowing the gap between people and things, between life and language * Washington Post *When the collage is completed, the reader understands that each and every one of Müller's stories, every flight of luscious language and every brutal fact, has been necessary in depicting a society torn to pieces and tasked, with the curtains finally open and the light streaming in, with putting those pieces back together to make sense of it all * New York Times *Herta Muller fled Romania for Germany, and the lingering memories of her ex-state's oppressiveness saturate this novel. Set in the final months of Ceausescu's rule... [It's] effective at evoking a monotonous, joyless existence defined by hunters preying on hunted -- Lesley McDonald * Sunday Herald *
£9.49
Granta Books The Great Homecoming
Book Synopsis1959, Seoul. Divided from his family by the violent tumult of the Korean civil war, Yunho arrives in South Korea's capital searching for his oldest friend. He finds him in the arms of Eve Moon, a dancer with many names who may be a refugee fleeing the communist North, or an American spy. Beguiled, Yunho falls desperately in love. But nothing in Seoul is what it seems. The city is crowded with double agents and soldiers, and wracked by protests and poverty, while across the border, Pyongyang grows more prosperous by the day. When a series of betrayals and a brutal crime drive the three friends into exile, Yunho finds himself caught in the riptide of history. Might a homecoming to North Korea be his only hope for salvation?
£999.99
Profile Books Ltd Boy A
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE WORLD BOOK DAY - BOOKS TO TALK ABOUT PRIZE 2008 WINNER OF THE JOHN LLEWELLYN RHYS PRIZE 2005 WINNER OF THE WAVERTON GOOD READ PRIZE 2005 ?A is for Apple. A bad apple.? Jack has spent most of his life in juvenile institutions, to be released with a new name, new job, new life. At 24, he is utterly innocent of the world, yet guilty of a monstrous childhood crime. To his new friends, he is a good guy with occasional flashes of unexpected violence. To his new girlfriend, he is strangely inexperienced and unreachable. To his case worker, he?s a victim of the system and of media-driven hysteria. And to himself, Jack is on permanent trial: can he really start from scratch, forget the past, become someone else? Is a new name enough? Can Jack ever truly connect with his new friends while hiding a monstrous secret? This searing and heartfelt novel is a devastating indictment of society?s inability to reconcile childhood innocence with reality.Trade ReviewCreepy and involving... From the beginning, Trigell weaves a sense of drama and a disturbing feeling of inevitability * Independent *Trigell brilliantly depicts the pressures of living with a terrible secret... written with a naive clarity which evokes the unfamiliar wonders of the outside world * Guardian *A challenging novel of atrocity and redemption... [A] fast-paced, thought provoking read, perhaps all the more significant for the questions it can't answer * Big Issue *
£8.54
Collective Ink Wisdom from the Western Isles – The Making of a
Book SynopsisA chance meeting with a mother of six inspires a young American, James Robertson, who has just lost his wife in childbirth, to visit her spiritual director, Peter Calvay, who lives in the Outer Hebrides. In the first part of the book - The Hermit, the young man learns how to pray and how to meditate according to the ancient Christian tradition. In the second part of the book The Prophet, Peter is presumed lost at sea and James is invited to order his personal effects. He finds details of Peter's own spiritual journey that inspires James to deepen his own spiritual life.This part is crammed with good practical advice on prayer for the reader as well as describing the deeply human story of the young woman with whom Peter falls deeply in love. Eventually Peter turns up alive and well and in the third part of the book - The Mystic - the two meet again this time on the mainland where Peter has come to attend his mother's funeral. Peter uses the story of his own parent's love for each other as the perfect paradigm with which to explain the mystic way. The teachings of the "Cloud of Unknowing" and the great mystics St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila are explained with great clarity by paralleling the mystic life with married life. Deeply moving lessons are drawn for those committed to each way that can lead to the fullest possible experience of love here on earth.Trade ReviewFilled with insights into spiritual growth and the options for meeting God in daily prayer time. Crux of the NewsIf this book ends up on the shelf next to Introduction to the Devout Life, they will be in fitting company. David McLaurin, winner of the "Daily Express Book of the Year Award" for his novel Bishop of San FernandoThe format and flow of a novel but the impact of a work of deep mysticism. This little book can revolutionize the way you pray. To get better at doing 'the most important thing' in your life, we recommend you read this book. Larry Holley O.S.B., Book Nook , USAHis engrossing style masks the depth of his practical advice and specifics about many forms of prayer from the traditional to the new. Stanley M. Grabowski, Ph.D., Pastoral LifeDavid Torkington writes about prayer, the true deep prayer of the heart that surrenders us to the Father of Jesus. So simply expressed, so colloquial, that we understand the total love of God as the essential act of being human. Sr. Wendy Beckett, Mount Carmel
£11.39
Birlinn General Greenvoe
Book SynopsisGreenvoe, the tight-knit community on the Orcadian island of Hellya, has existed unchanged for generations, but Operation Black Star requires the island for unspecified purposes and threatens the islanders’ way of life. A whole host of characters - The Skarf, failed fishermen and Marxist historian; Ivan Westray, boatman and dallier; pious creeler Samuel Whaness; drunken fishermen Bert Kerston; earth-mother Alice Voar, and meths-drinker Timmy Folster - are vividly brought to life in this sparkling mixture of prose and poetry. In the end Operation Black Star fails, but not before it has ruined the island; but the book ends on a note of hope as the islanders return to celebrate the ritual rebirth of Hellya.Trade Review'a poetic, distinguished and totally delightful Orcadian story... full of humour and sensitivity and of the unsentimental poetry of raw experience' * Sunday Times *'A precise, poetic and dazzling writer' * Guardian *'Fine delicate prose' * Publishers’ Weekly *'Brown is as connected to the world as any of us. He has retreated to a point where he can see the world in an internal reflection, a very clear and penetrating simplification that he could never have achieved in the midst of the hurly-burly' -- Ted Hughes'He transforms everything by passing it through the eye of the needle of Orkney' * Seamus Heaney *
£8.99
Birlinn General A Country of Eternal Light
Book SynopsisMargaret Bryce has been having a hard time since dying in 2014. In a place beyond, we join Margaret as she revisits her life, from her Aberdeen prefab childhood to the birth of her twin girls, through Thatcher’s Britain, the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster, Australia’s Black Summer bushfires, the death of Princess Diana and the COVID pandemic. But something isn’t quite right. Margaret is trying to remember, but also fighting to forget. A Country of Eternal Light will take you on a journey like no other. It is an utterly original, bitingly funny and poignant novel about life, death, what we choose to remember - and what we’d do anything to forget. A Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month Shortlisted for the Readings New Australian Fiction Prize Shortlisted for the Age Fiction Book of the YearTrade Review'This thoughtful novel hopscotches through the life of its late heroine, Margaret, a working-class Aberdonian whose posthumous thoughts roam freely over seven decades after she dies of cancer in 2014… A life-crammed mosaic, filled with pain and sadness as well as tenderness and beauty' * Daily Mail *'Inviting the reader on a rollicking, spellbinding journey as Margaret Bryce visits her past from the vantage point of the afterlife, A Country of Eternal Light is a fiercely original exploration of the way a person's life is constructed' * Waterstones Says *'A fearlessly ambitious and profoundly moving exploration of 'complicated grief', it is deftly delivered with an honesty, humour and compassion that make it wholly accessible and relatable. An uncanny and evocative original fiction with a stunning twist' -- Sally McDonald * Sunday Post *'a beautifully poignant record of a life that brought great sorrow but, nonetheless, was one well lived' -- Alastair Mabbott * Herald *'Dalgarno's novel illuminates experiences of loss with humour and tenderness' * The Bookseller *'Inventive, playful, poignant and deeply moving' -- Kerry Fowler * Sainsbury's Magazine *‘A Country of Eternal Light is one of those novels that probes very directly at the meaning of life, memory, and the power of grief.’ -- Damian Barr'Immediately went back and reread it with new knowledge. My god, this is outstanding. Beautiful and humble and totally suffused by the very ordinary joy of loving.' -- Kirstin Innes'Mesmerising, stimulating, and life affirming: Dalgarno delivers something immensely original and astute, without sparing entertainment. Following a deceased woman’s journey through lives lived and, along the way, discovering a question to be answered: 'What’s our purpose?' -- Angie Tsimaras, Judge for The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize'One of the most interesting and inventive novels of the year in terms of style and content' -- Alistair Braidwood * Scots Whay Hae! *
£9.49
Granta Books Dogs at the Perimeter
Book SynopsisOne starless night Janie's childhood was swept away by the terrors of the Khmer Rouge. Exiled from Phnom Penh, Janie and her family were forced to live out in the open: cold, hungry and under constant surveillance. Caught up in a political storm which brought starvation to millions, tore families apart and changed the world forever, Janie lost everyone she loved. Now, three decades later, Janie's life in Montreal is unravelling. Weaving together the threads of Janie's life, Dogs at the Perimeter evokes totalitarianism through the eyes of a little girl, and draws a remarkable map of the mind's battle with memory, loss and the horrors of war.
£8.54
Granta Books The Safety Of Objects
Book SynopsisThe stories in The Safety of Objects are both bizarre and believable, very funny but also frightening and sad. A girl's blonde Barbie doll seduces her teenage brother in an intense episode of erotic obsession; a couple go off the rails and smoke crack while their children are staying with their grandmother; and a lawyer seeks revenge on his boss by urinating into his potted plant every evening.
£9.49
Canongate Books True Things About Me
Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR MOTION FILM CALLED TRUE THINGSFrom their first encounter, late one night in an underground car park, the narrator of True Things About Me is intoxicated by a stranger who seems to overwhelm her quiet life. But beneath the surface something takes hold that will drive her to extremes of pleasure - and finally, on a cold and eerie night to face up to her fate.Trade ReviewBrutal, funny . . . One of those rare novels that is genuinely about sex, in all its irrationality and potential for self-destruction * * Lionel Shriver * *Affecting and well described...[with] searing observations of human behaviour -- Joanna Briscoe * * Guardian * *Glinting with pitch-black humour, Davies's razor-edged style has a lucidity and ferocity that makes much "literary" prose sound like soggy mush * * Independent * *Exquisitely written * * Daily Express * *A little book that packs a huge punch...Davies handles the horrifying climax with control and assurance * * The Times * *A kind of hybrid of Janice Galloway's The Trick is to Keep Breathing, Maggie O'Farrell's My Lover's Lover, and one of Sophie Hannah's twisted stories. Memorable, troubling and surprisingly funny in places * * Financial Times * *Davies is causing a stir in the books world * * Observer * *If darkness has brilliant, this is it -- Tom Adair * * Scotsman * *Andrew Motion has complained - at least, I assume it was a complaint - that so few entries for the Man Booker Prize this year dared to write seriously about sex. What a shame, then, that one book that did so with coruscating verve and zest failed to trouble the judges. True Things About Me (Canongate) by the Welsh writer Deborah Kay Davies (right) is also a first novel: a category absent from the 2010 long-list. Her first-person narrative of a young woman's obsessive, destructive affair has an unsettling pitch-black wit that truly makes its voice stand out from the bland MOR murmur of most "literary" fiction. Still, the Booker is not the only prize: other juries, take note -- Boyd Tonkin * * Independent * *Like nothing I've ever read...full of unexpected beauty and humour. It's like The Bell Jar for the twenty-first century * * Trezza Azzopardi * *Every now and then a novel will come along and blast the scales off your eyes. True Things About Me did more than that - it blew me to pieces. Brilliant. Disturbing. Deborah Kay Davies deserves to scoop every prize going * * Helen Walsh * *Compelling and completely convincing, True Things About Me has a kind of Greek tragedy inexorability about it which made my scalp tingle and palms sweat * * Niall Griffiths * *This is the real deal. It's as dark and humorous as life itself * * Joe Stretch * *reading this book felt like flipping open the dirty, sharp lid of a buried jewellery box and finding the world reflected from minuscule gems that turn out to be shards of glass eyes, signalling a truth you'd rather not know....She is a writer born to awaken us [and] her debut novel...is unreservedly to be admired * * The Scotsman * *If darkness has brilliance, this is it * * Tom Adair * *A tough read but worth the effort. -- Collin Waters * * Sunday Herald * *A brutal story in brutal prose. * * Guardian Saturday Review * *unputdownable and unforgettable * * Cambria Magazine * *
£8.54
Quercus Publishing The Tears of Dark Water: Epic tale of conflict,
Book SynopsisDaniel and Vanessa Parker are an American success story. He is a Washington, D.C. power broker, and she is a doctor with a thriving practice. But behind the façade, their marriage is a shambles, and their teenage son, Quentin, is self-destructing. In desperation, Daniel dusts off a long-delayed dream - a sailing trip around the world. Little does he know that the voyage he hopes will save them may destroy them instead. Half a world away, on the lawless coast of Somalia, Ismail Ibrahim is plotting the rescue of his sister, Yasmin, from the man who murdered their father. Driven to crime by love and loyalty, he hijacks ships for ransom money. There is nothing he will not do to save her, even if it means taking innocent life. Paul Derrick is the FBI's top hostage negotiator. His twin sister Megan, is a celebrated defense attorney. When Paul is called to respond to a hostage crisis at sea, he has no idea how far it will take them both into their traumatic past - or the chance it will give them to redeem the future. Across continents and oceans, through storms and civil wars, their paths converge in a single, explosive moment. It is a moment that will test them, and break them, but that will also leave behind a glimmer of hope: that out of the ashes of tragedy the seeds of justice and reconciliation can grow, not only for themselves but also for Somalia itself.Trade ReviewSince my first novel was released over 20 years ago, I have been presented with many opportunities to endorse the works of other authors hoping to find a publisher. I have always declined, until now. Corban Addison has written a novel that is beautiful in its story and also important in its message. A Walk Across the Sun deserves a wide audience. And I strongly suspect that Mr. Addison will be heard from again and again -- John GrishamA rare find . . . his novels embrace the full sweep of human experience -- John HartA fast-paced thriller that puts its humanitarian moral at the forefront * Kirkus *
£9.49
Bloodaxe Books Ltd Kiddar's Luck
Book Synopsis'He was indeed the nearest anybody ever got to Charlie Chaplin in print...the sentences skid and dance and hop on one leg or take a custard pie right on the chin or duck and weave and leave you gasping behind. But he is more for the wry smile than the belly laugh'. This was how Sid Chaplin described Jack Common, author of two of the best working-class novels of the 20th century, and 'the best prose writer to come from the North-East of England'. "Kiddar's Luck", his first novel, was a commercial flop when it first appeared. It has since been called a 'neglected masterpiece', remarkable for its 'linguistic mastery and insights into the lives of working people, free of illusions and false heroics' (Richard Kelly in "The Independent"). Common's semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of a boy, Willie Kiddar, his first 14 years, from conception on a Sunday afternoon to leaving school during the First World War.
£9.45
HarperCollins Publishers The Lucky Ones
Book SynopsisThe much-praised new novel from award-winning author Rachel Cusk, who was one of Granta’s Best of British writers. In this profound study of human relationships, five overlapping narratives of love and detachment merge to form a powerful evocation of family identity. A young pregnant woman's misfortune; a new father's disaffection; a daughter's search for lost childhood; a mother's antagonism; a wife's secret suffering – through it all runs the story of Victor Porter, a campaigning lawyer, and his journalist wife Serena, in whose relationship the conflict between the public and the personal, between love and morality, is played out. Rachel Cusk writes of life's transformations; of what separates us from those we love and what binds us to those we no longer understand. The Lucky Ones is a novel about creating and sustaining life. It illuminates with startling precision the texture and complexity of emotional existence within 'the bustling concourses of life.'Trade Review'The Lucky Ones has a theme equal to its author's wit, intelligence and genius for observation. This novel is not a particularly comfortable place to be, partly because it's so much like life and partly because Rachel Cusk is brilliant at depicting unattractive characters. But anyone who has ever lived in a family will relish it.' Cressida Connolly, Daily Telegraph 'Her prose is measured and poised. She shares Virginia Woolf's interest in making art out of the minutiae of women's inner monologues.' Stephanie Merritt, Observer ‘Compelling, profound and crafted in precise prose dripping with wit.’ John Harding, Daily Mail 'You want to gasp with the shock of recognition at a rarely articulated thought delivered with a visceral punch.' Independent 'Restrained, elegant and fiercely observant.' Jane Shillilng, Daily Telegraph 'Impressively written' Marie Claire 'Cusk's writing unsettles by transforming the everyday into a strange and frightening place. She has taken old concerns and given them new life. All this is accomplished with her startling prose…The nuances of relationships, of motives which cannot be understood, are given voice, and it is a magical one.' Kath Murphy, Scotland on Sunday Cusk's is a unique voice… her observations are so intelligent and multi-layered… her style has a rhythm that sucks you in and pulls you along… An intelligent read from a stong feminist voice of our times.' Time Out 'This is not a book about the joy of families, but one which will be recognised by anyone who has children as being full of uncomfortable truth.' Lesley Garner, Evening Standard
£9.49
Empire Publications Ltd Northern Girls Love Gravy
Book Synopsis
£8.50
Empire Publications Ltd Teabags & Tears
Book Synopsis
£8.95
Empire Publications Ltd Bagheads
Book Synopsis
£8.50
Empire Publications Ltd Visitors
Book Synopsis
£8.95
Persephone Books Ltd Miss Ranskill Comes Home
Book Synopsis
£16.00
Persephone Books Ltd Harriet
Book Synopsis
£16.00
Empire Publications Ltd Riding Solo
Book Synopsis
£8.95
Empire Publications Ltd Pudding Club
Book Synopsis
£8.95
Empire Publications Ltd Covering Up
Book Synopsis
£8.95
Empire Publications Ltd Lane: Sex Sells But Someone Always Has to Pay
Book Synopsis
£8.95
Empire Publications Ltd Bang Up
Book Synopsis
£8.95
Luath Press Ltd Heartland: A Novel
Book SynopsisA man tries to build for his future by reconnecting with his past, leaving behind the ruins of the life he has lived. Iain Martin hopes that by returning to his Hebridean roots and embarking on a quest to reconstruct the ancient family home, he might find new purpose. But then he uncovers a secret from the past.Trade ReviewA fine, rewarding read. THE SUNDAY HERALD A combination of Changing Rooms and Agatha Christie, Mackay’s Heartland demonstrates the Scotland Today presenter has a readable easy-going prose style. SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS
£7.59
Dedalus Ltd The Ultimate Tragedy
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Titan Books Ltd Small Town Horror
Book SynopsisFive childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me
£17.09
Granta Books Cross
Book SynopsisA masterful tale of betrayal and violence in a tight-knit community in Northern Ireland during the 1990s ceasefire of the Troubles, from the Irish Times-bestselling author of The Night Interns.
£13.49
Cranthorpe Millner Publishers Witham n Blues
Book SynopsisHumour runs riot in this delightful exploration of the music, history and other-worldly quirks of England's second largest county. Artfully mixing elements of truth with a host of fictional (and not so fictional) characters, Witham 'n' Blues is a must read for lovers of music, comedy and Lincolnshire alike.
£8.54
Luath Press Ltd The Tongue She Speaks
Book SynopsisGlasgow. 2007. Emo culture is thriving, but fifteen-year-old Cathy O’Kelly’s world couldn’t be more insular. It’s her first day at high school. Bullied out of primary, she’s got a new start after two years being taught at home by her Mammy. She’s dreaming of getting the marks she needs to be a proper Scots writer and avoiding getting on the wrong side of the neds. Again. But her bully doesn’t wear a tracksuit. Mark’s a third year in an oversized hoodie and Converse. A poet. Or so he wants to be. When he learns of Cathy’s dream, he’s makes it his mission to tear it down — and win her admiration.Will a chance encounter with a punk band at Glasgow’s seminal underage club save her? Or will a different kind of bully push Cathy further into herself?Trade Review‘Wi her latest nuvel, grae is gaun fae strenth tae strenth!’ – DR MICHAEL DEMPSTER, Director of The Scots Language Centre‘Deep-rooted prejudice against the Scots language is to be explored in a new book that features a bullied teenage schoolgirl as its main protagonist.’ – BRIAN FERGUSSON, The Scotsman‘The book gives us all the inspiration to delve intae oor inn'r Scots and try and scrive in Scots anaw! It's also helped light the fire in me of encouraging my classes to use Scots regularly - after all, we aw speak it!’ – SCOTT SHEILDS, The Wee Scottish Book Club‘Emma Grae’s new novel paints a portrait of a young life that is both thrilling and moving.’ – JOYCE MCMILLAN, The Scotsman‘Emma Grae shows an acute understanding of the faultlines in a dysfunctional family... a painfully raw debut’ – THE HERALD on Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy‘A smashing story with a strong Scots voice’ – DR MICHAEL DEMPSTER, Director of The Scots Language Centre on Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy‘This is a brave novel... with a strong cultural identity.’ – BILLY KAY, author of Scots: The Mither Tongue on Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy‘It opened my eyes to how beautiful Scots is and has made me want to read more literature by authors writing in Scots. But mostly this author! – LILY BAILEY, author of Because We Are Bad on Be Guid Tae Yer Mammy
£9.49
Canelo The Crows
Book SynopsisHer fate is sealed. Her death is inevitable...Carrie Rickard, leaving an abusive relationship back in London, tries to escape her past by throwing herself into her restoration project: Fairwood House, known to locals of Pagham-on-Sea as The Crows.Unable to resist as it whispers to her, Carrie's obsession only grows when she discovers it was the site of a gruesome unsolved murder. As she digs deeper into the mystery, she awakens dark and dangerous forces.Cue an introduction to her foul-mouthed neighbour, Ricky Porter, who is as obsessed with The Crows as Carrie is, and who has several secrets of his own. Not least of which are what's really under his hood, and what he's got in the cellar...A chilling gothic horror novel of haunted houses, eldritch monsters and things that go bump in the night.
£9.49
Olympia Publishers Grandpas
Book Synopsis
£5.99
Olympia Publishers Bad Would Be Better
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Olympia Publishers More Frogs to Kiss
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Olympia Publishers Dahlias Kingdom
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Olympia Publishers Overnight Sensation
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Olympia Publishers Stony Creek
Book Synopsis
£17.09
