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
Bitter Lemon Press A Fine Line
Book SynopsisWhen Judge Larocca is the subject of corruption allegations, Guerrieri goes against his better instincts and takes the case. After all they had been at school and university together. Helped by Annapaola Doria, a motorbike-riding bisexual private detective who keeps a baseball bat to hand for sticky situations, he discovers the judge's links to the mafia. Larocca is blind to the immorality of his actions but Annapaola makes sure that justice is done, perhaps not in the most orthodox way. Of course Guerrieri cannot stop himself from falling for Annapaola's exotic charms. The novel takes the form of a suspenseful legal thriller but it is much more. It is the story of a judge who , to quote Brothers Karamazov, "...lies to himself and listens to his own lies, so gets to the point where he can no longer distinguish the truth, either in himself or around himself." A man always looking to justify his evil and corrupt behaviour, perhaps an apposite metaphor for Italy itself.Trade ReviewPraise for the series: WALK IN THE DARK (9781904738-534) "This book is hard-boiled and sun-dried in equal parts. Where Philip Marlowe would be knocking back bourbon and listening to the snap of fist on jaw, Guerrieri prefers Sicilian wine and Leonard Cohen. " Financial Times; INVOLUNTARY WITNESS (9781904738-527). "Written with brio, humour and skill. Guerrieri is a lawyer who struggles with his own demons as much as with his stressful case-load. It sometimes feels as though he's the only honest lawyer in Bari." Daily Mail
£8.54
Bitter Lemon Press Heretics
Book SynopsisA sweeping novel of art theft, anti-Semitism, contemporary Cuba, and crime from a renowned Cuban author. In 1939, the Saint Louis sails from Hamburg into Havana's port with hundreds of Jewish refugees seeking asylum from the Nazi regime. From the docks, nine-year-old Daniel Kaminsky watches as the passengers, including his mother, father, and sister, become embroiled in a fiasco of Cuban corruption. But the Kaminskys have a treasure that they hope will save them: a small Rembrandt portrait of Christ. Yet six days later the vessel is forced to leave the harbor with the family, bound for the horrors of Europe. The Kaminskys, along with their priceless heirloom, disappear.Nearly seven decades later, the Rembrandt reappears in an auction house in London, prompting Daniel's son to travel to Cuba to track down the story of his family's lost masterpiece. He hires the down-on-his-luck private detective Mario Conde, and together they navigate a web of deception and violence in the morally complex city of Havana.In Heretics, Leonardo Padura takes us from the tenements and beaches of Cuba to Rembrandt's gloomy studio in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, telling the story of people forced to choose between the tenets of their faith and the realities of the world, between their personal desires and the demands of their times. A grand detective story and a moving historical drama, Padura's novel is as compelling, mysterious, and enduring as the painting at its centre.
£11.69
Peirene Press Ltd Her Father's Daughter
Book SynopsisA little girl lives happily with her mother in war-torn Paris. She has never met her father, a prisoner of war in Germany. But then he returns and her mother switches her devotion to her husband. The girl realizes that she must win over her father to recover her position in the family. She confides a secret that will change their lives. ----- Why Peirene chose to publish this book: 'This is a poetic story about a girl's love for her father. Told from the girl's perspective, but with the clarity of an adult's mind, we experience her desire to be noticed by the first man in her life. A rare examination of the bonds and boundaries between father and daughter.' Meike Ziervogel, PublisherTrade Review'A delicate, discreet novel. Like its little heroine. Impressive.' SUD OUEST DIMANCHE ----- 'Sizun's beautifully controlled and simple story captures the surprisingly clear gaze of a little girl who discovers how adults excel in the art of concealment.' LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR ----- 'This story brings to mind, like a slap in the face, our forgotten childhood memories. We remember the way adults fail to hear the tiny cries of the heart.' MARIE CLAIRE
£11.40
Peirene Press Ltd Shatila Stories
Book SynopsisAdam and his family flee Syria and arrive at the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut. Conditions in this overcrowded Palestinian camp are tough, and violence defines many of the relationships: a father fights to save his daughter, a gang leader plots to expand his influence, and drugs break up a family. Adam struggles to make sense of his refugee experience, but then he meets Shatha and starts to view the camp through her eyes. Most novels are written by professionals using second hand material. Not this one. The editors have taken nine refugees, taught them the basics of creative writing, and asked them to tell their "Shatila Stories". The result is a miracle - a piece of collaborative fiction unlike any other. If you want to understand the chaos of the Middle East - or you just want to follow the course of a beautiful love story - start here. 'I want to hear their stories and see if their imaginations can open up a new path of understanding between us. Collaborative works of literature can achieve what no other literature can do. By pooling our imaginations we are able to access something totally different and new that goes beyond boundaries - that of the individual, of nations, of cultures. It connects us to our common human essence: our creativity. Let's make stories, not more war.' Meike Ziervogel, Peirene Press Authors: Omar Khaled Ahmad, Nibal Alalo, Safa Khaled Algharbawi, Omar Abdellatif Alndaf, Rayan Mohamad Sukkar, Safiya Badran, Fatima Omar Ghazawi, Samih Mahmoud, Hiba Mareb. Translated by: Nashwa GowanlockTrade Review'This remarkable novel isn't about the refugee voice; it is born from it and told through it. On every page, the glint of hope for dignity and a better life is heartbreakingly alive.' KHALED HOSSEINI, AUTHOR OF THE KITE RUNNER; 'Both from a humanitarian standpoint and an artistic perspective, Peirene are doing invaluable work in finding new voices who open our eyes, ears and hearts to worldly reality in all its profound suffering, joy, community, isolation and complexity.' BIDISHA, WRITER AND BROADCASTER; 'Compassion for our fellow humans fosters change. Shatila Stories allows us a window into the lives of those fleeing a war zone and their attempts to find a safe sanctuary.' LUCY POPESCU, CRITIC AND WRITER
£11.40
Peirene Press Ltd Winter Flowers
Book SynopsisIt's October 1918 and the war is drawing to a close. Toussaint Caillet returns home to his wife, Jeanne, and the young daughter he hasn't seen growing up. He is not coming back from the front line but from the department for facial injuries at Val-de-Grace military hospital, where he has spent the last two years. For Jeanne, who has struggled to endure his absence and the hardships of war, her husband's return marks the beginning of a new battle. With the promise of peace now in sight, the family must try to stitch together a new life from the tatters of what they had before.Trade Review“An astonishing, compelling, slow-burn of a novel – full of understated power and devastating insight.”- William Boyd, author of Any Human Heart ; “In 1918, Paris is awash with rumours: about the war, about the Spanish flu, and about the lack of food. In shining prose, Villeneuve describes terrible losses, national, familial, and personal, and how one small family must learn to live together again. Affecting, moving, and compelling.” – Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground ; “Unflinchingly examining the visible and invisible wounds inflicted by war, this tenderly told story simultaneously reveals how courageous lovers find ways to repair each other's damage.” – Michèle Roberts, author of Ignorance and The Walworth Beauty ; “Meticulously researched, Villeneuve describes the brutal emotional consequences of war. In her gorgeous writing she conveys the couple’s silences and communicates the inexpressible. Readers will take comfort in this family’s journey from estrangement to connection.” – Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times Bestselling author of The Paris Library ; “Exquisite. Winter Flowers felt like an intake of breath, held, then slowly released. Angelique Villeneuve has observed the fragility of the human soul and rendered it with truth and compassion. Like her protagonist, Jeanne, the wife who has spent the long war recreating the beauty of flowers in paper and cloth, Villeneuve is a master of her craft.” - Pip Williams, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words
£11.40
Peirene Press Ltd Of Saints and Miracles
Book SynopsisMarcelino lives alone on his parents' farm, set deep in the beautiful but impoverished countryside of northern Spain. It's the place where he grew up, the place where he doted on his beloved baby brother and protected his mother from his father's drunken rages. But when Marcelino's brother tricks him out of his house and land, a moment of anger sparks a chain of events that can't be reversed. Marcelino flees to the wild peaks of rural Asturias, becoming a cult hero as he evades authorities. Into this unconventional crime story, Astur weaves fables about the sun and the moon, tales of death and love, and reveals a community and a way of life that may soon be lost. Of Saints and Miracles is a sensuous and poetic portrayal of an outcast's struggle to survive in a changing world, and a seamless blend of the tragic and the majestic.Trade Review'Meticulous and vivid ... mesmerising.' ASYMPTOTE; 'Ambitious and unpredictable - the best kind of new spin on a timeless story.' WORDS WITHOUT BORDERS; 'An astonishing novel that marks Astur out as a novelist of unique brilliance.' LUNATE; 'Melancholic and somewhat unnerving ... a beautiful book.' EUROPEAN LITERATURE NETWORK; 'A fierce, passionate book - at home in every genre.' PATRICK MCGUINNESS; 'An extraordinary feat of writing.' SOPHIE HUGHES; 'This literary novel has the seal of determined originality, and is the admirable work of an author worth following.' EL CULTURAL;'With a sensuous style that produces an almost physical effect, Astur plays with time, earth, and violence, weaving together a plot that finds its logic in disorder, like every real tragedy.' ABC CULTURAL; 'One of the most exquisite writers of Spanish literature.' THE OBJECTIVE
£12.34
Peirene Press Ltd Venom
Book SynopsisThe village of Praeknamdang, nestled in the Thai jungle, has fallen under the spell of Song Waad, the self-proclaimed medium of The Sacred Mother. Living in fear of his connection to the Patron goddess, the villagers offer up land and wealth to the religious leader, who grows more corrupt by the day. Only one family dares to resist his growing power: a couple and their talented ten-year-old son. But one day, while out with his friends, the boy is attacked by a cobra. He becomes locked in a life-and-death struggle in which the border between the human and the animal disintegrates. Did the boy simply stray too near to a burrow, or is The Sacred Mother punishing him? A gripping existential parable, Venom introduces the UK reader to the world of Saneh Sangsuk; lush, raw, lyrical and vivid, this is storytelling at its finest.
£9.50
Diffusion Not Such A Bargain: What happens when easy money
Book SynopsisJosh has everything worked out. He’s got a great scam for ripping off old ladies, he’s still living with his mum, and he can afford all the latest gear. But when he meets the lovely Lisa, she starts asking questions that don’t have good answers. And when the police start nosing around too, Josh begins to realise that a life of crime may not pay after all. SERIES INFORMATION This page-turning story about finding a better path in life is part of the Diffusion books range, written especially for teenagers and adults who want to improve their reading skills. Easy-to-read, with short chapters, the books in the series enable learners to improve their reading confidence and tackle longer stories. They are also a brilliant choice for anyone learning English as an additional language. The books also include discussion and reflection questions that help readers to understand the story and to reflect on their own lives and relationships. Buying this book will support our project to help people in prison improve both their reading skills and their life chances. To find out more visit https://spckpublishing.co.uk/diffusion-books
£7.99
Diffusion Forty-Six Quid and a Bag of Dirty Washing: Free
Book SynopsisBarry is looking forward to his first weekend out of prison. Free at last! He has nothing to lose but his £46 discharge grant, a bag of dirty washing, and all the promises he has made to himself when he was inside . . . If you enjoy this book, you can find out what happens to Barry next in the sequel, Bare Freedom. SERIES INFORMATION This page-turning story is part of the Diffusion books range, written especially for teenagers and adults who want to improve their reading skills. Easy-to-read, with short chapters, the books in the series enable learners to improve their reading confidence and tackle longer stories. They are also a brilliant choice for anyone learning English as an additional language. The books also include discussion and reflection questions that help readers to understand the story and to reflect on their own lives and relationships. Buying this book will support our project to help people in prison improve both their reading skills and their life chances. To find out more visit https://spckpublishing.co.uk/diffusion-books
£7.99
Sort of Books Artist in Residence
Book SynopsisFor Simon Bill's drunken anti-hero, an abstract artist forced to haunt private views to siphon the free booze, the picture looks bleak. He has been dumped by his curator girlfriend and the only dealer left with time for him is the one who sells him drugs. But his luck changes when he's offered a job as artist in residence at a neurological institute. Enthralled by the characters and conditions he encounters - and infatuated by the beautiful amnesiac Emily - he sees a chance to revive his career, and love life, with a neuro-inspired show. However, all is not quite as it seems at the shiny new institute ... In this mordantly witty (modern) art farce, Simon Bill lifts the lid on the venal, novelty-seeking world of London's contemporary art scene, while enlightening us on the fascinating workings of the human brain, particularly as it shapes our response to art. The result is a delightfully dark, highly original novel that is both eye-opening and fun.Trade ReviewA novel of dark satire ... laugh-out-loud funny. -- Peter Carty * Independent *I bloody loved it! -- Gary HumeA scabrous satire of the pantomime of the contemporary art world and its love affair with neuroscience. Hilariously funny. it should be compulsory reading for all potential art students and their teachers. -- Simon Critchley
£8.54
Granta Magazine Granta 163: Best of Young British Novelists 5
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Galley Beggar Press Francis Plug - How To Be A Public Author
Book Synopsis
£10.45
Galley Beggar Press Feeding Time
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Galley Beggar Press Lucia
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Galley Beggar Press Francis Plug: Writer In Residence
Book Synopsis
£10.45
Galley Beggar Press Patience
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Influx Press Famished
Book SynopsisIn this dark and toothsome collection, Anna Vaught enters a strange world of apocryphal feasts and disturbing banquets. Famished explores the perils of selfish sensuality and trifle while child rearing, phantom sweetshop owners, the revolting use of sherbet in occult rituals, homicide by seaside rock, and the perversion of Thai Tapas. Once, that is, you've been bled dry from fluted cups by pretty incorporeals and learned about consuming pride in the hungriest of stately homes. Famished: seventeen stories to whet your appetite and ruin your dinner.
£7.59
Influx Press Scar City
Book SynopsisJoel Lane (1963-2013) was one of the UK’s foremost writers of dark, unsettling fiction, a frank explorer of sexuality and the transgressive aspects of human nature. With a tight focus on the post-industrial Black Country and his home city of Birmingham, he created a distinct form of British urban weird fiction. Scar City is one of the final collections put together before his death in 2013 – with his home city of Birmingham as their nucleus, these are intense, haunting and often painful stories from a master of the short form. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY NICHOLAS ROYLE
£9.49
Influx Press Nettles
Book SynopsisIt is the first day of term at a secondary school on Merseyside, 2001. The Towers are soon to fall. A boy cowers in an alleyway, surrounded by a group clad in black. They whip his bare legs with nettles. This is only the start. As term unfolds, their bullying campaign intensifies. Soon the boy finds solace hiding in marshland under the nearby motorway. Voices there urge council with Grannies Rock, a strange stone that sits on derelict land known as The Breck. There, the whispers in the breeze promise a terrible revenge. Twenty years later, the boy has grown. He is back home from London to pack away his childhood. Armed with a Polaroid camera, he aims to exorcise those painful memories through a series of photographs. But is his memory of what happened reliable? Nettles is a powerful exploration of memory and violence, excavating the stories we tell ourselves to escape our past.
£9.49
Influx Press Man Hating Psycho
Book SynopsisMan Hating Psycho is the caustic new collection of stories from visionary writer Iphgenia Baal. Interrogating the disconnect between our public identities and real-life selves, Baal exposes the inherent duplicity of online communication. Text messages relaying deep personal crisis are nothing more than an annoyance, WhatsApp takedowns of wide-eyed left-wingers unfold at breakneck speed, friendships that seem set in stone disintegrate at the first hint of sex, the language of love degraded as life becomes more and more transactional. With black and disquieting humour, thirteen playful texts disparage the highly-profitable superstitions that are the scaffolding of our current social order. Man Hating Psycho lays bare the trappings of modern life, whilst putting the short story form through a literary mincer.
£9.49
Influx Press In the Pines
Book SynopsisIn the Pines is author Paul Scraton's story of an unnamed narrator's lifelong relationship with the forest and the mysteries it contains, told through fragmented stories that capture the blurred details and sharp focus of memory. Accompanied by eerie images created using a 170-year-old technique of collodion wet plate photography by Eymelt Sehmer, In the Pines is a powerfully evocative collaboration between image and text
£8.54
Influx Press The Service
Book SynopsisLori works illegally in a rented flat in central London, living in fear of police raids which could mean losing her small daughter and her dream of a new life. Freya is a student who finds she can make far more money as an escort than she could in an office; life, after all, is already a tangle of madness and dissociation. And Paula is a journalist whose long-term campaign against prostitution has brought her some strange bedfellows. After a shock change to the law, with brothels being raided by the authorities, lives across the country are fractured. As a threat from Lori's past begins to catch up with her, the three women are increasingly, inevitably drawn into each other's orbit The Service is a powerful and challenging novel about women's bodies, sex and relationships, mental health, entitlement, authenticity, privilege and power - as shocking as any dystopia, but touching and deeply humane.
£9.49
Influx Press Polluted Sex
Book SynopsisA pregnant woman takes the ferry to the UK. A fractious intimate relationship develops between an Irish woman, an English man, and her girlfriend. Two ungendered characters contest the same female body. A deserted wife takes a lover but remains unsatisfied. Lauren Foley's debut collection of dramatic short stories, Polluted Sex, is fearless in its depiction of women's bodies and sexuality, offering an unflinching window into Irish girl and womanhood.
£9.49
Influx Press A Door Behind a Door
Book SynopsisMilwaukee, Wisconsin. Olga receives a phone call from a man she thought she'd never hear from again. Her life has changed since their childhood together in the Soviet Union. She has settled down with a girl she loves and has moved on from her previous life. Answering the call opens a Pandora's box of haunting memories and unsolved puzzles: an unexplained murder in her childhood block, a supernatural stray dog, and the mystery of her beloved brother Moshe, who lost an eye and later vanished. In the search for answers, Olga uncovers an underground midwestern Russian mafia, and a string of connected stabbings, all of which seem irrevocably linked to her past, threatening the life she has created for herself. In A Door Behind a Door, Yelena Moskovich continues her exploration of the post-Soviet diaspora, through a mesmeric blending of past and present, desire and violence
£8.54
Peepal Tree Press Ltd Closure: Contemporary Black British Short Stories
Book SynopsisWe have always valued the short story as a way to make sense of the world, and our place in it. This anthology by leading Black and Asian British writers is filled with stories, which, like life, rarely end in the way we might expect... JACOB ROSS, KADIJA SESAY, SENI SENEVIRATNE, LEONE ROSS, DESIREE REYNOLDS, SAI MURRAY, RAMAN MUNDAIR, BERNARDINE EVARISTO, MONICA ALI, DINESH ALLIRAJAH, MULI AMAYE, LYNNE E. BLACKWOOD, JUDITH BRYAN, JACQUELINE CLARKE, JACQUELINE CROOKS, FRED D'AGUIAR, SYLVIA DICKINSON, GAYLENE GOULD, MICHELLE INNISS, VALDA JACKSON, PETE KALU, PATRICE LAWRENCE, JENNIFER NANSUBUGA MAKUMBI, TARIQ MEHMOOD, CHANTAL OAKES, KAREN ONOJAIFE, KOYE OYEDEJI, LOUISA ADJOA PARKER, HANA RIAZ, AKILA RICHARDS, AYESHA SIDDIQI, MAHSUDA SNAITH
£9.99
Bonnier Books Ltd Last Chance in Paris
Book SynopsisWhen her husband suggests a romantic break, Claire feels obliged to say yes but immediately regrets it. After the tragedy they've been through, how can one weekend in Paris save their marriage? Claire and Ronan aren't the only people on a make-or-break visit to the City of Love. There is a big-shot movie producer from Hollywood, full of regret for a life ill-lived; a student from Boston, torn between love and duty; a Ukrainian refugee struggling to protect her little sister; and an old woman from Dijon, hoping to be braver than she has ever had to be before.When their lives briefly intertwine, something extraordinary happens...
£8.54
Penguin Random House Group The Prisoner of Ankara
Book Synopsis
£14.39
Sebra Amser Nadolig
Book Synopsis
£20.80
Troubador Publishing Frankie Dot
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Creation Books Beasts Of The Blood-stained Jackboot: Illustrated
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£14.36
Peepal Tree Press Ltd Kipling Plass
Book SynopsisA politically astute coming-of-age novel set in Guyana in the turbulent late 1970s, where Kipling Plass and his teenage friends struggle for physical and emotional survival as they contend with the colonial past, racial animosity and Guyana's economic hardships. Heartbreaking, shocking, and lyrical.
£12.34
Everyman Barnaby Rudge
Book SynopsisThe first of Dickens's historical novels, Barnaby Rudge, written in 1841, is set at the time of the anti-Catholic riots of 1780, with the real Lord George Gordon, leader of the riots, appearing in the book. The characters are caught up in the resulting mob lawlessness which climaxes in the destruction of Newgate prison, an actual event brought to life in the novel.The plot turns on the relationship between Catholic Emma and Protestant Edward, further complicated by the earlier murder of Reuben Haredale, supposedly by Barnaby though actually by his evil father; but the real focus of the book, as so often in Dickens, is London itself. This is a nightmarishly vivid picture ofa capital city's subterranean life. In A Tale of Two CitiesDickens was to recapture his vision of the mob in all its moods, but he never surpassed the sense of pulsating energy and dangerevoked in thecrowd scenes of Barnaby Rudge. Nor did he often rival the touching relationship between Barnaby and his pet raven, Grip, who embodies the mystical powerof innocence. Although Barnaby Rudge is one of Dickens's lesser known novels, the bond between boy and bird makes it one of his most touching.
£12.99
Whittles Publishing Second Sight
Book SynopsisA novel set in a Highland shooting lodge, where the focus is a hunt in a remote deer forest; but this is no ordinary thriller. A shooting lodge party of wealthy English people, a team of Highland stalkers, a legendary stag to be hunted and a background of glen and corrie, shrouded from time to time by impenetrable mist. A marvellous blend of ever-changing landscape - be it light and shadow, swift transitiions from light to half light, mist, rain, tones and flowing lines - contribute to the dramatic essence of the novel. Culture and personality clashes and mystery, which portent much deeper clashes between spiritual and material values, provide a vastly enjoyable read.
£8.99
And Other Stories The Proof
Book SynopsisMarcia is sixteen, overweight and unhappy. One day, as she's walking down a Buenos Aires street, she hears a shout: 'Wannafuck?' Startled, she turns round and is confronted by two punk girls Lenin and Mao. Soon, she's beguiled by them and the possibilities they open up. But the two have little time for a philosophical discussion of love: they need proof, and with their own savage logic the duo, calling themselves the Commando of Love, hold up a supermarket as the novel climaxes in an unforgettable splatter-fest finale.Trade Review'Hail Cesar!' Patti Smith ---------- 'Bewitching and bewildering ... Compulsively readable ... Aira's writing - with its equal measures of rich complications and airy whimsies - combines brevity with so many possible meanings.' Arifa Akbar, Financial Times ---------- 'Aira writes at full tilt, going where the words take him (a style he calls "constant flight forward") so that reading him is dizzying.' Jane Housham, The Guardian ---------- 'Aira is firmly in the tradition of Jorge Luis Borges and W. G. Sebald.' Mark Doty, Los Angeles Times ---------- 'Aira is one of the most provocative and idiosyncratic novelists working in Spanish today, and should not be missed.' New York Times Book Review ---------- 'Along with a daring sense of fun, Aira has a playful imagination and the ability to spin a yarn as intricate as a spider's web.' Eileen Battersby, Irish Times ---------- 'If there is one contemporary writer who defies classification, it is Cesar Aira. His novels seem to put the theories of Gombrowicz into practice, except, and the difference is fundamental, that Gombrowicz was the abbot of a luxurious imaginary monastery, while Aira is a nun or novice among the Discalced Carmelites of the Word. Sometimes he is reminiscent of Roussel (Roussel on his knees in a bath red with blood), but the only living writer to whom he can be compared is Barcelona's Enrique Vila-Matas.' Roberto Bolano ---------- 'Cesar Aira is writing a gigantic, headlong, acrobatic fresco of modern life entirely made up of novelettes, novellas, novelitas... In other words, he is a great literary trickster, and also one of the most charming.' Adam Thirlwell ---------- 'Aira's works are like slim cabinets of wonder, full of unlikely juxtapositions. His unpredictability is masterful.' Rivka Galchen
£9.86
CB Editions Invisible Dogs
Book SynopsisThe fictional travel diary of an English writer invited to a country in which there are officially no dogs.
£9.50
Transworld Cuckoo
Book SynopsisNell Frizzell is a writer, journalist and Vogue columnist. She has written and worked for the Guardian, VICE, The Sunday Times, Elle, the BBC, the Observer, Grazia and The Independent among many others. Her first book, The Panic Years, was an exploration of bodies, babies and the big questions facing modern life. Her debut novel, Square One, painted a humorous picture of moving home, fathers and daughters and surviving heartbreak. She lives in Oxford, in a very small house full of pasta and bedding and bikes.
£9.49
Pushkin Press Someone to Watch Over You
Book SynopsisIt's early 2020, and with the world in chaos as coronavirus spreads, two lonely people, both seeking to break with their pasts, meet and start sharing a home. One is a former security guard who was captured on video knocking down a protester who died soon afterward; the other, a former teacher accused of driving a student to suicide. In an oppressive atmosphere of tension and fear, the pair avoid direct contact and communicate through notes and their shared presences, close yet distant. Their odd connection, with neither affection nor trust, brings them a kind of privacy and safety they both need - but at what cost?
£8.99
Troubador Publishing In Judgement of Others
Book SynopsisThe Midhurst Amateur Dramatic Society are putting on a production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Tessa has agreed to play a part. But when she suffers a psychotic episode, Ros, a C-list celebrity and new to the community, takes her place. In this darkly comic tale of psychosis in the Home Counties, the stage is set for a blistering examination of mental illness, how we treat it and why we don't. While Tessa is sectioned in a secure psychiatric hospital, the relationships in the community unravel, and by the time she's released, all that we thought we knew, and all of our judgements, are thrown into question. Dim the lights, turn off your phones, settle in as the curtain rises
£9.49
The Lilliput Press Ltd Youth
Book SynopsisYouth dives into the lives of four teenagers in Ireland's most diverse town, Balbriggan. Angel is about to finish school and discover if Drill music and YouTube fame can deliver on their promises. Princess is battling to escape her claustrophobic surroundings and go to university and Dean is ready to come out from under his famous father's shadow, while Tanya, struggling with the spotlight of internet infamy, is still posting her dream life for all of her faithful followers. Isolated and disorientated by the white noise and seemingly insurmountable expectations of adolescence, our protagonists are desperate to find anything that helps them belong. Oblivious to one another's presence, potential and struggles, they pass each other on the street as strangers. But when their paths cross, the connections they make will change the course of their lives. Twenty-first century life hyper-sexualized, social media saturated, anxiety-plagued is here. Living inside its characters' heads, and negotiating their interior landscape, this book is a love song to the possibilities of youth. Using insights gained from the young people he works with, Curran's evocative writing yields the authenticity this novel demands. With instinctive affection and admiration for his characters' strengths and complexities, Youth is a journey through streets less travelled.
£9.49
Boldwood Books Ltd No Ex Before Marriage: The perfect laugh-out-loud
Book SynopsisIt's not over until someone says 'I do'...While her friends join the "Wife Club" one by one, Poppy feels like that part of her life is done and dusted. Already married and divorced she's not desperate to go through all that again.But what if her divorce never actually went through...?After a shock revelation Poppy not only discovers she is still married, but that Zac is about to have his second wedding!Coming face to face with her (almost) ex-husband after six years apart is never going to be easy. And when Zac panics and tells his new wife-to-be that Poppy is family, things can't get much worse as she is welcomed with open arms as part of the wedding party!As the memories flood back, can Poppy really leave the past where it is? And can she watch the first love of her life walk down the aisle to say 'I do' once again?A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from top 10 bestseller Portia MacIntosh, guaranteed to brighten up your day.Praise for Portia MacIntosh:'A hilarious, roaringly fun, feel good, sexy read. I LOVED it!' Holly Martin'This is a heartwarming fun story, perfect for several hours of pure escapism.' Jessica Redland'Super-romantic and full of festive spirit. I loved it!' Mandy Baggot'A feel good, funny and well written book. I read it in 2 days and enjoyed every second!' A.L. Michael
£20.69
Boldwood Books Ltd Stuck With You: A BRAND NEW friends-to-lovers
Book SynopsisSwoony, touching, and so entertaining, Aimee Brown hit this one out of the park.' Jacquelyn MiddletonJade Monroe has finally found the man of her dreams. Or has she? Despite them being newly engaged, her fiancé Conner has suddenly gone radio silent. And even though her family are all giving her the same advice, (he's just not that into you) she’s not convinced.River Matthews has always been his authentic self, without apologies. Honest to a fault, light-hearted and a little lonely. Currently he's the last single standing in his group of friends and he's starting to feel his clock ticking. He’s got close to happily-ever-after before, but now it’s once-bitten-twice-shy, and the only way he’s going to find love is if he takes a chance.The wisdom goes that if you just stop looking, your perfect partner will appear, but who will be there when Jade and River stop searching for ‘the one’?Sexy, sassy and downright irresistible, the brand-new friends-to-lovers romance perfect for fans of Sariah Wilson, Lindsey Kelk and Abby Jiminez.What readers are saying about Aimee Brown:‘Oh, how I loved this book! Aimee Brown has a supreme talent for writing beautifully flawed, authentically funny characters. This opposites-attract story stole my heart and since closing the book I haven't stopped thinking about the characters. A true gem, and my favorite read of the year.’‘Stories like this are why I love reading romance. This would translate well to film. Do you hear me Netflix gods?’‘This book has everything. It’s sexy, heartfelt, and packed with sarcasm – a modern twist on the classic boy next-door romantic comedy that will have you giggling from page to page.’‘You will laugh, cry, and cheer them both on while reading her newest romance. She is a true talent and I love her books!’
£17.24
Canelo The Other Miss Jones
Book SynopsisSomeone has stolen Sally Jones's name. But why? What does she want? As Sally investigates, she uncovers a dark web of lies, crime and danger in this compulsive, twisty thriller.
£9.49
Olympia Publishers Diary of a Manic Lover
Book Synopsis
£12.14
Olympia Publishers Helpless
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Olympia Publishers Punchline
Book Synopsis
£19.23
Olympia Publishers A Younger Version of Yourself
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Boldwood Books Ltd Always On My Mind: The uplifting, heartwarming
Book SynopsisTHE TOP 10 BESTSELLERSometimes when you can’t see the way forwards, the best thing to do is to look back...When Jessie left home at eighteen, she swore she’d never go back. But when life takes a turn for the complicated, she’s forced to move in with her twin, Isaac, and his two best friends. To her dismay, one of these is Elliot, the boy Jessie once loved, until his life was changed forever by a terrible accident that Jessie still blames herself for.Cohabiting with three alarmingly unhouse-trained males was not in Jessie’s life plan so when Isaac, Elliot and Arthur offer her a generous rent discount if she’ll help them with their ‘Boys to Men Project’, designed to end years of disastrous dating, she reluctantly accepts the challenge.As Jessie embraces the comfort of being home, revelling in her new job at her parents’ day centre full of people determined to grow old disgracefully, she realises her housemates aren’t the only ones needing to make some changes. And maybe, if she can finally forgive herself for Elliot’s accident, she can start to look forward to a future, with or without him by her side.Reading Beth Moran’s fabulous novels makes every day better. Heart-warming, soul-nourishing, with smart characters and irresistible romances, it’s impossible not to fall in love with a Beth Moran story. Perfect for all fans of Jill Mansell, Julie Houston, and Jenny Colgan.Praise for Beth Moran:'Beth Moran's heartwarming books never fail to leave me feeling uplifted' Jessica Redland'Let it Snow is so uplifting. It's cleverly written, witty and smart. A winner!' USA Today Bestseller, Judy Leigh‘Life-affirming, joyful and tender.’ Zoe Folbigg * 'Every day is a perfect day to read this.’ Shari LowWhat readers say about Beth Moran:‘I love it when a Beth Moran book is released, the sure knowledge that you’ve got a guaranteed book to whisk you away and warm your heart is worth its weight in gold! Never having to wonder if it’ll be as good as previous books, they’re all brilliant.’‘Another book by Beth Moran I couldn't put down! Can't wait to start the next one, lovely easy reading and feel-good storyline.’‘I read this in two days. I loved the characters so much. My ideal read - I am so pleased the author has written others!’‘A lovely heart-warming story I could not put it down and will be reading more.’
£17.24
Pushkin Press Little
Book SynopsisFrom little beginnings: the extraordinary story of a singular, diminutive crumb of a servant girl turned entertainment mogul.
£10.44
