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
Simon & Schuster Ltd Sleigh Rides and Silver Bells at the Christmas
Book SynopsisThe sparkling Christmas novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author Heidi Swain! When Anna takes on the role of companion to the owner of Wynthorpe Hall, on the outskirts of Wynbridge, she has no idea that her life is set to change beyond all recognition. A confirmed ‘bah humbug’ when it comes to Christmas, Anna is amazed to find herself quickly immersed in the eccentric household, and when youngest son Jamie unexpectedly arrives home it soon becomes obvious that her personal feelings are going all out to compromise her professional persona.Jamie, struggling to come to terms with life back in the Fens, makes a pact with Anna – she has to teach him to fall back in love with Wynthorpe Hall, while he helps her fall back in love with Christmas. But will it all prove too much for Anna, or can the family of Wynthorpe Hall warm her heart once and for all...?Join Anna for a fes
£10.44
Zaffre Corpus: A gripping spy thriller
Book SynopsisThe gripping spy thriller for fans of Robert Harris from Sunday Times bestseller Rory Clements, author of the award-winning NUCLEUS.______________________________1936 - Europe is in turmoil. The Nazis have marched into the Rhineland. In Russia, Stalin has unleashed his Great Terror. Spain has erupted in civil war.In Berlin, a young Englishwoman evades the Gestapo to deliver vital papers to a Jewish scientist. Within weeks, she is found dead, a silver syringe clutched in her fingers.In an exclusive London club, a conspiracy is launched that threatens the very heart of government. When a renowned society couple with fascist leanings are found brutally murdered, a maverick Cambridge professor is drawn into a world of espionage he knows only from history books. The deeper Thomas Wilde delves, the more he finds to link the murders with the girl with the silver syringe - and even more worryingly to the scandal surrounding the Abdication . . .Set against the gathering drumbeat of war and moving from Berlin to Cambridge, from Whitehall to the Kent countryside, and from the Fens to the Aragon Front in Spain, this sweeping international thriller, like C J Sansom's WINTER IN MADRID, marks the beginning of a brilliant new series for Rory Clements.What the critics are saying about CORPUS:'Dramatic . . . pacy and assured . . . Well crafted, it has all the pleasures of an intriguing lead character, intricate plot and fascinating historical context' Daily Mail'Rory Clements's timely spy thriller set in the 1930s evokes a period of political polarisation, mistrust and simmering violence. Corpus is fast-paced and there are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing. This is the first of a promising series and Wilde is a likeable hero' The Times'This clever novel, rich in deceptions and intrigue, shows the reach of Stalin and Hitler into every class of British society, threatening violence on horrific scale. Corpus is a standout historical novel and spy thriller' Daily ExpressTrade Review'pacy and assured...Well crafted, it has all the pleasures of an intriguing lead character, intricate plot and historical context'. -- Elizabeth Buchan * Daily Mail *'Rory Clements's timely spy thriller set in the 1930s evokes a period of political polarisation, mistrust and simmering violence. Corpus is fast-paced and there are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing. This is the first of a promising series and Wilde is a likeable hero. If his leap from Cambridge historian to fearless motor-biking crime fighter stretches credulity, perhaps that is the fault of the Cambridge historians I have known.' -- Antonia Senior * The Times, Saturday Review *'This clever novel, rich in deceptions and intrigue, shows the reach of Stalin and Hitler into every class of British society, threatening violence on a horrific scale. Corpus is a standout historical novel and spy thriller by an author who can turn his hand to any historical period he chooses.' -- Kate Atherton * Daily Express *I was a huge fan of the John Shakespeare series and love every single book. Corpus was an enjoyable read... * Lis The Bookworm *'I really enjoyed this book. It was my first experience of this author and I am very glad I picked this one up. The writing was easy to get into and the plot was engaging. I enjoyed the characters, especially the lead - he is well written and intelligent. Overall this was a great book set in an interesting time and I would definitely recommend picking this book up.' * The Little Book Owl *' An intelligent thriller...I loved the characters and especially hero Professor Thomas Wilde. Our heroine, Lydia is well rounded...Wilde is a cool hero.' * For the Love of Books *'It simply took my breath away. The amount of research that has gone into this superb book is just phenomenal. Boy does Rory Clements know how to tell a story! It's a tangled web of espionage, murder, intrigue and thrills. I'm so glad I got the chance to review this book. When I have time I will be reading this again. There's so much detail that you might miss!' * The Book Guzzler *An atmospheric historical thriller * The Daily Telegraph *Best known for his Tudor espionage novels, Rory Clements has turned his hand to 1930s skulduggery in Corpus... More please, Mr Clements! * Times Higher Education Supplement *
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers My Absolute Darling
Book SynopsisTrade Review‘There are books we like well enough to recommend, but there are a very few – To Kill a Mockingbird, Catch-22, The Things They Carried – that we remember forever. To my own shortlist I can now add My Absolute Darling, by Gabriel Tallent … The word “masterpiece” has been cheapened by too many blurbs, but My Absolute Darling absolutely is one’ Stephen King ‘If you liked Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, you’ll love this’ Daily Mail ‘A powerful tale with a howitzer of a heroine and a plethora of extraordinary scenes’ TLS ‘A heartrending debut that will shock, then shake, then inspire you’ Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You ‘An outstanding book that could be this year’s A Little Life’ Guardian ‘My Absolute Darling is an absolute triumph’ National ‘The writing is beautiful and vivid, while the story is brilliantly urgent, brutal and uncompromising’ Claire Fuller, author of Our Endless Numbered Days ‘Tallent’s breathtaking debut is a harrowing and at times psychologically difficult journey on the scale of A Little Life or The Goldfinch, but it’s worth it . . . a true inspiration’ Harper’s Bazaar ‘Once a year – certainly no more – along comes a special novel that turns its readers into literary holy rollers. A couple of years ago it was Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Before that Ferrante fever. This year, I suspect it will be My Absolute Darling’ The Times ‘This is a compelling and unsettling novel that sucks you into its darkly warped world and doesn’t let go until the last page … powerful, violent, savage and quite brilliant’ Daily Express ‘A gut wrenching, terrifying novel written so beautifully it sings off the page’ Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat ‘This is a bloody, brutal tale, but also an incredibly beautiful one’ Emerald Street
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Flea Palace
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, Elif Shafak''s The Flea Palace is a moving and highly original novel about a group of individuals who live in the same building and who together become embroiled in a mystery.By turns comic and tragic, The Flea Palace is an outstandingly original novel driven by an overriding sense of social justice.Bonbon Palace was once a stately apartment block in Istanbul. Now it is a sadly dilapidated home to ten wildly different individuals and their families.There''s a womanizing, hard-drinking academic with a penchant for philosophy; a ''clean freak'' and her lice-ridden daughter; a lapsed Jew in search of true love; and a charmingly naïve mistress whose shadowy past lurks in the building. When the rubbish at Bonbon Palace is stolen, a mysterious sequence of events unfolds that result in a soul-searching quest for truth.''Picaresque'' Guardian''Hyperactive and hilarious''
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Franny and Zooey
Book SynopsisFranny Glass is a pretty, effervescent college student on a date with her intellectually confident boyfriend, Lane. They appear to be the perfect couple, but as they struggle to communicate with each other about the things they really care about, slowly their 1 feelings come to the surface. The second story in this book, 'Zooey', plunges us into the world of her ethereal, sophisticated family. When Franny's emotional and spiritual doubts reach new heights, her older brother Zooey, a misanthropic former child genius, offers her consolation and brotherly advice. Written in Salinger's typically irreverent style, these two stories offer a touching snapshot of the distraught mindset of early adulthood and are full of the insightful emotional observations and witty turns of phrase that have helped make Salinger's reputation what it is today.
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd On the Road
Book SynopsisJack Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1922. Educated by Jesuit brothers in Lowell, he decided to become a writer at age seventeen and developed his own writing style, which he called 'spontaneous prose'. He used this technique to record the life of the American 'traveler' and the experiences of the Beat Generation, most memorably in On the Road and also in The Subterraneans and The Dharma Bums. His other works include Big Sur, Desolation Angels, Lonesome Traveler, Visions of Gerard, Tristessa, and a book of poetry called Mexico City Blues. Jack Kerouac died in 1969.Trade ReviewPop writing at its best. It changed the way I saw the world, making me yearn for fresh experience -- Hanif Kureishi * Independent on Sunday *On the Road sold a trillion Levis and a million espresso machines, and also sent countless kids on the road. The alienation, the restlessness, the dissatisfaction were already there waiting when Kerouac pointed out the road -- William Burroughs
£8.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Chase Isaac Bell 1
Book SynopsisIn The Chase Clive Cussler introduces a historical hero- Isaac Bell. 1950: the rusting hulk of a steam locomotive is raised from the depths of a Montana lake. Inside are three bodies, bloody clue to a fortune lost for over forty years . . . 1906: For two years banks across the western United States have been living in terror of the ''Butcher Bandit''. This cold-blooded bank robber empties safes and murders all witnesses, vanishing without trace. In desperation, the US Government calls in Isaac Bell, the best detective in the country. From Arizona to Colorado to the streets of San Francisco during the great quake, Bell uses all his guile and ingenuity to catch up with the murderous Bandit. But when Bell has him almost cornered - the Bandit turns really nasty. And suddenly the stakes have changed. Bell isn''t just battling to get his man. He''s fighting for his very survival . . .Bestseller Clive Cussler - author of the Dirk Pitt novels
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Whispers in the Sand
Book SynopsisPast and present collide on a richly mysterious Nile cruiseFrom the bestselling author of Lady of Hay comes this atmospheric and gripping page-turner. Recently divorced Anna Fox decides to cheer herself up by retracing a journey her great grandmother Louisa made in the mid-nineteenth century a Nile cruise from Luxor to Aswan. Anna carries with her two of Louisa's possessions: an ancient Egyptian scent bottle and an illustrated diary of the original cruise that has lain unread for over a hundred years.As she follows in Louisa's footsteps, Anna discovers in the diary a wonderful Victorian love story and the chilling secret of the little glass bottle. Meanwhile two men from the tour party develop an unfriendly rivalry for her attention, while showing a disturbing interest in Louisa's mementoes. Most frightening of all, Anna finds herself the victim of a spectral presence that grows in strength and threat as the dramatic stories from three different eras intertwine in a terrifying climax.Trade ReviewPraise for Barbara Erskine ‘An engrossing race against time’ Woman and Home ‘This is one of the most gripping page-turners I’ve read’ Sun ‘Her forte is mood, atmosphere and the toe-curling frisson’ Elizabeth Buchan, Sunday Times
£9.49
Dover Publications Inc. Walden or Life in the Woods
Book SynopsisAccounts of Thoreau's daily life on the shores of Walden Pond outside Concord, Massachusetts, are interwoven with musings on the virtues of self-reliance and individual freedom, on society, government, and other topics. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
£6.49
Random House USA Inc Jitterbug Perfume
Book SynopsisJitterbug Perfume is an epic.Which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn’t conclude until nine o’clock tonight (Paris time).It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle.The bottle is blue, very, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god. If the liquid in the bottle actually is the secret essence of the universe, as some folks seem to think, it had better be discovered soon because it is leaking and there is only a drop or two left.
£14.24
Granta Books Go, Went, Gone
Book Synopsis'Vital... [Erpenbeck] is asking a compelling and timely question' Sally Rooney, Irish Times Richard has spent his life as a university professor, immersed in the world of books and ideas. Recently retired, he steps into the streets of his city, Berlin, and discovers a new community. A tent city has grown up on Oranienplatz, established by African asylum seekers. Hesitantly getting to know the people there, Richard finds his life changing, as he begins to question his own sense of belonging in a city that once divided its citizens into them and us. At once a passionate contribution to the debate on race, and a beautifully written examination of an ageing man's quest for meaning, Go, Went, Gone showcases one of the great contemporary European novelists at the height of her powers. 'Profound, beautiful and deeply affecting... [An] extraordinary novel, bearing unflinching testament to history as it unfolds' Neel Mukherjee, New Statesman 'One of Europe's most highly regarded writers... Erpenbeck's most significant work to date' Financial TimesTrade ReviewErpenbeck is becoming one of Europe's most highly regarded writers, perpetually striving to create an artistic prism through which to interpret history's arc... Superbly translated by her usual collaborator Susan Bernofsky [...] there is a melancholic undertone to the novel, murmuring beneath its condensed, liquid prose. Deceptively unhurried, yet undeniably urgent, this is Erpenbeck's most significant work to date -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *Europe's outstanding literary seer, Jenny Erpenbeck's new novel resonates with an unexpected simplicity that is profound, unsettling and subtle. Astutely translated by Susan Bernofsky [...] Erpenbeck's powerful tale, delivered in a wonderfully plain, candid tone, is both real and true. It will alert readers, make us more aware and, it is to be hoped, more human -- Eileen Battersby * Guardian *A remarkable novel which questions our understanding of borders and identity and which calls above all for compassion -- Annie Rutherford * Skinny *Susan Bernofsky's finely crafted translation [...] reaches Anglophone readers at an opportune moment... Erpenbeck binds the upheavals of past and present, Europe and Africa. Lyrical and satirical by turns, she shows that fearful isolation, emotional or political, hurts wall-builders and wall-jumpers alike * Economist *Vital... [Erpenbeck] is asking a compelling and timely question -- Sally Rooney * Irish Times *Acclaimed novelist Jenny Erpenbeck has gone further than most in examining the ephemeral nature of human life... An immensely ambitious novel, tackling a wide, complex range of themes, it is about the arbitrariness of borders, both literal and metaphorical, and the notion of foreignness as opposed to belonging. It is about the complex nature of comprehension and compassion, and the places genuine empathy between foreign bodies might be achieved... It is also a clarion call, a righteous protest against dehumanising government systems [...] Ultimately Erpenbeck - wise, caring and profound - triumphs in this heart-rending plea for universal tolerance and respect -- Jane Graham * Big Issue *[In] this wise, moving novel [...] Erpenbeck demands that her fellow countrymen show compassion to those whose lives have been "cut off, as if with a knife"' -- Paul Connolly * Metro *At once urgent and contemporary [...] the brilliant German novelist, Jenny Erpenbeck, has taken on the churn of the great issues of refugees, illegal immigration and asylum in her latest novel, Go, Went, Gone and created something profound, beautiful and deeply affecting... It is a mark of Erpenbeck's compassion and her complex, nuanced understanding of the human motivations of sympathy that she can make [a] (white, liberal) weakness of Richard a tender, even humorous seam in her book... [An] extraordinary novel, bearing unflinching testament to history as it unfolds -- Neel Mukherjee * New Statesman *Jenny Erpenbeck shows us that we are involved already, whether we want to be or not -- Maren Meinhardt * TLS *Not only timely but masterful -- Michael Pollan * Guardian *Very moving -- Carol Morley * Observer *Lyrical, absorbing -- Julia Alvarez * International New York Times *
£9.49
Profile Books Ltd The Accusation: Forbidden Stories From Inside
Book SynopsisIn 1989, a North Korean dissident writer, known to us only by the pseudonym Bandi, began to write a series of stories about life under Kim Il-sung's totalitarian regime. Smuggled out of North Korea and set for publication around the world in 2017, The Accusation provides a unique and shocking window on this most secretive of countries. Bandi's profound, deeply moving, vividly characterised stories tell of ordinary men and women facing the terrible absurdity of daily life in North Korea: a factory supervisor caught between loyalty to an old friend and loyalty to the Party; a woman struggling to feed her husband through the great famine; the staunch Party man whose actor son reveals to him the absurd theatre of their reality; the mother raising her child in a world where the all-pervasive propaganda is the very stuff of childhood nightmare. The Accusation is a heartbreaking portrayal of the realities of life in North Korea. It is also a reminder that humanity can sustain hope even in the most desperate of circumstances - and that the courage of free thought has a power far beyond those seek to suppress it.Trade ReviewSpare, direct, unflinching and bitterly angry ... Bandi's characters struggle to live with love, humour and humanity while conforming to the demands of the regime, but are undone by the impossibility of the proposition, by the routine injustice, corruption and cruelties endemic in the system * Observer *A cross between parable and absurdist fiction ... yet Bandi [presents] a world in which North Koreans are nuanced: broken-hearted, idealistic, still full of life * Times Literary Supplement *Fascinating and chilling. Heartfelt and heartbreaking -- Margaret AtwoodCourageous and confounding ... It's a quiet privilege to be given access to the voiceless by listening to such vivid and uncompromised storytelling ... this collection of stories seems both a flickering light in North Korea's darkness and an unintentional reminder that it is getting darker here, too. * New Statesman *An extraordinary story of people in North Korea ... highly readable, nuanced and credible -- Stephen Evans, BBC South Korea Correspondent * BBC World Service *If poetry, as Wordsworth said, can be glossed as powerful emotion recollected in tranquillity, The Accusation reads like powerful emotion felt right now, in a condition of ongoing crisis ... In its scope and courage, The Accusation is an act of great love. -- RO Rwon * Guardian *What's especially satisfying about this collection is that its worth goes well beyond the political or historical. Without melodrama or hyperbole, Bandi places us in a parallel universe of oppressive ritual, military-style code words and bizarre restrictions ... it reads like an Orwellian dystopia, Bandi tears at the heart with simple illustrations of the tenderness between husband and wife, parent and child, and a people who gaze at the larks swooping and soaring above them and marvel at their freedom. -- Jane Graham * The Big Issue *Revealing the terrible truth of living in a country where any freedoms are curtailed, where famine and brutality are rife, but where human belief and hope can survive any odds, this is a defining read for 2017. * Emerald Street *The Solzhenitsyn of Pyongyang ... A luminous testimony, crammed with irony, on the insane regime of Kim Il-Sung and the hopelessness of the citizens of North Korea * L’Express *Even if one did not know anything about the writer or the way the manuscript was smuggled out of the country, it would not diminish the fact that the force of this collection of novellas evokes the classics of world literature about totalitarianism * L’ours *
£8.54
Simon & Schuster Ltd Snowflakes and Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter
Book Synopsis***The sparkling Christmas novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author Heidi Swain!***After calling off her engagement, Hayley, the Wynthorpe Hall housekeeper, wants nothing more than to return to her no-strings fun-loving self, avoiding any chance of future heartbreak. Little does she know, Wynbridge’s latest arrival is about to throw her plan entirely off course . . . Moving into Wynthorpe Hall to escape the town’s gossip, Hayley finds herself immersed in the eccentric Connelly family’s festive activities as they plan to host their first ever Winter Wonderland. But Hayley isn’t the only new resident at the hall. Gabe, a friend of the Connelly’s son Jamie, has also taken up residence, moving into Gatekeeper’s Cottage, and he quickly makes an impression on Wynbridge’s reformed good-girl. As preparations commence for th
£8.54
Faber & Faber Thayil J Narcopolis
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Narcopolis is a rich and hallucinatory novel set around a Bombay opium den, as the city transforms itself over three decades.In Old Bombay, they say you introduce only your worst enemy to opium. But in Rashid''s opium room on Shuklaji Street, the air is thick with voices and ghosts. A young woman holds a long-stemmed pipe over a flame, her hair falling across her eyes. Men sprawl and mutter in the gloom. And now there is an underworld whisper of a new terror: the Pathar Maar, the stone killer, whose victims are the nameless, invisible poor. In broken Bombay, there are too many to count. Stretching across three decades, with an interlude in Mao''s China, Narcopolis portrays a city in collision with itself. With a cast of pimps, pushers, poets, gangsters and eunuchs, it is a journey into a sprawling underworld written in electric and utterly original prose.
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group Happiness for Humans
Book Synopsis''Loved this book. Funny, quirky, unexpected'' Jojo Moyes''Very clever and great fun'' Kate Eberlen''Bridget Jones'' diary for the digital age'' Daily RecordHappiness for Humans is a joyful, romantic and very funny story, perfect for readers who loved The Rosie Project and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.Do you believe in soulmates?Aiden does. So when his colleague, Jen, is dumped unceremoniously by her dreadful boyfriend, Aiden decides to take matters - and Jen''s life - into his own hands. Scouring the internet for a suitable partner for Jen, Aiden finds Tom. He''d be perfect for Jen apart from one minor detail: Tom lives in New York. Luckily for Jen and Tom, Aiden''s not just an interfering colleague. In fact, Aiden isn''t exactly human - he''s a very complicated artificial intelligence. As Jen anTrade ReviewLoved this book. Funny, quirky, unexpected -- Jojo Moyesan absolute joy to read... Hilarious and exceedingly relatable -- Carrie Hope FletcherSo funny, clever and timely. I loved it. -- Martha KearneyVery clever and great fun -- Kate Eberlen, bestselling author of Miss YouIt's refreshing to read such a positive, funny and warm story about the potential of artificial intelligence. These computer programs don't want to destroy humanity, they want to watch soppy films and help people fall in love. This is Jane Austen's Emma for the digital era. -- Keith Stuart, bestselling author of A Boy Made of BlocksYou'll love this quirky, brilliantly funny love story... If you use Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant, prepare to have your heart warmed - and be a little bit scared! * Fabulous *A smart, warm fiction and the ultimate curl-up read... the most charming book I've read in ages * Image *A sweet romantic comedy that asks what it really means to be happy (and also takes a gentle look at the scary idea of technology taking over our lives) * Stylist *Bridget Jones' diary for the digital age * Daily Record *This screwball comedy is touching and hilarious * Sunday Mirror *One of the most uplifting and romantic novels I've read in a long time -- Sarra Manning * Red magazine *Humans meets The Rosie Project . . . A real smiler of a book -- Nina Pottell * Prima *Fun, romantic, original, with a clever and sinister twist -- Fanny Blake * Woman and Home *reads a bit like a Richard Curtis screenplay adapted from the works of Arthur C Clarke... Clever but unpretentious, this book is both a light-hearted confection that will leave you with a warm glow and a chilling vision of things to come -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Express *An original and thought-provoking little gem * Sunday Sport *A sort of Shakespearean comedy of errors but instead of the gods there are rogue AIs seeking to meddle in the affairs of humans. Great fun. * The Bookseller *One of the most unique love stories ever written, this novel blends the ethereal concepts of true love and fate with a thoughtful examination of the risks and worries of artificial intelligence. * RT Book Reviews *A frothy rom-com in literary form...a broad and madcap love story...charming * Kirkus Reviews *This clever novel will appeal to David Nicholls fans. It's witty and great fun * Daily Mail *I am by no means alone in thinking that this funny, madcap romp for the digital-age, featuring believably flawed characters (not all human), deserves to be a hit. Rights have been sold in 26 territories and Working Title and Fox 2000 have a Film option on what could be Sleepless in Seattle meets The Lobster. One of the factors in its favour is that, like David Nicholls' One Day or Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Project, it should appeal to male and female readers. * Sunday Times *
£7.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Undomestic Goddess
Book SynopsisSophie Kinsella is an internationally bestselling writer. She is the author of many number one bestsellers, including the hugely popular Shopaholic series. She has also written seven bestselling novels as Madeleine Wickham and several books for children. She lives in the UK with her husband and family.Visit her website at www.sophiekinsella.co.uk and find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SophieKinsellaOfficial. You can also follow her on Twitter @KinsellaSophie and Instagram @sophiekinsellawriter.Trade ReviewA deliciously sweet story of new horizons and burgeoning love, this is Kinsella escapism at its finest. * Good Housekeeping *A delightful comedy of errors from the funniest female writer around * Company *A top summer read * Sun *Witty role-swap comedy * Grazia *Hilariously chaotic * Sunday Express *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Thief of Time
Book SynopsisMatthieu Zela has lived his life well. In fact, he''s lived several lives well. Because Matthew Zela''s life is characterised by one amazing fact: his body stopped ageing before the end of the eighteenth century. Starting in 1758, a young Matthieu flees Paris after witnessing his mother''s brutal murder. His only companions are his younger brother Tomas and one true love, Dominique Sauvet. The story of his life takes us from the French Revolution to 1920s Hollywood, from the Great Exhibition to the Wall Street Crash, and by the end of the twentieth century, Matthieu has been an engineer, a rogue, a movie mogul, a soldier, a financier, a lover to many, a cable TV executive and much more besides.Brilliantly weaving history and personal experience, this is a dazzling story of love, murder, missed chances, treachery - and redemption.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary début * Sunday Express *A minor masterpiece * Time Out *Boyne should be congratulated for his spirited take on an old theme * Guardian *Boyne is a skilful storyteller, expertly weaving differing stories together * Sunday Tribune *
£10.44
Faber & Faber Fear and Trembling by Nothomb Amelie Author ON
Book Synopsis''Ingenious . . . With great delicacy, Nothomb updates the age-old divide between East and West in this delectable little book.'' O, The Oprah MagazineAmélie, a well-intentioned and eager young westerner, goes to Japan to spend a year working at the Yumimoto Corporation. Returning to the land where she was born is the fulfilment of a dream for Amélie, but once there her working life quickly becomes a comic nightmare of terror and self-abasement. Disturbing, hilarious and totally convincing, Fear and Trembling displays an elegant and shrewd understanding of the intricate ways in which Japanese relationships are made and spoiled.''A vituperatively funny attack on an alien culture.'' Daily Telegraph''Nothomb is the latest enfant terrible of French letters - she has an acidic yet passionately romantic view of human nature.'' Elle''A scathingly funny novella.'' NewsdayTrade Review"'Ingenious... With great delicacy, Nothomb updates the age-old divide between East and West in this delectable little book.' O, The Oprah Magazine; 'Nothomb is the latest enfant terrible of French letters... She has an acidic yet passionately romantic view of human nature.' Elle"
£9.49
Faber & Faber Finnegans Wake
Book SynopsisThe complete text of James Joyce''s dream masterpiece, one of the great works of twentieth-century literature. This copyright edition incorporates Joyce''s own alterations and corrections to the first printing in 1939.''Here words are not the polite contortions of twentieth-century printer''s ink. They are alive. They elbow their way on to the page, and glow and blaze and fade and disappear.'' Samuel Beckett
£13.49
Faber & Faber A Girl in Winter
Book SynopsisLose yourself in this tale of young love by the best-loved English poet of the past 100 years.'' (Sunday Times)Katherine Lind is a refugee who has become a librarian in a wartime Northern town. One winter''s day, she receives a telegram: and her thoughts drift back to falling in love with her pen-pal, Robin Fennel, on a glorious summer exchange. But on his return from the army, their reunion is not what they imagined ...Beautiful.' Nina StibbeRemarkable Diffused poetry.' Simon GarfieldHighly sensitive Reminiscent of Virginia Woolf.' Joyce Carol OatesFunny and profoundly sad.'' Andrew Motion''Strange and beautiful ... Short, intense and obsessed with the tiny ballets of social interaction, they could only have been written by someone very young (the writer they most remind me of is Sally Rooney) ... Weird but brilliant ... Zingily contemporary.' Sunday TimesTrade Review"'A Girl in Winter is a beautifully constructed, funny and profoundly sad book.' Andrew Motion"
£9.49
Faber & Faber Extinction
Book SynopsisLRB BOOKSHOP'S AUTHOR OF THE MONTH ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S BEST BOOKS OF 2019WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY GEOFF DYER'If you haven't read Bernhard, you will not know of the most radical advance in fiction since Joyce ...
£11.69
Pan Macmillan Secrets at the Beach House
Book SynopsisSecrets at the Beach House was first published in 1989 by Diane Chamberlain as Private Relations, this updated edition contains an added epilogue joining the characters 25 years later to complete this enduring tale of love and friendship.Welcome to the Chapel House, an old oceanfront mansion where a group of close friends share their hopes and dreams . . . and where love is sometimes an unexpected guest.Recovering from her recent divorce, Kit Sheridan finds a safe haven in the grand Jersey shore mansion. But her stay there soon becomes complicated when she falls for Cole Perelle, a young doctor staying at the beach house. Working in the public relations team at the hospital brings her into constant contact with him both at home and at work.Cole, however, has set his heart on another. Estelle’s beauty and high-flying ways are difficult to compete with, but as secrets from the past come to the surface, the lives of the Chapel House residents are about to change forever . . .Trade ReviewA fascinating tour through minds and heart -- Nora RobertsI love Diane’s writing . . . So powerful and beautifully written -- Cathy KellyChamberlain puts so much grit, emotion and drama into her books that it’s impossible to stop thinking about the plot * Heat *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Waves
Book SynopsisWITH INTRODUCTIONS BY JEANETTE WINTERSON AND GILLIAN BEERThe Waves is an astonishingly beautiful and poetic novel. It begins with six children playing in a garden by the sea and follows their lives as they grow up and experience friendship, love and grief at the death of their beloved friend Percival. Regarded by many as her greatest work, The Waves is also seen as Virginia Woolf''s response to the loss of her brother Thoby, who died when he was twenty-six.The Vintage Classics Virginia Woolf series has been curated by Jeanette Winterson, and the texts used are based on the original Hogarth Press editions published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf.Trade ReviewClear, bright, burnished, at once marvellously accurate and subtly connotative. The pure, delicate sensibility found in this language and the moods that it expresses are a true kind of poetry * New York Times *As a reader, as a writer, I constantly return, for the lyricism of it, the melancholy, the humanity -- Amy Sackville * Independent *
£7.19
Ebury Publishing Notes of a Dirty Old Man
Book SynopsisBeginning in 1967, Bukowski wrote the column Notes of A Dirty Old Man for the underground newspaper Open City. Perennially drunk, broke and in search of a woman, Bukowski takes on the guise of a wise fool as he ventures through America''s seedy lowlife. Peopled by Kerouac, Burroughs and other much less salubrious characters, his exploits provoke humour and despair, whilst highlighting the inherent beauty and futility of life.Trade ReviewA laureate of American low life * Time *
£11.69
Little, Brown Book Group Christmas at Rosie Hopkins Sweetshop
Book Synopsis''Nobody does cosy, get-away-from-it-all romance like Jenny Colgan'' Sunday Express__________________________________Christmas is going to be extra magical this year . . . With real mouth-watering recipes for you to try at homeRosie Hopkins is looking forward to Christmas in the little Derbyshire village of Lipton, buried under a thick blanket of snow. Her sweetshop is festooned with striped candy canes, large tempting piles of Turkish Delight, crinkling selection boxes and happy, sticky children. She''s going to be spending it with her boyfriend, Stephen, and her family, flying in from Australia. She can''t wait.But when a tragedy strikes at the heart of their little community, all of Rosie''s plans for the future seem to be blown apart. Can she build a life in Lipton? And is what''s best for the sweetshop also what''s best for Rosie? Treat yourself and your sweet-toothed friends to Jenny Colgan''s heart-warming new novel. The irresistibly delicious recipes are guaranteed to get you into the festive spirit and will warm up your Christmas celebrations.____________________Why readers ADORE Jenny Colgan ''Jenny Colgan has a way of writing that makes me melt inside'' ''Her books are so good I want to start over as soon as I have finished'' ''There''s something so engaging about her characters and plots'' ''Her books are like a big, warm blanket'' ''Her stories are just so fabulous'' ''She brings her settings and characters so vividly to life'' ''The woman is just magic''Trade ReviewChristmas, sweets and heaps of romance * Heat *Filled with charming detail about village life * Sunday Mirror *Where else can you get a love story and a recipe for millionaire's shortbread in the same place? * Heat *Another great read from Jenny that will really get you in the festive spirit * Bella *A fab read . . . includes delicious recipes * The Sun (Fabulous) *Jenny Colgan's heart-warming tale of friends and family coming together for the Christmas season is not only a great read - it contains some mouth-watering recipes to inspire your Christmas celebrations * Irish Post *This charming sequel is comical and heart-warming and guaranteed to get you in the mood for the big day * Closer Magazine *This is a wonderful, bittersweet Christmas read that I would definitely recommend * Novelicious *A must read winter warmer that has a little bit of everything nestled within its pages * Fiction Fascination blog *A poignant and a beautifully written festive book packed with sweet-toothed recipes that is perfect to get you into the Christmas mood * Handwrittengirl.com *There was never a dull moment - the storyline had everything you could wish for . . . a warm, cosy, entertaining read that was very eventful and had a lovely splash of romance * Rea Book Review Blog *
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Bedlam Stacks
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE''S ENCORE AWARD 2018LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 2018''A sheer fantastical delight'' The Times''Epic'' New York Times''An immense treat'' Observer Books of the Year''A fast-paced adventure story'' i ''Magical'' Sunday ExpressIn uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a mysterious forest. Deep within are cinchona trees, whose bark yields the only known treatment for malaria.In 1859, across the Pacific, India is ravaged by the disease. In desperation, the India Office dispatches the injured expeditionary Merrick Tremayne to Bedlam, under orders to return with cinchona cuttings. But there he meets Raphael, an enigmatic priest who is the key to a secret which will prove more valuable than they could ever have imagined.Trade ReviewThe Peru that Markham and Tremayne encounter is a sheer fantastical delight. Exploding “whitewood” trees, lamps made of glowing pollen, moving statues and rock formations of pure glass ... What’s more, she writes elegantly and plots like a pro * The Times *An immense treat for lovers of both historical fiction and the surreal -- Books of the Year * Observer *A fast-paced adventure story with great characters and a message about colonialism * i *Pulley’s prose is as delightfully playful and evocative as ever. She paints a hidden world that's every bit as colourful as James Cameron’s Pandora, packed with vibrant and quirky characters, and fascinating historical detail that never feels forced **** * SFX Magazine *Filled with wondrous images, from moving statues to exploding trees … It rolls along at speed to a satisfying ending * Scotsman *A magical, hugely imaginative novel set in 1859 … Adventure and mystery abound as his expedition encounters moving statues, exploding trees, volcanic glass, floating cities and protective Incas * Sunday Express *Impossible to put down * San Francisco Book Review *Natasha Pulley had a lot to live up to after the runaway success of her debut novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. But she’s managed to do just that with The Bedlam Stacks * Herald *This terrific historical adventure draws on the same world of magic and intrigue as Pulley’s bestselling The Watchmaker of Filigree Street … Brilliantly imaginative * Saga ‘Poolside page-turners’ *Part adventure story, part meditation, and all richly imagined dreamscape ... Pulley’s story reaches across the years and miles to reflect on the nature of time, myth, magic, and above all, what makes us most human … Magical on the outside and inside * Chicago Review of Books *Immensely readable ... The story’s rich detail provides the reader a clear experience of 1850s Peru while imparting believability to its magic and imaginative elements. Its exciting style, humour and uniqueness are nothing short of charming. Enthusiastically recommended * Historical Novel Society *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Villa
Book SynopsisSophia is the pride of the Giambelli clan and a vital player in the family''s celebrated winery. But things are about to change at Villa Giambelli.Family matriarch Tereza has announced a surprise merger with the MacMillan family''s winery. As a savvy businesswoman, Sophia knows she must be ready for anything - but she isn''t prepared for Tyler MacMillan. They''ve been ordered to work closely together to ensure the merger goes through smoothly. But as they toil together, both in and out of the fields, Sophia finds herself increasingly torn between professional rivalry and a powerful attraction. And when the business and the family are threatened by disturbing acts of sabotage, Sophia realises her quest isn''t just for dominance, but survival...''Nora Roberts is a superstar''New York Times''The most successful novelist on Planet Earth''Washington PostTrade ReviewA fast-paced action adventure . . . With twists and turns in every chapter, you're taken through a rollercoaster journey that will constantly keep you guessing. Lovers, stalkers, killers, High Noon is more than just your average love story * Xeher *You can't bottle wish fulfillment, but Nora Roberts certainly knows how to put it on the page * New York Times *The most successful novelist on Planet Earth * Washington Post *Set in beautiful Napa Valley, California, Nora Roberts * The Villa portrays a rich world of family-owned wineries, complete with enough romance, sophisticated business intrigue, betrayal and murder to cow the Medicis of Florence. The novel focuses on the merger of two prominent winemaking families, the Giambell *
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Sea Prayer: The Sunday Times and New York Times
Book SynopsisA Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller A deeply moving, gorgeously illustrated short story for people of all ages from the international bestselling author of The Kite Runner, brought to life by Dan Williams's beautiful illustrations 'The book may be brief, but it is beautiful, poetic – a distillation of his strengths' Sunday Times On a moonlit beach a father cradles his sleeping son as they wait for dawn to break and a boat to arrive. He speaks to his boy of the long summers of his childhood, recalling his grandfather’s house in Syria, the stirring of olive trees in the breeze, the bleating of his grandmother’s goat, the clanking of her cooking pots. And he remembers, too, the bustling city of Homs with its crowded lanes, its mosque and grand souk, in the days before the sky spat bombs and they had to flee. When the sun rises they and those around them will gather their possessions and embark on a perilous sea journey in search of a new home. Proceeds from the sale of Sea Prayer will go to The Khaled Hosseini Foundation and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency to help fund life-saving support and build better futures for refugees around the world.Trade ReviewAs moving as any of his novels … For all its brevity packs a powerful punch * i *Dan Williams’s watercolours are a haunting companion to the contemplative and poetic story … Opens up many powerful emotions about family, survival and childhood * Observer *The book may be brief, but it is beautiful, poetic – a distillation of his strengths * Sunday Times *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Makioka Sisters
Book SynopsisJunichiro Tanizaki was one of Japan's greatest twentienth century novelists. Born in 1886 in Tokyo, his first published work - a one-act play - appeared in 1910 in a literary magazine he helped to found. Tanizaki lived in the cosmopolitan Tokyo area until the earthquake of 1923, when he moved to the Kyoto-Osaka region and became absorbed in Japan's past.All his most important works were written after 1923, among them Some Prefer Nettles (1929), The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi (1935), several modern versions of The Tale of Genji (1941, 1954 and 1965), The Makioka Sisters, The Key (1956) and Diary of a Mad Old Man (1961). He was awarded an Imperial Award for Cultural Merit in 1949 and in 1965 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the first Japanese writer to receive this honour. Tanizaki died later that same year.Trade ReviewExquisite craftsmanship * Guardian *An exquisite novel about four sisters living though a turbulent decade, during the Forties and Fifties, I'd put it in the 10 greatest books of the 20th century -- David Mitchell * Daily Express *A complex, detailed and agreeably gossipy book...The author's obvious nostalgia for this vanished world does not prevent him from looking objectively at its darker side and this, together with his artful blend of the exotic and the mundane, creates an absorbing and richly textured story * Sunday Times *A subtle, moving novel * The Times *A classic novel of a whole country about to turn on the terrible hinge of the war into modernity; its tone is elegiac and bleak * Observer *
£10.44
Melville House Publishing Bartleby the Scrivener
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Snow Falling on Cedars
Book SynopsisThe classic, worldwide bestseller from the author of East of the Mountains. With an introduction by Nicholas EvansTrade Review'This is classic whodunnit territory but Guterson's fiercely intelligent and moving novel is far more than a murder mystery ... Guterson has written a novel about the human condition that marvellously combines tenderness and excitement' The Times 'A skilfully constructed, deeply affecting story of love and death ... This is a hugely attractive book, written in clipped elegant prose' Sunday Times 'Compelling ... a flawlessly written first novel' New York Times 'Love and morality are beautifully choreographed into an exceptional debut novel' Daily Mail
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Audition
Book SynopsisThe shocking psycho-thriller behind the cult Japanese horror filmTrade Review'The prose in these passages is elegiac and affecting, but it has the sharp, visceral feel of the butcher's knife or surgeons scalpel a highly compulsive, one-sitting read, and Audition should add to the Renaissance Man's growing fanbase in the English speaking world' Irvine Welsh, Guardian PRAISE FOR PIERCING 'There are echoes here of Edgar Allan Poe and Dostoevsky - Murakami shares their fascination with the darkest layer of the soul, and the appalling isolation of the criminal. Creepy and gripping' The Times 'The fame, or even notoriety, of Ryu Murakami lies in his ability to write tightly plotted, well-written tales of violence, seedy sex and horror combined with a vivid sense of the neon-slashed but oppressive atmosphere of the Tokyo street, all underpinned with a fashionable nihilism' Sunday Telegraph 'A haunting Japanese version of a David Lynch nightmare' Guardian
£10.44
Simon & Schuster Animals People
Book SynopsisEver since he can remember, Animal has gone on all fours, the catastrophic result of what happened on That Night when, thanks to an American chemical company, the Apocalypse visited his slum. Now not quite twenty, he leads a hand-to-mouth existence with his dog Jara and a crazy old nun called Ma Franci, and spends his nights fantasising about Nisha, the daughter of a local musician, and wondering what it must be like to get laid. When a young American doctor, Elli Barber, comes to town to open a free clinic for the still suffering townsfolk - only to find herself struggling to convince them that she isn''t there to do the dirty work of the ''Kampani'' - Animal plunges into a web of intrigues, scams and plots with the unabashed aim of turning events to his own advantage. Compellingly honest, entertaining and entirely without self-pity, Animal''s account lights our way into his dark world with flashes of pure joy - from the very first page all the way to the story''s expl
£10.44
Canongate Books That Old Country Music
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE EDGE HILL SHORT STORY PRIZE'One of the best collections you'll read this year' Sunday Times'Wild, witty stories . . . Exhilarating' ObserverIn this rapturous story collection we encounter a ragbag of west of Ireland characters, many on the cusp between love and catastrophe, heartbreak and epiphany, resignation and hope. These stories affirm Kevin Barry as one of the world's most accomplished and gifted writers, and show an Ireland in a condition of great flux but also as a place where older rhythms, and an older magic, somehow persist.Trade ReviewThe master short story teller turns messy emotions into riveting tales of wounded Irish folk . . . One of the best collections you'll read this year * * Sunday Times * *Wild, witty stories . . . The west of Ireland teems with canny characters and vivid language . . . Darkly glimmering . . . Their language is exhilarating, its verve evoking the very best of Barry's compatriots while further carving out a territory that's all his own * * Observer * *These are brilliant and vivid and uproarious stories. It's a rare writer who can call a tune like Kevin Barry -- LISA McINERNEYBarry often writes with sonorous wisdom . . . but as readers of his grimly hilarious novels will know, his language is just as precise when it is in the service of comedy . . . Exhilaratingly funny and poignant fables -- Jake Kerridge * * Sunday Telegraph * *These playful, serious and beautifully crafted stories allow Barry to experiment as we need great writers to do -- SARAH MOSS * * Irish Times * *The third short-story collection from a stylist to savour brings more exhilarating, darkly witty tales of oddballs yearning after love and enchantment in the wild west of Ireland * * Guardian, 50 hottest new books everyone should read * *An extraordinary writer . . . In his short stories Barry seems most fully and brilliantly himself . . . Unimprovable masterpieces . . . So rich and so flawlessly crafted - its best stories feel instantly canonical, as if we've already been reading them for years . . . The opening story is letter-perfect from its first line . . . Funny, moving, built with superior economy, this is the real thing . . . Barry remains the great romantic of contemporary Irish fiction. Like all of the most interesting artists, he gets better with every risk he takes. The courage may be his. But the rewards are all ours -- Kevin Power * * Irish Independent * *Full of the damaged characters, menacing rural scenery and darkly comic, slantwise prose that have become his trademark . . . At each turn, Barry makes his fiction a matter of life and death * * New Statesman * *Optimism and sorrow anchor the stories in this collection, where relationships take unexpected turns and characters befuddle one another and themselves. Barry's writing sparkles, as ever, moving speedily between pathos and humour to great effect * * New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice * *Barry is wickedly funny, slyly transgressive and consistently brilliant. He is constantly turning tricks with language before upending us on the thwarted desires of his characters and the dark energy of his landscapes. And underpinning it all, the melancholy of men that is Barry's hallmark -- MARY COSTELLO
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton The Empty House
Book Synopsis''I love how Pilcher paints the setting, the scenery and the locals. This book has you questioning motherhood, widowhood, family, loyalty and more but at the same time whilst doing all this it''s cosy, inviting and warm'' Reader review ?????A feel-good story about second chances by the beloved Rosamunde PilcherVirginia Keile has a secret dream - to have a second chance at loving the tall, handsome Cornish farmer she met, and foolishly lost, the heady summer she was a debutante. Life has taught Virginia a great deal in twenty-seven years - about wedding a titled bachelor picked out by her mother, a lonely marriage that ended in her husband''s accidental death, and nearly losing her children to her mother-in-law and bossy Nanny. Now she has come back to picturesque Cornwall to rent a battered seaside cottage for herself and for the children. And to discover if she can fill an empty house with love.READERS LOVE THE EMPTY HOUSE<Trade ReviewHer genius is to create characters you really care for * Daily Express *Pilcher's storytelling skills are serene and beguiling * The Times *Whether she is being poignant, wry or perceptive, Rosamunde Pilcher is always gentle * Woman's Realm *It is never too soon to discover Rosamunde Pilcher * Good Housekeeping *A beautiful, haunting story . . . that will tug at your heartstrings * Prima *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan C is for Corpse
Book SynopsisWinner of the Anthony Award for Best Novel, C is for Corpse is the third in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series by Sue Grafton.My name is Kinsey Millhone. I’m a licensed private investigator . . . thirty-two, twice divorced. I like being alone and I suspect that my independence suits me better than it should . . . Kinsey met Bobby Callahan in the gym on Monday morning. His story was hard to credit: a murderous assault by a tailgating car on a lonely rural road, a roadside smash into a canyon 400 feet below, his Porsche a ruin, his best friend dead, and his memory severely impaired. He was convinced someone was trying to kill him. By Thursday, he was dead. But Kinsey wasn’t going back on a deal. She had been hired to prevent a murder. Now she was looking for the murderer . . .Trade ReviewC is for classy, multiplex plotting, strong characterization and a tough cookie heroine. * Time Out *
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Love Stories
Book SynopsisTrent Dalton, Australia''s best-loved writer, sat on a busy street corner with a sky-blue Olivetti typewriter and asked the world a simple, direct question:Can you please tell me a love story?A blind man yearns to see the face of his wife of 30 years. A divorced mother has a secret affair with a travelling priest. A widower miraculously finds a three-minute video recorded by his wife before she died. A lumberjack's heart falls in a forest. A working mum contemplates taking the photographs of her late husband down from the fridge. A girl writes her last letter to the grandfather she adored, then sets it on fire. A palliative care nurse helps a dying woman converse with the angel at the end of her bed. A renowned 100-year-old scientist ponders the one great earthly puzzle he was never able to solve: What is love?Endless stories. Human stories. Love stories.WHAT READERS LOVE ABOUT THIS BOOK:''Told with the utmost care, this is writing at its best. Loved it'' ?????''This is a book that I''ll treasure forever, it made me laugh, it made me cry and everything in between. Simply sublime'' ?????''Brilliant, deeply moving, profound and philosophical My heart feels lighter after reading this book. This is exactly what my soul needed'' ?????
£9.49
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Turnglass
Book SynopsisPre-order HOLMES & MORIARTY - the clever and intriguing new crime mystery from Sunday Times bestselling author Gareth Rubin, out in hardback Autumn 2024. 'The Turnglass is a bold, breathtaking piece of writing that absolutely nails its two books in one conceit. I doubt I’ll ever read anything like it again, which is the highest compliment I can offer' Stuart Turton 'Not just a book, but an experience - one in which twists and turns are both on the page and in the very act of reading itself. Two haunting narratives conspire to create a dark, menacing tale that spans half a century of secrets as they echo back and forth - all while the sand slowly drains away . . . This is a story about stories and their perspectives, the passage of time and the slow march of the inevitable. Vivid, resonant, melancholy and beautiful' Janice Hallett ‘A stunning, ingenious, truly immersive mysTrade Review‘Wildly clever and evocative, I adored it’ Angela Clarke ‘Rubin deserves top marks for originality and for braving such a niche literary format . . . what really stands out is the masterful way the tales are cemented together. Believable characters and accomplished characterization add to the suspense, and with Rubin’s expressive and easily digestible prose both stories can appreciated as old-fashioned murder mysteries' The Lady ‘Murder, mystery and secrets combine to create a dazzling achievement that will hook you in' Best Magazine ‘It’s an incredible book, it’s so different. It’s unlike anything I’ve read before’ Quick Book Reviews Podcast ‘You will feel yourself being drawn into the lives of the main characters and you will find it very difficult to put the books down' South London Press ‘The Turnglass is a narrative of mysterious beauty, locking two very different writing styles to tell two very different stories that are linked so, so very elegantly' Shots ‘This is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year’ Bay Tales
£15.29
Headline Publishing Group Finlay Donovan Knocks Em Dead
Book Synopsis''I absolutely adored it!'' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐''These books are a blast!'' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐''My all-time favourite book character'' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐''I adore everything about it . . . the perfect blend of mystery and romcom''ALI HAZELWOOD Meet Finlay Donovan:- Single mum- Floundering crime writer- Accidental hit-womanEver since she was overheard talking about her new book - and someone got the wrong end of the stick - she''s been busier than ever, living the life of murder and mayhem usually reserved for her characters. All while trying to finish said book.Finlay''s got a lot on her plate: first the pet goldfish ends up dead, now it''s looking like her ex-husband might be next.Between writer''s block, the Russian mob, and that target on her ex''s back, Finlay is ALMOST at the end of her rope.Let''s hope there isn''Trade ReviewHired guns, the Russian mob, and a love triangle for the ages? Yes, please! . . . clever, dark, and laugh-out-loud funny. I'm a fan for life -- Heather GudenkaufThe Finlay Donovan series is an unpredictable, fun, funny, page-turning delight. Like her creation, Elle Cosimano knocks 'em dead -- Gwenda BondFinlay Donovan is the perfect 21st century heroine - I adore her -- Sophie CousensElle Cosimano does it again! A funny, fast-paced sequel that's part rom-com, part mystery, pure joy! -- Chantel GuertinFinlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano was a delightfully fun surprise in 2021, and Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead is every bit as bright and hilarious as its predecessor * PopSugar *Diverting . . . such fun. Fans of wacky, offbeat mysteries will eagerly await Finlay's further exploits * Publishers Weekly *
£10.44
Atlantic Books Death by Water
Book SynopsisAn astonishing interweaving of myth, fantasy, history and autobiography, Kenzaburo Oe's Death by Water is the shimmering masterpiece of a Nobel Prize-winning author.Trade ReviewNo Japanese novelist has ever written more brilliantly than Oe about the division that exists in the soul of his country. * Daily Telegraph *Here is someone with astonishingly free access to his own past and his own thinking, finding insight and exhilaration in the most unlikely places * Observer *Kenzaburo Oe's poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today. * Nobel Prize Committee *
£9.99
HarperCollins Publishers One Little Lie Previously published as Where the
Book Synopsis*Previously published in hardback as Where the Grass is Green*The escapist new novel from the global bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada_________________________________________________________________LAST SUMMER'S SECRETIt was one harmless little lie, that was all.You were only looking out for your daughter, like any mother would.IS THIS SUMMER'S HOTTEST SCANDAL . . .But secrets always surface.Now yours is suddenly the talk of the town. And everything you tried to protect your family, your career, your picture-perfect life is about to come crashing down . . .And when it all explodes, when the truth finally catches up who can you really trust?Go behind closed doors in this deliciously gripping novel of perfect marriages, perfect families and perfect lies . . .(Previously published in hardback as Where the Grass is Green)Trade Review‘I love Lauren's writing, so tart and witty and refreshing’ Jenny Colgan ‘Sharp and well observed . . . the perfect summer read’ Daily Mail ‘Clever, astute and thoroughly enjoyable’ Jane Green ‘A juicy, escapist page-turner with a scandal at its heart. Fellow fans of Desperate Housewives, The Morning Show and Big Little Lies will adore it’ Tasmina Perry ‘Read of the Week’ Heat ‘Thought-provoking, entertaining and pure escapism’ My Weekly ‘Weisberger’s newest novel is just as stylish as her iconic one . . . there’s drama in spades’ Stella ‘Weisberger never loses her trademark beach-read breeziness as she tackles weighty problems of familial trust with a pitch-perfect blend of humor and poignancy’ Booklist ‘Gripping’ Bella ‘Goes down like an ice-cold guilty pleasure on a hot beach-reading day’ USA Today ‘Guilty-pleasure reading at its very best’ IMAGE magazine ‘An easy to race through novel’ Belfast Telegraph
£8.54
Simon & Schuster Ltd Mind Prey
Book SynopsisA LUCAS DAVENPORT THRILLER BY GLOBAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR JOHN SANDFORD He knows how killers think. But what if this killer knows more? It's raining when psychiatrist Andi Manette leaves the parent-teacher meeting with her two daughters. She’s tired and distracted, so she doesn't notice the red van parked beside her, or the van door slide open. The last thing she does notice is the hand reaching out for her and her girls . . . Hours later, deputy chief Lucas Davenport stands in the car park holding a blood-stained shoe in his hand. He knows that this case will be difficult, but he’s got no idea that he might have met his match in a nemesis more intelligent – and more depraved – than any he has tracked before. A killer who knows more about mind games than even Davenport himself. Time is running out to find Andi and her daughters. Will this be the on
£8.54
Little, Brown Book Group The Three Graces
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Shadow Friend
Book SynopsisTHE GRIPPING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK THE WHISPER MAN''Hugely atmospheric and deliciously creepy'' Alex Michaelides, bestselling author of The Silent Patient''A surprising and moving finale that will live long in the memory'' Daily Express_______THE VICTIM WAS YOUR FRIENDIt was just a silly game to start with. Paul never really believed in it.He never dreamed Charlie would take it so far.SO WAS THE MURDERERFor twenty years, Paul''s tried to put his past behind him, but now his mother is dying, and he can''t run any longer.But home isn''t just full of bad memories. It''s also the last place anyone saw Charlie alive.And Paul starts to wonder if Charlie might come back to finish what he started . . ._______''Alex North has outdone himself. The Shadow Friend is the work Trade ReviewAlex North has outdone himself. As terrifying as a great horror novel, as unpredictable as the best type of crime novel and above all beautifully written, The Shadow Friend is the work of a writer who is an absolute master of his craft. I couldn't begin to guess how the story was going to end but I enjoyed every second of the journey -- Jane CaseyIf you liked The Whisper Man, you'll love this. Alex North has crafted a second novel which is just as gripping as his first and even scarier. Hugely atmospheric and deliciously creepy, it's about how the past encroaches on the present, and how dreaming influences reality, until in the frightening world of The Shadow Friend, it becomes harder and harder to tell one from the other... and the nightmare takes over -- Alex Michaelides * No.1 bestselling author of The Silent Patient *This is absorbing, headlong reading, a play on classic horror with an inventiveness of its own... As with all the best illusions, you are left feeling not tricked, but full of wonder -- New York TimesNorth has returned with another creepy, atmospheric tale exploring the devastating effects of childhood traumas on communities . . . Builds to a surprising and moving finale that will live long in the memory * Daily Express *With echoes of the chilling Slender Man myth, this thriller ultimately feels like a ghost story conjured out of guilt and loss * Crime Monthly *North follows up his sensational debut, 2019's The Whisper Man, with another terrifying spine-tingler... The complex plot shifts smoothly between past and present with numerous unexpected twists. An overwhelming atmosphere of doom and disaster hovers over the perennial darkness of the nearby woods. This heart-pounding page-turner is impossible to put down * Publishers Weekly *The layers of deception make for a chilling read * Woman & Home *A chilling read * Woman's Weekly *Included in 'The Week's Best Books - The Creepy One' * Heat *A chilling and deeply psychological read * Woman & Home *Included in 'The Hot List' * Inside Soap *
£7.59
HarperCollins Publishers No Escape A gripping escapist crime thriller from
Book Synopsis**The brand new thriller from Lucy Clarke THE SURF HOUSE is available to pre-order now!**______________________________________________Lose yourself in this evocative, sun-soaked thriller from the bestselling author of The Hike and One of the GirlsA SECRET YACHT. A LIFE-CHANGING HOLIDAY.YOU WON''T WANT TO LEAVE.UNTIL YOU CAN''T______________________________________________Leaving the grey skies of home, best friends Kitty and Lana journey to the Philippines. There, they discover The Blue a beautiful yacht with a wandering crew.As they sail through sparkling seas and discover untouched islands, their old lives drift away on the current.But everyone on The Blue is running from something.And when a swell of secrets and lies threatens to bring the adventure to an end, some won't let paradise go whatever the price *Previously published as The Blue*______________________________________________Readers love getting swept away with Lucy Clarke's destination thrillers:Had me on the edge of Trade Review‘A beautifully written book you won’t be able to put down’ Fabulous ‘Lucy Clarke’s gripping third novel, The Blue, is a great holiday read’ Good Housekeeping ‘Intriguing and twisty thriller’ Sunday Mirror ‘Gripping . . .a twist filled novel’ Closer ‘A gripping page-turner’ Bella ‘A thrilling page turner . . .THE BLUE is a beautifully written, compelling mystery that you won't want to put down’ C.L. Taylor, author of THE LIE ‘An atmospheric thriller’ People ‘Kept me guessing, and wanderlusting, all the way through . . . the ultimate holiday read’ Emylia Hall ‘Immensely engaging . . . unexpected twists and turns right to the very last page. A perfect summer read!' Susan Elliot Wright Praise for Lucy Clarke: ‘Trust us, you won’t be able to put it down.’ COSMOPOLITAN ‘A terrific summer read’ Richard & Judy Summer Book Club ‘Essential reading . . . you’ll want to quit your job and go travelling’. HEAT ‘You don’t have to go on your hols to appreciate this amazing beach read . . . A gripping, unpredictable page-turner.’ NOW ‘Moving back and forward between past and present, London, Australia and Bali, this is an atmospheric and enjoyable page-turner that makes good use of the exotic settings.’ SUNDAY MIRROR ‘Twisty and intriguing – a total page-turner’ CLOSER
£8.54
Peninsula Press Ltd The Waterfront Journals
Book SynopsisFrom the author of Close to the Knives, a series of fictional monologues that create a visceral and carnivalesque mosaic of life at the fringes of late-80s America. The Waterfront Journals is a collection of monologues, each ventriloquising one of the many people whom Wojnarowicz met on his travels throughout America while he was sleeping rough. We meet these down and outs in unassuming locations - in truck stops, bus stations and parks - and taken together their voices form a poignant chorus that distils the desires, dreams and dangers of those people whose lives confined are to the margins.Trade Review'A totally crucial book by one of the 20th century’s greatest artists and writers.' – Maggie Nelson; 'Wojnarowicz proves that the difference between the rules of poverty and those of a dream is nothing more than smoke. The termination point of American life examined by the terminal American artist.' – Jarett Kobek
£10.44
Pan Macmillan The Greek Escape
Book SynopsisSet on a lush Greek island, The Greek Escape by Karen Swan is a Sunday Times bestseller, and the perfect getaway for fans of Victoria Hislop and Santa Montefiore.Before every new beginning, there must be an ending . . .Running from heartbreak, Chloe Marston leaves her old life in London for a fresh start in New York. Working at a luxury concierge company, she makes other people’s lives run perfectly, even if her own has ground to a halt. But a terrible accident forces her to step into a new role, up close and personal with the company’s most esteemed and powerful clients. Charismatic Joe Lincoln is one of them and his every wish is her command, so when he asks her to find him a secluded holiday home in the Greek Islands, she sets about sourcing the perfect retreat.But when Tom, her ex, unexpectedly shows up in Manhattan and the stability of her new life is thrown off-balance again, she jumps at the chance to help Joe inspect the holiday house; escaping to Greece will give her the time and space to decide where her future truly lies. Tom is the man she has loved for so long but he has hurt her before – can she give him another chance? And as she draws closer to Joe, does she even want to? As magnetic as he is mysterious, there’s an undeniable chemistry between them that she can’t resist.But whatever her heart is telling her, she’s in over her head – another client’s wife has mysteriously disappeared and serious allegations about Joe threaten more than just her happiness. Who can she trust? And will Chloe uncover the truth in time?'This irresistible story will sweep you right up into its pages and keep you there.' - HeatTrade ReviewThis irresistible story will sweep you right up into its pages and keep you there * Heat *A beautiful setting and steamy scenes - what more do you need? -- Fabulous magazineA charming, well-crafted tale of love, loss and reinvention * Marie Claire *Deliciously glamorous, irresistibly romantic! * Hello! *Novels to sweep you away . . . expect mystery, romance and scandal * Woman & Home *
£9.49
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Last Wild Horses
Book SynopsisTranslated into 36 languages, winner of the Norwegian Bookseller’s Prize, and the most successful Norwegian author of her generation, Maja Lunde returns with a heart-wrenching tale, set in the distant past and the dystopian future, about extinction and survival, family and hope.
£9.49
