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
Wakefield Press Murder Most Serene
Book SynopsisIn the last days of the Venetian Republic, the successive wives of Count Alvise Lanzi suffer mysterious, agonizing deaths. Murder Most Serene offers a cruel portrait of a beautiful but corrupt city-state and its equally extravagant and corrupt inhabitants. Redolent of darkness, death, poison and transgression, it is also an over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek Venetian romp. Rich in historical detail and bursting with bejeweled putrescence, Gabrielle Wittkop's chilling memento mori eschews the murder mystery in which it is garbed for a scintillating depiction of physical, moral, societal and institutional corruption, in which the author plays the role of puppeteer--"present, masked as convention dictates, while in a Venice on the brink of downfall, women gorged with venom burst like wineskins." Self-styled heir to the Marquis de Sade, Gabrielle Wittkop (1920-2002) was a French author who wrote a remarkable series of novels and travelogues, all laced with sardonic humor and dark sexuality, with recurrent themes of death, disease and decrepitude. After meeting Justus Wittkop, a German deserter, in Paris under the Occupation, she hid him from the Nazis and then married him after the war, in what she described as an "intellectual alliance," given he was homosexual. He would commit suicide in 1986, with her approval, after being diagnosed with Parkinson's. Her first novel, The Necrophiliac, appeared in 1972, but a number of her books have only been made available since her own suicide in 2002, after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.Trade ReviewTransgressive writers tend to dwell on the connections between sex and death, beauty and decay, eroticism and horror. Wittkop is no exception. Her prose is stylized and exquisite no matter what she’s describing. -- Valerie Stivers * Paris Review *By far the most radical of Wittkop’s works thus far available in English, a fascinating…..exploration of Calvinistic world-weariness. * Music & Literature *Readers would be well advised to don a Hazmat suit before wading into the thrilling, pestilential world of French writer Gabrielle Wittkop... The entire novella revolves around... lurid, impressionistic snapshots of a gossipy, shadowy world... [with] lavish attention paid to the aesthetics of how certain poisons, “painterly magicians,” act on the human visage. -- Matt Seidel * The Millions *
£10.44
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Summer House
Book SynopsisFROM THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR...A holiday read with heart and soul that will last a lifetime. Antoinette's world has fallen apart: her husband, the man she has loved for as long as she can remember, has died tragically in an accident. He was her rock, the man she turned to for love and support, the man she knew better than she knew herself. Or at least so she thought… For as she arrives at the familiar old stone church for George's funeral, she sees a woman she has never met before. Phaedra loved George too, and she could not bear to stay away from his funeral. But as she sits before his wife, she knows that what she is about to reveal will change all their lives forever. This book is published in the US under the title The Girl From Paris***PRAISE FOR SANTA MONTEFIORE*** ‘Nobody does epic romance like Santa Montefiore’ JOJO MOYES ‘An enchanting read overflowing with deliciously poignant moments’ DINAH JEFFERIES on Songs of Love and War ‘Santa Montefiore hits the spot for my like few other writers’ SARRA MANNING ‘One of our personal favourites’ THE TIMES on The Last Secret of the Deverills ‘Accomplished and poetic’ Daily Mail ‘Santa Montefiore is a marvel’ Sunday ExpressTrade Review‘This is Santa Montefiore at her best – an enchanting read overflowing with deliciously poignant moments. If you love a heartfelt, epic trilogy this is for you. I loved it and can’t wait for more’ -- Dinah Jefferies, author of The Tea Planter's Wife, on Songs of Love and War‘Nobody does epic romance like Santa Montefiore. Everything she writes, she writes from the heart’ -- Jojo Moyes‘A multigenerational banquet of love: falling in, falling out, rediscovering,rekindling. The Beekeeper’s Daughter features sophisticated, irresistible backdrops and brilliantly drawn characters that made it one of the most engrossing reads of my year’ -- Elin Hilderbrand, author of The Matchmaker, on The Beekeeper's Daughter‘I raced through this feel-good romantic story, which spans continents and decades’ -- Fanny Blake * Woman & Home on The Beekeeper's Daughter *‘This deeply romantic saunter is an ideal summer read. Laced with secrets and forbidden liaisons, it is sure to keep you turning the pages’ * The Lady on The Beekeeper's Daughter *‘Santa Montefiore is the new Rosamunde Pilcher’ * Daily Mail *‘A superb storyteller of love and death in romantic places in fascinating times’ * Vogue *‘A gripping romance . . . it is as believable as the writing is beautiful’ * Daily Telegraph *‘Anyone who likes Joanne Harris or Mary Wesley will love Montefiore’ * Mail on Sunday *‘One of our personal favourites and bestselling authors, sweeping stories of love and families spanning continents and decades’ * The Times *‘Engaging and charming’ -- Penny Vincenzi
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers A Sunrise Over Bali
Book SynopsisThe adventure of a lifetime awaits blue seas, white sands and two months of freedom!A gorgeous escapist romance' Emma RobinsonRecommended for anyone who loves a good romcom and a spot of armchair travel' Fiona LeitchHome is where the heart is . . .When Jaelee Tan leaves her high-flying PR job in Miami for a sabbatical in Bali, the last thing she expects is for it to become permanent. But when her boss demands the trip be cut short, Jae does the only thing she can think of and quits on the spot.With two months in Bali, a new group of friends and the gorgeous scenery and beaches, Jae is determined to make the most of her new-found freedom. And when she locks eyes with hunky Scot, Alistair, Jae wonders if she'll lose her heart to more than just a Balinese sunrise.Escape to Bali in this uplifting novel full of friendship, laughter and romance, perfect for fans of Mandy Baggot, Julie Caplin and Holly Martin.Readers are falling in love with A Sunrise Over Bali:You just can't beat a Sandy BaTrade ReviewReaders absolutely love Sandy Barker’s Holiday Romance series ‘Warm, witty and wonderful’ Emma Robinson ‘An absolutely brilliant holiday read’ Katie Ginger ‘Deliciously romantic’ Lynne Shelby ‘An absolute delight’ Ella Hayes
£11.07
Saqi Books The Hungry Ghosts
Book SynopsisIn Buddhist myth, those that have desired too much in life may be reborn as 'hungry ghosts' - spirits with a stomach so large they can never be full.Six-year-old Shivan is boarded up in his grandmother s mansion in Sri Lanka. While civil unrest brews outside, Shivan is fighting small battles of his own: the matriarch of his mysterious family wants to groom him as heir to her vast and corrupt empire. Shivan stands helpless as she sidelines his mother and sister and evicts vulnerable families from their homes. Unwilling to carry the burden of her expectations, Shivan escapes to the West. Yet ghosts will follow you across continents. As the years pass, and his sexuality gradually comes to light, events spiral out of control and threaten to separate Shivan from his family once and for all.The Hungry Ghosts is an exquisite tale of differences and how they can tear apart both a country and the heart not just once, but many times, until the ghosts are freed.Trade Review'A ravishing portrait not just of one man but of an entire country's search for a resting place' Tash Aw 'An unsettling and moving account of a family - and a nation - at war with their own selves' Tan Twan Eng 'Unflinchingly insightful, Shyam Selvadurai's new novel evokes the clashing manifestations of human desire and longing in two continents.' Pankaj Mishra 'A tender and haunting meditation on the long reach of the past' Michelle de Kretser 'Powerful and beautifully written - an incredibly courageous book' Razia Iqbal, BBC News 'Selvadurai is a masterly writer, with a gift for marrying the personal with the political and cultural' India Today 'Rendered in visceral detail, locale plays a significant role here: Colombo, Toronto, and Vancouver each possess their own unique temperament ... The Hungry Ghosts is lustrous in its depictions of duty, dislocation, and the ways love and relationships haunt the human heart.' Georgia Straight 'A novel of raw human longing ... his stripped-down prose focuses on the deeply personal with precision and insight ... Selvadurai's work reminds me that the contemporary novel doesn't necessarily have to resort to thrills or high jinks in order to find its usefulness. Here, it unforgettably explores the interplay between individual intention and the tragedy of a nation's history.' The Globe and Mail 'This young romance, like something out of an Edmund White novel, is beautifully and powerfully imagined ... Calling to mind the work of Indo-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri, Selvadurai does an excellent job contrasting Sri Lanka and Canada.' Winnipeg Free Press 'Both Shivan's story and Sri Lanka's rich history are told through simple yet evocative prose, and Selvadurai's first-person narrative, with its modernized Dickensian tone, is an effective storytelling device ... The Hungry Ghosts is an accomplished, resonant novel.' Quill & Quire
£8.54
Headline Publishing Group Going to the Dogs
Book Synopsis And anyway, who cares? All that matters is that the guy is dead, right? ________________________________________________________________A hilarious and thrilling ride about the most unlikely of killers, by the award-winning and bestselling author, PIERRE LEMAITRE ''A really excellent suspense novelist'' Stephen King''A total success'' Le Canard Enchainé''Dark, very funny and completely unexpected'' Madame Figaro________________________________________________________________With Mathilde, there is never a stray bullet, her work is clean and neat. Tonight was an exception. A little whim. Obviously, she could have taken the shot from a distance, done less damage; obviously she could have made the hit with a single bullet. What can I say? I don''t know what came over me. This is what she will say if anyone asks. And anyway, who cares? All that matters is that the guy is dead, right? 1985. Paris. Sixty-three-year-old Mathilde Perrin is on another mission. A widow, mother and decorated hero of the Resistance, she is also a ruthless and skilled contract killer, and the most unlikely suspect. But tonight, something has changed. Mathilde is agitated, forgetful and impulsive - so much so that even Ludo, her loyal and long-suffering Dalmatian, has noticed a dangerous shift in her mood. For Mathilde, retirement is not an option. And no superior, nor police detective nor meddling neighbour will stand in her way. But as Mathilde''s mind unravels and the bodies pile up, how long will it take before the killer herself becomes the target?
£18.70
Simon & Schuster Pomegranate
Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION The acclaimed author of The Serpent’s Gift returns with this “deep and beautiful” (Jaqueline Woodson, New York Times bestselling author) story about a queer Black woman working to stay clean, pull her life together, and heal after being released from prison.Ranita Atwater is “getting short.” She is almost done with her four-year sentence for opiate possession at Oak Hills Correctional Center. Three years sober, she is determined to stay clean and regain custody of her two children. Ranita is regaining her freedom, but she’s leaving behind her lover Maxine, who has inspired her to imagine herself and the world differently. My name is Ranita, and I’m an addict, she has said again and again at recovery meetings. But who else is she? Who might she choose to become? Now she must steer clear of the temptations tha
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Close Range: Wyoming Stories
Book SynopsisFrom the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ‘The Shipping News’ comes a collection of short stories inspired by the harsh and unforgiving landscape of Wyoming. Throughout the collection, Annie Proulx invests these stories with an intelligence and black humour that transforms them into something new and surprising. In one story, a slight young man defies his mother’s insults to become a rodeo star, while in another, an octogenarian finds himself drawn back to the ranch that he quit decades before – against his better judgement. Elsewhere, Proulx demonstrates her taste for the macabre in a grisly tale of bad weather, gambling and amputation set a hundred years ago. Inventive, compassionate and wildly funny, these marvellous stories explore the unbreakable bond between a people and their land.Trade Review‘A stunning collection of eleven tales about the hard lives of the ranchers, cowpokes and country wives who struggle to survive in an unforgiving environment. Written in a wonderfully flexible style that can be both spare and extravagant, her book has been hailed by American critics as a masterpiece.’ Daily Telegraph ‘Like a mystic seeing the transfigured universe, she recreates the beauty of ordinary things.’ Independent on Sunday ‘The detail is meticulous, the prose poetic and Proulx's fiction teems with life. Above all, her stories engage the heart. Magical.’ Tatler ‘Proulx's style, compressed, elastic, hard-hitting, is inimitable: close to poetry but never self-indulgent. This is writing to be savoured.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘These are tales we can almost feel in our bones.’ Sunday Times ‘Individually, these 11 tales have a tautness and an urgency that are never less than exhilarating. Collectively, they encapsulate an entire, unremittingly bleak world. To find the pulse of humanity in such desperate lives betokens a writer of genius.’ Saturday Telegraph
£9.49
Canongate Books Brotherhood Of The Grape
Book SynopsisHenry Molise, a fifty-year-old successful writer, returns to the family home to help with the latest drama; his elderly parents want to divorce. Henry's tyrannical, bricklaying father, Nick, despite being weakened by age and alcoholism, can still strike fear into the hearts of his sons. His mother, ill and devoutly Catholic, still has the power both to comfort and confuse her children.Nick has been offered some well-paid work to build a smokehouse in the hills, and Henry, realising this might be the last chance they have to reconcile things, agrees to lend a hand. What he doesn't appreciate is how much this journey is going to change his view of his father.The Brotherhood of the Grape is vintage Fante, brimming with love, death, violence and religion. Writing with great passion, Fante powerfully describes the damage that family can wreak upon us all.Trade ReviewFante's searing, effortless style eschewed the refinement of Fitzgerald, the hubris of Hemingway and the panoramic vistas of Dos Passos. Instead he marshalled the raw materials of his own life - poverty, sex, paternal hatred, Catholic guilt, misplaced pride, hard drinking, labour, fighting, overarching literary ambition and the internecine hatred within immigrant communities in pre-war America - rendering the pain and comedy with such heartbreaking simplicity as to brook no hint of the literary zeitgeist. * * Dazed & Confused * *John Fante takes some beating . . . mean, moody, disturbing and intensely atmospheric. * * The Times * *Fante was my God. -- Charles BukowskiJohn Fante knew how to make words sing. When he was on form, he could write sentences that stopped time. * * Uncut * *Bandini is a magnificent creation, and his rediscovery is not before time. * * Times Literary Supplement * *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Circling the Sun
Book SynopsisA RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK'Thrilling...sun-soaked, gin-fuelled...A totally absorbing and compelling read.' Richard & JudyThe author of The Paris Wife takes us to the heart of another true story: set in 1920s colonial Kenya, Circling the Sun is about an unforgettable woman who lives by nobody's rules but her own.She was a daughter of Edwardian England, transplanted to Kenya as a young girl by parents who dreamed of life on an African farm. But by the time Beryl Markham was sixteen, that dream had fallen apart. Catapulted into a disastrous marriage, she emerged from its wreckage with one idea: to take charge of her own destiny.Circling the Sun takes us from the brittle glamour of the 1920s Happy Valley set, fuelled by gin and adultery, to the loneliness of life as a scandalous divorcee; from the spectacular beauty of the Kenyan landscape to the manicured lawns of Nairobi's Muthaiga Club. Dazzlingly beautiful, brave, passionate and reckless, Beryl is an unforgettable heroine, whose tragic loss in love compels her to pursue her own dream - of flight, and freedom.Trade ReviewBeryl Markham was a 20th century flying phenomenon; Britain's answer to America's Amelia Earhart. Unlike Earhart, whose plane disappeared in flight, Markham survived to enjoy her old age. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic east to west - a thrilling feat that bookends this wonderful story set in Kenya's sun-soaked, gin-fuelled Happy Valley. McLain paints Markham in vivid colours: dazzling, courageous, stroppy, and passionate. A totally absorbing and compelling read * Richard & Judy *Paula McLain cements herself as THE writer of historical fictional memoir with Circling the Sun, giving vivid voice to Beryl Markham, a singular, extraordinary woman whose name we all know - and whose story we don't. In a brilliant move, McLain hardly focuses at all on the trans-Atlantic flight that made the aviator so famous, choosing instead to explore what happened before: Markham's unorthodox childhood in Kenya, a failed marriage, and a star-crossed love affair with Denys Finch Hatton. The result? In McLain's confident hands, Markham crackles to life, and we readers truly understand what made a woman so far ahead of her time believe she had the power to soar -- Jodi PicoultPaula McLain has such a gift for bringing characters to life. I loved discovering the singular Beryl Markham, with all her strengths and passions and complexities, a woman who persistently broke the rules, despite the personal cost. She's a rebel in her own time, and a heroine for ours -- Jojo MoyesMcLain sustains a momentum as swift and heart-pounding as one of Beryl's prize horses at a gallop as she focuses on the romance, glamour, and drama of Beryl's blazing life, creating a seductive work of popular historical fiction with sure-fire bio-pic potential * Booklist *Ernest Hemingway, who met Markham on safari two years before her Atlantic crossing, tagged her as "a high-grade bitch" but proclaimed her 1942 memoir West with the Night "bloody wonderful." Readers might even say the same of McLain's sparkling prose and sympathetic reimagining * Kirkus *Captivating * Library Journal *McLain's latest showcases her immersive command of setting and character...[she] paints an intoxicatingly vivid portrait of colonial Kenya and its privileged inhabitants. Markham's true life was incredibly adventurous, and it's easy for readers to identify with this woman who refused to be pigeonholed by her gender. Readers will enjoy taking in the rich world McLain has created * Publishers Weekly *Even better than her The Paris Wife . . . in Circling the Sun Markham finally gets the treatment she deserves. That it also makes for bold, absorbing fiction is so much the better * New York Daily News *Paula McLain is considered the new star of historical fiction, and for good reason. Fans of The Paris Wife will be captivated by Circling the Sun . . . beautifully written and utterly engrossing -- Ann PatchettMesmerising . . . brimful of dazzling images -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *McLain brings the scandalous past to vivid life * Tatler *I was swept up in colonial Africa, fascinated by her life and the goings on of the Happy Valley set * Woman and Home *A truly gripping and powerful tale * Stylist *Gripping * Woman *Markham generally has a walk-on part in accounts of Out of Africa-era Kenya, but here she is the energetic, captivating centre of a richly evoked colonial world . . . The beauty of the Kenyan landscape, the red of its soil and the inkiness of its night, are conveyed with pungency in McLain's accomplished, immersive telling * Sunday Times *A must-read for fans of historical fiction - Beryl's life was full of fascinating characters, life-changing events and impressive achievement * Hello *A totally absorbing and compelling read * Express *
£9.86
HarperCollins Publishers The Rogue Crown 2022s highly anticipated sapphic
Book SynopsisThe action moves west in the third instalment of A.K. Mulford's swashbuckling, swoonworthy epic fantasy series, the Five Crowns of Okrith, as young fae warrior Bri investigates the murder of her queen while protecting the beautiful princess she just might be falling forDetermined to unmask the truth behind her queen''s murder, Briata Catullus sets out to defeat the witch hunters and keep her princess from their clutches. But when she arrives at the Western Court, things are even worse than she feared among the fae. She is greeted by secret plots and scheming courtiers, an inconvenient prophecy and a princess who does not wish to be saved by any one, much less Bri.However, as the threat of the witch hunters grows, the two find they must work together if they want to survive. But Bri is determined to forge her own path and not allow for distraction even if that distraction happens to be a princess.Bri has a duty to the crown, a duty to the Western Court, and a duty to her destiny to ful
£8.54
Vintage Publishing Memed, My Hawk
Book SynopsisMemed grows up a serf to a vicious overlord on the thistle-clad plains of Turkey’s Taurus region. When his plan to escape is dashed, and the young woman he loves murdered, Memed makes for the mountains to become an outlaw. Before long he has transformed from a young rebel to an infamous bandit, the scourge of corrupt oppressors and hero to the poor. With vividness and simplicity, Kemal's classic novel evokes the fierce beauty of his country and the struggles of its oppressed people.Trade ReviewA beautiful novel in the old, glorious tradition of heroic storytelling. * Scotsman *'A masterpiece'. * New Statesman *'A tale that assumes epic proportions and gathers speed to rush to a spectacular climax'. * Daily Telegraph *It has that insiders feelings for man, the oppressed, labouring animal ... you might find in Tolstoy, Hardy or Silone. The author never loses his freshness, an ability to pick on details as though see for the first time. * Guardian *Yasham Kemal achieves the Russian quality - an intimacy of detail which makes his etching indelible, more selected, and therefore more obvious than life ... the book is a small, sharp, moving epic of Turkish soil * Sunday Telegraph *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing Spindrift
Book SynopsisAn epic emotional journey about love and sacrifice set between the magical Isle of Skye and the promising new frontier of distant Tasmania.'Oh, how magnificent,' Christy's granddaughter breathed as the ferry followed a curve in the water and they had a clear view of Dunvegan Castle at the end of the loch. 'It's like a fairy-tale castle.' She turned to Christy, her face radiant. 'How does it feel to be home again after all this time?' Christy felt the tears prick and gathered the tartan shawl closer, her gaze avoiding the hated castle and all it stood for. 'I don't know whether to laugh or cry,' she confessed. 'I've seen so many changes already that I'm almost frightened of what I'll find when we arrive . . .'1905. Christy has always dreamed of making the journey from her home in Tasmania back to the wild and beautiful Scottish island where she was born - the Isle of Skye, nicknamed 'cloud island' by the Old Norse people - to once again lay eyes on the tumbling waterfalls and dramatic coastlines of her homeland. And now, in her sixty-fifth year, Christy has finally decided to go, her mistrustful daughter Anne and beloved granddaughter Kathryn acting as companions. But what Anne and Kathryn don't realise is that Christy's past is darker and more textured than they could know, and that in returning to Skye they will unearth bittersweet memories long-buried - memories that will ultimately change the course of the three women's lives forever.Trade ReviewAn enthralling cross-generational story from popular author Tamara McKinley. A warm and welcoming read * Lancashire Evening Post on Echoes from Afar *An entertaining tale of love and loss * France Magazine *An elegant affair from the get-go * Irish Sunday Independent on Echoes From Afar *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine
Book SynopsisTHE SIXTEENTH BOOK IN THE BELOVED NO. 1 LADIES'' DETECTIVE SERIESThe one with Mma Ramotswe''s summer holiday . . . Mma Ramotswe is taking a break, leaving important tasks in the capable hands of Mma Makutsi, co-director of the No. 1 Ladies'' Detective Agency. But Mma Ramotswe soon finds herself interfering in cases (secretly, or so she intends). While on ''holiday'', she delves into the past of a man whose reputation is brought into question, she is called upon to rescue a small boy - and discovers Violet Sephotho''s latest underhand business endeavour: the No. 1 Ladies'' Secretarial College. Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi hires a part-time science teacher as an assistant, and suspects that her authority is being undermined.Will Mma Ramotswe be caught out?Trade ReviewLike [Barbara] Pym, McCall Smith believes that the small stuff in life matters * Scotsman *
£8.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Secrets We Keep
Book SynopsisSome people are good at keeping secrets but some secrets are never meant to be kept... The beautiful old Bath House in Ballytokeep has lain empty and abandoned for decades. For devoted pensioners Archie and Iris, it holds too many conflicting memories – sometimes it's better to leave the past where it belongs. For highflying, top London divorce lawyer Kate Hunt, it's a fresh start – maybe even her future. On a winter visit to see her estranged Aunt Iris she falls in love with the Bath House. Inspired, she moves to Ballytokeep leaving behind her past heartache – but can you ever escape your past or your destiny? A bittersweet story of love, loss and life, from the number one bestselling author of The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club. Perfect for the fans of Sheila O'Flannagan and Patricia Scanlan. Praise for Faith Hogan's books: 'Uplifting, emotional and brimming with warmth and humour' Cathy Bramley on The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club 'Joyful, life-affirming and inspirational' Heidi Swain on The Ladies' Midnight Swimming ClubTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR FAITH HOGAN: 'Uplifting, emotional and brimming with warmth and humour' Cathy Bramley, on The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club. 'This was a beautifully written, heart-rending but ultimately uplifting read set on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast. I loved it' Phillipa Ashley, on The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club. 'Charming... Full of pathos and humour. A heartwarming page-turner that would be perfect for staycation reading' Irish Independent on Saturday, on The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club. 'Joyful, life-affirming and inspirational' Heidi Swain, on The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club. 'Another heart-warming read from Faith Hogan' -- Trisha Ashley, on The Girl I Used to Know
£9.49
Random House Model Home
Book SynopsisRivers Solomon writes about life in the margins, where they're much at home. Their work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Best American Short Stories, and elsewhere. They are the author of An Unkindness of Ghosts, The Deep, and Sorrowland. A refugee of the transatlantic slave trade, Solomon was born on Turtle Island. They currently live in the UK.
£17.09
Profile Books Ltd All the Rivers
Book SynopsisA chance encounter in New York brings two strangers together: Liat is an idealistic translation student, Hilmi a talented young painter. Together they explore the city, share fantasies, jokes and homemade meals, and fall in love. There is only one problem: Liat is from Israel, Hilmi from Palestine. Keeping their deepening relationship secret, the two lovers build an intimate universe for two in this city far from home. But outside reality can only be kept at bay for so long. After a tempestuous visit from Hilmi's brother, cracks begin to form in the relationship, and their points of difference - Liat's military service, Hilmi's hopes for Palestine's future - threaten to overwhelm their shared present. When they return separately to their divided countries, Liat and Hilmi must decide whether to keep going, or let go. A prizewinning bestseller, but banned in Israeli schools for its frank and tender depiction of a taboo relationship, this is the deeply affecting story of two people trying to bridge one of the most deeply riven borders in the world.Trade ReviewA touching, raw and gorgeous love story with an ending which snatched the air from my lungs. * Stylist *A fine, subtle and disturbing study of the ways in which public events encroach upon the private lives of those who attempt to live and love in peace with each other, and, impossibly, with a riven and irreconcilable world. -- John BanvilleEnthralls and delights ... Rabinyan beautifully loops the story from season to season, depicting Liat and Hilmi's lives and love vividly and memorably. * Publishers Weekly *I stand with Dorit Rabinyan. Love, not hate, will save us. Hatred sows hatred, but love can break down barriers. -- Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize in LiteratureEven the (asymmetrical) tragedy of the two peoples does not overwhelm this precise and elegant love story, drawn with the finest of lines ... Astonishing -- Amos OzRabinyan is a generous writer who puts her characters first... Rabinyan's writing reflects the honesty and modesty of a true artisan. She is meticulous, to be sure, but at the same time she doesn't appear to be straining, and this is what sets someone like her apart from those who merely practice the craft of writing. -- Dorit Shilo * Ha’aretz *
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co The World According to Anna
Book SynopsisWhen fifteen-year-old Anna begins receiving messages from another time, her parents take her to the doctor. But he can find nothing wrong; in fact he believes there may be some truth to what she is seeing. Anna is haunted by visions of the desolate world of 2082. She sees her great-granddaughter, Nova, roaming through wasteland with a band of survivors, after animals and plants have died out. The more Anna sees, the more she realises she must act to prevent the future in her visions becoming real. But can she act quickly enough?'Compelling' Sunday TimesTrade Reviewthe global warming wake-up call is compelling * SUNDAY TIMES *
£8.99
Blackstone Audiobooks,U.S. The Ravaged
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Simon & Schuster Australia Someone Else's Bucket List
Book SynopsisIn this sisterly PS, I Love You, an introverted young woman is saddled with fulfilling her late sister’s final wish: completing her bucket list while millions of people follow along online. Jodie Boyd is a shy and anxious twenty-something, completely unsure of what to do with her life. Meanwhile, her older sister, Bree, is an adventurous, globe-trotting Instagram influencer with more than a million followers. Bree is the most alive person Jodie knows – until her unfathomable, untimely death from leukaemia. The Boyds are devastated, not to mention overwhelmed with medical debt. But Bree had a plan, and soon Jodie is shocked when a new post appears on her sister's Instagram feed. The first of many posts Bree recorded in secret, it contains a jaw-dropping challenge for Jodie: complete Bree's bucket list. From ‘fly over Antarctica’ to ‘fall in love’, if Jodie pulls it off – and keeps all of Bree’s followers – a corporate sponsor will pay off the crushing medical debt. It’s crazy. It’s terrifying. It’s impossible to refuse. So, despite her trepidation, Jodie plunges in, never imagining that in death, her sister will teach her how to live.
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Best Kept Secret
Book SynopsisBest Kept Secret is the third spellbinding novel in the epic Clifton Chronicles series, from master storyteller Jeffrey Archer.Trade ReviewProbably the greatest storyteller of our age * The Mail on Sunday *If there was a Nobel Prize for storytelling, Archer would win * The Daily Telegraph *
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers You Will Never Be Me
Book SynopsisWhen cracks start forming in an influencer''s curated life, she finds out that jealousy is just as viral as a video in this riveting suspense novel by bestselling author Jesse Sutanto.Best friends make the worst enemiesI'm stalking my best friend. There's no use denying it. Aspen Palmer, with her millions of followers and beautiful family, has everything I want. The worst thing is, I showed her how to get it. And now I'm dead to her.But I've found a way to get revenge. If Aspen's world starts to crumble and I'm there to pick up the pieces with her brands and sponsors, then I'm just getting what I deserve. What my son deserves.Aspen won't go down without a fight. Nothing gets in the way of her perfect life. But I made Aspen, and I know exactly how to break her**''A juicy, electric thriller Hilariously wicked'' Elle, The twists are unrelenting with several gasp-out-loud moments and Jesse perfectly balances these with pitch black comedy' Katy Brent, author of How to Kill Men and Get Away
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Night Watch
Book SynopsisTHE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE WINNER IN FICTION''Breathtaking in both its scope and intensity'' TAYARI JONES''Shatteringly particular and audaciously universal'' ALICE RANDALL A mesmerising story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in a mental asylum in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War. In 1874, in the wake of the war, trauma haunts civilians and veterans, renegades and wanderers, freedmen and runaways. Twelve-year-old ConaLee and her mother, Eliza, who hasn''t spoken in more than a year, arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, delivered to the hospital''s entrance by a war veteran who has forced himself into their lives. There, far from family, a beloved neighbour, and the mountain home they knew, they try to reclaim their lives. The twin horrors of war and race rise to the surface as we learn their history: their flight to the highest mountain ridges of western Virginia; the disappearance of ConaLee''s father, who left for the war and never returned. Meanwhile in the asylum, they begin to find a new path. ConaLee pretends to be her mother''s maid; Eliza responds slowly to treatment. They get swept up in the life of the facility - the mystery behind the man they call the Night Watch; the child called Weed; the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen; the remarkable doctor at the head of the institution. Epic, enthralling and meticulously crafted, Night Watch is a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds and a stunning chronicle of surviving war and its aftermath.Night Watch was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2024 on 6 May 2024Trade ReviewPhillips's depiction of a ravaged world in which so many have lost their way or had it stolen from them, both physically and mentally, feels true to the profoundly destabilising nature of her subject...With this excellent novel, Phillips has brought a little more of this foundational American episode into the light * Guardian *Jayne Anne Phillips is a brilliant artist working at the height of her powers. Word by word, and line by line, there is no one better. This novel lives where a startling imagination meets scrupulous research: Night Watch is a tour de force - breathtaking in both its scope and intensity -- Tayari Jones, author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGEThere is a luminous beauty in Phillips's prose. Whether it is the dark interiors of war - which have become her forte - or the equally complex and fraught lives of so-called 'ordinary' people, Phillips brings these theaters of peace and loss, death and transcendence together with a remarkable alchemy -- Ken Burns, filmmakerA superb meditation on broken families in post-Civil War West Virginia . . . The bruised and turbulent postbellum era comes alive in Phillips's page-turning affair * Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW *Expect coincidences and convolutions . . . Phillips pulls them off with gorgeous prose, attention to detail, and masterful characters. Haunting storytelling and a refreshing look at history * Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW *A profound meditation on identity, empathy, sanity, daughter-love, nature, and the Civil War, Night Watch will leave you shook and sustained. This novel delivers fictional reckoning that makes way for the potential of real-world reconciliation by delivering complex and necessary testimony and confession. Weaving photographs and fragments of non-fiction prose into an intimate family story, Night Watch is at once shatteringly particular and audaciously universal. Jayne Anne Phillips arrives at the crowning achievement of an extraordinary career -- Alice Randall, author of BLACK BOTTOM SAINTSJayne Anne Phillips is a wonderfully gifted storyteller, and few contemporary writers can match the lyricism of her prose, but in this marvelous new novel, largely set in a factual nineteenth-century asylum, she achieves even more: history and imagination merge, and she gives the past a living pulse -- Ron Rash, author of THE CARETAKERA lovely piece of work . . . Night Watch is another of Jayne Anne Phillips's intimate revelatory creations -- Dorothy Allison, author of BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINAA searing portrait of the cruelties of race, the insanity of war, and the tragedy of its aftermath -- Drew Gilpin Faust, author of THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING: DEATH AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WARIt's hard to know what to praise first - Jayne Anne Phillips' signature beautiful sentences, the compelling scenes of battle and their ravaged aftermath, the fascinating portrayal of Dr Thomas Story Kirkbride's 'moral treatment' method for the mentally ill, or the vivid depiction of the people and land of West Virginia in the 1860s and 70s. Night Watch takes a highly deserved place among important novels about war and its legacy -- Alice Elliot Dark, author of FELLOWSHIP POINTAn unsparing novel that illuminates the human cost . . . with this excellent novel, Phillips has brought a little more of this foundational American episode into the light * Guardian *
£18.70
Hodder & Stoughton Garth Marenghis Incarcerat
Book Synopsis''I warn you now, Do...read this book'' THE LOCHGELLY SENTINEL''A bold move by Hodder'' PUBLISHING QUARTERLYGarth Marenghi - Frightenerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage - is back with volume two of his TerrorTome . . .Horror novelist Nick Steen is abducted and imprisoned at Nulltec, a shadowy technological research facility with excellent conference parking, concealed deep on the Stalkford Downs. There he is observed, tested and ''interfered with'' (physically) by a team of scientific experts led by Dr Barbara Nullman, determined to probe and ''nullify'' his escaping imagination . . .Will Nick regain control of his faculties, and crucially his particulars, before everyone, including his erstwhile editor Roz, dies horribly? To find out, you will need to read the book and, more importantly, purchase it.I can say this much on this blurb (and no more) - not before Nick Steen has faced the ultimate monster. (Don''t read the last stoTrade ReviewI loved every overwritten sentence of purple (nay, crimson!) prose . . . it's hilariously, deliberately bad * Sci-Fi Bulletin *
£999.99
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Search Party
Book Synopsis‘Hannah Richell's The Search Party is a compelling thriller told with real emotional insight and depth. An absolute page-turner!’ Lucy Clarke Five old friends.One glamping weekend.A storm that will change everything. Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. They invite old university friends – TV star Dominic, doctor and new mum Kira, and free-spirited Jim and Suze – and their children for a trial weekend but the reunion quickly veers off-course. First, there’s The Incident around the campfire on the first night. The following afternoon, a storm quickly develops off the rugged North Coast. When one of their group goes missing, all hell breaks loose. And as the winds batter the bell-tents, emotions run high and tension mounts for all the characters. Who is lying in hospital, who has gone missing and who is the body onTrade Review'Fans of Lucy Foley’s The Guest List will love The Search Party. Meticulously crafted with suitably flawed characters and a terrific sense of placel. Compelling and atmospheric.' -- Sarah Hall
£15.29
Orion Publishing Co The Granddaughter
Book Synopsis''Anyone who wants to understand contemporary Germany must read The Granddaughter now'' Le Monde ''The great novel of German reunification'' Le Figaro ''A masterpiece'' Maurice Szafran''A rewarding and wonderfully readable novel ... Schlink remains a perceptive chronicler of modern Germany'' GuardianMay, 1964. At a youth festival in East Berlin, an unlikely young couple fall in love. In the bright spring days, anything seems possible for them - it is only many years later, after her death, that Kaspar discovers the price his wife paid to get to him in West Berlin. Shattered by grief, Kaspar sets off to uncover Birgit''s secrets in the East. His search leads him to a rural community of neo-Nazis, and to a young girl who accepts him as her grandfather. Their worlds could not be more different - but he is determined to fight for her. From the author of the no.1 international bestseller The Reader, The Granddaughter is a gripping novel that transports us from the divided Germany of the 1960s to contemporary Australia, asking what might be found when it seems like all is lost.Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
£17.00
Quercus Publishing A Snake Lies Waiting
Book SynopsisTHE CHINESE LORD OF THE RINGS - NOW IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME.THE SERIES EVERY CHINESE READER HAS BEEN ENJOYING FOR DECADES - 300 MILLION COPIES SOLD.Jin Yong''s work, in the Chinese-speaking world, has a cultural currency roughly equal to that of Harry Potter and Star Wars combined Nick Frisch, New YorkerLike every fairy tale you''re ever loved, imbued with jokes and epic grandeur. Prepare to be swept along. Jamie Buxton, Daily MailChina: 1200 A.D.Guo Jing has confronted Apothecary Huang, his sweetheart Lotus'' father, on Peach Blossom Island, and bested the villainous Gallant Ouyang in three trials to win her hand in marriage.But now, along with his sworn brother, Zhou Botong of the Quanzhen Sect, and his shifu, Count Seven Hong, Chief of the Beggar Clan, he has walked into a trap. Tricked by Huang into boarding a unseaworthy barge, they will surely drown unless L
£10.44
Quercus Publishing A Heart Divided
Book SynopsisTHE CHINESE LORD OF THE RINGS - NOW IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME.THE SERIES EVERY CHINESE READER HAS BEEN ENJOYING FOR DECADES - 300 MILLION COPIES SOLD.Jin Yong''s work, in the Chinese-speaking world, has a cultural currency roughly equal to that of Harry Potter and Star Wars combined Nick Frisch, New YorkerLike every fairy tale you''re ever loved, imbued with jokes and epic grandeur. Prepare to be swept along. Jamie Buxton, Daily MailChina: 1200 A.D. In the fourth and final volume of Legends of the Condor Horoes, the first novel in the Condor Trilogy, Guo Jing is at last forced to make a choice between loyalty to the land of his birth and keeping faith with Genghis Khan, who has been like a father to him. As the Mongol armies descend on China, Jin Yong brings this most beloved of his novels to a thrilling conclusion, complete with vast battles, stirring heroism, hear
£10.99
Quercus Publishing A Bond Undone
Book SynopsisTHE CHINESE LORD OF THE RINGS - NOW IN ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME.THE SERIES EVERY CHINESE READER HAS BEEN ENJOYING FOR DECADES - 100 MILLION COPIES SOLD.Jin Yong''s work, in the Chinese-speaking world, has a cultural currency roughly equal to that of Harry Potter and Star Wars combined Nick Frisch, New YorkerLike every fairy tale you''re ever loved, imbued with jokes and epic grandeur. Prepare to be swept along. Jamie Buxton, Daily MailIn the Jin capital of Zhongdu, Guo Jing learns the truth of his father''s death and finds he is now betrothed, against his will, to two women. Neither of them is his sweetheart Lotus Huang.Torn between following his heart and fulfilling his filial duty, he journeys through the country of his parents with Lotus, encountering mysterious martial heroes and becoming drawn into the struggle for the supreme martial text, the Nine Yin Manual. But his past is catching up wi
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Good the Bad and the Aunties
Book Synopsis''Another on point mix of humour, chaos and quirky fun'' Katy Brent, How to Kill Men and Get Away With ItThe laugh-out-loud new novel from the bestselling author of Dial A For Aunties, winner of the Comedy Women In Print Prize 2021It's Chinese New Year, a time to celebrate Fresh from their honeymoon, Meddy and Nathan meet the Aunties in Jakarta for a family celebration. Amid the festivities, an old flame of Second Aunt's arrives with extravagant gifts. Unfortunately, not all the presents were meant for them.NOT the time to start an all-out war.The most important gift goes missing, putting Meddy and the Aunties in the middle of a feud between Jakarta's most powerful business moguls and in great danger. To save her loved ones, Meddy must organise a search party, a break-in and a kidnapping. It might sound like an impossible mission but with the Aunties by her side, nothing is impossible just complicated.***''Sutanto knows how to write a fabulous crime tale that hits all the right notes
£9.49
Peninsula Press Ltd The Springs of Affection
Book Synopsis'And at last Min was released from the duty she had imposed on herself, to remain with him as long as he needed her.' In the stories that compose this collection, Maeve Brennan turns her anatomist's eye to the ugly feelings that teem just beneath the surface of family life - doing so, however, with an attention to detail that makes these unsparing portraits luminous and exquisite. Brennan's subjects are ordinary people worn down by life, by its disappointments, its little humiliations. Yet they are also dreamers, defiantly hopeful of one day overstepping the narrow confines of the situations in which, unaccountably, they find themselves. These are stories that ache; pitting imagination against circumstance, they are at once claustrophobic and expansive, heartbreaking and miraculous. With a new introduction by acclaimed novelist Claire-Louise Bennett, The Springs of Affection reveals Maeve Brennan to be one of the 20th century's most innovative and important writers.Trade Review'These feel transparently modern, the way that Dubliners by Joyce feels modern...Brennan remains precise, unyielding: something lovely and unbearable is happening on the page.' - Anne Enright
£10.44
Orion Publishing Co This Year It Will Be Different
Book SynopsisChristmas tales from the world's favourite storyteller - perfect for the festive season.With an introduction from Veronica Henry, bestselling author of THE IMPULSE PURCHASETrade ReviewThere's nobody like Binchy for warming the cockles, and this collection of Christmas stories warms them to white heat. -- Kate Saunders * THE TIMES *With her gift for effortless characterisation and homely detail, she evokes power shifts in families, unwelcome discoveries, conspiracies, affairs, forgiveness, sorrow and the rebirth of optimism with her usual warmth and sympathy. -- Elizabeth Buchan * SUNDAY TIMES *Brilliant, family-oriented short stories ... Binchy fans will love it - i did! 5/5 * WOMAN'S OWN *We are all in her pages, all of us: mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, husbands, wives, children, friends, lovers ... It is this combination of Maeve's understanding of what it is to be human, and how to cope with life, that makes her so popular -- Veronica HenryA master storyteller -- Marian KeyesHer storytelling ability is second to none * SUNDAY EXPRESS *You can see why, for a legion of female readers, Maeve Binchy is a one-woman opiate of the people * EVENING STANDARD *
£8.49
HarperCollins Publishers A Thimble for Christmas
Book SynopsisDon't miss the next utterly romantic historical saga from the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author Dilly Court!She ran along the snow-covered cobbles, gripping her sewing box fate in her handsLiving hand to mouth ever since her mother's tragic death, Amelia sells the last of her treasured possessions to avoid being cast out of her home onto London's streets.Her estranged grandfather unexpectedly bequeaths a small, struggling factory making mourning dresses and Amelia dares to dream Drawing sketches by candlelight, she longs to sew elegant gowns from fine silks and beautiful ribbons for the rich.As the cold winter wind begins to bite, Amelia's future hangs by a thread can she keep her hopes alive?Readers LOVE A Thimble for Christmas!Love the author loved the book. Family saga at its best' ?????I loved it from cover to cover, and I didn''t want it to end' ?????A wonderful book by my favourite author Dilly Court, I absolutely adore her style of writing and the rich and warm characters that are interwoven into the story' ?????I''m a huge Dilly Court fan, and I''ve yet to read a book of hers that disappoints' ?????Really enjoyed it and read it right through on this windy and wet Sunday' ?????Heart-warming historical drama, full of ups and downs and full of lively and interesting characters' ?????Another great read from Dilly Court, I was unable to put it down' ?????Dilly's novel Sunday's Child hit #1 in the Sunday Times bestselling charts the w/e 25th June 2022Trade Review Praise for Dilly Court: ‘Feisty female characters to fall in love with in a spirited, adventurous novel’ Sunday Express ‘Dilly Court’s latest novel is another page-turner that will keep you gripped to the end – 5 stars’ The People’s Friend ‘As always Dilly keeps you absorbed right to the end’ Choice ‘A rollicking, fast-paced adventure with a hint of romance!’ My Weekly ‘Spellbinding . . . you just keep turning the pages’ Daily Mail ‘Perfect for Downton Abbey fans … heart-tugging’ Peterborough Telegraph
£8.54
Everyman Never Let Me Go
Book SynopsisAs children, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy attended an exclusive boarding-school in the English countryside. Idyllic in some ways yet vaguely sinister, 'Hailsham' was a place of intense friendships, mysterious rules, and 'guardians' who constantly reminded the students how special they were. Now thirty-one, Kathy looks back on their shared past and tells how she and her friends gradually came to understand the shocking reason for the careful nurturing they had received. An affecting meditation on friendship, love and mortality.
£15.29
Prototype Publishing Ltd. Sorcerer
Book SynopsisSorcerer is a book in the form of a script/novel/manual about the pleasures of being with others and of being alone. Three friends hang out and share a long and unremarkable conversation about getting dressed, headaches, ticks, compression fantasies, surgery, and their aspirations, among other things. The characters find contentment in each other's company, conversing in the placid, eerie rhythms of a sitcom in which conflict never arises. When two of the friends go home for the night, the remaining one watches TV, dances, and takes apart his face in front of a giant mirror.Trade Review'Atkins and Zultanski's play redesigns the contemporary home as a machine for comedy, sadness, and anxiety. Sorcerer is a unique work of theatre and literature, beautiful and unsettling.' - Dan Fox; 'With Sorcerer, Ed Atkins and Steve Zultanski invite us 'round for an evening of conversational bricolage, word games, and mild social debarment (with grapes). We are privy to the trivial crosscut with the vital; we submit to compression fetish and sulphuric mythology; we ruminate on the merits of facial deconstruction, and most crucially of all, we are reminded once again about the awful sad joy of humanness and what it means to be alone.' - Graham Lambkin; 'Vivid on the page, Sorcerer is a surprising and compelling hallucinatory theatre text for a cast of three. In it a set of hyper-naturalistic micro-conversations are laid out in an unblinking deadpan; crisp dialogues that focus in on the body, mapping the detail of daily actions and experiences from the removal of clothing, to the acquisition of new skills, and the precise interior feeling of headaches. Atkins & Zultanski have made the score for a complex, haunting event.' - Tim Etchells; 'Sorcerer is the emphatic magic of lived-time actions. This is a dialogue between the object body and other objects, so distended and loud as to be near silent. Where each action held might also begin to corrupt, or stain, pulling too hard, tuning in and tearing out. A politics of who we are in how we are, learnt, programmed, actioned and acted.' - Ghislaine Leung; 'In this ingenious work, Zultanski and Atkins innovatively deploy both material and human gesture to paint a sad yet almost comic scenario of contemporaneity. A group of friends conduct inane conversation about subjects like how to take off your pants (with accompanying gestures), yet these people raise serious compassion in us, for they are us. Atkins and Zultanski's brand of drolly underwrought utterance show us once more that innovative device is the sine qua non of really good art.' - Gail Scott
£10.80
Duckworth Books Hester
Book SynopsisIsobel, a gifted needleworker with strange talents, finds herself penniless and alone in Salem. When she meets Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are drawn to each other. Together, they are dark storyteller and muse, but where will their affair lead?Trade Review'Like the greatest historical fiction, Hester makes you believe utterly' Gillian Flynn, international bestselling author of Gone Girl‘Full of lush and colourful prose, Hester proves that a woman will do whatever she must to prosper, even when she is left with nothing but courage – and a few secrets of her own’ Sarah Penner, bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary‘A masterpiece that should be required reading alongside Hawthorne’s classic tale of adultery. Enthralling, ambitious and a total knockout’ Fiona Davis, bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue‘A luminous blend of fiction and truth, Hester weaves a spellbinding tapestry of Salem history as it has never been told before’ Afia Atakora, author of Conjure Women
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The People in the Trees
Book SynopsisHanya Yanagihara is the author of three novels: To Paradise, A Little Life and The People in the Trees. She lives in New York City.Trade ReviewThe world Yanagihara conjures up, full of dark pockets of mystery, is magical. * The Times *Impossible to resist * Daily Mail *Absorbing, intelligent and uncompromising * Independent *Power and its abuses are at the heart of this richly imagined novel . . . In structure and subject, The People in the Trees pays tribute to Vladimir Nabokov's two masterpieces: Pale Fire and Lolita . . . Perina's voice – wry, superior, unthinkingly cruel – is one of the key triumphs of the book. -- Katie Kitamura * The Guardian *Dazzling . . . A triumph of the imagination -- Anthony DoerrAn engrossing, beautifully detailed, at times amazing (and shocking) novel . . . I loved this book. -- Paul TherouxSuspenseful . . . Yanagihara is a writer to marvel at. * The New York Times *A standout novel, a debut as thrilling as it is disturbing * The Wall Street Journal *Captivating and thoroughly unsettling * Vogue *
£10.44
Dedalus Ltd Lobster
Book Synopsis
£8.99
Europa Editions (UK) Ltd Three: From the bestselling author of Fresh Water
Book SynopsisAdrien, Etienne and Nina are 10 years old when they meet at school and become inseparable. Years later, a car is pulled up from the bottom of a lake, with a body inside. Virginie, a local journalist with an enigmatic past, follows the case. Step by step she reveals the extraordinary bonds that unite the three childhood friends. How is the car wreck connected to their story? Why did their friendship fall apart? Three is a compelling story of love and loss, hope and grief, and of the distance that comes with the passing of time. A masterly crafted story full of suspense and unexpected plot twists. WHAT READERS ARE SAYING: “This book owns my soul.” Booksnpenguins – 5* "Valérie Perrin is always a delight." Alexandra Jundler – 5* "A stellar read that I highly recommend." Paromjit Hayers – 5* "I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed!" Michelle Coates – 5* “Three is a totally consuming book that makes it hard to come up for air while reading it.” Jill – 5* "Such a great book, that I found very hard to put down." Mel – 5* "One of the most beautifully written stories I have ever read." Alison – 5* “I’m so dumbstruck by this novel.” June Schwartz – 5*Trade Review"It’s difficult to convey how brilliant this story is: the translation captures the essence of the book perfectly and it was a joy to read. * Buzz Magazine *"Perrin has a beautiful talent for capturing the atmosphere of small-town France and she has a philosopher's nose for the way in which our lives are really constructed." * Litro *What Readers Are Saying (from NetGalley and Goodreads) “This book feels like a kick in the ass and a caress on the face, at the same time. It owns my soul.” Booksnpenguins – 5* “I really enjoyed this book right from the start, it was a compelling read with a good writing style, gripping storyline, engaging narrative and well-developed characters that jumped off of the page...” Aria Harlow – 5* “I’m so dumbstruck by this novel that I feel silly reviewing it: it’s the kind of book I wish I could write. It’s linear in spite of the to and fro in time, it takes its time without dragging, and it’s jammed with details, textures, resonances. When the story comes together, it is effortless, exquisite, and sapid. I highly recommend this novel and will read whatever I can find by Valerie Perrin.” June Schwartz – 5* "Valérie Perrin is always a delight. I was wondering if/how she could top Fresh Water for Flowers… she maintained the same amount of beauty and expectation." Alexandra Jundler – 5* "This is wonderful character driven storytelling to immerse yourself in, touching on the universal themes of what it is to be human, our connections and disconnections, identity, family, friendship, love, loss, grief, guilt, sexuality, judgements, bad decisions and betrayal. A stellar read that I highly recommend." Paromjit Hayers – 5* "Valérie Perrin has an unerring gift for delving deep into life’s depths. Following the thread of a sequence of heart-wrenching, inescapable events over the span of three decades, she draws the reader into a compelling story of love and loss, hope and grief, and of the distance that comes with the passing of time. I still have goosebumps! Omg...... this book was amazing I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed!" Michelle Coates – 5* "Great book, I loved this read." Katie Smith – 5* "Valerie Perrin has written another incredibly moving and powerful view of contemporary relationships and the joys and tragedies that prevail." Stephen Richard – 5* “Three is a totally consuming book that makes it hard to come up for air while reading it.” Jill – 5* "Such a great book, that I found very hard to put down.... deeply satisfying." Mel – 5* "One of the most beautifully written stories I have ever read." Alison – 5* "Full of sorrow but with pocketfuls of joy and sunshine along the way, as well as determination and resilience. The writing was exquisite, not in terms of sophisticated vocabulary but in the way the author - and the translator as well - can write and effuse so many emotions into their words." Catarina – 5* "This is a book that slowly gives us little jigsaw pieces of the puzzle that you can't wait to put together as the two timelines come closer to each other. Full of intrigue and unpredictable twists." Ciara R – 4* “At first, it reminded me of a slightly saner version of Lize Spit’s “The Melting”. But then, just as I was getting slightly impatient, the story hit me. Hard. Valérie Perrin has done it again!” Anne McCormick – 4* “A story of family and friendship, conjuring almost every emotion you can imagine - loyalty, betrayal, jealousy, obsession, guilt, for starters - but focusing on how even the closest relationships can conceal so much…. I was fully engaged in the lives of Valerie Perrin’s characters, from their teens to their 40s, and invested in their futures.” Sue Broom - 4*
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers No One Saw It Coming The gripping
Book SynopsisDon't miss this utterly gripping and emotional thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Susan Lewis!Secrets lie at the heart of every familyWhen the unthinkable happensHanna's world is crumbling.An unimaginable crime has been committed, and everyone's looking for someone to blame. Her loved ones are under suspicion.Now Hanna must work out who is threatening her family before it's too late.No one could have seen this comingReal readers love No One Saw It ComingMaster storyteller Susan Lewis blends emotional family drama, heart-stopping tension and nail-biting suspense' Reader review ?????A mesmerizing, immersive and emotional tale that is a struggle to put down' Reader review ?????Had me hooked from the start' Reader review ?????Best book I've had the pleasure to read in a very long time' Reader review ?????Trade Review.Acclaim for Susan Lewis: ‘Lewis’s book has you by the collar from page one. You just don’t want it to stop. Relatable characters and an unusual, intriguing plot, she kept me guessing to the last’ Hilary Boyd ‘An intriguing read that drew me in from the very beginning. It combines heartfelt family drama with a gripping plot. The characters are expertly drawn … Susan has done a brilliant job of weaving her research seamlessly into the novel’ Julie Corbin ‘I was hooked by the suspenseful plotting, depth of character and legal backdrop. This is a deep book which I greatly enjoyed. Rather like an appetite-wetting five course meal with a surprise menu’ Jane Corry ‘Rich, seamless and masterful storytelling with so many ‘oh my god’ twisty moments… Absolute genius. I was totally gripped’ Rebecca Thornton ‘Susan Lewis has a gift for telling warm family stories that also take you by surprise’ Jane Corry‘A gripping read’ Bella ‘A gripping and compelling tale of justice and forgiveness’ The Courier ‘A compelling, timely mystery’ Lisa Ballantyne ‘My Lies, Your Lies has gone straight to the top of my favourite Susan reads. Full of drama, intrigue with so many twists and turns, I promise you'll be surprised and captivated right to the end’ Carmel Harrington ‘A master storyteller’ Diane Chamberlain ‘Utterly compelling’ Sun
£8.54
Chiltern Publishing Cranford
Book SynopsisChiltern Publishing creates the most beautiful editions of the World's finest literature. Your favourite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before; the tactile embossed layers, fine details, gold edges and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.
£17.00
Kensington Publishing Paper Cuts
Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestselling author returns with a mystery with a touch of magical realism and a strong, female bookstore owner and bibliotherapist at its heart.Miracle Springs, North Carolina, is famed for its healing springs. But bookstore owner Nora Pennington has a tendency to land in a different kind of hot water. Though she loves to practice bibliotherapy by finding the perfect books for her customers while listening to their secrets, she also likes to bury her nose in the occasional local crime…Nora escaped her past a decade ago. So it feels like a visit from another world when Kelly Walsh—the woman her ex-husband left her for—walks through the door of Miracle Books along with her son, a sweet, serious boy with a talent for origami. Kelly hasn’t come to gloat, though. As it turns out, she’s been dumped too. She’s also terribly ill, and all she wants from Nora is forgiveness.Shockingly, however, this wom
£21.25
New Island Books Seanairgead, Airgead Nua
Book SynopsisBaile Átha Cliath, sa bhliain 1972. Déagóirí is ea Ruaidí agus Pancho, a rugadh is a tógadh i gceantar an Phoirt Thuaidh. Tá Ruaidí ag barr an ranga, agus tá sé sármhaith ag an mata. Bua eile ar fad atá ag Pancho – suimeanna airgid a aimsiú, seachas suimeanna a dhéanamh. Tá tuismitheoirí Ruaidí i mbun an Chomhair Chreidmheasa áitiúil. Bíonn athair Pancho i mbun drabhláis i dtithe tábhairne na cathrach gach lá pá. Tá difear lá agus oíche idir saol na mbuachaillí, ach is dlúthchairde iad mar sin féin. Lá, agus é ag seachadadh nuachtán mar is gnách, siúlann Ruaidí isteach san áit a ndearnadh robáil. Is amhlaidh a bhris gadaithe isteach i dteach ‘chailleacha an Phoirt Thoir’, beirt deirfiúracha aosta. Ach d’fhág na gadaithe airgead ina ndiaidh. Tá rogha mhór le déanamh ag Ruaidí agus Pancho... The city is Dublin, the year is 1972. Redser and Pancho are two teenagers from the North Wall. Redser is top of the class, especially good at maths. Pancho's knack is for finding money, not adding or subtracting it. Redser's parents run the local credit union. Pancho's dad runs riot in the city pubs on pay day. The boys' worlds could not be further apart. Yet the pair are the best of friends. One day, on his regular paper round, Redser stumbles upon the aftermath of a crime. Two elderly sisters, 'the East Wall witches', have been burgled. But the robbers haven't taken all the money. Redser and Pancho are about to face their biggest dilemma ever...
£8.59
New Island Books Na Scéalta Atá Fós Ann
Book SynopsisTá an tUasal Ó Sé agus a mhadra dílis, Seoirse, ag dul amach ar cuairt ghairid chuig na siopaí. Tá dearmad déanta ag an Uasal Ó Sé ar a chuid eochracha, ach beidh Bean Uí Shé ann, mar a bhíonn sí i gcónaí, chun iad a ligean isteach. Ach ar an mbealach ar ais, tugann Seoirse faoi deara go bhfuil rud éigin amú – chas siad faoi dheis nuair ba chóir dóibh casadh faoi chlé, rud atá á dtabhairt níos faide ó bhaile. Chun rudaí a dhéanamh níos measa, tá an chuma air go mbeidh báisteach ann. Buaileann na seanchairde an bóthar ar thuras trasna Bhaile Átha Cliath agus trína gcuid cuimhní, atá, de réir cosúlachta, ag imeacht ceann ar cheann… Mr Bolton and his faithful dog, George, are just popping down to the shops. He forgot his keys, but Mrs Bolton will be there to let them in like always. But on the way back, George notices something wrong - they turned right when they should have turned left, bringing them farther from home. To make things worse, it's beginning to look like rain. The old friends set off on a journey across Dublin and through their memories, which seem to be disappearing one by one...
£8.59
Faber & Faber Molloy
Book SynopsisBut as Moran's physical and mental state deteriorate, his narrative starts to mirror Molloy's in mysterious ways. Molloy is the first of the three great novels Samuel Beckett produced during his 'frenzy of writing' in the late 1940s.
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Independence
Book Synopsis
£999.99
Little, Brown Book Group Night Watch
Book SynopsisA mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War - and a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds
£9.49
Muswell Press The Gallopers
Book Synopsis1953. Eli is nineteen years old and lives alongside a cursed field with his strange aunt Dreama. Six months before, his mother disappeared during the North Sea flood. Unsure of his place in the world and of the man he is becoming, Eli is ready to run. Shane Wright is a man with plenty to hide. Caught in a complicated relationship with Eli, Shane is desperate to maintain the double life that he has created for himself. Then Jimmy Smart appears. Jimmy Smart, the mysterious showman who turns the gallopers at the fair. Under his watchful gaze, Eli discovers a world he knows nothing about with rules he cannot understand. Three men bound together in a blistering story that spans 30 years, from 1953 into the 1980s and the AIDS epidemic, The Gallopers is a visceral and mesmerising novel of deceit, desire and unspeakable loss.Trade ReviewA powerful new voice of gay working-class life This eloquent heart-felt debut pulls the reader right beside him a writer of real talent. Guardian. The Whale Tattoo is remarkable. A potent tale of grief, love and ultimately forgiveness. The Spectator. Debut of the year 2022 Guardian. A bold, brilliant and beautiful debut. Suzannah Dunn. If you only read one debut novel this year make it this one. The Whale Tattoo is a book of visceral, magnetic raw pulsating beauty. A mesmeric, gritty tour de force. Attitude Magazine. A stunning achievement - one of the most impressive and assured debuts I ve ever read Matt Cain
£13.49
Granta Books The Glutton
Book SynopsisOne man with an insatiable hunger: a novel of desire and destruction in Revolutionary France, based on a true story, from the Desmond Elliott Prize-winning author of The Manningtree Witches.
£9.49
