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
HarperCollins Sister Snake
Book SynopsisA glittering, bold, darkly funny novel about two sisters?one in New York, one in Singapore?who are bound by an ancient secretSisterhood is difficult for Su and Emerald. Su leads a sheltered, moneyed life as the picture-perfect wife of a conservative politician in Singapore. Emerald is a nihilistic sugar baby in New York, living from whim to whim and using her charms to make ends meet. But they share a secret: once, they were snakes, basking under a full moon in Tang dynasty China. A thousand years later, their mysterious history is the only thing still binding them together. When Emerald experiences a violent encounter in Central Park and Su boards the next flight to New York, the two reach a tenuous reconciliation for the first time in decades. Su convinces Emerald to move to Singapore so she can keep an eye on her?but she soon begins to worry that Emerald?s irrepressible behavior will out them both, in a sparkling, affluent city where everything runs like clockwork and any deviation from the norm is automatically suspect.Razor-sharp, hilarious, and raw in emotion, Sister Snake explores chosen family, queerness, passing, and the struggle against conformity. Reimagining the Chinese folktale ?The Legend of the White Snake,? this is a novel about being seen for who you are?and, ultimately, how to live free.
£21.00
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Last Light over Oslo
Book SynopsisBased on true events, this gripping historical novel set in Norway and Sweden in 1940, follows one of the first female US Ministers, Daisy Harriman, and her niece as the two are unexpectedly caught up in the German invasion of Norway.Cleo Jaffray was an American. A war in Europe had nothing to do with her. She told herself that right up until the man she loved went missing in Poland and Cleo was forced to turn to the only person who might be able to help?her aunt Daisy, the US Minister to Norway.Daisy Harriman has never shied away from a challenge, be it canvassing for women?s suffrage or driving Red Cross ambulances in WWI, so as only the second woman ambassador, she is determined to prove the naysayers wrong and succeed in her post. When her disgraced niece Cleo lands on her doorstep, penniless and demanding help to find her lost lover, Daisy must balance her responsibilities as a diplomat with her desire to help her family.Their search for answers is interrupted when Germany invades Norway and the pair find themselves on the run in a countryside that is quickly becoming a battleground. Then as Daisy is given the task of escorting the Norwegian Crown Princess and her young children to America, Cleo?s lover resurfaces with a story that doesn?t add up and dangerous enemies on his trail.This riveting historical novel, based on the astounding life of Daisy Harriman and a real-life royal rescue, vividly captures a desperate time and a fearless heroine.
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Third Wife of Faraday House
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Simon & Schuster The Winners
Book Synopsis
£16.99
PAGE & VINE Fractured Freedom
Book Synopsis
£14.39
Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC Reborn as a Space Mercenary I Woke Up Piloting
Book Synopsis
£13.49
David R. Godine Publisher Sipsworth
Book Synopsis
£18.95
Atria Books Daydream
Book Synopsis
£13.09
Bloomsbury Publishing USA Float Up, Sing Down
Book Synopsis
£20.24
HarperCollins Publishers Daddys Girl
Book SynopsisThe brand new epic family drama from the nation's favourite storyteller.Where can a daughter turn when her father's love is stolen away?When heart-broken Sarah Quinn is left to care for her father and siblings when her mother dies, it's hard to watch their loving dad, Fred, drift into drink and despair. With money tight, Sarah is determined to keep the family together.But they receive a shock when Fred Quinn announces he is to marry Mavis Swindel, the landlady of a boarding house on the edge of the moors. Mavis seems to offer the answer to the family's problems, and soon they are all moving into her shabby lodgings.It quickly becomes clear that their stepmother has plans for her new family, and slowly but surely, Mavis takes over their lives. As her father becomes a stranger to his children, Sarah becomes convinced that Mavis has something to hide. But as her doubts turn into an obsession, does Sarah risk destroying everything she loves in her search for the truth?
£8.99
Simon & Schuster Not Forever But For Now
Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of Fight Club comes a hilarious horror satire “equal parts saccharine caricature and startling raunch” (Kirkus Reviews) about a family of professional killers responsible for the most atrocious events in history and the young brothers that are destined to take over.Meet Otto and Cecil. Two brothers who grew up privileged in the Welsh countryside. They enjoyed watching nature shows, playing with their pet pony, impersonating their Grandfather…and killing the help. Murder is the family business after all. Downton Abbey, this is not. However, it’s not so easy to continue the family legacy with the constant stream of threats and distractions seemingly leaping from the hedgerow. First, there is the matter of the veritable cavalcade of escaped convicts that keep showing up at their door. Not to mention the debaucherous new tutor who has a penchant for speaking Greek and dismembering sex dolls. Then ther
£12.96
Random House USA Inc Damsel
Book SynopsisA damsel in distress takes on the dragon herself in this epic twist on classic fantasy. Based on a screenplay by Dan Mazeau, this is a groundbreaking collaboration between New York Times bestselling author Evelyn Skye and the team behind the upcoming Netflix film Damsel, starring Millie Bobby Brown. A price must be paid.Elodie never dreamed of a lavish palace or a handsome prince. As she grew up in the famine-stricken realm of Inophe, her deepest wish was to help her people survive each winter. So when a representative from a rich, reclusive kingdom offers her family enough wealth to save Inophe in exchange for Elodie’s hand in marriage, she accepts without hesitation. Swept away to the glistening kingdom of Aurea, Elodie is quickly taken in by the beauty of the realm—and of her betrothed, Prince Henry. But as Elodie undertakes the rituals to become an Aurean princess, doubts prick at her mind as cracks in the kingdom
£17.25
Muswell Press The Whale Tattoo
Book SynopsisThe winner of the Polari First Book Prize 2023. Having stormed out two years ago, it won't be easy, nor will returning to the haunted river beside the house where words ripple beneath the surface washing up all sorts of memories. Joe turns to his sister, Birdee, the only person who has ever listened. But she can't help him. Then there's Tim Fysh, local fisherman and long-time lover. But reviving their bond is bound to be trouble. As the water settles and Joe learns the truth about the river, he finds that we all have the capability to hate, and that we can all make the choice not to. Ransom's fractured, distinctive prose highlights the beauty and brutality of his story, his extraordinarily vivid sense of place saturates the reader with the wet of the river, and the salty tang of the sea.Trade Review'This eloquent heart-felt debut pulls the reader right beside him and announces Ransom as a writer of real talent.' Guardian. 'A stunning achievement - one of the most impressive and assured debuts I've ever read.' Matt Cain. 'If you only read one debut novel this year make it this one' Attitude Magazine. 'Raw, uncompromising, and authentic, a remarkable debut from an astonishingly gifted writer' Golnoosh Nour. 'It's a fine work of queer literature'. Damian Barr's Literary Salon. 'A bold, brilliant and beautiful debut'. Suzannah Dunn. 'This guy is an incredible new talent. A short book that punches well above its weight: explicit, brutal and moving'. Isabel Costello. 'Seldom, outside the realms of gay royalty like Alan Hollinghurst, have I read a novel about gay people so well written. I can't recall the last time I read a novel with such a sense of place. This is a story that lives on long after the last full stop. And deserves to be read'. Charles Coussens
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Small Mercies
Book Synopsis
£27.00
HarperCollins Publishers The Cornish Castle Murder
Book SynopsisThe brand new Jodie Nosey' Parker cozy mystery to escape with in 2025. Available to pre-order now!As former Met police officer Jodie Nosey' Parker and her fiancé DCI Nathan Withers arrive at a gorgeous Cornish castle ahead of their wedding, they're excited for what the future holds.With the party in full swing, the guests are enjoying a weekend of dancing, activities and relaxation. So nothing shocks them more than when Nathan's friend shoots a straight bullseye on the archery field. Just a shame it goes straight into a young woman on the other side of the targetYet not everything is as it looks and on closer inspection it appears the woman was already dead. As suspicions turn to the guests, Jodie and Nathan must set aside their celebrations to investigate the mystery before the killer strikes again.Readers love Fiona Leitch:As twisty-turny as a Cornish lane in high summer' J.M. Hall, author of A Spoonful of MurderA sparklingly delicious confection to satisfy the mystery reader's appet
£9.49
And Other Stories Ten Planets
Book SynopsisThe characters that populate Yuri Herrera's first collection of stories inhabit imagined futures that reveal the strangeness and instability of the present. Drawing on science fiction, noir, and the philosophical parables of Borges's Fictions and Calvino's Cosmicomics, these very short stories signal a new dimension in the work of this significant writer. In Ten Planets, objects can be sentient and might rebel against the unhappy human family to which they are attached. A detective of sorts finds clues to buried secrets by studying the noses of his clients, which he insists are covert maps. A meagre bacterium in a human intestine gains consciousness when a psychotropic drug is ingested. Monsters and aliens abound, but in the fiction of Herrera, knowing who is the monster and who the alien is a tricky proposition. This collection of stories, with a breadth that ranges from philosophical flights of fancy to the gritty detective story, leaves us with a sense of awe at our world and the worlds beyond our ken, while Herrera continues to develop his exploration of the mutability of borders, the wounds and legacy of colonial violence, and a deep love of storytelling in all its forms.Trade Review‘The ideas are refreshingly bizarre – such as the alien that writes Don Quixote and is critiqued for this work of “speculative fiction” by his editor – and bring new life to the genre, cutting through some of its hackneyed tropes.’ Sunday Times ---- ‘An impressive achievement: bold, disturbing, ironic.’ Patrick Graney, Times Literary Supplement ---- ‘This speculative collection draws inspiration from Melville, Jorge Luis Borges, Philip K. Dick and others to produce contemplative, emotive and richly imagined stories.’ New York Times Book Review ---- ‘A highly original set of voyages to imaginary worlds that shed unexpected light on our own.’ Wall Street Journal ---- 'Brilliant, ecstatic and playful, Ten Planets is the work of one of the most original and prodigiously gifted writers at work today. The grammar of a nose, a skeleton in a shoebox, a consciousness acquiring bacterium and a sentient house - the infinite worlds of this story collection are further proof that Herrera is a writer of boundless talent.' Katie Kitamura ---- 'Ten Planets is exuberantly inventive and darkly humorous. Yuri Herrera has a gift for concealing entire worlds in small packages. Invariably the strange places in these jack-in-the-box fictions, with their peculiar customs and weird creatures, turn out to be familiar, not alien societies but our own, not distant planets but the house across the street. Monstrous and magical by turns, and very often both, Herrera's stories are irresistible.' Ivan Vladislavic ---- 'Ten Planets is - if this isn't too reductive an analogy - a tapas selection of tiny delights, individually tasty, infinitely moreish, and adding up to a very satisfying whole.' James Lovegrove, Financial Times ---- 'Startling concepts another writer might take hundreds of pages to explore are distilled into perfect miniatures. It's tempting to gulp them down at once, but such rich fare is best taken slowly, allowed to digest.' Lisa Tuttle, The Guardian ---- 'A new collection of short stories from the beloved Mexican author Yuri Herrera. Ten Planets (translated by Lisa Dillman) is bold, philosophical science fiction.' I-D Magazine, 'All the books to be excited for in 2023' ---- 'The characters that populate Yuri Herrera's first collection of stories inhabit imagined futures that reveal the strangeness and instability of the present.' London Review Bookshop, 'Gayle's New Year Picks 2023' ---- 'Sheffield-based And Other Stories previously published Mexican political scientist Yuri Herrera's Signs Preceding the End of the World to critical acclaim. In February it publishes his book of short stories, Ten Planets, translated by Lisa Dillman, and blending the best of science fiction, noir and the philosophical parables of Calvino and Borges.' Big Issue North, 'Indies to Watch in 2023' ---- In Ten Planets, Herrera shifts from the fantastical (monsters and aliens) to the eerily materialist (a bacterium achieves sentience) like a boy flipping through the pages of a beloved comic book: with delight and conviction.' LitHub, 'Most anticipated books of 2023' ---- 'Ten Planets encapsulates Hererra's mastery of language, his unique imagination where always something unexpected awaits you.' Morning Star ---- 'At times so dazzling and drenched in ideas, that the reader must take pause, regain breath, think and think again, indeed turn back to the start, read anew and be rewarded anew ... These odd, unsettling encounters ring in the mind like enlivening waking dreams, their significance spilling in many directions, inviting us to toy with and complete them in our own ways.' New Internationalist ---- 'There are vignettes of imagined futures, twinkling with Borgesian promise, placed beside hard-boiled noirish pieces that expose the absurdity of bureaucratic systems.' The Big Issue 'Yuri Herrera's expansive, delicate world-building makes the slim book seem bigger than it is - because of how far and fast the stories go.' Word Factory ---- 'A collection of fanciful, philosophical science fictions by one of Mexico's finest novelists.' Vulture ---- 'These stories don't simply imagine new worlds - they create them.' El Pais ---- Bookseller Praise for Ten Planets: 'Strange, surreal, and brimming with playfulness.' John Bittles, No Alibis Bookstore ---- 'Leave the world with everything you think you know behind and depart on a journey of exploring new possibilities, new realities and questioning what you take to be true. Absolutely mesmerising!' Lea Deppe, Bookhaus ---- 'With Yuri Herrera's Ten Planets fiction has finally caught up with the 21st century. The short stories inside are quantum pieces existing in two places at once. Read altogether they have a cumulative effect that envelops the reader with a warm sense of the subliminal and supranatural yet never leaving the mundane behind. This is such lyrical, enchanting, inventive prose from a formidable imagination at work.' Ray Mattinson, Blackwell's, Oxford ---- 'Whether plumbing the darker depths of our psyche, or soaring into ecstatic expanses of hope, these small, surreal stories - glittering with invention and shards of charming, unnerving naivety - each have the undeniable gravity of a collapsing star. You'll find your mind orbiting them long into the night.' Joe Hedinger, The Book Hive ---- 'An excellent and intriguing book. The ideas and variety are such that at no point does it run out of steam or originality.' Keith Cowans, The Book Vault ---- Praise for Yuri Herrera: 'Yuri Herrera floored me ... seeming to fall from an alternative sky.' Patti Smith ---- 'Yuri Herrera must be a thousand years old. He must have travelled to hell, and heaven, and back again. He must have once been a girl, an animal, a rock, a boy, and a woman. Nothing else explains the vastness of his understanding.' Valeria Luiselli ---- 'Yuri Herrera is Mexico's greatest novelist. His spare, poetic narratives and incomparable prose read like epics compacted into a single perfect punch-they ring your bell, your being, your soul.' Francisco Goldman ---- 'Herrera's metaphors grasp the freedom, and the alarming disorientation, of transition and translation.' Maya Jaggi, The Guardian ---- 'Playful, prophetic, unnerving books that deserve to be read several times.' Eileen Battersby, Irish Times ---- 'Signs Preceding the End of the World is short, suspenseful . . . outlandish and heartbreaking.' John Williams, New York Times ---- 'Herrera packs The Transmigration of Bodies with the sex, booze and nihilism of a better Simenon novella.' Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal ---- 'My favorite of the new Mexican writers.' John Powers, NPR Fresh Air
£10.79
Sort of Books Ladies' Lunch: a novella & other stories
Book Synopsis'These ladies are perfect company' The Times 'Lore Segal has the sharp analytic eye of a born writer' The New York Times Book Review 'There is humour even in the most heart-breaking of her stories' Telegraph Five close friends in their 90s meet - as they have for decades - for their monthly 'ladies lunch', to puzzle, and laugh at, the enigmas and affronts of ageing. When one of their number is placed unhappily in a home the others conspire to spring her. Lore Segal's witty, yet poignant, short story, Ladies' Lunch, appeared in the New Yorker in 2017, when she herself turned ninety. It was followed by four New Yorker sequels. For this sparkling collection, Segal returns to her group of erudite, sharp-minded nonagenarians in Upper Manhattan offering startling insights into friendship and mortality. In the book's Other Stories, Segal includes tales from her acclaimed and prizewinning oeuvre to illuminate the hinterland of her characters - one of whom, like her, was a Kindertransport refugee. Beautifully crafted and profound, these stories distil the spirit of one of America's great authors to show us what a long life might bring.Trade ReviewThe everyday stuff of ageing, delivered with spark ... The writing is spare and short, telling us only what is needed, like snatches of conversation heard over the clinking of glasses. These ladies are perfect company -- John Self * Times *Segal has the dazzling ability to merge the mundane details of life with the arc of human emotions * The Washington Post *I always feel in her work such a sense of toughness and humor.... Her writing is sad and funny, and that makes it more of both -- Jennifer EganIf America had anything resembling a wise elder, or cared to, it would be Lore Segal -- Shalom AuslanderThere is humour even in the most heart-breaking of her stories -- Nicole Lampert * Telegraph *Deft, delicious stories that follow the lives of a group of long-standing friends... and perfectly pitched memoirist musings -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail *Lore Segal has the sharp analytic eye of a born writer * The New York Times Book Review *Friends die, we grow old, but stories survive ... we are lucky to have this piercing collection from a writer who has known for so long how to tell them * Times Literary Supplement *A spare moving portrait ... tracing the rhythms and bittersweet comedy of aging * Spectator *Moving and powerful -- Brian Maye * Irish Times *
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Big TwoHearted River
Book SynopsisA gorgeous new centennial edition of Ernest Hemingway’s landmark short story of returning veteran Nick Adams’s solo fishing trip in Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, illustrated with specially commissioned artwork by master engraver Chris Wormell and featuring a revelatory foreword by John N.Trade Review"The finest story of the outdoors in American literature." — Sports Illustrated "'Big Two-Hearted River' may be the finest piece of fiction ever written about the experience of the veteran." — The Guardian "Matchlessly eloquent in its evocation of the pleasures of the senses and of the feeling of place. ... In 'Big Two-Hearted River,' there are moments that are not just constructed like a Cézanne painting; they look like a Cézanne painting." — Adam Gopnick, The New Yorker "Some of the best English prose of the twentieth century." — Larry McMurtry, The New York Review of Books "In Hemingway, fishing was always and infinitely metaphorical; Nick Adams plumbs the depths of his soul as he dangles a line." — Jay Parini, New York Times Book Review “A masterpiece, one of those rare instances when a superb writer reaches a level reserved only for those extraordinary talents with a nose for what is fundamental but not entirely clear and rational in human existence.” — Claremont Review of Books “Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Big Two-Hearted River’ retains its hold on me, some 40 years after my first reading. It is a story that can be recited and revealed—like currents in a beloved stream—as fresh as each spring day.” — James F. Vesely, Seattle Times
£17.09
HarperCollins Publishers Tilt
Book SynopsisPicked as a most anticipated book of 2025 by Goodreads, Vogue, LitHub and TIME 'Heralds the arrival of a powerful new literary voice' VOGUE 'Pacy, immaculately modulated' OBSERVER 'Had me turning the pages well into the night' JESSICA KNOLL, author of BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN Annie is nine months pregnant. She's shopping for a crib at IKEA. That's when the massive earthquake hits. There's nothing to do but walk. Annie is 37 weeks pregnant, standing in IKEA, finally about to take home the crib she should have bought months ago. That's when it happens the long-anticipated Cascadia Earthquake, dismantling the East Coast of America in a matter of minutes. Propulsive, disruptive, funny, terrifying, Tilt is a novel about how the foundations of our lives are built and shaken. About a woman trying to walk back to the husband she's long been pushing away. About put-off dreams and inevitability and what makes us keep moving forward. 'A compulsive read' LUAN GOLDIE, author of NIGHTINGALE POINT 'I was so mesmerized that I blew off all my responsibilities, threw all other reading aside, and blistered through the whole thing in one sitting' ANGIE KIM, author of HAPPINESS FALLS 'The Road meets Nightbitch meets What to Expect When You're Expecting. I loved this novel' LYDIA KIESLING, author of The Golden State 'This riveting book made me laugh, cry, and think. I couldn't put it down' HELEN PHILLIPS, author of Hum
£15.29
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Christmas at Hogwarts
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Llewellyn Publications,U.S. Accidental Christ An
Book SynopsisLon Milo DuQuette uses extensive research and his knowledge of esoteric topics to create a thrilling, humorous, and thought-provoking novel. Presents a compelling argument for why the Jesus myth may have become distorted and provides an alternative explanation of his resurrection.
£13.59
NeWest Press I (Athena)
Book SynopsisWhen Athena was a young girl in the 60s, she lost her hearing to a childhood fever but was misdiagnosed as "profoundly retarded" and institutionalized for thirty years. Now she''s out of the institution, awkward and bookish, and learning to integrate with mainstream society where nothing works quite like she thinks it should. Athena researches her past, trying to understand why she was institutionalized in the first place and why the people looking after her made such a huge mistake. At the same time, she tries to find a way to live with the man who was her lover in the institution, uncovering all sorts of surprises along the way.
£14.24
Europa Editions (UK) Ltd. The Silence of the Choir
Book SynopsisSeventy-two men arrive in theSicilian countryside. They are immigrants, refugees or migrants. But in Altino, they are called the ragazzi, the guys' that the Santa Marta Association have taken responsibility for. And their presence changes the course of life in this small Sicilian town.While they await their fate, the ragazzi encounter all kinds of people: a strange vicar who rewrites their pasts, a woman committed to offering them asylum, a man determined to refuse it, an older ragazzo who has become an interpreter, and a reclusive poet who no longer writes.Each character, wherever they may come from, is forced to reflect on what it means to meet people they know nothing about. As each brings a different view, a cacophony of discordant voices resonates to the end, when the final one reduces the choir to silence.
£13.49
Canelo Something New at the Borrow a Bookshop: A
Book Synopsis‘Kiley's writing is delightful and so easy to cosy down with…Best book of the year!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader ReviewA fairytale ending isn’t just for fiction…The Borrow-a-Bookshop is recovering, seven months on from the winter flood that destroyed all its stock, and the latest temporary bookseller, Joy Foley, arrives in Clove Lore with her daughter, five-year-old Radia Pearl. As a tech expert, she’ll be working on dragging the Bookshop into the twenty-first century.But what no one knows is that Joy is running from Radia Pearl’s father. She can’t settle down here or anywhere … moving on is how she stays safe. So when Radia befriends Monty Bickleigh, ex-fisherman and the new cook at The Siren’s Tail pub, despite herself, Joy finds herself growing closer to him, and the quirky community of Clove Lore.While Joy settles in to the bookshop, Araminta Clove-Congreve, local lady of the Manor, is finding running her new wedding business harder than anticipated. She needs to hire a chief wedding planner, and fast - and Joy’s family may have the answer.As Joy finds her heart softening by the magic of Clove Lore, can her new friends – and Monty – be enough to convince Joy to stop running and find a new life?An uplifting, gorgeously romantic read that will warm your heart; fans of Jenny Colgan and Trisha Ashley won't be able to put this down. Bookworms everywhere, escape to the magic of Clove Lore today...Readers are loving Something New at the Borrow a Bookshop:‘I couldn't get enough of this story and was reading it every second I had over the course of a day. Just simply fabulous.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘What a heart-warming, feel good story! A perfect weekend read…Loved it!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘Charming, cozy, heartbreaking, and heart-warming. It was truly a delight to read.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘A wonderful read which made me feel warm and gooey inside. Perfect for a pick-me-up!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘An absolutely wonderful read. Kiley never disappoints and this book was no exception…some deep themes all wrapped up in a warm hug.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘The Borrow-a-Bookshop series is like a gentle hug from a friend… Before you know it, you are caught up in the lives of the characters and want to join them.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘A lovely and emotional (in a good way) romance, with a wonderful sense of community.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘These books are uplifting, heart-warming and heart-breaking’. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘A book series to rely on, one that has me longing to visit again, enjoying the escape and the warmth inside.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘A quaint seaside village, interesting characters, a cozy bookshop, and the sweetest love story.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘A cute, heart-warming, cosy read…I have fallen in love with Clove Lore and their residents.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘I think this is the best book in the series to date… A story of community and friendships and family.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘I adore this series, so, so much! I read them much too fast because they are so darn cute.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘These books are a real treat and pure escapism not to be missed.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘A truly satisfying read with a wonderful ensemble cast.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review‘The author packs this book with lovable characters…A heart-warming trip to a fictional gem of the Devon seaside.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review
£8.54
Dialogue A Fate Forged in Fire
Book SynopsisBorn to rule. Blessed by fire. Broken by desire. . .In A Fate Forged in Fire, a powerfully blessed blacksmith must use her wits and fire magic to become the first queen in centuries and overthrow the corrupt powers ruling the kingdom while also fighting her desire for her dragon-riding adversary. The first book in a sizzling Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology.Once a territory built on matriarchal rule, Tir Teine has been without a female heir for centuries. Through a long line of corrupt kings, an oppressive anti-magic teaching has infected the land - leading to the tragic decline of the dragons.Aemyra was born to rule, gifted with fire magic from the Goddess Brigid. For years she has hidden in the shadows, waiting for the king to die so she can bond to his dragon, claim her birthright and protect her people.But when her ambitious plan is foiled, Aemyra is thrust into a vicious game of politics and plots. Her biggest adversar
£15.29
Orion Publishing Co All of Our Demise
Book SynopsisThe incredible conclusion to the tournament that started in All of Us Villains.I should warn you: this is going to be absolutely brutal . . . For the first time in this ancient, bloodstained story, the tournament is breaking. The boundaries between the city of Ilvernath and the arena have fallen. Reporters swarm the historic battlegrounds. A dead boy now lives again. And a new champion has entered the fray, one who seeks to break the curse for good... no matter how many lives are sacrificed in the process. As the curse teeters closer and closer to collapse, the surviving champions each face a choice: dismantle the tournament piece by piece, or fight to the death as this story always intended. Long-held alliances will be severed. Hearts will break. Lives will end. Because a tale as wicked as this one was never destined for happily ever after.Praise for All of Us Villains:''Magical, clever and cutthroat, All of Us VillTrade ReviewBoth glittering with magic and drenched in blood, All of Us Villains kept me up at night with its heart-pounding pace and layered mysteries. I'll be waiting for Book Two with bated breath and bitten nails * Sara Holland, New York Times bestselling author of Everless *Dark, luscious, and brutally smart, All of Us Villains is a fresh but unforgiving look at the legacy of abusive families and community-sanctioned violence. Foody and Herman have created a thrilling story that is impossible to put down; I stayed up all night to finish this book * Victoria Lee, author of A Lesson in Vengeance and The Fever King *A blood-soaked modern fairytale brimming with magic, spectacle, and unforgettable characters * Katy Rose Pool, author of There Will Come A Darkness *Foody and Herman's collaboration offers a fun yet brutal tale of sacrifice, betrayal, and ever-shifting loyalties. From twists that'll make you gasp to believably flawed characters you can't help but cheer for and curse in the same breath, this one will keep readers on the edge of their seats * Tara Sim, author of Scavenge the Stars *Positively wicked in all the right ways. This series is my new obsession, and I cannot wait to devour the next one. With its innovative magic system, a twisted cast of characters you somehow can't help but love, and a plot that will leave you on the edge of your seat, All of Us Villains is addicting from start to finish. I'm obsessed * Adalyn Grace, New York Times bestselling author of All the Stars and Teeth *Magical, clever and cutthroat, All of Us Villains sets out to make it impossible to know who to root for . . . A fun, twisty ride through a world full of spells and family secrets * Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series *
£9.49
Penguin Putnam Inc When We Lost Our Heads
Book Synopsis
£14.40
Amazon Publishing The Last Party
Book SynopsisA loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre.Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection. It seems an ideal life, if not for a decades-old crime that has become Perla’s dark and consuming secret obsession.Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum confessed to murdering two young girls during a birthday party. Though he’s been condemned to a life sentence, his crime is not forgotten. Not by Perla, nor by an inquisitive doctoral student interviewing Folcrum for his dissertation. He’s getting the killer to open up—about his motives, his confession, and the truth of what really happened on that horrible night.As the past and the present e
£8.99
Simon & Schuster Lady Tan's Circle of Women
Book Synopsis*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!* From “one of those special writers capable of delivering both poetry and plot” (The New York Times Book Review) an immersive historical novel inspired by the true story of a woman physician in 15th-century China—perfect for fans of Lisa See’s classics Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient. From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights. How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.
£23.80
Penguin Putnam Inc The Hike
Book SynopsisNo help.No cell coverage. No one to hear them scream.Burned-out by both her marriage and work, Liz is desperate for an escape. More than that, she craves an adventure, a total reset. So, when she plans a vacation with her three best friends, she persuades them to spend four nights camping in the stunning mountains of Norway. Following a trail that climbs through lush valleys, towering peaks, and past jewel-blue lakes, Liz is sure that the hike is just what they need.But as they stride farther from civilization, it becomes clear that the women are not the only ones looking to lose themselves in the mountains. The wilderness hides secrets darker than they could ever have imagined, and if they’re not careful . . . not all of them will return.
£22.40
Amazon Publishing Played
Book SynopsisUSA Today bestselling author Naima Simone heats up the page with intensity and wit in this romance between a pro hockey player and a firefighter, both struggling to move on from the past.Being a firefighter isn’t easy. Especially for a Black woman. Working with family helps a little. But when somebody from your company doesn’t come back from a call, it’s brutal—as in, “How’m I supposed to go on?” brutal.And one death took me to a really dark place.A year later, I’m at the Pirates’ hockey training facility. Just another day on the job. Until I find a charred journal. I look inside for the owner’s name, but the words on the page punch me in the gut. It’s like reading my own thoughts. Reliving my own pain.The journal belongs to Solomon Young, left-winger for the Pirates—a father and widower. When I return it, I’m racked with guilt for the invasion of privacy. The look
£8.99
Headline Publishing Group The Second Chance Year
Book Synopsis''I could not put this one down. Just a truly fun and satisfying read from start to finish'' ANITA KELLY''[A]n adorable, swoony, beautifully written romance that I devoured in a day. Full of warmth, heart (and food), I was completely charmed by Sadie and Jacob and cried all the happy tears. I didn''t want it to end!'' CATHERINE WALSHOne disastrous year. One magical wish. One chance to change the past. In one fell swoop, Sadie Thatcher managed to lose her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend. So when a fortune teller offers her one wish, Sadie longs to redo her awful year. More than a little sceptical, she makes her wish, opens her eyes, and . . . nothing has changed. And then, in perhaps her worst move yet, she kisses her brother''s best friend, Jacob.When Sadie wakes up the next morning, she''s in her former apartment with her former boyfriend, and her former boss is expecting her at work. She realises it''s January 1 . . . of l
£9.34
Transworld The Fk It List
Book SynopsisMelanie Cantor worked for many years in PR and as a celebrity talent agent. She also dabbled in interior renovations, which led to her hosting the Channel 4 series Making Space, in which she tidied up people's messy houses. She has since concentrated on writing. Her first novel, Lifeand Other Happy Endings, was published in 2019. She has two grown-up sons and lives in Dorset and London with her dog, Mabel.
£8.99
HarperCollins Publishers The Hidden Queen
Book SynopsisThe second book in the Nightfall Saga, the stunning new epic fantasy series set in the world of the Demon Cycle, from New York Times bestselling author Peter V. Brett.Humanity thought the war with demonkind was over. Now, after less than a generation to rebuild, the demon corelings have returned with a vengeance. The Spear of Alathe fortress that stands at the gates of the demon's hiveis the last bastion against the horde, and reports say it may already have fallen.Olive Paper is expected to take the vanguard in the fight. Only an heir of Kaji can wield the artifact that opens the gates of the Spear of Ala, and as Ahmann Jardir's child, Olive seems destined for a role as leader and savior. But Olive does not wish to follow in her father's footsteps any more than she did her mother's.Darin Bales was born with supernatural senses that he struggles to process, so much that even those who love him believe he can barely take care of himself. Yet to save his mother from the clutches of Alaga
£19.80
Fairlight Books Dancing in the Shallows
Book SynopsisWhen Isla Wintergreen unexpectedly inherits her reclusive grandfather's cottage on the Isle of Skye, she cannot resist the opportunity to escape her purposeless life. As she learns more about the family she never knew, her mother also reflects on her own past, and both hope to find new freedom - but can family patterns ever really be broken?
£8.54
Profile Playboy
Book Synopsis'Defiant, probing, hot' Saba Sams, author of Send NudesAt the age of forty-three, the narrator abandons her marriage, her apartment and her successful legal career as a public defender to re-emerge as an out lesbian and a writer.In a series of short, sharp vignettes, the narrator describes her first female lovers - a married woman fifteen years older than her, a model ten years her junior - punctuated by encounters with her ex-husband, her father and her son. Looking at the world through fresh eyes, she questions everything that once lay beneath the surface of her well-managed life. Unburdened by marital and familial obligations, a new woman emerges, free to examine gender and marriage, selfishness and sacrifice, money and family, even the privilege inherent in her downward mobility.A compelling chronicle of transgression, Playboy is Constance Debré's unflinching account of new bachelorhood. Laconic, aggressive and radically truthful, she chronicles the process that made her one of the
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Book That Broke the World
Book SynopsisThe second volume in the ground-breaking Library Trilogy, following THE BOOK THAT WOULDN''T BURN.We fight for the people we love. We fight for the ideas we want to be true.Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other''s reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she''s to return to her life. While Evar''s journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he''s never seen, Livira''s destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.And all the while, the library quietly weaves thread to thread, bringing the scattered elements of Livira''s old life friends and foe alike back together beneath new skies.Long ago, a lie was told, and with the passing years it has grown and spread, a small push leading to a chain of desperate consequences. Now, as one edifice topples into the next with ever-growing violence, it threatens to break the world. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.The Library Trilogy is about many things: adventure, discovery, and romance, but it''s also a love letter to books and the places where they live. The focus is on one vast and timeless library, but the love expands to encompass smaller more personal collections, and bookshops of all shades too.
£12.59
Simon & Schuster Ltd Hotel Portofino Lovers and Liars
Book SynopsisRomance, intrigue, and dangerous ambitions combine to create the perfect escape: welcome to the beautiful Hotel Portofino on the magical Italian Riviera. ***NOW A MAJOR TV DRAMA*** It is the summer of 1927 and Hotel Portofino is prospering under Bella’s stewardship. As the season begins, Bella is keenly looking forward to her son Lucian’s imminent arrival and the chance to discuss with him her plans to convert the hotel’s basement into a spa. But then Bella’s husband Cecil turns up unannounced, Over the course of several hot weeks in the middle of the Italian summer, Bella is forced to confront the reality of her relationship with Cecil and to decide to what extent she is prepared to go against social convention to get what she wants. As she welcomes her guests, old and new, an anonymous visit from a travel guide inspector threatens to make or break the hotel&rsq
£9.49
Unnamed Press Blue Graffiti
Book Synopsis
£22.40
Faber & Faber Soldier Sailor
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024AN IRISH TIMES BEST IRISH BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY THE TIMES NOVEL OF THE YEARAnd a Guardian, FT, Economist, Irish Times, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, Irish Independent and Independent Book of the Year ''I could not put it down.'' ANNE ENRIGHT''It''s very moving, also very funny.'' PAUL MURRAYMy favourite book I've read this year.'' PANDORA SYKESI lived and breathed beside her narrator.' DAISY JOHNSONIn her wildly acclaimed new novel Claire Kilroy creates an unforgettable heroine, whose fierce love for her young son clashes with the seismic change to her own identity.As her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy, creativity and the passing of time, an old friend makes a welcome return - but can he really offer a lifeline to the woman she used to be?Readers adore Soldier Sailor:***** ''About as perfect a piece of writing as you''ll find.''***** ''Unbearably tense and frequently hilarious.''***** ''An entirely different voltage to anything I''ve read ... she somehow manages to verbalise *exactly* the feelings and thoughts I, certainly, had at points when I was a young mother''***** ''This story touched me on such a visceral level.''***** ''I was held captive by this novel ... an utterly absorbing depiction of motherhood''***** ''I loved this book. Any woman, with or without children, will see themselves mirrored in this narrative''***** ''An excellent, interesting and rather unforgettable creation.''
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Little Stranger
Book Synopsis''Sarah Waters'' masterly novel is gripping, confident, unnerving and supremely entertaining'' Hilary MantelIn a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners - mother, son and daughter - struggling to keep pace with a changing society. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his. ''The #1 book of the year... several sleepless nights are guaranteed'' Stephen King''Chilling... a meditation on the nature of the British and class, and how things are rarely what they seem'' Kate Mosse''Waters has determined to scare the pants off her rightly devoted audience. She succeeds unquivocally'' Erica Wagner, The Times''A brilliantly observed story, verging on the comedy, about Britain on the cusp of modern age'' Independent on Sunday
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Homemade God
Book SynopsisFamily is everything, even when it falls apart.Discover the brand-new novel from the multi-million-copy bestselling author.AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!The perfect holiday read ...There's a new heft and grandeur, not only in the sophisticated characters and the fancy Italian real estate, but in the hidden darkness that can exist in a family ... Rachel Joyce is firing on all cylinders.' THE TIMES''A masterly and deeply satisfying exploration of art, grief and familial bonds.'' OBSERVER''Warm and emotionally astute.'' MAIL ON SUNDAY''A sharp, absorbing and emotionally intelligent novel.'' GUARDIANA beautifully written family drama ... Long after I finished the last page, I found I missed these characters always the sign of a special book' - GOOD HOUSEKEEPING''A thoroughly engaging examination of familial truths that define and endanger the precious, ever-precarious sibling bond. The beautiful writing, unforgettable characters, and stunning setting make this a must-read.'' - Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in ChemistryThere is a heatwave across Europe.Goose and his three sisters gather at the family''s house by Lake Orta in Piedmont, Italy. Their father, a famous artist, has recently remarried a much younger woman and decamped to Italy to finish his masterpiece. Now he is dead and there is no sign of a painting.Although the siblings have always been close, as they search for answers over that summer, the things they learn - about themselves, their father and their new stepmother - will drive them apart before they can come to any kind of understanding of what their father''s legacy truly is.Extraordinarily compelling, at heart this is a novel about sibling relationships and those hairline cracks that can appear within a family: what what happens when they splinter, and what it would take to mend them.''It made me laugh, it made me cry and I couldn't put it down. If you are a fan of Maggie O'Farrell you must read this.'' - Louise Minchin, TV presenter and author of Isolation Island'The renowned artist - the emotionally starved children - what an inspired subject! Joyce writes with her trademark vitality and compassion and there is such colour here. So much at stake. I couldn't put it down.' - Esther Freud, author of Hideous Kinky and Mr Mac and Me''Lyrical, shrewd and, ultimately, as indecently satisfying as a four course Italian lunch. My life is a little emptier now it''s over.'' - Patrick Gale, author of A Place Called Winter''Sparkling and addictive Rachel Joyce is so incredibly good and wise on families and siblings. I couldn't love it more.'' - Harriet Evans, author of The Garden of Lost and FoundA triumph of insight and empathy!' - Clare Chambers, author of Small Pleasures''Joyce is a fearless explorer of emotional landscape.'' Sunday Times''If only there were more novelists like Rachel Joyce'' Telegraph
£15.08
Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd Three Egg Dilemma
Book SynopsisThree Egg Dilemma is a visionary novel. Morojele has built worlds and characters that are unforgettable. This audacious novel is set to become a classic work of South African fiction.
£12.30
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Wind Knows My Name
Book SynopsisTHE POWERFUL AND MOVING NEW NOVEL FROM LITERARY LEGEND ISABEL ALLENDE - A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK FOR JULY 2024A testament to love, survival and sacrifice' HARPER'S BAZAAR No, we''re not lost. The wind knows my name. And yours too.Vienna, 1938. Five-year-old Samuel Adler boards the last Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria, escaping to England with just a change of clothes and his beloved violin. Eight decades later, Anita Diaz and her mother flee El Salvador for refuge in the United States, where the new family separation policy lands seven-year-old Anita alone at a camp in Nogales. Intertwining past and present, this is an unforgettable story of the search for family and home, the extraordinary sacrifices made by parents, and the courage of children to never stop dreaming. Allende blends fact and fiction, love and war . . . As you read her escapis
£7.99
Granta Books Dept. of Speculation
Book SynopsisFrom the Women's Prize Shortlisted-author of Weather, an electrifying, funny and wise account of a couple falling out of one another's orbit. 'It is the kind of book that you will be quoting over and over to friends who don't quite understand, until they give in and read it too' John Self, Guardian They used to send each other letters. The return address was always the same: Dept. of Speculation. They used to be young, brave, and giddy with hopes for their future. They got married, had a child, and skated through all the small calamities of family life. But then, slowly, quietly something changes. As the years rush by, fears creep in and doubts accumulate until finally their life as they know it cracks apart and they find themselves forced to reassess what they have lost, what is left, and what they want now. Dept. of Speculation navigates the jagged edges of a modern marriage to tell a story that is darkly funny, surprising and wise. 'Funny, and moving, and true... It tells a profound story of love and parenthood while invoking (among others) Keats, Kafka, Einstein, Russian cosmonauts, and advice for the housewife of 1897' Michael CunninghamTrade ReviewOffill's slender and cannily paced novel, her second, assembles fragments, observations, meditations and different points of view to chart the course of a troubled marriage. Wry and devastating in equal measure, the novel is a cracked mirror that throws light in every direction - on music and literature; science and philosophy; marriage and motherhood and infidelity; and especially love and the grueling rigors of domestic life. Part elegy and part primal scream, it's a profound and unexpectedly buoyant performance -- 10 Best Books of the Year * The New York Times *Jenny Offill's Dept. of Speculation resembles no book I've read before. If I tell you that it's funny, and moving, and true; that it's as compact and mysterious as a neutron; that it tells a profound story of love and parenthood while invoking (among others) Keats, Kafka, Einstein, Russian cosmonauts, and advice for the housewife of 1897, will you please simply believe me, and read it? -- Michael CunninghamWith exceptional originality, intensity and sweetness [...] Dept. of Speculation is a shattered novel that stabs and sparkles at the same time. It is the kind of book that you will be quoting over and over to friends who don't quite understand, until they give in and read it too -- John Self * Guardian *A heartbreaking and exceptional book by a writer who doesn't settle for less... Sad, funny, philosophical, at once deeply poetic and deeply engaging, this is a brilliant, soulful elegy to the hardships and joys of married life -- Lydia Millet, author * My Happy Life *In this slim, beautiful work, the short paragraphs read as a series of carefully crafted vignettes, linked yet strong enough to stand alone... It is about life, unvarnished, yet every bit of it made profound by Offill's glorious prose -- Isabel Berwick * Financial Times *[A] fascinating examination of the complexity of the female writer's post-childbirth experience of work as well as an astute, unsentimental portrayal of a foundering marriage -- Eimear McBride ‘Books of the Year’ * Guardian *Dept. of Speculation is gorgeous, funny, a profound and profoundly moving work of art. Jenny Offill is a master of form and feeling, and she gets life on the page in new, startling ways -- Sam Lipsyte, author * The Fun Parts *Written with such clarity and poetry... at times almost unbearably moving. And yet it has some intensely funny and witty moments too -- Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett * 'Books of the Year' Guardian *I have read and re-read Dept. of Speculation. It manages to reinvent the whole medium of the novel. And that's certainly not something you see every day. Ingenious, moving and refreshing -- Maggie O’Farrell 'Books of the Year' * Sunday Herald *A novel that... glitters with different emotional colors... It's often extremely funny and often painful... its depth and intensity make a stealthy purchase on the reader -- James Wood * New Yorker *Dense with intelligence and life... Offill is incisive on the pleasures, terrors and frustrations of parenthood... [She] reveals depth and beauty in small, mundane things -- David Wolf * Prospect *A tiny gem of a read... A delicate yet harmonious examination of love, beautifully written and engaging... Funny, sad and clever, the best book I've read in a long time * Stylist ***** *This delicious sliver of a book does what only the best epistolary novels can: it forces the heart and mind into direct contact, one lush, lovely line at a time. I've found not only a new beloved author in Offill but also a witty new friend in the wife. -- Taiye SelasiOffill's writing is exquisitely honed and vibrant * Library Journal *Observed moments of boredom, joy and terror are the triumph of this novel, spilling panic, pain and confusion of marriage and motherhood on to the page.... Brilliant -- Beth Jones * Sunday Telegraph **** *Popping prose and touching vignettes of marriage and motherhood fill [this book]... Offill has equal parts cleverness and erudition, but it's her language and eye for detail that make this a must-read * Publishers Weekly starred review *A short, intense, poetic look at modern life, marriage and motherhood... Painful, questing, wise and funny... One to watch * Bookseller *Fifteen years ago, Offill made an auspicious debut with Last Things. Dept. of Speculation is her second. It is a book so radiant, so sparkling with sunlight and sorrow, that it almost makes a person gasp * Boston Globe *Offill has successfully met the challenge she seems to have given herself: write only what needs to be written, and nothing more... Absorbing, highly readable, intriguing, beautifully written, sly and often profound * NPR *So beautifully written that it begs multiple reads... [It] doesn't just resign itself to the disappointment of failed dreams that crop up in middle age. Instead, endurance to the end of a crisis generates wisdom, hope and, perhaps, even art... This is soul-bearing fiction at its best * Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *Offill writes with intuitive understanding... This carefully carpentered novel [...] builds into a genuinely moving story of love lost and perhaps, provisionally, recovered -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Motherhood, geeky facts and a sprinkling of great thoughts create a riveting addition to female abandonment literature... this jewel of a book [is] a novel as funny, honest and beguiling as any I have read * LA Times *Startling and memorable... [This] is a novel that looks to writers like Rilke, Gertrude Stein, and Virginia Woolf for inspiration as to what novel writing can be-fluid, observational, rawly emotional at times... there is as much wisdom to be found in its pithy riddles and maxims as in a thousand-page epic * Daily Beast *Singular... 10/10 -- A.M. Homes, author * May We Be Forgiven *[It] is the sort of book which, if you went through it with a pencil, underlining quotable lines, would end up being entirely underlined. I finished it in one sitting then went straight back to the beginning, wondering why other writers don't write like this... Magnificent [and] very funny -- Eilis O’Hanlon * Irish Sunday Independent *Funny and absorbing, an effortless-seeming downhill ride that picks up astonishing narrative speed as it goes * New York Review of Books *The narrator's bone-dry wit punctures any hint of self-pity... Perfectly conjures the scattered thoughts of a creative, disorganised mind * Times Literary Supplement *Stunning... It's almost impossible to reinvent the novel as a form these days but [this] does just that... As soon as I finished it, I turned it over and started again -- Maggie O’Farrell, author * The Hand that First Held Mine *There are sentences in good novels that make you swoon with just how perfect they are at saying something true. This novel is made up almost entirely of sentences like that. This is the work of a master writer -- Readers’ 10 Best Books of the Year * Guardian *Very funny, very sad -- Tim Martin 'Books of the Year' * Daily Telegraph *[A] sublime little novel which I have already read a half-dozen times. Offill has a journalist's eye for the funny and weird... I have laughed over her best, funniest jokes even when they are no longer new to me. Reading [this book] is like finding that the stars are still visible in the biggest, brightest city, if we remember to look for them. -- Alyssa Rosenberg * The Washington Post *[A] delectable and generous book: the novel of a marriage, written with elegance and wisdom and learning in bittersweet paragraphs -- Michael Hofmann 'Books of the Year' * TLS *A formal experiment that never seems forced or precious, it's a small marvel of economy and wit -- Lidija Haas 'Books of the Year' * TLS *I enjoyed [this] dark and spiky story of marital breakdown -- David Nicholls 'Books of the Year' * Guardian *The best novel I read this year... I keep finding excuses to quote the opening lines -- Joe Dunthorne 'Books of the Year' * Observer *An elliptical, deeply intelligent meditation on parental and romantic love -- Stuart Evers ‘Books of the Year’ * Observer *Extraordinary... Depressing? Far from it. Heartbreaking, yes; angry; but also very funny -- Harriett Gilbert 'Books of the Year' * Radio Times *An absolute stonker: it's a brilliant, brilliant book. Rich and rewarding and beautiful and heartbreaking... I fear it may ruin my reading for the rest of the year. It's extraordinary * Just William's Luck *Brilliant... oddly invigorating, like a strong martini -- Claire Allfree * Metro *The pleasure of the story lies in the poetry of Jenny Offill's words... Exquisite and sublime * Surrey Edit *The writing is clever, the pacing is fast... Poetic in style and philosophical in substance * Yorkshire Evening Post *Arresting... I cried both times I read it * 3:AM Magazine *It's funny, sad and beautifully observed * A Life in Books blog *An amazing book... I almost missed a flight because I was tearing up -- Karen Russell, author * Swamplandia! *A triumph on a small scale but in a major key * Sydney Morning Herald *A beguilingly original novel made up of snatched moments and brief anecdotes... an exploded portrait of parenthood, creative identity and a marriage in crisis; wistful, sad and very funny -- Justine Jordan ‘Fiction book of the year’ * Guardian *I steer readers towards Offill's breath-of-fresh-air Dept. of Speculation -- Sinead Gleeson ‘Book of the year’ * Irish Times *Deft, brilliant and brave -- Sara Baume ‘Book of the year’ * Irish Times *By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Offill lays bare the quiet madness of love, and the result is a profound and affecting read -- Louise O’Neill ‘Book of the Year’ * Irish Times *[A] gorgeous, crystalline look at marriage, parenthood and writer's block that is so intimate, multiple readers (myself included) have had to keep reminding themselves that it wasn't written for them personally. Each carefully sculpted paragraph glints with insight and verve and wit -- Michael Hingston 'Best books of 2014' * Edmonton Journal *Offill's book delicately examines the minutiae of a modern marriage. With so much conveyed in so few words, it's simply brilliant -- ‘Book of the year’ * Stylist *Aphoristic, dazzling and inventive, Dept. of Speculation has more jokes in it than any other book I read this year, but doesn't sacrifice resonance. Its approach - discrete paragraphs with no straightforward narrative flow - makes it sound a challenge, but purest pleasure is what I remember about it -- John Self ‘Book of the year’ * Asylum *Original and accessible... It's a triumph of compression and compassion -- Book of the Year * Financial Times *It was my favourite book of last year and I keep returning to it. Compelling [and] heartbreaking... This is writing at its inventory, original best and I can't wait to see what Offill will do next -- Maggie O’Farrell * Daily Mail *I read just recently Dept. of Speculation, which I thought was fantastic. I loved it. It was very sad and beautiful and very unique. You know when you read a book and the author just has a voice you haven't heard before? It's like that. I hadn't heard that voice before -- David DuchovnyOffill is completely brilliant on the raw impotence of a mother's love... not to mention the mundane brutality of marital betrayal... Beautifully devastating, Dept. of Speculation is a worthy inclusion on this year's Folio prize shortlist -- Lucy Scholes ‘Paperback of the Week’ * Observer *Dept. of Speculation is a shattered novel that stabs and sparkles at the same time. It is the kind of book that you will be quoting over and over to friends who don't quite understand, until they give in and read it, too -- John Self * Guardian *Dept. of Speculation is a shattered novel that stabs and sparkles at the same time. It is the kind of book that you will be quoting over and over to friends who don't quite understand, until they give in and read it, too -- John Self * Guardian *Original... a story [with] strong emotional impact * Herald *This is a novel of snapshots; about love, work, parenthood and more, that builds to a coherent and satisfying whole. I loved the day-to-day observations: so recognisable, grounded and true and yet the next paragraph along always surprised me... You'll get to the end and then start all over again -- Alex Hourston * Metro *Wry, funny and full of truth -- Thomas Morris * The Gloss *Rich [and] satisfying... Offill's novel is a life raft: read it for its unsentimental scoop on love, the breaking of something good, and the possibility of patching the cracks and pulling through * Independent *Jenny Offill has such a specific way of writing, and her words touch something very deep in me -- actress Clémence PoésyIn this fast-paced, fractured text [...] brief first-person paragraphs, aphorisms and quotations built in tension... As these diary-like entries build, so, too, does the claustrophobia that domesticity can bring... Such observed moments of boredom, joy and terror are the triumph of this novel, spilling the panic, pain and confusion or marriage and motherhood onto the page -- Beth Jones * Belfast Telegraph *About as close to a perfect novel as you can get * Waterstones podcast *Wryly subversive -- Paraic O’Donnell * Guardian *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Cometh the Hour
Book SynopsisThrilling and absorbing, Cometh the Hour is the sixth novel in international bestseller Jeffrey Archer’s the Clifton Chronicles and sees the Clifton and Barrington families navigate the 1970s in an epic tale of tragedy and hope.There are devastating consequences for Harry and Emma Clifton, her brother Giles Barrington and their arch enemy Lady Virginia when a suicide note is read out in court.Having fallen in love, Giles must decide if he should withdraw from politics to try and rescue the woman he loves from behind the Iron Curtain.Lady Virginia faces bankruptcy, and can see no way out of her financial problems, until she is introduced to a rich, hapless American. Harry and Emma’s son, Sebastian Clifton, now the Chief Executive of Farthings Bank, falls in love with the wrong girl even as his rivals plot to overthrow him. Meanwhile, his father remains determined to free a fellow author from a gulag in Siberia, following the internatiTrade ReviewArcher continues his storytelling magic to create characters of spellbinding substance, and readers can count on his surprising twists and shocking conclusion. Here, just when the end seems too tidy, Archer provides a killer cliffhanger * Publishers Weekly *
£9.49
Einaudi La vita intima
Book Synopsis
£20.66
HarperCollins Publishers Maybe Perhaps Possibly
Book Synopsis''Fabulous, relaxing, page-turning, dream-inspiring'' MIRANDA HART''Exquisitely beautiful and so perceptive'' JOANNA CANNONFrom the Costa-shortlisted author of THE OTHER HALF OF AUGUSTA HOPE and ALL MY MOTHERSThe story of two people who have no idea how to fall in loveOn the tiny island of Rokesby, Addie helps her mother run a women''s retreat. Dreaming daily of escape, she consoles herself by swimming in the ocean that surrounds them.On the neighbouring island, joined to Rokesby by a bridge at low tide, Sol has sought refuge at a wind-swept prayer house, grieving both his mother's death and his father's devastating betrayal. Alone and anxious, he takes comfort in birdwatching, books and the sounds of the sea.Introverts with turbulent pasts and wary hearts, Sol and Addie are both drawn to nature far more than to people until they catch sight of one another in the wild. Can they break free from past lessons in love to risk a better future together?From the Costa-shortlisted author of T
£15.29
