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
Transworld Publishers Ltd Five Quarters Of The Orange
Book SynopsisBeyond the main street of Les Laveuses runs the Loire, smooth and brown as a sunning snake - but hiding a deadly undertow beneath its moving surface. This is where Framboise, a secretive widow, plies her culinary trade at the creperie - and lets her memory play strange games.Trade ReviewHer strongest writing yet: as tangy and sometimes bitter as Chocolat was smooth * Independent *Outstanding ... beautifully written * Daily Mail *Joanne Harris a naturally sensuous writer, but her latest book has a dark core...Her descriptive and narrative talents are put to a profounder use...This gripping tale is bound to be made into a film. It's as vivid a journey through human cruelty and kindness as I've read this year * Daily Telegraph *Harris indulges her love of rich and mouthwatering descriptive passages, appealing to the senses ... Thoroughly enjoyable * Observer *Just as she did in Chocolat, Harris indulges her love of rich and mouth-watering descriptive passages, appealing to the senses with seductively foreign names, and evoking the textures and smells of food. These descriptions are suffused with a child's wide-eyed wonder that lends the story a magical quality, almost like a folk tale or a children's story. Even having the Occupation as a backdrop, Harris sets out to tell a story that proves, like her previous books, to be thoroughly enjoyable... * Guardian *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Before The Frost
Book SynopsisThe leader of a religious cult in Guyana instigates a mass suicide. He succeeds in killing himself and his whole flock of worshippers, save one. In a wood outside Ystad, the police make an horrific discovery: a severed head, and hands locked together in an attitude of prayer. A Bible lies at the victim''s side, handwritten corrections and amendments on every page. A string of incidents, including attacks on domestic animals, has been taking place and Inspector Wallander fears that these events could be the prelude to attacks on humans on a much greater scale. Meanwhile Linda Wallander, preparing to join the Ystad police force, arrives at the station. Showing all the hallmarks of her father - the maverick approach, the flaring temper - she becomes involved in the case and in the process is forced to confront a group of extremists bent on punishing the world''s sinners.Trade ReviewWith this book his fans are in for a double treat as Mankell gives us two Wallanders for the price of one... Crime fiction doesn't get any better than this * Mail on Sunday *Probably Britain's favourite European mystery writer... Mankell's subtle use of his characters keeps you reading * Daily Mail *This novel will not disappoint Kurt's followers. He remains integral, and his guilt-shot relationship to his daughter is beautifully done * Independent *The Nordic King of European thriller writers -- Louise France * Observer *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing General Of The Dead Army
Book SynopsisTwenty years after the end of the Second World War, an Italian general is despatched to Albania to recover his country's dead. Once there he meets a German general who is engaged upon an identical mission, and their conversations brings out into the open the extent of their horror and guilt, newly exacerbated by their present task.Trade ReviewHe has been compared to Gogol, Kafka and Orwell. But Kadare's is an original voice, universal yet deeply rooted in his own soil * Independent on Sunday *A novelist of dazzling mastery -- Paul Binding * Independent *Astonishing...his finest work -- Azar Nafisi, Man Booker judge and author of 'Reading Lolita in Tehran' * Guardian *With its metonymic realism and fidelity to its characters, The General of the Dead Army reminds us why his work is so valued * New Statesman *Literary gold dust - haunting, bleakly comedic and ultimately horrific * The Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing We The Drowned
Book SynopsisCarsten Jensen was born in 1952. He first made his name as a columnist and literary critic. As a journalist he has reported from many regions of conflict, including the Balkans and most recently, Afghanistan. His essays, novels and travel books have won numerous literary awards, including the coveted Golden Laurels and the Danish Bank Literary Prize. In 2010 he received the prestigious Olof Palme Prize, awarded for his contribution to the defence of human rights. We, the Drowned has sold more than 300,000 copies in Scandinavia alone and was voted best Danish novel of the past 25 years.Trade ReviewA magnificent addition to the canon of seafaring writing, a brilliant new reworking of the ancient theme...the pages glow with wonderfully imagined pictures... The language is all you could hope for in a sea novel: sinewy and simple, often surprisingly beautiful -- Vanora Bennett * The Times *Carsten Jensen is unquestionably one of the most exciting authors writing in Scandinavia today. I always look forward hugely to his books. He is, in my opinion, an utterly unique story-teller -- Henning MankellAn epic tale * Independent *A novel of immense authority and ambition and beauty, by a master storyteller at the height of his powers. This is a book to sail into, to explore, to get lost in, but it is also a book that brings the reader, dazzled by wonders, home to the heart from which great stories come. Meet Carsten Jensen halfway and you're spellbound -- Joseph O'ConnorImpressive... one of the more engrossing literary voyages of recent years... rich, powerful and rewarding * Financial Times *
£10.44
Hodder & Stoughton Cold Mountain
Book SynopsisA beautifully written novel which inspired the Oscar-winning film directed by Anthony Minghella and starring Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and Renee Zellweger. Over 1 million copies sold in the UK.Trade ReviewMagnificent . . . this wonderful novel presents the terrible, discordant reality of life in a war. Profoundly moving, it raises all the big questions * Observer *A beautiful book, written in exquisite prose -- Kate AtkinsonA remarkable first novel, a romance of love, of friendship, of family, of land. Frazier has inhaled the spirit of the age and breathes it into the reader's being * The Times *A poetic account of hardship, violence and longing ... From a simple framework of alternating narratives, Frazier builds up a richly detailed portrayal of a vanished world * Daily Telegraph *A beautiful book written in exquisite prose * Kate Atkinson *A remarkable first novel, a romance of love, of friendship, of family, of land. Frazier has inhaled the spirit of the age and breathes it into the reader's being * The Times *Magnificent . . . this wonderful novel presents the terrible, discordant reality of life in a war. Profoundly moving, it raises all the big questions * Observer *
£9.49
Dover Publications Inc. Spoon River Anthology
Book SynopsisA landmark of 20th-century American literature: a series of over 200 compelling free-verse monologues in which former citizens of a mythical Midwestern town speak touchingly from the grave of the thwarted hopes and dreams of their lives. Reprinted from the authoritative 1915 edition.
£9.25
Little, Brown Book Group The Man In The Wooden Hat
Book SynopsisAnother masterpiece from Jane Gardam and the second novel in the Old Filth trilogy.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Collected Short Stories Volume 4
Book SynopsisThis final classic collection of stories reveals Somerset Maugham''s unique talent for exposing and exploring the bitter realities of human relationships. Brilliant tales of love, infidelity, passion and prejudice, the stories range from ''The Lotus Eater'' in which a man has a vision of a life of bliss in the Mediterranean, to the astringent tales of ''The Outstation'' and ''The Back of Beyond'' in Malaya and South East Asia. Largely set in favourite Maugham country, this colourful collection brilliantly evokes the numbered days of the British Empire.Trade ReviewThe short story was Maugham's true métier, and some of the stories he wrote are among the best in the language -- Anthony BurgessOne of my favourite writers -- Gabriel Garcia Marquez
£11.69
Vintage Publishing Atomised
Book SynopsisMichel Houellebecq is a poet, essayist and novelist. He is the author of several novels including The Map and the Territory (winner of the Prix Goncourt), Atomised, Platform, Whatever and Submission. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 2019.Trade ReviewVery moving, gloriously, extravagantly filthy and very funny * Independent *Compelling...wrenchingly terrible... Unhealthy and haunting, rich and provocative, Atomised astonishes both as a novel of ideas and as a portrait of a society * Independent *A brave and rather magnificent book * Daily Telegraph *Sheer brilliance...totally mesmerising, energising, infuriating and moving... Compulsory reading * Time Out *A novel which hunts big game while others settle for shooting rabbits -- Julian Barnes * Times Literary Supplement *Destined to become a cult book...a genuine page-turner * Observer *Bullying and brilliant... Atomised is nothing less than a road-rage map of our times * Evening Standard *An extraordinary voice * Observer *Makes you re-examine your beliefs... This is a brave and rather magnificent book * Daily Telegraph *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Celestial Navigation
Book Synopsis''A rich, revolutionary novel...she writes with virtuosity and perfect confidence, insight and compassion'' The TimesJeremy is a child-like, painfully shy bachelor who has never left home. He lives on the third floor of his mother''s boarding house and spends his days cutting up coloured paper to make small collages - until the day his mother dies and the beautiful Mary Tell arrives to turn his world upside down.**ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 8 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE**''Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing'' Rachel Joyce''She knows all the secrets of the human heart'' Monica Ali ''A masterly author'' Sebastian Faulks''I love Anne Tyler. I''ve read every single book she''s written'' Jacqueline WilsonTrade ReviewA rich, revolutionary novel...she writes with virtuosity and perfect confidence, insight and compassion * The Times *Anne Tyler's talent is to make extraordinary characters entirely credible... So unfaltering is their story that every word is convincing * Sunday Times *Tyler has created two characters at once entirely original and entirely convincing...a quiet but immensely strong novel, to admire and treasure * Sunday Telegraph *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Someone to Watch Over Me Bow Street Runners
Book SynopsisThe first novel in the sensational Bow Street series from New York Times bestselling historical romance author Lisa Kleypas tells the story of a scandalous beauty with no memory of who she is and the man determined to unravel the secrets of her past . . . ''Lisa Kleypas is the best'' Sarah MacLean She couldn''t remember who she was . . . A temptingly beautiful woman awakens in a stranger''s bed, rescued from the icy waters of the Thames, her memory gone. Told that she is Vivien Rose Duvall, one of London''s most scandalous beauties, she finds herself in the protection of enigmatic, charming Grant Morgan. Her life is in his hands. Deep in her heart, she knows he has mistaken her for someone else . . . He was the only man she could trust. As one of London''s most eligible and unattainable catches, Grant Morgan is a man who has known every kind of woman. And the one in his arms now seems so
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Friends Forever
Book SynopsisFive children meet on their first day of school, one bright September morning. Drawn by that magical spark of connection that happens to the young, Gabby, Billy, Izzie, Andy and Sean each bursting with their own personality, all with strikingly different looks and diverse talents soon become an inseparable group, known to everyone else as the Big Five. As they grow up, their seemingly perfect lives are altered by families falling apart, unfortunate mistakes, and losses and victories great and small. Throughout their adolescence, the five are able to turn back to their trusted group to regain their footing and steady their course. But as they emerge from school, their futures seem neither safe nor clear. As their lives separate, the challenges and risks they face become greater, the losses sharper, and it becomes much harder to know the right path to choose.But despite life's ups and downs, together they are able to face up to challenges with the help of the importa
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd Can You Keep A Secret
Book SynopsisSophie Kinsella is an internationally bestselling writer. She is the author of many number one bestsellers, including the hugely popular Shopaholic series. She has also written seven bestselling novels as Madeleine Wickham and several books for children. She lives in the UK with her husband and family.Visit her website at www.sophiekinsella.co.uk and find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SophieKinsellaOfficial. You can also follow her on Twitter @KinsellaSophie and Instagram @sophiekinsellawriter.Trade ReviewBrilliant reading * Heat *An insightful and funny take on the pitfalls and pleasures of telling the truth * Cosmopolitan *
£9.49
Faber & Faber Family Life
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2016 INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARDWINNER OF THE FOLIO PRIZE 2015For eight-year-old Ajay and his older brother Birju, life in Dehli in the late 1970s follows a comfortable, predictable routine: bathing on the roof, queuing for milk, playing cricket in the street. Yet, everything changes when their father finds a job in America - a land of carpets and elevators, swimsuits and hot water on tap. Life is exciting for the two brothers as they adjust to prosperity, girls and 24-hour TV, until one hot, sultry day when everything falls apart. Darkly comic, Family Life is a story of a boy torn between duty and survival amid the ruins of everything he once knew.
£9.49
Faber & Faber The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty
Book SynopsisOld God''s Time (March 2023), Sebastian Barry''s stunning new novel, available to pre-order nowFollowing the end of the First World War, Eneas McNulty joins the British-led Royal Irish Constabulary. With all those around him becoming soldiers of a different kind, however, it proves to be the defining decision of his life when, having witnessed the murder of a fellow RIC policeman, he is wrongly accused of identifying the executioners. With a sentence of death passed over him he is forced to flee Sligo, his friends, family and beloved girl, Viv. What follows is the story of this flight, his subsequent wanderings, and the haunting pull of home that always afflicts him. Tender, witty, troubling and tragic, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty tells the secret history of a lost man.Trade Review"'A novel that is tender, acerbic, necessary and potent.' Colum McCann 'Elegant, comical, tragical, musical.' Frank McCourt"
£9.49
Faber & Faber After Im Gone
Book SynopsisAn edge-of-your seat tale' O, the Oprah MagazineEqual parts love story, tragedy and murder mystery' Entertainment WeeklyFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SUNBURN AND DREAM GIRLA classic story of murder and mystery, in which one man''s disappearance echoes through the lives of his wife, daughters - and mistress.Fourth of July, 1976. Bambi''s world implodes when her husband Felix, newly convicted and facing prison, mysteriously vanishes, leaving her and their daughters behind.Though Bambi has no idea where Felix - or his money - might be, she suspects one woman does: his devoted young mistress, Julie. When Julie herself disappears ten years to the day that Felix went on the lam, everyone assumes she''s left to join her old lover - until her remains are found in a secluded wooded park.Now, twenty-six years after Julie went missing, Roberto ''Sandy'' Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective wo
£7.59
Little, Brown Book Group The Heart Goes Last
Book SynopsisBy the author of The Handmaid''s Tale and The TestamentsCharmaine sees an advertisement for a project called Positron that promises you a job, a place to live, a bed to sleep in - imagine how appealing that would be if you were working in a dive bar and living in your car. She and her husband, Stan, apply at once.The only catch is that once you''re in there, you can''t get out.No one writes the lust and the loves, the wickedness and the weakness of the human heart like the splendid Margaret Atwood.''Margaret Atwood [is] a living legend'' New York Times Book Review''Gloriously madcap . . . You only pause in your laughter when you realise that, in its constituent parts, the world she depicts here is all too horribly plausible'' Stephanie Merritt, Observer''Her eye for the most unpredictable caprices of the human heart and her narrative fearlessness have made her one of the world''s most celebrTrade ReviewGloriously madcap . . . You only pause in your laughter when you realise that, in its constituent parts, the world she depicts here is all too horribly plausible -- Stephanie Merritt * Observer *Her eye for the most unpredictable caprices of the human heart and her narrative fearlessness have made her one of the world's most celebrated novelists -- Naomi Alderman * Guardian *The bestselling author who shot to fame 30 years ago with The Handmaid's Tale is still at her darkly comic best * Sunday Times *Atwood's gift is to take what's already out there and nudge it to the next level . . . The Heart Goes Last is all at once thrilling, funny, grim - and shockingly convincing -- Erica Wagner * Harper's Bazaar *What distinguishes Atwood's apocalypticism is her insistence that we have brought it on ourselves. It's not meteor strikes, or aliens that destroy our world. It's us . . . I loved it -- John Sutherland * The Times *Jubilant comedy of errors, bizarre bedroom farce, SF prison-break thriller, psychedelic sixties crime caper: The Heart Goes Last scampers in and out of all of these genres, pausing only to quote Milton on the loss of Eden or Shakespeare on weddings. Meanwhile, it performs a hard-eyed autopsy on themes of impersonation and self-impersonation, revealing so many layers of contemporary deception and self-deception that we don't know whether to laugh or cry * Guardian *This visceral study of desperation and desire journeys into the dark heart of greed, exploitation and brutality, as it portrays a project that is "an infringement of individual liberties, an attempt at total social control, an insult to the human spirit". It is filled with passages of great intellectual and emotional acuity, appealing both to the head and to the heart -- Anita Sethi * Observer *An arresting perspective on the confluence of information, freedom, and security in the modern age * New Yorker *Captivating. . . . Thrilling. . . . Margaret Atwood [is] a living legend -- New York Times Book ReviewGloriously madcap . . . You only pause in your laughter when you realise that, in its constituent parts, the world she depicts here is all too horribly plausible -- Stephanie Merritt * Observer *Her eye for the most unpredictable caprices of the human heart and her narrative fearlessness have made her one of the world's most celebrated novelists -- Naomi Alderman * Guardian *The bestselling author who shot to fame 30 years ago with The Handmaid's Tale is still at her darkly comic best * Sunday Times *Atwood's gift is to take what's already out there and nudge it to the next level . . . The Heart Goes Last is all at once thrilling, funny, grim - and shockingly convincing -- Erica Wagner * Harper's Bazaar *What distinguishes Atwood's apocalypticism is her insistence that we have brought it on ourselves. It's not meteor strikes, or aliens that destroy our world. It's us . . . I loved it -- John Sutherland * The Times *Jubilant comedy of errors, bizarre bedroom farce, SF prison-break thriller, psychedelic sixties crime caper: The Heart Goes Last scampers in and out of all of these genres, pausing only to quote Milton on the loss of Eden or Shakespeare on weddings. Meanwhile, it performs a hard-eyed autopsy on themes of impersonation and self-impersonation, revealing so many layers of contemporary deception and self-deception that we don't know whether to laugh or cry * Guardian *This visceral study of desperation and desire journeys into the dark heart of greed, exploitation and brutality, as it portrays a project that is "an infringement of individual liberties, an attempt at total social control, an insult to the human spirit". It is filled with passages of great intellectual and emotional acuity, appealing both to the head and to the heart -- Anita Sethi * Observer *
£10.44
Random House Publishing Group Positive Discipline
Book SynopsisFor twenty-five years, Positive Discipline has been the gold standard reference for grown-ups working with children. Now Jane Nelsen, distinguished psychologist, educator, and mother of seven, has written a revised and expanded edition. The key to positive discipline is not punishment, she tells us, but mutual respect. Nelsen coaches parents and teachers to be both firm and kind, so that any child-from a three-year-old toddler to a rebellious teenager-can learn creative cooperation and self-discipline with no loss of dignity. Inside you’ll discover how to• bridge communication gaps• defuse power struggles• avoid the dangers of praise• enforce your message of love• build on strengths, not weaknesses• hold children accountable with their self-respect intact• teach children not what to think but how to think• win cooperation at home and at school• meet the special challenge of teen misbehavior“It is not easy to improve a classic book, but Jane Nelson has done so in this revised edition. Packed with updated examples that are clear and specific, Positive Discipline shows parents exactly how to focus on solutions while being kind and firm. If you want to enrich your relationship with your children, this is the book for you.”-Sal Severe, author of How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too!Millions of children have already benefited from the counsel in this wise and warmhearted book, which features dozens of true stories of positive discipline in action. Give your child the tools he or she needs for a well-adjusted life with this proven treasure trove of practical advice.
£15.29
Little, Brown Book Group Last Friends
Book Synopsis''Gardam writes about love, death, loneliness, money and madness with gentle ferocity. The Old Filth trilogy should be read by anyone who has ever been interested in how we become who we are'' Amanda Craig, Independent on Sunday''Sharp, humane, generous and wonderfully funny, she is one of our very finest writers'' Hilary Mantel''This humorous, melancholic final volume establishes the trilogy as a modern classic'' Kate Saunders, The TimesOld Filth and The Man in the Wooden Hat told with bristling tenderness and black humour the stories of that Titan of the Hong Kong law courts, Old Filth QC, and his clever, misunderstood wife Betty. Last Friends, the final volume of this trilogy, picks up with Terence Veneering, Filth''s great rival in work and -though it was never spoken of - in love. Veneering, Filth and their friends tell a tale of love, friendship, grace, the bittersweet experiences ofTrade ReviewSharp, humane, generous and wonderfully funny, she is one of our very finest writers * Hilary Mantel *Exuberant and funny and dizzy and a little bit frightening... an ambitious and complex portrait of extraordinary times * Guardian *Gardam's writing is beautiful - cool clear and wickedly funny * The Times *As funny as as surreptitiously moving a novel as you'll find... her observations and sentences stalk you, making you chuckle in unexpected situations long after putting the book aside * Daily Telegraph *She is a brilliant writer. Her prose sparkles with wit, compassion and humor. She keeps us entertained, and she keeps us guessing. Be thankful for her books. Be thankful for this trilogy, which is ultimately an elegy, created with deep affection * Washington Post *Last Friends is evocative, elegiac, and shaded in autumnal tones, as suits the final volume in a trilogy. Like Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, the Old Filth trilogy restores us to an era rich in spectacle and bristling with insinuation and intrigue. Vivid, spacious, superbly witty, and refreshingly brisk . . . the story (and the author) will endure * Boston Globe *Her effortless command of character and narrative sweeps you right along...Among other things, she provides an unsentimental but oddly hopeful vision of old age * New York Times *The satisfying conclusion to Gardam's Old Filth trilogy offers exquisite prose, wry humor, and keen insights into aging and death * New Yorker *[Gardam] is the best kind of literary escape: serious, mesmerizing, and deeply satisfying * Los Angeles Review of Books *If Rudyard Kipling was the laureate of the British Empire, then Jane Gardam is surely the closest thing we have to a laureate of its demise . . . Spanning nearly a century, the three novels offer a compelling, finely nuanced tableau of the end of an era and the passing of the generation that sustained it... a perfectly balanced ending to the trilogy that is Jane Gardam's masterpiece * Times Literary Supplement *Gardam writes about love, death, loneliness, money and madness with such gentle ferocity that she is often compared to Jane Austen, though a closer analogy is with Samuel Beckett. The Old Filth trilogy should be read by anyone who has ever been interested in how we become who we are -- Amanda Craig * Independent on Sunday *It's hard...not to be charmed by a writer with Gardam's substantial gifts * New York Times Book Review *A consummate storyteller, she writes of life with wonderful gusto and wry humour * Literary Review *Gardam's style is witty and graceful, at times reminiscent of Muriel Spark * Independent *Cinematic... the work of a maestro * Oldie *There is more humour, pathos and compassion crammed into this slim volume than many a book twice its length * Daily Mail *Her prose is so perceptive and fluid that it feels mentally healthful, exiling the noise and clutter of your mind as efficiently as a Schubert sonata * Scotsman *All three Gardam books are beautifully written but its a pleasure to note that Last Friends is the most enjoyable, the funniest and the most touching... Like [Robertson] Davies, she fills the pages of her trilogy with surprises that make the reader hurry forward * National Post *She is a brilliant writer. Her prose sparkles with wit, compassion and humor. She keeps us entertained, and she keeps us guessing. Be thankful for her books. Be thankful for this trilogy, which is ultimately an elegy, created with deep affection * Washington Post *An ambitious and complex portrait of extraordinary times * Guardian *Last Friends is evocative, elegiac, and shaded in autumnal tones, as suits the final volume in a trilogy. Like Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, the Old Filth trilogy restores us to an era rich in spectacle and bristling with insinuation and intrigue. Vivid, spacious, superbly witty, and refreshingly brisk...the story (and the author) will endure * Boston Globe *Her effortless command of character and narrative sweeps you right along...Among other things, she provides an unsentimental but oddly hopeful vision of old age * New York Times *The satisfying conclusion to Gardam's Old Filth trilogy offers exquisite prose, wry humor, and keen insights into aging and death * New Yorker *[Gardam] is the best kind of literary escape: serious, mesmerizing, and deeply satisfying * Los Angeles Review of Books *If Rudyard Kipling was the laureate of the British Empire, then Jane Gardam is surely the closest thing we have to a laureate of its demise...Spanning nearly a century, the three novels offer a compelling, finely nuanced tableau of the end of an era and the passing of the generation that sustained it. Part of the genius of each successive book is that it does not continue the story so much as rework it from a different angle. * Times Literary Supplement *Sharp, humane, generous and wonderfully funny, she is one of our very finest writers -- Hilary MantelThis is as mordantly precise and moving a novel as you will find anywhere * Daily Telegraph *
£9.49
Faber And Faber Ltd. The Jealous One Irresistible. Val McDermid
Book SynopsisA classic psychological thriller from author of Waterstones Thriller of the Month, Uncle Paul: ''Britain''s Patricia Highsmith'' and the ''grandmother of psycho-domestic noir'' (Sunday Times)''Brilliant ... So witty and clever.'' Elly Griffiths''Fremlin packs a punch.'' Ian Rankin''Irresistible.'' Val McDermid''Splendid ... Got me hooked.'' Ruth Rendell''A master of suspense.'' Janice HallettLindy had a lovely voice. It rose into the summer darkness clear and true as a nightingale; or was it, rather, like a bird of prey?Rosamund wakes up from her mid-morning nap to find, to her delight, that she is running a temperature. Surely that explains her blinding headache, and the weird, delirious dream in which she had murdered her overly seductive neighbour - the Other Woman - in a vengeful act of jealousy? A great relief, then, to find this was merely the nightmarish work of a fevered imagination. Until her husband exclaims, Rosamund! Have you any idea what's happened to Lindy? She's disappeared!'
£9.87
Hodder & Stoughton Tanamera
Book SynopsisOpulence. Invasion. Terror. And forbidden passion in 1930s Singapore. ''They were the golden days, when Singapore was as rich as its climate was steamy, its future as assured as it was busy. And those days were made even better when, as was inevitable, I fell in love with the Chinese beauty of Julie Soong and, against all unwritten canons of Singapore life, we became lovers.''Trade Review'An astonishing fictional debut . . . A great read' * Daily Mail *'An exceedingly good book, and one of the can't put down variety . . . a winner' M M Kaye, author of The Far Pavilions * M M Kaye, author of The Far Pavilions *'Noel Barber has always done everything in a big way, with style, panache and a dash of adventure. But he has never written a story of such dimensions, such a sense of history and imagination as this first novel . . . it is an intensely gripping and convincing story' * Manchester Evening News *'Barber is a master' * Mail on Sunday *
£10.44
Hodder & Stoughton Invasion
Book Synopsis''Paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line'' - Daily ExpressNapoleon''s forces are poised to invade Britain, and Commander Thomas Kydd''s ship is at the forefront of the fleet defending the English coast. His honour restored after temporary disgrace in the Channel Islands, and reunited with his ship Teazer, Kydd seizes the chance to fight for his country. Then Kydd is abruptly withdrawn from the fleet and sent back to Dover on a secret mission to guard a mysterious American inventor. Having worked his way up from press-ganged seaman to captain of his own ship, Kydd is furious to find he will miss his opportunity to prove himself in battle. And Kydd''s baffled superiors are equally angry to lose Kydd and his ship at such a dangerous time. Yet Kydd''s role in the approaching war may be the most crucial part he has ever played.*********************What readers are saying about INVASION''Excellent in all respects'' - 5 stars''Very compelling reading!'' - 5 stars''I read ALL of the books by Julian Stockwin, he is an amazing author'' - 5 stars''Yet another top-notch tale from the grand master of the age of fighting sail'' - 5 stars''Julian Stockwin knows his craft . . . I lose myself in his books'' - 5 starsTrade ReviewAnother thundering good read for those who love seagoing stories in the Hornblower mould * Peterborough Evening Telegraph on TREACHERY *Another ripping yarn * Good Book Guide on TREACHERY *I was soon turning the pages almost indecently fast...Roll on, the promised adventures of Kydd and Renzi * Independent on KYDD *Stockwin paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line...the harsh naval discipline, the rancid food, and the skill of the common sailor are all skilfully evoked. * Daily Express on KYDD *Stockwin is a born storyteller and, with his series of intriguing sub-plots, a man with a vivid imagination. Importantly, his research is accurate and first class. Treachery is highly recommended. * Flagship on TREACHERY *An absorbing tale * Firetrench on TREACHERY *
£9.49
Pushkin Press The Formidable Miss Cassidy
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group lipstickjunglea02
Book SynopsisTo everyone who''s anyone in New York City Victory Ford, Wendy Healy and Nico O''Neilly are the beautiful face of success in the city. Victory is the hottest new designer on the block, Wendy is President of Parador Pictures with a sure-fire hit in production and Nico is the editor of BONFIRE magazine. The trouble is, from where Victory, Nico and Wendy are standing things don''t look quite that way. Nico is fitting in guilty extra-marital sex with an underwear model. Victory''s last collection bombed and Wendy''s twelve-year marriage to her metrosexual househusband is in freefall.Candace Bushnell''s new heroines are irresistible, and as she follows them through the minefield of work, love and life at the top she gives us a hugely entertaining lesson on how to stay ahead in the toughest town on the planet.Trade ReviewSo utterly readable. SCOTSMAN Read this and see your career in a whole new light. COSMOPOLITAN An irresistable story... You won't be able to put it down. RED Pace that's reliably zippy...laugh out loud sharp. SUNDAY BUSINESS POST
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Espresso Tales
Book SynopsisIn Espresso Tales, Alexander McCall Smith returns home to Edinburgh and the glorious cast of his own tales of the city, the residents of 44 Scotland Street, with a new set of challenges for each one of them. Bruce, the intolerably vain and perpetually deluded ex-surveyor, is about to embark on a new career as a wine merchant, while his long-suffering flatmate Pat MacGregor, set up by matchmaking Domenica Macdonald, finds herself invited to a nudist picnic in Moray Place in the pursuit of true love. Prodigious six-year-old Bertie Pollock wants a boy''s life of fishing and rugby, not yoga and pink dungarees, and he plots rebellion against his bossy, crusading mother Irene and his psychotherapist Dr Fairbairn. But when Bertie''s longed-for trip to Glasgow with his ineffectual father Stuart ends with Bertie taking money off legendary Glasgow hard man Lard O''Connor at cards, it looks as though Bertie should have been more careful what he wished for. And all the time it appears that Trade ReviewIt is hard to think of a contemporary writer more genuinely engaging...(his) novels are also extremely funny: I find it impossible to think about them without smiling * Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday *A treasure of a writer whose books deserve immediate devouring * Marcel Berlins, Guardian *As warm as cocoa, as cosy as thermal underwear, and just what the doctor ordered for the cold winter evenings * THE TIMES *
£8.54
Atlantic Books Last Train from Liguria
Book SynopsisChristine Dwyer Hickey is an award-winning novelist and short story writer. Twice winner of the Listowel Writers' Week short story competition, she was also a prize-winner in the prestigious Observer/Penguin short story competition. Her best-selling novel Tatty was longlisted for the Orange Prize and shortlisted for the Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year Award. She lives in Dublin.
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Penguin Books Ltd What a Carve Up
Book SynopsisThe hilarious 1980s political satire by Jonathan Coe, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.It is the 1980s and the Winshaw family are getting richer and crueller by the year: Newspaper-columnist Hilary gets thousands for telling it like it isn''t; Henry''s turning hospitals into car parks; Roddy''s selling art in return for sex; down on the farm Dorothy''s squeezing every last pound from her livestock; Thomas is making a killing on the stock exchange; and Mark is selling arms to dictators.But once their hapless biographer Michael Owen starts investigating the family''s trail of greed, corruption and immoral doings, the time growing ripe for the Winshaws to receive their comeuppance. . . This wickedly funny take on life under the Thatcher government was the winner of the 1995 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize''A sustained feat of humour, suspense and polemic, full of twists and ironies'' Hilary Mantel, Sunday Times''A riveting social satire on the chattering and all-powerful upper classes'' Time Out''Big, hilarious, intricate, furious, moving'' GuardianWritten with his signature wit, Jonathan Coe''s unmissable new novel, The Proof of My Innocence is available now!
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Penguin Books Ltd This Charming Man
Book Synopsis*** CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS AUTHOR OF THE YEAR 2022***Relish the wit and wisdom of Marian Keyes in this story of four women caught up in what seems like love, but may be something much darker . . . from the No. 1 bestselling author of Grown Ups''So funny, so perceptive, so real . . . I changed my life for this book'' MAIL ON SUNDAY''An emotional tour de force with genuine human warmth'' INDEPENDENT___________''Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married''Slick, handsome politician Paddy de Courcy is on the up. His party is set to do well in the elections and he''s just announced his engagement to the beautiful Alicia.Which is news to his girlfriend, Lola, who, within hours, finds herself dumped and warned not to talk to the press.Yet journalist Grace is on the prowl. She has been after Paddy ever since he ruined her sister Marnie''s life way back in college.Grace is looking for the inside story and thinks Lola holds the key . . .But do any of them know the real Paddy?___________''The laughs come fast and furious . . . a gripping, compelling tale'' Sunday Independent''The queen of page-turners . . . brimming with her trademark down-to-earth wit'' Cosmopolitan''Gripping from the start . . . the master at her best'' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewThis is an emotional tour de force, with a plot that packs great power but is lifted, as always, by genuine human warmth * Independent *The laughs come fast and furious . . . a gripping, compelling tale * Sunday Independent *The queen of page-turners . . . brimming with her trademark down-to-earth wit * Cosmopolitan *Gripping from the start . . . the master at her best * Daily Telegraph *Keyes' multi-layered plotting has never been as ingenious as in this . . . It's her best book yet * Irish Times *
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Penguin Books Ltd The Penguin Book of English Short Stories
Book SynopsisIntroducing a beautifully-designed collection of sixteen short stories from some of the best English writers over two hundred years of our history.The Penguin Book of English Short Stories celebrates the shorter format through some of the most widely known writers of all time. Though many are known for their novels, they provide a mesmerizing, multi-faceted portrait of a country and its people. Some stories are classics, such as James Joyce''s The Dead; others - like Mr Loveday''s Little Outing by Evelyn Waugh - are relatively unknown and a joy to discover.Covering a wide range of genres and writers, each of these concise, evocative, subtle and satisfying stories is a little jewel, providing a small window into another world.Featuring short stories from classical English authors including Charles Dickens, Katherine Mansfield, H.G. Wells, Evelyn Waugh, Virginia Woolf and many more.
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd Cry Freedom
Book SynopsisUnder South Africa''s brutal apartheid regime, black activist Steve Biko has been working tirelessly for years to undermine the system when he meets white journalist Donald Woods. Initially suspicious of Biko and his motives, Woods finds himself united with Biko in common cause after Biko reveals to him the true extent of police atrocities in the black townships. And when tragedy strikes, the powerful bond that has been forged between them leads Woods to make a courageous stand on his friend''s behalf, risking everything to expose the horrors of this murderous regime.
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Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc Role Play
Book SynopsisRole Play is a fresh satire narrated by a wealthy young woman in Rio on the verge of a class-consciousness awakening.Vivian is a curator, not just at her gallery gig in Rio de Janeiro, but in every aspect of her life. Her apartment has designer armchairs. Her wallet is Comme des Garçons. Everything is selected and arranged, even her lovers and friends. In Vivian's world, everything comes in excess, including her own caustic selfawareness. As she informs us, I'm a misandrist and a misogynist, but she is fond of gay men, the one type of human you can properly get along with as equals.Role Play examines the superabundances of Brazilian elites their art, ethics, and monied ambivalence in the face of social inequality, machismo, and violence. As sharp and sparkling as broken champagne flutes, Clara Drummond's prose is seductively frank and unflinching in its depiction of wealth's power to warp the self.
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New River Books Ltd Polar Vortex
Book Synopsis
£17.09
HarperCollins Publishers A Postcard from Puffin Island
Book SynopsisPuffin Island when the tides turn, true friends are never apart 'Full of warmth' #1 Sunday Times Bestseller Katie Fforde
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Cornerstone Eaters Of The Dead
Book SynopsisThe Eaters of the Dead is a brilliant, stirring tale of historical adventure which deserves a place on readers bookshelves alongside Michael Crichton''s bestselling techno-thrillers. It is AD922 and Ibn Fadlan is sent north from Baghdad as a peaceful ambassador. But before he reaches his destination, he falls in with some Vikings and when they are attacked by mystical bloodthirsty creatures in the midst of a terrible fog, he reluctantly agrees to become the prophesied 13th warrior in order for them to survive.Later turned into a major Hollywood film, Eaters of the Dead is an imaginative and breathlessly exciting retelling of the Beowulf myth that rescues the story from dry academic analysis and resurrects it as an action-packed story of adventure.Trade ReviewCrichton certainly has the Midas touch * Spectator *A giant of a writer * Daily Express *
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Cornerstone L.A. Noir The Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy Blood on the
Book SynopsisThree of Ellroy''s most compelling novels featuring Detective Sergeant Lloyd Hopkins in one volume. Blood On The Moon: 20 random killings of women are unconnected in police files. But Det. Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins sees a pattern. As he is drawn to the murderer, the two men face a confrontation pitting icy intelligence against white-heated madness. . . Because The Night: Jacob Herzog, hero cop, has disappeared. A multiple murder committed with a pre-Civil War revolver remains unsolved. Are the two cases connected? As Det. Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins pieces the puzzle together he discovers the darker threat of John Haviland, a psychiatrist whose pleasure comes from the manipulation of the weak and lonely. Suicide Hill: Duane Rice leaves jail with good news and bad news: two adulterous bank managers are ripe for squeezing, but Vandy, who he is obsessed with making a rock star, has disappeared. An orgy of violence erupts as Duane''s partner goes beserk and Duane settles scores with kTrade ReviewThe most distinctive crime writer of his generation * John Williams, Sunday Times *Ellroy is the author of some of the most powerful crime novels ever written * Frank Rich, New York Times *The most original crime writer of our time * Michael Carlson, Spectator *One of the best and most important writers in America today * VOX *Ellroy has produced some of the best crime fiction written this century, Hammett and Chandler included * Chris Sullivan, Loaded *
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Cornerstone Fortunes Favourites
Book SynopsisThe third novel in the epic Masters of Rome series.Fortune''s Favourites witnesses the power, mastery and cunning of two enigmatic rulers of Rome - Sulla, returning from exile, and the 22-year-old Pompey, who designates himself Magnus ''the Great''. And in the background is the young soldier, Caesar, who begins to show the expert qualities that will one day culminate in him becoming an unparalleled leader of ancient Rome. And at the heart of this sumptuous tale is the unforgettable story of Spartacus and his doomed slave revolt - the true story, as no modern reader has ever before encountered it.Trade ReviewMcCullough spins a stupendous tale of murderous ambition, guile, assassination, tragedy, love and lust...a magnificent tour de force * Publishers Weekly *
£14.39
Vintage Publishing The Bridge On The River Kwai
Book SynopsisPierre Boulle was born in 1912 at Avignon. Boulle studied as an engineer but ended up moving to Malaysia where he worked as both a soldier and a planter. Boulle fought in Yunnan, Calcutta and Indo-Chine during the Second World War until he was captured by the Japanese and imprisoned in a POW camp. It was this experience that would later form the basis of his infamous novel, The Bridge on the River Kwai. Upon his departure from Asia, Boulle's literature made a turn towards the fantastic and science fiction while contemplating the political and cultural upheaval experienced by the modern man. His most famous science fiction novel, Monkey Planet (its film adaptation was renamed The Planet of the Apes) has been adapted eight different times for either television or film. Boulle died in 1994.Trade ReviewA fine ironic novel, that is yet another French tribute to British eccentricity * Observer *Stirring and imaginative * New Statesman *Unforgettable * New Statesman *
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Vintage Publishing Collected Short Stories Volume 2
Book SynopsisThe stories in this collection move from Malaya to America and England, and include some of Maugham''s most famous tales; ''Flotsam and Jetsam'', the story of an old woman trapped for years in a loveless marriage in the remote rubber plantations; ''The Man with the Scar'', and notably the opening story ''The Vessel of Wrath'', a tale of the unexpected love that grows between a devout missionary nurse and a drunken reprobate. In this second volume of his collected stories, Maugham illustrates his characteristic wry perception of human foibles and his genius for evoking compelling drama from an acute sense of time and place.Trade ReviewA brilliant entertainer * New York Times *A formidable talent, a formidable sum of talents * Spectator *As clever a craftsman as the cleverest * Observer *
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Cornerstone Staying On
Book SynopsisPaul Scott was born in London in 1920. He served in the army from 1940 to 1946, mainly in India and Malaya. He is the author of thirteen distinguished novels including his famous The Raj Quartet. In 1977, Staying On won the Booker Prize. Paul Scott died in 1978.Trade ReviewStaying On covers only a few months but it carries the emotional impact of a lifetime, even a civilisation * Philip Larkin *Certainly his funniest and, I think, his best. it is a first-class book and deserves to be remembered for a long time * Evening Standard *One of the most cherished books of the last quarter-century. It is good to re-read it for its humour and pathos as well as its wonderful description of the legacy of the Raj * Sunday Telegraph *
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Vintage Publishing The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Book SynopsisYukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he performed. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves, Enjo which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst for Love and the short story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship. The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On 25 November 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppTrade ReviewA dark vision...a beautiful, disturbing novel * Los Angeles Times *Mishima writes with a fury that seldom flags * Glasgow Herald *Glitters with images of beauty and destruction, cruelty and sacrifice, dedication and betrayal * The Times *An amazing literary feat * Chicago Tribune *I adore Mishima's prose and vivid descriptions. They pull me out of my daily reality -- Amanda Harlech * Harpers Bazaar *
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Vintage Publishing The Temple of Dawn
Book SynopsisYukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he performed. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves, Enjo which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst for Love and the short story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship. The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On 25 November 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuku Trade ReviewThe four novels remain one of the outstanding works of 20th-Century literature and a summary of the author's life and work... Like the Divine Comedy and Remembrance of Things Past, "The Sea of Fertility" gives the reader the sensation of being carried to a great height...but Mishima abandons the reader at the edge of the precipice, revealing the abyss beneath the degraded life of the post-war world * Los Angeles Times *Surpassingly chilling, subtle, and original * New York Times *Japan's foremost man of letters * Spectator *Tremendous...evocative and poetic * Los Angeles Times *
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Cornerstone Riotous Assembly
Book SynopsisTom Sharpe was born in 1928 and educated at Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He did his national service in the Marines before moving to South Africa in 1951, where he did social work before teaching in Natal. He had a photographic studio in Pietermaritzburg from 1957 until 1961, and from 1963 to 1972 he was a lecturer in History at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology.He is the author of sixteen bestselling novels, including Porterhouse Blue and Blott on the Landscape, which were serialised on television, and Wilt, which was made into a film. In 1986 he was awarded the XXIIIème Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret, and in 2010 he was awarded the inaugural BBK La Risa de Bilbao Prize. Tom Sharpe died in June 2013 at his home in northern Spain.Trade ReviewThe funniest writer now working in the English language . . . His humour has bite and an angry underside that puts him in the great tradition of English satirists -- Stephen KingRiotous Assembly is a masterpiece of black farce, and makes me suppose that there is a true comic genius here -- Auberon Waugh * Spectator *Savagely hilarious * Sunday Mirror *Riotous Assembly has done to the South African police what Catch-22 did to the American Air Force -- Piers Brendon * Books & Bookmen *
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Vintage Publishing Timequake
Book SynopsisTimequake is sweet, wild and cock-eyed... Vonnegut has always had a true comic ear... A beautifully fastidious writer, utterly original' - GuardianAccording to science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout, a global timequake will occur in New York City on 13th February 2001. It is the moment when the universe suffers a crisis of conscience. Should it expand or make a great big bang? It decides to wind the clock back a decade to 1991, making everyone in the world endure ten years of deja-vu and a total loss of free will not to mention the torture of reliving every nanosecond of one of the tawdiest and most hollow decades. With his trademark wicked wit, Vonnegut addresses memory, suicide, the Great Depression, the loss of American eloquence, and the obsolescent thrill of reading books.Trade ReviewUtterly original...capable of moving from irony to lament within a sentence * Guardian *Reading Timequake... I feel privileged to have spent several hours in the company of a most genial, affable and upbeat soul indeed...a wise, winning and utterly charming concoction of fiction, commentary and autobiography * Literary Review *Timequake is sweet, wild and cock-eyed... Vonnegut has always had a true comic ear... A beautifully fastidious writer, utterly original * Guardian *Fascinating digressions, epigrams and memories, vitalised by Vonnegut's irrepressible intelligence and comic imagination, creating a movingly intimate work * Harper's Bazaar *Highly entertaining... The portraits of Vonnegut's first wife, brother and sister are beautiful, sharp, critical, loving * New York Times Book Review *
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Cornerstone Dance To The Music Of Time Volume 1
Book Synopsis_________________________The first three volumes of Anthony Powell''s remarkable A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME sequence: A QUESTION OF UPBRINGING; A BUYER''S MARKET; THE ACCEPTANCE WORLD''One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat.'' - Michael PalinAnthony Powell''s brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations. These first three novels in the sequence follow Nicholas Jenkins, Kenneth Widmerpool and others, as they negotiate the intellectual, cultural and social hurdles which stand between them and the ''Acceptance World''.
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Cornerstone A Question of Upbringing
Book Synopsis''He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.'' GUARDIAN''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this first volume, Nick Jenkins is introduced to the ebbs and flows of life at boarding school in the 1920s, spent in the company of his friends: Peter Templer, Charles Stringham, and Kenneth Widmerpool.Though their days are filled with visits from relatives and boyish pranks, usually at the expense of their housemaster Le Bas, a disastrous trip in Templer's car threatens their new friendship. As the school year comes to a close, the young men are faced with the prospects of adulthood, and with finding their place in the world.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny.Discovering Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat. -- Michael Palin“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion.The novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa YoungA masterful stylist and a wise, often hilarious observer of human nature and his times, Anthony Powell is an under-appreciated literary gem. The pleasures and dramas of the “Dance” continue to illuminate daily life. -- Claire MessudReading “A Dance to the Music of Time” was such a joyous experience, I remember wishing there'd been more than twelve volumes. -- Roddy DoyleI re-read the "Dance" every five years or so and always find something new – the world has changed but the characters are evergreen. Everybody has a Widmerpool in their life. -- Daisy GoodwinHe has wit, style, and panache, in a world where those qualities are in permanently short supply * The New York Review of Books *A book which creates a world and explores it in depth, which ponders changing relationships and values, which creates brilliantly living and diverse characters and then watches them grow and change in their milieu ... Powell's world is as large and as complex as Proust's. * New York Times *
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Vintage Publishing The Seville Communion
Book SynopsisArturo Pérez-Reverte was born in Cartagena in 1951. Since the publication of The Fencing Master, his first novel, Pérez-Reverte has become one of Europe's bestselling authors. The Flanders Panel was awarded the Grand Prix Annuel de Litterature Policiere in France. His novel, The Dumas Club, has been made into the film The Ninth Gate by Roman Polanski and starring Johnny Depp.Trade ReviewClassy and brimming with panache * Independent *Energetic, atmospheric writing -- Ben Farrington * Literary Review *Recounted with panache and subtlety, The Seville Communion is one of those infrequent whodunnits that transcend the genre * Time *A beautifully and intricately written noir in which unique plots and counterplots abound * San Francisco Examiner *
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Vintage Publishing Earthly Possessions
Book SynopsisAnne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her bestselling novels include Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, Back When We Were Grown-ups, Digging to America, A Spool of Blue Thread, Clock Dance, Redhead by the Side of the Road and French Braid.In 1989 she won the Pulitzer Prize; in 1994 she was nominated by Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby as 'the greatest novelist writing in English'; and in 2012 she received the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence. In 2015 A Spool of Blue Thread was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and the Booker Prize; and in 2020 Redhead by the Side of the Road was longlisted for the Booker Prize.Trade ReviewMy favourite writer, and the best line-and-length novelist in the world, is Anne Tyler... Brilliant, funny, sad and sensitive * Independent on Sunday *Funny and moving * The Times *A skilful novel by a writer in full flight from the obvious * Observer *Wickedly good
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Cornerstone Wilt on High
Book SynopsisWilt is back - in form, and in a good deal of trouble.Henry Wilt is still teaching at the Fenland Tech, attempting to drill English into plasterers, dozing through tedious committee meetings and occasionally getting mildly plastered in ''The Pig in a Poke'' with one of his few bearable colleagues. But the even tenor of his days is rudely interrupted when the shadow of drug dealing flickers across the Tech. Suddenly Wilt becomes the target of suspicion. His colleagues believe him to be responsible for triggering a departmental inquiry, and his old adversary Inspector Flint, knowing that he''s guilty of something, sees a chance to settle a number of scores. What starts with an accusation of voyeurism in the staff lavatory (of the wrong gender to boot) leads, more or less directly, to a massive confrontation at a nearby US airbase with the forces of law and order on both sides and Wilt in his usual place - in the middle.Trade ReviewThe funniest writer now working in the English language -- Stephen KingTom Sharpe serves up the loudest laughs in literary comedy ... He is the great post-Waugh humorist, the Wodehouse who dares plunge into the botomless vulgarity and hysteria of our times, and a rattling good companion on a train journey * Mail on Sunday *A very funny book ... it is perfect stuff, vintage Sharpe * Punch *Tom Sharpe is back on form ... he stays Sharpe to the bottom of the glass * Sunday Times *Tom Sharpe is one of the funniest things that has happened to fiction recently * Financial Times *
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