Contemporary Fiction Books

Book SynopsisFrom the winner of the 2015 Man Booker International PrizeTrade Review"The book, a collection of two short stories, acts as a distillation of Krasznahorkai’s essential themes: apocalypse and the death of innocent violence." -- Jake Romm - The New Inquiry"The universality of its vision rivals that of Gogol's Dead Souls." -- W. G. Sebald"An inexorable, visionary book by the contemporary Hungarian master of apocalypse who inspires comparison with Gogol and Melville." -- Susan Sontag"In Krasznahorkai’s deft hands, the effect is a layered, freewheeling, amazingly persuasive tour of living human consciousness, in varied states of self-awareness." -- Chris Lehmann - Newsday"Krasznahorkai's artistry merits serious notice. May further translations grant him the wider notice he deserves among English-speaking readers." -- Review of Contemporary Literature"Ingeniously composed and fascinating." -- Kirkus Reviews"The Melancholy of Resistance is a slow lava flow of narrative, a vast black river of type." -- George Szirtes"Lifts the reader along in lunar leaps and bounds." -- The Guardian"One of the great novels of the last quarter-century—like a MittelEuropean Moby Dick." -- Garth Risk Hallberg - The Millions

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the EBRD Literature Prize Since she's been ill, Lalla Fatma has become a frail little thing with a faltering memory. Lalla Fatma thinks she's in Fez in 1944, where she grew up, not in Tangier in 2000, where this story begins. She calls out to family members who are long dead and loses herself in the streets of her childhood, yearning for her first love and the city she left behind. By her bedside, her son Tahar listens to long-hidden secrets and stories from her past: married while still playing with dolls and widowed for the first time at the age of sixteen. Guided by these fragments, Tahar vividly conjures his mother's life in post-war Morocco, unravelling the story of a woman for whom resignation was the only way out. Tender and compelling, About My Mother maps the beautiful, fragile and complex nature of human experience, while paying tribute to a remarkable woman and the bond between mother and son.Trade Review'Ben Jelloun is arguably Morocco's greatest living author, whose impressive body of work combines intellect and imagination in magical fusion' Guardian; 'In any language, in any culture, Tahar Ben Jelloun would be a remarkable novelist' Sunday Telegraph; 'One of Morocco's most celebrated and translated writers' Asymptote; 'A traditional storyteller whose tales have the status of myth ... An important writer.' Times Literary Supplement; 'About My Mother pulses with life, invigorating the reader with every sentence.' World Literature Today; `A beautifully crafted novel' The New Arab

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Book SynopsisBook 4 in the bestselling 4-book Christian fiction series that has sold over 1.3 million copies!A story about God's unending faithfulness, the power of family love, and the healing miracle of redemption, from Karen Kingsbury, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of heart-tugging and emotional (Romantic Times) life-changing fiction.A New ChapterWith the demands of Hollywood life behind them for now, Dayne and Katy Matthews continue to adjust to life in Bloomington as they look forward to a new chapter togetherexpanding their family. Meanwhile, the entire CKT staff is busy preparing for the first production in Dayne and Katy's theater.A Time of UncertaintyThe Flanigans rally to support Bailey and Connor as they try out for lead roles in the musical, but then the family receives tragic news that weighs heavily on everyone's mind. At the same time, Jim Flanigan faces a decision that could drastically chan

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Book SynopsisFrom the grimly gothic Not to Disturb to the razor-sharp dissection of manners The Takeover and the mordantly brilliant The Only Problem, in a panoramic sweep taking in the shores of the Italian lakes to the castles of Geneva, Muriel Spark casts her unflinching gaze over the continent and onto some of the odder specimens of human nature abounding there. By turns savage, witty and profound, Spark's Europe reaffirms Muriel Spark as one of the most important novelists of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewGlittering, Sparkian ice -- ALI SMITHA wholly original presence in modern literature -- ANDREW MOTIONEnchanting, devastating, genius -- HELEN DUNMOREThere can be few novelists who command such a formidable technique * * Financial Times * *She shares with Barbara Pym and Iris Murdoch the magical ability to write about people from whom in life we would run a mile, but who are made fascinating by their author's perceptions * * Spectator * *Muriel Spark's novels linger in the mind as brilliant shards, decisive as a smashed glass is decisive -- JOHN UPDIKE * * New Yorker * *My admiration for Spark's contribution to world literature knows no bounds. She was peerless, sparkling, inventive and intelligent - the crème de la crème -- IAN RANKINThe care with which she uses words is matched by a gloriously carefree attitude. It's all part of her sanity, her breezy authorial self-confidence; and because of this I think that reading a blast of her prose every morning is a far more restorative way to start a day than a shot of espresso * * Daily Telegraph * *A profoundly serious comic writer whose wit advances, never undermines or diminishes, her ideas * * New York Times Book Review * *She has a receptive and wholly distinctive genius -- A N WILSON * * Spectator * *Spark is a natural, a paradigm of that rare sort of artist from whom work of the highest quality flows as elementally as current through a circuit * * New Yorker * *

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Book SynopsisHerman Koch, born in 1953, is a Dutch writer. He was a renowned television actor on the series Jiskefet and a former columnist for the newspaper Volkskrant. The Dinner is his sixth novel and has already won the prestigious Publieksprijs Prize in 2009. Herman Koch currently lives in Amsterdam.Sam Garrett has translated some 30 novels and works of non-fiction, for which he has won prizes and appeared on shortlists for some of the world's most prestigious literary awards.

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Book SynopsisBernard Malamud (1914-1986) was an American author of novels and short stories. Along with Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, he was one of the great American-Jewish authors of the twentieth century. His baseball novel, The Natural, was adapted into a 1984 film starring Robert Redford. His 1966 novel The Fixer, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.Trade ReviewHis masterpiece * Philip Roth *The Fixer deserves to rank alongside the great Jewish-American novels of Saul Bellow and Philip Roth * Independent *A novel of great power, even grandeur * Life *What makes it a great book, above and beyond its glowing goodness, has to do with something else altogether: its necessity * Jonathan Safran Foer *He writes with wisdom, compassion and humour... in the best tradition of Chekhov, Joyce and Hemingway * New York Times *An absorbing, compelling and deeply human tale of freedom, hate and morality, its deceptively simple style and beautifully wrought sentences hold you captive from its opening... If the term wasn't cheapened by constant use, I'd call it a masterpiece... A novel that could change your life * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisP.G. Wodehouse was, by common consent, the most brilliant writer of English comedy in the 20th century, equally celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. He achieved the unusual distinction of combining the widest possible popularity with the highest literary standards, attracting both the devotion of readers and the respect of his peers from Hilaire Belloc to Graham Greene. Several of his characters have already entered popular mythology. This anthology includes two novels, fourteen short stories and extracts from Wodehouse's autobiography.The Code of the Woosters was written in 1938 when Wodehouse was at the height of his powers. The vintage plot involves Bertie Wooster attempting to steal a cream jug from a country house at the behest of his aunt Dahlia - or, as Bertiehimself puts it, 'the sinister affair of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeleine Bassett, old Pop bassett, Stiffy Byng, the Rev H.P. ('Stinker') Pinker, the eighteenth-century cow-creamer and the small, brown, leather-covered notebook.' The outcome is a dazzlingly intricate plot and a wonderfully satisfying farce.Uncle Fred in the Springtime, published in 1939, brings one of the author's favourite characters, Uncle Fred aka Lord Ickenham, to his most celebrated comic location, Blandings Castle, where the dastardly Duke of Dunstable is again attempting to steal Lord Emsworth's prize pig. Called in to thwart the duke, Uncle Fred poses as pompous 'looney-doctor' Sir Roderick Glossop, with complicated results. The short stories feature all Wodehouse's most famous creations - Jeeves and Wooster, Ukridge, Bingo Little, Mr Mulliner, the Earls of Emsworth and Ickenham. Finally, extracts from Over Seventy, a memoir as amusing and beautifully written as the novels, offer an insight into the attitudes and working habits of a very private man.Trade ReviewHe exhausts superlatives * Stephen Fry *The handsome bindings are only the cherry on top of what is already a cake without compare * Evening Standard *Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in. * Evelyn Waugh *

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Book SynopsisHis whole nation is celebrating what is the worst day of his lifeNineteen-year-old Billy Lynn is home from Iraq. And he''s a hero. Billy and the rest of Bravo Company were filmed defeating Iraqi insurgents in a ferocious firefight. Now Bravo''s three minutes of extreme bravery is a YouTube sensation and the Bush Administration has sent them on a nationwide Victory Tour. During the final hours of the tour Billy will mix with the rich and powerful, endure the politics and praise of his fellow Americans - and fall in love. He''ll face hard truths about life and death, family and friendship, honour and duty. Tomorrow he must go back to war.Trade ReviewThis book will be the Catch-22 of the Iraq War. Instead of skewering the military, however, it skewers the society responsible for sending it to war, namely us. This funny, yet totally sobering, dissection of the American way of watching war will have you squirming at the same time you are laughing out loud; Fountain applies the heat of his wicked sense of humor while you face the truth of who we have become -- Karl MarlantesAstonishingly brilliant . . . The writing crackles off the page -- BERNARD CORNWELL * * Mail on Sunday * *Too often nowadays even rather good novels fail to excite me - I suppose over the years I've read too many of them - which means that those which do are Events in my life. And now I can add Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk to the list. A blazingly good novel and a vital, important book about war and the world we live in -- Diana AthillMy favourite book of the year, a smart, funny, sad tale -- KATE ATKINSON * * Irish Times * *Breathtaking, beautiful, startlingly authentic -- Patrick Hennessey, author of THE JUNIOR OFFICERS’ READING CLUBBen Fountain's novel is an exhilarating, funny, heartbreaking glimpse into the life of a young soldier and into experiences in which we are complicit - but about which we understand nothing. And it finds its mark in an incredibly personal way. The book has left me reeling -- Colin FirthAs close to the Great American Novel as anyone is likely to come these days - an extraordinary work that captures and releases the unquiet spirit of our age, and will probably be remembered as one of the important books of this decade -- Madison Smartt BellPassionate, irreverent, utterly relevant, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk offers an unforgettable portrait of a reluctant hero. Ben Fountain writes like a man inspired and his razor sharp exploration of our contemporary ironies will break your heart -- Margot LiveseyBilly Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is not merely good; it's Pulitzer Prize-quality good . . . A bracing, fearless and uproarious satire of how contemporary war is waged and sold to the American public * * San Francisco Chronicle * *Brilliantly done . . . grand, intimate, and joyous -- Geoff Dyer * * New York Times Book Review * *[An] inspired, blistering war novel...Though it covers only a few hours, the book is a gripping, eloquent provocation. Class, privilege, power, politics, sex, commerce and the life-or-death dynamics of battle all figure in Billy Lynn's surreal game day experience * * New York Times * *A masterful echo of Catch-22, with war in Iraq at the center . . . a masterful gut-punch of a debut novel . . . There's hardly a false note, or even a slightly off-pitch one, in Fountain's sympathetic, damning and structurally ambitious novel. By the novel's end, we're forced to reassess what it means to 'support the troops'. Does it simply mean letting them know they're in our prayers as we send them back into battle and go about our business? Does it mean turning them into gaudy celebrities? Or could there perhaps be a more honorable and appropriately humble way to commemorate their service? Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk asks us to consider the uncomfortable possibility that we don't really know the answer anymore * * Washington Post * *Fountain's excellent first novel follows a group of soldiers at a Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving Day...Through the eyes of the titular soldier, Fountain creates a minutely observed portrait of a society with woefully misplaced priorities. A pitch-perfect ear for American talk drives the satire * * New Yorker * *With an almost perfectly well-judged, surprisingly understated ­ending, the book feels to the reader much as the day feels to Lynn: you leave it with the sense of something spectacular and yet mournful having passed by in an exhilarating rush -- Robert Collins * * Sunday Times * *Fountain has fashioned a novel that speaks, with great comedy and perhaps greater pathos, to the much larger absurdity of the Iraq war . . . Fountain's dialogue and metaphors are often hilarious, and he is sharply observant as well -- Amy Waldman * * Financial Times * *A fierce, exhilarating novel about the Iraq war . . . And it is terrific: eloquent and angry, funny and poignant . . . Fountain, like better-known writers of his generation such as Jonathan Franzen and David Foster Wallace, has dragged this ironic, media-saturated style back in the direction of sincerity, with rich, sharply drawn characters that you care about -- Theo Tait * * Guardian * *Fountain has come up with a clever and imaginative take on the classic American combat novel. He's done it with the kind of ambition that sent shivers down the spine of the young Tom Wolfe. Fountain is a child of the Wolfe generation -- Robert McCrum * * Observer * *The book is lit up by verbal pyrotechnics . . . this is an exhilarating ride; funny, oddly touching, written with garish clarity * * Independent on Sunday * *Brilliant: funny, involving, warm-hearted, a book for our times -- Rachel Cook * * Observer * *It is a masterpiece of war literature, which is always to say, of anti-war literature * * Australian Review * *[T]he shell-shocked humor will likely conjure comparisons with Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse Five...War is hell in this novel of inspired absurdity * * Kirkus Review * *A tour de force * * Sunday Times, best books to read this summer * *It seems like Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk should fall apart in several different ways and descend to the ranks of gimmicky first novels. Books aren't set over the course of a single day because that's generally not enough time to establish characters and provide enough drama and emotional resonance. But Fountain pulls it off by combining blistering, beautiful language with razor-sharp insight...Ben Fountain has written a funny novel that provides skewering critiques of America's obsession with sports, spectacle, and war * * Huffington Post * *Ben Fountain stormed to the front lines of American fiction when he published his astonishing first collection of short stories, Brief Encounters with Che Guevara. His first novel will raise his stature and add to his splendid reputation. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is both hilarious and heartbreaking * * Pat Conroy * *Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is funny, damning and calmly devastating . . . Iraq War Fiction may yet be a modest genre, but Fountain's belated debut sets a fine example -- Tim Walker * * Independent * *Ben Fountain's first novel is a barbed satire of America at war...This blurring of fiction, reality and America's epic capacity for the surreal is compelling -- Ben Felsenburg * * Metro * *A boneshaker of a debut novel that is being referred to as the Catch-22 of the Iraq War. It's a blistering satire, and a breathless trip inside one combat soldier's head. An assault on the mind, as much as the land * * Scotsman * *An exhilarating debut * * Wall Street Journal * *Seething, brutally funny...[Fountain] leaves readers with a fully realized band of brothers...Fountain's readers will never look at an NFL Sunday, or at America, in quite the same way * * Sports Illustrated * *Ben Fountain writes with sparkle and dark humour, with lively verbal dexterity and a mimetic ear for dialogue that allows this anti-war diatribe to fizz with as much light as shade * * Express * *A searing satire . . . [Fountain] conveys brilliantly the hollowness of the endless expressions of gratitude -- Miranda Collinge * * Esquire * *A truly wondrous first novel * * Shelf Awareness * *A character driven novel that is highly entertaining, often funny and ultimately moving . . . not only a superbly entertaining book with a memorable central character, but an important book that says a great deal about our age * * Bookbag Online * *Events of the day are so hilariously recounted that the reader is left dizzy with laughter, each extended episode a masterpiece of comic invention, a seething outrage never far from the surface of this brilliant, stunning book -- Allan Jones * * Uncut Magazine * *Each chapter is assembled as ferociously tightly as one of Fountain's stories without seeming self-enclosed; the sentences are expansive and uninhibited and put together with close attention to modulation and register . . . Fountain gets you to believe in the sound on the page -- Christopher Taylor * * LRB * *Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is startlingly good. Like a reading wake-up call, it feels new and like nothing you've ever read before * * A Little Bird * *Easily the best novel yet written on Iraq -- The National * * Saul Austerlitz * *Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a lean, direct and muscular 307 pages, and is almost certainly the first great novel about the Iraq war * * Review 31 * *Dubbed 'The Catch-22 of the Iraq war', this debut novel shows a day in the life of a soldier, who has returned home a hero * * The Times * *[An] impressive, hugely likeable debut... exhilarating * * The Sunday Times * *Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk will eventually be regarded as one of the defining novels of its age... It's satire with a heart, a dazzlingly, sharply written novel which seems to crystallise a moment in time -- Alastair Mabbott * * Herald * *The best new book I have read so far this year... It contains prose so good that it left me purring with delight, not to mention roaring with laughter. The story too is compelling and beautifully constructed -- Sam Jordison * * Guardian Books Blog * *

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Book SynopsisDon''t miss the extraordinary new novel from Sue Monk Kidd, The Book of Longings - published on 21st April 2020, and available to pre-order nowThe Invention of Wings: The No. 1 New York Times bestseller. A powerful and extraordinary novel about the unlikely friendship between two exceptional women during the last years of slavery in the US. From the celebrated author of the multi-million-copy-bestselling novel The Secret Life of Bees. ''Fascinating... A splendid tribute to a pair of true heroines'' The Times''Wonderful - well-written, moving and engaging by turns, and always compelling'' Daily Mail''A remarkable novel that heightened my sense of what it meant to be a woman - slave or free'' Oprah Winfrey''A resonant, illuminating novel'' Observer Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. Her mother says she''s difficult and her father says she''s remaTrade Review'The fascinating story of real-life abolitionist sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimke... A splendid tribute to a pair of true heroines' - The Times'Wonderful - well-written, moving and engaging by turns, and always compelling' - Daily Mail'Unflinchingly depicts the brutality of slavery... a resonant, illuminating novel' - Observer'This year's The Help - but even better' - Fabulous Magazine (supplement to The Sun)'A moving tale of slavery in the Deep South' **** - Heat'Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees was every book group's must-read novel. The Invention of Wings... promises to repeat the trick' - Guardian'An exploration of slavery already singled out by Oprah Winfrey for her game-changing book club' - Sunday Express'A poignant tale set in America's Deep South in the last days of slavery' - Good Housekeeping

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Book SynopsisLucas and Katya were boarding school seniors when, blindingly in love, they decided to have a baby. Seventeen years later, after a decade of absence, Lucas is a weekend dad, newly involved in his daughter Vera''s life. But after Vera suffers a terrifying psychotic break at a high school party, Lucas takes her to Lithuania, his grandmother''s homeland, for the summer. Here, in the city of Vilnius, Lucas hopes to save Vera from the sorrow of her diagnosis. As he uncovers a secret about his grandmother, a Home Army rebel who escaped Stutthof, Vera searches for answers of her own. Why did Lucas abandon her as a baby? What really happened the night of her breakdown? And who can she trust with the truth? Skillfully weaving family mythology and Lithuanian history with a story of mental illness, inheritance, young love, and adventure, Rufi Thorpe has written a breathtakingly intelligent, emotionally enthralling book.Trade ReviewWhile the themes of the book - mania, the Holocaust, and the devastating number of ways that any parent-child dynamic can go awry - are undeniably dark, Thorpe's prose is light, often hilarious, and unshakably grounded in the concrete details of daily life . . . Thorpe has written an absolute winner. * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review *Dear Fang, With Love is a beautiful story about mental illness and love * PopSugar, '26 Books You Should Read This Spring' *A brilliantly written, probing, uneasy look at a damaged friendship between two women * Independent on Sunday on The Girls from Corona Del Mar *Her depiction of female friendship is engaging and sharply observed * New Statesman on The Girls From Corona Del Mar *Observant, sometimes funny and continuously thought-provoking * Daily Mail on The Girls From Corona Del Mar *

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Book SynopsisSet in New York's exclusive Hamptons seaside resort, The Summer Without You is a gorgeously escapist read from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rome Affair, Karen Swan.'Pure escapism' – Marie ClareRowena Tipton isn't looking for a new life, just a new adventure, something to while away the months as her long-term boyfriend presses pause on their relationship before they become engaged. But when a chance encounter at a New York wedding leads to an audition for a coveted houseshare in The Hamptons – Manhattan's elite beach scene – suddenly a new life is exactly what she's got.Stretching before her is a summer with three eclectic housemates, long days on white sandy beaches and parties on gilded tennis courts. But high rewards bring high stakes, and Rowena soon finds herself caught in the crossfire of a vicious intimidation campaign.Alone for the first time in her adulTrade ReviewThe Summer Without You is delicious, glamorous and purely sinful. * I Heart Chick Lit blog *The perfect summer read * Novelicious.com *I truly managed to escape into the novel . . . it's the perfect read for summer day at the beach (or the Hamptons!) * GirlsLovetoRead.com *This is a glamourous, sexy read that you really can't miss, it is absolutely one of this summer's must-reads! * On My Bookshelf blog *Bright, breezy, escapist fun * Sunday Mirror *A perfect read for lazing around the pool * Bella *Great escapism * Red magazine *Great beach read. * Sunday Express *Pure escapism * Marie Claire *

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Book SynopsisThe fourth novel in the Earth's Children series, Jean M. Auel's internationally bestselling epic of life 25,000 years ago when two kinds of human beings, Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, shared the earth.Trade ReviewJean Auel has an extraordinary appeal to an enormously wide age group and the latest volume of her pre-historic saga is impossible to put down * Rosamunde Pilcher *The authenticity of background detail, the lilting prose rhythms and the appealing conceptual audacity continue to work their spell * Publishers Weekly *On THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR:'Beautiful, exciting, imaginative.' * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING MOTHERING SUNDAY AND LAST ORDERS, and reissued for the first time on the Scribner list, this is an intensely moving novel about a night that will change one family beyond recognition. On a June night Paula, a successful art dealer, lies awake, Mike, her husband of twenty-five years, asleep beside her. In nearby rooms their twin teenage children, Nick and Kate, sleep too. The next day, Paula knows, will define all their lives.   As dawn approaches, Paula recalls the years before and after her children were born. Her story is both a celebration of love possessed and a moving acknowledgement of the fear of loss, of the fragilities on which even our most inward sense of who we are can rest.  Graham Swift’s apparently most domestic book is that rare thing in fiction, a novel about happiness, though a happiness that is not all that it seems. An intim

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Book SynopsisMy Life in the Bush of Ghosts, Amos Tutuola''s second novel, was first published in 1954. It tells the tale of a small boy who wanders into the heart of a fantastical African forest, the dwelling place of innumerable wild, grotesque and terrifying beings. He is captured by ghosts, buried alive and wrapped up in spider webs, but after several years he marries and accepts his new existence. With the appearance of the television-handed ghostess, however, comes a possible route of escape.''Tutuola ... has the immediate intuition of a creative artist working by spell and incantation.'' V. S. Pritchett, New Statesman

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Book SynopsisDonna Tartt's huge selling second novel, follow up to the worldwide bestseller The Secret HistoryTrade Review‘In a literary age of diet and dearth, Tartt invites us to feast ... the opening tragedy strikes a note of rich, flamboyant Southern Gothic that resonates throughout' * Independent *‘You will rarely have read better ... Because of Tartt's mastery of suspense, this book will grip readers all the way through to its bitter end' * Guardian *‘Tartt's grip on this billowing plot is glue-like and her ability to evoke the Deep South of last century exceptional ... excellent, enthralling' * Marie Claire, Book of the Month *‘Destined to become a special kind of classic - a book that precocious young readers pluck from their parents' shelves and devour with surreptitious eagerness, thrilled to discover a writer who seems at once to read their minds and to offer up the sweet-and-sour fruits of exotic, forbidden knowledge' * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisPaul Auster''s unsettling tale of chance and gambling from the author of contemporary classic The New York Trilogy: ''a literary voice for the ages'' (Guardian) Paul Auster fuses Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka and The Brothers Grimm in this brilliant and unsettling parable. Following the death of his father, Jim Nashe takes to the open road in pursuit of a ''life of freedom''. But as the money runs out he finds that his sense of disillusionment has only been compounded by his year on the road. However, after picking up Pozzi, a hitchhiking gambler, Nashe finds himself drawn into a dangerous game of high-stakes poker with two eccentric and reclusive millionaires. Paul Auster fuses Samuel Beckett, Franz Kafka and The Brothers Grimm in this brilliant and unsettling parable. Following the death of his father, Jim Nashe takes to the open road in pursuit of a ''life of freedom''. But as the money runs out he finds that his sense of disillusionment has

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Book SynopsisThe iconic debut novel by ''one of the greatest writers of our era'' (Hilary Mantel) and ''the Irish novelist everyone should read'' (Colm Tóibín).Elizabeth Reegan, after years of freedom - and loneliness - marries into the enclosed Irish village of her upbringing. The children are not her own; her husband is straining to break free from the servile security of the police force; and her own life, threatened by illness, seems to be losing the last vestiges of its purpose. Moving between tragedy and savage comedy, desperation and joy, John McGahern''s first novel is one of haunting power.''Marvellous.'' Susan Hill, Times''Wise and compelling ... Elegiac and graceful.'' David Mitchell''I have admired, even loved, John McGahern''s work since his first novel.'' Melvyn Bragg''Reminds one of the young Joyce ... McGahern is the real thing.'' Spectator

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Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES TOP 100 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY#11 in the New York Times ''100 Best Books of the 21st Century''A ghetto nerd living with his Dominican family in New Jersey, Oscar''s sweet but disastrously overweight. He dreams of becoming the next J. R. R. Tolkien and he keeps falling hopelessly in love. With dazzling energy and insight Díaz immerses us in the tumultuous lives of Oscar; his runaway sister Lola; their beautiful mother Belicia; and in the family''s uproarious journey from the Dominican Republic to the US and back.''The Best Novel of the 21st Century to Date'' - BBC Culture.

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Book SynopsisWhen Glasgow journalist Gerry Conway receives a phone call promising unsavoury information about Scottish Justice Minister Peter Lyons, his instinct is that this apparent scoop won''t warrant space in The Tribune. But as Conway''s curiosity grows and his leads proliferate, his investigation takes him from Scotland to Belfast. Shocked by the sectarian violence of the past, and by the prejudice and hatred he encounters even now, Conway soon grows obsessed with the story of Lyons and all he represents. And as he digs deeper, he comes to understand that there is indeed a story to be uncovered; and that there are people who will go to great lengths to ensure that it remains hidden. Compelling, vividly written and shocking, ALL THE COLOURS OF THE TOWN is not only the story of an individual and his community - it is also a complex and thrilling inquiry into loyalty, betrayal and duty.

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Book SynopsisA collection of short stories published in print for the very first time due to reader demand. Includes the much-loved eBooks, A Christmas Wedding, One Perfect Christmas and Johnny's Girl, as well as brand new content and introductions by Paige herself. The perfect Christmas gift.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewTsushima evades any label, her fiction transcends gender to focus on the existential loneliness that is at the heart of humanity. -- Kris Kosaka * Japan Times *Wonderfully poetic ... extraordinary freshness ... a Virginia Woolf quality -- Margaret Drabble * BBC Radio 3 *Spiky, atmospheric and intimate, filled with moments of strangeness that linger in the mind * The Spectator *In this short, powerful novel lurk the joy and guilt of single parents everywhere * Guardian *This exquisite and poignant novel . . . will resonate with single mothers always and everywhere -- Shami ChakrabartiAn extraordinary book . . . cool analytic intelligence propelled by sudden eruptions of passion -- Lisa AppignanesiAn astonishing and exquisite masterpiece about love, motherhood, female independence, and the restoration of a damaged family. Yuko Tsushima is an unforgettable name alongside great masters like Virginia Woolf, Alice Munro and Elizabeth Strout -- J. M. Lee, author of The Investigation

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Book SynopsisSummer, 1972: In the claustrophobic heat, eleven-year-old Byron and his friend begin 'Operation Perfect', a hapless mission to rescue Byron's mother from impending crisis. Winter, present day: As frost creeps across the moor, Jim cleans tables in the local cafe, a solitary figure struggling with OCD.Trade ReviewA near-flawless novel of emotional truth. Joyce executes this story with precision and flair... Its unputdownable factor lies in its exploration of so many multilayered emotions... It is her clever did-I-read-that-right twist at the end that really got to me and had me scrabbling back through the chapters, open-mouthed. * Evening Standard *The power of Joyce's prose lies in small, astute observations... [her] subtle touches give the book an intense, slightly mesmeric feel. Tense and engrossing... readers who loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will not be disappointed. * Sunday Times *Joyce's faith in the essential goodness of humanity and her observation of the comedy in the everyday shine through... This is a darker, more complex novel than Joyce's first but readers will find other points of comparison. Not least a twist that few will see coming and will leave you reeling; and a redemptive ending that is perhaps the sweeter given all the pain that goes before. An instant classic, Perfect confirms Rachel Joyce as a major new British literary voice. * Daily Express *Diana herself is faultless. She is to Perfect what Harold Fry was to [The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry]: a fully rounded hero, someone to fall in love with and argue about, cherish and admonish, as though she were real... If only there were more novelists like Rachel Joyce * Telegraph *What’s right with it? You’ll fall in love with the characters. They’re kind, anxious, flawed, funny and wonderful. Also, knowing that the two stories will have to meet builds a wonderful sense of tension. What’s wrong with it? Nothing. It’s brilliant. Even the fact that Byron is convinced that scientists tried to slip an extra two seconds into time is a wonderful hook for all the decisions he goes on to make. Verdict: Uplifting, engaging, sad and funny. A perfect follow-up to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. * Heat magazine's #1 book to be reading right now (July) *

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Book Synopsis__________________''Anything written by Celia Imrie is guaranteed to put a smile on our faces and her latest book is no exception'' - Good Housekeeping''A dashing roller coaster. She is extraordinary'' - Joanna Lumley''A very witty woman. Hugely entertaining'' - Julian Fellowes__________________The deliciously witty, irresistible new novel from the top ten Sunday Times bestselling author of Not Quite Nice follows the exploits of two women on an Atlantic cruise ship.The phone hasn't rung for months. Suzy Marshall is discovering that work can be sluggish for an actress over sixty even for the former star of a 1980s TV series. So when she's offered the plum role of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest in Zurich, it seems like a godsend. Until, that is, the play is abruptly cancelled in suspicious circumstances, and Suzy is forced to take a job on a cruise shipTrade ReviewAnything written by Celia Imrie is guaranteed to put a smile on our faces and her latest book is no exception * Good Housekeeping *Hilarious * Daily Mail *A lively, frothy romp, as bright and breezy as the characters she often plays onstage and on screen * Sunday Express Magazine *Forget the cruise. Grab Imrie's novel and have twice as much fun -- Hilary Boyd, author of Thursdays in the ParkCelia Imrie reveals a whole new talent in this irresistible murder mystery caper, packed with wonderful characters that will grip you to the last glorious page -- Maeve Haran, author of An Italian HolidayA dashing roller coaster. She is extraordinary -- Joanna LumleyA hugely enjoyable romp -- Katie Fforde, author of A Secret GardenAn absolute joy * Choice Magazine *

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Book SynopsisJilly Cooper is a journalist, author and media superstar. The author of many number one bestselling books, she lives in Gloucestershire.She has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Universities of Gloucestershire and Anglia Ruskin, and won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print lifetime achievement award in 2019. She was also appointed DBE in 2024 for services to literature and charity.Trade ReviewJump! is the perfect read for chilly autumn nights. Hugely entertaining, touching and funny, yet again Cooper has a winner * Daily Express *This is definitely the most exciting book that landed on my doormat this year. Cooper is a major genius... the narrative zips along, pierced with her characteristically brilliant ear for dialogue and empathy for human relationships of all kinds. You won't be able to put it down -- Sara Lawrence * Daily Mail *Near-magical ability to conjure up a world and populate it with people for whom you feel a deep affection * Observer *To read one of Cooper's books is to escape into an alternative universe in which all is right with the world * Guardian *A fast-paced and enjoyable read * Sun *

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