Contemporary Fiction Books

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Book Synopsis50th Anniversary Edition • With an introduction by Caity Weaver, acclaimed New York Times journalistThis cult classic of gonzo journalism is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page.  It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.Also a major motion picture directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.

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Book SynopsisAn intense, instantly engaging, hard-hitting, yet beautifully written story of a life destroyed and a life reconstructed.Trade ReviewExcellent ... Frey's storytelling feels compulsive, involuntary ... poignant and tragic. The forthcoming film will almost certainly be a cult hit ... The good thing about Frey is that he writes as if he needs to; I hope his new compulsion thrives * William Leith, Spectator *James Frey's utterly mesmerising account ... [is] easily the most remarkable non-fiction book about drugs and drug taking since Hunter S Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ... As a memoir, it is almost mythic. You can imagine it made epic by Martin Scorsese, the auteur of wayward American maleness in all its extremity ... Utterly compulsive * Observer *Frey really can write. Brilliantly. And if you don't think so, f*** you * Evening Standard *Clear sighted and intellectually honest * Literary Review *A heartbreaking memoir ... inspirational and essential * Bret Easton Ellis *This book is definitely going to be huge ... There is no question that he's a good writer. As soon as you start reading the book, Frey's voice rings out. It's clear and sharp and turbocharged ... We love rehab memoirs. This is a good one. It might even be a great one * Independent *An extraordinary and deeply moving book that will make you think about family, friendship, love, religion, death and perhaps most of all, the human spirit * Irish Sunday Independent *Startling and ultimately breath taking * Kirkus Reviews *Horribly honest and funny ... Read this immediately * Gus Van Sant *Harrowing, poetic and rather magnificent * FHM *James Frey spent ten years addicted to alcohol and crack before going into rehab at the age of 23. This unrelenting memoir of his recovery spares no detail. Luckily, he is a good writer - indulgent and uncompromising * Metro *Frey is selfish, egocentric, violent and pompous . . . What redeems this insufferably bad mannered book is that, at the end of the day, Frey can write. Brilliantly * Scotsman *Frey's writing style vividly conveys the horrors of addiction ... dark humour and sharp observations are evidence of a keen intelligence and an unusual strength of character ... a totally absorbing book * The Magistrate *Harrowing and unflinching ... This is not a book about drugs but about their aftermath ... Though definitely not for the faint hearted, Frey is often darkly and self deprecatingly funny. This is, in essence, a story of redemption and an incredibly moving one. This is a great book * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *This book is a raging, brilliant debut. * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *Crafted from genuine, raw emotion. * Irish Examiner *'Blisteringly written ... The prose is superb' * Daily Express *'James Frey propelled the memoir of dysfunctional life to the top of the bestseller lists' * Daily Telegraph *'Frey's book combined high quality drug porn with memorable characters and a strong narrative arc that describes a modern version of Rake's Progress.' * Druglink Magazine *'The last remarkable book I read... I couldn't put it down.' * Q Magazine, Dave Matthews *

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Book SynopsisAgu is just a boy when war arrives at his village. His mother and sister are rescued by the UN, while he and his father remain to fight the rebels. ''Run!'' shouts his father when the rebels arrive. And Agu does run. Straight into the rebels'' path. In a vivid, sparkling voice, Agu tells the story of what happens to him next. His story is shocking and painful, and completely unforgettable.Beasts of No Nation gives us an extraordinary portrait of the chaos and violence of war. It is a gripping and remarkable debut.Trade ReviewA work of visceral urgency and power: it heralds the arrival of a major talent * Amitav Ghosh *Extraordinary . . . you don't come across writing like this very often * Bookseller *So scorched by loss and anger that it's hard to hold and so gripping in its sheer hopeless lifeforce that it's hard to put down * Guardian *A harrowing and compelling vision . . . the narrator's voice is so authentic you have to check you are still reading fiction . . . This is a novel which leaves an impression like a blood-soaked hand print, disturbing not only for the terror around this cleaving, pulverising slayer, but the terror turning to 'ennui' within him. To call it shocking would be to do it a disservice. To call the writing beautiful would hardly be praise. To call the book staggering would be an understatement * Waterstones Books Quarterly *The power of his material and its hideous relevance rolls all before it . . . This book about children that is in no sense a children's book deserves to be read * Independent *An extraordinary book . . . horrifying expose . . . vivid . . . . It casts a powerful, if gruesome spell * Sunday Telegraph *Iweala makes a compelling story from experience which in its nature defies articulation . . . Uzodinma Iweala's is a confident and promising new voice * Times Literary Supplement *Gives a name, a voice and a heart to one of Africa's innumerable child soldiers . . . This is urgent writing, starkly unsentimental and convincing * Observer *Compelling . . . perturbing, painful and powerful * Irish Independent *Stream-like sentences that convey irrestible, rushing activitiy . . . Iweala's powerful debut recalls Saro-Wiwa's first-person masterpiece of a soldier-boy * The Times *A simple and brutal account of war . . . Beasts of No Nation is a raw, compelling first novel * Literary Review *'Extraordinary ... you don't come across writing like this very often.' * The Bookseller *This is a work of visceral urgency and power: it heralds the arrival of a major talent * Amitav Ghosh *'So scorched by loss and anger that it's hard to hold and so gripping in its sheer hopeless lifeforce that it's hard to put down.' * Ali Smith, Guardian *'A harrowing and compelling vision ... the narrator's voice is so authentic you have to check you are still reading fiction ... This is a novel which leaves an impression like a blood-soaked hand print, disturbing not only for the terror around this cleaving, pulverising slayer, but the terror turning to 'ennui' within him. To call it shocking would be to do it a disservice. To call the writing beautiful would hardly be praise. To call the book staggering would be an understatement' * Waterstones Books Quarterly *'The power of his material and its hideous relevance rolls all before it ... This book about children that is in no sense a children's book deserves to be read' * Independent *'This is an extraordinary book ... horrifying expose ... vivid ... It casts a powerful, if gruesome spell' * Sunday Telegraph *'Iweala makes a compelling story from experience which in its nature defies articulation ... Uzodinma Iweala's is a confident and promising new voice' * Times Literary Supplement *'Gives a name, a voice and a heart to one of Africa's innumerable child soldiers ... This is urgent writing, starkly unsentimental and convincing' * Observer *'His riveting revelations... make this a truly shocking and unforgettable book.' * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *'First-time novelist Uzodinma Iweala has made a virtue of simplicity and, in beautifully unadorned language, has captured the universal tragedy of war and its victims.' * Telegraph/Seven, Sally Cousins *'Linguistically ingenious, Beasts of No Nation is a remarkable debut, a hugely resonant discourse on an uncomfortable subject.' * Observer, Helen Zaltzman *'This sad, unforgettable novel is a fitting testament to the countless Agus who continue to kill and be killed across that most tragic of continents.' * Daily Telegraph, David Isaacson *'A chilling work of fiction that has visceral impact.' * Guardian/The Guide *'Compelling ... perturbing, painful and powerful' * Irish Independent *'A stunningly mature debut' * Big Issue *'Compelling, haunting and refreshing' * The Review *'Stream-like sentences that convey irrestible, rushing activitiy ... Iweala's powerful debut recalls Saro-Wiwa's first-person masterpiece of a soldier-boy' * The Times *'A searing first novel' * Independent *'Beasts of No Nation is written with the authority of someone who knows what they're talking about' * London Review of Books *'A simple and brutal account of war ... Beasts of No Nation is a raw, compelling first novel' * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 'Lloyd Jones brings to life the transformative power of fiction . . . This is a beautiful book' Sunday Times 'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' Bougainville, 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island. When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a liTrade Review'It's clear from the first page that this is prize-winning stuff... Being a truthful writer, Jones sees nothing neither his heroes nor his villains in black and white. His is a bold inquiry into the way that we construct and repair our communities, and ourselves, with stories old and new' * The Times *'In this dazzling story-within-a-story, Jones has created a microcosm of post-colonial literature, hybridising the narratives of back and white races to create a new and resonant fable ... There is a fittingly dreamy lyrical quality to Jones's writing, along with an acute ear for the earthly harmonies of village speech ... Mister Pip is the first of Jones's six novels to have travelled from his native New Zealand to the UK. It is so hoped that it won't be the last' * Observer *'Mister Pip is a poignant and impressive work which can take its place alongside the classical novels of adolescence' * Times Literary Supplement *'A major word-of-mouth bestseller' * Sue Baker, Publishing News *Intriguing and memorable * Glasgow Herald *'Cleverly encapsulating what it is to be an orphan, an immigrant or a person dispossessed of a regular beat of life, this extraordinary story...' * Good Housekeeping *'Exotic locations add a dreamy quality to ... Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones ... Jones' lyrical novel centres around a group of children in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, during the civil war in the Nineties' * Vogue *'Morally subtle, Mister Pip has none of arid cleverness that often mars novels about books, making it a worthy winner of this year's Commonwealth Writers' Prize' * Daily Mail *'Darker and more morally complex than it appears ... Lloyd Jones gives the tired post-colonial themes of self-reinvention and the reinterpretation of classic texts a fresh, ingenious twist but his real achievement is bringing life and depth to his characters' * Sunday Telegraph *'A must-read tale of survival by storytelling' * Image Magazine (Ireland) *'A novel that, with amplitude and ease, affirms the acts of reading and writing as precious pursuits, as acts of survival, escape, renewal' * Scotsman *'The value of moral fiction as a means of dealing with super-heated reality is the theme that gives this book exotic enchantment as a fable for our times' * Saga Magazine *'(A) rather strange, quite wonderful book ... Singular in its vision and muscular in its prose, you won't forget this in a hurry' * thelondonpaper *'An intelligent novel that says as much about the power of reading as it does about bloodshed and loss' * New Statesman *'Mister Pip is a powerful and humane novel from one of New Zealand's top writers' * Financial Times Magazine *A captivating read * Metro London *'Judges described it as a "mesmerising story showing how books can change lives in utterly surprising ways" ' * Independent *'Rarely ... can any novel have combined charm, horror and uplift in quite such superabundance' * D. J. Taylor, Independent *'Lloyd Jones brings to life the transformative power of fiction ... The experience of reading in this book is tangible ...This is a beautiful book. It is tender, multi-layered and redemptive' * Sunday Times *'Magical and enchanting' * Woman Magazine *'A dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished' * Whitefriars Magazine *'A mega-good read' * Dovegreyreader Blog *Moving * Sunday Telegraph *Poignant, haunting and profoundly humane * Sunday Times *Unforgettable * Bookseller *'It's a wonderfully refreshing book which gives you much to think about long after finishing' * Psychologies *'Incredible, one of the best reading experiences I've had' * Janie Dee, Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisA beautiful woman scarred by a hateful past. A compassionate cop haunted by a childhood blighted by poverty. Violence brought them together. An unspeakable abomination may tear them apart.Bruno Frye nightly succumbs to the malicious lullaby of the whispers. Losing himself in the nightdreams of their rustling cries, he is deafened by whispers more piercing than any scream. In the dark recesses of his mind no act is too violent, no deed too shocking . . .

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Book Synopsis'Joyous – a treat of a tale that whisks your heart away to the beautiful shores of Orkney. Prepare to fall in love with this fantastic series!' MIRANDA DICKINSON On paper, Merina Wilde has it all: a successful career writing the kind of romantic novels that make even the hardest hearts swoon, a perfect carousel of book launches and parties to keep her social life buzzing, and a childhood sweetheart who thinks she’s a goddess. But Merry has a secret: the magic has stopped flowing from her fingers. Try as she might, she can’t summon up the sparkle that makes her stories shine. And as her deadline whooshes by, her personal life falls apart too. Alex tells her he wants something other than the future she’d always imagined for them and Merry finds herself single for the first time since – well, ever. Desperate to get her life back on track, Merry leaves London and escapes to the windswept Orkney Islands, l

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Book SynopsisFrom the Oscar-nominated screenwriter (When Harry Met Sally) and successful director (Sleepless in Seattle), Nora Ephron comes a bittersweet autobiographical book about love and loss. Published as part of a beautifully designed series to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics.Trade ReviewI am not a great reader of comic novels, but Ephron's hilarious, recipe-strewn, semi-autobiographical account of a heavily pregnant woman whose husband has left her for a woman with a 'neck as long as an arm' is a treat. A perfect example of Ephron's gift for turning tragedy into comedy, Heartburn is evidence that revenge is indeed a dish best served cold[Ephron] chatters up a storm, always on the verge of wisecracking up * Guardian *What really interested Ephron, for all her clever writing about food, politics and overcluttered purses, were matters of the heart. She is the exact opposite of Dorothy Parker. She is wit without cynicism, the ultimate romantic -- Gail Collins * New York Times *I have bought more copies of this book to give to people, in a frenzy of enthusiasm, than any other . . . Heartburn is the perfect, bittersweet, sobbingly funny, all-too-true confessional novel. There is not a wrong word - about food, marriage, life, love, lossFull of cynicism and gags, this autobiographical novel is comic writing at its finest -- Andrew Billen * The Times *Heartburn took the most miserable personal situation and made it hysterically funny, inspiring and utterly relatable to women of all ages. I became obsessed with its author and thinly disguised heroine * Stylist *Heartburn is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking and as brittle (very) as it is steely (even more)It is snortingly funny in its depiction of the death throes of a relationship. And it bursts with recipes. What more could you ask for?Not just the funniest novel ever written about divorce, but the funniest novel ever. Only the truly talented make writing as good as this look easy -- Hadley Freeman * The Week *I kept a copy of Nora Ephron's Heartburn next to me as a reminder of how to be funny and truthful, and all I ended up doing was ignoring my writing and rereading Heartburn -- Amy PoehlerThe real magic of the novel comes from Ephron's nonchalant conversationalism -- Helen Rosner * New Yorker *Simply one of the greatest novels involving food ever written from the writer of When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. It's about love, sex, adultery and key lime pie -- Jay RaynerThis book taught me about love, loss and writing. It's a timeless classic * Independent *

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Book Synopsis'How to tell the story of a 500-page collection of stories spanning more than forty years? Especially when I really want to just exclaim, "Oh, Oh, OH!" in a state of steadily mounting rapture' Geoff Dyer, Observer Williams' uniquely devastating portrayals of modern life have been captivating readers and writers for decades. Here, for the first time, Williams' thirty-three best stories are available in a single volume, together with thirteen new stories that show a writer continuing to mould the form into something strange and new. Bleak but funny, real but surreal, domestic but dangerous, familiar but enigmatic, Joy Williams' stories fray away the fabric at the edge of ordinary experience to reveal the loneliness at the heart of human life. In 'The Lover', a girl suffers a spiritual and physical wasting away; in 'The Visiting Privilege', a visitor finds refuge in her friend's psychiatric ward; in 'Charity', a woman gives a poor family gas money and finds herself marooned in their peculiar world; in 'Another Season' an itinerant man cleanses an island of roadkill; in 'Craving' an alcoholic couple head towards a car crash. The Visiting Privilege represents the culmination of Williams' career and cements her place as the most singular artist of short fiction writing today.Trade ReviewPerhaps the greatest living master of the short story ... easily taking her place among the ranks of Mavis Gallant, Flannery O'Connor, Grace Paley, John Cheever and Raymond Carver -- Neel Mukherjee * Guardian Books of the Year *Joy Williams is a stone-cold 100% American original ... a treasure trove of high-octane prose and surreal wit -- Rupert Thomson * Herald Books of the Year *An electric and dangerously human volume -- Philip Hensher * Spectator Books of the Year *The literary heir to Anton Chekhov * Washington Post *Williams is a flawless writer, and The Visiting Privilege is a perfect book * NPR *Joy Williams is simply a wonder -- Raymond CarverShe belongs in the company of Céline and Flannery O'Connor -- James SalterHow to tell the story of a 500-page collection of stories spanning more than 40 years? Especially when I really want to just exclaim, "Oh, Oh, OH!" in a state of steadily mounting rapture -- Geoff Dyer * Observer *The Visiting Privilege cements Williams's position not merely as one of the great writers of her generation, but as our pre-eminent bard of humanity's insignificance * New York Times Magazine *Powerful, important, compassionate, and full of dark humor. This is a book that will be reread with admiration and love many times over * Vanity Fair *One of the most fearless, abyss-embracing literary projects our literature has seen ... ruthless, hilarious work that holds our human folly to the fire ... you can't much pin Joy Williams down with any obvious dark masters. She is American and contemporary and strange, comfortable in the skin of domestic realism, even if that mode is a kind of misleading costume for a far more sinister project not often seen in American, or any, short fiction -- Ben Marcus * New York Times Book Review *Deep, dazzling, disconcerting -- Adam FouldsDark, funny, spare and unsparing ... wonderful ... Williams is fully alive to the tragicomedy of our transient lives. -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *Revisiting the edgy, perceptive, provocative stories of Joy Williams make The Visiting Privilege a celebration. From the opening story, 'Taking Care', Williams confirms her ironic pathos and consummate timing, and rarely falters. -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *Williams's short stories portray the edges of modern life in vivid, staccato detail and make for compelling reading. The narrative threads move forward in unpredictable, exciting and often unsettling detail. * Guardian, readers' BOTY 2016 *One of the great American short story writers -- Jay McInerneyThe bright-bleak grand master of short stories -- Lauren Groff * New Yorker *How had Joy Williams been missing from my life for so long? What a writer. What a voice. What a way of seeing. -- Laura Barnett * Twitter *

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Book SynopsisLispector’s most shocking novel.Trade Review"She is quite a thing to discover indeed." -- The Los Angeles Times"[Lispector] left behind an astounding body of work that has no real corollary inside literature or outside it." -- Bookforum"Her images dazzle even when her meaning is most obscure, and when she is writing of what she despises she is lucidity itself." -- The Times Literary Supplement"Over time, I’ve come to admire and even love this novel. In fact, as soon as I slammed the book shut, my understanding of G.H.’s story began to take on an almost-corporeal reality. Trying to put this into words is a slippery thing. What I was beginning to appreciate was that I could not consider Lispector’s philosophical concerns for any length of time without losing my grasp on those concerns, yet I could somehow feel them, sense the substance of them in my own mind, in those deep pools of thought where language doesn’t quite reach, and which words can’t express." -- Emma Komlos-Hrobsky - Tin House"Lispector's prose is unforgettable... still startling by the end because of Lispector's unsettling forcefulness." -- Boston Globe"A lyrical, stream of consciousness meditation on the nature of time, the unreliability of language, the divinity of God, and the threat of hell." -- The Rumpus"One of 20th-century Brazil’s most intriguing and mystifying writers." -- The L Magazine"I had a sort of missionary urge with her... but I started thinking, even when I was 19: How can I help this person reach the prominence she deserves?" -- San Francisco Chronicle"A penetrating genius." -- Donna Seaman - Booklist"Reading G.H., you follow the narrator’s logic to its most physically and philosophically shocking conclusions. You, too, learn to “want the God in whatever comes out of the roach’s belly." -- Bennett Sims - Electric Literature

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Book Synopsis To return to those she loves, she must also return to the past... In the second instalment of her Emma Grady trilogy, bestselling author Josephine Cox brings us Alley Urchin, a gripping saga of a woman determined to overcome the brutality of life as a convict to return to the man she loves. Perfect for fans of Kitty Neale and Rosie Goodwin.By 1870 Emma Grady has spent seven years of servitude as a convict in Australia. Emma lives for the day when she will return to England, to face those who cheated and betrayed her. And to Marlow Tanner, the man she loves - and whose tragic child she had borne and then lost.Emma struggles to make something of her life in Australia despite the sinister presence of her employer''s evil son, Foster. His determination to ''have'' Emma leads to dark and terrifying consequences. As Emma battles against adversity, she is unaware that in England the child she has given up for dead is being loving

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Book Synopsis “What Harrison does on every page of Brown Dog is have fun . . . not simply for the sake of delight but because he believes delight is as close to sublimity as humans can get. . . . The great project of life, he reminds us, is to sit still long enough to appreciate it.” —Anthony Doerr, The New York Times Book Review“Brown Dog is . . . an everyman on the most fundamental level . . . vividly, evocatively, alive. . . . These novellas read like a nuanced conversation between author and character. . . . Masterful.” —David Ulin, Los Angeles TimesNew York Times best-selling author Jim Harrison is one of America’s most beloved writers. Of all his creations, Brown Dog has earned cult status with readers in the more than two decades since his first appearance, scrambling to stay out of jail after his salvage-diving operation uncovers the frozen body of an Indian man in the waters of Lake Superior. A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, now in paperback, this book gathers together all the Brown Dog novellas, including one that has never been published.Brown Dog is a bawdy, reckless, down-on-his-luck Michigan Indian, a former pulp cutter who looks on work as something to do when he needs money, far inferior to the pleasures of fishing. Of course, the flip side of this is that he’s never far from catastrophe. Overindulging in food, drink, and women while just scraping by, B.D. meets a nubile archaeologist who presses him for the location of a sacred Native American burial ground; the ensuing flirtation with radicalization results in B.D. wandering Los Angeles in search of a stolen bearskin. When he returns home a little older and wiser, B.D. will seek out family and end up pining for the lesbian social worker who’s pushing him toward stability. The collection culminates with “He Dog,” written for this book, which finds B.D. still marginally employed and looking for love (or sometimes just a few beers and a roll in the hay) as he goes on a road trip from Michigan to Montana and back, in search of an answer to the riddle of family and, perhaps, a chance at redemption.Witty and poignantly human, Brown Dog underscores Harrison’s place as one of America’s most irrepressible writers, and one of our finest practitioners of the novella form. It is the ideal introduction (or reintroduction) to Harrison’s irresistible everyman.

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Book Synopsis'LITERATE AND SAVVY . . . BRIMS WITH WARTIME INTRIGUE.'--The Washington Post Book WorldEngland 1943. Much of the infamous Nazi Enigma code has been cracked. But Shark, the impenetrable operational cipher used by Nazi U-boats, has masked the Germans' movements, allowing them to destroy a record number of Allied vessels. Feeling that the blood of Allied sailors is on their hands, a top-secret team of British cryptographers works feverishly around the clock to break Shark. And when brilliant mathematician Tom Jericho succeeds, it is the stuff of legend. . . .'A TENSE AND THOUGHTFUL THRILLER.'--San Francisco ChronicleUntil the unthinkable happens: the Germans have somehow learned that Shark has been cracked. And they've changed the code. . . .'SUSPENSEFUL AND FASCINATING.'--The Orlando SentinelAs an Allied convoy crosses the U-boat infested North Atlantic . . . as Jericho's ex-lover Claire disappears amid accusations that she is a Nazi collaborator . . . as Jericho strains his last resources to break Shark again, he cannot escape the ultimate truth: There is a traitor among them. . . . 'GRIPPING . . . CAPTIVATING .'--New York Daily News'ELEGANTLY RESEARCHED . . . Readers will find themselves perfectly placed to experience one of Britain's finest hours.'--People'SATISFYING . . . Harris does a crackerjack job here, playing his characters' lives off historical events in surprising ways.'--Entertainment Weekly'SUSPENSEFUL . . . FIENDISHLY CLEVER.'--Detroit Free Press

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Book SynopsisHer family's cottage was a place of innocence for Julie Bauer until hersister was murdered.It's been many years since that August night, but Julie's memories of Izzy's death still haunt her.Now someone from her past is asking questions about what really happened. About Julie's own complicity. About a devastating secret her mother kept from them all.Julie must gather the courage to revisit her past and untangle the complex emotions that led to one unspeakable act of violence on the bay at midnight.For fans of JODI PICOULT, this is a must read.Praise for Diane Chamberlain Fans of Jodi Picoult will delight in this finely tuned family drama, with beautifully drawn characters and a string of twists that will keep you guessing right up to the end.'' StylistA marvellously gifted author. Every book she writes is a gem' Literary Times'Essential reading for Jodi Picoult fans' Daily Mail'So full of unexpected twists you''ll find yourself wanting to finish it in one sitting. Fans of Jodi PicoulTrade Review"Diane Chamberlain is the Southern Jodi Picoult." - New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe "Diane Chamberlain is a marvellously gifted author! Every book she writes is a real gem." - Literary Times "...a strong tale that deserves a comparison with Jodi Picoult..." - Lovereading.co.uk"

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Book SynopsisThe story begins in 1960, Nolwen grows up in a poor family in a remote part of West Wales. She is subjected to bullying at school where she is given the nickname Frankie Gosling. Escaping parental direction, she joins the WRAF at the age of seventeen, where she is forced to respond to the demands of strict disciplinarians, despite her fragile state of mind, a visual disorder and directional dyslexia. To face the challenges ahead she adapts her personality with pre-meditated positive and negative changes and is spurred along by wrongly motivated devious strategies.Armed with her personality changes but hindered by yet another medical condition, where she experiences episodes of memory loss, she is forced into a second career. The tide turns when she is selected to act as the presenter for her C.E.O. who is afflicted by a speech impediment and she re-discovers a musical talent which has lain dormant since her childhood. Nolwen falls in love, but her happiness is ripped apart. Although heart-breaking, humour lightens her story with engaging developments.Diagnosed with a condition which affects Nolwen's mind during her twilight years, we intriguingly revisit the events of her life. Links are formulated between her cognitive state and strange actions, with events of her youth and the psychological wounds which shaped her character.

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Book SynopsisA thrilling standalone sequel to ATLANTIS, David Gibbins'' international bestseller of high-action adventure, marine archaeology and the exploration of one of history''s most fascinating and enduring mysteries. A lost Nazi bunker in a forest in Germany contains a dreadful secret. But is there a horrifying new dimension - another ingredient in the Nazi''s rule of terror? Marine archaeologist Jack Howard returns to the lost island of Atlantis in the Black Sea to answer questions about the Atlantis priests that have plagued him. Then by tracking down the 1930s expeditions of Himmler''s Ahnenerbe - the Nazi''s Department of Cultural Heritage - and its link with Atlantis, Jack realises he is not just on the trail of the greatest lost relics from the past. Could there possibly be a terrifying new version of ''Atlantis'', a priesthood of evil? Jack must uncover the truth before it is too late.

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Book SynopsisA spy thriller, a love story and a chilling look at a resurgent superpower...At the dawn of the new millennium, Finn, an MI6 spy, and Anna, a colonel of the KGB, have been sent to spy on each other. Instead they find a love that becomes to only truth they can trust. A source deep within the Kremlin tells Finn of a plan, hatched in the depths of the Cold War, to dismantle the edifice of the communist state and to bring about the rise of a new imperium within Russia: a plan to control the whole of Europe. Finn''s masters in London are blinded by the new wealth pouring out of Russia and he must leave the Service and work in secrecy to uncover the deadly threat it poses to the freedom of every one of us.Trade ReviewAlex Dryden's brilliant and unforgettable novel has told me more about the making of modern Russia than I could learn from all books of journalism and contemporary history combined. That it has done so in the form of a compulsively readable spy story, love story and moral fable is nothing short of miraculous * Stephen Fry *Alex Dryden is the real thing. If he got any realer, he would step out of the pages and physically punch you, with both elegance and regret * Hugh Laurie *... terrifying, quite frankly ... chillingly unputdownable - everything you didn't want to know about Putin but were afraid to ask * Emma Thompson *...could not be better timed... [Dryden] is grimly authoritative on the power plays of Putin and the new Russia * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisKate and Josh Hutchins have lived on Dancing Hill Farm in Dorset for thirty years. Here they have brought up three children, expected to grow old, and imagined they would pass the farm on to one of their boys, like generations of family before them. But things have not gone to plan. Neither of their sons wants the farm, their daughter is in love with a man with no real liking for the countryside, and Dancing Hill itself is no longer the profitable place it was once.And Kate is restless. Longing for some time to herself, dreaming of what she might have achieved had she not married so young. When her children give her a week''s painting holiday in Provence she seizes it like a lifeline, hardly realising what a dangerous thing it is that she is doing.Trade ReviewPraise for Sarah Challis's writing: 'I really enjoyed TURNING FOR HOME...I thought it so perceptive... I particularly enjoyed the very touching romance * Rosamunde Pilcher *Excellently-written, with a gripping ending * Wiltshire Times *Touching, funny and exciting * Blackmore Vale magazine *Sarah Challis is becoming a novelist to be reckoned with * Dorset Life *Her evocation of the English countryside is elegiac...a pleasure to read * Oxford Times *

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Book SynopsisCrisis hits Richard's rural French B&B when his redoubtable housekeeper is accused of murder. With Valérie d'Orçay at his side, their investigation leads them to a deadly scenario more tangled than knotweed.

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Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER'How I loved this book . . . Seethaler is in his very own league' Elizabeth Strout It is 1966, and Robert Simon has just fulfilled his dream by taking over a cafe on the corner of a bustling Vienna market. He recruits a barmaid, Mila, and soon the customers flock in. Factory workers, market traders, elderly ladies, a wrestler, a painter, an unemployed seamstress in search of a job, each bring their stories and their plans for the future. As Robert listens and Mila refills their glasses, romances bloom, friendships are made and fortunes change. And change is coming to the city around them, to the little cafe, and to Robert's dream. A story of the hopes, kindnesses and everyday heroism of one community, The Cafe with No Name has charmed millions of European readers. It is an unforgettable novel about how we carry each other through good and bad times, and how even the most ordinary life is, in its own way, quite extraordinary.

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Book SynopsisAlex Cross''s first case since joining the FBI has his new colleagues perplexed. Across the country, men and women are kidnapped in broad daylight and then disappear completely. These people are not being taken for ransom, Alex realizes. They are being bought and sold. And it seems The Wolf is the master criminal behind this terrible trade and who is bringing a new reign of terror to organized crime. Even as he admires the FBI''s vast resources, Alex is impatient with the Bureau''s clumsiness and caution when it is time to move. A lone wolf himself, he has to go out alone to track his new prey and try to rescue some of the victims while they are still alive. As the case boils over, Alex is in hot water at home, too. His ex-fiancée, Christine Johnson, comes back into his life - and not for the reasons Alex might have hoped.Trade Review'If there really were human superheroes, Alex Cross would be at the head of the class...and, with each instalment in the series, Patterson makes sure his superhero gets bigger and better while at the same time becomming more vulnerable.' * New York Times *'Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried... There's no stopping his imagination.' * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisThe New York Times-bestselling second novel by the author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE starring Tom Hanks, Emma Watson and John BoyegaTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - a dark, thrilling and unputdownable novel about our obsession with the internet''Prepare to be addicted'' Daily Mail''A gripping and highly unsettling read'' Sunday Times''The Circle is ''Brave New World'' for our brave new world... Fast, witty and troubling'' Washington PostWhen Mae is hired to work for the Circle, the world''s most powerful internet company, she feels she''s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Run out of a sprawling California campus, the Circle links users'' personal emails, social media, and finances with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of transparency. Mae can''t believe her great fortune to work for them - even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public ...Pre-order the electrifying follow up to The Circle now . . . The Every is coming November 2021.''An elegantly told, compulsively readable parable for the 21st Century'' Vanity Fair''Immensely readable and very timely'' Metro''Prescient, important and enjoyable . . . a deft modern synthesis of Swiftian wit with Orwellian prognostication'' GuardianTrade ReviewPublisher's description. Fast, thrilling and compulsively addictive, The Circle is Dave Eggers' bestselling novel about our obsession with the internet and where it may lead. When Mae Holland lands her dream job at the world's most powerful internet company, she has no idea what awaits behind the doors of The Circle... * Penguin *A stunning work of terrifying plausability ... a worthy and entertaining read * Publisher's Weekly *Eggers has set his style and pace to technothriller: the writing is brisk, spare and efficient ... it works * Time *Prescient, important and enjoyable ... a deft modern synthesis of Swiftian wit with Orwellian prognostication' * Guardian *The Circle is 'Brave New World' for our brave new world ... fast, witty and troubling * Washington Post *An elegantly told, compulsively readable parable for the 21st Century * Vanity Fair *A gripping and highly unsettling read * Sunday Times *Unputdownable * Times *Eggers's writing is so fluent, his ventriloquism of tech-world dialect so light, his denouement so enjoyably inevitable * Observer *Tremendous novel ... inventive, big hearted and very funny. Prepare to be addicted * Daily Mail *Compelling and deeply contemporary * L.A Times *Eggers brilliantly depicts the Internet binges, torrents of information and endless loops of feedback that increasingly characterize modern life * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisDiscover the Sunday Times bestseller''s first novel - a hilarious rom-com about trying to find Mr RightTeri has dated more men than she''s had low-calorie, low-fat dinners, and she still hasn''t found Mr Right. She''s found other men though: Mr Lazy, Mr Greedy, Mr Completely Selfish, Mr Looking-For-Mother-Substitute and Mr Pervert. But no Mr Right.That is until she''s literally knocked off her feet by Jamie Duncan as they rush to catch the same train from Euston station: the 18.07 from platform 8. It''s not long before love blossoms and commuting takes on a whole new meaning.There''s just one problem. Teri may have found Mr Right, but he may not be Mr Available . . .Your favourite authors love Carole Matthews:''A gorgeous novel that will delight''KATIE FFORDE''Fun, fantastic and brimming with Matthews magic''MILLY JOHNSON''A life-affirming story full of joy and hope''Trade ReviewMatthews is one of the few writers who can rival Marian Keyes's gift for telling heart-warming tales with buckets of charm and laughs * Daily Record *A delicious treat * Heat *Lots of fun * Closer *A heart-warming tale * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisA gripping, twisty story of adultery and scandal from the bestselling author of Our House.''Candlish''s writing draws you in immediately'' Heat Everybody wants the truth . . . until they find it --------------------------------------------Ginny and Adam Trustlove arrive on holiday in Italy torn apart by personal tragedy. Two weeks in a boathouse on the edge of peaceful Lake Orta is exactly what they need to restore their faith in life - and each other.Twenty-four hours later, the silence is broken. The Sale family have arrived at the main villa: wealthy, high-flying Marty, his beautiful wife Bea, and their privileged, confident offspring. It doesn''t take long for Ginny and Adam to be drawn in, especially when the teenage Pippi introduces a new friend into the circle. For there is something about Zach that has everyone instantly beguiled, something that loosens old secrets - and creates sTrade ReviewA brilliantly told, emotionally charged tale' Dorothy Koomson * 'What a brilliant book this is – clever, engrossing and unputdownable. I absolutely loved it and demand a sequel!' Jill Mansell *This emotionally-charged tale is engrossing and utterly unputdownable. You'll want to finish it in one sitting * ***** News of the World *Candlish's writing draws you in immediately, and before you know it you're refusing to put this down . . . a more serious take than the usual chick-lit . . . an intriguing tale * **** Heat *Old secrets are shared and new ones created in this brilliant novel that will have you racing to get to the final chapter * **** She *

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Book SynopsisWealth. Luxury. Privilege. Overrated? Diana''s combination of beauty and class has bagged her marriage to publishing mogul Ernie Foxton, and with that comes a stunning New York apartment, a designer wardrobe and a manicurist, hairdresser and masseuse on tap. With little more to do with her days than shopping and socialising, this is the life for which she was born. But then, without warning, the bottom drops out of Diana''s meticulously constructed world, and she finds herself without a home or a husband, and with barely a dime to her name. For the first time in her life, she might just have to look after herself. But, given how many people would love to see her fail, it''s not going to be a walk in the park...

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Book SynopsisPower, politics and closely guarded secrets abound in INTO TEMPTATION, the third and final novel of Sunday Times bestselling author Penny Vincenzi''s Spoils of Time trilogy. ''Like an illicit lover, I have been sloping off all week to snatch another hour''s pleasure with ... Penny Vincenzi''s terrific new novel'' Jilly Cooper. The Lytton family past is full of secrets, and only Lady Celia knows them all. There''s her daughter Adele''s difficult, dark past; the dreadful cruelty of a truth her son Kit had to confront; even the shadows of Celia''s own life, and that of Barty Miller, the child she rescued from the slums in babyhood who now owns more than half of the Lytton publishing house. Some secrets are more dangerous than others, some shared with Celia''s family, some entirely her own. And all absolutely safe in her keeping. Until something threatens to reveal them all...Trade ReviewLike an illicit lover, I have been sloping off all week to snatch another hour's pleasure with ... Penny Vincenzi's terrific new novel -- Jilly CooperI defy any reader, once they've taken the smallest nibble, not to gobble it all down -- Sunday ExpressReading Penny Vincenzi is an addictive experience -- Elizabeth Buchan

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Book SynopsisJill Mansell''s hugely entertaining bestseller GOOD AT GAMES is perfect for you if you love reading Cathy Kelly, Milly Johnson and Lucy Diamond. Reviewers love Jill Mansell: ''A lovely uplifting read'' Good HousekeepingSuzy fell for Harry the moment she showed him her husband''s sperm sample. It didn''t really belong to her husband, though, because she wasn''t married. It wasn''t a sperm sample either, it was a drinks carton containing the dregs of her milkshake. But when you''re trying to get off a speeding charge you just have to improvise, don''t you? And it wasn''t actually love at first sight. Still, it was undeniably a healthy attack of lust. And it might just be the beginning of something special...What readers are saying about Good at Games: ''This book is hilariously funny, addictive and you just can''t stop once you''ve started. It''s my favourite romantic comedy book of all time'' AmazoTrade ReviewFull of likeable characters... A very funny and entertaining novel * Publishing News *An immensely enjoyable read * Heat *

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Book SynopsisRichard's adopted French home town is in the middle of a huge celebration, when the local mayor turns up dead - having apparently been killed twice. Richard and Valérie enter into a race to solve the crime first.

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