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
Cornerstone Practically Perfect
Book SynopsisA cottage renovation. A good-looking but impossible stranger arrives. A life adventure awaits. . . from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Wedding Season, A Wedding in Provence and One Enchanted Evening.''The queen of uplifting, feel good romance'' AJ Pearce''Top-drawer romantic escapism'' Daily Mail''Delicious - gorgeous humour and the lightest of touches'' Sunday Times___________________Anna has risked everything to buy and renovate her tiny but beautiful cottage set in the sleepy village of Amberford.The outside is perfect, but inside all is chaos: with a ladder for a staircase, no downstairs flooring, and only candles for lighting.It''s no wonder that Anna''s soon wondering whether she''s bitten off more than she can chew.Her neighbour Chloe comes to the rescue: providing wine, sympathy and a rescue greyhound: Caroline!But just Trade ReviewPerfect for the beach * Bella *Fun summer read * Choice *A fun helping of chick-lit * OK! *Funny and heartwarming * Newmarket Journal *I can see this being carried in many a beach bag because fans simply adore her humorous, lively and character-driven stories. They will certainly warm to Anna * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *
£8.54
Cornerstone Dance To The Music Of Time Volume 4
Book SynopsisAnthony 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.Volume 4 contains the last three novels in the sequence: Books do Furnish a Room; Temporary Kings; Hearing Secret Harmonies.
£17.00
Duckworth Books Murder in Gray and White
Book SynopsisThe death of Mrs Amy Kinseth was considered no great loss by the residents of the beach retirement community. For Angela and Caledonia, the case offers a glorious opportunity to have some fun as they help their handsome detective friend, Lieutenant Martinez, with a bit of on-site snooping.
£9.49
Cornerstone Life Skills
Book Synopsis_________________Thank goodness for Katie Fforde, the perfect author to bring comfort in difficult times. She really is the queen of uplifting, feel good romance.' AJ PEARCE_________________Julia''s learning some lessons in love. A wonderfully romantic novel from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Recipe for Love, A French Affair and The Perfect Match.Sometimes you can't escape the pastWhen Julia realises she holds more affection for a Labrador than she does for her actual fiancée, Oscar, Julia decides to change her life. She quits her job, dumps Oscar, and starts a new career as a cook on a couple of narrowboats.Finally feeling like she's keeping her head above water, Julia is appalled when her past comes back to haunt her.Oscar is persistent, her mother is a matchmaking nightmare and to top it all off her childhood enemy, the enigmatic, Fergus Grindley, arrives on the scene.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Far Eastern Tales
Book SynopsisWilliam Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St. Thomas' Hospital with the idea of practising medicine, but the success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, published in 1897, won him over to literature. Of Human Bondage, the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame as a successful playwright and writer was being consolidated with acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of several short story collections. His other works include travel books, essays, criticism and the autobiographical The Summing Up and A Writer's Notebook. In 1927 Somerset Maugham settled in the South of France and lived there until his death in 1965.Trade ReviewIf all else perish, there will remain a storyteller's world...that is exclusively and forever Maugham, a world of verandah and prahu which we enter as well as we do that of Conan Doyle's Baker Street, and with a happy and eternal homecoming * The Times *Maugham teases out buried secrets as mesmerising as the heat and as menacing as the surrounding jungle * Observer *Ideally you should listen to these stories lying in a long cane chair on the veranda of a dark bungalow sipping a gin and bitters - not that Maugham's writing needs any further atmospheric embellishment. Like Kipling and Conrad, Maugham transports us to a long-since-vanished and distinctly non-PC world of hard-drinking colonial planters and traders and their frosty memsahibs * Guardian *
£9.49
Cornerstone True At First Light
Book SynopsisThe book opens on the day Hemingway''s close friend Pop, a legendary hunter, leaves him in charge of the camp. Tensions have heightened among the various tribes and news arrives of a potential attack on the hunters, forcing Hemingway not only to take on his new role of leader but, equally important, to assist his wife Mary in pursuing the great lion she is determined to kill before Christmas. Passionately detailing the African landscape, the excitement of the chase, and the heartfelt relationships with his African neighbours, Hemingway, a master of dramatic fiction, weaves a tale that is rich in laughter, beauty and insight.Written when Hemingway returned from his 1953 safari, and edited by his son Patrick, True At First Light is a rich blend of autobiography and fiction, a breathtaking final work from one of this century''s most beloved and important writers.Trade ReviewCaptures the beauty of the African landscape and the thrill of the hunt, in true Hemingway style * Red *This is writing of a high order; sympathetic, luminous, hypnotic, humane * Caledonia *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Human Stain
Book SynopsisIt is 1998, the year America is plunged into a frenzy of prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small New England town a distinguished classics professor, Coleman Silk, is forced to retire when his colleagues allege that he is a racist. The charge is unfounded, but the truth about Silk would astonish even his most virulent accuser.Trade ReviewThe Human Stain pulses with the strengths that make Roth a prime contender for the status of the most impressive novelist now writing in and about America * Sunday Times *An extraordinary book - bursting with rage, humming with ideas, full of dazzling sleights of hand' * Sunday Telegraph *One of his very best... There are passages of such sustained brilliance here that I found myself going over them again and again in gaping disbelief. An extraordinary book - bursting with rage, humming with ideas, full of dazzling sleights of hand * Sunday Telegraph *A novel so furious in its telling, with a plot so intricate in its construction that it is infused with a kind of diabolic joy. A masterpiece * Mail on Sunday *[A] tender, shocking and incendiary story on the failure of the American dream refracted through the prism of race -- Arifa Akbar * Guardian *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing TwentyOne Stories
Book SynopsisGraham Greene was born in 1904. He worked as a journalist and critic, and in 1940 became literary editor of the Spectator. He was later employed by the Foreign Office. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, three books of autobiography, two of biography and four books for children. He also wrote hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991.Trade ReviewA superb storyteller..he had a talent for depicting local colour, which he gathered at first hand; a keen sense of the dramatic; an eye for dialogue, and skill in pacing his prose - New York TimesOne of the most important British writers of the twentieth century * Daily Telegraph *Greene was a force beyond his books... The outsider, the dissenter, the spoiled priest, the failure, the classic underdog - out of characters such as these Greene made novels and stories which have enriched hundreds of thousands of readers
£999.99
Vintage Publishing England Made Me
Book SynopsisSet in a world that has lost the comfort of national identity and individualism, this is a powerful and unusual love story told by one of the 20th century''s greatest writers.Anthony Farrant is back home after lying and cheating his way through one job after another in the Far East. When his adoring sister Kate sets him up with a role in Stockholm as bodyguard to her boss and lover, megalomaniac financier Krogh, Anthony seems set on a path to redemption. But when he receives orders from Krogh that offend his own sense of decency, he begins to leak information to a down-at-heel journalist: a decision that will cost Anthony much more than just his job.First published in 1935, England Made Me is an early Greene novel and helped to cement his reputation as an important and exciting new writing talent.''Graham Greene has wit and grace and character and story and a transcendent universal compassion that places him for all time in the top ranks of wTrade ReviewGreene can never be less than wonderfully readable. * Daily Telegraph *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing A Patchwork Planet
Book SynopsisBarnaby Gailtin has less in life than he once had.His ex-wife Natalie left him and their native Baltimore several years ago, taking their baby daughter Opal with her, and he has acquired an unalterably fixed position as the black sheep of the family in a family where black sheep aren''t tolerated. Then the angelic Sophia enters his life and it seems as if all this is set to change. But can he shake off his past?**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 ReviewTyler is a masterly writer whose love stories make you think as well as feel.I was bowled over...I finished the book wishing it had been twice as longI can think of no other writer whose novels I look forward to with such gleeful anticipation. A Patchwork Planet is her fourteenth book, but were it for fortieth, it would not be enough for me... A delight from beginning to end * Observer *Anne Tyler is inventive, funny and wise. Her fiction is magically alive to the quirks and coincidences of fate... [A Patchwork Planet] is charming, readable, and more full of touching and humane observations than many other novels you will read this year * Guardian *A Patchwork Planet is thoroughly enjoyable...from this most responsive novel * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The World and Other Places
Book SynopsisIn this, her first collection of short stories, Winterson reveals all the facets of her extraordinary imagination. In prose that is full of imagery and word-play, she creates physical and psychological worlds that are at once familiar and yet shockingly strange.Trade ReviewA greatly gifted and original writer...there is an exhilarating freshness and energy to this collection * Observer *This first book of short stories will delight her fans with their daring. Whether in a world where sleep is illegal or on an island of diamonds where the rich wear coal jewellery, Winterson is the mistress of the short story -- Jessica de Rothschild * Tatler *The quality of her writing has remained constant: precise, fluent, perfectly judged. This collection is another refinement of that art, studded with metaphors and unexpected asides * Independent on Sunday *The short story form was made for Jeanette Winterson...mesmerising prose poems * The Times *Her stories transport us into the dizzyingly fertile mind of one of Britain's most prodigiously gifted authors...breathtaking * Scotland on Sunday *
£10.44
Random House A Little Lumpen Novelita
Book Synopsis''Now I am a mother and a married woman, but not long ago I led a life of crime''So begins Bianca's tale of growing up the hard way. Orphaned overnight as a teenager, she drops out of school and drifts into the bad company of two criminals her brother brings home. As the four of them plot a fantastical crime, Bianca learns she can drift even lower...Electric and tense with foreboding, A Little Lumpen Novelita - one of the last novellas Roberto Bolaño published delivers a fractured fairy tale of taking control of one''s fate.TRANSLATED BY NATASHA WIMMERBolaño has proven that literature can do everything' The New York TimesThe man was a flat-out genius, one of the greatest writers of our time' Paul Auster
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Playing By The Rules
Book SynopsisEveryone''s a player on The Golden Eagles football team . . .From TikTok sensation and New York Times bestselling author of Lancaster Prep Monica Murphy comes the second instalment in her scorching sports romance series, The Players. Camden Fields is the star quarterback of our college football team. And he's absolutely gorgeous. All the girls on campus fall for him. And while he's had a few casual hookups over the years, it's never anything serious. Cam doesn't do serious. He also doesn't do me. I'm his best friend's little sister, and that means I'm off limits But I see the way he looks at me when he thinks I'm not watching. I think he wants me. And, I want him too. And I'm growing tired of being the good girl everyone expects me to be. So, I'm going after Camden Fields. And no one can stop me.Tropes/themes:1. Cross the line
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Scandalous Life of Ruby Devereaux
Book Synopsis''This is just a delight! The lovable characters and Ruby''s charming and thrilling stories make this a book truly enjoyable and heartwarming read.'' - Amazon reviewer, 5****Everyone knows Ruby Devereaux's books. But no one knows her story... until now.From a teenager in wartime England to a veteran of modern-day London via 1950's New York, the Swinging Sixties, Cold War Berlin, Venice and Vietnam Ruby Devereaux has lived one hell of a life: parties, scandals and conflict zones, meeting men and adventure along the way. In a writing career spanning seven decades and more than twenty books, she's distilled everything into her work. Or has she?Now beyond her 90th year, Ruby's energy is ebbing and her beloved typewriter put away. Until a call from her publisher presents Ruby with an ultimatum, and the impetus to embark on one last book warts and all, as she says. Even in her dotage, Ruby M Devereaux has the power to surprise, becau
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Stephen King Goes to the Movies
Book SynopsisFor the first time in one volume, each with a fascinating introduction, come the stories of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, Hearts in Atlantis (Low Men in Yellow Coats), 1408, The Mangler and Children of the Corn. These five classic tales were turned into successful international films starring some of the world''s most famous actors from Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption through Anthony Hopkins in Hearts in Atlantis to John Cusack in 1408. Now you can read and re-read and own the originals.Trade ReviewStorytelling - the ability to make the listener or the reader need to know, demand to know, what happens next is a gift . . . Stephen King has this gift in spades * The Times on CELL *'To tell the truth, I just don't know what it is about that film that resonates with so many people. But everywhere I go people who have seen it react to it fondly. And I get the same kind of dialogue about it being one of, if not the, favourite movie.' * Morgan Freeman, on The Shawshank Redemption *'There isn't a day when I'm not approached about that film, approached by people who are so . . . thankful, who say how important that film was to them, and how many times they've seen it: twenty, thirty, forty times . . .' * Tim Robbins on The Shawshank Redemption *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Angels
Book SynopsisDenis Johnson was the author of nine novels, one novella, two books of short stories, five collections of poetry, two collections of plays and one book of reportage. Among other honours, his novel Tree of Smoke won the 2007 National Book Award and was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, and Train Dreams was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.Trade ReviewJohnson succeeds so well as to make one eager for more -- John Sutherland * London Review of Books *A beautifully tragic chronicle * New York Magazine *Denis Johnson is one of our most inventive, unpredictable novelists * New York Times Book Review *Johnson knows his people inside out, their lost, lonely, never-had-a-chance lives. He knows how they talk and think, and he makes us know them too * Publishers Weekly *One of the strongest examples of fiction noir since Robert Stone's first work appeared-with an absence of sentimentality and an overall shape that's perfectly judged, this is one of the most impressive first novels of recent seasons - full of a fiery recoiling kick, the dreadful power of inhuman ugliness and misfortune beyond redemption * Kirkus Reviews *
£9.49
Cornerstone Battlecruiser
Book SynopsisFrom the pen of multi-million copy bestselling author Douglas Reeman comes a brilliantly epic, high-tension adventure novel set at the height of World War Two. Masterfully atmospheric with expert characterisation, it will have you on the edge of your seat! Perfect for fans of Clive Cussler, Bernard Cornwell and Wilbur Smith.''One of our foremost writers of naval fiction'' -- Sunday Times''Mr Reeman writes with great knowledge about the sea and those who sail on it'' --The Times''A brilliant read'' -- ***** Reader review''Difficult to put down once started'' -- ***** Reader review''First class'' -- ***** Reader review''Douglas Reeman certainly gets you into story!'' -- ***** Reader review*****************************************************************************************************The Battlecruiser: in its day, this class of ship was considered one Trade ReviewExcellent ... what Reeman likes is plot and characterisation, and, like many a good craft, his lines are good and clean -- Guy Walters * The Times *If any author deserves to be 'piped' into bookshops with full naval honours it is Douglas Reeman, without question master of both genres of naval fiction - historical and modern * Books Magazine *
£9.99
Vintage Publishing Still Life
Book SynopsisFrederica Potter arrives at Cambridge University greedy for knowledge, sex and love. It isn't long before she becomes infatuated with a mysterious and controlling poet. Back in Yorkshire, her sister Stephanie abandons academia and is confronted with the boredom and frustrations of motherhood. Meanwhile, their younger brother Marcus begins to recover from a nervous breakdown. Each sibling is desperate to shape their own future, but a horrifying event will soon change their lives forever.Trade ReviewMarvellous... A major novel, inspiring laughter and tears -- Iris MurdochGlorious… Frederica is a magnificent creation; awkward, fierce, intellectually voracious and sexually inexperienced -- Francesca Segal, author of The Awkward AgeAffords enormous and continuous pleasure -- Anita BrooknerByatt is a wonderful writer, constantly engaging wherever she takes us * The Times *
£14.70
Vintage Publishing The Wife
Book SynopsisMeg Wolitzer is the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Uncoupling (tingles with playfulness and wicked observation' Independent), The Wife (has you howling with recognition' Allison Pearson), The Position (one of the best and most human books I've read all year' Erica Wagner) and The Ten-Year Nap (as incisive and pitiless and clear-eyed a chronicler of female-male tandems as Philip Roth or John Updike' Chicago Tribune). Most recently, The Interestings was a New York Times bestseller. She lives in New York City.Trade ReviewMeg Wolitzer is so funny and clever she should be bottled and sold as tonic * Allison Pearson *A triumph of tone and observation, The Wife is a blithe, brilliant take on sexual politics * Lorrie Moore *Hilarious and touching * Erica Wagner, The Times *With a great lightness of touch, Wolitzer's novel satirises American literary circles of the Seventies and Eighties and traces the generation of wives who poured their own creative energies into "stoking the fires" of their husbands' reputations. * Emma Hagestadt, Independent *The wife was published less than a decade ago, but I say it is already a classic - and I have no idea why it's author remains so less well known than her US compatriots, Alison Lurie and Lorrie Moore. * Observer *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Up At The Villa
Book SynopsisMary Panton walls up her desires in a beautiful villa high up in the hills above Florence, as she calmly contemplates her disastrous marriage. She turns for help to the notorious Rowley Flint, and through him comes to realise that to deny love, with all its passions and risks, is to deny life itself.Trade ReviewA writer of great dedication * Graham Greene *One of my favourite writers * Gabriel Garcia Marquez *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Magus
Book SynopsisWITH AN AFTERWORD FROM THE AUTHOR ''A major work of mounting tensions in which the human mind is the guinea-pig... Mr Fowles has taken a big swing at a difficult subject and his hits are on the bull''s eye'' Sunday TimesOn a remote Greek Island, Nicholas Urfe finds himself embroiled in the deceptions of a master trickster. As reality and illusion intertwine, Urfe is caught up in the darkest of psychological games. John Fowles expertly unfolds a tale that is lush with over-powering imagery in a spellbinding exploration of human complexities. By turns disturbing, thrilling and seductive, The Magus is a feast for the mind and the senses.Trade ReviewA major work of mounting tensions in which the human mind is the guinea-pig... Mr Fowles has taken a big swing at a difficult subject and his hits are on the bull's eye * Sunday Telegraph *One of those that's best read as a teenager, but once read you'll never forget it -- Katy Guest * Independent *
£10.44
Cornerstone The TollGate Gossip scandal and an unforgettable
Book SynopsisIf you love Bridgerton, you''ll love Georgette Heyer! ''The greatest writer who ever lived'' Antonia Fraser''Beautifully crafted'' Philippa Gregory''Incisively witty, quietly subversive'' Joanne Harris_____________Captain John Staple''s exploits against Napoleon''s armies in the Spanish Peninsula have earned him the nickname ''Crazy Jack'' amongst his comrades in the Dragoon Guards.But once the Battle of Waterloo brings the Napoleonic Wars to a decisive end, the adventure-loving Captain finds life in peacetime intolerably dull.When he finds himself lost in the Pennines, he takes refuge at an unmanned toll-house.It''s there that he encounters a lady of extraordinary qualities - and suddenly, his soldiering days pale in comparison to a new adventure in which he must rescue a woman and investigate a scandalous murder . . ._____________''If you Trade ReviewWonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to -- Katie FfordeMy favourite historical novelist - stylish, romantic, sharp, and witty. Her sense of period is superb, her heroines are enterprising, and her heroes dashing. I owe her many happy hours -- Margaret DrabbleA writer of great wit and style - I've read her books to ragged shreds -- Kate Fenton * Daily Telegraph *Sparkling * Independent on Sunday *
£9.49
Cornerstone The Quiet Gentleman
Book SynopsisIf you love Bridgerton, you''ll love Georgette Heyer! ''The greatest writer who ever lived'' ANTONIA FRASER''A rollicking good read that will be of particular joy to Bridgerton viewer!'' INDEPENDENT''Heyer''s books are as incisively witty and quietly subversive as any of Jane Austen''s'' JOANNE HARRIS_____________Returning home from the battle of Waterloo to claim his title as the new Seventh Earl of St Erth, Gervase Frant is met with surprising hostility from his family.Only Theo, a cousin even quieter than himself, is there to greet him - and when he meets his stepmother and young half-brother he detects open disappointment that he survived the wars.The tensions in the household only worsen as the beautiful Mariann, the intended bride of Gervase''s half-brother, catches his eye - and his heart.Gervase may be off the battlefield, but his life is still threatened, as it becomes increasinTrade ReviewWonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to -- Katie FfordeMy favourite historical novelist - stylish, romantic, sharp, and witty. Her sense of period is superb, her heroines are enterprising, and her heroes dashing. I owe her many happy hours -- Margaret DrabbleA writer of great wit and style - I've read her books to ragged shreds -- Kate Fenton * Daily Telegraph *Sparkling * Independent on Sunday *Geogrette Heyer is unbeatable -- India Knight
£9.49
Vintage Publishing I Dont Know How She Does It
Book Synopsis''A bible for the working mother'' OPRAH WINFREY ''It may change your life'' OBSERVER''I can''t think of a woman who wouldn''t want this book'' INDIA KNIGHT The twentieth anniversary edition of Allison Pearson''s first novel that became a global sensation, now with a new introduction from the author. Meet Kate Reddy, hedge-fund manager, wife and mother of two. Always time-poor, Kate must monitor nine currencies in five time zones but also keep in step with the Teletubbies. Factor in a manipulative nanny, piggish colleagues, a long-suffering husband, her quietly aghast in-laws, two needy children and an email lover, and you have a woman juggling so many things that some day something''s going to hit the ground. And that something might just be Kate. In an uproariously funny and achingly sad novel, Allison Pearson brilliantly dramatises the dilemma of working motherhood at the start of the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewI love Kate Reddy...her tale made me cry twice and laugh often * Independent on Sunday *Refreshingly engaging * Vogue *Pearson writes with gratifying elegance and endearing self-mockery * New York Times *Allison Pearson is one of the stars of her generationIt might be a sad indictment of the way things are today, but that doesn't stop Pearson making it funny * Glamour *Painfully funny * Heat *The kind of book you fall in love with - a grown-up novel that is hilarious, heartbreaking and brimming with the bitter-sweet tang of all our livesPearson...never hides her intelligence or apologises for her seriousness of purpose * The Times *A funny, heartbreaking mirror of the daily lives of mothers * Telegraph Magazine *Brutally witty * Metro *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The White Guard
Book SynopsisDiscover Mikhail Bugakov''s classic literary love letter to the city of Kyiv.Drawing closely on Bulgakov''s personal experiences of the horrors of civil war as a young doctor, The White Guard takes place in Kyiv, 1918, a time of turmoil and suffocating uncertainty as the Bolsheviks, Socialists and Germans fight for control of the city. It tells the story of the Turbins, a once-wealthy Russian family, as they are forced to come to terms with revolution and a new regime.Bulgakov''s first novel, The White Guard is one of the greatest works of twentieth century Russian literature. As epic a chronicle of life and death in the Russian Empire as War and Peace.''The tumultuous atmosphere of the Ukrainian revolution and civil war is brilliantly evoked'' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewA powerful reverie...the city is so vivid to the eye that it is the real hero of the book. * New Statesman *One of those few emancipated Soviet writers who firmly believe-and still believe-that to create is to choose * Saturday Review *Worth reading in any language * Library Journal *The White Guard captures the tumult, madness and confusion of revolution * Independent *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Crossing The Lines
Book SynopsisSet in Britain during the 1950s, this moving and evocative novel follows the intertwined fates of people crossing boundaries in their lives. As a teenager in the small northern town of Wigton, Joe Richardson falls in love with Rachel, just when her life is about to be uprooted. While his parents, Sam and Ellen, face the frontiers of middle age, Joe finds himself drawn by the intoxicating world outside home, and swept into situations that seem beyond his control. Vividly conveying the spirit of the mid-century and the profound social changes taking place at the time, this is a masterly successor to the award-winning THE SOLDIER''S RETURN and A SON OF WAR.Trade Review'I was bowled over by it ... an enormously important piece of literature about post-war Britain' -- A.C. Grayling, Guardian 'Enthralling, a joy to read' -- Allan Massie, Scotsman 'An expertly told tale which is satisfying in its own right and as a continuation of a monumental series.' -- Frank Egerton, The Times 'Richly detailed and extraordinarily poignant ... Melvyn Bragg is slowly cementing his place among the aristocrats of English fiction' -- David Robson, Sunday Telegraph
£8.54
Hodder & Stoughton Diana
Book Synopsis'Sheer, wonderful storytelling' - Chicago Tribune - in this bestselling novel now being reissued as a Great Read.Trade ReviewPraise for R F Delderfield:'Seldom has the enchantment of young love been so tenderly drawn as in this story' * Literary Guild *'A charming novel . . . recaptures with refreshing simplicity the awkwardness, excitement and delights of youth.' * New York Times *R.F. Delderfield is a born storyteller * Sunday Mirror *He built an imposing artistic social history that promises to join those of his great forebears in the long, noble line of the English novel. His narratives belong in a tradition that goes back to John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett * Life Magazine *'Seldom has the enchantment of young love been so tenderly drawn as in this story' * Literary Guild *Sheer, wonderful storytelling * Chicago Tribune *Highly recommended. Combines tension with a splendid sense of atmosphere and vivid characterisation. An excellent read * Sunday Express *'A charming novel . . . recaptures with refreshing simplicity the awkwardness, excitement and delights of youth.' * New York Times *It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well . . . Today he is a bestseller wherever English language books are read * Books and Bookmen *Mr Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming * Evening Standard *
£9.99
Hodder & Stoughton Lands Beyond the Sea
Book SynopsisBy the 1700s, the Aborigine people have lived in harmony with the land in Australia for sixty thousand years. But now, ghost-ships are arriving, their very existence is threatened by a terrifying white invasion.When Jonathan Cadwallader leaves Cornwall to sail on the Endeavour, he leaves behind his sweetheart, Susan Penhalligan . . . That is, until an act of brutality reunites them in the raw and unforgiving penal colony of New South Wales.Billy Penhalligan has survived transportation and clings to the promise of a new beginning. But there will be more suffering before he or his fellow convicts can regard Australia as home . . . .A sweeping tale of discovery, love and hardship in the sixteenth century which will bring emergent Australia and all its inhabitants - new and old - to life.Trade Review'Lush with intense descriptions of nature and tense drama.' * USA Publisher's Weekly on MATILDA'S LAST WALTZ *'A multi-generational saga in the vein of THE THORNBIRDS... much enjoyed... Good, old-fashioned story-telling at its best' * The Bookseller on MATILDA'S LAST WALTZ *'The plot has depth and pace' * The Lady on JACARANDA VINES *'Will keep you reading happily all day. Relax and enjoy.' * Women's Weekly on WINDFLOWERS *'An epic, gripping, tautly plotted novel with a final court-room twist worthy of John Grisham.' * Time Out on SUMMER LIGHTNING *
£8.99
Hodder & Stoughton Winters Bone
Book Synopsis'He belongs in the forefront of American fiction' John Williams, IndependentTrade ReviewIt brings us all the satisfactions of crime thriller and mystery...The beauty lies in the loveable and wholly believable character of Ree * Guardian *A suspicion grows that you are reading the sort of book D.B.C Pierre's Vernon God Little might have been, had it been five times as keenly observed and deeply felt * The Times *'Woodrell is a marvellous writer' * Roddy Doyle *'Woodrell throws down sentences that will leave you amazed.' * Charles Frazier *'Reading this will make you feel that you walk on very, very thin ice, and know that chaos is very, very close. Such knowledge has many consequences, one of them is exhilaration.' * Niall Griffiths, Observer *'Brutal, violent and completely gripping' * Independent on Sunday *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Anna Where Are You
Book SynopsisThere is no doubt in Thomasina Elliott''s mind that her oldest schoolfriend is a creature of habit. So when, after three years of regular correspondence, Anna''s letters suddenly stop, Thomasina becomes concerned. And even more so when it transpires that her friend has disappeared without trace, in extremely odd circumstances. Fortunately, however, the indomitable Miss Silver is on hand to investigate.Trade ReviewMiss Wentworth is a first-rate storyteller * Daily Telegraph *Miss Silver has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot * Manchester Evening News *Patricia Wentworth has created a great detective in Miss Silver, the little old lady who nobody notices, but who in turn notices everything * Paula Gosling *...some of the best examples of the British country-house murder mystery * Alfred Hitchcock magazine *Miss Wentworth's plot is ingenious, her characterization acute, her solution satisfying * The Scotsman *Miss Silver is marvellous * Daily Mail *You can't go wrong with Miss Maud Silver * Observer *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Kawaguchi T Before We Forget Kindness
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC No Sweetness Here
Book SynopsisThis collection of short stories sees Ama Ata Aidoo, one of Africa's leading feminist and postcolonial writers, exercise the powerful effect of oral storytelling in her moving tales of shifting identities and the paradoxes of womanhood. Written with vibrant candour and tenacity, No Sweetness Here tackles the challenges of postcolonial Ghana, with topics ranging from the politics of wigs to the fragile joy of motherhood. In this collection, tradition struggles against modernisation, convention against liberation and all the while, Aidoo invites the reader to confront life's injustices with her characteristic humour and poise. 'Even at her gravest, Aidoo writes with a sunny charm.' New York Times 'Beautifully written.' English Magazine
£9.49
Cornerstone The Jeeves Omnibus Vol 5
Book SynopsisP. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) is widely regarded as the greatest comic writer of the 20th century. Wodehouse wrote more than 70 novels and 200 short stories, creating numerous much-loved characters - the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster, Lord Emsworth and his beloved Empress of Blandings, Mr Mulliner, Ukridge, and Psmith. His humorous articles were published in more than 80 magazines, including Punch, over six decades. He was also a highly successful music lyricist, once with over five musicals running on Broadway simultaneously. P.G. Wodehouse was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'.Trade ReviewThe gold standard of English wit … There is not, and never will be, anything to touch him -- Christopher HitchensThe funniest writer ever to put words to paper -- Hugh LaurieFor as long as I'm immersed in a P.G. Wodehouse book, it's possible to keep the real world at bay and live in a far, far nicer, funnier one where happy endings are the order of the day -- Marian Keyes
£17.00
Red Hen Press Blood on the Brain
Book SynopsisAn impulsive, madcap, and newly concussed young woman comes of age as she navigates her Ghanaian American identity, her relationships, and the muddled landscape of history, memory, imagination, and delusion.Twenty-four-year-old Akosua is easily knocked off her feet. When she falls and hits her head, she’s too preoccupied with her latest dramas to fully absorb the shock. In the span of three months, she has broken up with her boyfriend Wisdom, discovered that her deadbeat dad has moved back to the States from Ghana, and dropped so many classes that she believes she’s the only history grad student in the history of grad students to be registered for just one partial-credit class. Instead of facing her problems, Akosua seeks distraction in Daniel, a “good Ghanaian man.” But as her head injury worsens, she questions whether she can continue to run away from her father any more than she can keep ignoring her brain and its traumas. Vibrant,
£13.29
Salt Publishing My Hummingbird Father
Book SynopsisWhen artist Dominique receives a letter from her dying father, a reckoning with repressed memories and a pull for romantic and familial love sends shockwaves through her life, as she journeys to Paris to face the places and events of her early years.Balanced with visits to the Venezuelan Amazon, where Dominique explores a spiritual and loving longing (meeting a young guide, Juan), a raw and tender unfolding of this love story is a parallel to the uncovering of the shocking truth of Dominique's birth, and her parents' relationship.Pascale Petit's My Hummingbird Father is a beautifully lyrical debut novel in dialogue with Pascale's Ondaatje and Laurel Prize-winning poetry collection, Mama Amazonica.
£10.44
Faber & Faber The Two Loves of Sophie Strom
Book Synopsis''Lyrical and profound, delving into the depths of human connection. You will cry.''GLAMOUR''Impressive . . . it gripped my heart and imagination.''JO BROWNING WROE''Intriguing . . . there is also significant charm and energy.''GUARDIAN''Compulsive, electrifying.''SPECTATOROne man, one choice, two lifetimes.A house fire, Vienna, 1933: thirteen-year-old Max is orphaned, disfigured and adopted by an Aryan family who change his identity and his prospects.A house fire, Vienna, 1933: thirteen-year-old Max saves his parents and escapes unharmed, to face life as a Jew in 1930s Austria.In one unforgettable night, Max Spiegelman's life splits in two. As war looms and Nazism continues to rise, Max is forced into choices that place him and his alter ego on opposing sides of a divided world. Tethered by their dreams, the boys watch helple
£17.09
John Murray Press The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen
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£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Relationship Mechanic
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£12.50
Profile Lush
Book SynopsisA mysterious invitation to drink the oldest bottle of wine in the world - what could possibly go wrong?'A heady, sun-soaked novel ' Dazed, Must-Read Novels of 2025'A rich, full-bodied reading experience sure to leave readers drunk' Eliza Clark, bestselling author of Boy Parts'Rochelle Dowden-Lord writes like an angel with whisky on her breath ... beautiful' Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller'Lush is a breathtaking novel - dare I say, intoxicating' Okechukwu Nzelu, author of Here Again NowFour people, each at a crucial point in their lives, arrive at a French vineyard estate for an unforgettable experience - but not the kind they expected. Avery gave up her hardwon but exploitative sommelier job to come, while wine prodigy Cosmo is trying to disguise that his life is in freefall. The chemistry between the pair is unmistakable, but so are the signs of danger. Millionaire Sonny owns a tacky wine brand and can't help aggravating Cosmo, while caustic magazine writer Maëlys hovers with her pen poised. For fans of Saltburn, Such a Fun Age or Cleopatra and Frankenstein, this effervescent debut introduces a British writer who tackles class, race and ambition with delicious wit and insight.
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers The Surf House
Book Synopsis**PRE-ORDER NOW THE BRAND NEW SUN-SOAKED THRILLER FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER**_________________________________________________________________WISH YOU WERE HERE? THINK AGAINHigh on the wave-pounded cliffs, far from the bustling souks of Marrakesh, sits The Surf House.A hidden gem on Morocco's shores, the house is a sanctuary for the surfers, travellers and dreamers who wash in.But the idyll is built on something rotten.And when Bea arrives, relieved to find refuge after a dangerous encounter in a Marrakesh alleyway, she soon gets caught in the swell of a deep, dark mystery.Because another young woman went missing one year ago and the last place she was sighted was The Surf House.Readers love getting swept away with Lucy Clarke's destination thrillers:Had me on the edge of my seat' ?????Brilliant kept me guessing the whole way through' ?????Twists & turns galore, couldn't put it down. Highly recommend!' ?????''Very clever and I was gripped throughout. Will be reading more from
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Owl Was a Bakers Daughter
Book SynopsisWitty, resilient, and fiercely intelligent, Judith emerges as a heroine for the ages. Her journey, rich in historical authenticity and imaginative storytelling, offers insights that resonate across the centuries.?Christina Baker Kline,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe ExilesFor readers of Hilary Mantel and Madeline Miller, a deeply engrossing work of historical fiction?a tale about a woman of the Shakespeare family struggling to manage both her private grief and public danger.At the age of sixty-one, Judith Shakespeare, a midwife-apothecary and twin of the long-dead Hamnet, must flee provincial Stratford on horseback to avoid arrest for witchcraft. Her traveling companions are a zealous Puritan woman and child who have been displaced by civil war?the bloody seventeenth-century strife between Royalists and Roundheads. Judith is also leaving her marriage, which has foundered since the wrenching loss of two adult sons to the plague.The sequel to the author?s My Father Had a Daughter, a tale of Judith in her youth, The Owl Was a Baker?s Daughter revisits this character for the ages?Shakespeare?s sharp-tongued, witty youngest child, no less feisty in her maturity. Four-hundred years after Judith?s death, Grace Tiffany brings her back onto center stage. Judith?s latest tale offers profound insights?into friendship, motherhood, marriage, religious extremism, and war?which remain resoundingly true today.
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Scotch on the Rocks
Book SynopsisA spicy, small-town, enemies-to-lovers romance set on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, from the author of TikTok sensation Whisky BusinessWhen you live on a tiny island, it''s easy to stir up a scandalFor Callum Macabe, there''s no one better than Juniper Ross. She''s razor-tongued, sarcastic, elusive. And not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.There''s just one problem: his brother got there first.And even though Juniper and Alistair split up five years ago, Callum knows he could never break the actual bro code. Or could he?A compulsively readable contemporary romance that goes down smooth' Kirkus?????Readers are obsessed ?????''Definitely one of the top reads this yearscratch thattop reads ever ?? At this point I will read anything Elliot Fletcher decides to write!''''This is a sexy, spicy Scottish romance that you seriously can't miss''''Elliot Fletcher's writing is beyond marvellous. Another 5 stars book from her!! This book was so amazing and I'm in an awe with this author and how wonderful her stories are''''Fletcher''s writing is witty, emotional, and thoroughly enjoyable, making Scotch on the Rocks a must-read for romance enthusiasts. Highly recommended!''''Callum had me giggling, swooning and contemplating''
£8.54
Whitefox Publishing Ltd No Mans Land
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£18.00
Penguin Putnam Inc Once Upon a Time in Dollywood
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£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Spiralling
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£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Let Me Tell You Penguin Modern Classics
Book SynopsisFrom the peerless author of The Lottery and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, this is a treasure trove of deliciously dark and funny stories, essays, lectures, letters and drawings.Let Me Tell You brings together the brilliantly eerie short stories Jackson is best known for with frank and inspiring lectures on writing; comic essays she wrote about her large, rowdy family; and revelatory personal letters and drawings. Jackson''s landscape here is most frequently domestic - dinner parties, children''s games and neighbourly gossip - but one that is continually threatened and subverted in her unsettling, inimitable prose. This collection is the first opportunity to see Shirley Jackson''s radically different modes of writing side by side, revealing her to be a magnificent storyteller, a sharp, sly humorist and a powerful feminist.''The stories range from sketches and anecdotes to complete and genuinely unsettling tales, somewhat alarming and Trade ReviewLike a lot of people I read 'The Lottery' when I was young, in an anthology of short stories from the New Yorker, and never forgot it. Let Me Tell You is a rich, enjoyable compendium of Jackson's unpublished short fiction and occasional writings, kicking off with a story of a dozen pages, 'Paranoia', which I won't forget, either -- Tom Stoppard * TLS Books of the Year *The stories range from sketches and anecdotes to complete and genuinely unsettling tales, somewhat alarming and very creepy ... For those of us whose imaginations, and creative ambitions, were ignited by 'The Lottery', Jackson remains one of the great practitioners of the literature of the darker impulses -- Paul Theroux * New York Times *
£9.99
HarperCollins Publishers Why Mummy Drinks at Christmas
Book SynopsisI romped through Why Mummy Drinks at Christmas', and I absolutely adored it' Jilly CooperTis' the season to get trollied!Mummy has always loved Christmas. Sure, the kids turn into demons, the dinner gets burnt to a crisp and Aunt Louisa's general staggering inappropriateness sends Mummy reaching for the nearest maximum-strength festive tipple, but nevertheless, for her, Christmas is always special.This year, she wants nothing more than to perfectly fig up the pudding and sit by the fire reading aloud from A Christmas Carol to a rapt, rosy-cheeked audience. But, just like all Mummy's best-laid plans, this year's Festive Vision is in danger of being totally derailed by her chaotic family. There's not much chance of any action under the mistletoe, and the kids are just not playing ball.Can Mummy find her silver lining after all and bring the whole family together for one moment of harmony, so they can finally proclaim Verily You Are the Queen of Christmas'? Or should she get stuck into the festive spirits and just let it all go?
£9.49
Salt Publishing Shams
Book SynopsisShams is young Syrian refugee woman who lives in Shatila, one of the world's oldest refugee camps. She dreams of education and living a better life in Europe. But there are no schools in the camp, and her family opposes her dreams.
£9.49
