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
Penguin Books Ltd Kiss Kiss
Book SynopsisRoald Dahl, the best-loved of children's writers, was born in 1916 in Wales of Norwegian parents. He was educated in England before starting work for the Shell Oil Company in Africa, and began writing after a 'monumental bash on the head' sustained as an RAF fighter pilot during the Second World War. He worked in a tiny hut in the apple orchard of his house in Buckinghamshire until his death in 1990 at the age of 74. Roald Dahl's many books continue to be read by children the world over who delight in the magic of his marvellous storytelling. His books continue to be bestsellers, despite his death in 1990, and total sales are 100 million worldwide!Trade ReviewUnnerving bedtime stories, subtle, proficient, hair-raising and done to a turn * San Francisco Chronicle *Roald Dahl is one of the few writers I know whose work can accurately be described as addictive * Irish Times *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd How It All Began
Book SynopsisFrom Penelope Lively, winner of the Booker PrizeWhen . . . Charlotte is mugged and breaks her hip, her daughter Rose cannot accompany her employer Lord Peters to Manchester, which means his niece Marion has to go instead, which means she sends a text to her lover which is intercepted by his wife, which is . . . just the beginning in the ensuing chain of life-altering events.In this engaging, utterly absorbing and brilliantly told novel, Penelope Lively shows us how one random event can cause marriages to fracture and heal themselves, opportunities to appear and disappear, lovers who might never have met to find each other and entire lives to become irrevocably changed.Funny, humane, touching, sly and sympathetic, How It All Began is a brilliant sleight of hand from an author at the top of her game.''Contains some of Lively''s funniest and most enjoyable character studies . . . she remains a sublime storyteller''Guardian''Deeply comical, essentially kind-hearted, wonderfully written and seasoned with a rare wisdom'' Literary Review''More stylish than many writers half her age . . . Lively knows a thing or two about storytelling . . . her candour is refreshing, and reminds us that you don''t have to lie to yourself to live life finely until the very end'' The TimesTrade ReviewMore stylish than many writers half her age . . . Lively knows a thing or two about storytelling . . . her candour is refreshing, and reminds us that you don't have to lie to yourself to live life finely until the very end * The Times *Contains some of Lively's funniest and most enjoyable character studies . . . she remains a sublime storyteller * Guardian *Elegant and engrossing, this is a gently funny and touching portrait of the complex path life can take * Easy Living *Deeply comical, essentially kind-hearted, wonderfully written and seasoned with a rare wisdom * Literary Review *Witty and astute * Daily Mail *An engaging read * Woman's Own *Lively's prose is indeed lively, her humour wry and her insights into the human condition both wise and moving * Sunday Express *As always, Lively has a precise control of the comic, and an ear for dialogue honed over more than 40 years of writing * Independent on Sunday *A deftly constructed, always enjoyable novel * Sunday Times *
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Penguin Books Ltd The Queen and I
Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR TV ADAPTATION STARRING DAVID WALLIAMS & SAMANTHA BONDThe Queen and I is a hilarious satire on modern Britain and an exploration of what it really means to be human, by the bestselling author of the Adrian Mole series.____________The Royals, they''re just like us . . . THE MONARCHY HAS BEEN DISMANTLEDWhen a Republican party wins the General Election, their first act in power is to strip the royal family of their assets and titles and send them to live on a housing estate in the Midlands. Exchanging Buckingham Palace for a two-bedroomed semi in Hell Close (as the locals dub it), caviar for boiled eggs, servants for a social worker named Trish, the Queen and her family learn what it means to be poor among the great unwashed. But is their breeding sufficient to allow them to rise above their changed circumstance or deep down are they really just like everyone else?____________''No other author could imagine this so graphically, demolish the institution so wittily and yet leave the family with its human dignity intact'' The Times''Absorbing, entertaining . . . the funniest thing in print since Adrian Mole'' Daily Telegraph''Kept me rolling about until the last page'' Daily MailTrade ReviewNo other author could imagine this so graphically, demolish the institution so wittily and yet leave the family with its human dignity intact * The Times *Kept me rolling about until the last page * Daily Mail *Laugh-out-loud funny * Sunday Telegraph *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd An Icecream War William Boyd Penguin Essentials
Book SynopsisAn Ice-Cream War is William Boyd''s sparkling debut novel on the grimly comic side of conflict, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.''What do you think would happen if I shot an elephant in the balls?''''I think it would hurt a great deal.''Millions die on the Western Front but in East Africa a quite different war is being waged - one with little point and which is so ignored that it will carry on after the Armistice because no one bothers to tell both sides to stop.As the conflict sweeps up natives and colonials, so those left at home and those fighting abroad find themselves unable to escape the tide of history bearing down on them.
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd Noonday
Book SynopsisFrom the Booker Prize-winning and Women''s Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the Girls The final novel in Pat Barker''s acclaimed ''Life Class'' trilogy - an unforgettable story of art and war, from one of our greatest writers on war and the human heart''Bold, hard-hitting, unforgettable, with luminous and unsparing insight'' Independent on Sunday''Barker''s command of detail and gift for metaphor are as sharp as ever... Noonday is in the first rank'' Mail on Sunday''[There is] no end to her talent in describing how conflicts rupture the soul'' Arifa Akbar, IndependentLondon, the Blitz, autumn 1940. As the bombs fall on the blacked-out city, ambulance driver Elinor Brooke races from bomb sites to hospitals trying to save the lives of injured survivors, working alongside former friend Kit Neville, while her husband Paul works as an air-raid warden. As the bombing intensifies, the constant risk of deatTrade ReviewPublisher's description. Pat Barker brings the besieged and haunted city of Blitz-era London to electrifying life in Noonday, the third and final novel in her 'Life Class Trilogy'. Bombs are falling on London and, still suffering from the losses of the Great War, Elinor, Paul and Kit must face war's horrors once again... * Penguin *Barker's command of detail and gift for metaphor are as sharp as ever: her evocation of the bombed city is steeped in drama... Noonday is in the first rank * Mail on Sunday *Tremendously good * Daily Mail *This is the first time the author of the Regeneration Trilogy has written about the Second World War and it's a triumph * Stylist *Many strokes of genius from Barker... accessible and moving * Sunday Times *Noonday's Blitz-era setting gives Barker ample opportunity to do what she does best * Spectator *Powerful and vivid, with nuanced characters and Barker's unerring eye for detail * Women and Home *Bold, hard-hitting, unforgettable... a virtuoso rendition of the bombing, as huge swathes of London blaze away with the brightest of bright lights... Barker shows us how the city's finest moment was indubitably also its most terrifying, with luminous and unsparing insight * Independent on Sunday *Ambitious, vivid, sharp... The closer you get to the end, the more lives need saving and the more thwarted and complicated the domestic backdrop... Barker's chronological leap is a sophisticated bridge between the drama of the present and the haunted history of the past * Daily Telegraph *Colourfully alive, fizzes with energy... the novel's point of view swivel[s] like a torchbeam to illuminate London's devastated streets * Independent *The book has its own inherent power thanks to Barker's skilful rendering of the texture of the period but it is richer and more rewarding if read with the other two volumes of this beautifully crafted trilogy * Daily Express *
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Penguin Books Ltd How to be Good
Book SynopsisTHE MILLION-COPY NO.1 BESTSELLER''Enormously powerful'' Guardian''Hilarious, sophisticated, compulsive'' The Times___________________''I am in a car park in Leeds when I tell my husband I don''t want to be married to him any more. . . ''London GP Katie Carr always thought she was a good person. With her husband David making a living as ''The Angriest Man in Holloway'', she figured she could put up with anything. Until, that is, David meets DJ Goodnews and becomes a good person too. A far-too-good person who starts committing crimes of charity like taking in the homeless and giving their kids'' toys away. Suddenly Katie''s feeling very bad about herself, and thinking that if charity begins at home, then maybe it''s time to move. . . This laugh-out-loud novel, from the bestselling author of About a Boy and High Fidelity, will have you gripped from start to finish and will appeal to fans of David Nicholls and Jonathan Coe, as well as readers in need of a moral compass everywhere.___________________''Pins you in your armchair and won''t let go . . . How to be Good? How to be bloody marvellous, more like'' Mail on Sunday''It does exactly what it says on the cover. Hornby''s prose is artful and effortless, his spiky wit as razored as a number-two cut'' Independent''The writing is so funny, and the set-pieces so brilliant . . . Hornby''s best book since Fever Pitch'' Lynn Truss, The Times Trade ReviewVintage Nick Hornby. Very funny and very clever, and packed with wit and brilliance * Spectator *
£8.99
Kensington Publishing Whispers of the Lake
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Faber & Faber The Blind Mans Garden
Book SynopsisLove is not consolation, it is light.''From the author of Maps for Lost Lovers comes a searing, exquisitely written novel set in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months following 9/11 - a story of war, of one family''s losses, and of the simplest, most enduring human impulses.Jeo and Mikal, foster-brothers from a small Pakistani city, secretly enter Afghanistan: not to fight with the Taliban, but to help and care for wounded civilians. But it soon becomes apparent that good intentions can''t keep them out of harm''s way...From the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind - their blind father haunted for years by the death of his wife, by the mistakes he may have made in the name of Islam and nationhood, Jeo''s steadfast wife and her superstitious mother - Aslam''s prose takes us on an extraordinary journey.
£7.59
Faber & Faber Seven Types of Ambiguity
Book SynopsisAt once a psychological thriller and a social critique, Seven Types of Ambiguity is a novel of obsessive love in an age of obsessive materialism.Following years of unrequited love, an out-of-work schoolteacher decides to take matters into his own hands, triggering a chain of events no one could have anticipated.This is a story of impulse and paralysis, of empty marriages, lovers and a small boy, gambling and the market, of adult children and their parents, of poetry and prostitution, psychiatry and the law.Published to huge acclaim in the author''s native Australia, Seven Types of Ambiguity was hailed as ''a tour de force'' (The Age) and described as ''Perlman''s achingly humane, richly layered and seamlessly constructed masterpiece'' (Canberra Times).Trade Review"'A complex and perfectly nuanced study of idealised love turned sour.' Daily Mail; 'Perlman's novel is a colossal achievement' Observer; 'Seven Types of Ambiguity shows Elliot Perlman to be Australia's outstanding social novelist' TLS"
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Penguin Books Ltd Our Kind of Traitor
Book SynopsisIn John le Carré''s electrifying novel Our Kind of Traitor, innocents abroad are drawn into the darkest recesses of the financial world.Britain is in the depths of recession. A left-leaning young Oxford academic and his barrister girlfriend take an off-peak holiday on the Caribbean island of Antigua. By seeming chance they bump into a Russian millionaire called Dima who owns a peninsula and a diamond-encrusted gold watch. He also has a tattoo on his right thumb, and wants a game of tennis.What else he wants propels the young lovers on a tortuous journey through Paris to a safe house in the Swiss Alps, to the murkiest cloisters of the City of London and its unholy alliance with Britain''s Intelligence Establishment.''If you want to know about the state of Britain today, forget the Booker shortlist. Just read John le Carré''s latest thriller'' Evening Standard''Few recent plays have had dialogue as good, and few recent literary novels can boast a set of characters so vividly imagined. Our Kind of Traitor is a teasing, beguiling, masterly performance'' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewA remarkable book by the master. Reading it is a great experience -- Henning Mankell * Daily Telegraph *A compelling tale of deceit, dialogue and the author's own despair . . . This is a story with frenzy at its heart -- James Naughtie * Daily Telegraph *John le Carré's bullet train of a new thriller is part vintage John le Carré and part Alfred Hitchcock . . . The author's most thrilling thriller in years * The New York Times *If you want to know about the state of Britain today, forget the Booker shortlist. Just read John le Carré's latest thriller * Evening Standard *Few recent plays have had dialogue as good, and few recent literary novels can boast a set of characters so vividly imagined. Our Kind of Traitor is a teasing, beguiling, masterly performance * Sunday Times *A compelling tale of deceit, dialogue and the author's own despair John le Carré's greatest gift may be his ear, which allows him to pick up a tremor of fear in the softest voice or a false note in any exchange of words and play with them to his heart's content. He can therefore create, in dialogue, a trembling soundscape that has a pitch-perfect quality * Sunday Telegraph *Chilling and astute . . . In Our Kind of Traitor, there is not a hair out of place . . . le Carré has done it again for our nasty new age * The Times *
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Penguin Books Ltd The House of Sleep Jonathan Coe
Book SynopsisThe House of Sleep - Jonathan Coe''s comic tale of love and obsessionSarah is a narcoleptic who has dreams so vivid she mistakes them for real events; Robert has his life changed for ever by the misunderstandings arising from her condition; Terry, the insomniac, spends his wakeful nights fuelling his obsession with movies; and the increasingly unstable Dr Gregory Dudden sees sleep as a life-shortening disease which must be eradicated. . .A group of students sharing a house. They fall in and out of love, they drift apart. Yet a decade later they are drawn back together by a series of coincidences involving their obsession with sleep - and each other. . . Winner of the 1998 Prix Médicis Étranger, The House of Sleep is an intensely moving and frequently hilarious novel about love, obsession and sleep.''Moving, clever, pleasurable, smart...one of the best books of the year'' Malcolm Bradbury, The Times''There are bits that mak
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Closed Circle
Book SynopsisDiscover bestselling author Jonathan Coe''s hilarious sequel to The Rotters'' Club!It''s the end of the century and Benjamin Trotter and friends are all grown up. Life is a ceaseless whirl of jobs, marriages, kids - and self-inflicted angst. Despite the shiny optimism of Blair''s Britain, youthful hopes and dreams feel betrayed. Is the Government (and by extension Benjamin''s MP brother Paul) to blame? Or are the ''rotters'' themselves - only passingly faithful to their dreams - really at fault? The Closed Circle depicts a group of former school friends as older, wiser and disillusioned in Blair''s Britain at the turn of the millennium, proving that the present can never truly be disentangled from the past.THE STORY CONTINUES IN MIDDLE ENGLAND.__________ ''Terrific. An incisive portrait of Britain at the turn of the century'' Spectator ''Coe''s finest achievement since What a Carve up!'' Time Out ''Popular fiction at its best'' Daily MailWritten with his signature wit, Jonathan Coe''s unmissable new novel, The Proof of My Innocence, is available to order now!
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Elizabeth is Missing
Book SynopsisTHE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE MAJOR BBC DRAMA STARRING BAFTA AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS GLENDA JACKSON How do you solve a mystery when you can''t remember the clues?Maud is forgetful. She makes a cup of tea and doesn''t remember to drink it. She goes to the shops and forgets why she went. Sometimes her home is unrecognizable - or her daughter Helen seems a total stranger.But there''s one thing Maud is sure of: her friend Elizabeth is missing. The note in her pocket tells her so. And no matter who tells her to stop going on about it, to leave it alone, to shut up, Maud will get to the bottom of it.Because somewhere in Maud''s damaged mind lies the answer to an unsolved seventy-year-old mystery. One everyone has forgotten about.Everyone, except Maud . . .''A thrillingly assured, haunting and unsettling novel, I read it at a gulp'' Deborah Moggach, author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel''Elizabeth Is Missing will stir and shake you: the most likeably unreliable of narrators, real mystery at its compassionate core...'' Emma Donoghue, author of Room''Resembling a version of Memento written by Alan Bennett'' Daily Telegraph''One of those mythical beasts, the book you cannot put down'' Jonathan Coe, author of The Rotters Club''Every bit as compelling as the frenzied hype suggests. Gripping, haunting'' ObserverTrade ReviewThe novel is both a gripping detective yarn and a haunting depiction of mental illness, but also more poignant and blackly comic than you might expect from that description... perhaps Healey's greatest achievement is the flawless voice she creates for Maud. * The Observer *A compelling mystery that capture the experience of Maud, a highly memorable elderly woman losing her memory * Sunday Express *Riveting psychological thriller * Stylist's Best Books of 2014 *A thrillingly assured, haunting and unsettling novel, I read it at a gulp -- Deborah Moggach
£9.49
Faber & Faber A Pagan Place
Book SynopsisFrom the iconic author of The Country Girls trilogy, a modern Irish coming-of-age classic.''The taboo-breaking, the fabulous prose there''s no one like Edna O''Brien.'' Anne Enright''Novels of heart-breaking empathy, rigorous honesty and peerless beauty.'' Eimear McBride''A profound intelligence spurred on by a tangible, fizzing joy.'' Megan Nolan''Brilliant and brave.'' Ann Patchett ''Glittering energy.'' Colm TóibínAfter leaving for a religious community in Belgium, a young woman becomes lost in memories of her childhood in rural Ireland, reflecting on the rituals of village life, the people she encountered, the enchanting beauty of the landscape, the concept of home - and the shocking event that led to her departure ...
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Transworld Publishers Ltd Remember Me
Book SynopsisThe hilarious romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie KinsellaLexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking she''s twenty-five with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life. But, to her disbelief, she learns it''s actually three years later - she''s a super-toned twenty-eight-year-old, her teeth are straight, she''s the boss of her department - and she''s married to a good-looking millionaire! She can''t believe her luck - especially when she sees her stunning new loft apartment. And she''ll definitely have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He''s drawn up a ''marriage manual'', which should help.But soon she realises her perfect life isn''t all it seems. All her old friends hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up... and lands a new bombshell. What the **** happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does?***** Trade Review"Sophie Kinsella returns with another cracker...A page-turner by arguably the best pop-fiction novelist" MAIL ON SUNDAY "A gripping romantic read - we loved it!" COSMOPOLITAN "A superb tale *****" HEAT "A deliciously intriguing and hilarious novel that will have you hooked til the end" EVE "If easy-to-read girly humour is your bag, Kinsella certainly ticks the right boxes." -- Helen Bonthrone SHE magazine
£9.49
Faber & Faber The Lesser Bohemians
Book SynopsisAN IRISH TIMES TOP 100 BEST IRISH BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURYWINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZEThe vibrant energy of 1990s London. A year of passion and discovery. The anxiety and intensity of new love.An eighteen-year-old Irish girl arrives in London to study drama and falls violently in love with an older actor. While she is naive and thrilled by life in the big city, he is haunted by demons. The clamorous relationship that ensues risks undoing them both. At once epic and exquisitely intimate, The Lesser Bohemians is a celebration of the dark and the light in love.
£9.49
John Murray Press Maisie Dobbs
Book SynopsisA favorite mystery series of Hillary Clinton (as mentioned in What Happened, The New York Times Book Review, and New York Magazine)A New York Times Notable Book of the YearAgatha Award Winner for Best First NovelMacavity Award Winner for Best First NovelAlex Award WinnerFiercely independent Maisie Dobbs has recently set herself up as a private detective. Such a move may not seem especially startling. But this is 1929, and Maisie is exceptional in many ways.Having started as a maid to the London aristocracy, studied her way to Cambridge and served as a nurse in the Great War, Maisie has wisdom, experience and understanding beyond her years. Little does she realise the extent to which this strength of character is soon to be tested. For her first case forces her to uncover secrets long buried, and to confront ghosts from her own past . . .''In Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear has given us a real gift'' Alexander McCall SmithTrade ReviewSue Baker's 'Quarterly Highlights' * Publishing News *'In Maisie Dobbs, Jacqueline Winspear has given us a real gift. Maisie Dobbs has not been created - she has been discovered. Such people are always there amongst us, waiting for somebody like Ms. Winspear to come along and reveal them. And what a revelation it is!' * Alexander McCall Smith *It's a long time since I've read a crime novel that begins as well as Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs ... well written ... [Jacqueline Winspear] is set fair for a very bright future as a crime novelist. * Simon Brett, Daily Mail *Feisty, working-class heroine Maisie is a deliberate throwback to the sleuthettes of old-fashioned crime writing and will appeal to all those fans who pine for uncomplicated characters and a strong demarcation between good and bad. The well-plotted story, its characters and the picture of London between the wars are decidedly romantic. American readers loved it; many Brits will, too. * The Guardian *Maisie Dobbs is a welcome and unusual addition to the crowded world of literary detectives ... A very readable whodunnit * Sainsbury's Magazine *Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs is a welcome addition to the sleuthing scene. Simultaneously self-reliant and vulnerable, Maisie isn't a character I'll easily forget * Elizabeth George *Much more than just another detective story... thought-provoking * Newbooksmag *Readers sensing a story-within-a-story won't be disappointed. But first, they must prepare to be astonished at the sensitivity and wisdom with which Maisie resolves her first professional assignment * New York Times *A wry and immensely readable beginning to what promises to be a vivid new addition to crime fiction * Mail on Sunday *Even if detective stories aren't your thing, you'll love Maisie Dobbs * New Woman *The book is much more than a cosy mystery - it is also about women's growing emancipation and the profound changes to society after the First World War. * Mail on Sunday's You *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Kalahari Typing School For Men
Book SynopsisThe fourth book in the multi-million copy bestselling No. 1 Ladies'' Detective Agency seriesThe one with the rival detectiveMma Ramotswe faces the unexpected and unwelcome appearance in town of a new private detective, Mr Cephas Buthelezi. To ensure she does not lose clients to him, she takes on several cases at once, including those of an errant husband and of a man targeted by ostrich rustlers. Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi has decided to set up a typing school to teach men some useful skills - but Mma Ramotswe fears her secretary is falling under the spell of a man who does not have her best interests at heart...''A glorious creation'' Mail on Sunday''Happiness and quiet wisdom'' Daily Telegraph''Sparkles with African sunshine and Mma Ramotswe''s wit'' Dallas Morning News''It''s hard to find fault with such good-natured and pleasurable optimism'' ObserverTrade ReviewMma Ramotswe's methods - and her results - are as unusual as the novels they inhabit... All this activity is much less about whodunnit than why * New York Times *McCall Smith is a careful, emblematic writer who is beyond gifted... he is a natural storyteller * The List *The hypnotic ease of McCall Smith's style makes everything clear almost instantly... Throughout the Botswana landscape is richly evoked... Happiness and quiet wisdom prevail * Daily Telegraph *Mma Ramotswe is a glorious creation, a character likely to prove every bit as enduring as Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. * Mail on Sunday *Sparkles with African sunshine and Mma Ramotswe's wit * Dallas Morning News *It's hard to find fault with such good-natured and pleasurable optimism * Observer *I can think of no author writing today so deserving of an enormous audience * New Statesman *This series' huge appeal lies in its mannerly folk wisdom and wry, gentle humor, full of wit, nuance and caring... It's an oasis in a genre that too often seems a desert of violence and inhumanity * Chicago Sun Times *As beguiling as Alexader McCall Smith's earlier books about the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency... His prose is deceptively simple, with a gift for evoking the earth and sky of Africa * Seattle Times *Get your hands on one of the mysteries from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series... Each book is a thinly disguised love letter to the people and culture of Southern Africa... A great escape * Elle *Mma Ramotswe's methods - and her results - are as unusual as the novels they inhabit . . . All this activity is much less about whodunnit than why * NEW YORK TIMES *McCall Smith is a careful, emblematic writer who is beyond gifted, he is a natural storyteller. McCall Smith has once again charmed the sarongs off us * THE LIST *The hypnotic ease of McCall Smith's style makes everything clear almost instantly . . . Throughout the Botswana landscape is richly evoked. Happiness and quiet wisdom prevail. * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Mma Ramotswe is a glorious creation, a character likely to prove every bit as enduring as Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. * MAIL ON SUNDAY *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Ingenious Pain
Book Synopsis***Pre-order Andrew Miller''s new novel THE LAND IN WINTER now - coming October 2024***''ANDREW MILLER''S WRITING IS A SOURCE OF WONDER AND DELIGHT'' Hilary Mantel''ONE OF OUR MOST SKILFUL CHRONICLERS OF THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND'' Sunday TimesWinner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award''Astoundingly good''The Times''Dazzling''Observer''Timeless''SpectatorThe extraordinary prize-winning debut from Andrew Miller - a highly imaginative, atmospheric first novelAt the dawn of the Enlightenment, a man is born unable to feel pain. A source of wonder and scientific curiosity as a child, he rises through the ranks of Georgian society to become a brilliant surgeon. Yet as a human being he fails, for he can no more feel love and compassion than pain. Until, en route to St Petersburg to inoculaTrade ReviewA wild adventure through 18th-century England and Russia, medicine, madness, landscape and weather, rendered in prose of consummate beauty -- Books of the Year * Independent *A really remarkable first novel, original, powerfully written . . . Miller's narrative is gripping and his imagination extraordinary * Sunday Telegraph *Astoundingly good . . . it shines like a beacon * The Times *Timeless and thought-provoking . . . it is something very rare in modern fiction, a true work of art * Spectator *Gripping . . . a dazzling debut * Observer *Dazzling . . . Miller tackles notions of mortality and humanity to brilliant effect . . . truly wonderful * Evening Standard *An extraordinary first novel . . . one is constantly delighted with strange and vivid imagery, fresh and startling metaphors, flashes of insight, deft twists of plot and resonant variations on dominant themes . . . a mature novel of ideas soaked in the sensory detail of its turbulent times * New York Times Book Review *Exceptionally intelligent and elegant . . . remarkable for its feeling and its humane sensibility * Sunday Times *A true rarity: a debut novel which is original, memorable, engrossing and subtle * Guardian *Strange, unsettling, sad, beautiful and profound . . . the sense of period is brilliantly handled * Literary Review *More than merits comparison with the likes of Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus and Patrick Süskind's Perfume . . . a blistering debut * Time Out *The novel's evocation of the period, down to the finest detail, is thoroughly confident . . . a startling novel * Independent on Sunday *A finely wrought and provocative novel * Daily Telegraph *Impressive * Mail on Sunday *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Noble House
Book Synopsis''Breathtaking. Only terms like colossal, gigantic, titanic, unbelievable, gargantuan are properly descriptive'' Chicago TribuneOver one hundred years have passed since Dirk Struan founded Hong Kong''s oldest trading company. But now, the Noble House is in danger. As Hong Kong itself becomes the deadly playground of the CIA, the KGB and the People''s Republic of China, rival tai-pans, seeking revenge for blood feuds over a century old, gather for the kill.''Fiction for addicts . . . A book that you can get lost in for weeks. Not only is it as long as life, it''s also as rich with possibilities'' New York TimesTrade ReviewBreathtaking. Only terms like colossal, gigantic, titanic, unbelievable, gargantuan are properly descriptive * Chicago Tribune *Seethes with drama, sex, crime . . . Clavell is, as always, a matchless talespinner * Cosmopolitan *A grand drama, with the glamour, mystique and perils of the Orient . . . it has such breadth and power that at the end you will want to start at the beginning again. * Manchester Evening News *NOBLE HOUSE totally fulfils the function of a novel, taking me out of myself and transporting me into a majestic sweep of intrigue and excitement * David Niven *Fiction for addicts . . . A book that you can get lost in for weeks. Not only is it as long as life, it's also as rich with possibilities * New York Times *
£13.49
Little, Brown Book Group Crusoes Daughter
Book SynopsisIn 1904, when she was six, Polly Flint went to live with her two holy aunts at the yellow house by the marsh - so close to the sea that it seemed to toss like a ship, so isolated that she might have been marooned on an island. And there she stayed for eighty-one years, while the century raged around her, while lamplight and Victorian order became chaos and nuclear dred. Crusoe''s Daughter, ambitious, moving and wholly original, is her story.Trade ReviewShe does fiction as it should be done, with confidence and insight -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie * Observer *
£8.99
Little, Brown Book Group The Forever Girl
Book SynopsisClover has loved James for as long as she can remember, since before she knew what what love was. But fate seems determined to keep them apart. As children, Clover and James played beside a turquoise sea under cloudless skies, their Caribbean island home a place of pleasure and privilege, of lush lawns and tennis parties. In such a paradise nothing should obstruct the kind of happiness Clover dreams of, except that, as she discovers, true love is often harder than paradise allows for. And when Clover''s mother falls out of love with her husband, a web of complications is woven that may take Clover a lifetime to unravel. If she ever can . . . Tender and true, The Forever Girl traces love''s unpredictable path to maturity with style, wit and feeling.Trade ReviewHis most surprising book yet . . . Smith's writing has charm and wisdom, and Clover's quest for her beloved is gorgeously romantic * The Times *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group A Song Of Stone
Book Synopsis''Exhilarating... a work of imagination and arresting originality'' Sunday Telegraph The war is ending, perhaps ended... For the castle and its occupants the troubles are just beginning. Armed gangs roam its lawless land, where each farm and house supports a column of dark smoke. Taking to the roads with the other refugees, anonymous in their raggedness, seems safer than remaining in the ancient keep. But the lieutenant of an outlaw band has other ideas, and the castle becomes the focus for a dangerous game of desire, deceit and death... Praise for Iain Banks:''The most imaginative novelist of his generation'' The Times''His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers'' Ken MacLeod, Guardian''His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent'' Neil Gaiman''An exceptional wordsmith'' ScotsmanTrade ReviewAn apocalyptic masterpiece * Financial Times *Exhilarating... a work of imagination and arresting originality * Sunday Telegraph *Compulsively readable... the enigma at the heart of the novel will ensure repeated readings * Times Literary Supplement *Tour de force writing * Independent on Sunday *His boldest and most ambitious experiment with fiction since The Bridge * Time Out *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Now And Forever
Book SynopsisTHE WORLD''S FAVOURITE AUTHOR ONE BILLION COPIES SOLDThe perfect love . . .Jessica and Ian were a golden couple - young, glamorous, successful. And deeply in love.Until one afternoon''s casual faithlessness threatened their relationship, ended their days of happiness and nights of desire. Or so it seemed. But for Jessica and Ian, the lesson of love was only just beginning . . . .A reissue of a novel which has been unavailable since 1987, about a young, glamorous, successful couple whose relationship is threatened by an afternoon''s faithlessness.Now and Forever is a moving, inspirational novel from bestselling author Danielle Steel.PRAISE FOR DANIELLE STEEL:''Emotional and gripping . . . I was left in no doubt as to the reasons behind Steel''s multi-million sales around the world'' DAILY MAIL''Danielle Steel is undeniably an expert'' NEW YORK TIMESTrade ReviewThere are currently no reviews for this title/product
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Day You Saved My Life The addictive
Book SynopsisFROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF OUR HOUSE AND THOSE PEOPLE ''I honestly didn''t see the twist coming. Perfect.'' - Jojo Moyes______________ Even an act of heroism has consequences On a perfect summer''s day in Paris, tourists on the river watch in shock as a small boy falls into the Seine and disappears below the surface. As his mother stands frozen, a stranger takes a breath and leaps . . .______________ ''A master of her craft'' Rosamund Lupton PRAISE FOR LOUISE CANDLISH''A great writer'' Fiona Barton''A masterfully plotted, compulsive page-turner'' Guardian''Louise Candlish is one very clever writer'' Sarah Vaughan''Beautifully modulated and terrifically suspenseful'' Washington PostTrade ReviewI loved this book. It reminded me of Joanna Trollope at her best -- full of complicated yet sympathetic characters and riven with the kind of dilemmas that characterise real lives. I honestly didn't see the twist coming. Perfect. * Jojo Moyes *A master of her craft * Rosamund Lupton *Thought-provoking and compelling - highly recommended to anyone who enjoys contemporary women's fiction * The Book Bag *A terrific tension and sense of unease runs through the pages . . . A clever take on love, loss and deceit and a good summer read * Irish Independent *You'll be hooked * Easy Living *One of the most turbulent yet gripping books I have had the pleasure of reading. A wonderfully written story about parenthood and just how far you would go for the one you love, this book oozes tension from very first page * handrwittengirl.com *A gripping, beautifully written book from the author of the highly acclaimed Other People's Secrets. A compelling observation of parenthood, life and love * Amuse Magazine *Candlish has crafted a tender, heartfelt story . . . An insightful and driving novel * Booklist *
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Little, Brown Book Group Brothers
Book SynopsisThis immensely powerful novel follows four generations of the Bindel family as they fight for survivial in a hostile world. From imperial Russia in 1825 they head towards Western Europe, returning finally to modern Russia - where the persecution of the Jews continues.The Bindel family are knit by unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty, bonds which survive conscription into the Tsarist army in the 1830s, the Odessa pogrom of 1871, emigration to the Welsh valleys and to Germany, the Nazis, the concentration camps and the Gulags.
£11.69
Hodder & Stoughton Indemnity Only
Book SynopsisThe stunning first novel in the V.I. Warshawski series, introducing one of the world's best-loved private investigators.Trade ReviewHow enjoyable to settle down with a new book by Sara Paretsky. * Sunday Telegraph *With the creation of V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky did more than anyone to change the face of contemporary women's fiction. * Express on Sunday *Warshawski's darkest outing, with no sign that her creator is flagging. Paretsky has written a novel in which a great deal is stripped bare, including Warshawski's innermost anxieties about herself, producing a narrative as gripping as it is emotionally wrenching. * JOAN SMITH, Sunday Times *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Garden Spells
Book SynopsisWelcome to Bascom, North Carolina, where it seems that everyone has a story to tell about the Waverley women. The house that''s been in the family for generations, the walled garden that mysteriously blooms year round, the rumours of dangerous loves and tragic passions. Every Waverley woman is somehow touched by magic.Claire has always clung to the Waverleys'' roots, tending the enchanted soil in the family garden from which she makes her sought-after delicacies - famed and feared for their curious effects. She has everything she thinks she needs - until one day she waked to find a stranger has moved in next door and a vine of ivy has crept into her garden . . . Claire''s carefully tended life is about to run gloriously out of control.Trade Reviewmesmirising * Choice magazine *'An unusual but mesmirising read' * Choice *A lovely tale of desire and gastronomy * Irish Tatler *'Definitely one to put in your suitcase this summer - a warm, sunny holiday read.' * newbooks magazine *
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Cornerstone Mortal Mischief
Book SynopsisThe hit novels behind the major new TV series Vienna Blood___________________________Vienna, at the turn of the century.Philosophy, science and art are flourishing. Coffee shops are full of the latest cultural and political theories. The new field of psychoanalysis, formed in the wake of Freud, is just beginning to make itself heard.And a woman is dead.Dr Max Liebermann is a young psychoanalyst, and friend to Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt. Rheinhardt, though hard-working, lacks Liebermann''s insights and forensic eye - and so Liebermann is called upon to help with police investigations surrounding the death of a beautiful young medium, in what seems at first to be supernatural circumstances.While Liebermann attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery, he also must decide whether he is to follow his father''s advice and marry the beautiful but reserved Clara. But the personal and the professionaTrade ReviewAn intriguing, impressive achievement - puts the psychological back into crime and written by a real expert -- Oliver JamesSmart detection and a mouthwatering view of Viennese cafe society ... good prospects for the Liebermann series, of which this is book number one * Literary Review *An unusual and excellent murder mystery * Bernard Knight, former home office pathologist *Frank Tallis's new max Liebermann series is off to a flying start with its location, a turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna torn between mysticism and rationalism, liberalism and anti-Semitism... a cracker. * Observer *
£999.99
Vintage Publishing Birthday Stories
Book SynopsisWhat will you get for your birthday this year? A chance to see into the future? Or a reminder of the imperfect past?In this enviable gathering, Haruki Murakami has chosen for his party some of the very best short story writers of recent years, each with their own birthday experiences, each story a snapshot of life on a single day. Including stories by Russell Banks, Ethan Canin, Raymond Carver, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Claire Keegan, Andrea Lee, Daniel Lyons, Lewis Robinson, Lynda Sexson, Paul Theroux, William Trevor and Haruki Murakami, this anthology captures a range of emotions evoked by advancing age and the passing of time, from events fondly recalled to the impact of appalling tragedy.Previously published in a Japanese translation by Haruki Murakami, this English edition contains a specially written introduction.Trade ReviewThe perfect year-round present * Time Out *Brilliant...Murakami introduces all these stories with grace and lightness of touch * Sunday Herald *A memorable collection. Voices and settings as diverse as the authors, but they are all concerned with the arbitrary yet immensely significant way in which we mark the passing of our lives * Observer *The quality of storytelling is exemplary... There's darkness enough here for the hardiest of cynics, but enough heart to charm * Word *
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Hodder & Stoughton Long Summer Day
Book Synopsis'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 MagazineTrade ReviewMr Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming * Evening Standard *R F Delderfield is a born storyteller * Sunday Mirror *'It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well' * Books and Bookmen *Highly recommended. Combines tension with a splendid sense of atmosphere and vivid characterisation. An excellent read * Sunday Express *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 *Sheer, wonderful storytelling * Chicago Tribune *
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Hodder & Stoughton The Point of Rescue
Book SynopsisAgatha Christie fans will love Queen of Crime Sophie Hannah''s third stunning psychological suspense novel. Also perfect for fans of Clare Mackintosh and Paula Hawkins.''Addictive'' Marie Claire''Irresistible'' GuardianIt began with an affair. And ended in murder.Sally is watching the news with her husband when she hears a name she ought not to recognise: Mark Bretherick. Last year, a work trip Sally had planned was cancelled at the last minute. Desperate for a break from her busy life juggling work and a young family, Sally didn''t tell her husband that the trip had fallen through. Instead, she booked a week off work and treated herself to a secret holiday. All she wanted was a bit of peace - some time to herself - but it didn''t work out that way. Because Sally met a man. Mark Bretherick. All the details are the same: where he lives, his job, his wife Geraldine and daughter Lucy. Except that the man on Trade ReviewFor those who demand emotional intelligence and literary verve from their thrillers, Sophie Hannah is the writer of choice. THE POINT OF RESCUE, her third, combines a creepily irresistible page-turner with an exploration of motherhood's taboos * Guardian *Tension, thy name is Sophie Hannah. In THE POINT OF RESCUE, murder, false identity and infidelity are thet tools Hannah deploys to create a plausible but edge-of-your-seat read * Independent *The tension is screwed ever tighter until the final shocking outcome * Daily Express *Hannah doesn't allow the tension to slacken for a second in this addictive, brilliantly chilling thriller. * Book of the Month, Marie Claire *Sophie Hannah just gets better and better, with experience adding rocket fuel to her already high-octane yarns . . . Brilliantly cunning and entirely unpredictable * Guardian *Sophie Hannah's ingenious, almost surreal mysteries are so intricately constructed that it's impossible to guess how they will end . . . A compelling and disquieting story, told with the author's usual panache * Sunday Telegraph *Every so often a writer comes along whose freshness and originality blows the competition out of the water...Genuinely gripping, full of the unseen and yet fitting twists and turns that make good quality crime fiction such a pleasure * Yorkshire Post *Brilliantly creepy * Red Magazine *I'm surprised I had any nails left by the end of this addictive thriller * Eve *This disturbing tale is a cut above the average crime thriller, with an intelligent and inventive plot that raises questions about identity, guilt and the taboo of unfulfilling motherhood * Psychologies *A great read and an involving thriller * She *Hannah is an expert in creepy scenarios and plot twists that keep you guessing until the last page. The tension doesn't slacken for a second * Grazia *Hannah has established herself as a writer of offbeat thrillers that skillfully play on contemporary anxieties about motherhood and marriage. What keeps one reading is the creepy plausibility the author brings to her portrayal of a mind unhinged by the demands of parenthood * The Times *Hannah constructs a thriller that twists and turns satisfyingly through a series of ever-more surprising revelations * The Sunday Times *Statistics show that more and more women are committing acts of "family annihilation". In THE POINT OF RESCUE Sophie Hannah tackles this distressing subject with sensitivity, while spinning a cracking story * Daily Telegraph *
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Hodder & Stoughton The Missing
Book SynopsisAn enthralling tale of abduction, guilt and redemption set in Jazz Age Louisiana, unanimously acclaimed by the critics.Trade Review'Remarkable...a rip-roaring adventure novel with a true depth of feeling' * Stephen Amidon, Sunday Times *A beautifully written, enthralling saga . . . a compelling novel * James Urquhart, Independent *Gautreaux writes action-packed novels that stand out for the extraordinary calibre of their prose * Andrew Rosenheim, The Times *Has the impact of a book twice its length . . . a dramatic, theatrical meditation on law and lawlessness * Alan Warner, Guardian *Tim Gautreaux's redemptive novel is a joy to read * Barclay McBain, Herald *Gautreaux brings a long-gone era to life in lush, fresh detail . . . this novel about the intricacies of the human heart has a great, beating one of its own. Life may be harsh and fleeting, but the missing are still missed. * Heather Thompson, Sunday Telegraph *Tim Gautreaux has managed to write a fine novel about a child's abduction without making it too upsetting. This isn't to say that the book is lightweight; nor does it duck the fear and trauma of the events it narrates. It has all the insight and metaphors you could wish for, but you end up zipping through it . . . impressively thrilling, and pleasingly complete * Tom Payne, Daily Telegraph *Gautreaux writes with sustained grace and creates memorable characters . . . What really sets THE MISSING apart, though, is his remarkable ability to realise the period . . . a rare and rather uncanny achievement: a novel about the South in the early Twenties that reads as though it was actually written there and then * John Dugdale, Literary Review *Full of vivid evocations of the sights, sounds and smells of the South. As Simoneaux pursues his morally driven detective mission the scent of the steaming mud of the cypress swamps and the sound of 1920s New Orleans jazz rise off the page * Claire Prentice, Scotsman *
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Vintage Publishing Spring Flowers Spring Frost
Book SynopsisFrom behind the closed door, the man shouts, ''Be on your way - you have no business here!''''Open up, I am the messenger of Death''.As spring arrives in the Albanian mountain town of B, some strange things are emerging in the thaw. Bank robbers strike the National Bank. Old terrors are dredged up from the shipwreck of history. And ultra-explosive state secrets are threatening to flood the entire nation. Mark, an artist, finds the peaceful rhythms of his life turned upside down by ancient love and modern barbarism and by the particular brutality of a country surprised and divided by its new freedom.One of the many pleasures of Mr Kadare''s writing is his supremely light touch' New York TimesTrade ReviewOne of the many pleasures of Mr Kadare's writing is his supremely light touch * New York Times *The themes are so sinister, the prose so genial. Post-communist disillusion and southern playfulness are blended here with such skill and subtlety that one almost fails to register Kadare's shocking originality * Independent on Sunday *One of Europe's great writers * Los Angeles Times *He has been compared to Gogol, Kafka and Orwell. But Kadare is an original voice, universal, yet deeply rooted in his own soul * Independent on Sunday *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Queen Of The Tambourine
Book SynopsisA wonderful bittersweet story about a misguided do-gooder.Trade Review** 'Brilliant' SUNDAY TIMES ** 'Marvellously subtle and moving' THE TIMES ** 'An ingenious, funny, satirical, sad story...Vivid and poignant' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ** 'Excellently done ... manic delusions were never so persuasive ... very moving when it is not being exceedingly funny' ANITA BROOKNER ** 'Wickedly comic ... masterly and hugely enjoyable' DAILY MAIL
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Little, Brown Book Group Unusual Uses For Olive Oil
Book SynopsisLife is so unfair, and it sends many things to try Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, author of Portuguese Irregular Verbs and pillar of the Institute of Romance Philology in the proud Bavarian city of Regensburg.There is the undeserved rise of his rival (and owner of a one-legged dachshund), Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer; the interminable ramblings of the librarian, Herr Huber; and the condescension of his colleagues with regard to his unmarried state. But when his friend Ophelia Prinzel takes it upon herself to match-make, and duly produces a cheerful heiress with her own Schloss, it appears that the professor''s true worth is about to be recognised.Maddening, idiotic and hugely entertaining, von Igelfeld is an inspired comic creation.
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Little, Brown Book Group Mendels Dwarf
Book SynopsisLike his great-great-great uncle, the early geneticist Gregor Mendel, Dr Benedict Lambert is struggling to unlock the secrets of heredity. But for Benedict the mission is particularly urgent and personal, for his is afflicted by achondroplasia. He is a dwarf. When a chance meeting leads him to the acceptance that he craves, he begins a journey towards correcting the injustice of his own capricious genes, with devastating consequences.As intelligent as it is entertaining, this witty novel is a gripping tale of scientific intrigue and moral uncertainty.Trade ReviewThis is a rare read: a scientifically informed, passionately intelligent novel which is also deeply moving * Telegraph *A serious novel shot through with laugher, it is also a love story . . . Impressive * The Times *Dark, funny and bitter . . . the ethical dilemmas of modern genetic research in a love story that lurches from sharp humour to jaw-dropping sadness . . . Marvellous * Independent *
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Little, Brown Book Group The Girl Who Fell From The Sky
Book SynopsisAn ''utterly gripping'' tale of love and espionage in Occupied France by the Man Booker Prize shortlisted author of The Glass Room (Daily Mail)Marian Sutro is an outsider: the daughter of a diplomat, brought up on the shores of Lake Geneva and in England, half French, half British, naive yet too clever for her own good. But when she is recruited from her desk job by SOE, the Special Operations Executive, to go undercover in wartime France, it seems her hybrid status - and fluent French - will be of service to a greater, more dangerous cause.Trained in sabotage, dead-drops, how to perform under interrogation and how to kill, Marian parachutes into south-west France, her official mission to act as a Resistance courier. But her real destination is Paris, where she must seek out family friend Clément Pelletier, once the focus of her adolescent desires. A nuclear physicist engaged in the race for a new and terrifying weapon, he is of urgent significanTrade ReviewI read late into the night and cried a little when I was done. Mawer's set pieces are so beautiful you want to read them two or three times over. He writes about fear and about bravery better than any contemporary novelist I know * Observer - Rachel Cooke *Combines a stirring adventure with a potent reflection on the allure of desire, duty and danger * Evening Standard *Such rewarding reading . . . Mawer is a genuinely great contemporary writer * Financial Times - Simon Schama *Where his last Booker-shortlisted novel, The Glass Room, gave an expansive overview of a whole country over the course of 50 years, Mawer's latest is a more intense and tightly-focused story. Radiating an atmosphere of tense suspicion and claustrophobia, it is utterly gripping from start to finish * Daily Mail *Masterly . . . A tour de force that grips and never lets go * Mail on Sunday - Max Davidson *There are many shades of Graham Greene here...delivers its story with the same delicate, stropped-razor deadliness that creeps up on you like Harry Lime in the shadows, nastily irresistible * Financial Times *If you only read one book this year, read this one * Scotsman - Allan Massie *[A] skillfully and intelligently executed thriller * Washington Post *Incorporating many of the finest elements of spy thrillers... a fascinating tale of and homage to the resistance fighters and members of the SOE * New York Journal of Book *Full of the fascinating minutiae of espionage - aircraft drops, code-cracking, double agents, scrambled radio messages...Mawer exhibits a great feeling for suspence, and produces memorable episodes in dark alleyways, deserted cafes, and shadowy corners of Père Lachaise * The New Yorker *A smart, well-paced spy thriller based on the true, extraordinary story of the SOE recruiting French-speaking British women during World War II to go undercover. Marian's journey from a young naïve school-girl to a cunning spy is well-developed and realistic, making her a memorable heroine * An Amazon.com Best Book of the Month *A fascinating WWII novel based in fact...Coming-of-age story meets old-fashioned tale of adventure * Publishers Weekly *Much-lauded British author Mawer vividly describes the deprivations in a war occupied country and its once-vibrant capital and provides testimony to the courage of countless members of the French Resistance. But this is primarily a masterfully crafted homage to the 53 extraordinary women of the French section of the SOE on whose actual exploits the novel is based. With its lyrical yet spare prose and heart-pounding climax, this is a compelling historical thriller of the highest order * Booklist, starred review *Masterly . . . A tour de force that grips and never lets go -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday *I read late into the night and cried a little when I was done. Mawer's set pieces are so beautiful you want to read them two or three times over. He writes about fear and about bravery better than any contemporary novelist I know -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *Such rewarding reading . . . Mawer is a genuinely great contemporary writer -- Simon Schama * Financial Times *If you only read one book this year, read this one -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *
£8.99
Little, Brown Book Group Heat And Dust
Book SynopsisThe beautiful, spoiled and bored Olivia, married to a civil servant, outrages society in the tiny, suffocating town of Satipur by eloping with an Indian prince. Fifty years later, her step-granddaughter goes back to the heat, the dust and the squalor of the bazaars to solve the enigma of Olivia''s scandal.''A superb book. A complex story line, handled with dazzling assurance . . . moving and profound. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has not only written a love story, she has also exposed the soul and nerve ends of a fascinating and compelling country. This is a book of cool, controlled brilliance. It is a jewel to be treasured'' THE TIMES
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Little, Brown Book Group Summer In February
Book SynopsisSir Alfred Munnings, retiring President of the Royal Academy, chooses the 1949 Annual Banquet to launch a savage attack on Modern Art. The effect of his diatribe is doubly shocking, leaving not only his distinguished audience gasping but also many people tuning in to the BBC''s live radio broadcast. But as he approaches the end of his assault, the speech suddenly dissolves into incoherence when he stumbles over a name - a name he normally takes such pains to avoid - that takes him back forty years to a special time and a special place.Summer in February is a disturbing and moving re-creation of a celebrated Edwardian artistic community enjoying the last days of a golden age soon to be shattered by war. As resonant and understated as The Go-Between, it is a love story of beauty, deprivation and tragedy.Trade Reviewan engrossing and surprisingly dark novel... * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *This is a book rich in incident and richer still in its subtle and intricate analysis of emotional depths. It is also a meticulous re-creation of artistic life near the beginning of this century. * THE TIMES *Imaginative. * DAILY MIRROR *Subtle and affecting, a tender Edwardian love story. * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING *
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Little, Brown Book Group Now and Then
Book SynopsisNow. Christopher Metcalfe returns to his family home in Kent after the death of his father. Sorting through a box of memorabilia from his days at public school, Chris is suddenly confronted by the face that has haunted him for thirty years.Then, as a callow fifth former enduring the excesses of a school system designed to run an Empire that no longer existed, a most extraordinary thing happened amid the thrashings, and cross-country runs: he was seduced by Stephen Walker, a prefect two years his senior with whom he went on to share a brief but intensely passionate affair. Now, again, alone, approaching the age of fifty, Christopher is painfully aware of the price he paid for letting go, and resolves to find Stephen, and discover what became of the only person he has ever loved.Delicately revealing the layers of both past and present as it alternates between now and then.William Corlett''s moving debut novel illuminates the vacuity of Christopher''s emotTrade ReviewBeautifully written and very moving. * MIDWEEK *Captures with sublime ease the tense bickering of a middle-class suburban family...Corlett describes their frenzied quandary beautifully. * Independent on Sunday *
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group Fortunes Rocks
Book SynopsisSet 100 years ago in Boston, Fortune''s Rocks is a classic of literary and romantic storytelling. Fourteen-year-old Olympic Biddeford is spending the summer with her parents at their seasonal house at Fortune''s Rocks. Her father handles her education himself and is in fact a publisher of mildly liberal literature. One author he admires, who also practises as a physician, comes to visit the house. 40 years old, married with four children, he still embarks on an affair with the adolescent girl. They have a swift, passionate summer, torn apart when they are discovered together during Olympic''s fifteenth birthday party. She is taken back to Boston, her parents are mortified and remove themselves from society. When Olympic is delivered of a baby boy nine months later, he is taken from her and she finds herself in exile at a ladies college and then as a governess. She decides she must get her child back, which means returning to Fortune''s Rocks... This sensuality of a girl''s rite of paTrade ReviewExceptionally fine ... Shreve writes with power and passion DAILY EXPRESS A powerful portrait of that dangerous limbo of a girl's adolescence when she is no longer a child but not yet a woman LITERARY REVIEW A quiet but highly charged novel in which intense emotion is counterpointed with an evocation of landscape Elizabeth Buchan, THE TIMES It seems like a mighty poem. FORTUNE'S ROCKS, you know, will prove much more than a place name OBSERVER
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Little, Brown Book Group Betty Blue
Book SynopsisThey were predicting storms for the end of the day but the sky stayed blue and the wind died down. I went to take a look in the kitchen - make sure things weren''t getting clogged up in the bottom of the pot. Everything was just fine. I went out onto the porch armed with a cold beer and stayed there for a while, my face in the sun. It felt good. It had been a week now that I''d been spending my mornings in the sun, squinting like some happy idiot - a week now since I''d met Betty.''BETTY BLUE remains a cult book and film nearly twenty years since its first outing. The extraordinary story of an erotic, doomed love affair has transfixed hundreds of thousands of readers around the world.Trade ReviewA brilliant, painful account of a doomed love affair. While the storm clouds are gathering, the teller of the story belives the picnic is forever. * Carlo Gebler *A story of love found and thwarted that also becomes a remarkable journey backward: from modernist narrative resignation and ennui into full-fledged emotional engagement, complicaiton, deepening of character and resolution... * Kirkus Reviews *Djian is a major writer. A page of his prose reads like nothing else, except perhaps another page of his. His writing is the real thing. * Le Monde *An atmosphere reminiscent of, by turns, Diva and Paris, Texas... Dijan's books soar above those of his contemporaries. * Paris Match *
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group The Familiar Volume 3
Book SynopsisThe Familiar Volume 1 Wherein the cat is found . . . The Familiar Volume 2 Wherein the cat is hungry . . .The Familiar Volume 3 Wherein the cat is blind . . .Released for the summer from the perils of school, Xanther and her nameless cat are settling into a comfortable routine at home. However, the rest of the Ibrahim family is growing more and more unsettled. Astair fears their stretched finances are already at a breaking point. Not even a visit from an old friend can mitigate Anwar’s feeling that he’s failing to support those he loves and that even worse things are to come. The twins, Freya and Shasti, sense something too and blame their older sister. Honeysuckles haunt the air and smell of offerings . . . Meanwhile, Cas and Bobby’s survival may depend on facing the one person they fear most. And on the other side of t
£18.70
Little, Brown Book Group Owls Do Cry
Book Synopsis''Owls Do Cry remains innovative and relevant'' GUARDIAN ''Janet Frame was a unique and troubled soul whose luminous words are the more precious'' HILARY MANTEL''Her dark, eloquent song captured my heart '' JANE CAMPIONOwls Do Cry is the story of the Withers family: Francie, soon to leave school to start work at the woollen mills; Toby, whose days are marred by the velvet cloak of epilepsy; Chicks, the baby of the family; and Daphne, whose rich, poetic imagination condemns her to a life in institutions.It is one of the classics of New Zealand literature and has remained in print continuously for fifty years. A fiftieth anniversary edition was published in 2007.Owls Do Cry is Janet Frame''s first novel. She describes her idea behind it in the second volume of her autobiography:''Pictures of great treasure in the midst of sadness and waste haunted me and I began to think, in fiction, of a chilTrade ReviewJanet Frame was a unique and troubled soul whose luminous words are the more precious because they were snatched from the jaws of the disaster of her early lifeOwls Do Cry remains innovative and relevant; Frame's idiosyncratic and startlingly visual style means that the book's immense power to unnerve, astonish and impress endures * Guardian *This is the era that saw the emergence of novelists including Doris Lessing, Muriel Spark and Iris Murdoch, and Frame's place alongside them would be assured if she never published anything but this one novel * Independent on Sunday *Owls Do Cry is a devastating reflection on the character of conventional society and the dangers that await those who reject its narrowness - and as such, is profoundly chilling. It is also a vivid social document, capturing the language and texture of the postwar period * Irish Times *Janet Frame's first novel, Owls Do Cry, created a sensation in New Zealand when it was published in 1957 . . . Her dark, eloquent song captured my heart . . . Frame gave Daphne this inner world of gorgeously imagined riches, but also affirmed it in me, and in countless other sensitive teenage girls: we had been given a voice - poetic, powerful and fated.Frame's tormented personal story was reflected in much of her fiction, which centered on the inadequacy of language to convey emotions * Los Angeles Times *An unforgettable and startlingly original work, a true and timeless classic of enduring power -- Margaret DrabbleJanet Frame is the greatest New Zealand writer. She is utterly herself. Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking -- Eleanor Catton
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Cornerstone The Dirk Gently Omnibus
Book SynopsisTwo quirky detective stories from Britain''s best sci-fi writer and author of The Hitch Hiker''s Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams.Dirk Gently is a detective - well, a sort of detective. There is a long and honourable tradition of great detectives and Dirk Gently does not belong to it. Dirk Gently calls himself a ''holistic detective'' and above all, he believes in ''the interconnectedness of all things''. Sherlock Holmes observed that once you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Dirk Gently, however, does not like to eliminate the impossible. In Dirk Gently''s Holistic Detective Agency a simple search for a missing cat reveals two ghosts, a dodo, an Electric Monk, the devastating secret that lies behind the whole of human history and threatens to bring it to a premature close, and, finally, the utterly terrifying reason why Richard MacDuff has had a sofa stuck on his stairs for three weeks.
£17.00
Cornerstone Scandal Takes A Holiday
Book SynopsisFans of S. J. Parris, Donna Leon, Steven Saylor, C. J. Sansom will absolutely love this captivating page-turner of a historical mystery from multi-million copy bestselling author Lindsey Davis. Full of twists, turns and tension - you''ll be hooked from page one...''Davis''s writing zings with fun'' -- Daily Mail''One of the best of the current writers in this field'' -- Donna Leon, The Times''Very addictive and, at times, difficult to put down'' -- ***** Reader reviewI was mesmerized and thrilled -- ***** Reader reviewLindsey Davis at her best -- ***** Reader reviewA cracking good read -- ***** Reader review****************************************************************************************ALL THE NEWS THAT''S FIT TO DIE FOR...In the wealthy town of Ostia, our hero Falco appears to be enjoying a relaxing holiday. But when his girlfriend, Helena, arrives carrying a batch of old copies of the Daily Gazette - with the intention of catching up on the latest scandal - Falco is forced to admit to Petronius his real reasons for being there...''Infamia'', the pen name of the scribe who writes the gossip column for the Daily Gazette, has gone missing. His fellow scribes have employed Falco to find him and bring him back from his lazy, drunken truancy. However, Falco suspects that there is more to his absence than there might first appear...Trade ReviewThis is the sixteenth Falco novel, and they have built up a large following. It is not hard to see why. They are amiable and unpretentious...The research that has gone into them allows the externals of Roman life to be presented in an evocative way. Yet the interior life of the characters remains reassuringly modern...Philip Marlowe in a toga. * Times Literary Supplement *...an entertaining mystery * Sunday Telegraph *
£9.49
Cornerstone In the Kings Name
Book SynopsisIt is January 1819, and Captain Adam Bolitho ships out from Falmouth bound for Freetown, on the old the slave coast of Africa. H.M.S. Onward carries sealed orders in the strongbox below deck. But why all the secrecy and apparent urgency? And why Onward, so soon after the Mediterranean, and that bloody action with Nautilus? On their way back into port having completed their mission, the crew of the Onward spy the debris of an allied frigate, destroyed as if taken by surprise. Bodies are strewn among the shark-infested waters and no enemy in sight. A single word frozen on the lips of the dead. Mutiny. The men begin to question who is friend and who is foe. All is not well aboard the Onward; envy and hunger for power consume some of the crew, but they must band together and risk their lives, in the name of the King. A searing and gripping tale of trouble on the high seas, and of the weakness of the human spirit, In the King''s Name<Trade ReviewOne of our foremost writers of naval fiction... authentic, inspiring, well characterised and, finally, moving * Sunday Times *Excellent...comparable to the wonderful Hornblower novels. Kent describes characters and actions with great clarity and skill * Independent on Sunday *The storytelling has an easy mastery, how well Kent knows the psychology of navalmen * Sunday Telegraph *
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