Contemporary Fiction

'To mother is to murder, or close enough', thinks Johanna, as she looks at the spelling of the two words in Norwegian. She's recently widowed and back in Oslo after a long absence as she prepares for a retrospective of her art. The subject of her work is motherhood and some of her more controversial paintings have brought about a dramatic rift between parent and child. This new proximity, after decades of acrimonious absence, set both women on edge, and before too long Johanna finds her mother stalking her thoughts, and Johanna starts stalking her mother's house.

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“I loved this mythic American story. My heart overflowed with affection and raced with terror for Weldon Applegate! Josh Ritter’s lyrical imagination frolics unfettered on page after fast-turning page.” —Anaïs Mitchell, writer of Hadestown In the tiny timber town of Cordelia, Idaho, everyone has heard tales of the Applegates. Local legend says their family line boasts some of the greatest lumberjacks to ever roam the American West, and from the moment young Weldon stepped foot in the deep Cordelia woods as a child, he dreamed of joining the rowdy ranks of his ancestors in their epic axe-swinging adventures. But at the beginning of the twentieth century, times are changing fast, and the jacks are dying out. On his deathbed nearly a century later, Weldon Applegate recounts his life in all its glory, filled with tall tales writ large with murder, mayhem, avalanches and bootlegging. It’s the story of dark pine forests brewing with ancient magic, and Weldon’s struggle as a boy to keep his father’s inherited timber claim, the Lost Lot, from the ravenous clutches of Linden Laughlin.

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In the second book of Nora Roberts’s Dream Trilogy, the ever practical Kate Powell finds her career sidetracked by a scandal—one that will teach her the value of family, friendship, and love…Surrounded by the sweeping cliffs and beauty of Big Sur, Kate Powell treasured both her life at Templeton House and the family who raised her like one of their own. Although Kate lacked Margo’s beauty and Laura’s elegance, she knew she had something they would never possess—a shrewd head for business. Driven by ambition, Kate measured her life’s success with each soaring promotion. But now faced with professional impropriety, Kate is forced to look deep within herself—only to find something missing in her life...and in her heart. Don't miss the other books in the Dream TrilogyDaring to DreamFinding the Dream

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'Inventive, excellent ... a pure pleasure to read' THE TIMES In this compelling debut, an unknowable legacy passes through generations of one family living on the beautiful island of Barbados.

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The hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behind EDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS.Dear Morrissey,I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time.Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand...It's 1991. Raymond Marks is a normal boy, from a normal family, in a normal northern town. Only lately, he's been feeling dead down. His dad left home after falling in love with a five-string banjo. His fun-hating grandma believes she should have married Jean-Paul Sartre: 'I could never read his books, but y' could tell from his picture, there was nothing frivolous about John-Paul Sartre.' Felonious Uncle Jason and Appalling Aunty Paula are lusting after the satellite dish.And so he turns to the one person who'll understand what he's going through: Morrissey. Told through a series of heartfelt letters to the frontman of The Smiths, this is a laugh-out-loud funny, incredibly poignant tale from a character you can't help but love.'Big-hearted, wonderfully funny and engrossing' THE MIRROR'A warm, funny, poignant story. I loved The Wrong Boy - and so will you' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'A comic masterpiece' BEL MOONEY, MAIL ON SUNDAY

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_______________________________SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION'A dazzling tale... woven with poetry and storyteller magic.' AMY TANTilo, an immigrant from India, runs a spice shop in Oakland, California. While she supplies the ingredients for curries and kormas, she also dispenses wisdom and the appropriate spice: for Tilo is a Mistress of Spices, a priestess of the secret magical powers of spices.To those who visit her shop, Tilo prescribes coriander for the restoration of sight, chilli for the cleansing of evil, fenugreek for the pain of rejection. But when a lonely American ventures into the store, a troubled Tilo cannot find the correct spice, for he arouses in her a forbidden desire - which if she follows will destroy her magical powers.Compelling and lyrical, full of heady scents and with more than a touch of humour, this novel explores the clash between East and West even as it unveils the universal mysteries of the human heart.'I felt excited and empowered by the way she used words' NAOMI ALDERMAN, author of THE POWER'Unusual, clever, and often exquisite' LA Times_______________________________

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Lose yourself in this absorbing and touching novel about change and the challenge to accept it from multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope. Beautifully written with exquisitely drawn characters and demonstrating a superb ability to understand people and relationships, it is perfect for readers of Elizabeth Noble, Erica James and Amanda Prowse.'A beautifully drawn portrait of Cathedral life' -- Sunday Express'A modern Barchester Chronicle' -- Sunday Telegraph'Richly satisfying' -- Evening Standard'Another wonderful book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Joanna Trollope never disappoints' -- ***** Reader review'Another tour de force by Trollope' -- ***** Reader review'One of those stories that stay with you' -- ***** Reader review***********************************************************************************ONLY A MIRACLE CAN UNITE A CONGREGATION IN TURMOIL...In the gentle precinct of Aldminster Cathedral, crisis looms.The urbane and worldly Dean wants nothing so much as to restore and beautify his beloved Cathedral - even if it means sacrificing the Choir School to pay for it.Alexander Troy, Headmaster of the school, a conscientious man, is determined that nothing and no-one - certainly not the overbearing Dean - should destroy the Choir.As the rift widens to take on immense dimensions, many others find themselves caught in the schism - Leo Beckford, brilliant but wayward organist, repelling the adoration of the Dean's dreadful daughter; the gentle, left-wing Bishop, trying to soothe the angry protagonists; Sally Ashworth, mother of the leading chorister, fighting loneliness and an erring and absent husband...Each frail and human dilemma takes its part in the greater turmoil of Chapter and Close and the final battle for the survival of the Choir.

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THE ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER FROM THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR.'A masterpiece' - The Times'Shamelessly entertaining' - GuardianThe sensual and provocative second book in the classic Cairo Trilogy, Palace Of Desire follows the Al Jawad family into the awakening world of the 1920's and the sometimes violent clash between Islamic ideals, personal dreams and modern realities.Having given up his vices after his son's death, ageing patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad pursues a bewitching lute-player - only for her to marry his eldest son. His rebellious children struggle to move beyond his domination as they test the loosening reins of societal and parental control. And Ahmad's youngest son, in an unforgettable portrayal of unrequited love, falls for the sophisticated daughter of a rich Europeanised family.A vivid portrait of a family and a country in a time of upheaval, the Cairo Trilogy is the greatest and best loved work by the 20th century's most important Arab novelist.

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Fans of Erica James, Elizabeth Noble and Amanda Prowse will devour this gripping novel by multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope which lays bare the snags and frustrations of family life and the dangerous pressure points in relationships. Guaranteed to keep you hooked...'Written with all Trollope's customary skill and panache, this is an absorbing look at the modern military wife who no longer automatically follows the drum' -- Daily Mail'The Soldier's Wife is a cracking read and has clearly been thoroughly researched. All the little details which animate a novel ring true... compassionate, humourous and topical' - Spectator'Another great page turner from Joanna Trollope, one of her best' -- ***** Reader review'My only criticism - it was too short - I didn't want it to end!' -- ***** Reader review'Hard to put down' -- ***** Reader review'I couldn't put the book down!' -- ***** Reader review**************************************************************DOES MARRYING A SOLDIER ALWAYS HAVE TO MEAN YOU ARE NOT MARRYING A MAN, BUT A REGIMENT? The soldiers are coming home - after six months in Afghanistan. Surely being reunited with their wives and girlfriends and families will be heaven, after the hell they have been through.When Dan Riley returns to his adored wife, Alexa, and their children, his Army life still comes first. Alexa thought she was prepared to help him, and the whole family, to make the transition to normal life again - but no-one had told her how lonely and near impossible the task would be...

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1936: London is abuzz with gossip about the affair between Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. But the king is not the only member of the aristocracy with a hard decision to make. Owen Montignac, the handsome and charismatic descendent of a wealthy land-owning family, is anxiously awaiting the reading of his late uncle's will. For Owen has run up huge gambling debts and casino boss Nicholas Delfy has given him a choice: find £50,000 by Christmas - or find yourself six feet under.So when Owen discovers that he has been cut out of the will in favour of his beautiful cousin Stella, it is time to prove just how cunning he can be... And Owen is nothing if not inventive - even a royal crisis can provide the means for profit. And for murder...

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Family and business, husbands and wives, parents and children. It's always a balancing act... In this emotional and thought-provoking novel, multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope expertly weaves a study of familial relationships with a lightness of tone and real sense of compassion. Fans of Elizabeth Noble, Erica James and Amanda Prowse will not be disappointed. 'To be relished.' -- The Times'Joanna Trollope's evocations of human relationships are, as ever, penetrating and engaging.' -- Daily Express'A joy to read' -- ***** Reader review'A great read, very engrossing and hard to put down' -- ***** Reader review 'A real page-turner' -- ***** Reader review'Sublime' -- ***** Reader review********************************************************************************************WHEN EVERYTHING YOU'VE WORKED TO ACHIEVE SUDDENLY FEELS PRECARIOUS, YOU'LL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO KEEP IT STABLE...Four strong women. All working in a family business. But what happens when they begin to want different things? And what about the men - and the children - in their lives?Susie Moran has always been the breadwinner in her family. Her husband was the one who was there for their three girls. But now he wants something of his past back - the life he had before Susie's career took off, before they had children. And those children don't see their mother's business the way she has always seen it, thereby threatening the balance she has worked so hard to achieve.And then, amidst the simmering tensions, someone significant from the past, someone almost forgotten, turns up. The problems of the past, the present, and the future all become challenges to the stability of both family and work. Which relationships - if any - will survive?

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'I was twelve years old the first time I walked on water . . .'So begins Mr Vertigo, the story of Walt, an irrepressible orphan from the Mid-West. Under the tutelage of the mesmerising Master Yehudi, Walt is taken back to the mysterious house on the plains to prepare not only for the ability to fly, but also for the stardom that will accompany it. At the same time a delighted race through 1920s Americana and a richly allusive parable, Mr Vertigo is a compelling, magical novel - a work of true originality by a writer at the height of his powers. 'A virtuoso piece of storytelling by a master of the modern American fable.' The Independent

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A haunting novel by 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel) and 'the Irish novelist everyone should read' (Colm Tóibín). A day, crucial and cathartic, in the life of a young Catholic schoolteacher who has returned to Ireland after a year's sabbatical in London where he married an American divorcee. As a result he now faces certain dismissal by the school authorities. Moving from the earliest memories of both the man and the woman, the novel recreates their breaking of the shackles of guilt and duty into the acceptance of a fulfilling adult love.'A beautiful, irresistible work of imagination. Sunday Telegraph'Wise and compelling ... Elegiac and graceful.' David Mitchell'I have admired, even loved, John McGahern's work since his first novel.' Melvyn Bragg

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The provocative novel by 'one of the greatest writers of our era' (Hilary Mantel) and 'the Irish novelist everyone should read' (Colm Tóibín).Michael, a writer of pornographic fiction, creates an ideal world of sex through his two stock athletes, Colonel Grimshaw and Mavis Carmichael, while he bungles every phase of his entanglement with an older woman who has the misfortune to fall in love with him. But his insensitivity to this love is in direct contrast to the tenderness with which he attempts to make his aunt's slow death in hospital tolerable, while his employer, Maloney, failed poet and comic king of pornographers, comes gradually to preside over this broken world. Everywhere in this rich novel is the drama of opposites, but, above all, sex and death are never far from each other.'Wise and compelling ... Elegiac and graceful.' David Mitchell'I have admired, even loved, John McGahern's work since his first novel.' Melvyn Bragg

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The hugely acclaimed novel of '70s football and the turmoil of the game's most charismatic and controversial manager, from the bestselling author of GB84 and Red or Dead.One of Mike Atherton's 'Top Ten Best Sports Books' in The TimesIn 1974 the brilliant and controversial Brian Clough made perhaps his most eccentric decision: he accepted the position of Leeds United manager. A successor to Don Revie, his bitter adversary, Clough was to last just 44 days.In one of the most acclaimed British novels of recent years - subsequently made into a film starring Michael Sheen - David Peace takes us into the mind and thoughts of Ol' Big 'Ead himself, and brings vividly to life one of football's most complex and fascinating characters.

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Carole Barber has come to Paris, with its rain-slick slate roofs and winding streets, to work on her novel - and to find herself after a lifetime in the spotlight. A legend of film and stage, Carole has set a standard of beauty and grace, devoting herself to her family and causes around the world. But on this cool November evening, as her taxi speeds into a tunnel just past the Louvre, a fiery instant of terror shatters hundreds of lives - and leaves Carole alone, unconscious and unidentified in a Paris emergency room.At the Ritz, they wonder where their famous, incognito guest has gone.From California to London, Carole's friends and family begin to make inquiries. Then comes a moment of shock as they realize that Carole is in a hospital far from home, fighting for her life. In the days that follow, the paparazzi swarm. A mysterious stranger, a man famous in his own realm, quietly visits the hospital to see the woman he once loved and never forgot. Carole's two grown children rush to her bedside, waiting and praying - until the miraculous begins to happen . . . But as a woman whom the whole world knows slowly awakens, she knows nothing of herself. Every detail must be pieced back together - from a childhood in rural Mississippi to the early days of her career, from the unintentional hurt inflicted on her daughter to a fifteen year-old secret love affair that went tragically wrong. But for Carole, an extraordinary opportunity has arisen in a life-threatening crisis: a second chance to count her blessings, heal wounded hearts, recapture lost love . . . and to live a life that will truly honor others -beginning with herself.A tale of survival and dignity, of small miracles and big surprises, Honor Thyself creates an unforgettable portrait of a public figure whose hopes, fears, and heartbreaks are as real as our own.Her courageous journey inspires us all.

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Bill is a dedicated young lawyer working in New York. He leaves everything he trained for to follow his dream to become a minister in rural Wyoming. Jenny, his fashion stylist wife, leaves the milieu and life she loves to join him. The certainty they share is that their destinies are linked forever. Fast forward thirty-eight years. Robert is a hard-working independent book publisher in Manhattan, looking for one big hit novel to publish. Lillibet is a young Amish woman, living as though in the seventeenth century, caring for her widowed father and three young brothers on their family farm. In secret at night, by candlelight, she has written the novel that burns within her. When it falls into Robert’s hands, he falls in love first with the book, and then with the woman he has never met. In the hands of bestselling author Danielle Steel, these two remarkable relationships come together in unexpected and surprising ways, as lovers are lost, and find each other again. If it is true that real love lasts forever and lovers cannot lose each other, then Until the End of Time will not only comfort and fascinate us, as destiny does her dance, but it will give us hope as well. Love and fate are powerful, irresistible forces, as Steel proves to us here, in a book about courage, change, risk, and hope…and love that never dies.

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NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES Frustrated at the path her life has taken, Alice decides to take control of her personal life using astrology as her guide in this quirky, steamy, and hilarious romantic comedy.Alice Bassi is (a little) over thirty, single (not by choice), and she can’t help but feel that she is failing at this whole adulthood thing. She’s stuck in a dead-end job, just found out her ex-boyfriend is engaged to his pregnant girlfriend, and Richard Gere hasn’t shown up with flowers and a limo to save her from it all. On one particularly disastrous morning—when Alice would much rather have stayed home, curled up with her favorite rom-coms—she meets Davide Nardi. Handsome yet indecipherable, Davide would be the leading man of Alice’s dreams—if only he weren’t the “hatchet man” brought in to help streamline production and personnel at the small television network she works fo

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This heart-warming and uplifting novel from multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope is perfect for fans of Elizabeth Noble, Erica James and Amanda Prowse. It's a story of relationships in which everybody can find something to identify with, and even learn from. Perfect to settle down with!'The queen of the domestic dilemma...observant and empathetic' - The Sunday Times'The ebb and flow of relationships is brilliantly handled' - The Observer'One of the finest chroniclers of how we live now' - Independent on Sunday'A highly readable, often un-put-down-able novel which I thoroughly enjoyed.' -- ***** Reader review'Excellent, engaging novel. Like having a warm blanket around your shoulders!' -- ***** Reader review'Trollope at her best again' -- ***** Reader review***************************************************************************************SECOND HONEYMOON: THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERWhen the children have come and gone, can a marriage pick up where it left off?Ben is, at last, leaving home. At twenty-two, he's the youngest of the family.His mother, Edie, an actress, is distraught.His father, Russell, a theatrical agent, is rather hoping to get his wife back.His brother, Matthew, is struggling in a relationship in which he achieves and earns less than his girlfriend.And his sister, Rosa, is wrestling with debt and the end of a turbulent love affair.Meet the Boyd family and the empty nest, twenty-first-century style.

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'According to his mother, Jack Burns was an actor before he was an actor, but Jack's most vivid memories of childhood were those moments when he felt compelled to hold his mother's hand. He wasn't acting then.' Jack Burns' mother, Alice, is a tattoo artist in search of the boy's father, a virtuoso organist named William who has fled America to Europe. To fund her journey, she plies her trade in the seaports of the Baltic coast. But her four-year-old son's errant father can't be found, and soon even Jack's memories of that perplexing time are called into question. It is only when he becomes a Hollywood actor in later life that what he has experienced in the past comes into telling play in his present......

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India Taylor lived in a world of manicured lawns and neatly-maintained calendars. With four wonderful children, India believed in commitment and sacrifice, just as she believed in Doug, the man she had married seventeen years before. She had chosen this life, not the award-winning career as a photojournalist she once had, and it was a choice she had never regretted - until she began to regret it with all her heart.India couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when the price of the sacrifices she she'd made began to seem high. But when she met Paul Ward, a Wall Street tycoon married to a bestselling author, India could share her dreams with him, and offer comfort when he suffered a heartbreak of his own. India hadn't planned to become Paul's friend, and anything more was unthinkable.When Paul urged India to reclaim her career, Doug was adamantly against it, determined to keep her tied to the home. But with Paul's encouragement India slowly, painfully, began to break free and find herself again.

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A tale of two schools...At Bagley Hall, a notoriously wild, but increasingly academic, independent, crammed with the children of the famous, trouble is afoot. The ambitious and fatally attractive headmaster, Hengist Brett-Taylor, hatches a plan to share the facilities of his school with Larkminster Comprehensive - known locally, as 'Larks'.His reasons for doing so are purely financial, but he is encouraged by the opportunities the scheme gives him for frequent meetings with Janna Curtis, the dynamic new head of Larks, who has been drafted in to save what is a fast-sinking school from closure. Janna is young, pretty, enthusiastic and vastly brave - and she will do anything to rescue her demoralised, run-down and cash-strapped school.Neither parents nor staff of either school are too keen on this radical move, although some can see the possible financial advantages. For the students, however, it offers great opportunities to get up to even more mayhem than usual.------------------------------------'Simply enjoy the wicked pleasures Cooper does so well' The Observer 'A brilliantly refreshing read' Polly Vernon'The perfect beach companion' Daily Mail'I devoured it with as much joy as I would a bucket of pistachio ice cream' Daily Mail

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Betrayed and left for dead high in the Alps, Nick Stone is in trouble. The blood on his hands tells of a head wound he can’t see and his foggy memory confirms it. He knows only one thing for certain – someone, somewhere wants to kill him. And they think they’ve succeeded.Stone wants revenge, but the only person who can help him is a seven year old boy. Not much protection in the pursuit of a gang of faceless men who trade in human misery. But this run-of-the-mill close protection task is about to become Stone’s most personal mission yet.Payback is top of Stone’s agenda. The fuse has been ignited – but who really holds the detonator?

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From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.'It should be read by all' VOGUE'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never thought I'd hear from him again, but now we're writing a book together'To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'. But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity.

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A classic tale of love and adventure from the author of the Captain Hornblower series. The film adaptation, which starred Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, became one of the most popular films ever made.The African Queen is an old, dirty, ugly, unreliable steamboat - not the kind of boat anyone would take down a dangerous river through the jungles of Central Africa. But Rose Sayer and Charlie Allnut do just that. Why do they do it? The First World War has just begun, and Rose has a crazy plan. She and Charlie set off down the river and come close to death many times, but they survive all dangers - except the danger of falling in love.

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A thrilling,swashbuckling adventure series starring the Spanish D'ArtagnanCaptain Alatriste is a swordsman for hire in Spain at a timewhen Court intrigue is high and the decadent young king has dragged the countryinto a series of disastrous wars. As a hired blade, Alatriste becomes involvedin many political plots and must live by his wits. He comes face to face withhired assassins, court players, political moles, smugglers, pirates and ofcourse, the infamous Spanish Inquisition...Introducing Iñigo Balboa, Alatriste's young page; Quevedo, asubversive poet who likes to start fights in the local tavern, the elegantCount of Guadalmedina, and the beautiful but deadly Angelica de Alquezar,CAPTAIN ALATRISTE is a thrilling tale of adventure and intrigue that will appealto anyone who enjoyed The Three Musketeers.

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'Heart and humour in abundance... exquisite' The TimesAfter fifty years in London, Alice wants to live out her days in the land of her birth. Her children are divided on whether she stays or goes, and in the wake of their father's death, the imagined stability of the family begins to fray. Meanwhile youngest daughter Melissa has never let go of a love she lost, and Michael in return, now married to Nicole, is haunted by the failed perfection of the past. As Alice's final decision draws closer, all that is hidden between them rises to the surface . . .Set against the shadows of a city and a country in turmoil, Diana Evans's ordinary people confront fundamental questions. How should we raise our children? How to do right by our parents? And how, in the midst of everything, can we satisfy ourselves?'A gorgeous novel from one of our most outstanding writers' Bernardine Evaristo'Diana Evans is fast proving herself a novelist to rank alongside Anne Tyler' Daily Mail'A warm but devastating narrative... Like any Evans novel, it is unputdownable' Harper's BazaarA New York Times *100 Notable Books of 2023*Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political FictionSelected in Best Reads of 2023 by The Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, New Statesman and Good HousekeepingA Waterstones Book of the YearThe Bookseller Editor’s ChoiceThe New York Times Book Review Editors’ ChoiceStarred Kirkus ReviewGuardian Book of the Day

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