Contemporary fiction titles are those which focus on the present or near past. Stories rooted in the current cultural, social, and political landscape which feature characters we can all recognise.
Contemporary Fiction Books
Cornerstone Omerta
Book SynopsisMario Puzo was born in New York. He is the author of the bestselling novel The Godfather and many other acclaimed novels. Puzo also wrote many screenplays, including those for the three Godfather movies, for which he won two academy awards. He died at his home in Long Island, New York, at the age of seventy-eight.Trade ReviewHugely effective fiction ... [Puzo] keeps his pack with readers to unfailingly deliver the goods * Literary Review *Here is all the classic material of Mafia mythology ... spins a spell all its own * The Times *Puzo's genius was to create a world so thick with personality and acknowledged rules of behaviour, along with its crime and violence, that reading his books becomes a seriously guilty pleasure * New York Post *
£9.49
Cornerstone Kisscut
Book SynopsisKarin Slaughter is one of the world's most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her nineteen novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated Cop Town and the instant NewYork Times bestselling novels Pretty Girls, The Good Daughter, and Pieces of Her.Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project-a nonprofit organisation established to support libraries and library programming.For more information visit KarinSlaughter.comAuthorKarinSlaughter@SlaughterKarinTrade ReviewA great read ... crime fiction at its finestA complex and confident thriller in which character goes deep * Daily Mirror *With Blindsighted, Karin Slaughter left a great many thriller writers looking anxiously over their shoulders. With Kisscut, she leaves most of them behindSlaughter's plotting is relentless, piling on surprises and twists ... [Kisscut] should come with a psychological health warning * Guardian *Fast-paced and unsettling ... A compelling and fluid read * Daily Telegraph *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing Her Fearful Symmetry
Book SynopsisWhen Elspeth Noblin dies she leaves her beautiful flat overlooking Highgate Cemetery to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina Poole, on the condition that their mother is never allowed to cross the threshold. But until the solicitor''s letter falls through the door of their suburban American home, either Julia nor Valentina knew their aunt existed. The twins hope that in London their own, separate, lives can finally begin but they have no idea that they''ve been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt''s mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them and works in the cemetery itself. As the twins unravel the secrets of their aunt, who doesn''t seem quite ready to leave her flat, even after death, Niffenegger weaves together a delicious and deadly ghost story about love, loss and identity.Trade ReviewDark and delicious -- Tom Adair * Scotsman *What is really satisfying about this novel, like The Time Traveler's Wife, is its depiction of relationships: the process of grief, the transforming power of love * Daily Telegraph *An original, outrageous, and thoroughly enjoyable ghost story * Independent *There may be ghosts, but it's the human stories that glitter * Elle *A rich, involving novel * The Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Grimus
Book SynopsisSalman Rushdie is the author of sixteen novels, including Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), The Satanic Verses, and Quichotte (which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022.Trade Review"Thunderous and touching" Financial Times "Engrossing and wonderful" Los Angeles Times "Ambitious, strikingly confident" Times Literary Supplement "Stimulating, funny, a thoroughly good read" Harpers & Queen "A mixture of science fiction and folktale, past and future, primitive and present day... Grimus is a parallel form of life, and conjuring of an alternative society" Financial Times
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Cal
Book SynopsisFor Cal, some choices are devastatingly simple... He can work in an abattoir that nauseates him or join the dole queue; he can brood on his past or plan a future with Marcella. Springing out of the fear and violence of Ulster, Cal is a haunting love story in a land were tenderness and innocence can only flicker briefly in the dark.Trade ReviewSimple humanity, eloquently caught....Though Cal is a bleak novel, there is a flicker of lyricism running through it, like the sun shining through the shattered windows of a ruined church * New York Times *To fashion a short, telling novel out of the hideous complexities of Northern Ireland takes narrative skill of a high order. In Cal Bernard MacLaverty has managed to do it superbly -- Nina BawdenIt performs the remarkable feat of compressing into its short span both a doomed love affair and an account of the impossibility of living, in the circumstances of that doomed province, without redemption and without punishment… MacLaverty has a true feeling for tragedy’ -- Anita Brookner
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Karoo
Book SynopsisSteve Tesich wrote many plays and screenplays, including the Academy Award-winning Breaking Away and The World According to Garp. His first novel, Summer Crossing, was published in 1982. He died in 1996 at the age of fifty-three.Trade ReviewKaroo has all the ingredients of a truly great novel. Its plot has the pathos of a Greek tragedy and enough twists and turns to satisfy the most avid Raymond Chandler fan. The characters come alive as soon as they appear on the page. Fantastic * Literary Review *Utterly wonderful... This novel does supremely what novels were invented to do - it confronts the most unbearable sadness with a comic exhilaration that makes you almost pleased that life is tragic -- Howard JacobsonMordantly funny, unexpectedly moving and brutally honest about the business of making movies -- Richard E GrantFascinating. A real satiric invention, loaded with wise outrage -- Arthur MillerTerrific. Nakedly honest, a tour de force of self-destruction. As Saul spirals into free-fall we're with him all the way, because he's so furiously funny -- Deborah Moggach
£9.49
Galley Beggar Press All My Precious Madness
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Golgotha
Book SynopsisTwo men, decades apart, traverse the same land in search of fabled treasure in this haunting conclusion to Lavie Tidhar's epic Maror Trilogy.
£17.00
Penguin Books Ltd How to Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia
Book SynopsisA sharp, fresh satire for the ruthless modern world - for fans of Dave Eggers, Ben Lerner and Gary Shtenygart''Mohsin Hamid is one of the best writers in the world, period. Only a master could have written this propulsive tale of a striver living on the knife''s edge, a noir Horatio Alger story for our frenetic, violent times'' Ben FountainThis book is a self-help book. Its objective, as it says on the cover, is to show you how to get filthy rich in rising Asia. And to do that it has to find you, huddled, shivering, on the packed earth under your mother''s cot one cold, dewy morning. Your anguish is the anguish of a boy whose chocolate has been thrown away, whose remote controls are out of batteries, whose scooter is busted, whose new sneakers have been stolen. This is all the more remarkable since you''ve never in your life seen any of these things . . .''Even more intriguing, compelling and moving than The Reluctant Fundamentalist. A marvelTrade ReviewDazzling, addictive, tremendous. A writer at the height of his powers with a hell of a story to tell * Guardian *Beautifully conceived and exquisitely executed * Sunday Times *The new voice of a changing continent. A writer at the top of his game * Metro *No story could be more of our time than this one. Conceptually brilliant and truly empathic -- Nell Freudenberger * Metro *An ultra-intelligent and knowing account of life in the developing world. Simply brilliant * Daily Mail *Isn't this the definition of great fiction, that even when it begins with a character . . . who's nothing like you, by the end you are convinced that it really is about you? That's a kind of miracle * Salon *Even more intriguing, compelling and moving than The Reluctant Fundamentalist. A marvellous book * Philip Pullman *A dazzling stylistic tour de force; a love story disguised as a self help parody freighted with sly social satire. As timely and timeless a novel as I've read in years -- Jay McInerney
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Flight From the Enchanter
Book SynopsisIris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.Trade ReviewA spirited fantasia in several keys...brilliant, witty and original * Sunday Times *Miss Murdoch's prose has music even as it has intelligence and wit * Spectator *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Sushi for Beginners
Book Synopsis*** CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS AUTHOR OF THE YEAR 2022***Dive into the blissfully funny No. 1 bestseller about three women who find themselves criss-crossing the line between success and failure, happiness and sadness, sanity and madness, from the No. 1 bestselling author of Grown Ups''Totally addictive . . . a real page turner'' SUNDAY EXPRESS''Brilliantly written and fabulously well-observed'' INDEPENDENT___________''Dammit,'' she realized. ''I think I''m having a nervous breakdown.''Lisa Edwards'' career as a hot-shot magazine editor is destined for high-rise New York, when suddenly she''s blown off-course into the delights of low-rise Dublin. But what on earth can she do about it?Ashling Kennedy, Lisa''s super-organized assistant, is good at worrying. Too good. She''s even terrified of a little bit of raw fish . . .Clodagh Kelly is AshTrade ReviewMarian Keyes' Sushi for Beginners is the blissfully funny, smart tale of three women who discover that the line between success and failure, happiness and sadness, sanity and madness is finer than they ever thought . . . 'Dammit,' she realized. 'I think I'm having a nervous breakdown.' * from the publisher's description *Classic Keyes. Constantly surprising, gloriously entertaining, and has a dark underbite that makes it irresistible * The Pool *Nails the joy and pain of the working world . . . a brilliantly written and fabulously well-observed romantic comedy * Independent *Should come with a health warning. It's totally addictive . . . a real page turner * Sunday Express *Chatty and warmhearted, Keyes's talent is to tell it how it is * Independent *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Rachel Papers
Book SynopsisAs Charles’s twentieth birthday – and the Oxford entrance exams – loom, his plans for seducing Rachel will draw him into a private collection of obsessional notes and observations: the eponymous ‘Rachel Papers’.Trade ReviewAmis has brought off the feat of satirizing his contemporaries while making them both funny and, in a bizarre way, moving * Peter Ackroyd *Scurrilous, shameless and very funny * Time Literary Supplement *Extravagantly sexual-highly enjoyable * Evening Standard *Amis's arrogantly assured manner is a formidable weapon, spraying the target with disdainful wit, ingenious obscenity, astute literariness, loathing, lust, anxiety and an all-pervading hyper-self-consciousness * Observer *A magnificent novel, a masterpiece really, its prose energetic, angry, honest and so funny -- Andrew Billen * The Times *
£9.49
Random House USA Inc The Picture of Dorian Gray
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories
Book SynopsisRyünosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) is one of Japan's foremost stylists - a modernist master whose short stories are marked by highly original imagery, cynicism, beauty and wild humour. Rashömon' and In a Bamboo Grove' inspired Kurosawa's magnificent film and depict a past in which morality is turned upside down, while tales such as The Nose', O-Gin' and Loyalty' paint a rich and imaginative picture of a medieval Japan peopled by Shoguns and priests, vagrants and peasants. And in later works such as Death Register', The Life of a Stupid Man' and Spinning Gears', Akutagawa drew from his own life to devastating effect, revealing his intense melancholy and terror of madness in exquisitely moving impressionistic stories.
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Haunting of Hill House
Book SynopsisA stunningly creepy deluxe hardcover edition with spot gloss, black sprayed edges, black-stained pages, and black endpapers.Part of a six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by Academy Award-winning director of The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro. Filmmaker and longtime horror literature fan Guillermo del Toro serves as the curator for the Penguin Horror series, a new collection of classic tales and poems by masters of the genre. Included here are some of del Toro?s favorites, from Mary Shelley?s Frankenstein and Ray Russell?s short story ?Sardonicus,? considered by Stephen King to be ?perhaps the finest example of the modern Gothic ever written,? to Shirley Jackson?s The Haunting of Hill House and stories by Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Ted Klein, and Robert E. Howard. Featuring original cover art by Penguin Art Director Paul Buckley, these stunningly creepy deluxe hardcovers will be perfect additions to the shelves of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal aficionados everywhere.The Haunting of Hill HouseThe classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson''s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a ?haunting;'' Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers?and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.Trade ReviewPraise for Penguin Horror Classics:“The new Penguin Horror editions, selected by Guillermo del Toro, feature some of the best art-direction (by Paul Buckley) I've seen in a cover in quite some time.” – Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing"Each cover does a pretty spectacular job of evoking the mood of the title in bold, screenprint-style iconography." – Dan Solomon, Fast Company
£18.69
HarperCollins Publishers The Christmas Card The perfect heartwarming novel
Book SynopsisThe perfect heartwarming romance for Christmas, rich in historical detail. She turned the picture of the Christmas card over with her frozen hands, a pretty picture of a family gathering at Yuletide. How different from her own life; stiff with cold on the icy cobbles, aching for shelter . . .When her father dies leaving Alice and her ailing mother with only his debts, the two grieving women are forced to rely on the begrudging charity of cruel Aunt Jane. Determined to rid herself of an expensive responsibility, Jane tries forcing Alice into a monstrous marriage. And when Alice refuses, she is sent to work in a grand house to earn her keep.Finding herself in sole charge of the untameable and spoilt young miss of the house, Alice's only ally is handsome Uncle Rory, who discovers that Alice has talents beyond those of a mere servant. But when someone sets out to destroy her reputation, Alice can only pray for a little of that Christmas spirit to save her from ruin . . .Trade ReviewPraise for Dilly Court: ‘A fast-paced, riveting read’ Sunday Express ‘A heart-warming, fast-paced story that will keep you gripped till the end’ The People’s Friend ‘As always Dilly keeps you absorbed right to the end’ Choice ‘A rollicking, fast-paced adventure with a hint of romance!’ My Weekly ‘Spellbinding . . . you just keep turning the pages’ Daily Mail ‘Feisty female characters to fall in love with in a spirited, adventurous novel’ Sunday Express ‘Atmospheric, vivid and compelling’ My Weekly ‘An excellent, well-researched read’ People’s Friend ‘Perfect for Downton Abbey fans … heart-tugging’ Peterborough Telegraph
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Singles Game Secrets and scandal the smash
Book SynopsisNew from the global bestselling author of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA: it's a match made in hell.Sweeping from Wimbledon to the Caribbean, from LA to mega yachts in the Med, The Singles Game is a brilliantly entertaining romp through a world where the stakes are high and no-one plays by the rules.When Charlotte Charlie' Silver makes a pact with the devil, infamously brutal tennis coach Todd Feltner, she finds herself catapulted into a world of stylists, private parties and secret dates with Hollywood royalty.Under Todd it's no more good-girl attitude: he wants warrior princess Charlie all the way. After all, no-one ever won by being nice.Celebrity mags and gossip blogs go wild for Charlie, chasing scandal as she jets around the globe. But as the warrior princess's star rises, both on and off the court, it comes at a high price. Is the real Charlie Silver still inside?Trade Review‘The perfect summer read, full of glamour, drama and gorgeous characters. It’s game, set and match to Weisberger’ HEAT ‘Brilliantly written, fun and so stuffed full of interesting characters you won’t be able to put it down’ Daily Mail ‘It’s got parties, it’s got romance . . . our perfect holiday read’ LOOK ‘Brilliant fun’ HELLO ‘Lovers of escapist romance need this book in their life . . . As gripping as any Wimbledon final’ Metro More praise for Lauren Weisberger: ‘The most fun we've had in ages.’ HEAT ‘Delicious…a great insight into the world of magazines and fashion.’ RED ‘This little gem mixes Sex and the City charm with dry New York wit.’ REAL ‘This entertaining read has all the pace, glamour and bitchy dialogue of the original’ SUNDAY MIRROR ‘Sparkling with Sex and the City-style glamour, this entertaining sequel comes a decade after the debut novel which became a smash-hit film’ HELLO
£9.86
Penguin Books Ltd The Jane Austen Book Club
Book SynopsisA moving, wise and delightfully modern comedy of manners from the bestselling, Man Booker shortlisted author Karen Joy Fowler.Six people - five women and a man - meet once a month in California''s Central Valley to discuss Jane Austen''s novels. They are ordinary people, neither happy nor unhappy, but each of them is wounded in different ways, they are all mixed up about their lives and relationships. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable - under the guiding eye of Jane Austen a couple of them even fall in love...''If I could eat this novel, I would'' Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones''A thoroughly delightful comedy of contemporary manners'' Entertainment Weekly''We defy you not to fall head over heels for this lovely novel'' Mail On Sunday
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd At Swimtwobirds
Book SynopsisFlann O''Brien''s innovative metafictional work, whose unruly characters strike out their own paths in life to the frustration of their author, At Swim-Two-Birds is a brilliant impressionistic jumble of ideas, mythology and nonsense published in Penguin Modern Classics.Flann O''Brien''s first novel tells the story of a young, indolent undergraduate, who lives with his curmudgeonly uncle in Dubin and spends far too much time drinking with his friends. When not drunk or in bed he likes to invent wild stories peoples with hilarious and unlikely characters - but somehow his creations won''t do what he wants them to. A dazzling work of farce, satire, folklore and absurdity that gives full rein to its author''s dancing intellect and Celtic wit, At Swim-Two-Birds is both a brilliant comic send-up of Irish literature and culture, and a portrayal of Dublin to compare with Joyce''s Ulysses.Brian Ó Nualláin, (1911-1966), better known by his pseudonym Flann O''Brien, was born in Strabane, County Tyrone, and studied at University College Dublin before joining the Irish Civil Service. Ifyou enjoyed At Swim-Two-Birds, you might like Vladimir Nabokov''s Pale Fire, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''This is just the book to give your sister if she''s a loud, dirty, boozy girl''Dylan Thomas''That''s a real writer, with the true comic spirit''James Joyce, author of Ulysses''A brilliant, beer-soaked miniature masterpiece''Time
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Two Lives
Book SynopsisPortrays two women with distinct backgrounds in two novels--Reading Turgenev and My house in Umbria--that describe how the imagination and the written word can comfort people in desperate hoursTrade ReviewAs rich and moving as anything I have read in years. When I reached the end of both of these marvellous novels, I wanted to start right again at the beginning * Guardian *These novels will endure. And in every beautiful sentence there is not a word out of place -- Anita Brookner * Spectator *Inquisitive and loving. Trevor's is among the most subtle and sophisticated fiction being written today * New York Review of Books *A writer at the peak of his powers; it reminds you what good reading is all about * Chicago Sun Times *Reading Turgenev is one of the most beautiful and memorable things he has written. It stays in your memory -like Turgenev * Independent on Sunday *He writes like an angel, but is determined to wring your heart. Trevor at his most evocative and haunting * Daily Mail *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Swing Time
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewSatisfying and thoughtful * Daily Telegraph *Publisher's description. Dazzlingly energetic and deeply human, Swing Time is Zadie Smith's most ambitious novel yet: a story about friendship and music and true identity, how they shape us and how we can survive them. Moving from north-west London to West Africa, it is an exuberant dance to the music of time. * Penguin *Endlessly satisfying... [Zadie Smith] has never written better. Pitch-perfect, masterful and sophisticated * Telegraph *Zadie Smith is the best writer of our generation, and Swing Time is her best book to date. As the title promises, the novel swings and pulsates with life, filled with emotion, excited by intellect and haunted by sadness. What a miracle that literature can still do things other forms of art cannot. What a miracle that Zadie Smith is among us, writing. -- Gary ShteyngartClever, funny, confident and kind. Her gift for language is a pleasure and her character shines through * Evening Standard *[Smith] packs more intelligence, humour and sheer energy into any given scene than anyone else of her generation * Sunday Telegraph *Zadie Smith's finest novel. Extraordinary, virtuosic... [It] does what only literature can and what only great literature will: forces us to assess the very vocabulary with which we speak of human experience * Observer *Zadie Smith at her finest... [An] unflinching portrait of friendship... [A] triumph * Guardian *Ingenious, inspired... Zadie Smith's new novel is very good indeed * Sunday Times *Shrewd observation and sly satire, profundity and genuine purpose, as well as some of the most heart-stoppingly lyrical writing of her career * Scotland on Sunday *A powerful story of lives marred by secrets, unfulfilled potential, the unjustness of the world...and the dances people do to rise above it all * Economist *A sweeping meditation on race and identity... [Smith's] most ambitious work yet * Esquire *A nuanced, richly rewarding tale * Mail on Sunday *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd A Handful of Dust
Book SynopsisEvelyn Waugh''s celebrated tale of decadence and social disintegration, with an introduction by Philip EadeAfter seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the ''crazy and sterile generation'' between the wars. This breakdown of the Last marriage is a painful, comic re-working of Waugh''s own divorce, and a symbol of the disintegration of society.''One of the twentieth century''s most chilling and bitter novels; and one of its best''Nicholas Lezard, Guardian''One of the most distinguished novels of the century''Frank Kermode''This is a masterpiece of stylish satire, and is funny, too ... a marvello
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Zahir
Book SynopsisIt begins with a glimpse or a passing thought. It ends in obsession.One day a renowned author discovers that his wife, a war correspondent, has disappeared leaving no trace. Though time brings more success and new love, he remains mystified and increasingly fascinated by her absence. Was she kidnapped, blackmailed, or simply bored with their marriage? The unrest she causes is as strong as the attraction she exerts.His search for her and for the truth of his own life takes him from France to Spain, Croatia and, eventually, the bleakly beautiful landscape of Central Asia. More than that, it takes him from the safety of his world to a totally unknown path, searching for a new understanding of the nature of love and the power of destiny.With The Zahir', Paulo Coelho demonstrates his powerful and captivating storytelling.Trade Review'Coelho's writing is beautifully poetic but his message is what counts… he gives me hope and puts a smile on my face.' DAILY EXPRESS 'His books have had a life-enhancing impact on millions of people.' TIMES 'One of the few to deserve the term "Publishing Phenomenon".' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Coelho's talent to inspire his readers with wisdom and hope … is as strong as ever. There is a forgiving kindness and humanity that is unmistakeable and tremendously appealing.’ DAILY MAIL ‘It's like music, really, the way he writes, it's so beautiful. It's a gift that I envy above all others.’ JULIA ROBERTS
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Fallen Skies
Book SynopsisTerrific novel set in the Roaring Twenties, reissued to accompany Philippa Gregory's new bestselling novel, The Other Boleyn GirlLily Valance wants to forget the war. She''s determined to enjoy the world of the 1920s, with its music, singing, laughter and pleasure. When she meets Captain Stephen Winters, a decorated hero back from the Front, she''s drawn to his wealth and status. In Lily he sees his salvation from the past, from the nightmare, from the guilt at surviving the Flanders plains where so many were lost.But it''s a dream that cannot last. Lily has no intention of leaving her singing career. The hidden tensions of the respectable facade of the Winters household come to a head. Stephen''s nightmares merge ever closer with reality and the truth of what took place in the mud and darkness brings him and all who loves him to a terrible reckoningTrade ReviewPraise for ‘Fallen Skies’: ‘Superbly crafted…a fine book.’ Daily Mail ‘Round of applause.’ Frank Delaney, Sunday Times Praise for Philppa Gregory:‘Written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows.’Peter Ackroyd, The Times
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers The Falls
Book SynopsisA tale of murder, loss and romance in the mist of Niagara Falls: it is the crowning achievement of Joyce Carol Oates's career to date.A man climbs over the railings and plunges into Niagara Falls. He''s a newly-wed, and his bride has been left behind in the honeymoon suite the morning after their wedding. For two weeks, Ariah, the deserted bride, waits by the side of the roaring waterfall for news of her husband''s recovered body. During her vigil, an unlikely new love story begins to unfold when she meets a wealthy lawyer who is transfixed by her strange, otherworldly gaze. So it all begins, in the 1950s, with the dark foreboding of the Falls as the sinister background to the tragedy.From this cataclysmic event unfurls a drama of parents and their children; of secrets and sins; of lawsuits, murder and, eventually redemption. As Ariah's children learn that their past is enmeshed with a hushed-up scandal involving radioactive waste materials, they must confront not only their personal history but America's murky past: the despoiling of the American landscape and the corruption and greed of the massive industrial expansion of the 1950s and 1960s.This novel of tremendous sweep and pace is about the American family in crisis but also about America itself in the mid-20th century. This book alone places Joyce Carol Oates definitively in the company of the Great American Novelists.Trade Review'Eminently readable and though full of heart is utterly heartbreaking.' Vogue 'Oates offers a shrewd, often chilling analysis of an unhappy marriage…[she] deftly widens her focus to…Niagara, corrupt and dangerously polluted.' Sunday Times 'If you only read one new novel this autumn, make it this… you'll be hooked within pages' Mail on Sunday '…engaging…compelling…a flair for the minutiae of character…' Guardian 'The Falls is a swirling cataract of invention, and a mesmerising read.' Daily Telegraph
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Typhoon and Other Stories
Book SynopsisContains four stories, written between 1900 and 1902. One of them reveals the differences between instinct and intelligence in a partnership vital to human survival; and the other contains 'land-stories' that explore the utter isolation of an East European emigrant in England and in the other, the plight of a woman.Trade Review“My own conviction, sweeping all those reaches of living fiction I know, is that Conrad’s figure stands out from the field like the Alps from the Piedmont plain.” —H. L. Mencken
£9.49
Faber & Faber Fulfillment
Book Synopsis''Engaging, thoughtful and bang up-to-date.'' The Times''A stone cold fox of a second novel.'' PANDORA SYKES''Fizzy dialogue and killer comic timing . . . Cole takes the temperature of modern America.'' Daily MailYou ever wake up and wonder how you got to a place?Emmett and Joel are half-brothers, but they couldn't be more different: Emmett is single and working in a vast Cargo Distribution Centre in Kentucky, while Joel is a married academic and published writer. For the first time in years, the two of them are back together in the family home, just as Joel''s wife, Alice, starts to yearn for a different kind of lifestyle.An absorbing portrayal of three people's changing hopes and dreams, Fulfillment offers an unforgettable portrait of America today.
£17.09
Vintage Publishing Reheated Cabbage
Book SynopsisIrvine Welsh was born and raised in Edinburgh. His first novel, Trainspotting, has sold over one million copies in the UK and was adapted into an era-defining film. He has written thirteen further novels, including the number one bestseller Dead Men's Trousers, four books of shorter fiction and numerous plays and screenplays. Crime and The Long Knives have been adapted into a television series starring Dougray Scott as Ray Lennox. Irvine Welsh currently lives between London, Edinburgh and Miami.Trade ReviewIt's good to be brought back to Welsh's original hellfire * Observer *The stories combine sly humour with the tang of lived experience. It makes for a terrific collection, showcasing a writer who...has blossomed into one of the most distinctive, and distinguished, observers of British life * Sunday Telegraph *A total hoot to read. The first thing that strikes you about much of the material here is the amazing energy of Welsh's writing * Independent on Sunday *Welsh's work remains at once moving, repellent and worryingly funny * TLS *Full of fun, frenzy and filth -- Sebastian Shakespeare * Tatler *
£9.49
Cornerstone The Perfect Match
Book SynopsisThe perfect new job selling houses in the Cotswolds. An ex-lover re-appears. A life adventure awaits from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Recipe for Love, A French Affair and The One Enchanted Evening.''Delicious - gorgeous humour and the lightest of touches'' Sunday TimesThe queen of uplifting, feel good romance.' AJ Pearce''Deliciously enjoyable'' Woman and Home_____________Three years ago, Bella Castle left her home town nursing a broken heart over Dominic Thane.Now she has a new job she loves, selling houses in the Cotswold countryside. And her boyfriend, Nevil, has just proposed.They''re just right for each other, Bella tells herself. So why doesn''t she feel happier?Then Dominic turns up unexpectedly.And Bella begins to ask herself whether Nevil really is her perfect match after all..._____________Trade ReviewTwenty novels in and Katie Fforde has still got it. Bring on book number 21. * Daily Express *Romantic, warm and bursting with charm, this is Katie Fforde at her finest… reading this book is indulging in storytelling at its best. * Woman's Own *A wonderful warm-hearted escapist read – just the thing for a lazy spring afternoon. * Woman & Home *A perfect match for an afternoon curled up on the sofa! * Fabulous magazine (Sun) *A great read for lovers of modern women’s fiction. * OK! *
£8.54
Cornerstone Bloods A Rover
Book SynopsisIt''s 1968. Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King are dead. The Mob, Howard Hughes and J Edgar Hoover are in a struggle for America''s soul, drawing into their murderous conspiracies the damned and the soon-to-be damned. WAYNE TEDROW JR: parricide, assassin, dope cooker, mouthpiece for all sides, loyal to none. His journey will take him deeper into the darkness.DWIGHT HOLLY: Hoover''s enforcer and hellish conspirator in terrible crimes. As Hoover''s power wanes, his destiny lurches towards Richard Nixon and self-annihilation.DON CRUTCHFIELD: a kid, a nobody, a wheelman and a private detective who stumbles upon an ungodly conspiracy from which he and the country may never recover.All three men are drawn to women on the opposite side of the political and moral spectrum; all are compromised and ripe for destruction. Blood''s a Rover is an incandescent fusion of fact and fiction, and is James Ellroy''s greatest masterpiece.Trade Review[A] tour de force about the battle for America's soul ... is a monumental work of fiction, ... one of the most original and daring writers alive * Independent on Sunday *[A] stunning, breathless conclusion to the Underworld USA trilogy ... There is no equivalent in contemporary fiction * Uncut *[A] jaw-dropping stand-along work of uncompromising power and authenticity, and the trilogy as a whole is one of the landmarks of American fiction of the last 20 years * The Herald *The classiest act around. Read it and weep - for its utter darkness and yet its stunning sweep and grace * Daily Mail *
£10.44
Profile The Course of the Heart
Book SynopsisThe cult classic novel from the author of Climbers and The Sunken Land Begins to Rise AgainWith an introduction by bestselling author of Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield'A spare textual elegance and closure-denying restraint that impresses and fulfils' IAIN BANKSOn a hot May night, three Cambridge students carry out a ritualistic act that changes their lives. Decades later, none of the participants can remember what transpired; but their clouded memories bind them together. Unable to move on, Pam Stuyvesant is an epileptic haunted by strange sensual visions. Her husband Lucas believes that a dwarfish creature is stalking him, and invents histories to soothe Pam's fears. Self-styled Sorcerer Yaxley becomes obsessed with a terrifyingly transcendent reality. The narrator is seemingly the least effected participant in the ritual: he is haunted by the smell of roses, and his guilt as he attempts to help his friends escape the torment that has engulfed their lives. Strange, dreamlike and moving, The Course of the Heart is an examination of the edges of humanity where we lie, hide, hurt and heal.'A gloriously intelligent, beautifully written and thoroughly maddening book' INDEPENDENT
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Morgans Passing
Book SynopsisAnne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her bestselling novels include Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Ladder of Years, Back When We Were Grown-ups, Digging to America, A Spool of Blue Thread, Clock Dance, Redhead by the Side of the Road and French Braid.In 1989 she won the Pulitzer Prize; in 1994 she was nominated by Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby as 'the greatest novelist writing in English'; and in 2012 she received the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence. In 2015 A Spool of Blue Thread was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and the Booker Prize; and in 2020 Redhead by the Side of the Road was longlisted for the Booker Prize.Trade ReviewEnchanting * The Times *Tyler writes stunningly well * Daily Telegraph *Tyler has created a world of imaginary people who are as tangible and as real as one's own friends and relatives * New York Times *Alternatively lyrical and rambunctiously comic * Washington Post *An almost flawless story of love... Moran emerges as a true hero * Los Angeles Times *Tyler is not merely good, she is wickedly goodPure magic, a contemporary fairy tale that overflows with affection, mystery and laughter * Washington Star *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Alms For Oblivion Volume II
Book SynopsisDeals with the English upper-class misbehaving that is set against a backdrop of intrigue in Athens, radicalism in Cambridge, turmoil in India and movie-making in Corfu. This volume includes: "The Judas Boy", "Places Where they Sing", "Sound the Retreat", and "Come Like Shadows".Trade ReviewEach of the novels in Alms for Oblivion is an elegant morality tale, beautifully composed, sparkling with appreciation of the sheer limitless variety of human wickedness * TLS *Turn to Raven and revel in his mischievious, malicious world * Observer *A ready made cult waiting to be discovered * Spectator *His world is as original and surrealist as P. G. Wodehouse's, an alligator swamp in the homely back garden where all manner of nasty things hatch out * Guardian *Brisk, bawdy and reckless * Evening Standard *An extraordinary novelist...magnificent * Mail on Sunday *Confident, worldly-wise, insolently comic... a highly entertaining narrative style * Sunday Times *
£13.49
Vintage Publishing Raven S Alms For Oblivion Volume III
Book Synopsis''Brisk, bawdy and reckless'' Evening Standard''A freak writer, he defies classification. In wilder moments he suggests a loose, lunatic collaboration of Trollope, Ouida and Waugh'' ObserverThe Alms for Oblivion sequence - an extraordinary series of murders, suicides, affairs, fighting, fires and at least one explosion, blackmail, gambling, illness, madness, lots of parties and plenty of sex - draws to a close with two novels about death and retribution. But Simon Raven''s achievement and the conflicted, colourful or uniquely vile characters he created are not easily forgotten after the last page is turned. Volume III includes Bring Forth the Body and The Survivors''There are some people who consider the greatest cycle of twentieth-century novels to be Anthony Powell''s A Dance to the Music of Time. These people are wrong. Widmerpool and his joyless accomplices are as nothing compared to the cTrade ReviewMajestic, scurrilous and scabrous... Raven's novels are joyous in their characterisation, wit and erudition....truffling in the fertile fields of soldiery, academia, business, politics and publishing. Raven's world - the upper middle class and upper class - is peopled by some of the vilest, funniest characters in English literature. * Observer *A ready made cult waiting to be discovered * Spectator *A truly powerful vision of evil and corruption. This is an achievement which can hardly be dismissed as mere entertainment * Times Literary Supplement *Exciting, sleazy, cynical and funny... Indulgently bizarre sex scenes rub shoulders with sharply observed human dilemmas and relentlessly exposed psychological and political manipulation * Sunday Times *His world is as original and surrealist as P. G. Wodehouse's, an alligator swamp in the homely back garden where all manner of nasty things hatch out * Guardian *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Pyramid
Book Synopsis** The inspiration for the NETFLIX original series Young Wallander - out now **When Kurt Wallander first appeared in Faceless Killers, he was a senior police officer, just turned forty, with his life in a mess. His wife had left him, his father barely acknowledged him; he ate badly and drank alone at night.The Pyramid chronicles the events that led him to such a place. We see him in the early years, doing hours on the beat whilst trying to solve a murder off-duty; witness the beginnings of his fragile relationship with Mona, the woman he has his heart set on marrying; and learn the reason behind his difficulties with his father. These thrilling tales provide a fascinating insight into Wallander''s character, from the stabbing of a neighbour in 1969 to a light aircraft accident in 1989, every story is a vital piece of the Wallander series, showing Mankell at the top of his game. Featuring an introduction from the author, The PyraTrade ReviewMankell is the master of Scandinavian crime, much imitated, never bettered * Independent *An excellent collection * New York Times *[A] brilliant collection of stories from the grand master of chilly Scandinavian crime * Daily Mirror *Absorbing... A good book for newcomers to start with * Daily Telegraph *The master of the long, dark night * Crime Time *
£9.49
Simon & Schuster Ltd The Best of Intentions
Book SynopsisDon't miss the wonderful new novel from the author of Good Taste and The Photographer of the Lost . . . Welcome to a utopia in the English countryside . . . When Robert Bardsley arrives at Greenfields in the spring of 1933, it is home to a collective of writers, artists, thinkers, musicians and horticulturalists; a place of unchecked idealism and outlandish lifestyles that regularly scandalises the county. An ambitious young gardener, Robert's been offered a cottage in the grounds of Anderby Hall in return for his efforts to restore the hornbeam maze and tame the feral roses. When the residents of Greenfields discover that Mrs Fitzgerald has sold the old orchard to a property developer, who intends to build an estate of mock-Tudor bungalows, cracks start to fracture the community's façade. Told by four members of the community over the course of a year, this is a novel about the tensions between ideals and practicalities. At what price do we let go of our principles? And,
£9.49
Cornerstone The Moment
Book SynopsisDouglas Kennedy's previous twelve novels include the critically acclaimed bestsellers The Big Picture, The Pursuit of Happiness, A Special Relationship and The Moment. He is also the author of three highly-praised travel books. The Big Picture was filmed with Romain Duris and Catherine Deneuve; The Woman in the Fifth with Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas.His work has been translated into twenty-two languages. In 2007 he was awarded the French decoration of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 2009 the inaugural Grand Prix de Figaro. Born in Manhattan in 1955, he has two children and currently divides his time between London, Paris, Berlin, Maine and New York.Trade ReviewKennedy is an absolute master at love stories with heart-stopping twists ... The Moment is simply sensational. * Times *His most ambitious to date and most deeply felt. * Daily Mirror *The storytelling is served up thick and meaty ... the result is a big, satisfying read. * Daily Mail *Kennedy, like William Boyd and Paul Watkins, has always managed to walk that precarious tight-rope of credibility between the twin towers of popular and literary fiction... Kennedy is particularly adept at capturing the ugliness of modern life... He captures with acuity men's self-destructive nature and the eddies in which husbands, fathers and sons find themselves caught. * Independent on Sunday *Douglas Kennedy's 10th novel, The Moment, a tome running to almost 500 pages, is weighty enough to crush any doubts about this prolific author's status as a stylish popular novelist and a classy purveyor of the gripping yarn... It is the quality of evaluation, this conscious appraisal of unforeseen loss, of gallant naivety, of the bullish youthful belief in the right to happiness, that sets Kennedy's work apart from that of many other popular novelists... It is a gripping read and an honest attempt to address human frailty while playing out our minor destinies in the face of great love and desperate loss. * Irish Times *
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Secrets of the Bees
Book SynopsisA stunning and evocative novel set on a gorgeous Cornish estate packed with heart, relationships and mysteries from the past.
£17.00
Cornerstone Castile for Isabella
Book SynopsisJean Plaidy, one of the preeminent authors of historical fiction for most of the twentieth century, is the pen name of the prolific English author Eleanor Hibbert, also know as Victoria Holt. Jean Plaidy's novels had sold more than 14 million copies worldwide by the time of her death in 1993.Trade ReviewIt's hard to better Jean Plaidy * Daily Mirror *Superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticity of detail and depth of characterisation ... one of the country's most widely read novelists * Sunday Times *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Digging to America
Book SynopsisFriday August 15th, 1997. Two tiny Korean babies are delivered to two very different Baltimore families.Every year, on the anniversary of ''Arrival Day'' the two families celebrate together, with more and more elaborately competitive parties, as little Susan and Jin-ho take roots and become American.**ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 8 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE**''Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing'' Rachel Joyce''She knows all the secrets of the human heart'' Monica Ali ''A masterly author'' Sebastian Faulks''I love Anne Tyler. I''ve read every single book she''s written'' Jacqueline WilsonTrade ReviewMagnificent * Observer *Deliciously funny and sharply observed * Guardian *Wise and funny...a multidimensional exploration of what it means to belong, not only to a family but also to a nation * Sunday Times *Out of this everyday material she spins gold: stories so achingly truthful, so achingly funny, so sad and so real that you can only marvel * Daily Mail *Anne Tyler draws a comedy that is not so much brilliant as luminous – its observant sharpness sweetened by a generous understanding of human fallibility * Sunday Telegraph *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Operation Napoleon
Book Synopsis1945: a lost German bomber crashes on the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland.Inexplicably, in the midst of World War Two, there are both German and American officers on board.Trade ReviewRather than using excessive language and unnecessary description, Indriðason chooses a minimal style, which drip-feeds the details and keeps the reader guessing... Operation Napoleon is an intriguing novel, bleak and harsh in its description of cold, military narratives -- Sophie Gordon * Aesthetica *There are hints of some of Indridason's trademark motifs-emotionally distant parents, brotherhood, the harsh Icelandic wilderness-but it's clear that he is using Operation Napoleon to address what seems to be a deeply controversial factor in Icelandic life: the US military presence at Keflavik * Euro Crime *An international literary phenomenon - and it's easy to see why. His novels are gripping, authentic, haunting and lyrical -- Harlan Coben
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Goodbye Columbus
Book SynopsisTells the story of Neil Klugman and pretty, spirited Brenda Patimkin, he of poor Newark, she of suburban Short Hills, who meet one summer and fall into an affair that is as much about social class and suspicion as it is about love. This novella is accompanied by five short stories - sometimes iconoclastic, sometimes elegiac.Trade ReviewStartlingly, incandescently alive * New Yorker *Unlike those of us who come howling into the world, blind and bare, Mr Roth appears with nails, hair, teeth, speaking coherently. He is skilled, witty, energetic and performs like a virtuoso -- Saul BellowA great novella - amazingly, this was Roth's first book - about love, sex and growing up * Observer *Opening the first page of any Philip Roth is like hearing the ignition on a boiler roar into life. Passion is what we're going to get, and plenty of it * Guardian *
£9.49
Cornerstone Nemesis
Book SynopsisIn the high summer of AD 77, laid-back detective Marcus Didius Falco is called upon to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a middle-aged couple who supplied statues to Falco's father, Geminus.Trade ReviewDavis is a prolific and popular writer … Her research has been assiduous and detailed, her commitment to the subject is impressive, and the background detail is often eye-opening -- Hilary Mantel * Observer *One of the best of the current writers in this field -- Donna Leon * The Times *Surely the best historical detective in the business -- Mike Ripley * Daily Telegraph *The whole thing is splendid. It has everything: mystery, pace wit, fascinating scholarship … she brings imperial Rome to life -- Ellis Peters
£9.49
Cornerstone Sloop Of War
Book SynopsisAlexander Kent is the author of twenty-seven acclaimed books featuring Richard Bolitho. Under his own name, Douglas Reeman, and in the course of a career spanning forty-five years, he has written over thirty novels and two non-fiction books.Trade ReviewOne of our foremost writers of naval fiction * Sunday Times *
£9.99
Cornerstone The Last Don
Book SynopsisMario Puzo was born in New York. He is the author of the bestselling novel The Godfather and many other acclaimed novels. Puzo also wrote many screenplays, including those for the three Godfather movies, for which he won two academy awards. He died at his home in Long Island, New York, at the age of seventy-eight.Trade ReviewThis is a story of love, lust, loyalty and betrayal. It reeks of violence and cynicism. It is about a world without integrity where everybody has a price ... and it is written with such pace and conviction that it is totally believable * The Mail on Sunday *All of Mr Puzo's formidable storytelling talents are on display... a big, fast-paced tale * New York Times Book Review *The Last Don is a return to the pure mythic storytelling form that made The Godfather one of the bestselling novels ever * The Sunday Times *
£9.49
Cornerstone The Wilt Inheritance
Book SynopsisTom Sharpe was born in 1928 and educated at Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He did his national service in the Marines before moving to South Africa in 1951, where he did social work before teaching in Natal. He had a photographic studio in Pietermaritzburg from 1957 until 1961, and from 1963 to 1972 he was a lecturer in History at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology.He is the author of sixteen bestselling novels, including Porterhouse Blue and Blott on the Landscape, which were serialised on television, and Wilt, which was made into a film. In 1986 he was awarded the XXIIIème Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret, and in 2010 he was awarded the inaugural BBK La Risa de Bilbao Prize. Tom Sharpe died in June 2013 at his home in northern Spain.Trade ReviewA major craftsman in the art of farce...vengeful, chaotic, Swiftian in his tastes, cartoonish in his extremes, and above all wild and amusing * Observer *Britain's leading practitioner of black humour * Punch *Tom Sharpe serves up the loudest laughs in literary comedy. He is the great post-Waugh humorist, the Wodehouse who dares plunge into the bottomless vulgarity and hysteria of our times, and a rattling good companion on a train journey * Mail on Sunday *The funniest novelist writing today * The Times *The best of British farce-masters is back * Mail on Sunday *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Complete Novels
Book SynopsisThe complete novels of one of the greatest German writers of all time, collected together in one literary masterpiece.Kafka's characters are victims of forces beyond their control, estranged and rootless citizens deceived by authoritarian power. Filled with claustrophobic description and existential profundity, Kafka has been compared to a literary Woody Allen.In The Trial Joseph K is relentlessly hunted for a crime that remains nameless. The Castle follows K in his ceaseless attempts to enter the castle and to belong somewhere.In Amerika Karl Rossmann also finds himself isolated and confused when he is ''packed off to America by his parents''. Here, ordinary immigrants are also strange, and ''America'' is never quite as real as it seems. THE CLASSIC TRANSLATION BY WILLA AND EDWIN MUIRTrade ReviewHe is the greatest German writer of our time. Such poets as Rilke or such novelists as Thomas Mann are dwarfs or plaster saints in comparison to him -- Vladimir NabokovKafka described with wonderful imaginative power the future concentration camps, the future instability of the law, the future absolutism of the state, the paralysed, inadequately motivated, floundering lives of the many individual people; everything appeared as a nightmare and with the confusion and inadequacy of a nightmare -- Bertolt Brecht
£15.29
Vintage Publishing Disturbing the Peace
Book SynopsisJohn Wilder is in his mid-thirties, a successful salesman with a place in the country, an adoring wife and a ten-year-old son.But something is wrong. His family no longer interests him, his infidelities are leading him nowhere and he has begun to drink too much. Then one night, something inside John snaps and he calls his wife to tell her that he isn''t coming home...Trade ReviewA devastating story that won't let go * Boston Globe *A magnificent writer * The Times *
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