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
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Briefly Very Beautiful
Book SynopsisA startlingly beautiful story of a family''s survival, and an unforgettable dystopian vision of a familiar world in flames''Impossible to put down'' Daily Telegraph''Instantly immersive, beautifully imagined, this is an unflinching but inspiring story about some things we''re going to lose, and other things we must never lose'' Lee Child''Left me breathless: it is a stunning, poetic, impelling story of love and survival, which I could not stop reading ... An incredible novel'' Jodie Whittaker______________________________________The world is on fire. And what will you do?In a city rocked by global catastrophe, home-grown terrorism, shortages and wildfires, Cass is quietly raising three small children by herself. Her husband, Nathaniel, has left to serve as a medic in a war overseas.As life in the city becomes increasingly impossible, Cass knows she can no lon
£14.24
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers The Thing about Jellyfish National Book Award
Book SynopsisThis stunning debut novel about grief and wonder was an instant New York Times bestseller and captured widespread critical acclaim, including selection as a 2015 National Book Award finalist! After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting--things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door. Oddlot Entertainment has acquired the screen rights to The Thing About Jellyfish, with Gigi Pritzker set to produce with Bruna Papandrea and Reese Witherspoon.
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co The Mars House
Book Synopsis''Pure Pulley'' STUART TURTON''Joyful and profound'' CATRIONA WARD''Simply unputdownable'' THOMAS D. LEE''A work of staggering genius'' IMRAN MAHMOOD''Charming and funny and perfectly paced'' TEMI OH''A spiritual heir to Terry Pratchett'' ROBIN STEVENS ''Book of the year for me'' LAUREN JAMESJanuary Stirling was one of the principal dancers of London''s Royal Ballet. Now he''s a climate refugee bound for Tharsis, the notorious terraformed colony on Mars. It''s a utopia for the naturalised population. For January, as a dangerous Earthstronger whose body is unadjusted to the weaker Martian gravity, it''s a life sentence to hard labour and ferocious discrimination. But he will live.Aubrey Gale, energy trillionaire and hereditary senator, is running for election on a hardline platform to protect the native population from dangerous immigrants. The path to equality is sim
£18.00
Salt Publishing My Hummingbird Father
Book SynopsisWhen artist Dominique receives a letter from her dying father, a reckoning with repressed memories and a pull for romantic and familial love sends shockwaves through her life, as she journeys to Paris to face the places and events of her early years.Balanced with visits to the Venezuelan Amazon, where Dominique explores a spiritual and loving longing (meeting a young guide, Juan), a raw and tender unfolding of this love story is a parallel to the uncovering of the shocking truth of Dominique's birth, and her parents' relationship.Pascale Petit's My Hummingbird Father is a beautifully lyrical debut novel in dialogue with Pascale's Ondaatje and Laurel Prize-winning poetry collection, Mama Amazonica.
£9.89
Faber & Faber The Two Loves of Sophie Strom
Book Synopsis''Lyrical and profound, delving into the depths of human connection. You will cry.''GLAMOUR''Impressive . . . it gripped my heart and imagination.''JO BROWNING WROE''Intriguing . . . there is also significant charm and energy.''GUARDIAN''Compulsive, electrifying.''SPECTATOROne man, one choice, two lifetimes.A house fire, Vienna, 1933: thirteen-year-old Max is orphaned, disfigured and adopted by an Aryan family who change his identity and his prospects.A house fire, Vienna, 1933: thirteen-year-old Max saves his parents and escapes unharmed, to face life as a Jew in 1930s Austria.In one unforgettable night, Max Spiegelman's life splits in two. As war looms and Nazism continues to rise, Max is forced into choices that place him and his alter ego on opposing sides of a divided world. Tethered by their dreams, the boys watch helple
£17.09
Pan Macmillan The Book of Evidence
Book SynopsisJohn Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970. His other highly acclaimed books include Nightspawn, Birchwood, Doctor Copernicus (which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1976), Kepler (which was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1981), The Newton Letter, Mefisto, Ghosts, Athena, The Untouchable, Eclipse, Shroud and the Man Booker Prize-winning The Sea. He has received a literary award from the Lannan Foundation. He lives in Dublin.Trade ReviewBanville has excelled himself in a flawlessly flowing prose whose lyricism, patrician irony and aching sense of loss are reminiscent of Lolita. * Observer *The Book of Evidence is a major work of fiction in which every suave moment calmly detonates to show the murderous gleam within. Banville writes a dangerous and clear-running prose and has a grim gift of seeing people’s souls. -- Don DeLillo, author of Underworld, Cosmopolis and Mao IIOne of the most important writers now at work in English – a key thinker, in fact, in fiction. * London Review of Books *Remarkable. . . If all crime novels were like this one, there would no longer be the need for a genre. -- Ruth Rendell, author of the Inspector Wexford series
£11.63
LOS MALOS
Book Synopsis
£19.66
Penguin Publishing Group The Next Flame
£12.00
John Murray Press The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Atria Books The Story She Left Behind
Book Synopsis
£23.99
HarperCollins Publishers The Relationship Mechanic
Book Synopsis
£12.52
Profile Lush
Book SynopsisA mysterious invitation to drink the oldest bottle of wine in the world - what could possibly go wrong?'A heady, sun-soaked novel ' Dazed, Must-Read Novels of 2025'A rich, full-bodied reading experience sure to leave readers drunk' Eliza Clark, bestselling author of Boy Parts'Rochelle Dowden-Lord writes like an angel with whisky on her breath ... beautiful' Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller'Lush is a breathtaking novel - dare I say, intoxicating' Okechukwu Nzelu, author of Here Again NowFour people, each at a crucial point in their lives, arrive at a French vineyard estate for an unforgettable experience - but not the kind they expected. Avery gave up her hardwon but exploitative sommelier job to come, while wine prodigy Cosmo is trying to disguise that his life is in freefall. The chemistry between the pair is unmistakable, but so are the signs of danger. Millionaire Sonny owns a tacky wine brand and can't help aggravating Cosmo, while caustic magazine writer Maëlys hovers with her pen poised. For fans of Saltburn, Such a Fun Age or Cleopatra and Frankenstein, this effervescent debut introduces a British writer who tackles class, race and ambition with delicious wit and insight.
£15.29
Pan Macmillan The Cut Throat Trial
Book SynopsisThe bestselling author, The Secret Barrister, writes fiction as S. J. Fleet. They are a junior barrister specializing in criminal law, write for many publications, and are the author of the award-winning blog The Secret Barrister. Their first book, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken, was a Sunday Times number-one bestseller and spent more than a year in the top-ten bestseller list. It won the Books Are My Bag Non-Fiction Award and was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year and the Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year. Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies and Nothing But the Truth: The Memoir of an Unlikely Lawyer were instant Sunday Times top-ten bestsellers on publication. Writing as S. J. Fleet, The Cut Throat Trial is their first novel.
£13.49
Headline Publishing Group Beg Borrow or Steal
Book Synopsis''Sarah Adams writes books with heart and soul. They speak to the people finding their way and being unapologetically themselves in the process. I love her style'' HANNAH GRACE??Rivals-to-lovers??Black cat/golden retriever??Small town??Secret identity??Forced proximityTwo feuding second-grade teachers find themselves as unlikely allies (and neighbours) in this rivals-to-lovers romance by Sarah Adams, author of The Cheat Sheet and Practice Makes Perfect.___________________________Maybe it''s time for a plot twist . . .Emily Walker hates anyone disrupting her carefully curated life, especially her legendary nemesis, Jack Bennett - the exact opposite of the wonderful heroes she dreams up in her double life as a romance writer. But now Jack''s back in town after a failed engagement and he''s here to stay . . . as both her colleague and her neighbour.Jack is glad to be back, eager to renovate his house and work on the next mystery novel under his bestselling pen name. Until, that is, he realises he''s now neighbours with the one woman who has always pushed his buttons.With their red-hot animosity at an all-time high, Emily makes a mistake that could reveal her secret literary identity. Frustratingly, she needs Jack''s help to make it right. Will their unlikely alliance put an end to their rivalry? Or could it lead to a steamy plot twist they never saw coming?___________________________''Feuding second-grade teachers learn they make a great team in this cute rivals-to-lovers romance . . . this charms'' PUBLISHER''S WEEKLY''Sarah Adams'' books are woven with pure sunshine and rainbows . . . It''s everything you could want in a small town romance, along with a heaping dollop of her signature wit and sparkling charm'' AMY LEA''You can always count on a Sarah Adams rom-com to be equal parts funny, sweet, and swoony'' SOPHIE SULLIVANAnd readers just can''t get enough!''I just adored this story . . . I''m ready to eat up anything that Sarah Adams writes''''A perfect mix of hilarious banter, comical situations, and sweet romance''''This romance is brilliant! It is fast paced, laugh out loud and so cute!''''A feel-good rom-com with everything you want in a romance!''
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc 28 Barbary Lane
Book Synopsis
£21.25
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Fairy Tales
Book Synopsis
£13.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Go Set a Watchman
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Quercus Publishing The Night Alphabet
Book SynopsisComposed of interconnecting stories, The Night Alphabet is a mesmerising debut from one of the most talented literary stylists writing today.
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Surf House
Book Synopsis**PRE-ORDER NOW THE BRAND NEW SUN-SOAKED THRILLER FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER**_________________________________________________________________WISH YOU WERE HERE? THINK AGAINHigh on the wave-pounded cliffs, far from the bustling souks of Marrakesh, sits The Surf House.A hidden gem on Morocco's shores, the house is a sanctuary for the surfers, travellers and dreamers who wash in.But the idyll is built on something rotten.And when Bea arrives, relieved to find refuge after a dangerous encounter in a Marrakesh alleyway, she soon gets caught in the swell of a deep, dark mystery.Because another young woman went missing one year ago and the last place she was sighted was The Surf House.Readers love getting swept away with Lucy Clarke's destination thrillers:Had me on the edge of my seat' ?????Brilliant kept me guessing the whole way through' ?????Twists & turns galore, couldn't put it down. Highly recommend!' ?????''Very clever and I was gripped throughout. Will be reading more from
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Owl Was a Bakers Daughter
Book SynopsisWitty, resilient, and fiercely intelligent, Judith emerges as a heroine for the ages. Her journey, rich in historical authenticity and imaginative storytelling, offers insights that resonate across the centuries.?Christina Baker Kline,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe ExilesFor readers of Hilary Mantel and Madeline Miller, a deeply engrossing work of historical fiction?a tale about a woman of the Shakespeare family struggling to manage both her private grief and public danger.At the age of sixty-one, Judith Shakespeare, a midwife-apothecary and twin of the long-dead Hamnet, must flee provincial Stratford on horseback to avoid arrest for witchcraft. Her traveling companions are a zealous Puritan woman and child who have been displaced by civil war?the bloody seventeenth-century strife between Royalists and Roundheads. Judith is also leaving her marriage, which has foundered since the wrenching loss of two adult sons to the plague.The sequel to the author?s My Father Had a Daughter, a tale of Judith in her youth, The Owl Was a Baker?s Daughter revisits this character for the ages?Shakespeare?s sharp-tongued, witty youngest child, no less feisty in her maturity. Four-hundred years after Judith?s death, Grace Tiffany brings her back onto center stage. Judith?s latest tale offers profound insights?into friendship, motherhood, marriage, religious extremism, and war?which remain resoundingly true today.
£15.29
HarperCollins Publishers Scotch on the Rocks
Book SynopsisA spicy, small-town, enemies-to-lovers romance set on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, from the author of TikTok sensation Whisky BusinessWhen you live on a tiny island, it''s easy to stir up a scandalFor Callum Macabe, there''s no one better than Juniper Ross. She''s razor-tongued, sarcastic, elusive. And not to mention drop-dead gorgeous.There''s just one problem: his brother got there first.And even though Juniper and Alistair split up five years ago, Callum knows he could never break the actual bro code. Or could he?A compulsively readable contemporary romance that goes down smooth' Kirkus?????Readers are obsessed ?????''Definitely one of the top reads this yearscratch thattop reads ever ?? At this point I will read anything Elliot Fletcher decides to write!''''This is a sexy, spicy Scottish romance that you seriously can't miss''''Elliot Fletcher's writing is beyond marvellous. Another 5 stars book from her!! This book was so amazing and I'm in an awe with this author and how wonderful her stories are''''Fletcher''s writing is witty, emotional, and thoroughly enjoyable, making Scotch on the Rocks a must-read for romance enthusiasts. Highly recommended!''''Callum had me giggling, swooning and contemplating''
£8.54
Whitefox Publishing Ltd No Mans Land
Book Synopsis
£18.00
Zondervan Now and Always
Book SynopsisVery few things distract Katie Addison when she’s on a mission, whether it’s opening her home to abused women, rehabilitating injured horses, or helping tall, gorgeous Warren Tate mend his broken heart. But when financial difficulties pile up for her, Katie hesitantly admits she herself may need help. Since his fiancé left him, Warren is done with women—especially independent women, which he’d guess describes Katie Addison to a tee. Reluctantly he agrees to help Katie with her financial troubles. But when his budget doesn’t include Katie’s daily lattes, Warren realizes he may have a challenging client on his hands. Meanwhile, Sheriff Ben O''Keefe can’t seem to get Katie’s attention. Everyone in town knows he has had a longstanding crush on her. But to Katie, Ben is just Ben. When mysterious events turn Katie to him for help, is it the chance Ben has been waiting for?
£10.44
Penguin Publishing Group If It Makes You Happy
£11.05
Thomson Learning Too Loud a Solitude
Book Synopsis
£11.04
HarperCollins Publishers Inc The Poisonwood Bible
Book SynopsisNew York Times Bestseller Pulitzer Prize Finalist An Oprah's Book Club SelectionPowerful . . . [Kingsolver] has with infinitely steady hands worked the prickly threads of religion, politics, race, sin and redemption into a thing of terrible beauty. Los Angeles Times Book ReviewThe Poisonwood Bible established Barbara Kingsolver, recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature, it is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in Africa. The story is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they beli
£16.99
Penguin Putnam Inc Once Upon a Time in Dollywood
Book Synopsis
£13.59
Image Comics The Sacrificers Volume 3
Book Synopsis
£15.28
HarperCollins Publishers Fateless
£13.49
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Portrait of a Spy
Book Synopsis“A bona fide thrill ride.”—Miami Herald “Silva builds tension with breathtaking double and triple turns of plot.”—People Portrait of a Spy is Silva’s eleventh thriller to feature art restorer and master spy Gabriel Allon as he races from Great Britain to Washington to New York to the Middle East on the trail of a deadly and elusive terrorist network responsible for massacres in Paris, Copenhagen, and at London’s Covent Garden.
£8.99
HarperCollins Publishers Spiralling
Book Synopsis
£9.49
HarperCollins The Raft
Book Synopsis
£7.99
Penguin Books Ltd A Confederacy of Dunces
Book SynopsisONE OF THE BBC'S 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD 'This is probably my favourite book of all time' Billy Connolly A pithy, laugh-out-loud story following John Kennedy Toole's larger-than-life Ignatius J. Reilly, floundering his way through 1960s New Orleans, beautifully resigned with cover art by Gary Taxali_____________ 'This city is famous for its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists, anti-Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers, frauds, jades, litterbugs, and lesbians . . . don't make the mistake of bothering me.' Ignatius J. Reilly: fat, flatulent, eloquent and almost unemployable. By the standards of ordinary folk he is pretty much unhinged, too. But is he bothered by this? No. For this misanthropic crusader against an America fallen into vice and ignorance has a mission: to rescue a naked female philosopher in distress. And he has a pirate costume and hot-dTrade ReviewI succumbed, stunned and seduced, page after page, vocal with delight. A masterwork of comedy * New York Times *A fine funny novel. This is the kind of book one wants to keep quoting from -- Anthony BurgessEvery reviewer has loved it. For once, everyone is right * Rolling Stone *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd For Esme with Love and Squalor
Book SynopsisA collection of nine exceptional stories from the acclaimed author of The Catcher in the Rye''This is the squalid, or moving, part of the story, and the scene changes. The people change, too. I''m still around, but from here on in, for reasons I''m not at liberty to disclose, I''ve disguised myself so cunningly that even the cleverest reader will fail to recognize me.''This collection of nine stories includes the first appearance of J. D. Salinger''s fictional Glass family, introducing Seymour Glass in the unforgettable ''A Perfect Day for Bananafish''.''The most perfectly balanced collection of stories I know'' Ann Patchett
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Let Me Tell You Penguin Modern Classics
Book SynopsisFrom the peerless author of The Lottery and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, this is a treasure trove of deliciously dark and funny stories, essays, lectures, letters and drawings.Let Me Tell You brings together the brilliantly eerie short stories Jackson is best known for with frank and inspiring lectures on writing; comic essays she wrote about her large, rowdy family; and revelatory personal letters and drawings. Jackson''s landscape here is most frequently domestic - dinner parties, children''s games and neighbourly gossip - but one that is continually threatened and subverted in her unsettling, inimitable prose. This collection is the first opportunity to see Shirley Jackson''s radically different modes of writing side by side, revealing her to be a magnificent storyteller, a sharp, sly humorist and a powerful feminist.''The stories range from sketches and anecdotes to complete and genuinely unsettling tales, somewhat alarming and Trade ReviewLike a lot of people I read 'The Lottery' when I was young, in an anthology of short stories from the New Yorker, and never forgot it. Let Me Tell You is a rich, enjoyable compendium of Jackson's unpublished short fiction and occasional writings, kicking off with a story of a dozen pages, 'Paranoia', which I won't forget, either -- Tom Stoppard * TLS Books of the Year *The stories range from sketches and anecdotes to complete and genuinely unsettling tales, somewhat alarming and very creepy ... For those of us whose imaginations, and creative ambitions, were ignited by 'The Lottery', Jackson remains one of the great practitioners of the literature of the darker impulses -- Paul Theroux * New York Times *
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Why Mummy Drinks at Christmas
Book SynopsisI romped through Why Mummy Drinks at Christmas', and I absolutely adored it' Jilly CooperTis' the season to get trollied!Mummy has always loved Christmas. Sure, the kids turn into demons, the dinner gets burnt to a crisp and Aunt Louisa's general staggering inappropriateness sends Mummy reaching for the nearest maximum-strength festive tipple, but nevertheless, for her, Christmas is always special.This year, she wants nothing more than to perfectly fig up the pudding and sit by the fire reading aloud from A Christmas Carol to a rapt, rosy-cheeked audience. But, just like all Mummy's best-laid plans, this year's Festive Vision is in danger of being totally derailed by her chaotic family. There's not much chance of any action under the mistletoe, and the kids are just not playing ball.Can Mummy find her silver lining after all and bring the whole family together for one moment of harmony, so they can finally proclaim Verily You Are the Queen of Christmas'? Or should she get stuck into the festive spirits and just let it all go?
£9.49
Quercus Publishing Yeonnamdongs Smiley Laundromat
Book Synopsis*THE HEARTWARMING KOREAN BESTSELLER**A new book from Shanna Tan, translator of Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop*Situated at the heart of a rapidly gentrifying district of Seoul, the Yeonnam-dong Smiley Laundromat is a place where the extraordinary stories of ordinary residents unfold. It is already a haven of tranquility and reflection for locals, but when someone leaves a notebook behind, the laundromat becomes a place that brings people together. One by one, customers start jotting down candid diary entries, opening their hearts and inviting acts of kindness from neighbours who were once just faces in the crowd. But there is more to the diary than first appears, and before long the laundromat''s regulars are teaming up to solve a mystery and help the notebook''s former owner find peace. A heartwarming, healing debut that instantly captured the hearts of Korean readers, this is a novel about the preciousness of human relationships and the power of solidarity in a world that is increasingly cold, fast-paced and virtual.Readers love this cosy, slice-of-life K-drama:"Talk to someone. Help someone. Do a good deed. If this book doesn''t inspire you, nothing will. A true testament to the power of books.""This is a wonderfully comforting read, and one that makes you truly believe in the goodness of others""Very similar to Before The Coffee Gets Cold or The Kamogawa Food Detectives. So if that''s your vibe, you''ll enjoy this one too!"Translated from the Korean by Shanna Tan
£9.49
Salt Publishing Shams
Book SynopsisShams is young Syrian refugee woman who lives in Shatila, one of the world's oldest refugee camps. She dreams of education and living a better life in Europe. But there are no schools in the camp, and her family opposes her dreams.
£9.49
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
Orion Publishing Co Gloves Off
Book SynopsisPerfect for fans of Icebreaker and Monica Murphy, this spicy pro hockey romance will feature more of every romance reader's favourite tropes!
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Adrian Mole The Prostrate Years
Book SynopsisThe sensational final instalment in comic legend Sue Townsend''s hilarious and iconic Adrian Mole series''Effortlessly hilarious. Brilliant satire and tragedy'' Times''My comfort read. The best diaries ever written - with apologies to Samuel Pepys, Bridget Jones and me'' ADAM KAYRead as Adrian continues to struggle with his love life, endures a painfully awkward school play and contemplates the unsettling prospect of applying genital poultice . . .__________Sunday 1st JulyNO SMOKING DAY. A momentous day! Smoking in a public place or place of work is forbidden in England. Though if you are a prisoner, an MP or a member of the Royal Family you are exempt.Adrian Mole is thirty-nine and a quarter. He lives in the country in a semi-detached converted pigsty with his wife Daisy and their daughter. His parents George and Pauline live in the adjoining pigsty. But all is Trade ReviewSue Townsend was simply one of the funniest writes who ever wore socks, and her Adrian Mole series is a satirical gem that follows her hapless protagonist from adolescence to middle age, revealing some sharp home truths about British society in the process. At thirty-nine and a half, Adrian is convinced he's too young to have prostrate problems. He's wrong. If anyone can shake a comic first at cancer, it's Townsend. * Independent *Couldn't be funnier * Gillian Reynolds, Sunday Times *An exquisite social comedy * Daily Telegraph *In this book the comedy is all the sharper, and more poignant, for its melancholy contrasts, the emotional danger and the sense that time is always running out. * The Guardian *Sue Townsend has always had an unflinching sense of humour - the more incongruously awful the situation, the more she can make us laugh...this is a seriously lovely book. * Sunday Times *Like Evelyn Waugh's Captain Grimes, Adrian is 'one of the immortals' and the series of his diaries the comic masterpiece of our time * The Scotsman *This hilarious and poignant tale of Adrian Mole's early middle age reaffirms that Sue Townsend has created 'one of the great comic characters of our time' * The Scotsman *The funniest person in the world * Caitlin Moran *
£9.49
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 *
£9.49
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 *
£9.49
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
Penguin Books Ltd A Long Way Down
Book Synopsis''Extremely funny . . . and wise'' Sunday TimesNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE__________________________''Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?''For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer''s pretty simple: he has, in his own words, ''pissed his life away''. And on New Year''s Eve he''s going to end it all . . . but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin''s private party. They''ve stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons.Yet it''s hard to jump when you''ve got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby. __________________________''Hornby''s best yet'' Literary Review''Impossible to put down'' Ruth Rendell, Guardian''Some of the finest writing I''ve ever had the pleasure of reading'' Johnny DeppTrade ReviewImpossible to put down . . . enthralling * Guardian *Extremely funny . . . and wise * Sunday Times *A page-turning plot and rich, funny characters with several big laughs on every page . . . Hornby's best yet * Literary Review *Hornby pins down the age in which we live with precision and comic brilliance * Guardian *Hugely enjoyable * Irish Times *Masterful . . . some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading -- Johnny DeppHornby's portrayal of four characters who accidentally meet on top of a tower block, all ready to jump to their death on New Year's Eve, manages to be sensitive and empathetic, but damn funny as well. My new Hornby favourite -- Adam Phillips * Observer *Brilliant, smart and funny . . . a cello suite about how to go on living. It's hard to imagine a novel more darkly and sublimely devoted to life * Boston Globe *Generous and wise. Right from the opening pages, a smile played continually across my face * GQ *
£8.54
Kensington Publishing Whispers of the Lake
Book Synopsis
£15.29
