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
Valley Spring Press Go Swift and Far a Novel of Bath
Book Synopsis
£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
£8.99
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 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
£7.59
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
Pan Macmillan A Far Country
Book SynopsisDaniel Mason is the author of The Piano Tuner. This is his second novel. He currently lives in California.
£9.49
Random House USA Inc Jedi Healer
Book SynopsisWhile the Clone Wars wreak havoc throughout the galaxy, the situation on the far world of Drongar is desperate, as Republic forces engage in a fierce fight with the Separatists. . . .The threatened enemy offensive begins as the Separatists employ legions of droids into their attack. Even with reinforcements, the flesh and blood of the Republic forces are just no match for battle droids’ durasteel. Nowhere is this point more painfully clear than in the steaming Jasserak jungle, where the doctors and nurses of a small med unit face an impossible situation. As the dead and wounded start to pile up, surgeons Jos Vandar and Kornell “Uli” Divini know that time is running out.Even the Jedi abilities of Padawan Barriss Offee have been stretched to the limit. Ahead lies a test for Barriss that could very well lead to her death-and that of countless others. For the conflict is growing-and for this obscure mobile med unit, there’s only one resolution. Shocking, bold, unprecedented, it’s the only option Jos and his colleagues really have. The unthinkable has become the inevitable. Whether it kills them or not remains to be seen.
£9.45
Little, Brown Book Group Not The End Of The World
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£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Brothers
Book SynopsisThis immensely powerful novel follows four generations of the Bindel family as they fight for survivial in a hostile world. From imperial Russia in 1825 they head towards Western Europe, returning finally to modern Russia - where the persecution of the Jews continues.The Bindel family are knit by unbreakable bonds of love and loyalty, bonds which survive conscription into the Tsarist army in the 1830s, the Odessa pogrom of 1871, emigration to the Welsh valleys and to Germany, the Nazis, the concentration camps and the Gulags.
£11.69
Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc Sophies World
Book SynopsisDiscovering two thought-provoking philosophical questions in her mailbox, Sophie enrolls in a correspondence course with a mysterious philosopher and begins to receive some equally unusual letters that take her on a journey of philosophical discovery ranging from Socrates to Sartre and beyond. Reprint.
£13.50
Farrar, Straus and Giroux My Struggle Book One
Book SynopsisA New York Times bestseller, My Struggle: Book 1 introduces American readers to the audacious, addictive, and profoundly surprising international literary sensation that is the provocative and brilliant six-volume autobiographical novel by Karl Ove Knausgaard. It has already been anointed a Proustian masterpiece and is the rare work of dazzling literary originality that is intensely, irresistibly readable. Unafraid of the big issuesdeath, love, art, fearand yet committed to the intimate details of life as it is lived, My Struggle is an essential work of contemporary literature.
£14.40
Pearson Education Limited Smouldering Charcoal
Book SynopsisTiyambe Zeleza was born in Harare, Zimbabwe of Malawian parents in 1955. He studied for his BA at the University of Malawi, for his MA at London University and for his PhD at Dalhousie University. He has been employed by the universities of Malawi (1976-7), Nairobi (1979-80), the West Indies (1982-4) and Kenyatta (1984-9). He is currently Associate Professor of History at Trent University, Ontario, Canada. His academic publications include Imperialism and Labour (1987), Labour, Unionization and Women's Participation in Kenya (1988) and the forthcoming A Modern Economic History of Africa. He began to write fiction in the early 1970s, and Night of Darkness and Other Stories was published in 1976. In the mid 1970s he was Editor of Odi, a bilingual quarterly of Malawian writing and Editor of Umodzi, a student's magazine. In 1974 he became a founding member of the Malawian Writer's Series. He is married and has a daughter.
£14.49
Pearson Education Limited AWS Classics So Long A Letter
Book SynopsisMariama Ba catapulted onto the African literary scene with her first novel, 'So Long a Letter', which received much acclaim and admiration. The Senegalese writer who was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, was educated - unlike many other women of her generation - at the Ecole Normal for girls in Rufisque. Brought up as a Muslim by maternal grandparents, she studied the Koran during school holidays. Ba began writing at school and in her early essays there are hints at the critical approach that she was to adopt in her writings to society around her. A pioneer of women's right, she became involved in several Senegalese women's organisations. Her commitment to eradicating inequalities between men and women in Africa led her to write So Long A Letter. The novel, originally written in French, was translated into sixteen languages and won the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. The English translation of the novel was first published in 1981. A school teacher and inspector by pr
£14.51
Houghton Mifflin Rosemary The Hidden Kennedy Daughter
Book Synopsis
£11.39
Random House USA Inc Food of the Gods
Book SynopsisAn exploration of humans'' symbiotic relationships with plants and chemicals presents information on prehistoric partnership societies and the roles of spices and spirits in the rise of dominator societies
£16.14
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Green Island A Novel Please Use This Code
Book SynopsisBEST BOOK AWARD IN FICTION BY THE ASSOCIATION FOR ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES • A stunning, lyrical novel that tells the story of how the Tsais, a Taiwanese family, survive the 'February 28 Incident' of 1947 and precariously navigate the decades that follow (The New York Times).As an uprising rocks Taiwan, a young doctor in Taipei is taken from his newborn daughter by Chinese Nationalists, on charges of speaking out against the government. Although the doctor eventually returns to his family, his arrival is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community. Years later, this troubled past follows his youngest daughter to America, where, as a mother and a wife, she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family—the same choice she witnessed her father make many years before. The story of a family and a nation grappling with the nuances of complicity and survival, Green I
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Good Girl
Book SynopsisScratch the surface of any family hard enough and you''ll draw blood . . .No one can believe it when straight A student Romy Field finds herself at the centre of a scandal, least of all her mother Ailsa - who is also the head of her new school.Ailsa is quick to hold Romy''s new boyfriend and his parents responsible for what has happened. But as mother and daughter reveal their very different version of events, a much darker truth emerges. It soon becomes apparent that Romy isn''t the only member of her family harbouring secrets and her disgrace becomes the catalyst for the unravelling of all those around her.It takes a split second to make a decision that can alter the course of your life.And a lifetime to undo the consequences.Bestselling author Fiona Neill is back with The Good Girl - a dark, compelling and controversial novel of one family''s darkest secrets.Praise for Fiona Neill:''The Good Girl raises allTrade ReviewNeill writes with verve, honesty and breathtaking insight. Utterly unputdownable * Helen Walsh, author of The Lemon Grove *The Good Girl raises all kinds of contemporary issues with wit and sensitivity * Times *Clever, grown-up and totally gripping * Lisa Jewell *A topical, tense and addictive read * Good Housekeeping *Tapping into the issues of the day . . . this is a novel made for heated book club debates * Stylist *The Slummy Mummy columnist is back - this time, somewhat incongruously, with a psychological thriller. The Good Girl looks set to be the next Gone Girl, with its dark compelling exploration of family secrets. It tells the story of the relationship of two teenagers and their families when a chain of events leads to a scandal that affects them all. A confronting look at the way that one moment of malice on social media can spiral out of control. * Seven Books to Read, House Seven *Neill takes a light scalpel to online disaster in this exceptional dual-narrative * Grazia *Cracking * Prima *Two families become embroiled in each other's lives and long buried secrets are unravelled. Contemporary issues are tackled here with both humour and realism, making for an engrossing read * My Weekly *Sometimes touching, sometimes shocking... this cautionary coming-of-age tale is a thought-provoking one * Daily Mail *Neill's characters are so cleverly depicted, you feel as if you've met at least one of them before * Vogue *Packed with observations of wince-making accuracy . . . Superb entertainment * The Times *
£12.74
Little, Brown Book Group Now and Then
Book SynopsisNow. Christopher Metcalfe returns to his family home in Kent after the death of his father. Sorting through a box of memorabilia from his days at public school, Chris is suddenly confronted by the face that has haunted him for thirty years.Then, as a callow fifth former enduring the excesses of a school system designed to run an Empire that no longer existed, a most extraordinary thing happened amid the thrashings, and cross-country runs: he was seduced by Stephen Walker, a prefect two years his senior with whom he went on to share a brief but intensely passionate affair. Now, again, alone, approaching the age of fifty, Christopher is painfully aware of the price he paid for letting go, and resolves to find Stephen, and discover what became of the only person he has ever loved.Delicately revealing the layers of both past and present as it alternates between now and then.William Corlett''s moving debut novel illuminates the vacuity of Christopher''s emotTrade ReviewBeautifully written and very moving. * MIDWEEK *Captures with sublime ease the tense bickering of a middle-class suburban family...Corlett describes their frenzied quandary beautifully. * Independent on Sunday *
£10.44
Little, Brown Book Group Unusual Uses For Olive Oil
Book SynopsisLife is so unfair, and it sends many things to try Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, author of Portuguese Irregular Verbs and pillar of the Institute of Romance Philology in the proud Bavarian city of Regensburg.There is the undeserved rise of his rival (and owner of a one-legged dachshund), Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer; the interminable ramblings of the librarian, Herr Huber; and the condescension of his colleagues with regard to his unmarried state. But when his friend Ophelia Prinzel takes it upon herself to match-make, and duly produces a cheerful heiress with her own Schloss, it appears that the professor''s true worth is about to be recognised.Maddening, idiotic and hugely entertaining, von Igelfeld is an inspired comic creation.
£9.49
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
Vintage Publishing Where The Jackals Howl
Book SynopsisWhere the Jackals Howl is prize-winning author Amos Oz''s first collection of stories. On publication it received immediate critical acclaim and revealed Oz to be a master craftsman probing the emotional depths of his characters. The lives of ordinary Israelis are set against the backdrop of community life in a Kibbutz. The fate of these individuals, their drives, ambitions and idiosyncrasies, are grounded by the physical and social structure of their community as Oz portrays their world as a microcosm of the wider world.Trade ReviewIt rarely happens that literature offers a more profound insight into politics and culture than does news reporting. Amos Oz has performed this rare service * Times Literary Supplement *Amos Oz makes the desert a place of jackals and miracles... A strong, beautiful, disturbing book * New York Times *A born storyteller * Jewish Chronicle *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Fortunes Rocks
Book SynopsisSet 100 years ago in Boston, Fortune''s Rocks is a classic of literary and romantic storytelling. Fourteen-year-old Olympic Biddeford is spending the summer with her parents at their seasonal house at Fortune''s Rocks. Her father handles her education himself and is in fact a publisher of mildly liberal literature. One author he admires, who also practises as a physician, comes to visit the house. 40 years old, married with four children, he still embarks on an affair with the adolescent girl. They have a swift, passionate summer, torn apart when they are discovered together during Olympic''s fifteenth birthday party. She is taken back to Boston, her parents are mortified and remove themselves from society. When Olympic is delivered of a baby boy nine months later, he is taken from her and she finds herself in exile at a ladies college and then as a governess. She decides she must get her child back, which means returning to Fortune''s Rocks... This sensuality of a girl''s rite of paTrade ReviewExceptionally fine ... Shreve writes with power and passion DAILY EXPRESS A powerful portrait of that dangerous limbo of a girl's adolescence when she is no longer a child but not yet a woman LITERARY REVIEW A quiet but highly charged novel in which intense emotion is counterpointed with an evocation of landscape Elizabeth Buchan, THE TIMES It seems like a mighty poem. FORTUNE'S ROCKS, you know, will prove much more than a place name OBSERVER
£9.49
Canelo The Grown Up ToDo List
Book Synopsis'An absolutely perfect rom-com! Laugh-out-loud funny, and packed to the brim with Jennifer Joyce's wit, humour, and warmth. I loved every second of this gorgeous book!' Jaimie AdmansHer friends are bossing life - is she being left behind?25-year-old Cleo is happy enough. She likes her job in the fish and chip shop in the North West seaside town where she grew up. But her world has become very small - all her friends couldn't wait to leave home and are off, apparently crushing life. They have shiny careers and creative side-hustles, while she is still living with her mum and dad. But when she learns that her dream childhood boyfriend is coming back to town for a party in three months, she decides she needs to start adulting to win him. But what does being a grown-up really mean? And can she become one in three months?A funny, life-affirming romcom perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Beth O'Leary and Mhairi McFarlaneReaders are loving A Grown Up To-Do List:Loved loved loved! This was de
£9.49
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
HarperCollins Publishers Honeybee
Book Synopsis*Bold, brilliant and for anyone who''s looking to belong, HONEYBEE is the must-read book of the summer from the Sunday Times bestseller*A gorgeous celebration of female friendship'' ELIZABETH DAYI love the way Dawn writes'' MATT HAIG''A lot of fun a fabulous confection'' JACQUELINE WILSON______________________________________________________________A woman needs her hiveRenée is chasing a dream career, and feels like an imposter.Flo is hiding a secret shame, and feels like a failure.As their lives collide over one hot summer, and they ride the chaos of work, sex and love, an unbreakable bond is formed between them.They might be lost, but they're not alone because women stick together.JOIN THE BUZZ FOR HONEYBEE:????? Truly an amazing read'????? A laugh-out-loud book with strong female characters'????? A brilliant book about friendships'????? Once again Dawn O'Porter has knocked it out of the park'????? I was hooked on this book and devoured it in one sitting'????? Another brilliant, hilarious, moving and relatable novel by Dawn O''Porter'????? It's brilliantly written, consuming and a damn good read'
£18.00
HarperCollins Publishers The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier Clay
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY is a heart-wrenching story of escape, love and comic-book heroes set in Prague, New York and the Arctic.One night in 1939, Josef Kavalier shuffles into his cousin Sam Clay's cramped New York bedroom, his nerve-racking escape from Prague finally achieved. Little does he realise that this is the beginning of an extraordinary friendship and even more fruitful business partnership. Together, they create a comic strip called The Escapist', its superhero a Nazi-busting saviour who liberates the oppressed around the world. The Escapist' makes their fortune, but Joe can think of only one thing: how can he effect a real-life escape and free his family from the tyranny of Hitler?Michael Chabon's exceptional novel is a thrilling tightrope walk between high comedy and bitter tragedy. In Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay he has created two unforgettable characters bound together by love, family and cartoons.
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Catch22
Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HOWARD JACOBSONExplosive, subversive, wild and funny, 50 years on the novel''s strength is undiminished. Reading Joseph Heller''s classic satire is nothing less than a rite of passage.Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him. Joseph Heller''s bestselling novel is a hilarious and tragic satire on military madness, and the tale of one man''s efforts to survive it.Trade ReviewIt is a rare book in that it has the ability to make you laugh out loud and be deeply moved within a few pages. -- Adam Staten * British Journal of General Practice *Wildly original, brutally gruesome, a dazzling performance that will outrage as many readers as it delights. Vulgarly, bitterly funny, it will not be forgotten by those who can take it * New York Times *Blessedly, monstrously, bloatedly, cynically funny and fantastically unique. No one has ever written a book like this * Financial Times *Blessedly, monstrously, bloatedly, cynically funny, and fantastically unique. No one has ever written a book like this * Financial Times *An apocalyptic masterpiece * Chicago Times *
£8.54
Penguin Putnam Inc Moon Palace
Book SynopsisThe “beautiful and haunting” (San Francisco Chronicle) tale of an orphan’s search for love, for his unknown father, and for the key to the elusive riddle of his fate, from the author of the forthcoming 4 3 2 1: A NovelMarco Stanley Fogg is an orphan, a child of the sixties, a quester tirelessly seeking the key to his past, the answers to the ultimate riddle of his fate. As Marco journeys from the canyons of Manhattan to the deserts of Utah, he encounters a gallery of characters and a series of events as rich and surprising as any in modern fiction.Beginning during the summer that men first walked on the moon, and moving backward and forward in time to span three generations, Moon Palace is propelled by coincidence and memory, and illuminated by marvelous flights of lyricism and wit. Here is the most entertaining and moving novel yet from an author well known for his breathtaking imagination.From New York Times
£13.88
Random House USA Inc The Picture of Dorian Gray
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£8.54
Picador The Feast of the Goat
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£16.80
Pan Macmillan Point Omega
Book SynopsisDon DeLillo is the acclaimed author of bestselling novels and plays. His work includes White Noise, Libra, Point Omega and Underworld. He has won the National Book Award, the Jerusalem Prize and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize.Trade ReviewPoint Omega is a treat: the most satisfying and least cryptic of DeLillo's late novels. * Sunday Telegraph *Another formidable construction by a very distinctive writer. * Evening Standard *A pared, intense anti-parable . . . so rigorous and so precise. * Observer *Impossible to forget. * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan W is for Wasted
Book SynopsisSue Grafton has become one of the most popular female writers, both in the UK and in the US. Born in Kentucky in 1940, she began her career as a TV scriptwriter before Kinsey Millhone and the 'alphabet' series took off. Two of the novels B is for Burglar and C is for Corpse won the first Anthony Awards for Best Novel. Sue wrote twenty-five novels in her alphabet series, the last was Y is for Yesterday, before her death in California in December 2017.
£9.49
Random House USA Inc Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “An impressive, bitter, and sweet debut that explores the age-old conflicts between father and son, the beauty and sadness of what happened to Japanese Americans in the Seattle era during World War II, and the depths and longing of deep-heart love.”—Lisa See“A tender and satisfying novel.”—Garth Stein, bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the RainIn 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has discovered the belongings of Japanese families who were sent to internment camps during World War II. As the owner displays and unfurls a Japanese parasol, Henry, a Chinese American, remembers a young Japanese American girl from his childhood in the 1940s—Keiko Okabe, with whom he forged a bond of friendship and innocent love that transcended the prej
£15.30
Random House USA Inc Intensity
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£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group The Man From Perfect
Book Synopsis''A funny and sweet summer read.'' Heat''The new Marian Keyes'' CompanyIn life - and love - be careful what you wish for . . .After her experiences with ex-boyfriend Rob the Slob, Ella Holt has abandoned hope of ever finding the right man. So when she answers 50 questions on her perfect man in a glossy magazine, she has no idea that her responses will be used by a new state-of-the-art dating agency to find her perfect match. Naturally, Ella scoffs at the very notion of a ''perfect man'', until the man from the Perfect Agency, James Master, arrives on her doorstep. Not only is he gorgeous, but spontaneous trips to Paris, declarations of love and gourmet sex all become part of her daily routine. However, as ''romance fatigue'' sets in, Ella''s suspicions about the consequences of her answers begin to mount. And when Rob starts to change his slobbish ways to win her back, she remembers that she asked for a man who will do
£8.54
Sarah Crichton Books Important Artifacts and Personal Property from
Book SynopsisA love story told in the form of an auction catalog. Auction catalogs can tell you a lot about a person -- their passions and vanities, peccadilloes and aesthetics; their flush years and lean. Think of the collections of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Truman Capote, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. In Leanne Shapton''s marvelously inventive and invented auction catalog, the 325 lots up for auction are what remain from the relationship between Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris (who aren''t real people, but might as well be). Through photographs of the couple''s personal effects -- the usual auction items (jewelry, fine art, and rare furniture) and the seemingly worthless (pajamas, Post-it notes, worn paperbacks) -- the story of a failed love affair vividly (and cleverly) emerges. From first meeting to final separation, the progress and rituals of intimacy are revealed through the couple''s accumulated relics and memorabilia. And a love story, in all its tenderness and struggle, emerges from the evidence that has been left behind, laid out for us to appraise and appreciate. In an earlier work, Was She Pretty?, Shapton, a talented artist and illustrator, subtly explored the seemingly simple yet powerfully complicated nature of sexual jealousy. In Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morrisa very different yet equally original bookshe invites us to contemplate what is truly valuable, and to consider the art we make of our private lives.
£16.00
Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc The Fixer
Book SynopsisThe Fixer is the winner of the 1967 National Book Award for Fiction and the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.The Fixer (1966) is Bernard Malamud''s best-known and most acclaimed novel -- one that makes manifest his roots in Russian fiction, especially that of Isaac Babel.Set in Kiev in 1911 during a period of heightened anti-Semitism, the novel tells the story of Yakov Bok, a Jewish handyman blamed for the brutal murder of a young Russian boy. Bok leaves his village to try his luck in Kiev, and after denying his Jewish identity, finds himself working for a member of the anti-Semitic Black Hundreds Society. When the boy is found nearly drained of blood in a cave, the Black Hundreds accuse the Jews of ritual murder. Arrested and imprisoned, Bok refuses to confess to a crime that he did not commit.
£15.30
Random House USA Inc Go Tell It on the Mountain
Book SynopsisOne of the most brilliant and provocative American writers of the twentieth century chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention in this “truly extraordinary” novel (Chicago Sun-Times).Baldwin's classic novel opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin tells the story of the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Originally published in 1953, Baldwin said of his first novel, Mountain is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else.
£11.03
Random House USA Inc A Lesson before Dying Vintage Contemporaries
Book SynopsisNATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • A deep and compassionate novel about a young man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to visit a Black youth on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Together they come to understand the heroism of resisting.An instant classic. —Chicago TribuneA “majestic, moving novel...an instant classic, a book that will be read, discussed and taught beyond the rest of our lives (Chicago Tribune), from the critically acclaimed author of A Gathering of Old Men and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.A Lesson Before Dying reconfirms Ernest J. Gaines's position as an important American writer. —Boston GlobeEnormously moving.... Gaines unerringly evokes the place and time about which he writes. —Los Angeles Times“A quietly moving novel [that] takes us back to a place we've been before to impart a lesson for living.&rdq
£11.40
Random House USA Inc Only Revolutions
Book SynopsisSam:They were with us before Romeo & Juliet. And long after too. Because they’re forever around. Or so both claim, carolling gleefully:We’re allways sixteen.Sam & Hailey, powered by an ever-rotating fleet of cars, from Model T to Lincoln Continental, career from the Civil War to the Cold War, barrelling down through the Appalachians, up the Mississippi River, across the Badlands, finally cutting a nation in half as they try to outrace History itself.By turns beguiling and gripping, finally worldwrecking, Only Revolutions is unlike anything ever published before, a remarkable feat of heart and intellect, moving us with the journey of two kids, perpetually of summer, perpetually sixteen, who give up everything except each other.Hailey:They were with us before Tristan & Isolde. And long after too. Because they’re forever around. Or so both claim, gleefully carolling:We’re allways sixteen.Hailey & Sam, p
£30.15
Random House USA Inc The Call of the Wild White Fang To Build a Fire
Book SynopsisThe Call of the Wild—Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all timeTo this day Jack London is the most widely read American writer in the world, E. L. Doctorow wrote in The New York Times Book Review. Generally considered to be London''s greatest achievement, The Call of the Wild brought him international acclaim when it was published in 1903. His story of the dog Buck, who learns to survive in the bleak Yukon wilderness, is viewed by many as his symbolic autobiography. No other popular writer of his time did any better writing than you will find in The Call of the Wild, said H. L. Mencken. Here, indeed, are all the elements of sound fiction. White Fang (1906), which London conceived as a complete antithesis and companion piece to The Call of the Wild, is the tale of an abused wolf-dog tamed by exposure to civilization. Also included in this volume is To Build a Fire, a marvelously desolate short story set in the Klondike, but containing all the elements of a classic Greek tragedy. The quintessential Jack London is in the on-rushing compulsive-ness of his northern stories, noted James Dickey. Few men have more convincingly examined the connection between the creative powers of the individual writer and the unconscious drive to breed and to survive, found in the natural world. . . . London is in and committed to his creations to a degree very nearly unparalleled in the composition of fiction.
£10.53
Random House USA Inc The Phantom of the Opera
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£11.80
WW Norton & Co The Red Thread
Book SynopsisThe new bestseller from the author of The Knitting Circle: “Is there anyone who can write about the connections between ordinary people as well as Ann Hood does?”—Jodi PicoultTrade Review"A subtle and unusual adoption story, many-layered, exquisitely told." -- Reeve Lindbergh "Hood wears her big heart on her sleeve... Her prose ... shines in the portraits of the Chinese families who give up their daughters." -- Tricia Springstubb "A wisely woven novel." "Hope sinks and floats again in Hood's lovely, perceptive tale."
£11.39
Random House USA Inc Hopscotch
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£16.15
HarperCollins Little House
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£8.99
Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc The Incredible Journey
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£7.36
Little, Brown & Company Wish You Were Here
Book SynopsisIn the tradition of New York Times bestseller Susan Wiggs, bestselling author Lani Diane Rich delivers her most emotional novel to date, about a woman who unexpectedly finds the family she never knew she was looking for
£6.99
Little, Brown & Company The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street
Book SynopsisIn 1913, little Malka Treynovsky flees Russia with her family. Bedazzled by tales of gold and movie stardom, she tricks them into buying tickets for America. Yet no sooner do they land on the squalid Lower East Side of Manhattan, than Malka is crippled and abandoned in the street.Taken in by a tough-loving Italian ices peddler, she manages to survive through cunning and inventiveness. As she learns the secrets of his trade, she begins to shape her own destiny. She falls in love with a gorgeous, illiterate radical named Albert, and they set off across America in an ice cream truck. Slowly, she transforms herself into Lillian Dunkle, The Ice Cream Queen -- doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises and a celebrated television personality. Lillian''s rise to fame and fortune spans seventy years and is inextricably linked to the course of American history itself, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. Yet Lillian Dunkle is nothing like the whimsical motherly Trade Review[A] standout travel memoir...Gilman's descriptions of their trials and tribulations crackle with wit. - BooklistTHE ICE CREAM QUEEN OF ORCHARD STREET is a wonderful read, by turns poignant and wickedly funny. This is the immigrant story updated, with a brazenly re-imagined American anti-hero, and delicious all along the way. - Kevin Baker, author of The Big Crowd and Paradise Alley
£21.69
