Fiction in translation

Book SynopsisBelladonna is brutal, beautiful, and unforgettable . . . One of the truly outstanding novels of recent years EILEEN BATTERSBY, Los Angeles Review of Books** Winner of the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2018**** Shortlisted for the inaugural E.B.R.D. Prize for Literature **** Shortlisted for the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize **An excoriating work of fiction that references the twentieth century''s darkest hoursAndreas Ban is a writer and a psychologist, an intellectual proper, but his world has been falling apart for years. When he retires with a miserable pension and finds out that he is ill, he gains a new perspective on the debris of his life and the lives of his friends. In defying illness and old age, Andreas Ban is cynical and powerful, and in his unravelling of his own past and the lives of others, he uncompromisingly lays bare a gamut of taboos. Andreas Ban stands foTrade ReviewYou read this generous, angry, and candid novel of ideas in a continuing state of wondrous disquiet . . . Belladonna is brutal, beautiful, and unforgettable. Daša Drndic achieves her mission, proving that silence cannot erase the past. Memory stalks us, and always triumphs -- Eileen Battersby * Los Angeles Review of Books *Daša Drndic, whose razor-edged wit and outspoken courage glints and slices across every page . . . cultivates a visionary art of memory . . . In Belladonna, her writing glows with an incendiary bleakness worthy of Beckett . . . But along with that asperity and melancholy comes a gallows humour that often swings into an uproarious mood of mischief and absurdity. -- Boyd Tonkin * Arts Newspaper *This book is literature with a capital L and Drndic is a miracle maker conjuring some optimism from despair and charm amid the grisly -- M. Bartley Seigal * Words Without Borders *Drndic stares directly into the inky sins of us all and doesn't blink. Belladonna is a thrilling book. Unforgettable in the seamless way the author combines the real world and the fictional until it no longer matters because, in the end, all of it is the truth. -- Mark Haber * Quarterly Conversation *This panoramic work by Drndic is less a novel than a life's worth of reminiscences annotated with photographs and copious footnotes, reminiscent of the works of Aleksandar Hemon and W.G. Sebald . . . This work may well be the national novel of Croatia. * Publishers Weekly. *A very fine novel, wise and brave. Her fiction is very powerful statement fiction, and yet somehow the quality, the humanity, the playfulness actually counters the polemical intent. This is an extraordinary book. -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *The novel is multi-faceted, sharp, surprising, darkly and grimly hilarious, relevant to our times, and possesses limitless depth. It also bristles with intelligence and defiance in every paragraph, like an exceptionally erudite and alert porcupine. Belladonna deserves major awards consideration -- Jeff Vandermeer * The Millions *A pensive, provocative novel of history, memory, and our endlessly blood-soaked times by one of the foremost writers to have emerged from the former Yugoslavia . . . An elegant novel of ideas concerning decidedly inelegant topics, empathetic but unforgiving. * Kirkus Reviews *Its own language compelling, open-ended notwithstanding its apocalyptic images, Belladonna resembles a prose Waste Land, an X-ray of our culture, Ban's fragments, like Eliot's, shored against the ruins of our age. -- Michele Levy * World Literature Today *Daša Drndic interweaves fiction, reality, history, and memory to terrific effect . . . Drndic attacks history with a novelist's sensibility and has produced a poignant meditation on love and loss, the insanity of war and the legacy of human cruelty. -- Lucy Popescu * Europe Now *

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Book SynopsisThe story of a man who rose from peasant stock to become Estonia's most famous medieval chronicler - The third novel in a historical trilogy by Estonia's most famous writerTrade ReviewHailed as the Estonian answer to Wolf Hall -- Books of the Year 2022 * Financial Times *He's a marvellous novelist - his scope and depth make him a world writer - and they should just hurry up and give him the Nobel.He deserved a Nobel prize and would probably have got it had he written in any other language but Estonian. * Guardian. *He's almost alone in writing in the older European tradition of the large-scale historical novel. I'd argue that Kross is heir to the 'great' Russo-European 19th century novelists; his fiction has Tolstoyan sweep. On reading him, moreover, we rediscover that Estonia was always resolutely in Europe and not some obscure outpost this side of the Urals.No stranger to oppression himself, Kross writes about it with a poignancy devoid of anger.

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Book SynopsisItaly''s Maigret returns in another smouldering noir from a master of the police procedural A master storyteller Barry Forshaw, IndependentParma is blanketed in snow, but this pristine, white veneer cannot mask the stench of corruption. Its officials are no longer working for its people - only for themselves - crime is out of control and resentment festers in every district. Commissario Soneri remains at heart an idealist, so the state of Parma wounds him more than most. And now he is presented with three mysteries at once, each more impenetrable than the last. In a river creek on the outskirts of the city, tipped off by a local, he finds a mobile phone that rings through the night but holds no data; an elderly patient with senile dementia is reported missing from a hospice; and the mayor of Parma, who was reported as taking a holiday on the ski slopes, has disappeared off the face of the earth - just when he seemed certain to be Trade ReviewSplendid . . . one of his most inspired investigations. -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times. *

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Book SynopsisA contemporary Berlin fairy tale that bristles with urban truths - the first novel of Germany's most successful playwrightTrade ReviewSchimmelpfennig's world is uncomfortable and cold; but in the hearts of his characters glow the flames of longing, passion and solidarity -- Martin Halter * Berliner Zeitung *The exhilarating narrative is wonderfully concise, and the imagery is intensely cinematic. -- Barry Forshaw * Guardian. *Mesmerizing . . . The narrative is wonderfully spare, rendered in clear, simple sentences . . . A satisfying and memorable story -- Alannah Hopkin * Irish Examiner *A powerful novel of extraordinary momentum and contemporaneity - its looping narrative is both gripping and unsettling * Spiegel *A moving book that delicately and expertly captures a prevailing atmosphere - of disorientation and bleakness in society, and of unexpressed feelings * Deutschland Radiokultur *As cool and incisive as its title suggests * TAZ *A looping, episodic, beguiling contemporary fable about a set of dysfunctional, seemingly disconnected characters whose fates are spun together along the mysterious wolf 's path . . . delivered crisply in Jamie Bulloch's translation. * Daily Telegraph (*****) *A highly original and often hypnotic work . . . exactly the type of book that readers in search of striking European voices should embrace. * Irish Times *Roland Schimmelpfennig shockingly reverses readerly expectations and conjures up for us a superbly dark comedy of manners . . . This combined quality of stage economy and theatricality accentuates what is essentially a particularly unflinching, penetrating gaze into the state of our society. * Bookanista *A vivid ensemble of nuanced characters emerge as their daily lives coincide through a cleverly multi-layered, interconnected narrative . . . Schimmlpfennig rarely says too much in a brilliantly kaleidoscopic morality tale that suggests a great deal * Financial Times *A magnificent achievement, a novel of terrific originality * New European *

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Book SynopsisThe third in the Black Forest Investigations series - by CWA shortlisted authorTrade ReviewBottini's novels are infused with his knowledge of the darker corners of European history, showing its impact decades after the horrific events that drive his plots. -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times. *It's a clever writer who can take something familiar and seemingly ordinary and twist it into something surreal and off-kilter, blackly comic but deadly serious. -- Paul Burke * New Books Magazine. *The real pleasure with The Dance of Death is the artfully structured narrative that Bottini presents; he is always able to surprise the reader, even those who feel that there is nothing in the crime-fiction genre that they have not read before. -- Barry Forshaw * Euro Lit Network. *A piercing examination of our reality . . . Bottini uses the full potential of the genre to look deep into humanity's abyss and sees there the concealed traumas of German society -- Tomasz Kurianowicz * Die Zeit *Oliver Bottini is a terrific storyteller and he evokes his setting - the Rhine borderlands of the Black Forest - with skill -- Jake Kerridge * Sunday Express *Oliver Bottini, one of the few German authors who play in crime-writing's premier league, really knows how to tell a good story * Frankfurter Rundschau *If you are a fan of the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo or the Icelandic trilogy written by Lilja Sigurdardottir then I recommend that you add the Black Forest Investigations to your reading list . . . * A Literary Addict *Heavily atmospheric and wittily subtle in its treatment of belonging . . . If you're a fan of Jo Nesbo, Stefan Ahnehm, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir then this book is definitely for you . . . * VelvetReads *

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Book SynopsisIt is the final year of the twentieth century and King Sidi is dying . . .Mohamed has been the king''s fool for thirty-five year, his closest counsel, privy to his deepest secrets and most intimate thoughts. It is an honoured position for which many would pay a hefty price. Something Mohamed understands only too well, for this closeness has indeed come at a terrible cost. The threat of imprisonment looms, even as the once-mighty monarch draws his final breaths.In the last days of this all-powerful tyrant of the twentieth century, his faithful court fool takes stock of the decades he spent in the Moroccan king''s service. For the many years of corrosive love and loyalty have left certain indelible wounds . . .Translated from the French by Ben FacciniTrade ReviewA legend, a cruel fantastical dream, and a true feat of literature -- Nicole de Poncharra * Maroc à Livre Ouvert *A beautiful novel, as tender as a gazelle's horn -- Sara Daniel * BibliObs *

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Book SynopsisA twisting new thriller from the author of The Truth about the Harry Quebert AffairTrade ReviewOnce again Joël Dicker puts on quite a performance with twists, turns, cliffhangers and red herrings galore . . . if you enjoyed The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair . . . you will love this diverting doorstop -- Mark Sanderson * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe official novel of the best science fiction narrative game, T.I.M.E Stories!It is the year 2468. Spotted by a recruiter, Tess Haiden passed the many tests required to join a highly secretive organisation with flying colours. But she is in for a shock: T.I.M.E Agency has been sending agents through time for several years. Thanks to considerable resources, they prevent anomalies and paradoxes by dispatching their agents to different eras and places around the world. But over the course of her many missions, Tess learns that they are not the only ones using these time corridors, and she begins to wonder about the true nature of the T.I.M.E agency…File Under: Science Fiction [ Heiden Seek  All A Board  Outatime Mission Possible ]

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Yacoubian Building comes a novel bursting at the seams with Egyptian lifeTrade ReviewA microcosm of corruption and oppression in Egypt . . . Aswany brings a mix of burning indignation and unstoppable exuberance that is all his own to this swarming picture of a world on the brink of shattering change * * Sunday Times * *One of Egypt's most valuable writers * * Guardian * *A scathing, brilliantly executed novel * * New York Times * *A wonderful storyteller * * Spectator * *Among the best writers in the Middle East today . . . Al Aswany has his own magic * * Guardian * *A master observer of the human condition . . . unputdownable * * Literary Review * *Gripping . . . a page-turner * * Toronto Star * *Seductive . . . boasts rich and rewarding material * * Boston Globe * *Wonderful . . . almost impossible to put down . . . combines terrific storytelling with historical empathy * * Star Tribune * *[A] raucous, technicolor novel . . . its blazing heart is the seething discontent that led to the 1952 Revolution * * Booklist * *A sharp, humorous novel -- CAROLINE MOORHEAD * * Spectator * *The Yacoubian author is back with another swarming depiction of a changing world * * Sunday Times * *There are many stories here. The book is elaborate to bursting point, but always controlled, always whole. It is as juicy and satisfying as a shiny apple, its taste both strange and familiar, compassionate and bitter * * The Times * *Fabulous, acutely observed story of human foibles, full of vivid scenes and extraordinary characters * * Mail on Sunday * *Addictively readable * * Independent * *Absorbing * * Observer * *Bewitching * * Scotsman * *Myriad colourful details, intertwining narratives, and dramatic cliffhangers form an earthy, entertaining contrast to the novel's sober preoccupations - namely, the human spirit's capacity to both transcend and be crushed by oppressive systems * * Publishers Weekly * *Praise for Chicago:Brilliant . . . Al Aswany is like an Egyptian Anne Tyler * * Sunday Times * *A powerful, political page-turner * * Daily Mail * *A masterpiece, the warmest and finest and most involving Egyptian novel in the last thirty years * * Open Letters Monthly * *

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Book SynopsisFirst English translation of a Greek novella first published in 1920 by the Corfiot author Konstantinos Theotokis. A tragi-comedy of Corfiot village life.

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Book SynopsisWanda (1970) a cult film classic, exerts a fascination for artists from Isabelle Huppert to Rachel Kushner to Kate Zambreno. For acclaimed French writer Nathalie Leger, the mysteries of Wanda launched an obsessive quest across continents, into archives, and through mining towns of Pennsylvania, all to get closer to the film and its maker.Trade Review'The glory that Duras and Loden and Leger find in degradation isn't a passive, incandescent despair-a psychic corpse by the side of the highway, radiant in the purity of its hopelessness-so much as the opposite: a despair that remains curious about the world, and thirsty for justice and company, whether it's the company of critical subjects or a bunch of drunk strangers in a bar booth.'-Leslie Jamison, Bookforum; 'What is initially Leger's explicit hesitance to create a biography that does not do Loden justice is transformed into her own story, one of how the lives of women seep into one another.' - Nathan Scott McNamara, Los Angeles Review of Books; 'I've just re-read Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Leger, translated by Cecile Menon and Natasha Lehrer, as well as the two forthcoming books that form a trilogy with that one: The White Dress, also translated by Lehrer, and Exposition, translated by Amanda Demarco. All three defy categorisation - history, essay, memoir, fiction. I admire the wholeness and agility of these works very much.' - Catherine Lacey; 'Leger's writing is concerned with the value of its own creation, of its possibility to respond to what she terms elsewhere the 'annihilation' of narrative through male violence. This writing is made through doubt about its own capacities, and its own efficacies. But I think there is a benefit to faltering at the possibilities of expression.' - Katie da Cunha Lewin, The White Review; 'This book is autobiography, it's biography, it's about gender, it's film writing, it's writing about place...It's an incredibly rich work and, (...), highly recommended.' - Richard Barrett, Manchester Review of Books; '[F]or Leger the archive and literature are mutually informing. The neutral intellectualism of the former and the subjective affectivity of the latter exist in a dyadic relationship. This tension is a source of the great power of Leger's extraordinary short books.' - David McCooey, Sydney Review of Books; 'Brilliant little book' - Valeria Luiselli on Twitter; 'Assigned to write the entry about Wanda (1970), Barbara Loden's art-house movie, for a film encyclopedia, Leger let herself get lost. The result gracefully melds criticism, fiction, and autobiography, and is a powerful example of how summary, channeled through the most personal of perspectives, can be a form of art.' - Christine Smallwood, Harper's Magazine; 'Inventive and affecting, Suite for Barbara Loden takes both the novel and biography to new and interesting places.' -Eimear McBride, The Guardian; 'Here, now, is a remarkable new book that does everything-biography, criticism, film history, memoir, and even fiction, all at once, all out in front (...) In her combination of the conversational and the incantatory, the fragmentary and the infinite, Leger captures something of [Marguerite] Duras's own tones and moods, yet her approach to Loden and her appreciation of 'Wanda' are entirely her own.' -Richard Brody, The New Yorker; 'A moving, subtle novel about the need to create.' - Le Monde; 'When I set out to review Suite for Barbara Loden, I realized I didn't have much to say, exactly, beyond what Leger says. I wanted to show how she shows how one woman's experience is filtered through another, collapses into another. And I wanted to show how we (women) connect with Wanda-even extraordinary, glamorous, intellectual women like Leger or Loden, and even women generations younger than Wanda, like myself-how the book sucks in every woman who approaches it. -The Rumpus; 'Moving descriptions of Loden's performance in Wanda dot the narration as Leger struggles to reveal joy or pain Loden may have hidden, beyond her early work as a pin-up girl, her marriage to Elia Kazan, and a 1964 Tony Award for her role in Arthur Miller's After the Fall. Translators Lehrer and Menon give Leger's voice immense verve in English as her small task becomes an obsession.'-Kirkus Reviews; 'I am not a movie buff - in fact, I rarely watch movies, especially the 'important' ones - but I realize I love reading descriptions of film scenes. There's a kind of inert vividness to these descriptions, a scrim between me and the dramatic moment, that I find almost erotic. Leger intersperses descriptions of Wanda with passages about how she came to know this movie, how she tried and tried to understand Barbara Loden herself. Woven into these, too, are autobiographical asides. One begins: 'Once upon a time the man I loved reproached me for my apparent passivity with other men.' The result of these combined fragments is delicious and mysterious.'-Edan Lepucki, The Millions; 'In Suite for Barbara Loden, Leger enacts a kind of double excavation in her desire 'to excavate a miniature model of modernity' that is Barbara Loden, an unearthing that has no teleological endpoint because it continues beyond the scope of the text being written. This excavation, indeed, must engage with the many texts that inform it, shaping the journey and, in effect, refracting the writing subject back on to herself-a fantasmatic act of the other becoming the self.' -Music & Literature; 'Beautifully translated.' -Times Literary Supplement; 'Leger jump-cuts through time and space with the expertise of a movie director.'-Joanna Walsh; '[A] mesmerizing work of unexpected beauty.' -Book Riot; 'Suite for Barbara Loden comes across as a dream, grounded in the women Leger researches but flowing into aspects she brings to life through fiction (...) The book absorbs in its absorption, its willful fixation on a subject she should have passed over altogether, or at the least done less with.' -Full Stop; 'I found Wanda thanks to Nathalie Leger's Suite for Barbara Loden. Translated from the French last year by Natasha Lehrer and Cecile Menon and tagged as fiction, Suite reads as part biography (of Loden), part memoir (of Leger), part critical study (of Wanda). It also offered a sensibility, a style, and ultimately, an interpretive lens through which to view the film, which emerges, in Leger's reading, as a portrait of (female) submission as resistance.' -The Hairpin

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Book SynopsisA contemporary novel of angst and high farce, "Blue Self-Portrait" unfolds among Berlin's cultural institutions but is more truly located in the mid-air flux between contrary impulses to remember and to ignore. Noemi Lefebvre shows how music continues to work on and through us, addressing past trauma while reaching for possible futures.Trade Review'These subjects, ranging from anxiety that his sexual desirability is dependent on his girlfriend imagining she's sleeping with the next Schoenberg, to the paralysing effect of nazism on art, to beautiful insights into the compositional process, ensure that the book is no melancholic meditation on lost loves. For a comparatively short novel, 'Blue Self-Portrait' yokes together an extraordinary profusion of ideas.' -- Eimear McBride. 'Were we to note the musical expression with which Blue Self-Portrait is performed, it would be con bravura, or even staccato: unchained, wildly.' -- BOMB -- 'Contemporary gender relations get a thorough going-over in this short, brilliant, variously funny and furious debut novel (...) Like an application of the prose style of Thomas Bernhard to a particular female experience more reminiscent of Bridget Jones: a form of acute social embarrassment and chronic self-deprecation. The strength of Lefebvre's novel is that it holds this private anxiety in balance not just with the highbrow cultural references of a well-educated European elite (Brecht, Mann and Adorno all get nods) but with the trauma of the Continent's recent history.' - Times Literary Supplement 'We are in Berlin, we are in France, we are in a plane; we are between countries and places and present and past, we are between different minds and different moments... Lefebvre's narrative is rich and engaging, and Lewis' translation - which I imagine must have been a tough one to do - never falters for a moment. This is a weighty, literary, text, and other than length it is not a "small" book. It is ideas and emotion-rich, and for anyone else who's all into this contemporary stream of consciousness revival, it's definitely worth your time.' Scott Manley Hadley, The Triumph of Now; 'As the plot unfolds among Berlin's cultural institutions Lefebvre's musical prose reflects the multidisciplinary approach of the artist it pays homage to.' Big Issue North; " 'L'autoportrait bleu' calls to mind fine lacework, all fancy stitching, a delicate succession of interconnected loops. Nothing but beautiful work here. In this devilishly virtuosic text, which also evokes contrapuntal music, Noemi Lefebvre writes like a genuine composer. It's rare to find a writer successfully able to lend a musical shape to their text. Lefebvre has taken up the challenge in this astonishing, vertiginous account." (Le Figaro litteraire,10 best debut novels of 2009) "The dense, fine-tuned, ever perfectionist writing in this debut novel reinforce its immediacy, grips the reader to the point of obsession." (L'Humanite) "I think this may be a 'master(?)piece." (Charles Boyle, author and publisher)Table of ContentsBlue Self-Portrait page 1 Translator's Note page 151

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Book SynopsisThe second novel by the highly praised post-war Croatian writer Robert Perisic.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA Nearly Normal Family is the gripping psychological thriller about a mother, a father, and their daughter who is accused of murder. How far would you go to protect your family?Trade ReviewA deceptive and riveting novel. A Nearly Normal Family will make you question everything you know about those closest to you -- Karin Slaughter, author of eighteen international bestsellersTore through this in a matter of days! Deadly secrets, divided loyalties and a dysfunctional family under unbearable strain as layer of deceit are peeled away one by one. A cracking read! -- T M LoganAn utterly compelling premise with wonderful writing. The characters . . . are so achingly real that one holds one’s breath with them. This is a layered, intelligent novel that will force any parent to consider exactly how far they would go to protect their child -- Fiona CumminsA canny, intensely suspenseful legal thriller -- Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent and TestimonyAn absolutely fantastic read -- Jo Spain, author of The ConfessionTaut page-turner ***** * The Sun *I couldn’t go to bed until I finished it. Effortlessly brilliant -- Sandie Jones, author of The Other WomanAny parent . . . and every teenager . . . will be gripped by this book. I couldn’t put it down and the author skillfully keeps you guessing until the very last line -- Michelle Frances, number one bestselling author of The GirlfriendAn unsettling page-turner that kept me guessing to the very end . . . masterful use of perspective as he chronicles a family living with the consequences of the teenage daughter’s arrest for murder. Great storytelling. Highly recommended -- Adam Hamdy, author of the Pendulum trilogyPage-turner . . . peels away the compromises we make with ourselves to be the people we believe our beloveds expect, revealing just how flimsy those pretenses can be -- One of the top seven thrillers for the summer * The New York Times *A compulsively readable tour de force * The Wall Street Journal *Edvardsson ably weaves themes of parental guilt and sacrifice into a nuanced family drama * Kirkus *An intense legal thriller that successfully plays realistic, gripping emotion against a shocking legal twist * Booklist *A propulsive thriller and delivers an ultra-satisfying read that’s far from ordinary * Shelf Awareness *A brilliant and clever story * Prima *

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Book SynopsisAhmadou Kourouma''s award winning novel, The Suns of Independence is one of the great classics of Francophone African literature, capturing the dreams and struggles of a newly independent nation.Fama is the last of an ancient line of Dumbuya princes who, before the Europeans came, reigned undisputed over the Malinke tribe. Yet even after independence, Fama is forced to beg for his place amongst the bureaucratic elite. Meanwhile, his wife, Salimata, is desperately attempting to save the Dumbuya legacy from extinction.Beyond the gripping political intrigue, Ahmadou Kourouma weaves together an in-depth tapestry of Malinke culture, blending the everyday experience of 1960s postcolonial life with age-old myths and traditions.''Perhaps the most remarkable African novelist writing in French.'' GuardianTrade ReviewPerhaps the most remarkable African novelist writing in French. * Guardian *The best-known African writer in France. * Independent *One of the few post-colonial African writers with an international reputation. * The Times *

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Book SynopsisFrom the internationally bestselling author and 'one of the most distinctive voices in European literature' (Daily Telegraph), another thrilling collection of crime storiesTrade ReviewPraise for Ferdinand von Schirach * - *Ice-cool, effortlessly classy prose * Observer *Tantalising and disturbing in equal measure -- Laura Wilson * Guardian *An exceptional prose stylist * New York Times *A magnificent storyteller * Der Spiegel *Psychologically raw . . . delivered in a crisp translation by Katharina Hall, his unfussy prose is icily effective . . . it suggests that all justice systems are flawed, that they are all just processes. And, with immense empathy, von Schirach's stories show what happens to people when they are processed. -- Christian House * Financial Times *The stories are cool, meticulously crafted, pithy and mordantly amusing . . . this is an unsettling, affecting, extremely powerful book. Highly recommended -- Declan Hughes * Irish Times *An impressive page-turner with substance and bite * Bookmunch *Thrilling and edgy, often carrying a twist in the tale -- To the Ends of the Word blog

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Book SynopsisTHE RIVETING AND UNPUTDOWNABLE THRILLER FOR FANS OF STIEG LARSSON''S MILLENNIUM TRILOGY''Ambitious, intricate, riveting'' THE TIMES________Journalist Farah Hafez is after another killer story. But at what risk to herself? . . .What connects the following:In Saigon, 1965, war correspondent Raylan Chapelle suffers a horrifying experience.Thirty years later, his son, newsman Paul Chapelle, is in Moscow to investigate an attack on his former colleague when he stumbles on a well-guarded secret.And Farah herself, in the garden of the presidential palace in Kabul, is forced to relive a traumatic event from her childhood.Different people. Different places. Different times.But all entangled by threads of love and war - threads that Farah can''t help but unravel, no matter the cost . . .Trade ReviewAmbitious, intricate, riveting * The Times *It's been compared to Stieg Larsson's Millennium series ... a compelling, engrossing read ... Walter Lucius is one to watch * Nudge *Disturbing, apocalyptic, gripping * Dutch Daily De Limburger *Riveting until the very end * AD Weekend [Dutch Newspaper] *The Dutch answer to the tsunami of Scandinavian thrillers * BB Boekblad *

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Book SynopsisTHE NAIL-BITING SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR''Is this the best crime writer in the world today?'' The Times''A world-class crime writer . . . One of the most astonishing plots of modern crime fiction'' Sunday Times''It is nothing less than a landmark in modern crime fiction'' The Times________''TEACHER WANTED AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD . . .''After the loss of her father, Una sees a chance to escape Reykjavík to tutor two girls in the tiny village of Skálar - population just ten - on Iceland''s storm-battered north coast.But city life hasn''t prepared her for the unforgiving weather nor inhospitable village life. Worse, the creaky old house where she lives is playing on her already fragile mind when she''s convinced she hears the ghostly sound of singing.Then, at midwinter, a young girl is found dead.And one of the viTrade ReviewIntriguing . . . This spooky novel draws on Icelandic sagas to create an atmosphere of growing menace. * The Times, CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR *An intensely gripping mystery, Ragnar Jonasson is a poet of the "dark, wet and cold", of the "gloom, cold and rain". The climactic revelations are credible and moving * The Times, BOOK OF THE MONTH *A creepy tale * The Times *A master of the Icelandic thriller * New York Post *With the bleakest of landscapes and some supernatural undertones, this is one creepy thriller that'll have you leaving ALL the lights on * Vogue Scandinavia *Spooky, sophisticated. Jonasson is strong on atmosphere * Sunday Times *Invigorating Iceland-set slice of Nordic Noir * Daily Mail *With his trademark elegant prose and atmospheric sense of place, Jonasson weaves a slow-burning, haunting tale with a chilling ending * Daily Record *A chilling psychological thriller with an unexpected ending that will haunt the reader * The Canberra Times *Haunting psychological novel tinged with the supernatural * Daily Record *With his trademark elegant prose and atmospheric sense of place, Jónasson weaves a slow-burning, haunting tale with a chilling ending * Sunday Express *Lean, compulsive. Great stories that combine traditional puzzle-solving of the golden age crime fiction with a moody expansive psychology * The Times *Fiendishy clever trilogy * Financial Times *A mist-shrouded blend of horror and psychological thriller . . . works in every way. The isolated village and the pre-smartphone 1980s setting create a sense of claustrophobia that combines with the villagers' secrecy and the hint of supernatural elements to infuse strong foreboding throughout what is ultimately revealed to be a story about trust * Booklist *The Icelandic king of crime * Göteborgsposten *A deeply atmospheric mystery * Choice Magazine *Few among the country's authors match Jonasson in conveying insular abandonment . . . excellent * Toronto Star *Ragnar Jonasson's impeccable plotting is really a wonder of the crime genre . . . a masterfully conceived horror novel * Dayton Daily News *Perfect for anyone who loves Nordic crime noir, the colder the better. The writing really brings alive a bleak, cold environment in which Una is struggling to survive and maintain her sanity * CADs Magazine *A demonic piece of horror * Dayton Daily News *Praise for Ragnar Jónasson * - *Triumphant . . . Chilling, creepy, perceptive, almost unbearably tense * Ian Rankin *Triumphant conclusion to the trilogy. Only Ragnar Jónasson has rendered hindsight so heartbreaking. * Sunday Times (on the Hidden Iceland trilogy) *Is this the best crime writer in the world today? . . . He's truly a master of his genre * The Times Online *Jónasson is an automatic must-read for me . . . possibly the best Scandi writer working todayIt is nothing less than a landmark in modern crime fiction * The Times *A world-class crime writer. One of the most astonishing plots of modern crime fiction. A triumphant conclusion to the trilogy [that] makes Iceland's pre-eminence in the crime genre even more marked * The Sunday Times *The red hot crime writer from the frozen north . . . One of the most important voices on the international crime scene * The Times *A master of the Icelandic thriller. * New York Post *Invigorating Iceland-set slice of Nordic Noir. * Daily Mail *Fiendishy clever trilogy * Financial Times *Triumphant conclusion to the trilogy. Only Ragnar Jónasson has rendered hindsight so heartbreaking. * Sunday Times (on the Hidden Iceland trilogy) *

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Book SynopsisDI Charlie Lager returns to investigate a long-buried disappearance in this ''atmospheric'', ''evocative'' and ''arresting'' page-turner of a procedural from the new Swedish queen of crime fiction************She must find the truth about Francesca. Before the past catches up with her...AN UNSOLVED MYSTERYThirty years ago, teenager Paul Bergman was found drowned in Gullspång''s lake, and his best friend Francesca vanished from her home. Paul''s death was ruled a suicide, and Francesca was never found.A DETECTIVE''S OBSESSIONDI Charlie Lager is still haunted by childhood memories of a strange house and the missing girl who once lived there.A DEADLY SECRETConvinced that the original investigation was flawed, Charlie is determined to uncover what really happened all those decades ago. But someone out there is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the truth from coming outTrade ReviewThe dark humour, compelling characters and exquisite writing means you're always in for a treat with Lina Bengtsdotter's novels * Camilla Läckberg *Lina Bengtsdotter's books are beautiful, dark and completely addictive. I love them! * Katrine Engberg *

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Book SynopsisWinter was chilling. Summer will be brutal. Every season is perfect for murder.As the temperature in Sweden reaches a record-breaking 45, forest fires break out. All those who have failed to escape Linköping for the summer take shelter indoors, shocked and paralysed by the heat.However, when a teenage girl is discovered naked and bleeding in the local park, it is clear that the raging heat is not the only plague affecting the town.Then a second girl is found dead.Alarmed by the fact that the victims are the same age as her daughter, Tove, detective Malin Fors will work round-the-clock to capture the perpetrator. But as every lead comes to nothing, it is as though the oppressive heat is clogging up the wheels of her investigation. And time is not on Malin''s side . . .Trade ReviewKallentoft's books have been called beautiful, exquisite and original. I can see why. * Literary Review *He has a completely unique style, an exquisite narrative that you drink in with pleasure . . . I'm convinced: a crime novel doesn't get much more beautiful than this * Kristian Stadsbladet *Don't bother with Stieg Larsson, Kallentoft is better * Magnus Utvik, Sweden's leading critic *One of the best-realised female heroines I've read by a male writer * Guardian *The highest suspense * Camilla Lackberg, international bestselling author of The Stonecutter *The strengths of this complex and excellent novel include realistic dialogue, thorough characterisation and concern for social issues * New Zealand Listener *It is Kallentoft's characterisation and distinctive, often poetic style which make his crime-writing more memorable than most . . . It is compelling reading. The atmosphere of oppressive heat creates the sense of a hell on earth, where evil thrives. It is a powerful and disturbing vision. * Canberra Times *Meditative. Dark. Really, really cold . . . This is a worthy successor to Larsson's Millennium trilogy . . . This first installment in Kallentoft's crime series is a splendid representative of the Swedish crime novel, in all its elegance and eeriness. * Booklist Starred Review *My current favourite among the Scandinavian crime writers is another Swede, Mons Kallentoft. So far, three of his Malin Fors books have been translated into English: Midwinter Sacrifice, Summertime Death and Autumn Killing. I loved them all, particularly for the way Kallentoft gives a voice to his victims. * Alex Gray, author of Sleep Like the Dead *

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Book SynopsisThe third novel in the internationally bestselling Malin Fors series of Swedish crime novels, the first of which, MIDWINTER SACRIFICE, was a Richard & Judy Bookclub selection. Perfect for fans of Scandinavian crime and the hit television series The Killing and The Bridge.Trade ReviewMy current favourite among the Scandinavian crime writers is another Swede, Mons Kallentoft. So far, three of his Malin Fors books have been translated into English: Midwinter Sacrifice, Summertime Death and Autumn Killing. I loved them all, particularly for the way Kallentoft gives a voice to his victims. * Alex Gray *Praise for Mons Kallentoft's MALIN FORS series * . . . *Kallentoft's books have been called beautiful, exquisite and original. I can see why. * Literary Review *He has a completely unique style, an exquisite narrative that you drink in with pleasure . . . I'm convinced: a crime novel doesn't get much more beautiful than this * Kristian Stadsbladet *Don't bother with Stieg Larsson, Kallentoft is better * Magnus Utvik, Sweden's leading critic *One of the best-realised female heroines I've read by a male writer * Guardian *The highest suspense * Camilla Lackberg, international bestselling author of The Stonecutter *The strengths of this complex and excellent novel include realistic dialogue, thorough characterisation and concern for social issues * New Zealand Listener *It is Kallentoft's characterisation and distinctive, often poetic style which make his crime-writing more memorable than most . . . It is compelling reading. The atmosphere of oppressive heat creates the sense of a hell on earth, where evil thrives. It is a powerful and disturbing vision. * Canberra Times *'Meditative. Dark. Really, really cold . . . This is a worthy successor to Larsson's Millennium trilogy . . . This first installment in Kallentoft's crime series is a splendid representative of the Swedish crime novel, in all its elegance and eeriness.' * Booklist Starred Review *

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of Thirteen Hours - A Sunday Times ''100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945'' pickI''ll shoot a policeman every day until you arrest the murderer of Hanneke Sloet.Shortly after the South African Police Services receive this threatening email, a policeman is shot by a sniper and recovering alcoholic Benny Griessel is ordered to reopen the Sloet case.Hanneke Sloet was a sensual and ambitious lawyer. At the time of her murder she was working on one of the biggest Black Empowerment deals in South African history. She was found dead in her luxury Cape Town apartment, a single stab wound to her chest.After forty days, the trail has gone cold. The first investigation could find no motive and no leads, only a set of nude photographs, an ex-boyfriend with a rock-solid alibi, conniving attorneys and financial double-dealing.Benny has to deal with immense pressure from his superiors, the media an

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Book SynopsisCommandant Servaz is about to learn that the wronged do not rest in peace, as murder stalks a quiet French town in the new novel from international bestseller Bernard Minier.Trade ReviewBernard Minier's second novel A SONG FOR DROWNED SOULS confirms his status in the forefront of crime fiction's French renaissance...A gripping read * The Times *Two years ago I reviewed Minier's debut crime novel, The Frozen Dead, which was quite exceptional. This, his second, is every bit its equal...The sense of creeping dread is viciously sharp and painful * Daily Mail *Over the past few years, France has produced some of Europe's most striking and original crime novelists. Bernard Minier is up there with the best * Sunday Times, crime book of the month *You'll find you cannot stop imbibing this vintage crime thriller * Express *Shows his mastery of the creepy set-up...The Russian nesting doll of a plot is perfectly executed and delivers two genuine gut punches at the end. * Publishers Weekly *Minier delivers yet another absorbing thriller that will keep readers guessing until the final shocking pages. Set in southern France, this satisfying read will entice fans of dark, gritty Scandinavian thrillers who will find Martin Servaz reminiscent of Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole * Library Journal *

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Book SynopsisPreviously published as GENOCIDE OF ONE, this bestselling Japanese thriller reveals the existence of a child who may be the future of the human race - or the cause of its extinction: 'tempers the sleek super-science of a Michael Crichton novel with a healthy dose of moral indignation' Financial Times.Trade ReviewRichly researched, shockingly violent, and smoothly translated...tempers the sleek super-science of a Michael Crichton novel with a healthy dose of moral indignation * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisA married couple is found dead in their jacuzzi. Their adopted five-year-old daughter has vanished. Inspector Malin Fors, the troubled but brilliant star of the Linkoping police force, is put in charge of the case.But this is a haunting mystery where the borders have been blurred: those between the living and the dead, between good and evil.Malin is only too aware of her own tendencies towards obsession and addiction. As the investigation takes a darker turn, forcing Malin to confront her own demons, will she hold out long enough to find the killer - and the missing girl - before it''s too late?Trade Review[an] atmospheric series * Independent *Kallentoft's novels always run at a high emotional temperature * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisLinköping''s top detective, Malin Fors, is about to take on a case that''s a little too close for comfort. Her daughter has just discovered a dead body. It is that of a 79-year-old resident at the nursing home where she works. He''s been hung by his own alarm cord.At first it looks like a cut and dry suicide. But when the autopsy suggests foul play, Malin probes deeper and uncovers rumours about the home''s mismanagement its greedy millionaire owner. Was it a mercy killing, or was someone trying to silence the victim?Who could possibly benefit from the death of an elderly man? Only someone with a lot to gain - or a lot to lose...Trade ReviewPraise for the Seasons series: * - *Kallentoft's books have been called beautiful, exquisite and original. I can see why. * Literary Review *One of the best-realised female heroines I've read by a male writer. * Guardian *Meditative. Dark. Really, really cold . . . This is a worthy successor to Larsson's Millennium trilogy . . . This first installment in Kallentoft's crime series is a splendid representative of the Swedish crime novel, in all its elegance and eeriness. * Booklist Starred Review *

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Book SynopsisThe hilarious and poignant final instalment in Minna Lindgren's heart-warming Lavender Ladies trilogy.Trade ReviewThe Finnish Miss Marple * Independent *

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Book SynopsisInspector Montalbano must unravel the mystery of a dead body discovered in a sewage tunnel in the twenty-second novel in Andrea Camilleri's critically acclaimed series.

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Book SynopsisA funny, emotional and uplifting novel from the French Marian Keyes. ''Heartwarming'' Good Housekeeping''A gorgeous story, charming and funny and poignant'' Nicola Cornick For fans of Ruth Hogan, Veronica Henry and Sarah Morgan, about unexpected friendships, starting again and finding your passion for life.''Welcome to Ocean View. You don''t know it yet, but you''ll be happy here...''Julia''s not running away. Not exactly. She just needs a break from Paris and Marc and all the sad stuff that''s been going on lately. A little time to pull herself together.The job offer felt like a lifeline. But now she''s back in Biarritz, suitcase in hand, she hasn''t the faintest idea what she was thinking. What Julia doesn''t yet know is there''s more to the odds and ends of Ocean View than meet the eye. Behind the double doors lie broken hearts, lifelong secrets, a touch oTrade ReviewHeartwarming * Good Housekeeping *A gorgeous story, charming and funny and poignant. I found it as refreshing as a breath of sea air -- Nicola CornickNot going abroad this summer? Let Virginie Grimaldi whisk you away on an uplifting journey of loss, romance and secrets. This feel-good French bestseller instills the importance of meeting new people, visiting new places and taking chances * Culturefly *A fabulous escape * Take a Break *A charming mixture of happy and sad * Jaffareadstoo *A special book * Donna's Book Blog *I loved every single page of this novel. It made me laugh, it made my heart swell, I was charmed and I was inspired. It was thought provoking but most of all it was truly wonderful * Krafti Reader *

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Book SynopsisThe sixth book in the award-winning crime series by Marco Vichi, following Inspector Bordelli.Trade ReviewVichi is a splendid, thoughtful novelist who wanders and wonders, and who pulls the crime novel to the limits of its potential. * TLS *'A real find for anyone who likes their crime novels atmospheric, discursive, humorous and thought-provoking.' * Guardian *'[Italian] writers are justifiably growing in popularity here: Marco Vichi deserves to be among them . . . [Bordelli] is stubborn, womanless, cynical and impatient, but strangely appealing.' * Marcel Berlins, The Times *'Over the course of his police procedurals, Vichi shows us ever more secret and dark sides to an otherwise sunny and open city. But his happiest creation, in my opinion, remains the character of Inspector Bordelli, a disillusioned anti-hero who is difficult to forget.' * Andrea Camilleri *'Vichi's stellar first in a new mystery series introduces endearingly melancholic Inspector Bordelli . . . [and] delivers a plausible solution worthy of a golden age crime novel. Readers will look forward to seeing more of this flawed hero.' * Publishers Weekly, starred review for DEATH IN AUGUST *

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Book SynopsisA modern-day Sleeping Beauty story of love and hope, perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes. ''A rare and beautiful novel'' (Daily Mail)Elsa has been in a coma for five months. With all hope of reviving her gone, her family must face the devastating fact that it might be time to turn off her life support.What they don''t know is that in the past few weeks Elsa has regained partial consciousness - she just has no way of telling them.Thibault is in the same hospital visiting his brother and, seeking a retreat, finds his way into Elsa''s room. When he begins to talk to her, he doesn''t realise she can hear every word - and that he is giving her a reason to wake up.And so begins a love story that might just save both their lives...Trade ReviewA viscerally moving love story. I'M STILL HERE beautifully shows how the steady, quiet power of the heart can sustain anyone who takes on impossible odds. -- Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Perfect NeighborsMagnifique! With charming characters, a unique premise and a delightful, fresh voice, Clelie Avit's debut novel will have you cheering for life and love while you hungrily turn its pages. I'M STILL HERE (Je Suis La) is a gift, and Clelie Avit is a writer to watch. -- Julie Lawson Timmer, author of Five Days Left and UntetheredA rare and beautiful novel * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisA sensational million-copy best seller in Poland, GIRL AT MIDNIGHT is a page-turning, suspense-filled drama ready to take the rest of Europe by storm.

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Book SynopsisFrom the country that brought you the word noir, the thrilling new novel in the bestselling Commandant Servaz seriesTrade ReviewLike Agent Starling in The Silence Of The Lambs, always two steps behind a serial killer who toys with them exactly as Hannibal Lecter did with Starling. Minier's killer is every bit as compelling * Daily Mail *Minier's extravagantly plotted thrillers . . . are highly readable and deliver great entertainment * Morning Star *Dark, deep and cerebral, but the danger will almost stop your heart * Sunday Times Crime Club *Praise for Bernard Minier * - *A publishing sensation in France . . . With a villain possessing the intelligence of Thomas Harris's immortal Hannibal Lecter, this is great story-telling, with a creeping sense of dread that would not disgrace Stephen King at his best * Daily Mail on The Frozen Dead *Bernard Minier's second novel A SONG FOR DROWNED SOULS confirms his status in the forefront of crime fiction's French renaissance . . . A gripping read * The Times *A super-accelerated version of a Hitchcock thriller, with thrills and shocks on nearly every page * Spectator on Don't Turn Out the Lights *

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Book SynopsisA HEART-STOPPING, VISCERAL THRILLER FROM THE MASTER OF THE KILLER TWIST.A child claims his mother is an imposter - but only one person believes him.Trade ReviewSuperlative... No other thriller writer can make you break into a sweat and break your heart at the same time. * The Times *PRAISE FOR MICHEL BUSSI'One of France's most ingenious crime writers' Sunday Times'A dazzling, unexpected and haunting masterpiece' Daily Mail'Bussi cleverly breaks all the perceived rules of plotting in a story containing riddles within riddles: stunning' Daily Express'Outrageously entertaining' The Times 'A tantalising story that wraps the reader in myriad enigmas - utterly spellbinding' Daily Mail 'Agatha Christie updated and then cranked up to 11: a blast' Shots Magazine

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW THRILLER FROM THE MASTER OF THE KILLER TWISTA breathlessly pacey crime story centred around one of the hottest issues of our age: the human cost of migrationTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR MICHEL BUSSI'No other thriller writer can make you break into a sweat and break your heart at the same time' The Times'One of France's most ingenious crime writers' Sunday Times'A dazzling, unexpected and haunting masterpiece' Daily Mail'Bussi cleverly breaks all the perceived rules of plotting in a story containing riddles within riddles: stunning' Daily Express 'A tantalising story that wraps the reader in myriad enigmas - utterly spellbinding' Daily Mail 'Agatha Christie updated and then cranked up to 11: a blast' Shots Magazine

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PEDRO ALMODÓVAR The lives of trans Latinx come alive in this cocktail of bleakness and joy de vivre that depicts a community living on the wrong side of the American dream.Trade ReviewAn ode to New York City's queer and trans immigrant community... Ojeda, a Chilean American writer, brings sincerity and dark humor to tales of drug addiction, prison life at Rikers Island and a five-time beauty pageant winner, drawing from personal experience as a trans performer, sex worker and undocumented immigrant. * New York Times *Can't get enough of Pose? Then Las Biuty Queens will be your new fave read. Exploring the lives of the Latin American trans community, Biuty Queens effortlessly blends heart and humour while exploring life on the wrong side of the American dream. Ivan Monalisa Ojeda sparkles as one of 2021's boldest new writers. * Cosmopolitan, Best books to read in summer 2021 *Chilean American writer Ojeda dazzles and devastates in this rich collection about a group of trans Latinx immigrants as they try to make it in New York City. Stories of drug addiction and police brutality, street queens and beauty contests portray the danger, decadence, and joy in the characters' lives... Throughout, Ojeda proves to be a captivating presence on the page. * Publishers Weekly *These stories are about 'what it means to cross from one side to the other, what it means to get home in one piece...' A crystalline energy tears through these pages and insists we keep our eyes open. This is New York, full of beauty and pain-turn away at your own peril * Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City *This story collection marks the arrival of a singular personality with a unique and quintessential American voice. You can't just read this book; you bathe in its grit, the resilience of its characters and, most of all, its beauty. What a stunning book * Jose Antonio Vargas, founder of Define American and author of Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen *Iván Monalisa Ojeda brings to life a breathtaking world of camaraderie, beautiful messiness, pain, and resilience in Las Biuty Queens. He/she offers us captivating snapshots of Latinx trans sex workers living, working, and loving in New York City, telling a story close to my heart: that of keeping one another alive, fed, bailed out, and in deliciously deviant company amidst the harshness of criminalization. This book is like the money a friend slips in your pocket when they know you can't make rent: a fortifying whisper to carry on, and carry each other with us * Tourmaline, filmmaker and activist *Vibrant, honest, and unfailingly engaging, the stories in this collection are a revelation and a source of great comfort. Ivan Monalisa Ojeda is a thrilling writer and a singular cultural observer * Rakesh Satyal, author of Blue Boy and No One Can Pronounce My Name *No one in Chile writes like Iván Monalisa Ojeda. No one has his/her ease, his/her boldness, his/her tenderness. The stories we find in Las Biuty Queens fiercely depict the life of an undocumented immigrant in New York. Here the glamor and lights coexist with misery and solitude. The American dream doesn't exist. We're left with the fragile voices of this book as they tell, in rabid Spanglish, the story of a nightmare as gorgeous as it is infinite. * Diego Zúñiga, award-winning author of Camanchaca *Monalisa is a legend. She lives in New York as an illegal and her stories are about dressed addicts. A powerful pen. He looks a lot like Lemebel, but he has his own voice. Her personality is even more edge, and she doesn't want to make the world a better place with literature. Of survive on an expensive and tough New York is what it's all about. It's like being in a permanent apocalypse. * Carlos Velázquez *Can't get enough of Pose? Then Las Biuty Queens will be your new fave read. Exploring the lives of the Latin American trans community, Biuty Queens effortlessly blends heart and humour while exploring life on the wrong side of the American dream. Ivan Monalisa Ojeda sparkles as one of 2021's boldest new writers. * COSMOPOLITAN *

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1977, Do What They Say or Else tells the story of a fifteen-year-old girl named Anne who lives with her working-class parents in a small town in Normandy, France.Trade Review“A powerful portrait of a searching adolescent.”—Publishers Weekly“In this, her second published novel, Annie Ernaux writes the psycho-biology of being fifteen years old with perfect recall. Do What They Say or Else conveys the cost of upward mobility and the desire to just throw it all away. Ernaux is in perfect control of her narrator’s wildness. The result is vivid and tough.”—Chris Kraus, author of After Kathy Acker: A Literary Biography“Annie Ernaux is often celebrated for her minimalist and documentary style. Yet this second novel, very funny at times, is narrated from the perspective of a teenage girl, with a vindictive and self-deprecating tone that ranges from the colloquial to the outright vulgar. This translation is a true tour de force!”—Bruno Thibault, author of Danièle Sallenave et le don des morts

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Book SynopsisThe Darkest Day is the first novel in the five part Inspector Barbarotti series from renowned Swedish crime author Håkan Nesser.It’s December in the quiet Swedish town of Kymlinge, and the Hermansson family are gathering to celebrate father Karl-Erik and eldest daughter Ebba’s joint landmark birthdays. But beneath the guise of happy festivities, tensions are running high, and it’s not long before the night takes a dark and unexpected turn . . . Before the weekend is over, two members of the Hermansson family are missing, and it’s up to Inspector Barbarotti – a detective who spends as much of his time debating the existence of God as he does solving cases – to determine exactly what has happened. And he soon discovers he’ll have to unravel a whole tangle of sinister family secrets in the process . . .Trade ReviewBarbarotti has to disentangle years of bad blood and resentment to get to the heart of a thrillingly complex case -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times *Told with wry humour and compassion, Nesser has four more Barbarotti stories to come — cherish them all -- Geoffrey Wansell * Daily Mail *In an exemplary translation by Sarah Death, this tangled tale of guilt and betrayal whets the appetite for translations of the other Barbarotti novels -- Barry Forshaw * Financial Times *A top-notch investigation into some grisly goings-on, courtesy of his latest crime-fighting duo Barbarotti and Backman * Riveting Reads *

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Book SynopsisWhen Ellinor addresses her best friend Anna, she does not expect a reply. Anna has been dead for forty years, killed in the same skiing accident that claimed Henning: Ellinor’s first husband and Anna’s lover.Ellinor instead tells her that Georg has died – Georg who was once Anna’s, but whom Ellinor came to love in her place, and whom she came to care for, along with Anna’s two infant sons. Yet with Georg’s death Ellinor finds herself able to cut the ties of her assumed life with surprising ease.Returning to the area of Copenhagen where she grew up, away from the adopted comfort of the home she shared with Georg, Ellinor finds herself addressing her own history: her marriage to Henning, their seemingly charmed friendship with the newly-wed Anna and Georg, right back to her own mother's story – a story of heartbreaking pride.Because there are some secrets – both our own and of others – that we can only share with the dead. Secrets that nonetheless shape who we are and who we love. Often I Am Happy by Jens Christian Grøndahl is a profoundly moving work of fiction.Trade ReviewIn Danish novelist Grøndahl’s stunning latest, a recently widowed 70-year-old woman reexamines her life and past decisions . . . A compassionate and often edifying commentary on the elasticity of love, the strength it takes to move forward after a death, and the power of forgiveness. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *This atmosphere of nonchalance, of indifference, of cracked glass, is the signature atmosphere of Jens Christian Grøndahl . . . Often I Am Happy is [among Grøndahl’s works] one of the most condensed, most suffused with grief and mixed beauty . . . His characters, so perfectly drawn, nevertheless thrive only as they disappear. The real, in the work of this great novelist, also has about it something of the haziness of memory. * Livres Hebdo *

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Book Synopsis'With the open-hearted rashness that belongs to every true writer, Saviano returns to tell the story of the fierce and grieving heart of Naples.' Elena FerranteIn Naples, a new kind of gang rules the streets: the ‘Paranze’, the ‘Children’s Gangs’, groups of teenage boys who divide their time between Facebook or playing Call of Duty on their PlayStations and patrolling the streets armed with pistols and AK-47s, terrorizing local residents in order to mark out the territories of their Mafia bosses.From the author of ZeroZeroZero comes the eye-opening The Piranhas, which tells the story of the rise of one such gang and its leader, Nicolas – known to his friends and enemies as the ‘Maharajah’. But Nicolas’s ambitions reach far beyond doing other men’s bidding: he wants to be the one giving orders, calling the shots, and ruling the city. But the violence he is accustomed to wielding and witnessing soon spirals out of his control . . .Trade ReviewWith the open-hearted rashness that belongs to every true writer, Saviano returns to tell the story of the fierce and grieving heart of Naples. -- Elena FerranteThriller of the Month . . . Saviano’s characterisation, dialogue and set-pieces are first-rate, but what sets the book apart (as with Gomorrah) is his quasi-anthropological portrayal of a micro-society, with a mix of influences that ranges from Call of Duty, porn and mafia movies to Catholic ritual. * Sunday Times *Very impressive . . . I admire Roberto [Saviano] a lot. -- Leila SlimaniA kind of Instagram-era Godfather, pungent with trashtalking and squalid detail. * Metro *The children of Gomorrah . . . in Mr Saviano’s Naples, not even the playgrounds are safe. * The Economist *This is an Italy everyone should see . . . Readers will be rewarded. * Literary Review *A frightening but thrilling novel, alternatively poetic and brutal. * The Herald *The Piranhas is a tragic story, desperate and devastating [...] Saviano both shocks and mesmerises as this tragic tale unfolds. It’s a heart breaking tale and a salutary lesson. * Nudge-book magazine *Dramatic, musical, poetic * El Mundo *A shocking and thrilling book * De Morgen *No matter what Saviano is saying or denouncing, he is, above all, telling a story. This is his natural genius. The Piranhas once again demonstrates this eloquently. * La Repubblica *

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Book SynopsisCousin Bette (1846) is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Part of Balzac’s La Comédie humaine sequence, the novel is recognized as being the author’s last fully-realized work, and features several characters who appear elsewhere throughout his legendary series. It has inspired several film and television adaptations, as well as earned comparisons to Shakespeare’s Othello and Tolstoy’s War and Peace. The novel focuses on the life and exploits of Bette Fischer, a 42-year-old woman whose bitterness at remaining unmarried—despite several proposals by men she deemed unworthy—drives her to ruin the reputations and lives of her extended family. After rescuing the young sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock from suicide, Bette develops a complex affection for the man. When he falls in love with Hortense, the daughter of Bette’s cousin Adeline, she hatches a plan to gain revenge for this perceived personal slight. She recruits the young and beautiful Valérie Marneffe—an unhappily married woman—to seduce Adeline’s husband, Baron Hector Hulot, whose uncontrolled desires and extensive vanity both test his family’s loyalty and stretch their finances to the furthest possible limit. Cousin Bette is an intense psychological drama and character study that burns with the fire of Balzac’s critique of French society. While exposing the depths of human immorality—particularly where money is made the center of personal relationships—Balzac manages to remind us that what makes us human is not what drives us apart, but the lengths to which we will go to cultivate love despite our basest impulses. To read Cousin Bette is to observe the hopes, flaws, and desires of the people of nineteenth century France, but to ultimately judge ourselves. This final masterpiece of Honoré de Balzac is a testament to the skill and dedication of one of history’s finest literary minds. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honoré de Balzac’s Cousin Bette is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisEugénie Grandet (1833) is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Written as Balzac began to formulate the grand scale of his La Comédie humaine sequence, Eugénie Grandet was eventually tied into the universe of his epic realist masterpiece, a holistic vision of nineteenth-century French society which sought to observe the consequences of the political, religious, and economic shifts of the Revolution and in its aftermath. This novel looks to the moral failings of a particular nouveau riche family, whose accumulation of wealth has quickly erased any sense of their working-class origins. After the Revolution, master cooper Felix Grandet married the daughter of a successful merchant, ascended in the political and social life of the town of Saumur, and quietly amassed an immense wealth through industry and inheritances from his wife’s family. Now an old man, Felix possesses a fortune he feels no inclination to use, not even to improve the daily lives of his ailing wife and young adult daughter Eugénie, who faces frequent incursions from local suitors intent on marrying her to attain her father’s wealth. When Felix’s nephew Charles arrives from Paris with a letter from the patriarch’s estranged brother Guillaume, tragic circumstances force him to choose between habitual greed and the immense pressure of performing what for anyone else would be a basic act of generosity. Eugénie Grandet is a powerful story of fortune, power, and the ease with which these lead to moral failure. Published at the dawning of Balzac’s most productive and critically-acclaimed period, this novel is not only a good introduction to his lengthy La Comédie humaine sequence, but an irreplaceable work of nineteenth-century realist literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Honoré de Balzac’s Eugénie Grandet is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisKokoro (1914) is a novel by Natsume Sōseki. Set during a period of modernization in Japan, Kokoro is a story of family, faith, and tragedy that explores timeless themes of isolation and identity. Spanning generations, Kokoro is a classic novel from one of Japan’s most successful twentieth century writers. Tradition and change, life and death—such are the subjects of Sōseki’s masterful, understated tale of unassuaged guilt. On vacation with a friend, the narrator meets an older man who becomes a patient mentor for the young student. Soon, he begins visiting Sensei and his wife at their home in Tokyo, where they live an affluent, simple life. As the years go by, the narrator becomes aware of a secret from Sensei’s past, which his mentor promises to reveal when the time is right. When his father falls ill—around the time of the end of Meiji society—the narrator returns home to be closer to his family. As he tries to remain positive around so much sorrow, he begins to miss his Sensei, who is now getting old himself. As his father prepares to leave the mortal world, the narrator receives a lengthy letter from Tokyo, containing his Sensei’s story within. As one era merges into the next, he reads of the suffering and mistakes his Sensei experienced and incurred on his path through life, drawing them closer and leaving the narrator with some wisdom to remember him by. Eminently human, Kokoro is a beloved story of isolation, morality, and conflict from a master of Japanese fiction. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Natsume Sōseki’s Kokoro is a classic work of Japanese literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when adults are as lost as the children they're supposed to be protecting? From the author of the Richard and Judy Book Club Pick No and Me ‘Packs a hefty emotional punch. It reminded me of Leila Slimani’s terrific Lullaby’ Bookseller ‘Narrated with punch and pace. You’re kept reading helplessly to the desperate cliffhanger finish’ Daily Mail Thirteen-year-old Théo and his friend Mathis have a secret. Their teacher, Hélène, suspects something is not right with Théo and becomes obsessed with rescuing him, casting aside her professionalism to the point of no return. Cécile, mother of Mathis, discovers something horrifying on her husband’s computer that makes her question whether she has ever truly known him. Respectable facades are peeled away as the four stories wind tighter and tighter together, pulling into a lean and darkly gripping novel of loneliness, lies and loyalties.Trade ReviewThe latest literary sensation * Daily Telegraph *Delphine de Vigan coils these stories together in a taut, intense novel of secrets, lies and the unknowable depths of others * Tatler *Delphine de Vigan’s dark family thrillers are a cult sensation * i Weekend *One of the finest writers of psychological fiction in France today * France Magazine *Short and achingly affecting * Saga Magazine *De Vigan’s sure grasp of the trauma that comes with abuse and the horrible dilemmas that build up around seeking help make this noteworthy fiction * i *It’s a deceptively simple novel, an impression enhanced by the unfussy prose, shorn of literary flourish or artifice, but a powerful, thought-provoking one * Country & Town House *Frighteningly honest, precise and thrilling -- Praise for 'Based on a True Story', Julie Myerson * Observer *The novel casts a spell of enchantment ... Utterly brilliant -- Praise for 'Based on a True Story' * Spectator *

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