Fiction: literary and general non-genre

Book SynopsisAn exquisite winter tale of courage - and its cost, set in Catholic Ireland.

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTIONTheo Decker, aged thirteen, is left alone in the world after surviving a catastrophe that kills his only close relative - his mother - and tears him away from everything he knows. Tormented by grief, drifting from home to home, he grows increasingly obsessed with a small, enchanting work of art which dominates his imagination and ultimately draws him, as an adult, into a much darker life than he could ever have foreseen.''A masterpiece'' The Times''Astonishing'' Guardian''Superb'' Daily Mail''A gripping page turner'' Independent on SundayTrade ReviewA glorious novel that pulls together all her remarkable storytelling talents into a rapturous, symphonic whole and reminds the reader of the immersive, stay-up-all-night pleasures of reading -- Michiko Kakutani New York Times The Goldfinch is a triumph ... Donna Tartt has delivered an extraordinary work of fiction -- Stephen King New York Times An astonishing achievement ... if anyone has lost their love of storytelling, The Goldfinch will most certainly return it to them. The last few pages of the novel take all the serious, big, complicated ideas beneath the surface and hold them up to the light Guardian A modern epic and an old-fashioned pilgrimage...Dickens with guns, Dostoevsky with pills, Tolstoy with antiques. And if it doesn't gain Tartt entry to the mostly boys' club that is The Great American Novel, to drink with life-members John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth et al, then we should close down the joint and open up another for the Great Global Novel - for that is what this is -- Alex O'Connell The Times

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Book SynopsisTranslated by George Szirtes From the winner of the Man Booker International Prize In the darkening embers of a Communist utopia, life in a desolate Hungarian town has come to a virtual standstill. Flies buzz, spiders weave, water drips and animals root desultorily in the barnyard of a collective farm. But when the charismatic Irimias - long-thought dead - returns, the villagers fall under his spell. Irimias sets about swindling the villagers out of a fortune that might allow them to escape the emptiness and futility of their existence. He soon attains a messianic aura as he plays on the fears of the townsfolk and a series of increasingly brutal events unfold.Trade ReviewA modern masterpiece that manages to speak both of its time and to transcend it altogether * Sunday Telegraph *A monster of a novel: compact, cleverly constructed, often exhilarating * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis*The #1 Sunday Times Bestseller**Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2021**A Barack Obama Summer Reading Pick*''A delicate, haunting story'' The Washington Post''This is a novel for fans of Never Let Me Go . . . tender, touching and true.'' The Times''The Sun always has ways to reach us.''From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change for ever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.In Klara and The Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?Kazuo Ishiguro''s book Klara and the Sun was a #1 Sunday Times Bestseller w/c 06-03-2021Trade Review'A masterpiece of great beauty, meticulous control and, as ever, clear, simple prose.' - Sunday Times'Another masterwork, a work that makes us feel afresh the beauty and fragility of our humanity' - Observer'Intelligent, beautiful, mesmeric and a breeze to read - what more could you want?' - Metro'A delicate, haunting story, steeped in sorrow and hope.'- The Washington Post'For four decades now, Ishiguro has written eloquently about the balancing act of remembering without succumbing irrevocably to the past. Memory and the accounting of memory, its burdens and its reconciliation, have been his subjects... Klara and the Sun complements [Ishiguro's] brilliant vision...There's no narrative instinct more essential, or more human.' - The New York Times Book Review'A prayer is a postcard asking for a favor, sent upward. Whether our postcards are read by anyone has become the searching doubt of Ishiguro's recent novels, in which this master, so utterly unlike his peers, goes about creating his ordinary, strange, godless allegories.' - The New Yorker'Few writers who've ever lived have been able to create moods of transience, loss and existential self-doubt as Ishiguro has - not art about the feelings, but the feelings themselves.' - The Los Angeles Times

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Book SynopsisWINNER OFHugo Award for Best NovellaNebula Award for Best NovellaReddit Stabby Award for Best NovellaBritish Science Fiction Association Award for Best NovellaSHORTLISTED FOR2020 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial AwardThe Ray Bradbury PrizeKitschies Red Tentacle AwardKitschies Inky TentacleBrave New Words AwardCo-written by two award-winning writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That's how war works. Right?'A fireworks display from two very talented storytellers' Madeline Miller, author of Circe'An intimate and lyrical tour of time, myth and history' John Scalzi, bestselling author of Old Man's War'Lyrical and vivid and bittersweet' Ann Leckie, Hugo Award-winning author of Ancillary Justice'Rich and strange, a romantic tour through all of time and the multiverse' Martha Wells, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Murderbot DiariesTrade ReviewThis book has it all: treachery and love, lyricism and gritty action, existential crisis and space-opera scope, not to mention time travelling superagents. Gladstone's and El-Mohtar's debut collaboration is a fireworks display from two very talented storytellers * Madeline Miller, internationally bestselling author of Circe and Song of Achilles *An intimate and lyrical tour of time, myth and history, with a captivating conversation between characters - and authors. Read it * John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of The Collapsing Empire *Lyrical and vivid and bittersweet. An absolutely lovely read from two talented writers * Ann Leckie, Hugo Award-winning author of Ancillary Justice *This is How You Lose the Time War is rich and strange, a romantic tour through all of time and the multiverse, and you shouldn't miss a moment * Martha Wells, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of The Murderbot Diaries *An intense, poetic work * The Times Literary Supplement *Exquisitely crafted . . . Part epistolary romance, part mind-blowing science fiction adventure, this dazzling story unfolds bit by bit . . . Full of fanciful ideas and poignant moments, weaving a tapestry stretching across the millennia and through multiple realities that's anchored with raw emotion and a genuine sense of wonder. This short novel warrants multiple readings to fully unlock its complexities * Publishers Weekly Starred Review *Spectacular . . . Poetry, disguised as genre fiction. I read several sections out loud - this is prose that wants to be more than read. It wants to be heard and tasted * Kelly Sue DeConnick, creator of Captain Marvel *If Iain M. Banks and Gerard Manley Hopkins had ever been able to collaborate on a science fiction project, well, it wouldn't be half as much fun as this novella by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. There is all the pleasure of a long series, and all the details of an much larger world, presented in miniature here * Kelly Link, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Get in Trouble *Fast-paced and intricately plotted * Temi Oh, author Do You Dream of Terra-Two? *A time travel adventure that has as much humanity, grace, and love as it has temporal shenanigans, rewriting history, and temporal agents fighting to the death. Two days from now, you've already devoured it * Ryan North, New York Times Bestselling and Eisner Award winning author of How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler *Sweet, hopeful, and unashamedly beautiful * SciFiNow *A gorgeous love story playfully yet powerfully spanning time and space in a weave of imagery and delight * Claire North, author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August *This is the time-travelling queer epistolary romance I didn't know I needed . . . With precise, cut-glass prose - poetic and pragmatic at once - deeply compelling characters, and a tensely rewarding conclusion, This Is How You Lose the Time War is one of the most striking works of fiction I've read this decade. I'm going to be thinking about it - returning to it - for months, at least. Read it, because I can't recommend it highly enough * Locus *A wonderful tapestry of detail * Starburst *I'm very rarely a reader of romances - but I think now that's only because there is so rarely a romance like How To Lose the Time War. I've lost the day to it, and my only regret is that it's over . . . It's a smart, inventive, lyrical story that dances a pas de deux down the edge of a razor, and I'm very glad to have read it * Stephanie Saulter, author of Gemsigns *Intimately operates within an immersive space opera * Entertainment Weekly *The intergalactic and historic sweep . . . services rather than overwhelms what is in essence a story about falling in love under a repressive dictatorship * The Big Issue *Soars and succeeds in its vivid detail, and in its vast imaginative sweep . . . Vivid, savage, tender, cruel, it is worthy of many readings * Stephen Cox, author of Our Child of the Stars *An epistolary masterpiece, a masterclass in allusion, a deep dive into character, a perfect manipulation of form and syntax and tone, a bending of the genre to create something that is intrinsically science-fiction and yet absolutely, gorgeously unique . . . This book stunned me * Old Firehouse Books *Lush, glorious, passionate . . . I don't know how I'm going to move on past this book - but do I need to? I feel profoundly changed, cracked open and weeping, my heart in my hand, a songbird in my chest * For Every Helen of Troy *A message that the world needs to hear * Cheryl's Mewsings *If you took that sappy story of unrequited love, Keanu Reeves and a time-traveling mailbox, strapped it up in body armor, covered it with razors, dipped it in poison and set it loose to murder and burn its way across worlds and centuries, what you'd end up with is This Is How You Lose The Time War, the experimental, collaborative, time-travelling love-and-genocide novel by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone * NPR *Compulsively readable . . . this book was one of my most anticipated reads this year since I found out about it, and it really did not disappoint one bit * Reads Rainbow *Strange and lovely . . . unique * I Should Read That *A story told through lyrical writing you very rarely see in fantasy these days . . . A genuine tour de force from a pair of writers at the top of their games * Streetlamp Halo *Well deserves every second you dedicate to it * Calles de Tinta *The worldbuilding is superb . . . This Is How You Lose the Time War wonderfully delivers on its premise * Den of Geek *Beautifully conceived and written in shifting tones with clockwork precision underpinning its Möbius convolutions, one of the most fascinating books of the year so far * Geek Chocolate *A short, but punchy book that was highly emotional. I loved it a lot. The whole idea behind it is brilliantly ironic. I loved the writing, and I wished it was longer * Umut Reviews *Breathtaking. Brilliant in a way I'm not sure a review can illustrate. It has to be read to be believed * To Other Worlds *Exquisitely pitched . . . I don't remember the last time I cried rereading a book, but this one manages it * Strange Horizons *It's more than good. It's astonishing. You should read it. * Espresso Coco *Two hundred and one pages of can't-put-down goodness * Emily Holyoak *We might call it an "epistolary time-travel spy love story", but that doesn't really convey the book's poetic quality - it's one of a kind * The Guardian, 'Best of the Year’ *An intellectually rewarding read with prose of a high standard. And it's a must-read for time travel tragics like moi * Dark Matter Zine *Poetic and lovely * Lucy’s Novel Purpose *A brilliant reading experience. For something different and beautiful this is exactly the kind of story you've been waiting for * A Run Along the Shelves *An epistolary novel about two time travellers battling one another for control of the future who fall in love -- Adrian McKinty * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisOne of the very best must-read novels of all time - with a new introduction by Roddy Doyle'A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again' THE TIMES'The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin' Roddy Doyle'Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power' OBSERVERThe Principle of Simultaneity is a scientific breakthrough which will revolutionize interstellar civilization by making possible instantaneous communication. It is the life work of Shevek, a brilliant physicist from the arid anarchist world of Anarres.But Shevek's work is being stifled by jealous colleagues, so he travels to Anarres's sister-planet Urras, hoping to find more liberty and tolerance there. But he soon finds himself being used as a pawn in a deadly political game.Trade ReviewThe book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin -- Roddy Doyle * THE TIMES *An extraordinary work ... [Le Guin] created a working society in exquisite detail ... a fully realised hypothetical culture [as well as] living breathing characters who are inevitable products of that culture -- Baird SearlesA well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again * THE TIMES *A deeply imagined work of art * Encyclopedia of Science Fiction *Le Guin's book ... is so persuasive that it ought to put a stop to the writing of prescriptive Utopias for at least 10 years * NEW YORK TIMES *[Le Guin had] the heart of a poet who knew all too well the difference between miracle and eureka, revelation and revolution * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *Le Guin's storytelling is sharp, magisterial, funny, thought-provoking and exciting, exhibiting all that science fiction can be * Empire *Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power * OBSERVER *

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Book Synopsis**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK OVER 29,000 5 STAR REVIEWS GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOKS OF 2022 GLAMOUR BEST BOOKS OF 2022 'Full of heart and humour . . . I loved it.' Ruth Hogan 'Will stay with you for a long time.' Anstey Harris 'I defy you to put it down once you’ve started' Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything, but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors – until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late... Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible. 'You won’t be able to put it down because when you’re not reading this book you’ll be hugging it.' Jamie Ford 'Truly original and touching' Helen Hoang Over a million copies sold worldwide! READER REVIEWS 'I couldn't put it down' 'Marvelous, heartwarming, brilliant' 'I enjoyed every second' 'I was gripped from the first page' ‘Read it, there's no way you won't fall in love with Marcellus the octopus!’ ‘Goodness me, what a unique and wonderful book.’Trade ReviewA winningly totally original feel-good mystery packed with memorable characters that, once started, demands to be finished * Irish Independent *A beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing. Shelby Van Pelt makes good on this wild conceit, somehow making me love a misanthropic octopus, but her writing is so finely tuned that it's a natural element of a larger story about family, about loss and the electricity of something found -- Kevin Wilson, author of NOTHING TO SEE HERERemarkably Bright Creatures is the rarest of feats: a book that manages to be wry and wise, charming and surprising, and features one of the most intriguing and satisfying characters I’ve encountered in fiction in a very long time – Marcellus the Octopus. I don’t know how Shelby Van Pelt managed to make this uncommon tale sing so beautifully, but sing it does, and I defy you to put it down once you’ve started -- Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of THE NESTA unique and luminous book * Booklist *Truly original and touching, Remarkably Bright Creatures is a story of family, community, and optimism in spite of darkness. Prepare to fall in love -- Helen Hoang, author of THE KISS QUOTIENTShelby’s characters are unique and yet completely relatable ... It is a fresh and fascinating story full of heart and humour and I loved it. -- Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost ThingsAn ultimately feel-good but deceptively sensitive debut about what it feels like to have love taken from you, only to find it again in the most unexpected places ... Memorable and tender. * Washington Post *A warm and satisfying book. It wrapped itself around me, luring me into the many mysteries hidden just beneath the surface. -- Polly Crosby, author of The Illustrated ChildRemarkable characters, who will stay with you for a long time. -- Anstey Harris, author of The Trials and Triumphs of Grace AthertonYou’ll bask in this book’s warmth and wit * Spectrum *

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES READERS BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTIONTWICE WINNER OF THE WOMEN''S PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTIONTHE MULTI-MILLION COPY SELLING AUTHORBOOK AT BEDTIME ON BBC RADIO 4AN OPRAH''S BOOK CLUB PICKWithout a doubt the best book I'll read this year.' KATE ATKINSONIt's EPIC. Righteously angry, DEEPLY moving and exquisitely written.' MARIAN KEYESDaring, entertaining and highly readable.' The TimesElectrifying.' Daily MailA blaze of a book.' RACHEL JOYCEA masterclass.' RICHARD POWERSMasterful.' Pulitzer PrizePowerful.' GuardianA work of genius.' KATE MOSSE____________Demon Copperhead is a once-in-a-generation novel that breaks and mends your heart in the way only the best fiction can.Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there.Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between.____________Readers love Demon Copperhead:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ''Outstanding . . . I don''t know how someone can write a book like this: inhabit a totally different character and create it with such empathy, respect and fullness.''⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Powerful and brilliant. To immerse yourself in a Kingsolver novel is to put yourself in the hands of a master.''⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''This was one of the greatest books I have read . . . Kingsolver is a magician with words, and her rage quietly seeps from each page.''⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ''Raw, angry, starkly beautiful . . . Genuinely one of the best books I''ve ever read.''⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''An incredibly raw and moving read, with a big-hearted hero who will stay with me for a long time.''⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ''I cannot overstate how absorbing this book is. It is wonderful and has restored my faith in fiction and novels.''

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov - recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt - is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. Instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard.Trade Review[A] supremely uplifting novel ... It's elegant, witty and delightful - much like the Count himself. * Mail on Sunday, Books of the Year *A comic masterpiece . . . very funny, tender and as laughably accurate an account of the dismal nature of life in Soviet Russia as one could hope for . . . Quite apart from the ingeniously ludicrous plot and the acutely drawn characters, what adds to the joy of this book is the precision of Towles’ style. Again and again he conveys exactly the right impression with a deliciously surprising choice of words . . . a sheer delight. -- William Hartson * Daily Express *A work of great charm, intelligence and insight. -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *No historical novel was more witty, insightful and original * Sunday Times, Culture Magazine *Elegant sentences, wonderful characters and inventive storytelling . . . This is everything a novel should be: charming, witty, poetic and generous. An absolute delight. * Mail on Sunday *This novel is astonishing, uplifting and wise. Don’t miss it. * Chris Cleave *I just reread A Gentleman in Moscow ... It's a wonderful book at any time, and this time it brought home to me how people find ways to be happy, make connections, and make a difference to one another's lives, even in the strangest, saddest and most restrictive circumstances. -- Tana French * Good Housekeeping *I think the world feels so disordered right now. The count’s refinement and genteel nature are exactly what we’re longing for. His world was also in shambles but he maintained his grace and humor.There is so, so much to love in this book as we keep company with the endlessly entertaining Count . . .[This] novel is wistful, whimsical and wry and elegantly captures that most apposite of lessons: 'By the smallest of one's actions, one can restore some sense of order to the world'. Brilliant * Sunday Express *A Gentleman in Moscow is a tale abundant in humour, history and humanity, with a poignant message about time passing. That Towles also makes this rollicking good fun is no mean feat. * Sunday Telegraph *WINNING . . . GORGEOUS . . . SATISFYING . . . TOWLES IS A CRAFTSMAN * New York Times Book Review *Towles’ use of language is an absolute pleasure to read and you can’t help but savour every last word . . . What makes it a great work of historical fiction is the apt creations the author builds outside the hotel walls in a truly tumultuous time. Towles creates such a memorable character in Rostov and this book brings something for everyone - humour, history, friendship and philosophy * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisThe world is a hard place to be good in... Struggling to keep a grip on reality after his wife's death, Bunny Munro does the only thing he can think of: with his young son in tow, he hits the road. An epic chronicle of one man's judgement, The Death of Bunny Munro is also an achingly tender portrait of the relationship between father and son.Trade ReviewA modern-day parable, illuminated with raw lyricism, scraps of tenderness and dark phantasmagoria. Accessible, thrilling and gloriously impolite. * * Sunday Telegraph * *Put Cormac McCarthy, Franz Kafka and Benny Hill together in a Brighton seaside guesthouse and they might just come up with The Death of Bunny Munro. A compulsive read possessing all Nick Cave's trademark horror and humanity. * * Irvine Welsh * *Like one of Martin Amis's early characters, Bunny is an antihero of epic proportions. * * Observer * *Cocksman, Salesman, Deadman; Bunny Munro might not be Everyman, but every man ought to read this book. And read it half in stitches, half in tears. * * David Peace * *Pulses with demented musical energy. The reader is drawn along in Bunny's terrible wake, with Cave's writing style and pitch-black humour giving him an unsettling magnetism. * * Financial Times * *The Death of Bunny Munro is not just a wonderful read, it's also a heartbreaking one. Cave writes novels like he does lyrics, with strokes of blood and sulphur and lightning. He strikes at the mind and heart and is able to bring his readers to their knees. * * Neil LaBute * *Unflagging in its imaginative energy and mordant humour . . . Cave makes you shudder and sob simultaneously. * * Guardian * *Told with verve, studded with scalding humour . . . What lingers are the linguistic fireworks. * * Observer * *In its own twisted way The Death of Bunny Munro is a plea for love in a world rancid with lust ... Bunny's bad boy charm makes it all too easy to go along for the ride * * Metro * *Cave's second novel is everything you would hope for: wild, hallucinatory, redemptive and linguistically electrifying . . . who else would dare to create a protagonist like Bunny Munro. * * Sunday Telegraph * *The perfect literary expression of Cave's later style . . . What truly elevates the novel is not Cave's thesis, but the smoothness of the prose and masterful combination of black comedy and sentiment * * Independent * *This sad, hilarious and filthy novel could do for men's base private thoughts what Sex and the City did for girl chat. * * Q Magazine * *You will blanch with horror, recoil with distress and then, most unexpectedly of all, feel some sort of twisted sympathy for his anarchistic antichrist of a hero. * * Irish Independent * *Cave stands as one of the great writers on love of our era. * * Will Self * *There has got to be something seriously wrong with you for liking this character as much as you're going to. * * Los Angeles Times * *Cave's previous novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel, was a gothic fever-dream composed of swamp gas and scripture, presided over by the spirit of Faulkner and O'Connor. This second book, though, is more original. * * Herald * *In the sense of narrative animation, and also in the sense of cultural significance, the book is a vital one, and is to be welcomed and celebrated * * Daily Telegraph * *Having started at a pitch of depravity, Cave has a challenge on his hands to crank it up even further, finally reaching such paroxysms of onanistic frenzy that the pages all but explode. * * Guardian * *Horrifying but terrific. * * Independent on Sunday * *Powerful and intimate. * * News of the World * *

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Book SynopsisPenelope. Immortalised in legend and myth as the devoted wife of the glorious Odysseus, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again as she waits for her husband's return.Now Penelope wanders the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her own side of the story - a tale of lust, greed and murder.The Myths series brings together some of the world's finest writers, each of whom has retold a myth in a contemporary and memorable way. Authors in the series include Karen Armstrong, Margaret Atwood, A.S. Byatt, David Grossman, Natsuo Kirino, Alexander McCall Smith, Philip Pullman, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson.Trade ReviewAtwood takes Penelope's part with tremendous verve . . . she explores the very nature of mythic story-telling -- MARY BEARD * * Guardian * *As potent as a curse * * Sunday Times * *Fabulous . . . Determinedly irreverent * * New York Times * *A witty desecration . . . Atwood plays with vigour and ingenuity * * Observer * *Pragmatic, clever, domestic, mournful, Penelope is a perfect Atwood heroine * * Spectator * *Half Dorothy Parker, half Desperate Housewives * * Independent * *Atwood and all authors named above are able to grasp the female experience perfectly in myths dominated by men, creating beautifully rounded and realistic characters from those created as ornaments and prizes by Homer * * The Courier * *Nothing short of genius * * Week * *

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Book SynopsisOne boy, one boat, one tiger . . .After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan - and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of fiction in recent years.Trade ReviewThis enormously lovable novel is suffused with wonder * * Guardian * *A terrific book . . . Fresh, original, smart, devious, and crammed with absorbing lore -- MARGARET ATWOODEvery page offers something of tension, humanity, surprise, or even ecstasy * * The Times * *Vivid and entrancing * * Sunday Telegraph * *Extraordinary . . . Life of Pi could renew your faith in the ability of novelists to invest even the most outrageous scenario with plausible life * * New York Times Book Review * *Full of clever tricks, amusing asides and grand originality * * Daily Telegraph * *Inventive, shocking and ultimately uplifting * * Daily Mail * *Dramatises and articulates the possibilities of storytelling * * Observer * *A unique and original story, brilliantly told * * Guardian * *Martel's engaging characterisation and vivid description enliven and enrich this dreamy, fantastic tale * * The Times * *

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Book SynopsisA BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICKAN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZEWINNER OF THE MAN ASIAN LITERARY PRIZE AND THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZETeoh Yun Ling was seventeen years old when she first heard about Aritomo and the garden. But a war would come to Malaya, and a decade pass before she would travel to see him. A man of extraordinary skill and reputation, Aritomo was once the gardener for the Emperor of Japan, and now Yun Ling needs him. She needs him to help her build a memorial to her beloved sister, killed at the hands of the Japanese. She wants to learn everything Aritomo can teach her, and do her sister proud, but to do so she must also begin a journey into her own past, a past inextricably linked with the secrets of her troubled country.A story of art, war, love and memory, The Garden of Evening Mists captures a dark moment in history with richness, power and incredible beauty.Trade ReviewComplex and powerful . . . sophisticated and satisfying * * Sunday Times * *It is impossible to resist the opening sentence of this sumptuously produced novel . . . It showcases Tan Twan Eng as a master of cultural complexities * * Guardian * *Elegant and atmospheric * * The Times * *An elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory . . . its beauty never comes to rest * * Independent * *Tantalisingly evocative . . . Suffused with a satisfying richness of colour and character, it still abounds in hidden passageways and occult corners. Mysteries and secrets persist. Tan dwells often on the borderline states, the in between areas, of Japanese art: the archer's hiatus before the arrow speeds from the bow; the patch of skin that a master of the horimono tattoo will leave bare; or the "beautiful and sorrowful" moment "just as the last leaf is about to drop" . . . An elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory * * Independent * *A beautiful, dark and wistful exploration of loss and remembrance, that will stay with you long after reading * * Daily Telegraph * *War, art and memory join in a subtle story, notable for its ravishing prose, glorious sense of place, and mature alertness to the deceptive vistas of history -- Boyd Tonkin * * Independent * *With ravishing sensuousness, it conjures up the lush landscapes and tea estates of Malaya during the 1950s Emergency, as reflections on Japanese aesthetic refinements in gardening and art intersect with recollections of Japanese wartime atrocities in a haunting novel about memory -- Peter Kemp * * The Sunday Times * *This beautifully written book is full of arresting images . . . Achieved with the seemingly effortless poise of a remarkable fictional artistry, Tan Twan Eng's winning novel will be prized by all those who cannot resist the mastery of language * * Good Book Guide * *This book is to be kept and re-read and revered for its elegant, lyrical prose * * Red * *

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Book SynopsisNow a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, and Written by James IvoryWINNER BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ACADEMY AWARDNominated for Four OscarsA New York Times BestsellerA USA Today Bestseller A Los Angeles Times BestsellerA Vulture Book Club PickAn Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our TimeAndre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.Trade ReviewA beautiful and wise book... A miracle. * Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn *As much a story of paradise found as it is of paradise lost... Extraordinary. * New York Times *Brave, acute, elated, naked, brutal, tender, humane and beautiful. * Nicole Krauss, author of Forest Dark *Extraordinary... Evocative, poetic and deeply beautiful. * Tatler *Humanises love in a really powerful, beautiful way. * Armie Hammer, Time Out *Deeply moving... I adored it. * Vogue *This novel is hot... a love letter, an invocation, and something of an epitaph. An exceptionally beautiful book. * The New York Times Book Review *

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Book Synopsis''Ursula Le Guin was able to reimagine many concepts we take to be natural, shared, and unalterable - gender, utopia, creation, war, family, the city, the country - and reveal the all-too-human constructions at their centre ... Literature will miss her. There''s no one like her'' Zadie Smith''Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power'' OBSERVERThrough his dreams, George Orr can make alternate realities real - but who is controlling him?War rages and global warming wreaks havoc on the quality of life everywhere as seven billion people jostle for living space and food. For George Orr, a mild and unremarkable man, the world is overwhelmingly difficult. But George is different: his dreams can change reality - although he has no means of controlling this extraordinary power.Psychiatrist Dr William Haber offers to help, directing George to dream a world without racism. But as ambition gets the better of ethics, no one can predict the devaTrade ReviewLe Guin is a writer of phenomenal power * OBSERVER *Ursula Le Guin was able to reimagine many concepts we take to be natural, shared, and unalterable - gender, utopia, creation, war, family, the city, the country - and reveal the all-too-human constructions at their center ... Literature will miss her. There's no one like her -- Zadie SmithShe is unparalleled in creating fantasy peopled by finely drawn and complex characters * GUARDIAN *Le Guin is one of the singular speculative voices of our future, thanks to her knack for anticipating issues of seminal importance to society * TLS *Her worlds have a magic sheen . . . She moulds them into dimensions we can only just sense. She is unique. She is legend * THE TIMES *I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin -- Roddy DoyleA rare and powerful synthesis of poetry and science, reason and emotion * NEW YORK TIMES *[Le Guin had] the heart of a poet who knew all too well the difference between miracle and eureka, revelation and revolution * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *Le Guin's storytelling is sharp, magisterial, funny, thought-provoking and exciting, exhibiting all that science fiction can be * EMPIRE *Ursula Le Guin is a chemist of the heart -- David Mitchell, author of CLOUD ATLASWhen I read The Lathe of Heaven as a young man, my mind was boggled; now when I read it, more than twenty-five years later, it breaks my heart. Only a great work of literature can bridge - so thrillingly - that impossible span -- Michael ChabonLe Guin writes tellingly of different kinds of society . . . and of the individual's response to them * DAILY TELEGRAPH *

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Book SynopsisWINNER of the McIlvanney Prize 2020Shortlisted for Bloody Scotland's Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2020Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2020'Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping' LUCY FOLEY, author of The Hunting Party'It's both eerie and thrilling at once, and had me under its spell until the end' SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, author of Blue Ticket and The Water Cure______________They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men.Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone.In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago.Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust.In the shadow of the Highland forest, Francine Toon captures the wildness of rural childhood and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia. In a place that can feel like the edge of the word, she unites the chill of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times.______________READERS LOVE PINE . . .'Stunning ... I was completely spellbound' *****'Mesmerising and addictive' *****'I raced through this one, absolutely adored it!' *****'Can't recommend it enough' *****'I could not pull myself away from the pages' *****Trade ReviewA literary gothic thriller to chill the marrow * Guardian *[A] simmering gothic thriller * Daily Mail *(A) pacey horror-tinged novel ... Even with the strange and supernatural goings-on in the woods, it’s the rage and grief and darkness of grown-ups that’s the biggest mystery of all * Telegraph, Best First Novels of 2020 *The novel's strength is its evocation of bleak landscapes and complex characters * Sunday Times *Splicing small-town domestic drama with grisly mystery and occult thrills, it’s a cleverly crafted debut * Metro *One of the standout debuts of the year * Irish Independent *As gripping as any boxset * Sunday Times Scotland *This haunting debut is a must-read for fans of eerie gothic fiction * The Skinny *An evocative read which will keep you guessing * Sunday Independent *Pine is a thrill of a book * i-D *

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Book SynopsisIf you loved The Midnight Library, read How to Stop Time next!HOW MANY LIFETIMES DOES IT TAKE TO LEARN HOW TO LIVE?Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all. As long as he keeps changing his identity, he can stay one step ahead of his past - and stay alive. The only thing he must not do is fall in love.But what if the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him?Trade ReviewA rollicking time-hopping fantasy . . . How to Stop Time will provoke wonder and delight * * Observer * *Hugely entertaining -- JOHN BOYNE * * Irish Times * *Outlandish . . . heartwarming, perceptive prose -- ANITA SETHI * * Daily Telegraph * *An imaginative, ambitious novel by an author with an infectious passion for history and the human condition * * Sunday Express * *Haig writes exquisitely from the perspective of the heart-sore outsider, but at their most moving his novels reveal the unbearable beauty of ordinary life * * Guardian * *Let Matt Haig take you on a journey . . . Brings every era to vibrant life . . . original and fascinating * * Stylist * *Tear-jerking, time-hopping romance * * Mail on Sunday * *A fabulous book -- STEPHEN FRYHow to Stop Time is a beautiful, and necessary book. I feel very lucky to have read it. It is magical, intriguing and at times, very sad. A triumph -- MARIAN KEYESMatt Haig has an empathy for the human condition, the light and the dark of it, and he uses the full palette to build his excellent stories -- NEIL GAIMAN

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE''A work of stunning beauty, deep insight and great originality.'' Monica Ali, New York Times''Tremendous from its opening sentence.'' Tessa Hadley, Guardian''A work of cut-glass brilliance.'' Financial TimesIn the wake of her family''s collapse, a writer and her two young sons move to London. The upheaval is the catalyst for a number of transitions personal, moral, artistic, and practical as she endeavours to construct a new reality for herself and her children. In the city, she is made to confront aspects of living that she has, until now, avoided, and to consider questions of vulnerability and power, death and renewal, in what becomes her struggle to reattach herself to, and believe in, life.Filtered through the impersonal gaze of its keenly intelligent protagonist, Transit sees Rachel Cusk delve deeper into the themes first raised in her critically acclaimed novel Outline, and offers up a penetrating and moving reflection on childhood and fate, the value of suffering, the moral problems of personal responsibility and the mystery of change.

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021 Shortlisted for the 2022 National Book Critics' Circle John Leonard Prize for best first book As heard on BBC Radio 4's Front Row 'A voraciously knowing, compulsively readable novel' Chris Kraus 'Tremendously funny and sexy as hell' Juliet Jacques 'I loved this very smart book from start to finish, with its beautifully drawn, complicated, and winning characters.' Madeleine Miller Reese nearly had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York, a job she didn't hate. She'd scraped together a life previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then everything fell apart and three years on Reese is still in self-destruct mode, avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men. When her ex calls to ask if she wants to be a mother, Reese finds herself intrigued. After being attacked in the street, Amy de-transitioned to become Ames, changed jobs and, thinking he was infertile, started an affair with his boss Katrina. Now Katrina's pregnant. Could the three of them form an unconventional family - and raise the baby together?Trade ReviewSo good I want to scream -- Carmen Maria MachadoIrresistible ... Perhaps Detransition, Baby is the first great trans realist novel? Witty, elegant and rigorously plotted -- Grace Lavery * Guardian *The smartest novel I've read in ages ... it manages to be utterly savage & lacerating while also conveying endlessly expanding compassion. It's kind of a miracle. -- Garth GreenwellDetransition, Baby is emotionally generous, richly textured, and deeply intelligent - a vibrant and kaleidoscopic portrait of complicated women and their colliding lives. -- Claire Lombardo, New York Times-bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever HadDetransition, Baby updates and transcends (trans-scends!) the Sex and the City model, while fully delivering its many satisfactions! ... A noteworthy advance in the history of the novel! -- Elif BatumanRiveting, insightful, and very funny ... an unforgettable portrait of three women, trans and cis, who wrestle with questions of motherhood and family-making. Destined to be a 21st century classic, Detransition, Baby will definitely keep you up late and might destroy your book club, but in a good way. -- Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal GirlTorrey Peters just took everything that couldn't be done, and did it ... Plenty of books are good; this book is alive. -- Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the FoxPeters confronts the unruliness of our desires, and our vitality as we struggle within their limits ... a dishy, engrossing new novel * New Yorker *Writing with alarming insight, Torrey Peters captures the grandiose, heartfelt and sometimes mangled aspirations of queer and trans people facing an unprecedented array of personal choice. By showing how gender transition (like divorce, or any transformative life event) can be simultaneously destabilizing and liberating, Peters makes trans culture relatable to all. A voraciously knowing, compulsively readable novel. -- Chris Kraus, author of I Love DickI love Detransition, Baby for its wit, its irreverence. And I love it even more for its reverence-its reverence for the quest for womanhood, motherhood, selfhood. Torrey Peters evokes these characters with such fullness and compassion that they felt like dear friends to me. This is an important book, and I couldn't put it down. -- Helen Philips, author of The NeedI loved [Detransition, Baby] so, so much - it's so smart, funny and sad about human nature and all our longings, hypocrisy, shame and sweetness. And it's fearlessly thought-provoking about gender. Such a literary feat and also such a great read. -- Curtis SittenfeldDetransition, Baby is a landmark piece of trans literature - brutally honest and yet incredibly sensitive about trans living, tremendously funny and sexy as hell. -- Juliet Jacques, author of Trans: A MemoirA visceral, funny exploration of sex and gender through a triad of people - trans and cis -rocked by an unexpected pregnancy * Vanity Fair *Smart, funny, and bighearted. . . . A wonderfully original exploration of desire and the evolving shape of family [and] . . . a dishy contemporary drama. * Kirkus starred review *Possibly the most hotly anticipated work of transgender fiction ever * Pink News *Page-turning ... Through a careful narrative that laces humour into every paragraph, Peters paints a story of LGBT identity that will be engaging to any person who has struggled to define their place in the world * New Statesman *Fleishman is in Trouble meets Transparent in this eye-opening, gender-bending exploration of parenthood. * Oprah Magazine's Best Books of 2021 *Written with verve and humour, it's a must-read for 2021. * Stylist *The distinctive storyline in this page-turner navigates gender, sex, relationships (from romantic to familial), and the commonly unaccepted ideas surrounding them. * Cosmopolitan Best Books of 2021 *Detransition, Baby strikes to the heart of the moment. This conversation-shifting, taboo-busting novel is set to catapult its author, Torrey Peters - a Brooklyn-based trans writer whose two self-published novellas drew a cult following - into the mainstream ... Detransition, Baby should be on your reading list. It's an exuberant novel of ideas, desire and life's messy ironies - all filtered through Peters' astute, witty characters. * Evening Standard *Devastating, hilarious, touching, timely and studded with fun pop culture references and celebrity cameos, this is an acutely intelligent story about womanhood, parenthood and all the possibilities that lie within. * BookPage starred review *A landmark... Detransition, Baby is a comic and prodding take on transness and taboos. * i-D magazine *A riotously funny and fearless debut from Torrey Peters, who is clearly not afraid of polarising readers. * AnOther magazine *With heart and savvy, Detransition, Baby upends our traditional, gendered notions of what parenthood can look like. . . . Reese, Ames and Katrina feel to us more like friends than characters. * The New York Times Book Review *Ferociously smart and fearlessly queer ... this enthralling, extraordinary book is as queer as Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor, and as sharp as Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life. Superb. * Attitude *Detransition Baby is somehow both biting and deeply tender all at once... and feels up-to-the-second relevant. A lot of people recommended this book to me, and I will be recommending it to many, many others, queer, trans, straight, cis -- Amelia AbrahamSparklingly intelligent ... Detransition, Baby is for anyone who has ever reached a point of reassessment, transformation and risk -- Rosie Wilby * The F Word *Perhaps the first great novel about the realities of being trans, this witty, savage yet compassionate story is essential, exciting reading * Sunday Telegraph *The striking thing about Torrey Peters's first novel is not its vivid portrait of trans women's lives in Obama-era Brooklyn, nor its mordant wit, but the sheer accomplishment of its carpentry... a brave defence of what it means to be a woman - and a mother -- Roz Kaveney * TLS *Detransition, Baby blows preconceived notions of the nuclear family out of the water, by questioning what personal fulfilment can and should look like in a contemporary setting ... Tantalising * The Face *Devastating, hilarious, tender, ambitious, provocative - there simply aren't enough superlatives to heap upon this masterful work of fiction. * Independent Best LGBTQ+ Books *Peters' writing is sexy, urgent and thoughtful. She doesn't just hit the mark, but keeps going past it. -- Caroline O'Donoghue

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Book Synopsisâ??Armageddon only happens once, you know. They donâ??t let you go around again until you get it right.â? According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch â?? the worldâ??s only totally reliable guide to the future, written in 1655, before she exploded â?? the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after teaâ? People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so itâ??s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons â?? well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel â?? would quite like the Rapture not to happen. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichristâ?Trade ReviewMarvellously benign, ridiculously inventive and gloriously funny * GUARDIAN *Wickedly funny * TIME OUT *A superbly funny book. Pratchett and Gaiman are the most hilariously sinister team since Jekyll and Hyde. If this is Armageddon, count me in -- JAMES HERBERTWow * WASHINGTON POST *Heaven to read, and you'll laugh like hell * Time Out *

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Book SynopsisThe magical, internationally bestselling debut novel from Eowyn Ivey, THE SNOW CHILD is a fairy-tale for adults that brings the Alaskan landscape to unforgettable life.Trade Review'A magical, heartbreaking story... gorgeous' * Marie Claire *'It's the harsh beauty of the landscape that gives this stunning first novel its unique shape and atmosphere' * The Times *'It is an exceptional book that deserves to melt millions of hearts' * Sunday Express *'A story about finding love in unexpected places... full of fire and ice' * Financial Times *

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Book Synopsis***Pre-order Abi Daré's new novel AND SO I ROAR now - Coming August 2024***'Unforgettable' New York Times 'Impressive' Observer 'Remarkable' Independent 'Important' Guardian 'Captivating' Mirror 'Luminous' Daily Mail 'Sparkling' Harper's Bazaar 'Beautiful' HeraldTHE NEW YORK TIMES AND TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE FOR FICTIONRECOMMENDED BY MALALA YOUSAFZAI, ELIZABETH DAY, ANDI OLIVER AND DOLLY PARTON___________________________________________________I don't just want to be having any kind voice . . .I want a louding voice.At fourteen, Adunni dreams of getting an education and giving her family a more comfortable home in her small Nigerian village. Instead, Adunni's father sells her off to become the third wife of an old man. When tragedy strikes in her new home, Adunni flees to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where she becomes a house-girl to the cruel Big Madam, and prey to Big Madam's husband. But despite her situation continuously going from bad to worse, Adunni refuses to let herself be silenced. And one day, someone hears her.__________________________________________________'A story of courage that will win over your heart' Stylist'Daré's characters leap off the page, powering this funny, luminous and heart-swelling tale' Daily Mail'Such a vibrant, tender, beautiful novel . . . I fell in love with her, and fell in love with the book' Elizabeth DayTrade ReviewA brave, fresh voice . . . Daré draws the reader in with a vivid character whose dire circumstances are contrasted with her natural creativity . . . Unforgettable * New York Times Book Review *An impressive debut novel * Observer *Adunni's humour and fierce determination to change her destiny shine through this remarkable book * Independent *The story told in this novel is an important one . . . The Girl with the Louding Voice joins a long and fine tradition of issue-led novels that have sparked conversations resulting in social change * Guardian *Narrated by Adunni herself in a brilliantly sustained broken English, this ultimately uplifting debut novel shines a penetrating light on the barbaric practices of child labour and child marriage * Mail on Sunday *This is a compelling, captivating and unforgettable debut * Mirror *Daré's characters leap off the page, powering this funny, luminous and heart-swelling tale * Daily Mail *A vibrant, tender, beautiful novel -- Elizabeth Day, author of FRIENDAHOLICAbi Daré makes a sparkling literary debut . . . and marks the appearance of a strong and stylish new talent * Harper's Bazaar *Incredible . . . packs an emotional punch -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *Adunni's humour and fierce determination to change her destiny shine through this remarkable debut novel * i *Compelling and captivating . . . an unforgettable novel and, in Adunni, the author has created a truly unforgettable voice * Daily Express *Abi Daré is a writer who not only knows how to create a powerful sensory impression, but also one who can really work the rhythm, texture and music of language. The words jump off the page . . . The Girl with the Louding Voice never feels like standard fare. It's lifted not only by the verve of its prose, but also its touching explorations of friendship and solidarity. It has an emotional connection that remains strong even in the final pages -- Sam Jordison * Guardian *Gives an eloquent voice to the victims of modern slavery * Independent *A stunning novel - original, beautiful and powerful. I was utterly captivated by Adunni and her mesmerising louding voice -- Rosamund Lupton, author of SISTER and THREE HOURSA powerful debut novel . . . Compelling . . . Readers will fall in love with Adunni . . . The writing is addictive and deeply evocative. A beautiful debut from a talented author * Herald *Despite the heartbreaking subject matter, this is a story of hope . . . a compelling read * Sunday Post *A bravely determined heroine * Sunday Times *A story of courage that will win over your heart * Stylist *Abi Daré's book is compulsive reading * Irish Tatler *A true original, this will open your eyes * Cosmopolitan *Winning comedy sparkles through the grimness . . . it's the vividly alive characters that keep you hooked, all the way to Daré's rousing, heart-swelling conclusion * Daily Mail *A bold new storyteller . . . Abi Daré's fearless debut is a celebration of girls who dare to dream and those who help them unfurl their wings so that they might soar -- Imbolo Mbue, author of HOW BEAUTIFUL WE WEREAdunni's voice weaves and dances its way across the pages with a rhythm that captivated me, astonished me and, more than once, broke my heart -- Tara Conklin, author of THE HOUSE GIRLHeartbreaking and inspiring. Daré provides a valuable reminder of all the young women around the world who are struggling to be heard and how important it is that we listen to them. A moving story of what it means to fight for the right to live the life you choose * Kirkus *Pick the novel up now * Radio Times *Resilience and beauty of language are at the heart of this story of domestic slavery * Sainsbury's Magazine *It's an amazing book . . . I heartily recommend -- Jo Whiley * Radio 2 Book Club *A virtuosic study of female loss, determination, and of the subversive potential of words . . . It magnificently reveals how language constructs us as humans. With immense skill, Daré creates an irresistible energy and powerfully sustains it on every page -- Preti TanejaA character for the ages. Adunni is a girl who narrates her own suffering with levity, who paints depth and texture and beauty into her Nigerian homeland, who tenderly cultivates her own humanity even while everything around her seeks to thwart it. She is an ambassador for girls everywhere. She is important, funny, brave, and enduring. Abi Daré has written an unforgettable novel, by the strength of her own louding voice -- Jeanine Cummins, author of AMERICAN DIRTA dazzling year for debut novelists . . . This 2018 Bath Novel Award winner takes a long, hard look at modern slavery through the eyes of 14-year-old Adunni -- Timothy Harrison * Vogue *Inspiring . . . explores a spirit and hope that cannot be contained even in the grimmest of circumstances * Entertainment Weekly *In Nigeria, and around the world, girls are fighting for their right to learn. I'm grateful to Abi for showing the challenges Nigerian girls face and showcasing the power of their voices -- Malala YousafzaiA courageous story * New York Times *I'm a big fan of hyper-realistic dialogue and using the sounds of a world to shape the energy of a novel, and so I was immediately drawn to The Girl with the Louding Voice . . . Adunni is a youthful, dynamic guide with serious bite and poetic language -- Kiley Reid, author of SUCH A FUN AGEGorgeous, devastating and unforgettable. I am enraptured by this book -- Elizabeth Gilbert, author of CITY OF GIRLSThe book character I love the most is . . . Abi Daré's brilliant Adunni -- Maggie O'Farrell * Red Magazine *

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Book SynopsisAs the men fight and the war rages, there are some new arrivals on the farm… Cambridgeshire – 1942As a new year begins and the war continues, young Artie Talbot feels trapped. In his heart he longs to fight, like his two brothers, for his king and country but is duty tied to Blackberry Farm.As feelings grow between Artie and Jeanie Salmons, Artie wonders if marriage will help him to finally accept his lot and settle down.Meanwhile, his brother John Talbot must come to terms with the tragic loss of a lost love. Can he overcome his trauma and begin to build a new life for himself and his new born son?Frances Grant, a new mysterious land girl arrives hoping to escape a violent past. Surely the countryside will offer her the safety and anonymity she craves. But someone is vengeful and eager to settle an old score…As a terrible shock rocks the family, will love and duty be enough to get the family through the dark days ahead?Praise for Rosie Clarke:'Brilliant read. Wonderful characters that draw you into Harpers world. Thoroughly enjoyable.' Kitty Neale'When it comes to writing sagas, Rosie Clarke is up there with some of the best in the business' Bookish Jottings'A thoroughly enjoyable read.'- Reader Review'Another cracking read from Rosie Clarke... I heartily recommend that you read her books.' - Reader Review'I love Rosie Clarke's books and this did not disappoint.' - Reader Review'I didn't want the book to end.' - Reader Review'I can't wait to read the next book in the series.' - Reader Review'A delightful addictive read.' ** - Reader Review**'Best book I have read in a while' - Reader Review'A wonderfully written tale of friendship, romance and the ties that bind' - Reader Review'I felt as though I had been reunited with old friends' - Reader Review

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Book Synopsis*SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE***FROM THE AUTHOR OF TIKTOK SENSATION MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION** Trapped between caring for her alcoholic father and her job as a secretary at the boys' prison, Eileen Dunlop dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, her nights and weekends are filled with shoplifting and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father's messes. When the beautiful, charismatic Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counsellor at the prison, Eileen is enchanted, unable to resist what appears to be a miraculously budding friendship. But soon, Eileen's affection for Rebecca pull her into a crime that far surpasses even her own wild imagination. 'Fully lives up to the hype. A taut psychological thriller, rippled with comedy as black as a raven's wing, Eileen is effortlessly stylish and compelling' The Times *SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA NEW BLOOD DAGGER AWARD*Trade ReviewFully lives up to the hype. A taut psychological thriller, rippled with comedy as black as a raven's wing, Eileen is effortlessly stylish and compelling. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * The Times *A sucker punch of a novel, full of fury and disgust, heart-wrenching in places, a masterclass in mood and tone. Eileen is a fantastic creation and a surprisingly satisfying antidote to the dozy and complacent heroines of much so-called literary fiction. -- Julie MyersonAn unforgettable new American voice. * Los Angeles Times *The great power of this book…is that Eileen is never simply a literary gargoyle; she is painfully alive and human, and Ottessa Moshfegh writes her with a bravura wildness that allows flights of expressionistic fantasy to alternate with deadpan matter of factness… As a character study, the book is a remarkable tour de force… As an evocation of physical and psychological squalor, Eileen is original courageous and masterful. Moshfegh never panders. -- Sandra Newman * Guardian *A seductive novel…Moshfegh writes beautiful sentences. One after the other they unwind – playful, shocking, wise, morbid, witty, searingly sharp. The beginning of this novel is so impressive, so controlled yet whimsical, fresh and thrilling, you feel she can do anything. * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2008Balram Halwai is the White Tiger - the smartest boy in his village. His family is too poor for him to afford for him to finish school and he has to work in a teashop, breaking coals and wiping tables. But Balram gets his break when a rich man hires him as a chauffeur, and takes him to live in Delhi. The city is a revelation. As he drives his master to shopping malls and call centres, Balram becomes increasingly aware of immense wealth and opportunity all around him, while knowing that he will never be able to gain access to that world. As Balram broods over his situation, he realizes that there is only one way he can become part of this glamorous new India - by murdering his master. The White Tiger presents a raw and unromanticised India, both thrilling and shocking - from the desperate, almost lawless villages along the Ganges, to the booming Wild South of Bangalore and its technology and outsourcing centres. The first-person confession of a murderer, The White Tiger is as compelling for its subject matter as for the voice of its narrator - amoral, cynical, unrepentant, yet deeply endearing.Trade ReviewBlazingly savage and brilliant * Sunday Telegraph *A masterpiece * The Times *Dazzling... With The White Tiger, Adiga sets out to show us a part of [India] that we hear about infrequently: its underbelly... [Balram's voice is] brimming with idiosyncrasy, sarcastic, cunning. * Independent on Sunday *Adiga's portrait of the Indian capital is very funny but unmistakably angry... Keeps you guessing to the final page and beyond. * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisINTRODUCTION BY RODDY DOYLE'He brought everyone down to earth, even the angels' LEONARD COHENCharles Bukowski is one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. The autobiographical Ham on Rye is widely considered his finest novel. A classic of American literature, it offers powerful insight into his youth through the prism of his alter-ego Henry Chinaski, who grew up to be the legendary Hank Chinaski of Post Office and Factotum.Trade ReviewHe brought everyone down to earth, even the angels -- LEONARD COHENIn an age of conformity, Bukowski wrote about the people nobody wanted to be: the ugly, the selfish, the lonely, the mad * * Observer * *Sometimes funny and always sad, Ham on Rye is written in an admirably hard, bare, vivid style * * Times Literary Supplement * *Both powerful and, where appropriate, extremely funny * * Sunday Telegraph * *Reflective, humane, tremendously evocative and absorbingly readable * * The Times * *A scorching account of a childhood, adolescence, a life of ugliness, pain, escape, alcohol, loneliness. Often it is's funny - often it's disturbing - Ham on Rye is a powerful book -- RODDY DOYLEA Laureate of American low life * * Time * *This great novel is Bukowski's supremely honest account of a twisted childhood -- Howard Sounes * * author of Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life * *The Thing about Bukowski is, when you read what he has to say, he's right -- SEAN PENNRaunchy yet lyrical, occasionally hilarious while abysmally sad * * San Francisco Chronicle * *We all knew Bukowski was a tough guy, but who would have guessed that even the grave could not shut him up? -- BILLY COLLINSThere is a real poignancy in the people encountered in Bukowski's work * * New York Times Book Review * *

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Book Synopsis“This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black GirlNow in paperback, Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this New York Times best-selling horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town.Bonus features: • Reading group guide for book clubs • Hand-drawn map of Mt. Pleasant • Annotated true-crime reading list by Grady Hendrix • And more! Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in. Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.Trade ReviewThe New York Times Best SellerA Barnes & Noble Best Fiction Book of 20202021 Locus Award FinalistA Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist#1 April 2020 LibraryReads PickApril 2020 Indie Next PickAmazon Best Book of April 2020A Library Journal Editors' Pick for April 2020The A.V. Club Best Book of April 2020A POPSUGAR Best Book for Book Clubs 2020One of Good Housekeeping's 30 of the Scariest Horror Books Ever WrittenOne of Town & Country’s 50 Best Horror Books“This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl “Ghosts of the past have also inspired one of the most rollicking, addictive novels I’ve read in years: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix, a tale of housewives battling vampires that is sweetly painful, like hard candy that breaks a tooth.”—Danielle Trussoni for The New York Times Book Review“A delight...its incisive social commentary and meaningful character development make The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires not just a palatable read for non-horror fans, but a winning one.”—USA Today, 3.5 out of 4 star review“Funny, gruesome, and wild, this rollicking novel from horror luminary Grady Hendrix is Desperate Housewives meets Dracula.”—Esquire“Delightful read that reads like Dracula set in the '90s American South....Perfect for fans of horror and real-life crime alike.”—Good Housekeeping“The novel is a charming testament to friendships and life's imperfections, with dashes of rot and savagery to earn its keep in horror literature....It's a rollercoaster [that] lands as a vampire story concreted in vileness and Southern charm.”—Fangoria“[Hendrix] remains excellent at staging page-turning sequences of excitement and anxiety...[and] a master of adding little details that fill in the landscape of his Southern-fried world.”—The A.V. Club“As fun (and as creepy) as the title suggests….This novel will definitely whet your appetite if you’re looking for something a bit eccentric and spooky.”—BuzzFeed“This book should be required reading for all Southern women....[It] transports you back to all the best parts of the 1990's while throwing more than enough thrill and chill into the mix.”—Country Living “[A] clever, addictive vampire thriller....This powerful, eclectic novel both pays homage to the literary vampire canon and stands singularly within it.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review“Hendrix cleverly sprinkles in nods to well-established vampire lore, and the fact that he's a master at conjuring heady 1990s nostalgia is just the icing on what is his best book yet. Fans of smart horror will sink their teeth into this one.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“Hendrix has masterfully blended the disaffected housewife trope with a terrifying vampire tale, and the anxiety and tension are palpable...a cheeky, spot-on pick for book clubs.”—Booklist, starred review

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Book SynopsisIt is the 1970s in LA, and Jacaranda Leven - child of sun and surf - is swept into the dazzling cultural milieu of the beautiful people. Floating on a cloud of drink, drugs and men, she finds herself adrift, before her talent for writing, and a determined literary agent, set her on a course for New York and a new life.Sex & Rage is a recently re-discovered classic from author Eve Babitz, herself a muse to many an artist, writer and musician in the 1970s. A semi-autobiographical novel, it charts the highs and lows of a life lived at the limits, and transports the reader to a sunnier, dreamier, more reckless time and place.Trade ReviewAs cool, sharp and delicious as a perfectly executed Mint Julep. Babitz writes with wit and clarity - and always, always with a whole lot of heart -- ELIZABETH DAYBabitz writes like no one else, but if she sounds like anyone, it is Nora Ephron writing songs for Lana del Rey. Sex & Rage is seductive, funny and infuriating - it's a slacker siren song, a novel about writers and writing and a heavenly holiday to '70s LA all at once -- DAISY BUCHANANPure pleasure - a perpetual-motion machine of no-stakes elation and champagne fizz * * New Yorker * *Babitz's style is cool, conversational, loose, yet weighted with a seemingly effortless poetry * * Guardian * *Gritty, glamorous, toxic and intoxicating * * The New York Times * *Babitz's talent is in the telling. She surfs between prose and poetry, describing tenderness and cruelty with equally weighted vividness, and lacerates with her wit. Even though the book is forty years old, the title is more resonant than ever . . . Jacaranda's greatest dilemmas feel painfully contemporary * * Independent * *Eve Babitz is to prose what Chet Baker, with his light, airy style, lyrical but also rhythmic, detached but also sensuous, is to jazz * * Vanity Fair * *A beautiful stylist . . . The joy of Babitz's writing is in her ability to suggest that an experience is very nearly out of language while still articulating its force within it * * New Republic * *The portrait of the artist as an ever-evolving young woman * * W * *

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Book Synopsis**Winner of the Goldsmiths Prize 2023** **Shortlisted for the Winston Graham Historical Prize** **Chosen as a book of the year 2023 by The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and New Statesman** ‘An epic the north has long deserved’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘A sensational piece of storytelling … A singular and significant achievement’ GUARDIAN ‘Marvellous, artful, enchanted’ DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Cements Myers’s standing as one of our finest, and most deftly imaginative, writers' I NEWS The triumphant new novel from the Walter Scott Prize-winning author of The Gallows Pole and The Offing Cuddy is a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron saint of the North of England. Incorporating poetry, prose, play, diary and real historical accounts to create a novel like no other, Cuddy straddles historical eras - from the first Christian-slaying Viking invaders of the holy island of Lindisfarne in the 8th century to a contemporary England defined by class and austerity. Along the way we meet brewers and masons, archers and academics, monks and labourers, their visionary voices and stories echoing through their ancestors and down the ages. And all the while at the centre sits Durham Cathedral and the lives of those who live and work around this place of pilgrimage – their dreams, desires, connections and communities.Trade ReviewIt’s been a while since I’ve reacted as emotionally to a novel ... An epic the north has long deserved: ambitious, dreamy, earthy, dark, welcoming and not ... There are readers like me who will not just enjoy this book but feel deeply grateful for its existence * FINANCIAL TIMES *A millennium-spanning polyphonic flight through history ... Myers creates characters and voices so absorbing that when the timeline jumps forward you are reluctant to leave them, only for the next protagonist to become the centre of your world until it is time to move on again. A phenomenal achievement, Cuddy is by some distance my novel of 2023 * NEW EUROPEAN *A visionary epic which covers a millennium of English history and employs poetry and prose, playscript and pastiche to trace the story of St Cuthbert, the building of Durham Cathedral and the contemporary northern landscape * GUARDIAN, Best books of the year *This bold, experimental novel, which uses poetry as much as prose, won this year’s Goldsmiths prize * THE TIMES, Books of the Year *A polyphonic hymn to a very specific landscape and its people. At the same time, it deepens his standing as an arresting chronicler of a broader, more mysterious seam of ancient folklore that unites the history of these isles as it’s rarely taught * OBSERVER *A visionary epic which covers a millennium of English history and employs poetry and prose, playscript and pastiche to trace the story of St Cuthbert, the building of Durham Cathedral and the contemporary northern landscape. * GUARDIAN, Books of the Year 2023 *A genre-blending, millennia-straddling history ... A bold story about faith and nationhood that upends preconceptions of the ’’historical novel” * NEW STATESMAN, Books of the Year *Myers’ playful, form- and genre-bending tale about St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ... The author is known for his grasp of language and elegiac take on history and the natural world – all of which are put to excellent use in a novel that spans poetry, prose, historical accounts and more * MARIE CLAIRE, The best books of 2023 *A dizzyingly inventive retelling of St Cuthbert’s life * TELEGRAPH, Books of the Year *Myers is maturing into a serious writer rather than just a sombre one. Cuddy is an ambitious and accomplished novel that shows it’s not — necessarily — grim up north * THE TIMES *A bold novel that whirls us through a dizzying range of poetic and prosaic styles * Daily Telegraph, The 75 best books for summer 2023 *One of the best books I have ever read, easily top 5 status … Innovative, clever, engaging and fresh – and my book of the year * NEW WRITING NORTH, What we're reading 2023 *There’s much to enjoy in the novel’s linguistic beauty ... Cuddy explores the endurance of goodness and grace * SPECTATOR *A sensational piece of storytelling … The symbiosis of poetry and story, of knowledge and deep love, marks out Cuddy as a singular and significant achievement * GUARDIAN *Five atmospheric episodes – and an interlude – illustrate the mystical hold that Cuthbert has exerted over the north * STRONG WORDS, Books of the Year *Mesmerising, lyrical ... Stands in a genre of its own ... Serves as a reminder that we are but custodians of a world we inherited. Cuddy cements Myers’s standing as one of our finest, and most deftly imaginative, writers * I NEWS *Myers traces … the manifold threads of history to remarkable effect * IRISH TIMES *The cathedral is a wonder … in its elegance and grotesquery, its shimmering and its solidity, Myers captures it accurately. Indeed, that could be a description of his book * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY *As a work of literature and as a tribute to a man and his region, it will endure * INDEPENDENT.CO.UK *Marvellous, artful, enchanted ... With power and pathos, this novel follows the cult of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne from the 7th century to the present day * DAILY TELEGRAPH *One of the best books I have ever read -- TESS DENMAN-CLEAVERBrave, bold and brilliantly alive, Cuddy calls forth the voices and the places of the north in a kaleidoscopic portrait through time. Myers at his best: dark, sharp, earthy and superbly funny. Cuddy isn’t a novel, it’s an invocation -- ROB COWEN, author of Common GroundSpare, poetic, haunting, tenderly observed ... Myers is a natural storyteller ... [with] a poetic sensibility, and as a writer he enjoys the snap and crunch of words, and the way they can summon an atmosphere * PROSPECT *A wonder ... An accomplished and very moving novel * SCOTSMAN *Incorporates poetry, prose, play, diary and real historical accounts to create a novel like no other * NORTHERN LIFE *Myers employs competing voices and different literary styles to pull together an ephemeral yet somehow tangible narrative that is both sweeping in its history and arresting in its style * YORKSHIRE LIFE *Myers chisels a cohesive and engaging portrait of a place laden with history * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *An absorbingly beautiful book ... There aren't many writers as attuned to the present state of this country and the history and landscape that made it as Myers, who succeeds repeatedly in harnessing time with compassion, kindness and a rare gift for finding the right voice for the right people in the right era * NEW EUROPEAN *Cuddy is a work of art. Ben Myers has pulled off a kind of magic trick ... Daring, expansive and deeply satisfying, Cuddy is a truly original piece of writing which weaves a special kind of magic. I was left completely spellbound. I loved every minute of this dazzling and deeply original novel -- CLOVER STROUD, author of The Red of My BloodOnce again Ben Myers has built another time machine in words and I thoroughly enjoyed being humped around early medieval northern England alongside St Cuthbert's holy corpse via centuries of fisticuffs and up Durham Cathedrals tower to a sensitive take on issues of our own time. Most of all I appreciated how Myers explores faith and belief without the usual eyeroll and cynicism of our excessively secular age – I feel St Cuthbert's monks and masons looking down through history with a certain sense of pride -- LUKE TURNER, author of Out of the WoodsCuddy is another milestone marking Myers’ versatility as a writer * BUZZ *Rich, rewarding, dark and comic, Cuddy is, like that cathedral, a magnificent construction * BUZZMAG *To be able to move from the Dark Ages, to the Middle Ages, to the Victorian Era to Modern Times and so ably capture the zeitgeist of each is a rare feat of imagination -- GABRIELLE DRAKEPraise for Benjamin Myers: A writer of extraordinary and incandescent talent -- ALEX PRESTONA genre-melding experimental novel * GUARDIAN, Best Books of 2023 *Here is a strong, spiritual writer who sees and loves every dewdrop, old oak, soft little animal and buried sword, and offers them up to us like the precious treasures they are * THE TIMES *No one writes about the atmosphere, beauty and brutality of the English countryside better than Benjamin Myers. And it's hard to think of many people who can write with such attentiveness, tenderness and force about the importance of human connection and the redemptive power of art -- WENDY ERSKINEOne of the most interesting, restless writers of his generation * DAILY MAIL *No one writes about the atmosphere, beauty and brutality of the English countryside better than Ben Myers. And it's hard to think of many people who can write with with such attentiveness, tenderness and force about the importance of human connection and the redemptive power of art -- WENDY ERSKINEShot through with a romantic, even mystical radicalism of the kind that William Blake would have approved of * DAILY TELEGRAPH *What a radical thing, these days, to have written a book so full of warmth and kindness ... Gorgeous -- MAX PORTERBenjamin Myers is fast making the contested boundary between history and folklore his own -- JOHN MITCHINSONA powerful new voice * GUARDIAN *Book by book, over the past decade, Ben Myers has proved himself to be one of the most singular, moving and crucial voices of our times -- DAVID PEACEA draft of cool, clear water ... He’s such a good and brave writer * MONOCLE *Benjamin Myers is fast making the contested boundary between history and folklore his own -- JOHN MITCHINSONPowerful and moving * LITERARY REVIEW *

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Book Synopsis***GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2023*** THE TIMES - THRILLER OF THE MONTH****** MAIL ON SUNDAY - BEST NEW FICTION*** FINANCIAL TIMES - BEST NEW CRIME BOOKS***''A crackling good police procedural....fresh and exhilarating'' STEPHEN KING''Gripping'' MICHAEL CONNELLY''Titus Crown is one of the most compelling characters I''ve read in a long time.'' STEVE CAVANAGHA BLACK SHERIFF. A SERIAL KILLER.AND A SMALL TOWN READY TO COMBUST.Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, no one knows better than Titus that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.But a year to the day after Titus''s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student. The student iTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR S. A. COSBY:A top-notch tale about the dark side of small towns and racial politics * THE SUN *Exemplary * FINANCIAL TIMES *Cosby's growing body of work represents a muscular take on race relations in America. In All The Sinners Bleed, he again forces the reader to dwell on how prejudice lingers and shapes contemporary society, particularly in America's south. A powerful crime thriller that pulls no punches. -- VASEEM KHANThe very definition of a white-knuckle ride -- IAN RANKINCosby's talents for pungent dialogue and Chandler-esque phrase-making were praised in his previous novel,.. and they're evident again in this pulsating follow-up * SUNDAY TIMES *S. A. Cosby's novels always hit the grand slam of crime fiction; unstoppable momentum, gripping intrigue and deep character with a hard and telling look at culture and society. I hesitate to call All The Sinners Bleed his masterpiece because he has many more books to write and they only get better and better. Cosby no doubt carries the mantle of Faulkner with him as he uses the crime story to show us where we are and how far we still need to go. Sheriff Titus Crown lives in these pages and your heart. He's a character for the ages -- MICHAEL CONNELLYIt's a rare trick to combine violence with social commentary, but Cosby pulls it off * DAILY MAIL *Raw, powerful and pacey, Razorblade Tears more than fulfils the promise of Cosby's superb debut * THE GUARDIAN *Utterly brilliant....Beautiful, violent, operatic, relevant, poignant, gripping & important. Masterful. -- WILL DEANOne of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction. * WASHINGTON POST *An excellent, gritty novel about how eventually, all sins must be reckoned with...The action is nonstop and Titus has real depth...Layered. Dark. True. -- ROXANE GAYOnly S.A. Cosby could bring poetry to the darkness. A dark, disturbing and gripping masterpiece that reaches into the depths of your soul. -- NADINE MATHESON

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Book SynopsisA surprise pregnancy leads to even more life-changing revelations in this heartfelt, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance of found family and unexpected love.''Bastone delivers on this truly heartwarming, funny, and real story'' Abby Jimenez''The perfect slow burn, friends-to-lovers romance. Cara Bastone''s voice is wholly unique and sparkles with effervescence and joy'' KJ Dell''Antonia ''One of the most emotionally satisfying romances I''ve read in years'' Joanna Lowell ''A delightfully romantic story that celebrates modern love and the excitement of the unexpected'' Amy Poeppel..................Eve Hatch has always been content to coast through her life, with a steady, if uninspiring, job and a cozy apartment in Brooklyn, close to her childhood best friend Willa and far from the midwestern, traditional family who never really understood her. But when she finds herself pregnant after an uncharacte

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Book SynopsisThe second book of Earthsea in a beautiful hardback edition. Complete the collection with A Wizard of Earthsea, The Furthest Shore and TehanuWith illustrations from Charles Vess''[This] trilogy made me look at the world in a new way, imbued everything with a magic that was so much deeper than the magic I''d encountered before then. This was a magic of words, a magic of true speaking'' Neil Gaiman''Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it'' David MitchellIn this second novel in the Earthsea series, Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, and everything is taken from her - home, family, possessions, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, and guards the shadowy, labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan.Then a wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs'' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar''s duty is to pTrade ReviewThe magic of Earthsea is primal; the lessons of Earthsea remain as potent, as wise, and as necessary as anyone could dream -- Neil GaimanDrink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it -- David Mitchell, author of CLOUD ATLASThe Earthsea trilogy . . . is a memorable exploration of the relationship between life and death. . . Ged, its hero, must face his shadow self before it devours him. Only then will he become whole. In the process, he must contend with the wisdom of dragons: ambiguous and not our wisdom, but wisdom nonetheless -- Margaret Atwood

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Book Synopsis Chiltern creates the most beautiful editions of the World?s finest literature. Your favourite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before ; the tactile layers, fine details and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf. This book has matching lined and blank journals (sold separately). They make a great gift when paired together but are also just as beautiful on their own. Mansfield Park By Jane Austen tells the story of Fanny Price, a frail, quiet young woman who has none of the high spirits or wit of Elizabeth Bennet or Marianne Dashwood. Reared from the age of ten among wealthy relatives, Fanny is an unobtrusive presence in the household at Mansfield Park, useful and agreeable to everyone and steadfast in her secret affection for her cousin, Edmund Bertram. Fanny?s manner contrasts sharply with the livelier, sometimes careless behavior of her cousins and their friends. Only Edmund spends time with the gentle Fanny, although his own affections have been captivated by the sophisticated Mary Crawford. With Fanny?s uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, away on an extended stay in the West Indies, the cousins and their friends decide to put on an amateur theatrical production of a scandalous French play. Only Fanny refuses to participate, out of natural modesty and a certainty that her absent uncle would not approve. Sir Thomas returns unexpectedly and does not approve, much to his children?s chagrin, but Fanny quickly falls from his favor when she refuses the proposal of Mary Crawford?s brother, Henry, who had begun an unwelcome flirtation with her after Fanny?s cousin Maria married another man. Distressed by her uncle?s disapproval, Fanny visits her parents and her eight brothers and sisters, only to discover that her years at Mansfield Park have left her unable to fit easily into her noisy, often vulgar family. She is summoned back by Sir Thomas when Maria leaves her husband for Henry Crawford and Maria?s sister, Julia, elopes. Now fully appreciated by her uncle, Fanny comes into her own, winning the love of Edmund Bertram.

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Book SynopsisTHE JURA EDITION with new introduction by Alex Massie 'For him Jura was home' - Richard Blair on his father George Orwell 'The book of the twentieth century . . . haunts us with an ever-darker relevance’ – Ben Pimlott, Independent 'The greatest British novel to have been written since the war’ – Time Out 'His final masterpiece . . . enthralling and indispensable for understanding modern history' – New York Review of Books The year is 1984 and war and revolution have left the world unrecognisable. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, is ruled by the Party, led by Big Brother. Mass surveillance is everything and The Thought Police are employed to ensure that no individual thinking is allowed. Winston Smith works at The Ministry of Truth, carefully rewriting history, but he dreams of freedom and of rebellion. It is here that he meets and falls in love with Julia. They start a secret, forbidden affair - but nothing can be kept secret, and they are forced to face consequences more terrifying than either of them could have ever imagined. In this new edition of a modern classic, Alex Massie's introduction highlights the importance that Jura had on the writing of one of the twentieth century's most important works of fiction. Trade Review'Right up there among my favourite books ... I read it again and again' -- Margaret Atwood'More relevant to today than almost any other book that you can think of' -- Jo Brand'His final masterpiece. Enthralling and indispensable for understanding modern history' -- Timothy Garton Ash * New York Review of Books *'One of the most shocking novels of the twentieth century' -- Margaret Drabble'The book of the twentieth century' -- Ben Pimlott * Independent *

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Book SynopsisIn this stunningly insightful and humorous sequel to Finding Joy, Keeping Joy explores the long terms consequences of chronic illness. Through the eyes of Joyce, Aunt Beth and Logan we follow Joyce’s fight to regain her health and her freedom after nearly a decade of being housebound with Lyme disease.

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Book Synopsis'BARNES'S MASTERPIECE' - OBSERVERIn May 1937 a man in his early thirties waits by the lift of a Leningrad apartment block. He waits all through the night, expecting to be taken away to the Big House. Any celebrity he has known in the previous decade is no use to him now. And few who are taken to the Big House ever return.‘Stunning’ Sunday Times‘A profound meditation on power and the relationship of art and power… It is a masterpiece of sympathetic understanding… I don’t think Barnes has written a finer, more truthful or more profound book’ Scotsman‘A tour de force by a master novelist at the top of his game’ Daily ExpressTrade ReviewA great novel, Barnes’s masterpiece… Exquisite, intimate detail. He has given us a novel that is powerfully affecting, a condensed masterpiece that traces the lifelong battle of one man’s conscience, one man’s art, with the insupportable exigencies of totalitarianism. -- Alex Preston * Observer *Barnes’s sombre, brilliant new novel opens with a scene like something from a story by Chekhov… Gleaming with intelligence and literary flair, this elegantly composed fictional meditation offers a fresh gloss on a musical genius’s collisions and collusions with power. -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times *[Barnes is] a master of the narrative sidestep… Not just a novel about music, but something more like a musical novel… The story itself is structured in three parts that come together like a broken chord. It is a simple but brilliant device, and one that goes right to the heart of this novel. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * The Times *A compelling novel about art and power, courage and cowardice, and the capriciousness of fate…Barnes brilliantly captures the composer’s conflicted state of mind…This book is only 190 pages long, but it packs an extraordinary emotional punch. -- Sebastian Shakespeare * Tatler *The writing in the early pages is magnificent… The reader has the confidence of being in the hands of a master storyteller… Barnes has a good sense of what life was like in the Soviet Union. He captures well the black humor, irony and cynicism. -- Orlando Figes * New York Review of Books *Julian Barnes’ novel deftly evokes the complexity of Shostakovich’s relationship with Stalin and the power of his oeuvre… Thick with period detail… The book returns us to the music itself, that immense 20th-century oeuvre that contains everything but confirms nothing. -- Hedley Twidle * Financial Times *Gripping… An intimately illuminating montage of Shostakovich’s life… Immediately engaging. -- James Lasdun * Guardian *A novel of deceptive slenderness... You expect nothing less from a writer soaked in Flaubert. -- Duncan White * Daily Telegraph *A series of elegant insights into the mind of a brilliant artist… Throughout, Barnes offers a surety of touch that few writers can match. * Independent on Sunday *[A] sad, self-lacerating and darkly funny hybrid of a novel. The Noise of Time is both a burrowing meditation on an artist’s lifelong relationship with totalitarian power, fear and compromise, and a fascinating fictional biography of one of the 20th century’s greatest composers… Barnes is a master. -- Tod Wodicka * The National *A profound meditation on power and the relationship of art and power… It presents a life, and refrains from judgment. It is a masterpiece of sympathetic understanding… I don’t think [Barnes] has written a finer, more truthful or more profound book. -- Allan Massie * The Scotsman *The skilled novelist here brings alive not just the political turmoil that surrounded Shostakovich, but his love for his wives, his love for his children, a vivid counterpoint of artistic freedom and political oppression – the eloquent conjuring of one glass of vodka clinking against another. * The Economist *

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Book Synopsis'A gruesome, blackly funny, utterly original feminist horror story' New York Times, Notable Book of the Year 'A buzz-worthy and ferocious horror comedy from one of the genre's most promising voices'BuzzfeedAbby Lamb has done it. She's found the Great Good in her husband, Ralph, and together they will start a family and put all the darkness in her childhood to rest. But then the Lambs move in with Ralph's mother, Laura, whose depression has made it impossible for her to live on her own. She's venomous and cruel, especially to Abby, who has a complicated understanding of motherhood given the way her own, now-estranged, mother raised her.When Laura takes her own life, her ghost starts to haunt Abby and Ralph in very different ways. Ralph is plunged into depression, and Abby is being terrorized by a force intent on taking everything she loves away from her. With everything on the line, Abby must make the ultimate sacrifice in order to prove her adoration to Ralph and break Laura's hold on the family for good.Trade ReviewGripping... A gutsy, gory mashup of domestic horror and dark humour * Observer *A gruesome, blackly funny, utterly original feminist horror story * New York Times, Notable Book of 2022 *A dark, moving, hugely entertaining slab of gothic horror....and also very funny * Metro *A disgusting and delightful romp of a book * Big Issue *Filled with sharp, crackling sentences, which bend variously sinister, humorous and sad, Ainslie Hogarth's new novel is a stunner. Like Mona Awad's Bunny or Ottessa Moshfegh's Eileen, Motherthing is a fabulous, frightening story built from fine, fine prose * Laird Hunt, author of the National Book Award finalist, Zorrie *This novel is bursting with smart, provocative, heart-breaking things to say about the nature of grief and its ability to take up just as much - if not more - physical space than the actual person lost. Motherthing is gory and irreverent and totally irresistible * Courtney Maum, author of Touch *A masterfully crafted horror novel that's by turns humorous and deeply unsettling... Packs a punch * Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW *Profane, insane, hilarious, disgusting - and unexpectedly moving * Kirkus STARRED REVIEW *A smart, taut, hallucinatory book about mothers, daughters, and relationships of care. And buckets of blood. * Ally Wilkes, author of All the White Spaces *One of my favourite books of the year so far... Sorrow and Bliss but make it haunted * Red, Blackwells Manchester *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Romantic, old-time Rajasthan leaps to life in the skilled hands of Alka Joshi. The Henna Artist brims over with richly drawn customs, locations, and characters. I can hardly wait for Alka Joshi’s next masterpiece.” --Sujata Massey, internationally bestselling author of The Satapur Moonstone and The Widows of Malabar Hill “Rich in detail and bright with tastes and textures, The Henna Artist is a fabulous glimpse into Indian culture of the 1950s.”—Bookpage, Starred Review“Eloquent debut…moving… Joshi masterfully balances a yearning for self-discovery with the need for familial love.” –Publishers Weekly"Vibrant characters, evocative imagery, and sumptuous prose create an unforgetable tale."--Christian Science Monitor “Joshi has constructed a bewitching glimpse into the past with a tough heroine well worth cheering on.”--Booklist"The Henna Artist is a bold, ambitious, beautifully written novel about India in the decade after independence, and about class, identity, love and deceit. The broad cast of characters will etchthemselves into your psyche." --Tom Barbash, author of Stay Up With Me"Fantastic, so evocative and beautiful and full of life and light.... The Henna Artist is detailed and sumptuous, vivid in its characters and deeply satisfying in its storytelling."--Leah Franqui, author of America for Beginners"Alka Joshi's superb first novel is unforgettable.... Read this book slowly and savor it: Every page is rich with intricate pleasures for both the mind and the heart."--Anita Amirrezvani, author of The Blood of Flowers"Like a brilliant, magical kaleidoscope, bursting with color, The Henna Artist kept me riveted from start to finish."--Lauren Belfer, NYT bestselling author of After the Fire and City of Light"Everything a great novel needs is here: The protagonist balancing impossible burdens with her bountiful talents; the many other characters, each so colorful and complex, each necessary to the intricate and delicate plot, Such a satisfying novel!"--Sandra Scofield, author of The Last Draft"Alka Joshi's debut novel is a richly drawn design of love and the many hungers that drive human beings...a lush, gorgeous journey that any reader will be sorry to see end."--Erin McGraw, author of The Good Life and The Seamstress of Hollywood"The Henna Artist is a delicious, old-fashioned tale about timeless heartaches. There's something elemental and mythic about Lakshmi and her knowledge of spices, roots, oils, and barks that drew me into the kind of world I gladly lived in when reading fairy tales as a child, a place inhabited by powerful queens, talking birds, magical drinks, orphans, sad princesses, clever servants, and dangerous poisons. I'm in awe of Joshi's storytelling and a little jealous of the character who winds up with the talking bird. “Namaste!” as he says. “Bonjour! Welcome!”---Laura McNeal, author of The Practice House

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Book Synopsis'A cyberpunk coming-of-age tale' Japan Times Two babies are left in a Tokyo station coin locker and survive against the odds, but their lives are forever tainted by this inauspicious start. Raised amidst the outcasts and misfits of Toxitown, they carve out vastly different paths: one as a bisexual rock star on a desperate search for his mother, the other as an athlete consumed by revenge against the woman who left him behind. When their twisted journeys start to intertwine, this savage and stunning story plunges headlong into a surrealistic whirl of violence. 'Encapsulates the fin de siècle cultural detonation of Japanese youth' KirkusTrade Review'Ably encapsulates the fin de siecle cultural detonation of Japanese youth... Snyder's agile translation preserves much of the shock, beauty, and pathos in this apocalyptic minisaga of troubled times' - Kirkus'Ryu Murakami is known for the sex-drugs-and-violence style of his fiction and Coin Locker Babies has it all... A cyberpunk coming-of-age tale' - Japan Times

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe main plot...is dark and disturbing, but Atkinson brings wry comic touches to the story as she both playfully inhabits and deftly subverts the crime genre. * Observer *Big Sky is laced with Atkinson’s sharp, dry humour, and one of the joys of the Brodie novels has always been that they are so funny. * Observer *Atkinson weaves a magically absorbing world full of crossed paths and coincidences. Her sublime turn of phrase, impeccable gallows humour, beautifully drawn characters and complex plotting make for a fabulously entertaining and moving book. It can be enjoyed as either a standalone mystery or a very welcome reunion with an old friend. * Sunday Mirror *A masterclass in what can be done with crime fiction, brilliantly using the form to expose what Atkinson bleakly describes as 'one more battle in the war against women'. * Sunday Times *Atkinson’s new mystery hits all the right notes * Sunday Times Style *Atkinson brings back her much-loved PI Jackson Brodie for a tightly plotted tale...the real mystery here is the human heart, with Atkinson serving up an acute and believable look at the state of Britain today. * i *I romped through it: as ever, the plotting is clever and complex, it’s full of the dry wit Atkinson is so good at and it’s an absorbing mystery. * Good Housekeeping *There's a lot going on here, all of it rendered with Atkinson's vastly enjoyable nonchalance...Atkinson tells a great story, toys with expectations, deceives by omission, blows smoke and also writes like she's your favourite friend. Thank goodness the long Jackson Brodie hiatus is over. * New York Times *Atkinson throws in many entertaining diversions, and a fair few juicy red herrings… an exuberant, entertaining read…Atkinson’s work is always playful, and there’s a brisk, jaunty tone to Big Sky and much dry observational comedy. * Independent *The brilliance of Big Sky lies in its broad range of memorable characters, each with their own intriguing backstory.....sharp humour,sparkling prose and acute psychological insight. * Daily Express *A stunning comeback... Told in Atkinson’s typically wry prose, it is Dickensian in sweep, utterly riveting and has a wonderful ending, quite magnificent. * Daily Mail *I can't get enough of Jackson Brodie...he may well be the great fictional detective of our age...her bunch of seemingly ordinary but deeply fascinating characters... seem so real that you come to care about them like your oldest friends. * Sunday Express *As usual, it's ingeniously structured and told with humour and compassion. * New Statesman *Her peerless ability to plot with audacity and with a sinuous beauty...it's the most marvellous book, so delightful you'll want to eke it out for as long as possible. * Radio Times *Jackson Brodie gets his fifth outing in the new novel by the reliably brilliant Atkinson. * Woman & Home *You can't go wrong with the majestic new Kate Atkinson book...wise, funny and sad. * Stylist *Jackson Brodie is back and how we’ve missed him….you’re in for a treat. * Red *How can anyone fail to love Kate Atkinson?...A gripping beach read for lovers of detective fiction. * ES magazine *Atkinson’s nimble and endearing skill across all her fiction…is to take the determinedly domestic, find the wry, sometimes waspish humour in it, and yet reveal something profoundly humane....And deft misdirection, cheeky literary references and Brodie's flailing attempts to offer sympathy by quoting country-and-western lyrics are constantly entertaining. You finish Big Sky feeling battered - but thoroughly cheered up. * The Times *With a many-tentacled storyline distilling some of the more disturbing headlines of recent years, this dark material proves supremely compulsive...Brodie brings out the best in Atkinson, partly because he’s a handy peg for what tends to come across as her regretful sense of bemusement about modern Britain. * Metro *

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Book SynopsisAn intimate, stirring portrait of a country at war and a family's battle to surviveTrade Review'[An] absorbing, stirring novel... Que Mai contains her saga with a poet's discipline, crafting spare and unsparing sentences, and uplifts it with a poet's antenna for beauty in the most desolate circumstances. She evokes the landscape hauntingly, as a site of loss so profound it assumes the quality of fable.' -- New York Times Book Review'The Mountains Sing is an epic account of Việt Nam’s painful 20th century history, both vast in scope and intimate in its telling. Through the travails of one family, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai brings us close to the horrors of famine, war, and class struggle. But in this moving and riveting novel, she also shows us a post-war Việt Nam, a country of hope and renewal, home to a people who have never given up.' -- Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Sympathizer'Devastating… From the French and Japanese occupations to the Indochina wars, The Great Hunger, land reform and the Vietnam War, it’s a story of resilience, determination, family and hope in a country blighted by pain.' -- Refinery29, 'Best New Books, August 2020''A sweeping story that positions Vietnamese life within the rich and luminous history of national epics like The Tale of Kiều and The Iliad. Expansive in scope and feeling, The Mountains Sing is a feat of hope, an unflinchingly felt inquiry into the past, with the courageous storytelling of the present.' -- Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous'A Vietnamese poet conjures history and fate in a luminous tale that resonates across generations as one family grapples with the psychic residue of war.' -- O, The Oprah Magazine'I learned so much that I needed to know about Vietnam… This book, first and foremost, is one of the most significant contributions to literature.' -- Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen Society'Inspired by the experiences of [Nguyen Phan Que Mai’s] own family, and backed up by extensive research, it's a testament to their endurance; a harrowing novel which finds hope in the author's faith in reconciliation and understanding.' -- Herald, Glasgow'A luminous, complex family narrative... Que Mai [has] an astute and graceful ability to sustain contradictory truths about war, displacement, aesthetic representations, and human nature... The Mountains Sing affirms the individual’s right to think, read, and act according to a code of intuitive civility, borne out of Vietnam's fertile and compassionate cultural heritage.' -- NPR'A sweeping saga... Alternating between lyricism and blunt reality, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai gives us a vivid look at Vietnam from within.' -- People Magazine'Nguyen Phan Que Mai’s sweeping tale proves on every page that despite war-time tragedies and numbing ugliness, the human desire to forgive and thrive soars as high as the mountains.' -- Thanhha Lai, National Book Award-winning author of Inside Out and Back Again'A mesmerizing, devastating, searing and utterly authentic and deeply human novel. Cannot recommend highly enough!' -- Lynn Novick, co-producer of The Vietnam War documentary'A glorious novel which sweeps across land, generations and hearts... A rare gem that I will never forget.' The Write Review'A moving tribute to the author's own family, but also to the people of Việt Nam and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it... If you enjoyed Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, or The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, this is undoubtedly one for you.' Reads & Reveries'The Mountains Sing is an epic novel weaving together stories of four generations of the fictional Tran family...The novel is poetic, absorbing and illustrative of the enormous sacrifices of the Vietnamese people, particularly the women.' The Green Left, Australia'Epic in scope, and a celebration of the human spirit, The Mountains Sing is a story you won't soon forget.' PopSugar, '25 of the Best New Books to Add to Your Reading List This Spring''A panoramic epic... Like the work of Duong Thu Huong, who deserves the Nobel one day, this book brings to life a crucial part of Vietnamese history from within. Your heart will not leave this book untouched.' Literary Hub'Not since 2017's Pachinko have readers been given a family saga as sumptuous and compelling as The Mountains Sing.' PopMatters, 'Best Fiction Books of 2020''[A] lyrical, sweeping debut novel... Nguyen brilliantly explores the boundary between what a writer shares with the world and what remains between family. This brilliant, unsparing love letter to Vietnam will move readers.' Publishers Weekly, starred review'An engrossing story of family, adversity, war, loss, and triumph... Recalling Min Jin Lee and Lisa See, Nguyen displays a lush and captivating storyteller’s gift as she effortlessly transports readers to another world, leaving them wishing for more.' Library Journal, starred review'This multigenerational tale chronicles the Trần family as a Vietnamese woman visits Hanoi and reflects on the life lessons shared by her late grandmother.' USA Today, 'Five Books Not to Miss''A historical novel that portrays Vietnamese strength in the face of adversity... I came away at the end of the book with a new appreciation for the courage and resourcefulness of the Vietnamese.' Washington Independent Review of Books'Told with poetic economy and intensity, [The Mountains Sing] is dominated by the formidable Dieu Lan and her granddaughter Huong, who find ways to pass on stories from the past.' Sydney Morning Herald'Widely published in Vietnamese, poet, nonfiction writer, and translator Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s first novel in English balances the unrelenting devastation of war with redemptive moments of surprising humanity.' Booklist'In The Mountains Sing, Nguyen Phan Que Mai has found a true and clear voice in English that is rich and compelling the way only those who come to English as a second language can sometimes manage.' Bruce Weigl, author of bestselling memoir The Circle of Hanh'A beautiful evocation of a lost world.' Paris Review of Books'Beautiful, heartbreaking and utterly essential.' Saigoneer Bookshelf'Beautifully and lyrically written... The Mountains Sing is historical fiction at its finest – it highlights the impact and cost of the events that led up to the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese people's perspective.' She Reads, 'Best Historical Fiction Books of 2020''The power of this outstanding novel lies in the gradual revelations of just how many personal challenges this family has had to deal with... Hauntingly beautiful.' NB magazine'A compelling and challenging novel that should be read as an attempt to recognise both the presence of the past and its profound effect on the formation of individual and national identity.' Irish Times'A vast, epic historical novel set against the backdrop of the Viet Nam conflict through the eyes of the people themselves.' -- Ms. Magazine'Quế Mai's first novel in English is lyrical and at once heart-wrenching and hopeful.' NPR, Best Books of 2020'Lyrical, wrenching, sometimes painful to read, but ultimately glorious in affirming the resilience of the human spirit.' Julia Alvarez, author of Afterlife

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Book SynopsisChernobyl 1986. Those left behind must fight to survive.Trade Review‘Insightful and entertaining, this is animal storytelling at its best.’ New Zealand Listener'This wonderful novel deserves to receive the literary equivalent of the starlight barking to ensure it’s read by all.' Times'This book! It broke my heart and then splintered it back together again. Imagine Watership Down meets The Animals of Farthing Wood but fiercer.' Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear‘This visceral story of heartbreak and survival, complemented by Robinson’s sharp images, has the memorable feel of a classic such as White Fang or Watership Down.’ Guardian, Best children’s and YA books of 2022‘A dog’s eye perspective that’s so vivid you can almost taste the earthworms.’ FT, YA Book of the YearA multilayered tale of loss and renewal with elements both topical and universal.’ Kirkus Reviews'A fabulous and unsentimental tale… This tells of courage, of loss, of survival against the odds, and ultimately of a hope that brings some meaning to life… The narrative is pacy, beautifully written, and with very well considered description to bring the story to life. This is a great read and an inspiring story.’ School Librarian Editor’s Pick‘A heart-rending odyssey about love between dog and girl.' New Statesman, Book of the Year'A powerful and beautifully illustrated book about the bond between Natasha and her puppy Zoyu.’ Irish Examiner, Book of the Year‘Beautifully written and emotionally devastating.’ Bookseller, Most Anticipated Children’s & YA titles 2022‘Steeped in Richard Adams’ Plague Dogs and Watership Down, yet wearing all the hallmarks of Barry Hines at his finest, Dogs of the Deadlands is a wonderful thing. It moved me and stayed with me for an awfully long time.’ Phil Earle, author of When the Sky Falls‘A truly unforgettable tale of hope in the wilderness. This story feels classic, timeless. It will be read and read and read and loved by so many readers for a long time to come.’ Keith Gray, author of Ostrich Boys‘I was completely blown away by this brilliant, beautiful story. I was propelled back to reading Watership Down as an eight year old – this gave me that same feeling of having been indelibly changed by a story. It's a rare and special thing for a book to do.’ Catherine Bruton, author of No Ballet Shoes in Syria‘Raw, unflinching, and blisteringly well written, Dogs of the Deadlands is already certain to be one of my books of the year! Just WOW.’ A. M. Howell, author of The Garden of Lost Secrets‘Extraordinary – exciting, brutal, heartbreaking, it carries you along with every howl, every bite and every moment of joy. Wonderful!’ Alastair Chisholm, author of Orion Lost‘This is a powerful novel about how people’s lives can change in an instant, and how the animals affected by human disaster learn to survive… a tense, thought-provoking drama whose descriptions of animal life are reminiscent of Watership Down. Rock the Boat is publishing a sumptuous hardback edition.’ Charlotte Eyre, Bookseller, One to Watch‘Loved Dogs of the Deadlands – swept along by the story – powerful telling of dogs’ survival in the wilds against the backdrop of Chernobyl and the spaces humans left behind.’ Gill Lewis, author of A Street Dog Named Pup‘The dogs’ behaviour is convincingly authentic… A phenomenal story of survival despite, and because of, the desolation of a modern nuclear fallout.’ Simon Barrett, Armadillo Magazine‘A story about hope… a story that never lets up in excitement and overall engagement from start to finish.’ Books for Keeps, 5* review‘The devastation the explosion caused is hauntingly described… There is, though, a lot of hope here too.’ Literary Review‘Underscores the dangers of nuclear power plants and their catastrophic effects on pets and wildlife when problems arise like the Chernobyl meltdown. A story that will linger in the mind and memory of its young readers...' Midwest Book Review‘This gripping and unusual tale… A remarkable and intimate story of loyalty and love, resilience, survival and hope.’ BookTrustPraise for Anthony McGowan: ‘The Carnegie medal winner McGowan is superb at stories about children who do not have all the advantages.’ Sunday Times ‘McGowan's prose is beautiful in its brevity and devastating in its emotional impact.’ Bookseller

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Book Synopsis''A book that shifted my life... Epic, game-changing, moving and brilliant'' VIOLA DAVIS''Will rewire the mind of whoever reads it... you don''t emerge from the journey unaffected'' NNEDI OKORAFOR A PATTERNIST NOVEL: BOOK ONEIt begins when two immortals meet in an African forest.Doro is an ancient spirit who, for thousands of years, has cultivated a small village of people in search of perfection. He steals from their bodies to sustain his own life. Doro fears no one - until he meets Anyanwu.Anyanwu is like Doro and yet different. She uses her wisdom to help others, healing injuries, birthing tribes and shifting the shapes of her own body. Anyanwu feels no threat - until she meets Doro.In an epic story of love and hate, Doro and Anyanwu chase each other across continents and centuries - a power struggle that echoes through generations. Together they will change the world.Trade ReviewOne of the most significant literary artists of the twentieth century. One cannot exaggerate the impact she has had -- Junot DiazButler's prose, always pared back to the bone, delineates the painful paradoxes of metamorphosis with compelling precision * Guardian *A dark, compelling and still horribly resonant time travel story * Independent *[Her] evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human * New York Times *No novel I've read this year has felt as relevant, as gut-wrenching or as essential... If you've ever tweeted "All Lives Matter", someone needs to shove Kindred into your hand, and quickly * The Pool *Kindred is that rare magical artifact . . . the novel one returns to, again and again * Harlan Ellison *One cannot finish Kindred without feeling changed. It is a shattering work of art * Los Angeles Herald-Examiner *[A] must-read novel * BBC *Everyone should read at least one novel by the grand dame of science fiction, and Kindred is a perfect (and harrowing and disturbing and brilliant) place to start * Refinery 29 *The immediate effect of reading Octavia Butler's Kindred is to make every other time travel book in the world look as if it's wimping out... This is a brilliant book, utterly absorbing, very well written, and deeply distressing. It's very hard to read, not because it's not good but because it's so good * Tor *A searing, caustic examination of bizarre and alien practices on the third planet from the sun * Kirkus *One of the most original, thought-provoking works examining race and identity * Los Angeles Times *Impossible to turn away from once you've devoured the first few pages * Starburst *If you haven't read Butler, you don't yet understand how rich the possibilities of science fiction can be * Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction *Butler's books are exceptional * Village Voice *Few writers in our field are so good at blending page-turners with philosophical questions so seamlessly -- Cory Doctorow

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