Fiction: literary and general non-genre

Book SynopsisA Good Morning America Buzz PickINSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERElectrifying. — O: The Oprah Magazine Named a Best Book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, USA TODAY, Vanity Fair, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Teen Vogue, Vulture, Lit Hub, Bustle, Electric Literature, and BookPageWhat does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew? One afternoon, in a town in southeastern Nigeria, a mother opens her front door to discover her son’s body, wrapped in colorful fabric, at her feet. What follows is the tumultuous, heart-wrenching story of one family’s struggle to understand a child whose spirit is both gentle and mysterious. Raised by a distant father and an understanding but overprotective mother, Vivek suffers disorienting blackouts, moments of disconnection between self and s

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Book SynopsisShe writes with such panache, such extraordinary perception and wit.' Elizabeth DayA forensically brave writer, with a semantic virtuosity rarely equalled.' TelegraphUnmissable.' Marie ClaireHilarious and distressing, entertaining and wise.'' Roddy DoyleA brilliantly funny and sharply observant novel from one of the most acclaimed American writers of her generation.This novel follows the lives of two 11-year-olds intent on escaping childhood. As the strength of their friendship is tested repeatedly, they begin to take their first, exhilarating steps towards adulthood.

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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 SynopsisFaber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. Adrienne is living in a puritanical age, when the best compliment a childless woman can get is: You'd make a terrific mother'. That's when she goes to her friends' Labor Day picnic and accidentally kills their baby.The shock of this scene is expertly packed into two brief paragraphs. What follows is Adrienne's retreat from life and her attempt to return to it.Her sharp scepticism about the people around her is achingly funny. Yet beyond derision there is forgiveness and something along the lines of love.Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

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

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Book SynopsisThis is the fifth and final volume in David Roy's celebrated translation of one of the most famous and important novels in Chinese literature. The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei is an anonymous sixteenth-century work that focuses on the domestic life of Hsi-men Ch'ing, a corrupt, upwardly mobile merchant in a provincial town, who maintaTrade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014 One of The Wall Street Journal Bookshelf Best Books of 2013, chosen by Tash Aw "The story sprawls. There are more than eight hundred named characters, from high officials and military commanders to peddlers and prostitutes, with actors, tailors, monks and nuns, fortunetellers, acrobats, and many others, even cats and dogs, in between. Roy helps us keep track of everyone in a fifty-six-page 'cast of characters.'... In the original woodblock printing of the text, characters follow one another, without punctuation, no matter their source. Modern printings provide punctuation, but Roy goes further by devising a system of indentation and differing type sizes to set off allusions, poems, and songs. With this editorial help, the translation is actually easier to read than the original."--Perry Link, New York Review of Books "David Tod Roy, after more [than] 20 years of work, completed the fifth volume of his translation of the Chin Ping Mei, entitled The Plum in the Golden Vase. It's a masterpiece [and] an epic scholarly achievement... The world of the Chin Ping Mei is beautiful and dark, cheap and exalted, righteous and profane, gorgeous and lurid and stinking and glorious."--Stephen Marche, Los Angeles Review of Books "Roy's complete translation makes it possible for English readers everywhere to read and appreciate this work, one of the great, sophisticated masterpieces of world literature."--Choice "Roy's translation ... is both more complete and more readable than previous English translations... Roy's rendering deftly switches between registers along with the novel, carrying across both its refined language and its infamous vulgarities."--Scott W. Gregory, Ming Studies "One can only begin to appreciate the work that has gone into this volume, with its numerous pages of notes, bibliography and index, and to the five volumes as a whole... We are indebted to Professor Roy. The novel is a masterwork of Chinese fiction, and we celebrate the completion of his translation."--Andrew Lo, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Praise for the previous volume: "[A] book of manners for the debauched. Its readers in the late Ming period likely hid it under their bedcovers."--Amy Tan, New York Times Book ReviewTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Cast of Characters xiii CHAPTER 81 Han Tao-kuo Takes Advantage of a Chance to Appropriate the Goods; T'ang Lai-pao Defrauds His Master and Disregards His Benevolence 1 CHAPTER 82 P'an Chin-lien Makes an Assignation on a Moonlit Night; Ch'en Ching-chi Enjoys Two Beauties in a Painted Bower 17 CHAPTER 83 Ch'iu-chu, Harboring Resentment, Reveals a Clandestine Affair; Ch'un-mei Transmits a Note to Facilitate a Lovers' Rendezvous 35 CHAPTER 84 Wu Yueh-niang Creates a Stir in the Temple of Iridescent Clouds; Sung Chiang Uprightly Frees Her from the Ch'ing-feng Stronghold 54 CHAPTER 85 Wu Yueh-niang Surprises Chin-lien in the Act of Adultery; Auntie Hsueh Agrees to Sell Ch'un-mei on a Moonlit Night 72 CHAPTER 86 Sun Hsueh-o Instigates the Beating of Ch'en Ching-chi; Dame Wang Marries Off Chin-lien to the Highest Bidder 90 CHAPTER 87 Dame Wang Hungers after Wealth and Receives Her Just Reward; Wu Sung Kills His Sister-in-law and Propitiates His Brother 113 CHAPTER 88 P'an Chin-lien Appears in a Dream in Commandant Chou Hsiu's Home; Wu Yueh-niang Contributes a Gift to a Subscription-Seeking Monk 131 CHAPTER 89 On the Ch'ing-ming Festival the Widow Visits the New Grave; Wu Yueh-niang Blunders into the Temple of Eternal Felicity 151 CHAPTER 90 Lai-wang Absconds Together with Sun Hsueh-o; Sun Hsueh-o Is Sold to Chou Hsiu's Household 174 CHAPTER 91 Meng Yu-lou Is Happy to Marry Li Kung-pi; Li Kung-pi in a Fit of Rage Beats Yu-tsan 194 CHAPTER 92 Ch'en Ching-chi Is Entrapped in Yen-chou Prefecture; Wu Yueh-Niang Creates a Stir in the District Yamen 218 CHAPTER 93 Wang Hsuan Relies on Righteousness to Help the Poor; Abbot Jen in the Desire for Profit Invites Disaster 244 CHAPTER 94 Liu the Second Drunkenly Beats Ch'en Ching-chi; Sun Hsueh-o Becomes a Trollop in My Own Tavern 269 CHAPTER 95 P'ing-an Absconds with Jewelry from the Pawnshop; Auntie Hsueh Cleverly Proposes a Personal Appeal 289 CHAPTER 96 Ch'un-mei Enjoys Visiting the Pools and Pavilions of Her Old Home; Commandant Chou Hsiu Sends Chang Sheng to Look for Ch'en Ching-chi 309 CHAPTER 97 Ch'en Ching-chi Plays a Role in the Commandant's Household; Auntie Hsueh Peddles Trinkets and Proposes a Marriage Match 330 CHAPTER 98 Ch'en Ching-chi Opens a Tavern in Lin-ch'ing; Han Ai-chieh Encounters a Lover in a Bordello 349 CHAPTER 99 Liu the Second Drunkenly Curses Wang Liu-erh; Chang Sheng Wrathfully Kills Ch'en Ching-chi 370 CHAPTER 100 Han Ai-chieh Seeks Her Father and Mother in Hu-chou; Ch'an Master P'u-ching Rescues Souls from Perdition 391 Notes 421 Bibliography 501 Index 525

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Book SynopsisTwo sisters, one who trades self-respect for a wealthy husband and one who discovers a kindred spirit in the pages of a book, struggle with intimate human dramas at the sides of their community members and a returned Lucy Barton. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge. Reprint. A New York Times best-seller and NYT Notable Book.

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Book SynopsisAn astonishing interweaving of myth, fantasy, history and autobiography, Kenzaburo Oe's Death by Water is the shimmering masterpiece of a Nobel Prize-winning author.Trade ReviewNo Japanese novelist has ever written more brilliantly than Oe about the division that exists in the soul of his country. * Daily Telegraph *Here is someone with astonishingly free access to his own past and his own thinking, finding insight and exhilaration in the most unlikely places * Observer *Kenzaburo Oe's poetic force creates an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today. * Nobel Prize Committee *

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Book SynopsisPhil Rickman lives on the Welsh border where he writes and presents the book programme Phil the Shelf on BBC Radio Wales. He is the acclaimed author of The Heresy of Dr Dee, The Bones of Avalon, Midwinter of the Spirit (now a major ITV series), the Merrily Watkins series and the John Dee Papers. Visit his website at: www.philrickman.co.uk.Trade ReviewInterweaves the threads of murder, police procedure, the power of landscape and faint but potent wisps of the supernatural to produce a literary cloth of gold. A unique talent in cracking form. * Crime Fiction Lover *Rickman's writing style reflects his subject matter: spooky and indirect, elegantly crafted but always a sense of shadow behind you, that you've missed something you should have seen. * New York Review Of Books *Hell, it's good. I ended up turning the pages faster and faster, even though I wanted to stretch it out as long as possible. * Crime Review *

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Book SynopsisAn multi award-winning story of friendship and feuds in a remote Armenian mountain villageThe Russian bestseller about love and second chances, brimming with warmth and humour In the tiny village of Maran nestled high in the Armenian mountains, a place where dreams, curses and miracles are taken very seriously, a close-knit community bickers, gossips and laughs, untouched by the passage of time. A lifelong resident, Anatolia is happily set in her ways. Until, that is, she wakes up one day utterly convinced that she is dying. She lies down on her bed and prepares to meet her maker, but just when she thinks everything is ready, she is interrupted by a surprise visit from a neighbour with an unexpected proposal. So begins a tale of unforeseen twists and unlikely romance that will turn Maran on its head and breathe a new lease of life into a forgotten village. Narine Abgaryan''s enchanting fable is a heart-warming tale of community, courage, and the iTrade Review'I loved this! A tender and quirky tale of stoicism, resilience and love... The ultimate feel-good story of an unlikely romance and the warmth of a community, drawn with humour, empathy and an earthy, magical charm.' * Mary Chamberlain, author of The Hidden *'At the charming heart of Three Apples Fell from the Sky, pulses the certain knowledge that 'it takes a village' – a village to bleed, to weep, and, finally, to laugh and celebrate as one.' * Faith Sullivan, author of The Cape Ann and Goodnight, Mr. Wodehouse *'A charming novel... [It] teems with minor characters whose quirks are at times amusing and at times heartbreaking... A warm-hearted story about family, friendship, and community.' * Foreword Reviews *'Abgaryan's folktale [is] so improbably of the moment... [her] leisurely, painstaking prose — in Hayden’s lyrical translation — is an added gift for readers at the moment, because it prompts us to adjust to the 'measured pace of existence' that is now also our own.' * Asymptote Journal *'A poignant, bittersweet, fable-like story... The strongest message that shines through this finely translated novel is that resignation need not lead to cynicism.' * Asian Review of Books *'With finely phrased descriptions of daily activities and homes with 'chimneys that clung to the hem of the sky,' and indelible details of complex, humble characters, this magical tale transcends familiar mystical tropes with its fresh reimagining of Armenian folklore.' * Publishers Weekly *'Suffused with kindness, humour, subtlety and understated finesse.' * Eugene Vodolazkin, author of Laurus *'Read this book. It's balm for the soul.' * Ludmila Ulitskaya, author of The Big Green Tent *'Abgaryan's descriptions are beautifully written... I couldn't put this book down.' * Un Univers de Livres blog (France) *'A superb novel... I urge you to read it.' * Ma Lecturothèque (France) *'A perfect book for anyone who wants to learn more about Armenia: its customs, its beliefs, traditions and history... A heartfelt, delicate novel.' * La Couleur des Mots blog (France) *'Abgaryan’s work conveys a deep belief in the resilience of humanity without glossing over the horrors of human conflict.' * meduza.io *'A novel about ordinary life, written with extraordinary sensitivity and tenderness.' * Prestaplume (France) *'I loved this! A tender and quirky tale of stoicism, resilience and love. Set in a remote Russian village, it is the ultimate feel-good story of an unlikely romance and the warmth of a community, drawn with humour, empathy and an earthy, magical charm. Its characters spring from the page, with their flaws, trials and hardships, as their lives are resolved in a way that will bring a smile of satisfaction and contentment.' * Mary Chamberlain, author of The Hidden *'The novel’s plot consists of multiple stories of very ordinary but bold and beautiful people, with so much love and humour that you cannot fail to go away feeling positive and uplifted.' * Russia Beyond the Headlines *'A quiet song of a novel. A novel that opens and lingers... that sweeps over you like a wave on a beach.' * The Book Trail *'A magical novel. It manages to be life-affirming without descending into cheap sentimentality... Abgaryan achieves this challenging balance in part through the beauty of the novel's prose, which mimics the oral storytelling of myths and legends.' * End of the Word blogspot *'To render the richness of Maran’s culture, translator Lisa C. Hayden confidently navigates the linguistic complexities of this book... Her translation is visual and sensory... Dramatic and humorous.' -- The Common'Abgaryan's affectionate portrayal of rural rhythms and unlikely romance is an absolute joy.' -- New European, '30 Great European Books for the Beach''Charming… A celebration of community with a supernatural dimension that gives it the air of a fable, it's a compassionate, heartwarming novel.' -- Herald (Glagow)

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Book SynopsisA captivating debut about defying expectations, hilarious and hopeful in equal measureTrade Review'This fierce young woman's struggle for independence in a city that is way out of step with the time-honoured traditions of the rural village in which she grew up is vivid, witty and utterly absorbing.' Daily Mail'I love this book so much I turned the pages so fast... It's all about the search for independence and being true to yourself and who you really are.' Reese Witherspoon'Mesmerising... This is not a book to read with one eye on a beach volleyball tournament; it’s a story to soak up in silence, on a long, cloudy afternoon when you have time to think.' New York Times'With characters making questionable decisions and a rather brilliant ending, this is a good old-fashion book club read that'll leave you arguing about character motivations and morals.' Stylist'Bursting with warmth, humour and richly drawn characters you can’t help but root for.' Cosmopolitan'A story that kept me tied to the page, told in masterful, seamless prose... Medie depicts a vivid and dazzling Accra, and it's impossible not to root for Afi as she finds her footing within it.' BuzzFeed'A unique and unapologetic marriage story that shines with honesty, humanity, power and grace: once you pick this book up, you won't be able to put it down. Medie's urgent, intimate voice is exactly what the world needs right now.' Mathangi Subramanian, author of A People's History of Heaven'This rich, rewarding debut novel follows a Ghanaian seamstress — forced into an arranged marriage with a wealthy man she has never met — on her journey of self-discovery.' New York Times, Notable Books of 2020'A refreshingly modern Ghanaian love story.' Marie Claire'[A] witty riff on the Cinderella fairytale.' Sainsbury's Magazine'A young Ghanaian woman embarks on a questionable marriage in this entertaining comedy of manners.' i, '30 great books for Easter''Engaging, provocative... A memorable debut from a writer whose frustrations with certain aspects of the culture of her homeland come brilliantly to life.' Irish Times'If you are looking to escape to another country, take a trip to Ghana with His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie... Best of all it's all underpinned by a warm coming-of-age-tale mixed in with a subtle takedown of the patriarchy.' The Sunday Times (South Africa)

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Book SynopsisA powerful, captivating tale of family secrets and hidden heartache from an internationally acclaimed authorTrade Review'Powerful and deeply empathetic... A heartbreaking tale of lost ideals, human devotion, and hard-won redemption.' Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Sympathizer'Beautifully crafted, haunting... A masterful display of Que Mai's capacity to evoke compassion through her lyrical prose.' Irish Times'Dazzling. Sharply drawn and hauntingly beautiful.' Elif Shafak, Women's Prize-shortlisted author of The Island of Missing Trees'Notable for its boundless compassion for all the characters, from young, brutalised US soldiers to the girls who pretend to love them and the dust children left behind.' The Times'Dust Child is satisfying, lyrical, and deeply empathetic. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is a born storyteller.' Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow'Once again, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai has written a beautiful novel that shines a light on the history of Vietnam... Dust Child is simply stunning.' Eric Nguyen, author of Things We Lost to the Water'A heartbreaking, beautifully told, utterly unique story of love, loss, and longing that speaks to the very heart of the human experience.' Kristin Harmel, New York Times-bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars'Well-researched, realistic, and compassionately written... This eye-opening and fascinating novel is a must-read!' Le Ly Hayslip, bestselling author of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places'Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is one of the most unique storytellers of our time... She creates plots which are Dickensian in their breadth and mastery, while bravely probing the complex emotional challenges of living in a modern world full of disruption and displacement.' Natalie Jenner, internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society'Nguyen's novels, suffused with kindness and understanding, are an important and accessible tool to delve deeply into the perspectives of those whose lives were changed by the conflict. Her kaleidoscopic view opens doors of empathy and humanity.' Sydney Morning Herald'Phenomenally beautiful.' Australian Women's Weekly'Look for a reception akin to Min Jin Lee’s bestselling Pachinko.' LA Times'I truly cannot wait for the rest of the world to celebrate this book.' Chanel Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Know My Name'Quế Mai demonstrates a deep understanding of splintered lives. The compassionate treatment of her characters, insights into the period and eloquent prose are impressive.' FT

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Book SynopsisA box set includes the first five books in the wildly popular series and basis for the HBO show, describing the machinations, infighting and war-waging between several powerful families vying for power and survival in The Seven Kingdoms. 100,000 first printing.

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Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLER • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • Nine stunningly original, provocative, and poignant stories—two published for the very first time—all from the mind of the incomparable author of Stories of Your Life and Others Tackling some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine, these stories will change the way you think, feel, and see the world. They are Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic, revelatory. Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine.In “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In “Exhalation,” an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom,” the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.

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Book SynopsisKent Haruf's honours include a Whiting Foundation Award and a special citation from the PEN/Hemingway Foundation. Plainsong won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New Yorker Book Award. Haruf's 2013 novel, Benediction, was shortlisted for the Folio prize. He died in 2014 at the age of seventy-one.Trade ReviewHaruf ’s heroes are small people weighed down with big hearts . . .He manages to find magic in the minutiae of ordinary lives. -- Mariella Frostrup on Plainsong * Mail on Sunday *Haruf ’s deceptively artless prose and unsentimental tales are driven by individuals, not incidents, as they choose between decency and cowardice, degradation and rectitude. -- Praise for The Tie That Binds * Times Literary Supplement *Haruf is one of the finest novelists at work today. * Time Out *

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Book SynopsisRobert Musil was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, in 1880. Trained in science and philosophy, he left a career in the military to turn to writing. The publication of his novel Young Törless in 1906 brought him international recognition and remains a classic parable on the misuse of power. After serving in the First World War, Musil lived alternately in Vienna and Berlin, with much of his time being dedicated to the slow writing of his masterwork, The Man Without Qualities. In 1938, when Hitler's rise to power threatened Musil's work with being banned in both Austria and Germany, he emigrated to Switzerland, where he and his wife lived until his death in 1942. The first complete German edition of The Man Without Qualities finally appeared in 1978.Trade ReviewThe Man Without Qualities is one of the towering achievements of the European novel * Observer *I would recommend Sophie Wilkins' translation as a conscientious attempt to give to the English reader a novel which is compared to The Remembrance of Things Past and Ulysses * The Times *Immensely rich and therapeutic, bristling with wit and a sly humour * Sunday Telegraph *At last, at last - the fully fleshed arrival in English of the third member of the trinity in twentieth-century fiction, complementing Ulysses and The Remembrance of Things Past . . . This last-waltz novel is amazingly contemporary * Wall Street Journal *There is scarcely a page that does not provoke new thoughts or offer new insights, not a chapter that, even read on its own, does not prove stimulating * Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Gordon’s compelling novel recreates the 11th century so powerfully that the reader is propelled through its several hundred pages by a tidal wave of imagination and authentic detail.” —Publishers Weekly“Populated by engaging characters, rich in incident and vivid in historical detail, [The Physician] is a pleasure.” —The New York Times“[The Physician]has the flavor of Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, but with a deeper character development and story arc . . . . An insightful and unforgettable read.” —Zoltaire’s Blog“An adventurous and inspiring tale of a quest for medical knowledge pursued in a violent world full of superstition and prejudice.” —Library JournalTable of ContentsPart One: Barber's BoyPart Two: The Long JourneyPart Three: IspahanPart Four: The MaristanPart Five: The War SurgeonPart Six: HakimPart Seven: The Returned

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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 SynopsisTrapped in a stifling marriage, Anna Karenina is swept off her feet by dashing Count Vronsky. Rejected by society, the two lovers flee to Italy, where Anna finds herself isolated from all except the man she loves, and who loves her. But can they live by love alone? In this novel of astonishing scope and grandeur, Leo Tolstoy, the great master of Russian literature, charts the course of the human heart.A masterpiece of realism and illuminated by irresistible characters, Anna Karenina is among the best-loved of all novels, penetrating to the heart of the ruling class in Tsarist Russia. This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Anna Karenina is translated by Aylmer & Louise Maude, and features an afterword by Ned Halley.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

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Book Synopsis#1NATIONALBESTSELLER? OVER TWO MILLION COPIES SOLD! A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous breakup?from the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is BackREESE?S BOOK CLUB PICK ? NOWANEMMY AWARD?NOMINATEDORIGINAL STREAMING SERIES EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY REESE WITHERSPOON ?An explosive, dynamite, down-and-dirty look at a fictional rock band told in an interview style that gives it irresistible surface energy.??Elin HilderbrandONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Washington Post, Esquire, Glamour, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Parade, Paste, Shelf Awareness, BookRiot Everyone knows DAISY JONES & THE SIX, but nobody knows the reason behind their split at the absolute height of their popularity . . . until now.Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it?s the rock ?n? roll she loves most. By the time she?s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she?s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.

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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**The international bestseller** **A Guardian Book of the Autumn 2023** **Chosen as a book of the year by the independent.co.uk** 'Michaels’s writing continues to stand head and shoulders above most other fiction' OBSERVER 'Through luminous moments of chance, change, and even grace, Michaels shows us our humanity' MARGARET ATWOOD 'Michaels is exceptionally open to beauty' GUARDIAN The triumphant new novel from the author of the Orange Prize-winning Fugitive Pieces: a soaring and luminous story of chance and change _________________________________________________ 1917. On a battlefield near the River Escaut, John lies in the aftermath of a blast, unable to move or feel his legs. Struggling to focus his thoughts, he is lost to memory – a chance encounter in a pub by a railway, a hot bath with his lover on a winter night, his childhood on a faraway coast – as the snow falls. 1920. John has returned from war to North Yorkshire, near another river – alive, but not still whole. Reunited with Helena, an artist, he reopens his photography business and endeavours to keep on living. But the past erupts insistently into the present, as ghosts begin to surface in his pictures: ghosts whose messages he cannot understand. So begins a narrative that spans four generations, moments of connection and consequence igniting and re-igniting as the century unfolds. In luminous moments of desire, comprehension, longing, transcendence, the sparks fly upward, working their transformations decades later. Held is a novel like no other, by a writer at the height of her powers: affecting and intensely beautiful, full of mystery, wisdom and compassion. 'I am blown away by the scale, beauty, weave and thinking of this book ... It dances with words, time and ideas in a way that seems to reinvent everything I know about the novel' RACHEL JOYCETrade ReviewAnne Michaels' compelling novel Held couldn’t be more timely: war and its damages, passed through generations over a century. Through luminous moments of chance, change, and even grace, Michaels shows us our humanity - its depths and shadows -- MARGARET ATWOOD, via TwitterA warm, gentle and powerful novel; a book of moments, reimaginings, forgettings, disturbances and digressions. Anne Michaels has excelled herself once again. * International Times *Michaels' work ... is ferociously engaged in the fundamental universal difficulties of being alive * independent.co.uk *Michaels is a writer who moves gracefully between award-winning poetry and captivating fiction – and there is a lyrical beauty to this novel … with Anne Michaels, you know you are in the presence of a real and rich sensibility * independent.co.uk, Books of the year *Incredible ... Almost hallucinatory in its lyricism ... A novel of ingenious chronological invention based on four generations of women from the same family * New European, Books of the Year *There is an intense, mysterious beauty that infuses Michaels' precise prose with a compelling power that is exquisite … a profound literary experience that is executed with subtlety, grace and an exquisite intuition * Irish Times *Still a master of her universe… dazzling lyrical snapshots recall the dreamlike style of Fugitive Pieces in the poet’s third novel, a fluid examination of history, memory and generational trauma… The writing is always personal, hypersensitive and profoundly interior… Michaels’s writing continues to stand head and shoulders above most other fiction. At the heart of this book lies the question of how goodness and love can be held across the generations * Observer *A graceful, timely, resonant reminder of the trauma of war and the wreckage that it inflicts * Daily Mail *Michaels inhabits episodic moments with a quantum quality * Sunday Times *A beautiful work … shifting, merging and separating, wrapping itself around the reader * New European *The Canadian novelist’s complex, time-travelling new novel explores trauma, loss and the lasting impact of love … Few authors balance the atrocities of history with the consolations of human relationships quite so effectively as the Canadian novelist and poet Anne Michaels. She has an uncanny talent for finding curative connections and restorative emotions in hellish circumstances * Financial Times *Just as the characters are held by their love for others, readers are safely held in the utterly tactile and emotional embrace of this incredible novel * Quire & Quill *Anne Michaels , known for the award-winning Fugitive Pieces, returns with Held,, which spans generations in the aftermath of the First World War * GUARDIAN, Best books of Autumn 2023 *Compelling and well-crafted * independent.co.uk, Books of the month *Shows how pain and loss permeate generations * Country & Townhouse *A cleverly fragmentary tale of love, memory and time from the author of Fugitive Pieces shuffles the hopes and dreams of four generations ... Michaels demonstrates that fugitive pieces can make up a structure as strong and as meaningful as a finished monument ... Michaels’s intellectual toughness coexists with a tender heart ... Exceptionally open to the beauty of science' -- Lucy Hughes Hallett * Guardian *I am blown away by the scale, beauty, weave and thinking of this book ... It dances with words, time and ideas in a way that seems to reinvent everything I know about the novel ... and it’s such a transporting read too. It's exquisite - I am in awe -- RACHEL JOYCEHer stunning prose sustains the book’s enchanted mood from start to finish ... Each page of this masterpiece has a line worth savouring * Publishers' Weekly *A gorgeous meditation on whether the ghost in the machine is actually in our hearts ... A multi-layered and subtle discussion of what keeps animating the web of existence * Kirkus *Michaels brings her poet's finesse and soulfulness to this exquisite, deeply moving paean to love and life’s insistence and beauty * Booklist *Praise for Anne Michaels: 'Monumental ... The most important book I have read for forty years -- JOHN BERGER * OBSERVER *All except a handful of contemporary novels are dwarfed by its reach, its compassion, its wisdom -- GEOFF DYER * INDEPENDENT *This is a novel to lose yourself in; let the language pour over you, depositing its richness like waves lapping sand onto a beach. Michaels is a novelist of unusual and compelling power -- ERICA WAGNER * THE TIMES *Essential reading, both for its exceptional literary craft and for its exemplary and inspiring humanity * SPECTATOR *Extraordinarily magical * NEW YORK TIMES *Her writing goes way beyond games or fashion or politics ... It represents the human being entire -- MICHAEL ONDAATJEHas a quality of crystalline exactness ... A remarkable book * NEW STATESMAN *Exquisite ... There are many phrases to be underlined, remembered and savoured * FINANCIAL TIMES *Writing of dangerously beautiful intensity ... magnificent * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Read this book like poetry, or rather hear it like music ... Anne Michaels guides us to the top of some extraordinary peaks of feeling and perception * INDEPENDENT *Michaels is a great poet of loss, and the challenges of memory in the face of it ... Michaels produces passages of lyrical beauty * GUARDIAN *

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Book SynopsisA moving and powerful mystery, The Forgotten Garden is the bestselling second novel from Kate Morton.1913. On the eve of the First World War, a little girl is found abandoned after a gruelling ocean voyage from England to Australia. All she can remember of the journey is that a mysterious woman she calls the Authoress had promised to look after her. But the Authoress has vanished without a trace.1975. Now an old lady, Nell travels to England to discover the truth about her parentage. Her quest leads her to Cornwall, and to a beautiful estate called Blackhurst Manor, which had been owned by the Mountrachet family. What has prompted Nell’s journey after all these years?2005. On Nell’s death, her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into a surprise inheritance. Cliff Cottage, in the grounds of Blackhurst Manor, is notorious amongst the locals for the secrets it holds – secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is at long-abandoned Cliff Cottage, and in its forgotten garden, that Cassandra will uncover the truth about the Mountrachets – and why the young Nell was abandoned all those decades before . . .

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Book Synopsis A collection of twelve traditional tales from around the world that honor the "return of the light" that takes place on the winter solstice The winter solstice, the day the "sun stands still," marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year, and it comes either on December 20th or 21st. Celebrations honoring the winter solstice as a moment of transition and renewal date back thousands of years and occur among many peoples on every continent. The Return of the Light makes an ideal companion for everyone who carries on this tradition, no matter what their faith. Storyteller Carolyn McVickar Edwards retells twelve traditional tales-from North America, China, Scandinavia, India, Africa, South America, Europe, and Polynesia-that honor this magical moment. These are stories that will renew our wonder of the miracle of rebirth and the power of transition from darkness into light.

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Book SynopsisThis second posthumous collection from Charles Bukowski takes readers deep into the raw, wild vein of writing that extends from the early 70s to the 1990s.

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Book SynopsisIn her debut as a novelist, bestselling author and acclaimed spiritual teacher Barbara Hand Clow weaves an erotically charged story of romance, deep earth forces, psychic powers, aristocracy, and Vatican world control centered on an ancient ruby that inspires mystical visions. Set in Rome in 2012, the story follows Sarah Adamson, a beautiful young Catholic graduate student from Boston studying at the Vatican Library for her thesis on the first Christian heretic, Marcion of Pontus. She is being courted by two utterly different men: Simon Appel, a descendent of the kabbalist Isaac Luria who covers Vatican affairs for the New York Times, and Armando Pierleoni, the heir to an ancient Italian aristocratic family with strong ties to the Vatican. After a terrible encounter with the dark side at a castle in Tuscany, Sarah is given a ring set with a ruby crystal, a powerful stone that was once the third eye of an ancient Buddha statue in Nepal. With the mystic ring on her finger, Sarah's visionary abilities are ignited. She remembers her past life as the Sibyl of Cumae, a Roman oracle whose powers are now being channeled by the Vatican to maintain world control. As Sarah's research and visions reveal the cause of evil in the Church and Simon's reporting exposes the depth of the sexual abuse scandals surrounding the Vatican, the two form an alliance with an ex-lover of both Simon and Armando, Claudia, who describes secret priestly power rituals going on in Vatican City. Revealing the very nature of how evil gets into the world, this novel of romance, mystery, heresy, and spirituality uncovers the esoteric foundations for the emergence of a golden new age.Trade Review“Barbara Hand Clow has chosen a romance-style genre of fiction to take the reader deep into the hidden history, and profoundly disturbing practices, of the religious power center of the planet--the Vatican. With Hand Clow’s usual impeccable level of research and profound personal insights, Revelations of the Ruby Crystal reminds us that we have entered a time of awakening from a deep trance induced by the Church and other power structures around us. I look forward to a sequel!” * Regina Meredith, journalist and host of GaiamTV *“This book draws you in from the very first page with believable characters, stimulating interactions, and compelling subject matter. Truly a superb novel for everyone interested in the origins of civilization and the mysteries of the universe, and this is just the beginning! Make way for a powerful new literary saga in your life!” * Andrew Collins, author of Göbekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods *“In the midst of this irresistible novel, Barbara Hand Clow weaves very real stories of the scandalous inner workings of the Vatican. Her inclusion of accurate information about the deep-seated sexual abuse issue, the corrupt power plays, and the equally corrupt churchmen who have sustained it only adds to the fascination of the main storyline.” * Thomas Doyle, Catholic priest and author of Sex, Priests, and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church&rsqu *“Barbara has done it again. She has given readers a great gift with this book. Revelations of the Ruby Crystal reveals her mastery of the written word. This book is a doorway into another place filled with great truths, relevant knowledge, and modern-day mysticism. The synchronistic magic she weaves within her characters’ adventures, and the love story that evolves between them, is an example of the full bloom of human potential.” * Hillary Raimo, founder of Love . . . Breathe . . . for Earth *“Played out in the story of uncovering the abusive power of male sexuality at the heart of the Vatican, this romance offers an introduction to what is a significant religious movement by providing insight into the character and attraction of the Gnosticism of New Age belief and practices. A page-turning novel of love and desire, abuse and corruption, and the cosmic quest for redemption, this is the best of introductions to the appeal of astrology and New Age spirituality over and against common perceptions of Christian faith and the Church.” * Timothy F. Sedgwick, Ph.D., Clinton S. Quin Professor of Christian Ethics at Virginia Theological Se *“Barbara Hand Clow’s Revelations of the Ruby Crystal is a unique revelation about deep cosmic processes and actors in the dimensional ecology of our planet as well as a page-turner story about loss, redemption, and transformation of beings who are deeply in love. As a legal advisor, I can vouch for the authenticity of the darker aspects at work in the action set in Rome and in the Vatican itself. It is truly a novel for our times.” * Alfred Lambremont Webre, author of The Omniverse: Transdimensional Intelligence, Time Travel, The Af *“Barbara Hand Clow’s book Revelations of the Ruby Crystal opened my eyes even further to the world-creating artistry--the ‘fictive power’--of the imagination to shape our world and influence our souls. The story that she weaves is a perfect example of how storytelling is the shamanic art par excellence that helps us to de-literalize our own reading of the world and remember who we are.” * Paul Levy, author of Dispelling Wetiko: Breaking the Curse of Evil *“Esoteric Christianity, buried secrets, psychic powers, karma, and kundalini entwine in this lush, vivid erotic romance set fittingly in eternally romantic Rome.” * Peggy Payne, author of Cobalt Blue and other novels of sex and spirituality *“As a software trainer and developer and a published author of two books on word processing, I often encounter many technology users who are longing for a vision of what might be possible as a ‘next step’ in our evolution. Revelations of the Ruby Crystal is a divinely inspired web of transcendent energy that has a magnetic appeal. This book is a visually rich, sensual, non-social-mediadriven trans-Atlantic adventure using revelatory information about the historical past that moves us through a complex romance quite unlike any that has ever been written. A must read!” * Marianne Carroll, business productivity consultant *“Revelations of the Ruby Crystal is a gift for anyone interested in unmasking a time line of deep secrets and hushed discoveries about the life of Jesus; the ossuary of Peter found in Jerusalem; the earliest years of Christianity; Marcion, a so-called heretic; and Christianity’s critical ‘wrong turn’ and its eventual takeover, distortion, and corruption by the Roman patriarchy. The intense dramas are played out against the backdrop of a powerful paradigm shift jolting world events into chaos, the Vatican into a meltdown, and a time of transformation into the ethers, finally welcomed in Rome by the surprising and sudden election of Pope Francis, the ‘revolutionary.’ It is an intense, exciting read.” * Jean Richard, polarity therapist for ritual abuse *Table of ContentsPart One The Sibyl of Cumae 1 Rome 2 Reviving the Sibyl 3 Borghese Gardens 4 The Vatican Museum 5 A Visitor in Rome 6 Dinner at Alfredo’s 7 A Dinner in Tuscany 8 The Golden World 9 Ossuaries and Etruscan Tombs 10 The Limestone Grotto 11 What about Marriage? 12 Shelter Island 13 Simon Magus 14 Summer Giulia 15 Sister Hildegard 16 A Home in Rome 17 The Lady of Villa Giulia 18 The Ruby Crystal Part Two Armando’s Redemption 19 The Parents’ Dinner 20 A Stormy Night 21 St. Peter’s Bones 22 Caves under the Vatican 23 Old Friends 24 Thanksgiving 2012 25 The Wedding 26 Sarah Meets Claudia 27 December 2012 28 Lake Avernus and Baia 29 Between the Sheets in Roma 30 The Shadow of Moloch 31 The Pierleoni Garden 32 Armando’s Analysis 33 Orvieto Cathedral 34 Two Fathers Part Three The End of the Mayan Calendar 35 The Pope Resigns! 36 Claudia and Armando 37 Via Lombardia 38 The First Quartet 39 The Conclave 40 The Painter and the Photographer 41 The Fonte Gaia 42 La Sagrada Familia

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author Jim Harrison was one of America's most beloved and critically acclaimed writers. The classic Legends of the Fall is Harrison at his most memorable: a striking collection of novellas written with exceptional brilliance and a ferocious love of life.The title novella, 'Legends of the Fall' - which was made into the film of the same name - is an epic, moving tale of three brothers fighting for justice in a world gone mad. Moving from the raw landscape of early twentieth-century Montana to the blood-drenched European battlefields of World War I and back again to Montana, Harrison's powerful story explores the theme of revenge and the actions to which people resort when their lives or goals are threatened, painting an unforgettable portrait of the twentieth-century man.Also including the novellas 'Revenge' and 'The Man Who Gave Up His Name,' Legends of the Fall confirms Jim Harrison's reputation as one of the finest American voices of his generation.Trade ReviewFast pace, enormous narrative power . . . Legends of the Fall stays firmly in the unputdownable class. * Daily Telegraph *Jim Harrison stands high among the writers of his generation. This book is rich, alive, and shatteringly visceral. A triumph. * New Yorker *Compelling . . . beyond question the work of a gifted and accomplished writer. * Washington Post *[Legends of the Fall] may well be the best set of novellas to appear in this country during the last quarter century. * New York Times Book Review *Legends of the Fall signalled that Jim Harrison was a writer who had the goods. * Los Angeles Times *So much American legend is packed into these brief pages that Jim Harrison must be admired as an almost sacred writer. * Chicago Sun-Times *

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Book SynopsisUnfortunately people and tribes degenerate. They lose their teeth, forget their language, until finally they're bending meekly on the fields and cutting straw with a scythe.Leemut, a young boy growing up in the forest, is content living with his hunter-gatherer family. But when incomprehensible outsiders arrive aboard ships and settle nearby, with an intriguing new religion, the forest begins to empty - people are moving to the village and breaking their backs tilling fields to make bread. Meanwhile, Leemut and the last forest-dwelling humans refuse to adapt: with bare-bottomed primates and their love of ancient traditions, promiscuous bears, and a single giant louse, they live in shacks, keep wolves, and speak to snakes.Told with moving and satirical prose, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is a fiercely imaginative allegory about a boy, and a nation, standing on the brink of dramatic change.Trade ReviewThe Man who Spoke Snakish is a wild comic swoop through the histories of Estonia, magic, human-powered flight and man-bear relations. At once fantastic and emotionally engaged, underneath the narrative high-jinks lurks a deeply serious novel about how Europe became the way it is. -- Lawrence Norfolk, author of JOHN SATURNALL'S FEASTHow to describe the book? Imagine it is the end of the world, and Tolkien, Beckett, Mark Twain, and Miyazaki (with Icelandic sagas and Asterix comic books stuffed under their arms) have got together in a cabin to drink and tell stories around the last bonfire the world will ever see. * Le Magazine Littéraire *The sense of humour and the imagery resembles a graphic novel or animated film... Probably one of the best contemporary novels about what it means to be alone... Marvelous in all senses of the word. * Le Monde *Kivirahk provides a compelling and creaturely backdrop for the warring facets of Leemut's coming-of-age... This is an epic fantasy... I felt compelled to continue reading in the certain knowledge that I'd soon stumble upon a scene of great power and beauty or an elegantly aphoristic turn of phrase. -- Dustin Illingworth, Words Without BordersAn incredible novel, a mystifying treasure of a book. * Psychologies Magazine *This fantastical Bildungsroman has the feel of a classic... The novel shines... * New York Journal of Books *It is good, it is beautiful, you will read it in one sitting, it radiates intelligence... It is a true literary miracle. * L'Ivre de Lire *Somewhere near the realms of fantasy and science fiction there exists a much more thrilling and allegorical form of writing, bending the rules of the genre to suit itself... The Man Who Spoke Snakish is an allegory about fading eras and vanishing worlds, and laced with a good dose of black humor to boot. -- Jürgen Rooste, Estonian cultural critic[A] tumultuous Tolkien-like epic set in early medieval Estonia, where forces of modernity and tradition clash in a primeval struggle for the Baltic nation's soul - and it's future... At its essence, this book is a Bildungsroman, a coming of age saga about a young man reconciling with a world experiencing seismic change... A strange, wondrous book. * Robert Collison, Toronto Star *This translated Estonian treasure follows the adventures of a boy who is the last remaining speaker of Snakish, an ancient language by which he can command any animal. * Entertainment Weekly *Epic, fantastical... Most astonishing is the inventive imagery... Kivirähk's well-plotted story of language, loss, and fanaticism speaks powerfully to our world's ever present conflicts. * Kirkus *Lots of fun here...but Kivirähk is also concerned with the dangers of war, colonization...and idealizing the past. A big bestseller in Europe. * Library Journal *Fable-like, timeless... The Man Who Spoke Snakish is a great novel, one of those important books that speaks to your soul in its own language and which marks a milestone on your personal reading history and in the development of your opinions. * Blog des Bouquins *This novel is totally unusual; it has the same strangeness as La Locura de Dios by Juan Miguel Aguilera or Cold Skin by Albert Sanchez Piñol. The author talks about Estonia (his country) in the 13th century, when 'iron men' invaded the country on a crusade. It jumps between philosophical fable, political pamphlet, Nordic saga, and includes some epic outbursts of violence. * Decitre.fr *This allegorical story spins an element of wistful longing for anyone who has struggled between the old and the new, its lessons as relevant today as ever. * Booklist *This novel slithers along like the snakes it so admires, agile and often unexpectedly compelling... Its irreverence for convention flows charmingly from its conversational prose... Readable and engaging, it's easy to see how this novel could become the delight of a nation. -- Emma Schneider, Full StopThe Man Who Spoke Snakish has the feeling of a folktale... This isn't to say that it's a work of light fantasy, however - like Margo Lanagan's 2008 Tender Morsels, there's an undercurrent of violence that keeps the more mirthful aspects at a distance. * Tobias Carroll, Literary Hub *

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Book SynopsisWritten by 'a sublimely elegant historical novelist as addictive as crack' (Daily Telegraph), the Inspector Troy series is perfect for fans of Le Carré, Philip Kerr and Alan Furst.Vienna, 1934. Ten-year-old cello prodigy Meret Voytek becomes a pupil of concert pianist Viktor Rosen, a Jew in exile from Germany.The Isle of Man, 1940. An interned Hungarian physicist is recruited for the Manhattan Project in Los Alomos, building the atom bomb for the Americans.Auschwitz, 1944. Meret is imprisoned but is saved from certain death to play the cello in the camp orchestra. She is playing for her life.London, 1948. Viktor Rosen wants to relinquish his Communist Party membership after thirty years. His comrade and friend reminds him that he committed for life...These seemingly unconnected strands all collide forcefully with a brazen murder on a London Underground platform, revealing an intricate web of secrecy and deception which Detective Frederick Troy must untangle.Trade ReviewJohn Lawton finds himself in the same boat as the late Patrick O'Brian - a sublimely elegant historical novelist as addictive as crack but overlooked by too many readers for too long. * Daily Telegraph *Admirable, ambitious and haunting, this is the sort of thriller that defies categorisation. I look forward with enthusiasm to the next one. * Spectator *John Lawton's books contain such a wealth of period detail, character description and background information that they are lifted out of any category. Every word is enriched by the author's sophistication and irreverent intelligence, by his meticulous research and his wit. * Literary 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 SynopsisRichard Russo's new novel takes place in the decaying American town of North Bath over the course of a very busy weekend, ten years after the events of Nobody's Fool. Donald 'Sully' Sullivan is trying to ignore his cardiologist's estimate that he has only a year or two left. Ruth, his long-time lover, is increasingly distracted by her former son-in-law, fresh out of prison and intent on making trouble. Police chief Doug Raymer is tormented by the improbable death of his wife, while local wiseguy Carl Roebuck might finally be running out of luck. Filled with humour, heart and hard-luck characters you can't help but love, Everybody's Fool is a crowning achievement from one of the great storytellers of our time.Trade Review[T]he roguish, ragtag residents of North Bath, New York, still prove a diverting lot, even if you've not previously made their acquaintance...there's never a dull moment as the tragi-farcical events gradually snowball, with lightning strikes, an escaped cobra and attempted murder along the way. * Daily Mail *A delightful return . . . to a town where dishonesty abounds, everyone misapprehends everyone else and half the citizens are half-crazy. It's a great place for a reader to visit, and it seems to be Russo's spiritual home. * New York Times *The Fool books represent an enormous achievement, creating a world as richly detailed as the one we step into each day of our lives. . . . Sully in particular emerges as one of the most credible and engaging heroes in recent American fiction. -- T.C. Boyle * New York Times Book Review *A madcap romp, weaving mystery, suspense and comedy in a race to the final pages. * Wall Street Journal *Richard Russo can write like Edith Wharton leavened with a touch of David Lodge * The Economist *A writer of great comedy and warmth, Russo's living proof that a book can be profound and wise without aiming straight into darkness. * USA Today *

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Book SynopsisRichard Russo's slyly funny and moving novel follows the unexpected workings of grace in a deadbeat town in upstate New York - and in the life of one of its unluckiest citizens, Sully, who has been doing the wrong thing triumphantly for fifty years.Divorced from his own wife and carrying on halfheartedly with another man's, saddled with a bum knee and friends who make enemies redundant, Sully now has one new problem to cope with: a long-estranged son who is in imminent danger of following in his father's footsteps. With its sly and uproarious humour and a heart that embraces humanity's follies as well as its triumphs, Nobody's Fool is storytelling at its most generous.Trade ReviewNobody's Fool is big, funny and richly human, a garrulous book that buttonholes you in the first few pages and does not let you go... In Sully, Russo has created a character you cannot resist. * Financial Times *Like Anne Tyler, Russo is interested in how people rub along; in kindness and responsibility; in cutting slack without being asked...Russo makes an enormous job of story-telling look effortless. He is, in all the best senses of the word, a natural. * Sunday Times *A rude, comic, harsh, galloping story of four generations of small-town losers, the best literary portrait of the backwater burg since Main Street. -- Annie ProulxRusso lifts a generous slice of middle America in all its flavours... Nobody's Fool is a great-hearted, unforgettable comedy in the best tradition of John Irving and Anne Tyler. * Vogue *This is a novel of charm and wit, akin to the works of Alice Hoffman, Anne Tyler and Garrison Keillor. * Time Out *

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Book SynopsisBiblioasis is thrilled to continue this series of beautifully illustrated, collectible, classic Christmas ghost stories designed and illustrated by world-famous cartoonist Seth.In How Fear Departed the Long Gallery, for the Peverils, the appearance of a ghost is no more upsetting than the appearance of the mailman at an ordinary house. Except for the twin toddlers in the Long Gallery. No one would dare be caught in the Long Gallery after dark. But on this quiet and cloudy afternoon, Madge Peveril is feeling rather drowsy . . .E. F. Benson was the English writer of the Mapp and Lucia series.

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Book SynopsisLondon, 1893. When Cora Seaborne's controlling husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness. Along with her son Francis - a curious, obsessive boy - she leaves town for Essex, in the hope that fresh air and open space will provide refuge. On arrival, they hear rumours that the mythical Essex Serpent, once said to roam the marshes claiming lives, has returned to the coastal parish of Aldwinter. Cora, a keen amateur naturalist, is enthralled, convinced that what the locals think is a magical beast may be a yet-undiscovered species. As she sets out on its trail, she is introduced to William Ransome, Aldwinter's vicar, who is also deeply suspicious of the rumours, but thinks they are a distraction from true faith. As he tries to calm his parishioners, Will and Cora strike up an intense relationship, and although they agree on absolutely nothing, they find themselves at once drawn together and torn apart, affecting each other in ways that surprise them both.Trade ReviewThe Essex Serpent is a novel to relish: a work of great intelligence and charm, by a hugely talented author -- Sarah WatersHad Charles Dickens and Bram Stoker come together to write the great Victorian novel, I wonder if it would have surpassed The Essex Serpent? No way of knowing, but with only her second outing, Sarah Perry establishes herself as one of the finest fiction writers working in Britain today. -- John BurnsideA big, warm, generous novel that wears its considerable wisdom lightly, The Essex Serpent is an absolute pleasure from start to finish - I truly didn't want it to end. -- Melissa HarrisonThe Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry [is] a joyous and beguiling book that wrapped itself around me rather like its eponymous monster. -- Cathy RentzenbrinkA blissful novel of unapologetic appetites, where desire and faith mingle on the marshes, but friendship is the miracle. Sarah Perry has the rare gift of committing the uncommittable to prose - that is to say: here is a writer who understands life. -- Jessie BurtonA book to make you want to be a better person. -- Justine Jordan, The GuardianI loved this book. At once numinous, intimate and wise, The Essex Serpent is a marvellous novel about the workings of life, love and belief, about science and religion, secrets, mysteries, and the complicated and unexpected shifts of the human heart - and it contains some of the most beautiful evocations of place and landscape I've ever read. It is so good its pages seem lit from within. As soon as I'd finished it I started reading it again. -- Helen MacDonaldA sinuous historical novel by the genius that is Sarah Perry -- Lucy Mangan * Stylist *An historical novel with real depth ... Perry writes fantastically, and this deserves attention for the rest of the year. -- Steven Cooper * The Bookseller *One day this book will make a fine BBC period drama ... Perry is a wonderful descriptive writer with a remarkable talent for making the familiar strange ... Her accounts of open-heart surgery carried out half a century before antibiotics, or an autistic child questioning the nature of sin, or a soldier's wedding in the phthisic slums of Bethnal Green, snatch the breath in your throat. Perry bleeds light into darkness and back again with a mastery born of her deep professional acquaintance with the gothic tradition. -- Oliver Moody * Times *The Essex Serpent is a work of historical fiction, set in the 1890s, which, for originality, richness of prose and depth of characterisation is unlikely to be bettered this year ... a remarkable novel. Although Will and Cora provide the focal points for her story, Perry has packed The Essex Serpent with a rich array of equally rounded characters to hold our attention. The novel is full of vivid set pieces ... it is Perry's ability to conjure up a sense of entire lives unfolding before our eyes that is most impressive. Filled with wisdom about human behaviour and motivations, and written in a distinctive, stylish prose, The Essex Serpent is one of the most memorable historical novels of the past decade. -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *One for the holiday suitcase. A historical romance with a gothic twist ... expect to spot a copy on beach towels this summer. * Vogue *An irresistible novel that taps the vein of Victorian gothic and British myth * Daily Telegraph *It's prompted comparisons to both Dickens and Bram Stoker and marries the former's abhorrence of injustice with the latter's genius for unsettling atmosphere ... Hardy-esque ... a rich and complex novel but also a deeply enjoyable read, with warm humanity at its core. -- Jeff Robson * iPaper *An irresistible novel ... Perry's Victoriana is the most fresh-feeling I can remember ... Her prose is often beautiful ... the tone is a masterstroke ... You feel the influences of Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Hilary Mantel channelled by Perry in some sort of Victorian séance. This is the best new novel I've read in years. It's the kind of work that makes you alive to the strangeness of the world and of our history. -- Charlotte Runcie * Daily Telegraph *Engaging ... On the book's cover, John Burnside compares The Essex Serpent to Dickens and Stoker. But it was one of my favourite novels, Alasdair Gray's Poor Things (1992), that kept coming back to me ... Perry takes apart our preconceptions of prim Victorian mores with similar gusto ... The Essex Serpent is a historical novel with an entirely modern consciousness, and is every bit as gripping and unusual as its predecessor. -- Alex Preston * FT *The Essex Serpent is frightfully good. -- Susan Hill * Twitter *An intelligent, lushly written gothic yarn ... Reading it makes you want to hotfoot it to the Essex coast. -- Claire Allfree * Metro *Everything they're saying is true: sumptuous, beautiful, powerful, engrossing, brilliant. -- Nina Stibbe * Twitter *A lovely book ... it sets out unashamedly to lift the spirits ... The writing has a gorgeous lilt ... The method is itself Victorian - an omniscient narrator scattering sackfuls of sympathy - but the message never gets old: the world is poorer if we don't put ourselves in each other's place once in a while. -- Anthony Cummins * Spectator *Sarah Perry's new novel The Essex Serpent is a thing of beauty inside and out. I don't think I've ever mentioned a book's cover in a review before, but Peter Dyer's William Morris-inspired design is stunning, a tantalizing taste of the equally sumptuous prose that lies within ... When it comes to historical fiction, Perry's achieved the near impossible; she's created a novel and within it a world that seems to have sprung complete and fully formed directly from the period in question - a long lost fin-de-siècle Gothic classic - but her characters are as enticingly modern as they are of their period ... Perry also showcases the most beguiling evocations of landscape ... For only a second novel it's a stunning achievement, one for which I predict prize nominations galore, from the Wellcome to the Man Booker -- Lucy Scholes * Independent online *A richly themed and exhilarating novel ... this poetically written story dramatises the clash between rationality and resurgent superstition, between desire, morality and the intellect, and the struggle of reformers to redress the poverty of late-Victorian society. -- Elizabeth Buchan * Daily Mail *Sarah Perry has written an exquisitely absorbing, old-fashioned page-turner peopled by memorable characters, particularly the magnificent, stubborn and wilful Cora. Perry also captures a society on the brink of a profound shift, uncomfortably reassessing its view of the world through the prism of scientific progress. The Essex Serpent is shot through with such a vivid, lively sense of the period that it reads like Charles Dickens at his most accessible and fans of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell will also find much to love in this engaging, entertaining Gothic novel. -- Charlotte Heathcote * Daily Express *A novel of ideas, and flexes its muscles in addressing multiple concerns of the period ... The novel probes at both private emotion and public concerns, and is engrossing and immersive. The grime of London is only surpassed by the murk of Aldwinter. Cora makes for an indelible heroine: uncompromising, funny and smart, and not unlike Alma Whittaker in Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things. There will also be whispers of Dickens or a gamut of 19th century novels of similar size and scale, but Perry's voice and story are her own. Her language is exquisite, her characterisation finely tuned. Based on The Essex Serpent and its predecessor, it's clear that Perry is a gifted writer of immense ability. -- Sinéad Gleeson * Irish Times *A Victorian-era gothic with a Dickensian focus on societal ills, Perry's second novel surprises in its wonderful freshness. There's a sense of Llareggub about close-knit Aldwinter, its flint church, historic oak and ribby shipwreck instantly present, while the tapestry of voices that results from the use of letters amplifies the Under Milk Wood echo. Perry's singular characters are drawn with a fondness that is both palpable and contagious, and the beautifully observed changing seasons permitted space to breathe, all making for pure pleasure. -- Stephanie Cross * Observer *An eerie tale of science and superstition ... gothically good. -- Eithne Farry * Sunday Express *It's 1893, and Cora Seabourne is a young widow whose husband's death has released her from a miserable marriage. Finally free to follow her own interest in natural history, Cora heads to Essex, hoping the recent reports of a mysterious ancient serpent may possibly turn out to be proof of a "living fossil . . . a species outwitting extinction". There she meets the local vicar, Will Ransome, and despite his scepticism about science and her lack of faith in religion, the two forge an unlikely bond. A bewitching and luminous book about science, faith and different kinds of love. -- Anna Carey * Irish Times *Dazzling * Woman and Home *The Essex Serpent is rare in being a novel that is both highly diverting and intellectually rewarding, in taking its thematic interests seriously while playing delightedly with romance and the Gothic. -- Sarah Moss * The Lancet *Sarah Perry...beautifully and deeply...elucidates friendships of all kinds in her books...I must recommend the delicate beauty and sinuous power. -- Lucy Mangan * Stylist *It's a brilliantly written story of one woman's life and relationships in late Victorian England and my favourite historical novel since Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger. -- John Meagher * Irish Independent *A graceful and intelligent book. -- Maria Croce * Daily Record *The Essex Serpent is probably the best novel I have read this year. It is the right kind of literary fiction: full of ideas, challenge, and intrigue, but with a compelling narrative that tows you through the pages like a freight train...Perry has created an ensemble of characters so richly drawn that each could warrant a novel in his or her own right...invigorating, fascinating, and hugely enjoyable. -- Malcolm Doney * Church Times *My stand-out novel of the year is The Essex Serpent...It's about love, faith and myth. I loved it. -- Jenni Murray * Radio Times *The eponymous serpent makes its presence felt throughout, but this novel is about much, much more than a winged demon terrorising the Essex countryside, and is all the richer for it. -- Kate Foley * Living North *One of the most-loved books of the last two years...Perry's descriptions of Essex bring to life the beauty of one of our more under-appreciated counties. * Emerald Street *The Essex Serpent has been hailed as a modern classic, and for good reason. It's an esoteric, whimsical book that joins the ranks of generations of Victorian and Gothic novels from Doyle to Shelley, all the while defying the very traditions these books have set down... The perfect book to read as you sit in an overgrown garden, or while tramping through the heath. * The Edinburgh Reporter *A Notable Book of 2017 * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION Ginger is in her forties and a recovering alcoholic when she meets and marries Paul. When it becomes clear it's too late for her to have a baby of her own, she tries to persuade him to consider adoption, but he already has a child from a previous marriage and is ten years older than her, so doesn't share her longing to be a parent at any cost. As a compromise, they sign up to an organisation that sends poor inner-city kids to stay with country families for a few weeks in the summer, and so one hot July day eleven year old Velveteen Vargas, a Dominican girl from one of Brooklyn's toughest neighbourhoods, arrives in their lives, and Ginger is instantly besotted. Bemused by her gentle middle-aged hosts, but deeply intuitive in the way of clever children, Velvet quickly senses the longing behind Ginger's rapturous attention. While Velvet returns her affection, she finds the intensity of it bewildering. Velvet's own passions are more excited by the stables nearby, where she discovers she has a natural talent for riding and a deep affinity with the damaged horses cared for there. But when Ginger begins to entertain fantasies of adopting her, things start to get complicated for everyone involved. This is a heartbreakingly honest and profoundly moving portrait of the nearly unbridgeable gaps between people, and the way we long for fairytale endings despite knowing that they don't exist.Trade ReviewGaitskill's work feels more real than real life and reading her leads to a place that feels like a sacred space. * Boston Globe *Penetrating ... confronts, head-on, white privilege and black victimhood. * Daily Mail *Gaitskill's novel is not a children's book, but it is a book about what children long for, and how we long for the same thing many years after we've left childhood behind * The New York Times *Velvet is that most wonderful of fictional creations: a convincing child who manages to be a captivating and perceptive narrator. * New Yorker *Visceral and haunting, and the telling, with its shifting first person narrative, is nothing short of masterful. * GQ *A poignant, beautiful coming of age story about race, class and motherhood. * Women and Home *A thoroughly compelling read ... redemptive and moving, The Mare offers as much fresh air for the author (and the reader) as it does for her characters. * Spectator *A timely examination of the pains and pleasures that follow one woman's attempt to bridge the yawning gap of understanding between two races. * Sunday Express *Emotionally complex voices crafted with skill and sensitivity. * Mail on Sunday *Her voice captures a child's mixture of insight and innocence ... As a model for getting back in contact with the natural world, this is a delirious dream. As an acknowledgment of what human beings fail to offer each other, it comes closer to being a nightmare. * Times *A novel about race, class and, as Gaitskill's convincingly drawn characters show how different worlds collide, the seemingly unbridgeable gap between the two in America. * Daily Express *The Mare is a dark, dreamlike novel, at times nightmarish, at others offering glimpses of the sublime, shocking in its raw depiction of violence, and beautiful in its evocation of flawed love. * Financial Times *a devastatingly good novel * psychologies magazine *Here, without a drop of condescension, is fiction that pumps blood through the cold facts of inequality * Washington Post *The range of Gaitskill's humanity is astonishing and matched only, it seems, by a desire to confront readers with the trembling reality of our shared ugliness * LA 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 SynopsisThe discovery of centuries old human bones; a haunted 12th century house; a medieval legend spawning a modern cult... Merrily must piece together a most insidious mystery.'No-one in the business deals with the spooky stuff better.' - Crime Review UK'She dragged herself back up, holding her scraped hands inside the sleeves of her parka like paws. As she came to her knees, a sound like laughter was chopped up by the wind, and the woman was back . . .'A legend of the undead, still seductive, still deadly. A storm unearths a medieval corpse in the old city of Hereford, and the past returns to menace diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins.Trade ReviewBedtime reading is sorted - Merrily is back. * Andrew Taylor *Intelligent rationalists will enjoy the way Rickman engages with the supernatural. * The Times *No-one in the business deals with the spooky stuff better. * Crime Review UK *Rickman's series is gaining a mass of fans with each book. This one will keep you entranced until the final page. * Crimesquad *

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Book SynopsisCAULDRON by Diane Carey On the spaceship Umiak, an elite troupe of cadets is forced into servitude by an unscrupulous captain taking the ship to a smuggler's rendezvous. During the transaction aboard the eerily silent Virginia, the cadets unwittingly transport an unexpected cargo: a hive of hibernating aliens. As the aliens begin to awake, a terrifying battle erupts between the cadets, the smugglers, the captain, and the emergent monsters. The cadets soon realize that in space, no one can hear them scream. STEEL EGG by John Shirley Before Ripley, there was a first encounter. Someone on Earth knew about the aliens. Someone battled them, and survived. Aliens and humans have fought before. When a human spaceship discovers a vast egg-shaped vessel in Saturn's orbit, they zero in to investigate the anomaly. They force their way aboard, finding evidence of an advanced civilization of peaceful creatures, now eradicated by an unknown foe. Three teams split up to explore the ship. But already the aliens have awoken. The first of all the battles unfolds...Trade Review"The novels in these Omnibuses span the width and breadth of the Alien universe, stretching its boundaries and giving it a marvelous depth of detail" - BookRiot

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Book SynopsisJim Francis has finally found the perfect life – and is now unrecognisable, even to himself. A successful painter and sculptor, he lives quietly with his wife, Melanie, and their two young daughters, in an affluent beach town in California. Some say he’s a fake and a con man, while others see him as a genuine visionary.But Francis has a very dark past, with another identity and a very different set of values. When he crosses the Atlantic to his native Scotland, for the funeral of a murdered son he barely knew, his old Edinburgh community expects him to take bloody revenge. But as he confronts his previous life, all those friends and enemies – and, most alarmingly, his former self – Francis seems to have other ideas.When Melanie discovers something gruesome in California, which indicates that her husband’s violent past might also be his psychotic present, things start to go very bad, very quickly. The Blade Artist is an elegant, electrifying novel – ultra violent but curiously redemptive – and it marks the return of one of modern fiction’s most infamous, terrifying characters, the incendiary Francis Begbie from Trainspotting.Trade ReviewBack to his violent best… Dark, gruesome and captivating. -- Sam Parker * Esquire *It’s a thriller in the mode of Tarantino making war films or westerns; hiding grand themes within genre. -- Alan Bett * Skinny *Intense, electrifying… Welsh has delivered a tremendously entertaining book – a whodunit, a thriller, and a probing character study – that’s obsessed with conflict, both physical and mental… A surprisingly poignant, evocative read – highly recommended. * Mr Hyde *In a year when filming begins on Danny Boyle’s sequel of sorts to Trainspotting, it seems perfect timing to revisit its most visceral force. * Skinny *[Begbie’s] intelligence and instinct make him compelling, and Welsh keep the plot roaring along… This is a dark, guilty pleasure and written with – it seems to me – the cinema screen in mind. -- Kate Muir * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Covenant mission is the most ambitious endeavor in the history of Weyland-Yutani. A ship bound for Origae-6, carrying two thousand colonists beyond the limits of known space, this is make-or-break investment for the corporation—and for the future of all mankind. Yet there are those who would die to stop the mission. As the colony ship hovers in Earth orbit, several violent events reveal a deadly conspiracy to sabotage the launch. While Captain Jacob Branson and his wife Daniels complete their preparations, security chief Daniel Lopé recruits the final key member of his team. Together they seek to stop the perpetrators before the ship and its passengers can be destroyed. An original novel by the acclaimed ALAN DEAN FOSTER, author of the groundbreaking Alien novelization, Origins is the official chronicle of the events that led up to Alien: Covenant. It also reveals the world the colonists left behind.Trade Review“this book really steps forward and delivers the goods. Action, suspense, organic world-building and quality dystopian sci-fi.” - Book Devil

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Book SynopsisREAD THE CONTROVERSIAL THRILLER THAT SHOCKED THE WORLDTHE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERGLAMOUR'S WRITER OF THE YEARBy day Judith Rashleigh is a put-upon assistant at a London auction house.By night she's a hostess in one of the capital's unsavoury bars.Desperate to make something of herself, Judith knows she has to play the game. She's learned to dress, speak and act in the interests of men. She's learned to be a good girl. But after uncovering a dark secret at the heart of the art world, Judith is fired and her dreams of a better life are torn apart. So she turns to a long-neglected friend. A friend that kept her chin up and back straight through every past slight. A friend that a good girl like her shouldn't have: Rage.Fatal attraction meets The Talented Mr Ripley in this darkly decadent thriller, soon to be a major Hollywood film, that asks: Where do you go when you've gone too far?Trade ReviewBrimming with scandal, intrigue and mystery, this is a book that everyone is talking about * Heat *[U]tterly un-put-down-able, a shocking and sexy psychological thriller * PopSugar *Set in a world of oligarchs, Mafiosi and dodgy art dealers, it also has in Judith Rashleigh a heroine you'll either love or loathe, at least two jaw-on-the-floor moments and sex scenes that would make Christian Grey blush * Red magazine *The next Gone Girl thriller everyone will be talking about * GoodReads Review *Smart, pacy and very rude * Glamour *Riveting... one of the most memorable females in recent fiction * Amy Pascal, Columbia Pictures Producer *Maestra features a feisty, morally complex and sharp heroine who may appeal to fans of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl * New York Times *A psychological thriller set on the French Riviera, rather like Patricia Highsmith crossed with Gone Girl, unsurprisingly, there's a film deal in the works * Harpers Bazaar, '10 Best Books for 2016' *This is already being compared to The Girl On The Train and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in terms of addictability * Glamour, ‘11 Female Authored Reads for 2016’ *One for fans of Fifty Shades of Grey * Grazia, 'Best of New Books' *This new thriller features a sexually voracious heroine eager to make her mark on the world * Irish Daily Mail *Fantastically good fun... LS Hilton can write. She can even make you think that popping along to a sex party..is quite a good idea. She writes convincingly about female desire. This book will make money and give pleasure -- Christina Patterson * The Sunday Times *A gloriously dark thriller... * Grazia Magazine *A maest (sic) read * Grazia Magazine *We'll be talking about the protagonist of this steamy thriller for years to come... * Grazia Magazine *Fifty Shades it is not- it's much better...There's a real plot. And real sexy talk....it's the very definition of a page turner. * Heat Magazine *The sexiest book of the year * Nottingham Post *It's a hot read! * Strathallen Times, Stirling News *In this marvellous debut, Hilton shows us how deadly such work can sometimes be. * Max Dunbar Blog *Well written and fast paced, and with a scandalous peep into the world of art dealing and a liberal amount of sex, MAESTRA is a fun and enjoyable read. * crimethrillergirl.com *This years must read * Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), South Wales Echo, Liverpool Echo, Daily Post (Wales) *She (Hilton) is smart and scathing on the art world; she clearly knows her stuff, and the novel is most interesting when she digresses into art history. -- Stephanie Merritt * The Observer, The New Review *You'll have to move to a wi-fi free island in the middle of the Pacific for Maestra to pass you by this summer....Set to be the 'it' book of 2016...A murderous heroine you'll love to hate. -- Hannah Britt * Daily Express, Scottish Daily Express *This years The Girl on the Train * Sheer Luxe *· I went from not thinking I'd enjoy it to not wanting to put it down. Gripped from the very first 'c' bomb dropped on page two. Judith is a sassy, smart and very dangerous heroine and I couldn't help but really like her. So read it before everyone else does because I do think it will be the most talked abut book this year - and with reason. -- Amy Space * Bella Magazine's Editor *'This is the must-read raunchy book of the year' * Xpose Magazine *A bonkbuster with brains... LS Hilton sets pulses racing with her novel Maestra, about orgies, escorts and the art world -- Fiona Wilson * The Times Ireland *This year's Fifty Shades brings sexual intrigue to the world of art fraud. At last someone has. * Cosmopolitan Magazine *Darkly compelling...a female reincarnation of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley... * Winq *Judith Rashleigh, also known as Lauren, is a woman on a mission, fuelled by a simmering hatred that drives her calculating behaviour ... * tripfiction.com *Completely Unputdownable -- Sue Turnbull * The Age, Australia *A spectacular act of revenge- on the English middle class- and men...aloof and independent minded... * Standpoint Magazine *A glamorous, witty and adrenaline fuelled romp- if you like your heroines sexy, vengeful, amoral and lethal thenMaestra delivers in spades. * Irish Times, Weekend Review *Maestra has an incredibly gorgeous vibe in both character study and scene setting, the writing is visceral, beautiful and indelible. This one will stay with you... Highly HIGHLY Recommended. * lizlovesbooks.com *It's a hot read! * Hillfoot Advertiser *The Talented Mr Ripley meets Gone Girl in this darkly decadent and compelling new thriller * mojomums.co.uk *Deliciously decadent...a glamorous and racy adventure * Sunday Mirror *Maestra is a fun, sexy novel...more self-determined than the ones her recent predecessors have offered -- Fiona Wilson * The Times *A psychological thriller set on the French Riviera, rather like Patricia Highsmith crossed with Gone Girl, unsurprisingly, there's a film deal in the works * Harpers Bazaar Magazine *Maestra features a feisty, morally complex and sharp heroine who may appeal to fans of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl * New York Times *'the outlandish plot remains wildly entertaining, romping along at a delightful pace. The best moments allow Hilton to showcase her knowledge of the high-end European art world, and readers will be left hankering for the next installment.' * Independent.ie *Maestra has been given the 'sentence of the year' with "I sucked the musk of his armpit like hummingbird nectar." * The Sunday Times Culture *Orgies, murder and dodgy art dealers; sounds like a best-seller to me. After several modest-selling historical books, Hilton hits the jackpot with this tale of a pretty and ambitious London gallery assistant of modest means who wants a fast-track to the good things in life. Our 20-something heroine Judith Rashleigh's a whip-smart femme fatale in a post-Kardashian world, whose humble origins sharpen her criminal resolve -no more tights drying over the heater for her -and her journey to wealth and power involves lots of sex and shopping for designer dresses. Less thriller than subversive post-feminist social satire, it has the blunt candour of Hilton herself-a 40-something solo mother whose experience as an intern at Christies clearly informs Maestra. Judith's catch-a-billionaire-will-travel goals upset some of the Literary Sisterhood but Maestra 's bonk -buster reputation disguises a razor-sharp novel on class and power. * New Zealand Herald *The Becky Sharp-style trajectory of the narrator proceeds with great momentum as she gets her psychopathic revenge on the snobs of the old master art world * The Week *

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Book Synopsis *SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA ENDEAVOUR HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD 2017* LONDON 1885 – A woman’s body is discovered on Edgware Road. Ten miles away, her head is pulled from the dark muddy waters of the Thames. For two men, this event will push them to the very brink. DETECTIVE WILLIAM PINKERTON – ‘Thirty-nine years old, already famous and already lonely’. In an attempt to solve this case, he must descend into the seedy, gas-lit streets, opium dens, sewers and séance halls of Victorian London. ADAM FOOLE – A gentleman without a past, haunted by a love affair ten years gone. What he learns from his lover’s fate will force him to confront a past, and a grief, he thought long buried.Trade Review‘[A] rollicking read…Wonderfully melodramatic and well-written. The story is told over some 700 pages, and yet not a word feels wasted.’ * Cosmopolitan, Best Books of 2017 *‘Entertaining…as vast as the three-decker Victorian novels it so cleverly echoes’. -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *‘[A] darkly mesmerising tale worthy of any of the great Victorian thriller writers.’ * Crime Review *‘For long winter evenings…By Gaslight seems like an excellent choice’. * New Books *‘Guaranteed to grip.’ * Vogue *‘Rich in characterisation and description as well as evidently well-researched material.’ * Historical Novels Review *‘Reads like a resurrected Conan Doyle has created a high-quality thriller for a Sky Atlantic series… breathtakingly atmospheric.’ * Peterborough Telegraph *‘A formidable mystery.’ * Buffalo News *‘I found myself returning to passages . . . because I wanted to revisit the somber music of the telling. . . Spinning fiction out of fact, Price creates an evocative world, cast not in shades of stark black and white, but rather in morally complex herringbone . . . [R]aw and beautiful . . . always expressing the complexities of the human heart. . . By Gaslight can be seen as Arthur Conan Doyle by way of Dickens by way of Faulkner. Intense, London-centric, threaded through with a melancholy brilliance, it is an extravagant novel that takes inspiration from the classics and yet remains wholly itself.’ * NPR *‘Canadian poet Price turns to fiction with this lively visitation to the foggy streets of Victorian Blighty…the story is utterly Sherlock-ian – read Moriarty for Shade and Irene Adler for Reckitt – and postmodernly so, full of sly nods and winks and allusions. If it is derivative in the bargain, Conan Doyle by way of Nicholas Meyer and Benedict Cumberbatch, then Price's yarn is also a lot of fun. Fans of steampunk and Victorian detective fiction alike will enjoy Price's continent-hopping romp in time.’ * Kirkus *‘A postmodern take on noir mysteries…The real highlight of the novel, though, is the mesmerizing writing style, which is difficult to decipher but lyrically rewarding and intensely evocative of setting and character. Intense, frustrating, and magical, this fragmented, paradoxical suspense story will appeal to particular readers who love Dickens or who relish the complexities of Martin Seay’s The Mirror Thief and David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet.’ * Booklist *‘Steven Price has done a daring thing: taken a long, complex, but utterly fascinating 19th Century crime tale and applied to it the rules of modern mystery writing. The result is something unique, but it is his gift for unraveling a terrific yarn, in whatever manner, that shines through. Do not be daunted by length: give this book a try.’ * Caleb Carr, author of The Alienist *‘Price’s naturalism is unsentimental, adding verisimilitude to a book already thrumming with emotional and psychological realism. The author’s blend of quest, grief, betrayal, and the mysteries of identity will appeal to readers of literary crime fiction’ * Library Journal *‘Price’s elegantly written, vividly evoked second novel marries historical suspense with literary sophistication…With its intricate cat-and-mouse game, array of idiosyncratic characters, and brooding atmosphere, By Gaslight has much to please fans of both classic suspense and Victorian fiction. Yet Price’s novel is entirely contemporary, and assuredly his own: a sweeping tale of hunter and hunted in which the most-dangerous pursuer is always the human heart.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘By Gaslight is Steven Price's extraordinary historical novel, finely written and deeply researched, about the period just following the Civil War, the son of America's most famous detective (Allen Pinkerton), and a cast of truly powerful characters, half-mad and all dangerous.’ * Alan Furst, author of The Foreign Correspondent *‘This sweeping tale of the unforgettable William Pinkerton and Adam Foole thrusts the reader into smoky Victorian London with all its grit and glitter. Uniting the literary grace and depth of William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy with the intrigue and momentum of a Sherlock Holmes story, By Gaslight is completely absorbing – an epic, brilliantly written novel to rank with the world’s best.’ * Jacqueline Baker, author of The Broken Hours *‘This darkly mesmerizing tale is worthy of the great Victorian thriller writers, but Steven Price brings to his prose a sensibility and dazzling skill all his own. The gruesome, eerie events that unfold during the search for Charlotte Reckitt are given enthralling life in a book that is perfectly grounded in period and rich in incident and image. Haunting and deeply satisfying.’ * Marina Endicott, author of Close to Hugh *‘A dark tale of love, betrayal and murder that reaches from the slums of Victorian London to the diamond mines in South Africa, to the American Civil War and back. Superb storytelling.’ * Kurt Palka, author of The Piano Maker *‘A poetic, persuasive pea-souper. Think Dickens with Maigret’s whiskers.’ * Anakana Schofield, author of Martin John *

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Book SynopsisAn enthralling collection of new and classic tales of the fearsome Djinn, from bestselling, award-winning and breakthrough international writers. Imagine a world filled with fierce, fiery beings, hiding in our shadows, in our dreams, under our skins. Eavesdropping and exploring; tormenting us, saving our souls. They are monsters, saviours, victims, childhood friends. And they are everywhere. On street corners, behind the wheel of a taxi, in the chorus, between the pages of books. Every language has a word for them. Every culture knows their traditions. Every religion, every history has them hiding in their dark places. There is no part of the world that does not know them. They are the Djinn. With stories from Neil Gaiman, Nnedi Okorafor, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherine Faris King, Claire North, E.J. Swift, Hermes (trans. Robin Moger), Jamal Mahjoub, James Smythe, J.Y. Yang, Kamila Shamsie, Kirsty Logan, K.J. Parker, Kuzhali Manickavel, Maria Dahvana Headley, Monica Byrne, Saad Hossain, Sami Shah, Sophia Al-Maria and Usman Malik.Trade Review"Exquisite and audacious, and highly recommended." -- The New York Times * The New York Times *"Entertaining, sexy and mischievous" -- Marina Warner -- Marina Warner"A treasure chest of literally wonderful and marvelous stories, with a kind of richness that fantasy only rarely achieves." -- Tim Powers -- Tim Powerrs"Opens quietly with an intense, thrumming poem from Egyptian poet Hermes, and then ignites like the creature it profiles... a rich and illuminating cultural experience." -- Washington Post * The Washington Post *"Gorgeous." -- Tor.com * Tor.com *"The sheer variation of interpretation is what makes this a superior collection, as well as, of course, the superior writing." -- BookRiot * BookRiot *"Vivid, enthralling and endlessly varied. A wonderful collection." -- Mike Carey -- Mike Carey"A sparkling array of talent and imagination" -- SFX * SFX Magazine *"A superb collection of superior stories by some of my favorite writers. This is the must-have anthology of the year." -- Lavie Tidhar -- Lavie Tidhar"Readers looking for stories set in a variety of locales (even outer space) and arrayed over various cultures and religions will find much to like." -- Publishers Weekly * Publishers Weekly *"Not only one of short stories, but of real narratives... will let readers enter a world that they have no idea about" -- New York Journal of Books * New York Journal of Books *"Lovely and complex" -- Strange Horizons * Strange Horizons *"A range of terrific stories in a variety of styles, all of them effective... Fall in love with djinn! Read this book." -- Geek Syndicate * Geek Syndicate *Table of Contents Introduction - Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin The Djinn Falls in Love – Hermes The Congregation – Kamila Shamsie How We Remember You – Kuzhali Manickavel Hurrem and the Djinn – Claire North Glass Lights – Neon Yang Authenticity – Monica Byrne Majnun – Helene Wecker Black Powder – Maria Dahvana Headley A Tale of Ash in Seven Birds – Amal El-Mohtar The Sand in the Glass is Right – James Smythe Reap – Sami Shah Queen of Sheba – Catherine Faris King The Jinn Hunter’s Apprentice – E.J. Swift Message in a Bottle – K.J. Parker Bring Your Own Spoon – Saad Z. Hossain Somewhere in America – Neil Gaiman Duende 2077 – Jamal Mahjoub The Righteous Guide of Arabsat – Sophia Al-Maria The Spite House – Kirsty Logan Emperors of Jinn – Usman T. Malik History – Nnedi Okorafor

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of When I Hit You, shortlisted for the 2018 Women's Prize for FictionKarim and Maya:[x] share a home [x] worry about money [x] binge-watch films [x] argue all the time Karim, a young film-maker, carries with him the starry-eyed dreams of the Arab Revolution. Maya carries her own pressing concerns: an errant father, an unstable job, a chain-smoking habit, a sudden pregnancy. When Karim's brother disappears in Tunis, and Karim wants to go after him, Maya must choose between her partner and her home city, her future and her history...In a conversation between forms, fictions and truths, Exquisite Cadavers is a novel about a young couple navigating love in London, and a literary hall of mirrors about an author navigating the inspirations behind her work.___________________'An inventive fusion' Observer'A work of brilliance' Financial Times'Wonderful' LitHubTrade ReviewThank god for writing like this. For books like this. For this level of experimentation, combined with such control, such tenderness and wit. * Max Porter, author of Lanny *Exquisite Cadavers' experiment delivers a book that is slyly funny and profoundly thoughtful. It is common for critics and readers to belittle women by assuming they write out of catharsis rather than to create. Exquisite Cadavers is not just a fierce rebuttal. It's a work of brilliance. * Financial Times *An inventive fusion of fact and fiction. * Observer *Fascinating... The cleverness of Kandasamy's bricolage is that it allows her to explicitly separate fiction and memoir, while ensuring they're intimately intertwined. * Guardian *A smart, complex book. * Guardian *The key question about Exquisite Cadavers, however, is does all of this work? That is the hardest question to answer, because the terms are that it should be an experiment - there has never been a book quite like this. Better to ask, then, whether it surprises, grips, makes the reader take notice - all those things literature is supposed to do - to which the answer is, easily, yes, yes, and yes again. * The Irish Times *It's wonderful, a different view of difference. * LitHub *Kandasamy achieves the unachievable in this genre-defying, brilliant and satisfying double narrative. She subverts the mainstream by inserting her self into the margins of this timely novella. In doing so, she adds depth and intensity to an already gripping story of a mixed-race millennial couple grappling with identity, unexpected parenthood, zero-hour contracts and nearsightedness within academia. There is nothing Kandasamy can't do. * Zeba Talkhani, author of My Past is A Foreign Country *A rich and absorbing text full of allusion... Kandasamy's work becomes more bold and exciting with each new book. * The Skinny *Absorbing and innovative * The Herald *An extraordinary formally-inventive, beautiful at sentence-level novella. * Belfast Telegraph *This is hands-down the most emotionally resonant book I have read this year. In this fragmented literary experiment, Kandasamy flawlessly combines the political and the personal with her searing insight and dazzling literary prowess. * Book Riot *Wildly inventive and inimitable * Mint *A tightly packed experiment in literary fiction, toggling between life and art, the margin and the centre, stories and meta-stories * Open The Magazine *Astute metafictional observations * New Statesman *Defies all expectations of how prose should be laid out on the page. While it is ostensibly about a relationship, it also comments in the margins on Indian politics and the writer's own creative process. * Bernardine Evaristo, TLS *Both an excellent exercise in form and a deeply evocative love story. * Publisher's Weekly *Sharply observed, beautiful, smart writing. This book is an engagement with art and life on their own terms, demanding its readers level up their thinking * Booklist *The two-column format of the book presents questions about how we read, what story is, and what a novel can be. The lives of Maya and Karim, a young, London-based couple, are rendered in prose that is both poetic and ironic, while the voice of the author-character, sitting side-by-side, is at once philosophical and grimly witty. * Novuyo Tshuma, The Millions *

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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 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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