Fiction: literary and general non-genre

Book SynopsisNothing else comes so I set the notebook beside me. What else is here? I ask myself and listen. This section of stream purls and riffles amid small stones. What word might be made for what I hear . . .Les Clary's final case has broken the still surface of his backwater town.Becky, a park ranger with her own mysterious past, shares Les's consolation in the natural world that lies just beyond their hopelessly broken town. As Les and Becky explore of the county's lyrically beautiful landscape, they finds themselves led deeper into the heart of the town's corruption, and into the darkness of their own ruptured histories. This haunting novel is a poetic journey into the wilderness of the heart.Trade ReviewA writer's writer who writes for others -- Colum McCannA gorgeous, brutal writer -- Richard PriceOne of the great American authors at work today -- Janet Maslin * * New York Times * *Ron Rash is a writer of both the darkly beautiful and the sadly true . . . One of our very finest novelists -- Richard RussoMagnificent is suddenly too small a word * * Irish Times * *Finds a narrow sweet spot between Raymond Carver and William Faulkner. * * Washington Post * *Rash's prose is elegant, suggestive, and Hardyesque. * * Boston Globe * *Combining suspense with acute observations and flashing insights, Rash tells a seductive and disquieting tale about our intrinsic attachment to and disastrous abuse of the land and our betrayal of our best selves * * Starred Booklist * *Alternates between traditional prose and a poetic voice * * Wall Street Journal * *The book begins as a lyrical, far-reaching reflection on nature and modern-day loneliness . . . Beneath the surface, the novel contemplates more timeless questions about human frailty, the divinity of nature and the legacies of our native landscapes . . . A hybrid of prose poetry, nature writing and literary mystery . . . Exhilarating and beguiling * * Atlanta Journal * *

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Book Synopsis'A riveting murder mystery. A psychological thriller. A magnificent work of literary fiction' KIRAN DESAI 'An elegy for India. It is gorgeously written, utterly devastating, and feels completely true' SONIA FALEIRO A literary thriller of considerable acumen with a textured picture of a country' FINANCIAL TIMES, BEST NEW CRIME BOOKS [RB1] ________________ IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO KILL A CHILD... The Indian village of Teetarpur is a quiet, unremarkable place, until one of its children is found dead, hanging from the branch of a Jamun tree. In the largely Hindu community, suspicion quickly falls on an itinerant Muslim man, Mansoor. It's up to local policeman Sub-Inspector Ombir Singh to uncover the truth. With only one assistant officer, and a single working revolver between them, can he bring justice to a grieving father and an angry village?or will the people of Teetarpur demand vengeance instead?Trade Review'A riveting murder mystery. A psychological thriller. A magnificent work of literary fiction' - Kiran Desai'An elegy for India. Gorgeously written, utterly devastating, and feels completely true' - Sonia Faleiro, author of 'The Girl''A thrilling and riveting crime noir, written tenderly and elegantly' - The Hindu'This emotionally engaging novel, less a "whodunit" than a "whydunit" is remarkable for the interiority of its characters... The compulsive pull lies in the slow burn of a leisurely paced plot' - Frontline'The soul of a river, poured into a saga of fatherhood and crime... The thrillerish pace is tight [but] the prose is immersive enough for one to want to savour' - The Deccan Chronicle'A new writer to shout about... Roy brings rural India and Delhi to life as much as she does her characters... Riveting' -Observer'A novel that is on the one hand a wholly satisfying murder mystery, but which also employs the village of Teetarpur as a kind of India-in-microcosm... A powerful, immersive and unsentimental novel of modern India, Black River establishes Nilanjana Roy as a crime novelist with which to be reckoned' -Irish Times

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Book SynopsisMother of Eden has been shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Novel of the Year Award, 2015.'We speak of a mother's love, but we forget her power. Power over life. Power to give and to withhold.' Generations after the breakup of the human family of Eden, the Johnfolk emphasise knowledge and innovation, the Davidfolk tradition and cohesion. But both have built hierarchical societies sustained by violence and dominated by men - and both claim to be the favoured children of a long-dead woman from Earth that all Eden knows as Gela, the mother of them all. When Starlight Brooking meets a handsome and powerful man from across Worldpool, she believes he will offer an outlet for her ambition and energy. But she has no idea that she will be a stand-in for Gela herself, and wear Gela's ring on her own finger. And she has no idea of the enemies she will make, no inkling that a time will come when she, like John Redlantern, will choose to kill...Trade ReviewEvery bit as compelling as Dark Eden was... Eden is building into one of most vivid and fascinating places in modern SF -- Eddie Robson * SFX *Mother of Eden is a masterpiece * Guardian *A classic theme, beautifully told * Sunday Telegraph on DARK EDEN *This is a world I'm desperate to return to * Guardian on DARK EDEN *There's no justice if Dark Eden, with its beautiful, terrifying planet, slowly revealed, fails to bring Beckett awards * The Sunday Times on DARK EDEN *A captivating and haunting book * Daily Mail on DARK EDEN *

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Book Synopsis'Astonishing' Herald, Books of the Year'Sublime' Irish Times, Book of the Year'Wonderful' Guardian, Books of the YearDuring a sweltering South American summer, a family convenes for dinner at a restaurant. Midway through the meal, Carlos disappears. An experienced, semi-retired inspector takes the case, but what should be a routine investigation becomes something strange, intangible, even sinister. The corporation for which Carlos worked seems to serve no purpose; the staff talk of their missing colleague's alarming, shifting physical symptoms; a forensic scientist uncovers evidence of curious abnormalities in the thriving microorganisms that shared Carlos's body. As the inspector relives and retraces the missing man's footsteps, the trail leads him away from the city sprawl and deep into the country's rainforest interior, where he encounters both horror and wonder.Trade ReviewStunning - a totally original, surreal mystery shot through with hints of the best of César Aira, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, and Julio Cortázar. Smart, clever, and honest. I doubt you've read anything quite like it. -- Jeff VanderMeer, author of The Southern Reach trilogyWeird, wonderful, totally indefinable * Guardian, Books of the Year *Sublime * Irish Times, Books of the Year *Astonishing * Herald, Books of the Year *An electrifying piece of work: strange, terrifying, riveting, and written with scintillating intelligence. In its thinking about the porosity between the human and the non-human, it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ballard, Lem, VanderMeer, Tom McCarthy -- Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of OthersThis is the work of a most singular and inventive mind, matched by writing with real flair and clarity. It is a book alive with ideas and cock-eyed intelligence, brimming with passages of genuine brilliance. Infinite Ground does that magical thing that only the very best novels do: it makes you see the world afresh. Dazzling stuff -- Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of His Bloody ProjectStrange, haunting, dislocating -- Ian Rankin, author of the Rebus seriesBrimming with strong, startling ideas... A curious and often remarkable book * Literary Review *A novel of intelligence, grace, cunning and warped imagination, one that melds and sometimes clashes styles and influences to create something original and unsettling. It is a bravura performance, and one that announces Martin MacInnes as one of our most exciting new voices -- Stuart Evers, author of Your Father Sends his LoveLabyrinthine, beautifully written and teeming with ideas about fiction and reality that linger long in the mind... A frighteningly good debut novel -- Lee Rourke, author of Vulgar Things

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Book Synopsis‘Shockingly original’ The Times ‘A literary freestyler with brio to burn…scabrous and very funny’ Guardian ‘A no-holds-barred comedic romp’ Junot Diaz After creating the perfect beat, DJ Darky goes in search of Charles Stone, aka the Schwa, a little known avant-garde jazzman, to play over his sonic masterpiece. His quest brings him to a recently unified Berlin, where he stumbles through the city's dreamy streets ruminating about race, sex, love, Teutonic gods and the Berlin Wall in search of his artistic – and spiritual – other. Ferocious, bombastic and laugh-out-loud funny, Slumberland is the second novel from Man Booker-winner Paul Beatty, a comic genius at the top of his game.Trade Review‘What Gore Vidal did for sex and gender constructs, Beatty does for race and prominent black Americans, with sacred cow-tipping on nearly every page. Waterfalls of wordplay that pool and merge like acid jazz on the page.’ * Washington Post *‘A remarkably strange and funny meditation…revelatory and mind-blowing.’ * Seattle Times *

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Book SynopsisIt's like Fight Club meets The Great British Bake Off - NPRLois Clary is a software engineer. She codes all day and collapses at night into her sofa, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the local takeaway from which she orders dinner every evening - that is, until the brothers are forced out of business. But they have one last delivery for Lois: their culture, the sourdough starter used to bake their famous bread. She must keep it alive, feed it daily, play it music, and learn to bake with it. Lois is no baker, but soon, not only is she eating her own homemade, but she's initiated into a fantastical and possibly fantastically sinister underground world: a secret market that aims to fuse home-cooked food with cutting-edge technology...Trade ReviewGenius-level observant, wonderfully written and absolutely brilliant * Daily Mail *Both comforting and thrillingly odd... Shelve it alongside Where'd You Go Bernadette and your hipster cookbooks, and savour * Guardian *It's like Fight Club meets The Great British Bake Off * NPR *Delightful... Smart, hip and witty * Washington Post *An enjoyable slice of fiction, spread thickly with plot * Financial Times *Merciless, ingenious and hilarious. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2019 Hearst Big Books Award - Cosmopolitan's Book of the Year A Mirror 'Best Books to Read This Summer' pick______________A big-hearted, captivating, modern-day Muslim Pride and Prejudice, with hijabs instead of top hats and kurtas instead of corsets. Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been overtaken by a demanding teaching job. Her boisterous Muslim family, and numerous (interfering) aunties, are professional naggers. And her flighty young cousin, about to reject her one hundredth marriage proposal, is a constant reminder that Ayesha is still single.Ayesha might be a little lonely, but the one thing she doesn't want is an arranged marriage. And then she meets Khalid... How could a man so conservative and judgmental (and, yes, smart and annoyingly handsome) have wormed his way into her thoughts so quickly?As for Khalid, he's happy the way he is; his mother will find him a suitable bride. But why can't he get the captivating, outspoken Ayesha out of his mind? They're far too different to be a good match, surely...'A clever homage to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that you'll love, even if you never got round to reading the original.' CosmopolitanTrade ReviewA clever homage to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that you'll love, even if you never got round to reading the original. * Cosmopolitan *Compassionate, warm, and wholly satisfying * The Skinny *It's unpredictable, even if you've read Pride and Prejudice... love -- Jasmine Guillory, author of 'The Proposal' * O, The Oprah Magazine *A sparkling love story... The criss-crossing sub-plots - both gritty and comic - keep the pages turning, and make this a treat for fans of romance with extra bite. * Love Reading *Charming, heartwarming * Dazed *An enthralling adaptation of the classic Pride and Prejudice... This version of the well-loved novel is innovative, relevant and so very relatable... complete with cross-culture nuances, wit, humour and classic romance. A must read for Jane Austen fans. * Asian Image *This is the book I've been waiting for since my long-running Jane Austen obsession. Move over Darcy, Khalid's in town. * S. K. Ali, author of Saints and Misfits *Uzma Jalaluddin blazes a brilliant new trail with Ayesha At Last, a captivating romance set in the Muslim community, brimming with humour and heart. You will fall in love with Ayesha and Khalid - an Elizabeth and Darcy for our times. * Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of A Dangerous Crossing *Ayesha At Last is a cross-cultural pleasure, a romp, a modern, Muslim salute to Pride and Prejudice. The lovely, witty writing is testimony to an excellent eye and ear at work. * Elinor Lipman, author of On Turpentine Lane *Enchanting, achingly funny and uplifting, Ayesha at Last is a must read! * Randa Abdel-Fattah, author of Does My Head Look Big in This? *An excellent modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. With humor and abundant cultural references, Jalaluddin cleverly illustrates the social pressures facing young Indian-Muslim adults. A highly entertaining tale of family, community, and romance. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *A lively and raucous story that mixes a zany cast of characters with a tightly wound plot... Delicious, adorable and entertaining. * Kirkus, starred review *Delightful. Innovative, relevant and so very relatable. * Asian Life Magazine *Interesting family dynamics, diverse characters, and a sweet romance make this a quick yet satisfying read for a winter weekend indoors. * Lake Minnetonka Magazine *This gratifying, big-hearted story seamlessly weaves together Shakespearean comedy, saag paneer, gossipy aunties, pro wrestling, spoken-word poetry, Ikea furniture, Fajr prayer, AA meetings and every variety of love. * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis'I've never read anything quite like Songbirds - a beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class.' Jodi PicoultShe walks unseen through our world.Cares for our children, cleans our homes.Her voice unheard.She has a story to tell.Will you listen?Nisha has crossed oceans to give her child a future. By day she cares for Petra's daughter; at night she mothers her own little girl by the light of a phone. Nisha's lover, Yiannis, is a poacher, hunting the tiny songbirds on their way to Africa each winter. His dreams of a new life, and of marrying Nisha, are shattered when she vanishes. No one cares about the disappearance of a domestic worker, except Petra and Yiannis. As they set out to search for her, they realise how little they know about Nisha. What they uncover will change them all.Set in her native Cyprus, Christy Lefteri has crafted a powerful, redemptive story of loss, of the triumph of the human spirit, and of the enduring love of a mother for her child.COMING IN AUGUST 2023, CHRISTY LEFTERI'S BREATHTAKING NEW NOVEL, THE BOOK OF FIREPraise for Christy Lefteri:'This thought-provoking novel of love loss and redemption is thoroughly sublime.' Caroline Montague'Lefteri is an astonishing weaver of stories.' Daljit Nagra' . . . broke my heart and kept me turning the pages of her gorgeous novel well into the night.' Alka Joshi, NYT-bestselling author of The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur'Christy Lefteri has crafted a beautiful novel, intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant.' Benjamin Zephaniah on The Beekeeper of Aleppo' . . . it's impossible not to be moved by Lefteri's plea for humanity and perhaps inspired too.' Observer, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo'Courageous, proactive, haunting.' Heather Morris, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo***DON'T MISS CHRISTY LEFTERI'S MOVING AND CAPTIVATING NEW NOVEL: THE BOOK OF FIRE, OUT NOW!***

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Book SynopsisGirl meets boy. It's a story as old as time. But what happens when an old story meets a brand new set of circumstances? Ali Smith's remix of Ovid's most joyful metamorphosis is a story about the kind of fluidity that can't be bottled and sold. It is about girls and boys, girls and girls, love and transformation, a story of puns and doubles, reversals and revelations. Funny and fresh, poetic and political, here is a tale of change for the modern world.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 ReviewExuberant . . . Slender, sweet natured and lyrical * * Guardian * *Joyful -- JEANETTE WINTERSON * * The Times * *Girl Meets Boy pulls you in and doesn't let you go . . . bold and brilliant -- JACKIE KAYA glorious wide-awake dream of a book . . . My heart was beating and tears stood in my eyes, even as I had the biggest smile written all over my face -- KIRSTY GUNN * * Observer * *Poetic . . . Smith remembers what the ancients knew: that musical words drum a beat through to understanding * * The Times * *Clever, complex and thrilling * * TLS * *A joyful and playful remix . . . The result is an ecstatic, exhilarating helter-skelter ride of a story which shows just how relevant Ovid's myth of the transformative power of love is to modern readers * * Financial Times * *Those familiar with Smith's playfully inventive fiction will not be disappointed by this light-as-air retelling of Ovid's tale . . . this jolly jeu d'esprit wears its heart defiantly on its sleeve * * The Times * *[A] whimsical spin on the myth of Iphis and Ianthe . . . mischief, enchantment and impish wit . . . [Smith's] dancing prose and nimble storytelling are palpable hits * * Sunday Times * *In this modern-day reinterpretation, Ali Smith, with humour and typical linguistic versatility, explores issues of homophobia, corporate and social responsibility and the sheer vertiginous feeling of falling in love * * Independent on Sunday * *

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Book SynopsisThe FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library. Each stunning edition features deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader.Set in twelfth-century England during the reign of Richard I, Ivanhoe is Sir Walter Scott’s best known novel. Its depictions of witch trials, violent tournaments, sieges and ambushes make it a gripping read. The tense divisions between the Normans and the Saxons, the rich, the poor and the controversial figure of Robin Hood, and between King Richard and his untrustworthy brother are all explored in this brilliant account of the medieval era.

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Book Synopsis'Fantastic - a wonderful book' Lily Cole 'Magical, rich and magnificent' Maxine Peake 'A wild ride! She sees Graves' White Goddess and raises 50 with female magic and transformations' Margaret Atwood 'A rare book, bold and powerful' Xiaolu Guo 'Wild, original...a beautiful work' Neel Mukherjee SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2022 NOMINATED FOR THE OTHERWISE AWARD 2022 A storm, a disappearance, a band of women and a remote island where anything is possible. On an unnamed archipelago off the east coast of Britain, Eva Levi has made it her life's work to build a community truly run by women. Now she has disappeared, rumours spread that it will be destroyed. But Cwen will never let that happen. Cwen has been here longer than the civilisation she has returned to haunt. Her name has ancient roots, reaching down into the earth and halfway around the world. The islands she inhabits have always belonged to women. And she will do anything she can to protect them. This remarkable novel is a portrait of female power and female potential, both to shelter and to harm. It reaches into our mythical past and opens up space for us to dream of a radical future.Trade ReviewA clever, strange and wonderful book, which brims with mystery. A group of women recount their past and present stories, revealing their visions of the future. CWEN by Alice Albinia is a rare book, bold and powerful. -- Xiaolu GuoA wild, original, sure-footed feminist reimagining of the present and the past that brushes up against the mythical. Beautiful work. -- Neel MukherjeeA phenomenal novel showing us that learning to love our female selves is essential for survival. -- Farhana Yamin, Environmental Lawyer, Woman’s Hour Power List: Our PlanetI loved everything about Cwen, a fable that is filled with wisdom but leavened with humour, balancing the light and dark, and expressing female fury as well as tenderness. -- Ceridwen DoveyMagical, rich and magnificent, Cwen leads us from past to the present through a cast of majestic women. Exploring and reigniting the feminine might and its unbreakable connection with Mother Nature. -- Maxine PeakeA wonderful vision of Britain's deep history of myth and matriarchy * Guardian Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books 2021 *

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Book SynopsisThe narrator of Cold Nights of Childhood grows up in a rapidly changing Turkey, where the atmosphere is nationalist, patriarchal, technocratic. As a misfit in search of freedom, love and happiness, she escapes to Berlin, is overcome by depression on her return, and trapped in a psychiatry clinic for five years. After electroshock therapy and inhumane treatment, she is released into the care of friends and family, making tentative steps in a halting journey towards recovery. In her unique, unstructured style, Tezer Özlü explores the extremity of her inner life and the painful pleasures of memory. Translated into English for the first time by Maureen Freely, this novel is a classic akin to The Bell Jar and Good Morning, Midnight.Trade ReviewA remarkable account of mental breakdown and the long, dark road to recovery ... Maureen Freely as translator is particularly deft in capturing the beauties of Özlü's own writing * Irish Times *Packs a powerful punch ... there is a dreamlike quality to Özlü's lyrical prose -- Lucy Popescu, the TabletVirtuosic and elliptical ... this voice neither exalts itself nor judges itself. It's uncanny how clearly Özlü speaks of a different time yet, simultaneously, of this moment. -- Jonathan MacAloon * Financial Times *An incredible discovery for the English-speaking world, especially for women struggling to find their own place in an society that doesn't want to make them welcome... As a record of feelings, it's as pointed as an icicle, and as soothing as a cactus. It's a fantastic read. -- Sarah Manvel * BookMunch *A fragmentary, freewheeling novel about one woman's madness and resilience ... fierce and frightening but witty and deeply affecting too -- Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation

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Book SynopsisTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER''Delectable and fun'' Guardian''Kuku astounds with her presentation of modern day Lagos'' Tatler''Bewitching and revelatory'' The New York TimesOne night, you will calmly put a knife to your husband's penis and promise to cut it off. It will scare him so much that the next day, he will call his family members for a meeting in the house. He will not call your family members, but you will not care.Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad is a collection of twelve short stories featuring characters with unique voices and stories that represent the diverse class, gender and ethnic melting pot that is Lagos.There's a story of a young lady who tries to find her oyibo soulmate on the streets of Lagos; another of a pastor's wife who defends her husband from an allegation of adultery; a wife takes a knife to her husband's penis; a night of lust between a rising musician and his Instagram baddie takes an unexpected turn.Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad underscores with wit, humour, wisdom and sensitivity, the perils of trying to find lasting love and companionship in Africa's most notorious city.

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Book Synopsis'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' GUARDIAN 'An intoxicating, morally shaking read... A real reminder of what fiction can do best' ALI SMITH 'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' WES ANDERSON _______________ The only novel written by one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century In 1913, young second lieutenant Hofmiller discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance-so begins a series of visits, motivated by pity, which relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope. Stefan Zweig's unforgettable novel is a devastating depiction of the betrayal of both honour and love, amid the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Trade Review'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' - Wes Anderson'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' - The Guardian'It really touched me. I'm not an easy crier, not at all. But this book was one of the few moments that I found myself sobbing. It was a knife to my heart' - Shira Haas, star of the Netflix hit series 'Unorthodox''The novel I'll really remember reading this year is Stefan Zweig's frighteningly gripping Beware of Pity, first published in 1939 ... and part of the ongoing, valiant reprinting by Pushkin Press of Zweig's collected oeuvre; an intoxicating, morally shaking read about human responsibilities and a real reminder of what fiction can do best' - Ali Smith'An unremittingly tense parable about emotional blackmail, this is a book which turns every reader into a fanatic' - Julie Kavanagh, Intelligent Life (The Economist)

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

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Book SynopsisFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Last House Guest, a Reese's Book Club pick.We had no warning that she would come back...Welcome to Hollow's Edge - a picture-perfect neighbourhood where everyone has each other's backs. At least, that's how it used to be, until the night Brandon and Fiona Truett were found dead...Two years ago, branded a grifter, thief and sociopath by her friends and neighbours, Ruby Fletcher was convicted of murdering the Truetts. Now, freed by mistrial, Ruby has returned to Hollow's Edge. But why would she come back? No one wants her there, least of all her old housemate, Harper Nash. As Ruby's return sends shockwaves through the community, terrified residents turn on each other, and it soon becomes clear that not everyone was honest about the night the Truetts died. When Harper begins to receive threatening, anonymous notes, she realizes she has to uncover the truth before someone else gets hurt... Someone like her.Trade ReviewJaw-dropping plot twists galore * Times Crime Club *Miranda is a master of misdirection and sudden plot twists, leading up to a wallop of an ending. A powerful, paranoid thriller * Booklist (Starred review) *The twists keep coming until the very last page. Agatha Christie fans will welcome this 21st-century update on the classic golden age village mystery. * Publishers Weekly *A claustrophobic and suspenseful whodunit...that ponders the eternal question of how well we really know those closest to us * BookPage (Starred Review) *The perfect suburban setting; the secretive, quirky neighbors; three unsolved murders; and an Agatha Christie vibe make this whodunit an excellent beach read. * Library Journal *An unnerving and extremely classy thriller * Observer on The Girl from Widow Hills *Are you paying attention? You'll need to be; this thriller will test your brain with its reverse chronological structure, and it's a page-turner to boot. * Elle Magazine on All The Missing Girls *Fast-paced and gripping * People on The Last House Guest *

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Book SynopsisThe Arrest isn't post-apocalypse. It isn't a dystopia. It isn't a utopia. It's just what happens when much of what we take for granted - cars, guns, computers, and airplanes, for starters - stops working... Before the Arrest, Sandy Duplessis had a reasonably good life as a screenwriter in L.A. An old college friend and writing partner, the charismatic and malicious Peter Todbaum, had become one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. That didn't hurt.Now, post-Arrest, nothing is what it was. Sandy, who calls himself Journeyman, has landed in rural Maine. There he assists the butcher and delivers the food grown by his sister, Maddy, at her organic farm. But then Todbaum shows up in an extraordinary vehicle: a retrofitted tunnel-digger powered by a nuclear reactor. Todbaum has spent the Arrest smashing his way across a fragmented and phantasmagorical United States, trailing enmities all the way. Plopping back into the siblings' life with his usual odious panache, his motives are entirely unclear. Can it be that Todbaum wants to produce one more extravaganza? Whatever he's up to, it may fall to Journeyman to stop him. Written with unrepentant joy and shot through with just the right amount of contemporary dread, The Arrest is speculative fiction at its absolute finest.Trade ReviewThe thing about the best Lethem novels - and I'm thinking back to early in his career, to Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude - is that they were such fun. I've read everything he's written since and rarely has a novel approached the sheer pleasure of The Arrest... It is, in short, a blast. * Observer *Exuberantly clever... extremely strange, twistily plotted, fizzingly written, not a little absurd and lingeringly mysterious. * Daily Telegraph *Lethem's pithy chapters - some poetic, some sharp, others both - bring this eerily timely tale to a grim, if wry, conclusion. * Daily Mail *Inventive, entertaining and superbly written * New York Times *A certain goofy charm... Jonathan Lethem's apocalypse is a whimsical one. * The Times *An impeccably executed, moving, and wildly inventive tale of madness and narrative at the end of the world. Lethem is at the top of his game. * Emily St. John Mandel, author of STATION ELEVEN *A pleasingly idiosyncratic take on things falling apart * SFX *If part of the point of The Arrest is that we love our apocalypses neatly packaged, then Lethem deserves credit for refusing to play along: his inimitable imagination never stops delivering curveballs. * Daily Mail *Jonathan Lethem's latest novel, "The Arrest," is a work of literary fiction that associates itself with the science fiction subculture by launching a carefully planned assault on the science fiction pop-culture juggernaut. In doing so, the book provides a quietly lyrical alternative to the uberviolence and cliché blustering of Hollywood plots. * Boston Globe *The Arrest is a novel that defies description in the best possible way, which makes it quintessentially a work of Jonathan Lethem's at his most sublime. It's an organic tale of the apocalypse, a Hollywood parable, and a fable of survival and surrender. The prose crackles, the jokes land hard and fast, and the story's heart is sensationally large. Spectacularly imaginative but grounded in humanity and hope - The Arrest is a perfect novel for this moment and future ones. * Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women *It's a wonderful read, the writing gracefully gonzo, the emotional beats often unexpected yet quite right. * Los Angeles Times *As a writer gifted at playing with genre forms and riffing on popular culture, (Lethem) enjoys tweaking dystopian-novel conventions. * USA TODAY *Sentence by sentence, Lethem is sheer visual delight. * Financial Times *The Arrest is a very wry, very smart novel - every wink and twist is pre-empted. For all the genre shenanigans it has a proper purpose. * Stuart Kelly, Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThe stunning conclusion to Anne Holt's phenomenal series featuring Johanne Vik and Adam Stubo.On a summer's day, Johanne Vik arrives at the home of her friends Jon and Ellen Mohr and was greeted by a scene of devastation: their young son, left unattended, has tragically fallen to his death.Meanwhile, Oslo is under attack. An explosion has torn the city apart and newly qualified police officer Henrik Holme is the only one available to attend the Mohr household. As Holme investigates, he casts doubt on the claim that the death was a tragic accident and calls upon Johanne's profiling expertise to understand what really happened. But neither realise that those involved are determined to hide the truth - no matter what. Before the summer is over, more shocking deaths will occur...Trade ReviewAnne Holt reveals how truly dark it gets in Scandinavia. -- Val McDermidLively, unusual and persuasive. Holt writes with the command we have come to expect from the top Scandinavian writers. * The Times *It's easy to see why Anne Holt, the former minister of justice in Norway and its bestselling female crime writer, is rapturously received in the rest of Europe. * Guardian *Step aside, Stieg Larsson, Holt is the queen of Scandinavian crime thrillers. * Red Magazine *Anne Holt is a thriller writer of the highest order. -- Liza Marklund

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR Out on the road, no one speaks, everything talks. Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed grandma Jean has never been good at getting on with other humans, apart from her granddaughter, Kimberly. Instead, she surrounds herself with animals, working as a guide in an outback wildlife park. Then, a strange pandemic begins sweeping the country, its chief symptom that its victims begin to understand the language of animals. Many infected people lose their minds, including Jean’s son, Lee. When he takes off with Kimberly, Jean follows, with Sue the dingo riding shotgun. As they travel, they discover a stark, strange world in which the animal apocalypse has only further isolated people from other species.Trade Review‘A fierce debut novel … Her writing about people is filthy, fresh, and funny; this is prose on high alert, hackles up and teeth bared in every sentence. The novel becomes both a stirring attempt to inhabit other consciousnesses and a wry demonstration of the limits of our own language and empathy. ’ -- Justine Jordan * The Guardian *‘This is a game-changing, life-changing novel, the kind that comes along right when you need it, and compels you to listen to its terrifying poetry. Compulsively readable and yet also pushing the boundaries of what is possible in terms of language and narrative, this is a brilliant and disturbing book that will make you rethink everything you thought you understood about non-human animal sentience and agency. I don’t think any reader can ever forget a voice like Sue the dingo’s — wise and obscene in equal measure. A triumph.’ * Ceridwen Dovey, author of Only the Animals *‘A heartfelt novel.’ * Psychologies *‘A taut exploration of loneliness and devotion, The Animals in That Country is rich with raw heartache and strange, carnal poetry.’ -- Sue Rainsford, author of Follow Me to Ground‘A powerful, uncanny tale.’ -- Justine Jordan * The Guardian *‘A hidden treasure … Read it!’ -- Foyles Bookstore‘Wow! The Animals in That Country is refreshingly original and totally bonkers, and I read it at a furious pace. Jean Bennett is one of the most memorable characters I’ve read in a long time. I loved her brass and her messiness, and when the end of times comes, most of us will be lucky to have half her loyalty and determination. The story is hugely imaginative and fully realised, with McKay in total control of her creative vision. She explores the potential of human/nonhuman communication, and the result is as poetic as it is surprising. A great debut novel.’ -- Alison Huber, Book Division Manager Readings‘This novel is one wild ride, from beginning to end. I loved Jean’s character — middle-aged, flawed, and foul-mouthed — desperately trying to keep herself together and to hold on to the family she has left. Sue the dingo is a glorious character, full of wild instinct yet all-knowing about the humans she encounters. This is one of the most unique, quirky stories I’ve read in a long time and a telling insight into how we see and relate to native wildlife. Laura Jean McKay’s is a fresh, innovative voice with a story that grabs you by the muzzle, leading you on an apocalyptic trip that you won’t forget easily.’ * Jenny Barry, Booksplus Bathurst *‘This book drips with angst and excitement … a truly original story teeming with intrigue.’ -- Suzie Bull, Farrells Bookshop‘Reminiscent of Ceridwen Dovey’s Only the Animals, McKay offers an exciting and necessary new voice in Australian fiction. We’ve all wished we could talk to animals, but McKay teaches us that we really should be careful what we wish for. By turns bizarre and profound, this is a striking debut.’ -- Jaclyn Crupi, Hill of Content Bookshop‘In this warm, wild, and irreverent debut, Laura Jean McKay takes us into the minds of animals to reveal the complexity of their lives. The Animals in That Country avoids the trap of anthropomorphism, showing instead the absurd, intense, and shifting bonds between humans and animals.’ -- Mireille Juchau, author of The World Without Us‘McKay is a master at building tension through sparse, abrupt language that mirrors Jean’s decades of alcohol abuse, and the excellent world-building is enhanced by the exquisite chemistry between Jean and her canine companion Sue. Visceral and discombobulating yet tender, The Animals in That Country will appeal to readers who enjoyed the animal-led stories in Ceridwen Dovey’s Only the Animals, and the foreboding road trip in Romy Ash’s Floundering.’ -- Sonia Nair * Books+Publishing *‘Deliriously strange, blackly hilarious, and completely exhilarating, The Animals in That Country is a wonderful debut from a genuinely original and exciting new voice.’ -- James Bradley, author of Clade‘Engrossing, subversive, and surprisingly profound, The Animals in That Country does something only the best fiction can do: it has the power to skew the reader’s perspective on the world. This story will stay with me for a long time, and its protagonist, Jean Bennett, will be with me even longer.’ -- J.P. Pomare, author of Call Me Evie‘Weird, wonderful and strangely moving. I will be thinking about this strange book, about Jean and Sue, for a long long time.’ -- Eloise Grills, author of Big Beautiful Female Theory‘An imaginative tour de force — assured, compelling, and utterly original, this book will change how you see the world. Laura Jean McKay's powers are in full evidence here: her singular gift for empathy, enviable storytelling chops, and deftly elegant language will shift your frame of reference and leave you altered, in the best of ways. A unique and important work that explores the bond between humans and animals — and indeed throws the whole dividing line between us into doubt.’ -- Meg Mundell, author of The Trespassers‘You know when you finish a book and you know that book will occupy your mind for a long time? The Animals in That Country is one of those. I haven’t read a book like it and I don’t think I will again ... The speech is almost poetic, full of metaphors and stunted syntax that (initially) confounds those hearing it ... This book is simultaneously laugh-out-loud funny and soul-crushingly depressing, in a way I can only describe as reminiscent of Waiting for Godot.’ FIVE STARS -- Max Lewis * Good Reading *‘If you read The Animals in That Country, it will be the wildest ride you take all year.’ -- Maria Takolander * The Saturday Paper *‘The writing is vibrant, energetic, and refreshing, and the narrative leaps off the page ... a wild, engaging ride for readers.’ -- Karen Viggers * The Australian *‘A wild and original ride of a read.’ * New Idea *‘Laura Jean McKay, an expert in animal communication, has her animals speaking in hallucinogenic haikus — it’s disturbing but compelling, and somehow totally believable. I loved every bizarre, unexpected moment.’ -- Corinna Hente * Herald Sun *‘An incredible achievement in storytelling, and absolutely worth your time ... one of the best Australian novels of the year.’ -- Nicholas Wasiliev * Booktopia *‘Eerily prescient … The Animals in That Country offers a timely take on the fraught ways animals feature in our lives, and how devastating it would be if we heard what they had to say.’ FIVE STARS -- Erin Stewart * ArtsHub *‘This is a work of not only remarkable linguistic skill but also one that brilliantly captures our relationship with the inhabitants of this wild world.’ FOUR STARS -- Mitchell Jordan * The Big Issue *‘The genius stroke of The Animals in That Country is the preternatural ‘body talk’ of its animals ... an affecting book, one that gets remarkably close to the unknowable wildness of animal sentience.’ -- Jack Callil * The Age *‘A standout debut novel of 2020 ... Original, hugely entertaining, and superbly crafted, this is one heck of a road-trip novel, whose timing and insights into human behaviour in a crisis could not be more prescient.’ -- Alison Huber * Readings Booksellers *‘Strikingly original ... It’s a tale that is at turns bizarre and surprisingly affecting, populated by a cast of richly idiosyncratic characters and posing timely questions about the ways we relate both to animals and to each other.’ -- Gemma Nisbet * The Weekend West *‘This is a beguiling, thought-provoking story penned with passion, intricate animals knowledge and great creativity ... Disturbing, challenging, and addictive, the book prompts you to wonder about what animals are really thinking.’ -- Sue Wallace * The Weekly Times *‘McKay is a master of voice-driven narrative. I never thought a substance-abusing grandmother was just who I needed to take me on an apocalyptic road trip — and that long after I gulped the book down, I'd be haunted by the words of a dingo called Sue.’ -- Sofija Stefanovic, author of Miss Ex-Yugoslavia‘This is an absorbing and affecting book, and one to which I’m able to pay the highest compliment: that, in the days after finishing it, the world felt different to me, its animals not speaking but not silent either.’ -- Ben Brooker * Australian Book Review *‘The beauty of this book is that it never quite goes where the reader expects it to go. McKay zigs when the reader expects her to zag. And the whole builds to a kind of slow-moving climax ... The Animals in That Country takes an intriguing premise and absolutely runs with it. While delivering one of the strangest road trips ever, McKay considers the nature of family, the human response to the unknown and our relationship with the animals kingdom, among other things.’ -- Robert Goodman * The Blurb *‘[A] compelling and haunting debut … Scattered with dark humour and driven by a compelling plot, The Animals in That Country is an outstanding and timely examination of human morality. It will change the way you view both animals and the world.’ -- Chloë Cooper * Audrey Magazine *‘McKay has written a searing dystopian critique of our relationship with the natural world … Through poetic projections of what the animals might say if they could, McKay highlights our limited capacity to communicate with language, and our human-centric view of the natural order … Earthy, visceral, at-times obscene, and all-too-real, The Animals In That Country is nevertheless compelling and oddly buoying … McKay is a masterful storyteller, and her talent truly shines in this quest for family and belonging.’ -- Sheree Strange * Primer *‘As we grapple with a worldwide pandemic, Australian author McKay’s novel is incredibly timely and feels all the more real for it … filled with humour, optimism, and grace: a wild ride worth taking. An eye-opening glimpse into a world that’s turned upside down and eventually becomes its own version of whole.’ -- Carol Gladstein * Booklist *‘Part pandemic novel and part beast fable, McKay’s novel, which takes its title from a Margaret Atwood poem, imagines a disease that causes humans to understand animal language, down to the lowliest insect. Acerbic wildlife guide Jean and a dingo named Sue set off through the Australian Outback in pursuit of the former’s son, who has absconded south after losing his mind, like so many others, due to the new voices that now seemingly occupy every space.’ * Publishers Weekly, ‘Going Viral: New Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020’ *‘A bravura investigation of the relations between humans and animals.’ -- Lara Freigel * The Guardian *‘Disturbingly timely, The Animals In That Country chronicles the journey of one no-bullshit woman and her half-wild dingo as they race against a deadly pandemic. Jean is brilliantly crafted — unapologetically rough and yet filled with hidden vulnerability. McKay's tale pulled me in with its entertaining nature then dragged me under with its profound nuance.’ -- Laura Graveline * Brazos Bookstore *‘Surprising and surprisingly-convincing characters, and a well-realised, inventive premise.’ -- Kate Evans * ABC News *‘A gritty and innovative wonder about an animal-borne virus (yep) that cracks opens channels between interspecies communication. The result is a raucous fever dream of a road story, evocative of Kenneth Cook, Hunter S. Thompson, and Ceridwen Dovey – but ultimately, McKay defies comparison.’ * Josephine Rowe *‘A timely dystopian novel in which a dangerous flu sweeps across Australia, giving those infected the power to speak with animals, with dark, disturbing results.’ -- Maxine Beneba Clarke‘A wildly inventive dystopian adventure … Both a hell of a ride and a revealing thought experiment about our place in the natural world.’ -- Dan Kois * Slate *‘The Animals in That Country is an uncanny book, in no small part because it was released in March and has a pandemic is at its centre … McKay’s book is madcap and poetic by turns; concerned about exactly what constitutes the relationships between humans and animals, and how we see each other and interact in this world we share.’ -- Fiona Wright * The Guardian *‘This book changed the way I look at the relationship between humans and animals, and it has one of the most wonderful dingo protagonists in Sue.’ -- Krissy Kneen * Broadsheet *‘Bold and strikingly inventive.’ -- Gemma Nisbet * The Weekend West Australian *‘The Animals in That Country is not a philosophical or moral tale. An experiment, rather than a lecture, the book invites readers to reflect on the fact that we belong to Mother Nature, instead of the other way around. And we are not her only child … A wildly imaginative and adventurous story that challenges the boundaries of both our language and our empathy for other creature surviving, living and thriving in this world.’ -- Christine Sun * Upper Yarra Mail *‘McKay does not offer us anthropomorphised cartoons, but a vocabulary formed by scent and breath … As the novel progresses, and more animals are introduced, it becomes impossible not to believe in McKay’s creative choices. In the arrangement and the rhythms and the personalities of each animal she translates, it is obvious McKay withheld nothing … McKay has not written a white lie about how lovely it would be to speak with a dog. Instead, she has asked that necessary, and uncomfortable question: Do we really want to know what the rest of the planet thinks of us?’ * Necessary Fiction *‘It was an absorbing read. Really inventive storytelling.’ -- Kate Miller-Heidke * Sydney Morning Herald *‘The Animals in that Country is that rare thing: an intellectually ambitious, formally innovative Australian novel that is accessible to a broad readership. It’s also wonderfully macabre … This is a work of fiction utterly capable of swaying the cultural imaginary … well-researched, impeccably crafted, and, above all, intelligent.’ -- Julienne van Loon * The Conversation *‘Amazing.’ -- Pip Adam * Stuff *‘The exploration of kinship, the untrusting nature of people and how different animal species view humans are stand-out aspects of this novel. The ‘rough as guts’ Jean is a loveable and humorous narrator and her relationship with Sue makes for great comedic relief during the times in the story when they are in unwelcoming company and ‘animal free’ zones … [B]eing offered glimpses into animals’ minds was one of the most powerful offerings of this novel. This is a book for anyone who has ever wanted to talk to animals, or even just looked at their pet and wondered what they were thinking.’ -- Nelya Valamanesh * InDaily *‘[The Animals in That Country] is disturbing and darkly comic, disrupting anthropocentric assumptions, revealing how animals might see our often violent intrusion into their lives … McKay’s innovation lies in the startlingly newness of the plot and the innovations in form in conveying animal voices as agentic and different … The Animals in that Country marks a striking new moment in animal representation in Australian fiction.’ * ALS Gold Medal Judge's' Citation *‘[A] bravura investigation of the relations between humans and animals.’ -- Lara Feigel * The Guardian *‘A cross between Thelma & Louise and Doctor Doolittle ... I really enjoyed this book.’ -- Andy Miller * BBC Radio 4 A Good Read *‘A stunning and disquieting account of a virus which gives infected humans the ability to understand animals.’ * Massey University *‘Delves into relationships, how we communicate, and our often complicated relationships with family members. A book that explores more than your typical road trip, with a certainly less than typical sidekick, the book is fresh, funny, and full of characters.’ * Forbes *‘While humour is rampant, [The Animals in That Country] is all too disturbingly believable. By them being given a voice, a set of languages humans can understand, animals’ intelligence— and rights—are recognised. [This novel] is a barking, squawking, roaring, brawling free-for-all. And considering it was written pre-corona, yes, preposterous in its prescience, too.’ -- Craig Pearce * Wild Magazine *‘[Laura Jean McKay's] book is like two novels sandwiched together: one about an outback road-chase involving a hard-living, middle-aged woman, the other a dystopian tale of a pandemic, the main symptom of which causes societal collapse. What is admirable is how the excitement of the first and the significance of the second intertwine so that both become part of a whole, where the philosophical questions raised by the power shift between animals and humans are present without overburdening the action of the chase. Darkly funny, this engrossing novel has a surprisingly affecting end.’ -- Janet Newman * Landfall Review Online *‘The winner of the 2021 Victorian Premier’s Prize for Fiction, among many other accolades, sees a pandemic (coincidentally) raging through Australia, in which those infected with ‘zooflu’ can understand the various languages of animals. The big question, and the one McKay handles beautifully, is what, exactly, those animals are saying and what effect that has on the people who can’t help but listen.’ -- Paul Dalgarno, Herald Sun's Top 50 Summer Reads 2022

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Book SynopsisIn The Beforeland, a boy’s desperate act of rebellion against his grandmother reverberates outward, causing rifts and reckonings in the lives of others: a man fleeing his own troubled family who becomes the grandson’s unwitting accomplice; a poet struggling with the limitations of language and his wife’s distance; the proprietor of a dying motel; and the grandmother herself, who finds love for the first time as she recuperates from her injury. Set in the Mojave Desert and the suburbs of Southern California, this revelatory novel moves swiftly among characters who are caught between the deprivations of the past and the mysteries of the future. With unflinching precision, Vallianatos unearths the vulnerability and volatility at our cores.Trade Review"Vallianatos’s gorgeous descriptions. . . provide a dreamy quality to the windswept lives of her characters, who scheme at building something bigger for themselves. . . . Vallianatos’s haunting and precise writing captures the folly of believing in possibility in a country where capitalism is king and most are left out of its abundance." * The New York Times *“Vallianatos is a genius, a mad one, and this is a wonderful, strange, violent, funny, wise book. Make some space on your bookshelf next to your Joy Williams and your Lucia Berlin. That’s rarefied literary territory, and as The Beforeland shows, Vallianatos belongs there.” -- Brock Clarke, author of "Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe?"“The Beforeland’s effect is to contuse the seemingly firm surfaces of American life and reveal their soft tissue. Vallianatos gives us one of those rare reading experiences where we ready and brace ourselves only to be unexpectedly unnerved.” -- Salvador Plascencia, author of "The People of Paper"“A miraculous novel of disparate characters who, despite shifts in time and place, belong to the same impossible landscape. There is as much meaning in the space between these narratives as there is within them.” -- Jessica Anthony, author of "Enter the Aardvark"

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Book SynopsisNOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED HULU ORIGINAL SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships” (People) from the author of Conversations with Friends, “a master of the literary page-turner” (J. Courtney Sullivan). ONE OF THE TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE—Entertainment WeeklyTEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—People, Slate, The New York Public Library, Harvard CrimsonAND BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, O: The Oprah Magazine, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vox, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation—awkward but electrifying—something life changing begins.A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t. Praise for Normal People “[A] novel that demands to be read compulsively, in one sitting.”—The Washington Post “Arguably the buzziest novel of the season, Sally Rooney’s elegant sophomore effort . . . is a worthy successor to Conversations with Friends. Here, again, she unflinchingly explores class dynamics and young love with wit and nuance.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Rooney] has been hailed as the first great millennial novelist for her stories of love and late capitalism. . . . [She writes] some of the best dialogue I’ve read.”—The New YorkerTrade Review“[Rooney] has invented a sensibility entirely of her own: sunny and sharp, free of artifice but overflowing with wisdom and intensity. . . . The novel touches on class, politics, and power dynamics and brims with the sparky, witty conversation that Rooney’s fans will recognize.”—Vogue “A future classic.”—The Guardian“Rooney is a tough girl; her papercut-sharp sensibility is much more akin to writers like Rachel Kushner, Mary Gaitskill, and the pre–Manhattan Beach Jennifer Egan. . . . Normal People is a nuanced and flinty love story about two young people who ‘get’ each other, despite class differences and the interference of their own vigorous personal demons. But honestly, Sally Rooney could write a novel about bath mats and I’d still read it. She’s that good and that singular a writer.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air “[Rooney] has written two fresh and accessible novels. . . . There is so much to say about Rooney’s fiction—in my experience, when people who’ve read her meet they tend to peel off into corners to talk.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times“[Rooney’s] two carefully observed and gentle comedies of manners . . . are tender portraits of Irish college students. . . . Remarkably precise—she captures meticulously the way a generation raised on social data thinks and talks.”—New York Review of Books“Normal People tackles millennial concerns with nineteenth-century wit . . . the millennial generation would no doubt be happy to accept her as its spokesperson were she so inclined.”—Elle“I’m transfixed by the way Rooney works, and I’m hardly the only one . . . like any confident couturier, she’s slicing the free flow of words into the perfect shape. . . . She writes about tricky commonplace things (text messages, sex) with a familiarity no one else has.”—The Paris Review“Funny and intellectually agile . . . [combines] deft social observation—especially of shifts of power between individuals and groups—with acute feeling . . . [Rooney is] a master of the kind of millennial deadpan that appears to skewer a whole life and personality in a sentence or two.”—Harper’s Magazine“Beautifully observed . . . crackles with vivid insight into what it means to be young and in love today.”—Esquire“I went into a tunnel with this book and didn’t want to come out. Absolutely engrossing and surprisingly heart-breaking with more depth, subtlety, and insight than any one novel deserves. Young love is a subject of much scorn, but Rooney understands the cataclysmic effects our youth has on the people we become. She has restored not only love’s dignity, but also its significance.”—Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter“Masterfully done. The quality of Rooney’s writing, particularly in the psychologically wrought sex scenes, cannot be understated as she brilliantly provides a window into her protagonists’ true selves.”—BookPage (starred review)

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Book SynopsisFROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE?[Han Kang writes in] intense poetic prose that . . . exposes the fragility of human life.??from the Nobel Prize citationSHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE ?A ?formally daring, emotionally devastating, and deeply political? (The New York Times Book Review) exploration of personal grief through the prism of the color white, from the internationally bestselling author of The Vegetarian?Stunningly beautiful. . . one of the smartest reflections on what it means to remember those we?ve lost.??NPR Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Han Kang?s The White Book is a meditation on color, as well as an attempt to make sense of her older sister?s death, who died in her mother?s arms just a few hours after she was born.In captivating, starkly beautiful language, The White Book is a letter from Kang to her sister, offering a multilayered exploration of color and its absence, and of the tenacity and fragility of the human spirit.

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Book SynopsisOne of the biggest names in Urban-fiction, Ashley Antoinette, is back An intense start to this new series with characters that are real and genuine. It's a story about love, trying to put the past behind and moving on with your life - Red Carpet Crash on Butterfly Morgan Atkins is used to losing, but losing Messiah Williams was the most tragic of them all. Surely, after Messiah, no other man could compare. Settling with Sebastian Fredrick didn''t seem like such an impossible task. He treated her well enough, he accepted her children, and he offered her entrance into a well-connected world. There was only one problem: he wanted to change her into someone else. The rules that went along with his lifestyle suffocated her and when Morgan reconnected with Messiah''s crew, she no longer wanted to play by Bash's rules. When she falls in love with Messiah''s best friend, Ahmeek Harris, she knows she''s headed for trouble. His presence heals her in a way that n

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Book SynopsisOne of the biggest names in urban-fiction. - Red Carpet Crash on Butterfly The hardest thing Morgan Atkins has ever done is let go of love. After losing Messiah, she never thought she'd find someone who understood her again. Until she reunited with Ahmeek Harris and their friendship quickly transformed into something deeper, but there was one problem... she was engaged to a man she didn't love and he's holding a deadly secret over her head. If that wasn't enough, her long lost love Messiah returned to claim her as his own. Three men plus one woman equals inevitable heartbreak. Morgan wants to follow her heart and take the risk of a lifetime, but she risks destroying her family in the process. Will Morgan enter a loveless marriage? Or will Messiah and Ahmeek fix their brotherhood and work together to save the woman they both love?

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Book SynopsisIn a remote house on a hilltop, a lonely boy witnesses a traumatic event. He tries - and fails - to flee. Left alone with his increasingly deranged parent, he dreams of safety, of joining the other children in the town below, of escape.When at last a stranger knocks at his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation might be over.But by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? What is the purpose behind his questions? Is he friend? Enemy? Or something else altogether?A novella filled with beauty, terror and strangeness, This Census-Taker is a poignant and riveting exploration of memory and identity.Trade ReviewA short, dark fairytale, Kafka rewritten by David Mitchell, and may well be the best thing you'll read all year. -- Alex Preston, 'Fiction highlights for 2016' * Guardian *Miéville's solid, world-creating imagination is shown to powerful effect in this novella . . . Superb. * Sunday Times *Harrowing beauty and existential disorientation . . . it's a Miéville book, after all . . . The interpretative stakes are high enough to give you a nosebleed. -- Helen Oyeyemi * The Week *Miéville's brain-twisting, inventive use of language pins the indefinable to the page, reading this slim book feels like gasping a lungful of air, holding it throughout the letting it out slowly, wondering what just happened. A challenging, thought-provoking read. * Metro *Miéville creates a beautiful landscape in an uncertain country and era . . . Wonderfully rendered . . . What we're allowed to see and to know takes on an incredible power. This Census-Taker takes root quickly, and you won't soon forget it. * SciFi Now *A stark and subtle fable that manages to be both lapidary and nebulous at the same time. "Haunting" does not do justice to its exquisitely eerie properties . . . This is the most poetic of Miéville's books so far . . . It can be appreciated just for its complex psychology and emotional impact - it is by far his most plangent book, suffused with a tight-lipped melancholy. -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *Gripping and tantalisingly elusive . . . akin to trying to remember an important yet only half-understood event. * SFX *Miéville is regarded as one of the most interesting and freakishly gifted writers of his generation. He has an astonishing facility - rare in writers of imaginative fiction - for invention . . . The prose is as precise ad the writing done by a monumental mason, but it has been chiselled into a realistic depiction of fog. It is eerie but solid. * Daily Telegraph *Powerful . . . [China Miéville's] imagination is powerful, his outlook original and he's an amazing teller of stories; yet he never loses his grip on the "reality" of his characters, and he observes the literary rules of his so-called genre only by breaking them. -- Kate Saunders * The Times *China Miéville has a gift for turning the strange into the given, and this elusive little world is conveyed with precision and vividness. The result is an ingenious novella that lingers in the mind like an unsettling dream. * Financial Times *Extraordinary . . . This Census-Taker bends, flexes and manipulates invention on a scale that wouldkeep a more conventional imagination occupied for hundreds of pages . . . Over and over again, book after book, Miéville's mature work forces the reader to ask the question that most writers get to prompt once in a literary lifetime if they're lucky: what is this new thing we are being shown? Repeatedly, as a writer of the fantastic, he forces a redefinition of what fantasy can be . . . It is optic, an angle of vision, a new-ground lens applied to a world that, through it, swims and bleeds and discloses what it would not have done otherwise. * Guardian *[China Miéville] is just regarded as one of the most interesting and freakishly gifted writers of his generation, an estimation this novella only upholds. * Observer *This sparse, surreal novel brilliantly shows the gradual unfolding of piecemeal memories following a trauma. * Washington Post *Compelling . . . the classic Miéville themes of power, alienation and politics are never far from the surface, and the tale lingers in the memory. * Chicago Tribune *This Census-Taker is the book you read when you're looking for something that will haunt your dreams for weeks (or months) after you put it down. It is a grown-up fairy tale with a black and murderous heart, about a boy convinced that his father is a murderer. One of China Miéville's greatest strengths is his ability to see his imaginary worlds through the eyes of his characters, not of his readers . . . This is Miéville at his most sparse, his most controlled and restrained * NPR *

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Book SynopsisRelive the magic of Disney’s 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid with this collectible tiny book featuring story art from the beloved film.  When Ariel the mermaid falls in love with a handsome human prince and trades her voice and tail for legs, she begins an adventure that will test her courage in ways she never imagined. With its unforgettable soundtrack, beautiful animation, and endearing characters, Disney’s The Little Mermaid has been one of the most celebrated animated films for generations.  Now with this tiny storybook retelling, fans can cherish this classic fairytale and keep it right in their pockets! Part of a continuing series of tiny Disney storybooks, this is a unique collectors item that adult Disney fans can treasure for years to come. 

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Book SynopsisPharos and Pharillon is a brilliant work of travel writing by one of the last century's great observers of human affairs.

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