Historical Fiction Books

Book SynopsisThe final installment in Anna Jacobs' beloved Irish Sisters series.Trade ReviewPraise for Anna Jacobs[Anna Jacobs' books have an] impressive grasp of human emotions * The Sunday Times *Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around * Historical Novels Review *[Anna Jacobs is] especially big on resourceful, admirable women. Great stuff! * Daily Mail *Reader reviews on A PENNYWORTH OF SUNSHINEI was on edge of my seat reading this! ***** * Reader review *As usual I was totally obsorbed in it and could not put it down. ***** * Reader review *Completely gripping. ***** * Reader review *

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Book Synopsis''This is one of the best books I''ve ever read'' - 5-star reader reviewCalico Road runs through a tiny Lancashire hamlet up on the edge of the moors, miles from anywhere. Its folk are an independent breed - and in 1827 they are a thorn in the side of the vicious mill owner in the valley below.Toby Fletcher''s father ignored his bastard son while alive. Now Toby is the new owner of the rambling old inn, an unwitting keeper of its secrets. Then Meg Staley comes to Calico - a woman who was strong enough to survive one tragedy, but found it harder to withstand a second blow. Toby finds her wandering the moors, cold and starving, and brings her back to the inn. Working there, Meg starts to rebuild her life and find a fragile happiness.But then the secrets of Calico Road come crashing down on her and those she has grown to love . . .*******************What readers are saying about CALICO ROADTrade ReviewPraise for Anna Jacobs:'Another cracking read with a vivid insight into family relationships' - Coventry Evening Telegraph on OUR EVA'Catherine Cookson fans will cheer' - Peterborough Evening Telegraph'Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around.' - Historical Novels Review'Sensitive and compelling' Nuneaton Evening Telegraph on OUR MARY ANN'An exciting book of immensely brilliant character portrayal and a great storyline' Bangor Chronicle on OUR EVA'Another magical Lancashire saga that will delight fans and newcomers alike' Lancashire Evening Post on OUR MARY ANN

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Book Synopsis***Pre-order Andrew Miller''s new novel THE LAND IN WINTER now - coming October 2024***''ANDREW MILLER''S WRITING IS A SOURCE OF WONDER AND DELIGHT'' Hilary Mantel ''ONE OF OUR MOST SKILFUL CHRONICLERS OF THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND'' Sunday Times ''Cinematic'' Times Literary Supplement ''A real achievement''Guardian ''Revelatory'' Sunday Times The mesmerising tale of a young man forced to make life-changing decisions, from the critically acclaimed author Pure Tokyo, 1940. While Japan''s war against China escalates, young Yuji Takano clings to his cocooned life: his beloved evenings of French conversation at Monsieur Feneon''s, visits to the bathhouse with friends, his books, his poetry. But conscription looms and the mood turns against foreigners, just when Yuji gets entangled with Feneon''s daughter. As the nation heads towards Trade ReviewMiller's writing is cinematic . . . at all times the author is in command * Times Literary Supplement *Revelatory * Sunday Times *A quite beautifully written coming-of-age novel . . . a precisely, lovingly rendered evocation of imperial Japan * Daily Mail *Miller's trademark is silken prose which gleams with acutely rendered detail * Independent *Miller's writing is a joy . . . a memorable novel, one that stays true to the randomness of life, to unplanned acts and fateful outcomes . . . Deeply moving, written with loving attention to language, it felt like Pasternak back from the dead * Scotsman *A real achievement * Guardian *Not only does he combine delicious literary conceits with thought-provoking explorations into the human condition, he has the rare gift of tossing out perfect sentences that make you stop in your tracks * Metro *There are moments of beauty, truth and irony * Daily Telegraph *Andrew Miller is one of Britain's most graceful historical prose stylists . . . He deftly captures the nuances of his subject's emotional maturation against the brittle bellicosity of mid-war Tokyo -- Books of the Year * Independent on Sunday *Miller's masterful coming-of-age story ranges from a subtle and spare poetry to an almost Proustian evocation of experiential time * The Age *Miller's writing reaches across historical distance . . . Like one of the silk umbrellas that Miller's characters carry, the novel unfurls slowly to reveal the intricate, hand-painted patterns hidden at its centre * Globe and Mail *

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Book Synopsis'Ravishing' (The Times): a compelling, brilliant novel from a master of European literature, a bestseller in France.Trade Review'Ravishing' * The Times *'Achingly beautiful' * Guardian *'Bewitchingly mysterious...Makine's reputation rises with every book, and some have claimed that he deserves the Nobel Prize; on the strength of this teasing, emotionally dense novel, it's easy to see why' * Sunday Telegraph *'Luminous, enthralling...The enormity of the Second World War, with more than 20 million Russian dead, is allied with one, inconsolable human tragedy. This is where Makine dazzles. He can make the universal deeply intimate.' * Herald *'Beautiful...Makine gives us a work about love and its doppelganger, infatuation, which is by turns touching and profoundly sad' * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisKYDD announces a major new voice in naval adventure writing.Trade ReviewAs an O'Brien groupie myself, I began to read suspiciously... I was soon turning over the pages almost indecently fast... Roll on, the promised adventures of Kydd and Renzi on "the legendary crack frigate Artemis". * Christina Hardyment, Independent *Stockwin weaves a fast- paced tale that brings a whiff of the sea and gunpowder. Recommended. * Citylights *gripping...Rich in action and full of interesting characters, this thrilling novel leaves you in awe of the 18th- century seaman. * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *impressively full of life. I was soon turning over the pages indecently fast. * Independent Friday Review *

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Book Synopsis''In Stockwin''s hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world'' - GuardianIt is two years since Thomas Kydd was spirited away in the night to serve his country aboard the old line-of-battle ship Duke William. Now, he and and the other members of the ill-fated Artemis are shipwrecked sailors, back in London waiting to be summoned as court martial witnesses. Then, in a political act to shield an officer''s reputation, they are shipped out in haste to the Caribbean - where sugar is king and yellow jack a fearsome peril.*****************What readers are saying about SEAFLOWER''A great read for lovers of a seafaring yarn'' - 5 stars''Stockwin''s seafaring books are so great to read. They leave you wanting more!'' - 5 stars''I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it'' - 5 stars''I''m absolutely hooked now . . .'' - 5 stars<Trade ReviewPraise for Julian Stockwin's previous books:'I was soon turning over the pages almost indecently fast ... Roll on, the promised adventures of Kydd and Renzi.' * Independent *The vantage point of the common sailor gives the nautical novel a fresh twist. In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world. * Guardian *Gripping ... Rich in action and full of interesting characters, this thrilling novel leaves you in awe of the 18th-century seaman. * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *'Stockwin paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line . . . The harsh naval discipline, the rancid food, and the skill of the common sailor are all skilfully evoked.' - Daily Express

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Book SynopsisLiverpool 1942. Seventeen-year-old Frankie Franconi falls in love with charismatic British officer Nick Harper as quickly and certainly as the bomb that falls on their shelter. He is impressed by her good looks and intelligence, and the fact that, like him, she speaks fluent Italian. When she insists on staying to help rescue others who have been trapped he realises that she has courage, too. He gives her a business card with a Baker Street address, and suggests she put her skills to good use. Within a month Frankie has joined the FANYs and started her training. Stationed first in England, then Africa and finally Italy, Frankie and her fellow recruits work tirelessly decoding messages from agents in the field by day, and enjoying the wartime parties at night. But when she signs the Official Secrets Act she has no idea of the danger, adventure and terrible choices that are in store.Trade ReviewCompelling * Publishing News on WE'LL MEET AGAIN *'An unforgettable saga of love and loss in wartime' * Good Book Guide on NOW IS THE HOUR *'Green's book is a delightful and heady mix of romantic ingredients spies, high-kicking dancers, forbidden love and friendship in the face of death. Who could ask for anything more?' * Lancashire Evening Post on NOW IS THE HOUR, the first in the Follies series *'Epic' * Sunday Express *

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Book SynopsisDiana ''Steve'' Escott-Stevens knows what she is getting herself into. For 12 months she has fed and looked after agents preparing for a mission in France. She knows that only half of them will come back. But she is young, brave and moreover speaks fluent French. When she applies to become an agent for the Special Operations Executive she is readily accepted and sent off for training to prepare her for the field. The training is demanding; sabotage, codes, hand-to-hand combat, parachute jumps. But it is only too quickly that she finds herself in a Lysander flying to France, where any mistake could mean capture, torture or death, for her and others.

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Book SynopsisNoel Barber's bestselling novel, a grand and passionate drama set in the tumultuous decades around WWII, repackaged as a Hodder Great Read.Trade ReviewHis best so far * Daily Mail *Barber is a master * Mail on Sunday *A story as majestic and fertile as its setting * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisAnna Jacobs brilliantly recreates life in 1919 in this gripping story of women struggling to find love and freedom in a world of hardship, death, and poverty.Trade ReviewPraise for Anna Jacobs: 'Catherine Cookson fans will cheer!' * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around. * Historical Novels Review *Once again you have given us a story that has me hooked from the first page to the last. The characters are so alive that I am loath to call them characters, they are people - so real * Reader from Scotland on OUR MARY ANN *An exciting book of immensely brilliant character portrayal and a great storyline * Bangor Chronicle on OUR EVA *Another cracking read with a vivid insight into family relationships * Coventry Evening Telegraph on OUR EVA *

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Book SynopsisWidowed; poor; childless; the outlook is grim for Vi . . . The gripping new novel from Anna Jacobs.Trade ReviewPraise for Anna Jacobs: 'Catherine Cookson fans will cheer!' * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around. * Historical Novels Review *Once again you have given us a story that has me hooked from the first page to the last. The characters are so alive that I am loath to call them characters, they are people - so real that you almost feel for them * Reader from Scotland on OUR MARY ANN *'An exciting book of immensely brilliant character portrayal and a great storyline' Bangor Chronicle on OUR EVAAnother cracking read with a vivid insight into family relationships * Coventry Evening Telegraph on OUR EVA *

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Book SynopsisThe classic bestselling adventure story is back in a stunning new package.Trade ReviewAnyone who feels that their outward manner is but a travesty of their inner self can hardly fail to respond to THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL * Independent *

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Book SynopsisA bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club title, THE CONJUROR'S BIRD is a dazzling debut novel, spanning three centuries of secrets and surprises.Trade ReviewA highly readable page-turner * Guardian *THE CONJUROR'S BIRD is a rare treat of a book; a romance, thriller and historical novel all in one - and perfectly formed. * Lucy Hale, Hodder Sales Director *'An exciting and absorbing debut novel...' * Sue Baker, Publishing News *'A pacy confection of history, mystery and romance... a most engaging and unusual novel' * The Times *An enjoyable tale of love, loss and taxidermy . . . a cracking holiday read. * Observer *'Enjoyable, gently told yarn...' * The Bookseller *A pacy confection of history, mystery and romance...Davies interweaves his complex narrative with energy and authority...a most engaging and unusual first novel. * The Times *'Two gripping, intercut narratives... a lyricism that captures the joy of the natural world... a highly successful and informative entertainment' * Independent *An absorbing historical detective story . . . a beautifully evoked narrative from the past * Guardian *'This book I loved on so many levels...the excitement of a great mystery...a truly fantastic book.' * Manly Daily (Sydney, Australia) *'A poignancy that will aptly linger with you after you've turned the final page' * Lincolnshire Echo *Ambitious and intriguing... part thriller, part love story, part quest, this is a hugely readable book. * Spectator *'Ideal for book clubs, ideal too for any lover of commercial literary fiction. An exciting and absorbing debut novel from Davies.' * Publishing News *'Intriguing and cleverly constructed' * Choice *'Ambitious and intriguing... part thriller, part love story, part quest, this is a hugely readable book whose concerns linger in the mind... Davies' novel hints, unobtrusively but effectively, at many of the issues underlying man's urge to collect ornithological specimens, and also the uneasy relationship between science, business and the natural world.' * Andrew Taylor, Spectator *'Poignant and beguiling... like all the best novels, it left me with a sense of having learned something.' * Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy *"[A] gripping book of literary suspense. . . . Davies indulges in clever speculation about the bird's whereabouts and adds an appealing strain of romance surrounding the identity of Banks's mistress. . . . A captivating novel." * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *The book flits easily back and forth between the past and the present and I found it not only a page-turner but one where the turning accelerated as the story went along * Lincolnshire Echo *'Goddard-esque, drawing several mysteries and periods together in a fascinating tale' * Bookseller *"Suspenseful, intriguing, and romantic, this is great entertainment and an excellent choice for book discussion groups; highly recommended." * Library Journal (starred review) *"A gripping blend of history and conjecture, romance and detection...it consists of two parallel stories wrapped around the race to unravel one of natural history's most enduring puzzles. [An] elegantly crafted journey into the nature of loss and love, memory and history." * Canberra Times *"This book I loved on so many levels. Firstly for a greater understanding of the life of Sir Joseph Banks...then for the excitement of a great mystery... A truly fantastic book full of three centuries of secrets and surprises." * Manly Daily *This book haunts me: I was moved, intrigued and entertained and, with each page turned, I wanted, very much, to know what was going to happen. Economically and beautifully drawn, the enigmatic delicacy of the characters and the way the stories of the past and the present intersect so teasingly, so elegantly, makes THE CONJUROR'S BIRD a deeply satisfying novel. And, best of all, the layers of the story take one deeper and deeper into the worlds of the past and the present until, in the end, there seems nothing more to discover in the lives of these characters; yet I wanted more. I heartily recommend this book! * Posie Graeme-Evans, author of THE INNOCENT and THE *An entertaining read * New Books Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThis is Sharpe with ships - and for readers who love Bernard Cornwell and Patrick O'Brian. The seventh novel in Julian Stockwin's hugely popular seafaring series, published to tie in with the 200th anniversary of TrafalgarTrade ReviewStockwin paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line... the harsh naval discipline, the rancid food, and the skill of the common sailor are all skilfully evoked. * Daily Express on KYDD *In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world. * Guardian on KYDD *The appeal of the story is in the telling, which is atmospheric, authentic ... The author had a long career in the Royal Navy, which adds to his prose that extra dash of salty realism. * Publishing News on MUTINY *I was soon turning the pages almost indecently fast ... Roll on, the promised adventures of Kydd and Renzi. * Independent on KYDD *

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Book Synopsis''In Stockwin''s hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world'' - Guardian1803. Tensions are escalating again between England and France. While the Royal Navy launches reconnaissance, rescue missions and spies on the continent, French privateer ships are lurking in English waters poised to strike at British trade. Smugglers, perilous storms and a treacherous coastline all threaten to overcome HMS Teazer as her men fight to gain control of the seas around Cornwall and Devon. Meanwhile an unlikely rival is seeking her captain''s heart. The beautiful and determined admiral''s daughter could be the key to realising all Kydd''s hopes and ambitions. But high society, he finds, can be as treacherous as his first mistress - the sea.*******************What readers are saying about THE ADMIRAL''S DAUGHTER''Stockwin''s best yet'' - 5 stars''AnoTrade ReviewPraise for Julian Stockwin * - *'Another thundering good read for those who love seagoing stories in the Hornblower mould' * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *I was soon turning the pages almost indecently fast . . . Roll on, the promised adventures of Kydd and Renzi. * Independent on KYDD *Stockwin paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line... the harsh naval discipline, the rancid food, and the skill of the common sailor are all skilfully evoked. * Daily Express on KYDD *In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world. * Guardian on KYDD *The appeal of the story is in the telling, which is atmospheric, authentic ... The author had a long career in the Royal Navy, which adds to his prose that extra dash of salty realism. * Publishing News on MUTINY *Kydd: the Admiral's Daughter by Julian Stockwin (Hodder & Stoughton, 360 pp, £18.99, ISBN 9780 3408 9859 8); eighth in the saga, located this time in the western approaches and coasts of Devon and Cornwall, with smuggling and privateering well to the fore. * Naval Review *Superbly balanced narrative * Nautical Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThe exciting, moving and evocative sequel to NOW IS THE HOUR, continuing the stories of four friends during World War Two.Trade Review'A bitter sweet romantic drama' * Good Book Guide title included in the yearly round-up *'An unforgettable saga of love and loss in wartime' * Good Book Guide on NOW IS THE HOUR *Compelling * Publishing News on WE'LL MEET AGAIN *'Green's book is a delightful and heady mix of romantic ingredients - spies, high-kicking dancers, forbidden love and friendship in the face of death. Who could ask for anything more?' * Lancashire Evening Post on NOW IS THE HOUR, the first in the Follies series *

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Book Synopsis''ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY'' INDEPENDENTShortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial and Commonwealth Writers'' Prizes''Thrillingly suspenseful''SUNDAY TIMES''Stunning''INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY''Brilliant''THE TIMES''Entirely original''OBSERVER''A classic''WASHINGTON POSTThe Sunday Times Number One bestseller from the author of Cloud Atlas and Utopia AvenueIn your hands is a place like no other: a tiny, man-made island in the bay of Nagasaki, for two hundred years the sole gateway between Japan and the West. Here, in the dying days of the eighteenth century, a young Dutch clerk arrives to make his fortune. Instead he loses his heart.Step onto the streets of Dejima and mingle with scheming traders, spies, interpreters,Trade ReviewSpectacularly accomplished and thrillingly suspenseful . . . it brims with rich, involving and affecting humanity * Sunday Times *An achingly romantic story of forbidden love . . . Mitchell's incredible prose is on stunning display . . . [it] confirms Mitchell as one of the more fascinating and fearless writers alive -- Dave Eggers * New York Times Book Review *That rare thing - a novel which actually deserves the accolade "tour de force" -- Kamila Shamsie, Books of the Year * Daily Telegraph *Genres merge and interact like the shimmering colours of a kaleidoscope . . . one story contains multiplicities, woven together with golden thread . . . Dive in and lose yourself in a world of incredible scope, originality and imaginative brilliance -- Katy Guest * Independent on Sunday *Compared with almost everything being written now, it is vertiginously ambitious - and brilliant . . . He can write as thrillingly about large-scale events as he can about the tiny details of the private world . . . turned one way this novel is a thriller with a glittering seam of a love story running through it (or is it the other way round?); turned another, it is a sumptuous historical novel on the collision of cultures caught at a particular crossroads of history -- Neel Mukherjee * The Times *Stunning -- Books of the Year * Independent on Sunday *As compelling as it is strange, the novel is testament to the originality of Mitchell's vision and his great craftiness as a storyteller * Times Literary Supplement *A heady potion of betrayal, love, superstition, power politics and murder . . . And all this in the most extraordinary prose * Sunday Telegraph *However densely charted and richly sketched, this sumptuous imbroglio never drags . . . Mitchell flexes his prose virtuosity. More than before, those muscles do the heart's work * Independent *Moving, thoughtful and unexpectedly funny -- Books of the Year * Observer *Hugely enjoyable . . . It cracks along, holding us in suspense from the beginning * Literary Review *Masterpieces make their own rules, and this book is definitely one of them * Scotsman *David Mitchell is back with a bang . . . superb * Irish Independent *Ambitious and fascinating . . . Comparisons to Tolstoy are inevitable, and right on the money * Kirkus Reviews *A pitch-perfect masterclass in the art, and magic, of narrative -- Books of the Year * Independent *A marvel - entirely original among contemporary British novels, revealing its author as, surely, the most impressive fictional mind of his generation * Observer *A formidable marvel * New Yorker *Extraordinarily entertaining and well-realised -- A. S. Byatt * Observer *For a tour de force, it's surprisingly nimble, emotionally complex and simply unforgettable -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *Almost every sentence shimmers with precise, opaque and brilliantly realised writing . . . An historical novel on a deliberately grand scale, it never loses its quiet intimacy * Irish Times *The details are fascinating and the prose beautiful . . . simply magnificent * Historical Novels Review *Sharp, hilarious, exhilarating stuff. Utterly enjoyable * Mslexia *An affecting conclusion underscores Mr Mitchell's mastery here not only of virtuosic literary fireworks, but also of the quieter arts of empathy and traditional storytelling -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Dazzles with its density and intensity, its ambition and grandeur * Courier Mail *Mitchell's masterpiece; and also, I am convinced, a masterpiece of our time * Boston Globe *The novelist who's shown us fiction's future has written a classic tale . . . an epic of sacrificial love, clashing civilizations and enemies who won't rest until whole family lines have been snuffed out * Washington Post *A vastly entertaining historical novel, giving the reader a glimpse into a world we know so little of and charting a fascinating period of history * Sydney Morning Herald *A marvellously wrought novel, full of fully formed characters and the kind of detail that allows you to sink deep into its imaginary world. I was sorry when I finished * Herald Sun *

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Book SynopsisThe master of alternative history asks the question, 'What would have happened if World War II had started in 1938?'. The results are thrilling.Trade ReviewTurtledove plays heady games with actual history, scattering object lessons and bitter ironies along the way. Strong, complex characters against a sweeping alt-historical background. * Kirkus Reviews on RETURN ENGAGEMENTS *With shocking vividness, Turtledove demonstrates the extreme fragility of our modern world . . . This is state-of-the-art alternate history, nothing less * Publishers Weekly on HOW FEW REMAIN) *

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Book SynopsisIt is 1942. The theatres of war are North Africa and Italy. All eyes follow the front, but behind the scenes a messier war continues, an improvised game of snatched triumphs, terrible mistakes and terrifying uncertainty.Cabaret singer by night, spy by day, Richard risks his life to help British servicemen escape occupied France and get back to England. Rose leads a group of dancers with mixed morals high-kicking to entertain the troops as Hitler''s bombers roar in the skies above. Then she is given orders to join the forces in the field, destination unknown.Meanwhile a phantom pianist, who has lost the love of his life, is following Montys soldiers across the African desert, mocking the enemies guns by playing Beethoven between the lines.Trade ReviewPraise for THE FOLLIES series: * - *'Epic' * Sunday Express *Compelling * Publishing News on WE'LL MEET AGAIN *'An unforgettable saga of love and loss in wartime' * Good Book Guide on NOW IS THE HOUR *'Green's book is a delightful and heady mix of romantic ingredients spies, high-kicking dancers, forbidden love and friendship in the face of death. Who could ask for anything more?' * Lancashire Evening Post on NOW IS THE HOUR, the first in THE FOLLIES series *

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Book SynopsisLocked behind the Iron Curtain, a young boy grows up bewitched by his French grandmother''s memories of Paris before the Great War. Yet despite what he also learns of her suffering in the Soviet Union under Stalin and during the Second World War, as an adolescent he finds himself proud to be a Russian. Torn between the two cultures, he eventually makes a choice - which has a wholly unexpected outcome. Capturing the powerful allure of illusion, this unforgettable novel traces a sentimental and intellectual journey that embraces the dramatic history of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewA superb novel about fantasy and reality...It is Makine's achievement to convey the essential, with economy, grace and beauty * Scotsman *Great literature, necessary and profound * Independent *He communicates brilliantly the exquisite agony of nostalgia * Literary Review *Beautifully written...A deceptively profound novel. Makine's wonderful economy of image and phrase convey far more than one could think possible about the Russian soul * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisIn 1915, two spirited Australian sisters join the war effort as nurses, escaping the confines of their father''s dairy farm and carrying a guilty secret with them. Used to tending the sick as they are, nothing could have prepared them for what they confront, first in the Dardanelles, then on the Western Front. Yet they find courage in the face of extreme danger and become the friends they never were before. And eventually they meet the kind of men worth giving up their precious independence for - if only they all survive.At once epic in scope and extraordinarily intimate, The Daughters of Mars brings the First World War to vivid life from an unusual perspective. Profoundly moving, it pays tribute to the men and women who voluntarily risked their lives for peace.Trade ReviewSuperbly exciting...unmissable, unforgettable. * Kate Saunders, The Times *'A tour de force of storytelling that is both epic and intimate, experimental and traditional.' * James Kidd, Books of the Year, Independent on Sunday *Along with a Tolstoyan ability to describe the horrors of battle, this amazing book also has an extraordinary intimacy...an altogether towering achievement. * AN Wilson, Readers Digest *'May be the best novel of his career: a book that aims for, and achieves, real grandeur' * James Walton, Books of the Year, Spectator *'Triumphant: this epic saga is one of the best things he has written' * Michael Prodger, Financial Times *Over and over again, a brief but brilliant phrase turns a statistic into a real person and wrings compassion from you. * Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express *'Superbly involving' * Catherine Taylor, Books of the Year, Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisNorah''s husband was killed in the Great War, and she''s struggling to provide a home for her daughter. Andrew''s wife is dead and he wants to make a new life for his two sons. The Australian government is giving ex-servicemen a farm. But to join the group settlement scheme, Andrew must find a wife. Will a marriage of convenience give Andrew and Norah the chance they seek? Can two strangers be happy together? In Australia they have to clear the forest to make their own farms. But they''re both strong and willing to give it everything they''ve got. Then nature intervenes and not only their farms but their lives are in danger. Will they survive? Can they still make their dreams come true?Trade Review'A compelling read' * Sun *Impressive grasp of human emotions. * The Sunday Times *Jacobs excels at creating vivid, memorable characters. * Booklist USA *Vivid insight into family relationships * Coventry Evening Telegraph *'A gripping storyteller.' * Sunday Star Times, Auckland, NZ *'This is a fascinating insight into a piece of Australia's history that receives little attention.' * Newcastle Herald, Australia - FREEDOM'S LAND *

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Book SynopsisCassandra Blake has raised her three motherless sisters. The girls are the pride of their book-loving, impractical father, and not in a hurry to marry. Then the American Civil War cuts off supplies of cotton to Lancashire, the mills fall silent and there is no work. There is a stark choice: stay and risk starvation or pack up and begin again elsewhere. Cassandra has fallen in love with Reece Gregory, but he can''t support a wife. When he''s given the chance to start a new life in Western Australia, he seizes the opportunity, promising to send for her.Then an old feud tears the family apart. Cassandra is kidnapped and her sisters are forced to sail with a group of desperate cotton lasses to Fremantle. Penniless and alone, Cassandra is determined to find them again - but when she is offered a way, there is a painful price to pay.Trade Review'A compelling read.' * Sun on FREEDOM'S LAND *Impressive grasp of human emotions. * The Sunday Times *Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around. * Historical Novels Review *Jacobs excels at creating vivid, memorable characters. * Booklist USA *Vivid insight into family relationships * Coventry Evening Telegraph *'A gripping storyteller.' * Sunday Star Times, Auckland, NZ *'This is a fascinating insight into a piece of Australia's history that receives little attention.' * Newcastle Herald , Australia - FREEDOM'S LAND *

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Book SynopsisSet in Lancashire and Western Australia in the 1860s, Anna Jacobs' entrancing new saga follows the fortunes of the family that first appeared in FAREWELL TO LANCASHIRETrade Review'A compelling read' * Sun (Freedom's Land) *Impressive grasp of human emotions. * The Sunday Times *Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around. * Historical Novels Review *Jacobs excels at creating vivid, memorable characters. * Booklist USA *Vivid insight into family relationships * Coventry Evening Telegraph *'A gripping storyteller.' * Sunday Star Times, Auckland, NZ *'This is a fascinating insight into a piece of Australia's history that receives little attention.' * Newcastle Herald, Australia - FREEDOM'S LAND *

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Book SynopsisCommander Tom Kydd joins Nelson's fleet for the greatest sea encounter in history: the Battle of Trafalgar.Trade ReviewElegantly plotted . . . the writing has the power of a broadside at close range. * Oxford Times *Well-written mixture of high-seas adventure and character-based drama . . . impossible not to enjoy * Booklist *Written with authoritative detail by a gifted storyteller who is passionate about the Great Age of Sail. * Western Morning News *Stockwin's descriptions of the bloody reality of naval combat 200 years ago are memorably vivid, and reveal a profound respect for the seamen who were willing to sacrifice their lives to help save their country. * Yorkshire Evening Post *More historically accurate than the Patrick O'Brian series * Royal Navy Sailing Association journal on the KYDD series *This heady adventure blends fact and fiction in rich, authoritative detail. The author closely follows historical record, taking readers into the world-defining events of 1805. * Nautical Magazine *The full-blooded seagoing adventures of Commander Thomas Kydd reach another thrilling chapter. * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *This latest book is as fresh as the first to be published . . . takes forward the careers of his two heroes in such a natural way that they feel to be a genuine part of history, interacting with the real story of Nelson, Trafalgar and Victory. * Firetrench *

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Book SynopsisMarried at sixteen. A queen at twenty-five. Declared insane and locked up by the men she adored. Juana la Loca - the last true queen of Spain. Juana - daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella and sister to Catherine of Aragon - is a woman ruled by her passions. Her arranged marriage to Philip the Fair of Flanders begins as a fairytale romance when, despite never having met before their betrothal, they fall desperately in love. She was never meant to be more than his consort and mother to his heirs; but, after tragedy decimates her family, she finds herself heiress to the throne of Spain. Suddenly Juana is plunged into a ruthless battle of ambition and treachery, with the future of Spain and her own freedom at stake. Told in Juana''s voice, THE LAST QUEEN is the enthralling and moving tale of a woman ahead of her time, who fought fiercely for her birthright in the face of an unimaginable betrayal. Juana''s story is one of history''s darkest secrets, brought vividly to life in this exhilaratinTrade ReviewCompelling... a riveting blend of passion, power and betrayal. * Inside Soap *Disturbing royal secrets and court manipulations wickedly twist this enthralling story, brilliantly told. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisWhere Game of Thrones sets kingdoms at war within a fantasy world, the Insurrection trilogy is based on the breath-taking true story of Robert the Bruce's battle to become king.Trade ReviewRobyn Young has done it again with her sequel to INSURRECTION. With characteristic panache, Young carves a passionate route through the troubled, complex, divided and divisive times of Bruce and Wallace that makes sense of the many-folded treacheries, the back-stabbing and the coat-turning. She weaves the awe and magic of ancient relics with the bloody pragmatism of Edward's murderous army to create a glorious, bloody, passionate history that will appeal to fans of Philippa Gregory's Red Queen as much as to those who love Bernard Cornwell's Azincourt. * Manda Scott, internationally bestselling author of the Boudica series *Robyn has a wonderful skill. She goes behind the history to the roots of legends and stories to pull up ever more convincing detail. In this book she goes to the beginning of the myths of the four nations that make up Britain. There is the Scottish Stone of Scone, the English Sword Curtana, the Crown of Arthur from Wales, and from Ireland, the Staff of Malachy. According to prophecy, when these are all gathered together, the Kingdom of Britain shall be once more at peace . . . This book is gripping, exciting, and written with a swift, tense pace that grabs the reader and doesn't let go. It's the very best in modern historical writing, and Robyn is here at the peak of her abilities. * Michael Jecks *Immaculately researched and carefully written, evoking a very particular - and largely unexplored - time and place. The fights are sensational. * Daily Telegraph *It is so graphic you can immediately put yourself there, imagining the faces and the clash of weapons. It also elaborates on the historical context and fleshes out the characters. It draws you in and is a compelling novel you cannot put down. So much research must have gone into the book; the detail is incredible. I enjoyed it so much. * The BBC Radio 2 Simon Mayo Book Club *'The learning is never cumbersome, a deft trick when describing medieval warfare' * Scotsman *'This is a big book, and the trilogy a huge project to undertake. From the evidence so far, Young's fans will not be disappointed...brings to life one of [history's] most enigmatic characters' * Daily Mail *Richly worked and captivating . . . an epic story of war, intrigue and heroism * Good Book Guide on BRETHREN *'This tale captures the struggles of a tumultuous time' * Australian Daily Telegraph *'A cracking plot and charismatic characters are set against the convincingly researched background of the violent, gory Anglo-Scottish civil wars' * Saga *An outstanding contemporary writer * Kate Mosse on Robyn Young *A gripping new historical novel . . . an epic tale of greed, intrigue and war, set against a wild landscape. * The Lady *The best historical fiction doesn't just recreate the past, it speaks to the present. Robyn Young has the knack of finding subjects that resonate. * The Big Issue *

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Book SynopsisOn the outside the Avenue appeared so peaceful but this is a story of turbulent change, of boom and bust, mass unemployment, new freedoms and restrictions, the Blackshirts, and jazz.Trade ReviewHighly recommended. Combines tension with a splendid sense of atmosphere and vivid characterisation. An excellent read * Sunday Express *Mr Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming * Evening Standard *R F Delderfield is a born storyteller * Sunday Mirror *Sheer, wonderful storytelling * Chicago Tribune *It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well * Books and Bookmen *He built an imposing artistic social history that promises to join those of his great forebears in the long, noble line of the English novel. His narratives belong in a tradition that goes back to John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett * Life Magazine *

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Book SynopsisTraditional fiction with big nostalgic appeal.Trade ReviewMr Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming * Evening Standard *R F Delderfield is a born storyteller * Sunday Mirror *Sheer, wonderful storytelling * Chicago Tribune *It is always a pleasure to read R F Delderfield, because he never seems to be ashamed of writing well * Books and Bookmen *He built an imposing artistic social history that promises to join those of his great forebears in the long, noble line of the English novel. His narratives belong in a tradition that goes back to John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett * Life Magazine *

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Book SynopsisIn the spring of 1938 Elise Landau arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay. A bright young thing from Vienna forced to become a parlour-maid, she knows nothing about England, except that she won''t like it. As servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn, Elise wears her mother''s pearls beneath her uniform, and causes outrage by dancing with a boy called Kit. But war is coming and the world is changing. And Elise must change with it. At Tyneford she learns that you can be more than one person. And that you can love more than once.Trade Review'A deeply touching and blissfully romantic elegy for a lost world.' * The Times *A vivid and poignant story about hope, loss and reinvention * Psychologies *A warm story with a lovely uncloying sweetness. * Saga Magazine *Solomons's confident timing means that we sense what is about to happen only moments before it occurs, and are compelled to read on, not as one might expect for the frisson of a new event, but for the thrill of having our intuition confirmed. * Stephanie Bishop, TLS *For Mr Rosenblum's List:'The descriptions of England - as friend, adversary and eventually home - are exquisite. A touching, surprising and satisfying read.' * Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast *'Utterly charming and very funny' * Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen *'An unususal, comedy-rich novel... a treat of a book'. * Guardian *'a subtle and moving examination of the dilemma faced by immigrants to modern Britain'. * Observer *'Prepare to be seriously charmed'. * The Times *For Mr Rosenblum's List:'The descriptions of England - as friend, adversary and eventually home - are exquisite. A touching, surprising and satisfying read.' * Sadie Jones, author of The Outcast *'Utterly charming and very funny' * Paul Torday, author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen *'An unususal, comedy-rich novel... a treat of a book'. * Guardian *'a subtle and moving examination of the dilemma faced by immigrants to modern Britain'. * Observer *'Prepare to be seriously charmed'. * The Times *'both a love story and an elegy to the English country house...the greatest pleasure is its stirring narrative and the constant sense of discovery within the historical sweep of Elise's life...Solomon's confident timing means that we sense what is about to happen only moments before it occurs, and are compelled to read on, not as one might expect for the frisson of a new event, but for the thrill of having our intuition confirmed.' * Stephanie Bishop, TLS *'An engaging read ... ripe for the screen' * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA tender and savage novel narrated by the wife of the doctor who tended van Gogh in his last, madly frenetic painting years.Trade ReviewA touching and finely written novel * Sunday Times *A tender, passionate tale of reverie and redemption * Express *Seductive . . . [a] lushly written, powerfully charged novel that imagines a friendship between a middle-aged warden's wife and Vincent Van Gogh * Metro *Fletcher explores the concept of 'madness' with compassion, and her beautiful, sensuous writing makes you see [van Gogh's] paintings with a fresh eye * Saga *An exquisitely written portrait of a marriage. I loved it * Woman & Home *This is a novel about the power of seeing and being seen, the transcendence of everyday beauty, commonplace joys. Fletcher unpeels with delicacy and insight the complex layers of the human heart * Guardian *Fletcher has always attracted praise for the lyricism of her prose . . . here she finds a new restraint that not only intensifies the beauty of her language but feels truer and more profound * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA 2022 PULITZER PRIZE FINALISTLONGLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE''A once-in-a-lifetime work of literature, the kind that changes your understanding of the world'' Yara Rodriguez Fowler, Guardian ''Astonishingly rich in character and incident, filled with magic and mystery'' Sunday Times ''Intricate, mesmerizing and endlessly inventive and subversive'' Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies''A story woven with extraordinary complexity, depth and skill'', Robert Jones, Jr, author of The ProphetsAN EPIC TALE OF LOVE AND LIBERATION SET IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY COLONIAL BRAZILFrom plantation to plantation, Almeyda, a young slave girl, hears whispers, rumours of Palmares, a hidden settlement where fugitive slaves live free. But can this promised land exist? And what price is paid for ''freedom''?In Palmares, Gayl Jones brings to life a worTrade ReviewPalmares reinvents 17th-century Black Brazil in all its multiplicity, beauty, humanity and chaos. It is a once-in-a-lifetime work of literature, the kind that changes your understanding of the world -- Yara Rodrigues Fowler * Guardian *Palmares enfolds the reader in a bygone world, with a glance to our own, and has a great whispering lushness that is both magical and panoramic -- Diana Evans, author of ORDINARY PEOPLEA literary giant, and one of my absolute favourite writers -- Tayari Jones, author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGETremendous. A masterfully absorbing, mythic work from a vital voice. The gods have conspired to gift us a new book from Gayl Jones and my what a gloriously eddying read -- Irenosen Okojie, author of NUDIBRANCHJones reemerges after a 21-year hiatus with an epic and inventive saga that weaves together magic, mythology, and Portuguese colonial history . . . Jones brings her established incisiveness and linguistic flair to the horrifyingly accurate portrayal of racial struggle . . . it's a triumphant return * Publisher's Weekly *Gayl Jones conjures with deep intimacy and immediacy a brutal world that is centuries past but fully alive with spirit and mystery. Page after breathtaking page, her prose is intricate, mesmerizing, and endlessly inventive and subversive. Palmares is absolutely stunning! -- Deesha Philyaw, author of THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIESPalmares, Jones' long-awaited fifth novel, is a blistering return to form worth the two decade wait ... Gorgeously suffused with mystery, history, and magic, Palmares is a remarkable new outing from a major voice in American letters -- Adrienne Westenfeld * Esquire *Palmares is an odyssey, one woman's search first for a place, and then for a person . . . a story woven with extraordinary complexity, depth and skill; in many ways: holy . . . [it] is the first of five new works by Gayl Jones to come in the next two years. After suffering the author's absence for far too long, we - the witnesses longing for texts like hers, the borderline sacred - can rejoice at her return -- Robert Jones Jr. * New York Times *I can't tell you the last time I picked up a book and was struck dumb by the sheer beauty of its prose, and the enormity of what I don't know, but I'm here to tell you Palmares is that book -- Sam Baker * Noon Magazine *A legendary African American novelist returns with her first novel in 22 years, an epic adventure of enchantment, enslavement, and the pursuit of knowledge in 17th-century Brazil . . . Those familiar with Corregidora (1975) and Eva's Man (1976) will not be surprised by the sustained intensity of both imagery and tone. There is also sheer wonder, insightful compassion, and droll wit to be found among the book's riches. Jones seems to have come through a life as tumultuous as her heroine's with her storytelling gifts not only intact, but enhanced and enriching * Kirkus *Gayl Jones's work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her form is impeccable; from a historical standpoint, she stands at the very cutting edge of understanding the modern world, and as a Black woman writer, her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humor, and incisiveness, is unmatched. Jones is a writer's writer, and her influence is found everywhere -- Imani PerryJones's feats of linguistic and historical invention are on ample display . . . Gayl Jones's new work is as relevant as ever. With monumental sweep, it blends psychological acuity and linguistic invention in a way that only a handful of writers in the transatlantic tradition have matched. She has boldly set out to convey racial struggle in its deep-seated and disorienting complexity - Jones sees the whole where most only see pieces -- Calvin Baker * Atlantic *Palmares marries magic realism to an often brutal coming-of-age tale . . . but intimate and dreamily intense in the telling -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail *Palmares conjures up an epic quest for freedom and knowledge in 17th-century Brazil. The book's narrator is a young slave named Almeyda, who hears talk of Palmares, a place of refuge for the enslaved. Escaping there herself, she discovers love with a fellow fugitive, but the community is destroyed by war and her lover disappears. Almeyda sets out in search of him and of a new Palmares. Astonishingly rich in character and incident, filled with magic and mystery . . . always intriguing -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *A sprawling, ambitious tale of racial struggle, Portuguese colonial rule, magical realism and mythology, full of imaginative plotlines and language as pungent and varied as the food in the book: everything from rolls with jelly mango and coconut, to onion soup made with wild honey . . . [Palmares is] a sublime feat of imagination -- Martin Chilton * Independent *An intricate, imaginative story of love and brutality . . . After a two-decade absence, Jones is back with a formidable novel steeped in history, magical realism, trauma and triumph -- Kadish Morris * Observer *Complex and beguiling . . . Palmares is suffused with a strange magic that no other writer possesses' -- Michael LaPointe * Times Literary Supplement *Gayl Jones, recognized since the 1970s as one of America's most important black writers, is breaking new literary ground and performing a laudable act of historical redemption . . . A work of great imagination and remarkable depth and richness -- Larry Rohter * New York Review of Books *Daring, multifaceted . . . I love the novel for its scope, its singular vision, its playfulness with form as well as the complexity of its female characters. It marks the return of a lesser-known literary giant. Discovered by Toni Morrison no less, Jones withdrew from the publishing world after a few acclaimed novels. I'm thrilled she's returned with this bold, imaginative feat. -- Irenosen Okojie * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA FINALIST FOR THE 2022 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTIONPalmares hails the return of a major voice in literature - ''the best American novelist whose name you may not know'' (Atlantic). Gayl Jones was first discovered and edited by Toni Morrison, and her talent was praised by writers including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and John Updike. After a handful of acclaimed novels, she withdrew from the publishing world. Now Jones returns with her first new novel in over two decades.AN EPIC TALE OF LOVE AND LIBERATION SET IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY COLONIAL BRAZILFrom plantation to plantation, Almeyda, a young slave girl, hears whispers, rumours of Palmares, a hidden settlement where fugitive slaves live free. But can this promised land exist? And what price is paid for ''freedom''?In Palmares, Gayl Jones brings to life a world full of unforgettable characters, reimagining extraordinary historical events and combining them withTrade ReviewPalmares reinvents 17th-century Black Brazil in all its multiplicity, beauty, humanity and chaos. It is a once-in-a-lifetime work of literature, the kind that changes your understanding of the world -- Yara Rodrigues Fowler * Guardian *Palmares enfolds the reader in a bygone world, with a glance to our own, and has a great whispering lushness that is both magical and panoramic -- Diana Evans, author of ORDINARY PEOPLEA literary giant, and one of my absolute favourite writers -- Tayari Jones, author of AN AMERICAN MARRIAGETremendous. A masterfully absorbing, mythic work from a vital voice. The gods have conspired to gift us a new book from Gayl Jones and my what a gloriously eddying read -- Irenosen Okojie, author of NUDIBRANCHJones reemerges after a 21-year hiatus with an epic and inventive saga that weaves together magic, mythology, and Portuguese colonial history . . . Jones brings her established incisiveness and linguistic flair to the horrifyingly accurate portrayal of racial struggle . . . it's a triumphant return * Publisher's Weekly *Gayl Jones conjures with deep intimacy and immediacy a brutal world that is centuries past but fully alive with spirit and mystery. Page after breathtaking page, her prose is intricate, mesmerizing, and endlessly inventive and subversive. Palmares is absolutely stunning! -- Deesha Philyaw, author of THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIESPalmares, Jones' long-awaited fifth novel, is a blistering return to form worth the two decade wait ... Gorgeously suffused with mystery, history, and magic, Palmares is a remarkable new outing from a major voice in American letters -- Adrienne Westenfeld * Esquire *Palmares is an odyssey, one woman's search first for a place, and then for a person . . . a story woven with extraordinary complexity, depth and skill; in many ways: holy . . . [it] is the first of five new works by Gayl Jones to come in the next two years. After suffering the author's absence for far too long, we - the witnesses longing for texts like hers, the borderline sacred - can rejoice at her return -- Robert Jones Jr. * New York Times *I can't tell you the last time I picked up a book and was struck dumb by the sheer beauty of its prose, and the enormity of what I don't know, but I'm here to tell you Palmares is that book -- Sam Baker * Noon Magazine *A legendary African American novelist returns with her first novel in 22 years, an epic adventure of enchantment, enslavement, and the pursuit of knowledge in 17th-century Brazil . . . Those familiar with Corregidora (1975) and Eva's Man (1976) will not be surprised by the sustained intensity of both imagery and tone. There is also sheer wonder, insightful compassion, and droll wit to be found among the book's riches. Jones seems to have come through a life as tumultuous as her heroine's with her storytelling gifts not only intact, but enhanced and enriching * Kirkus *Gayl Jones's work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her form is impeccable; from a historical standpoint, she stands at the very cutting edge of understanding the modern world, and as a Black woman writer, her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humor, and incisiveness, is unmatched. Jones is a writer's writer, and her influence is found everywhere -- Imani PerryJones's feats of linguistic and historical invention are on ample display . . . Gayl Jones's new work is as relevant as ever. With monumental sweep, it blends psychological acuity and linguistic invention in a way that only a handful of writers in the transatlantic tradition have matched. She has boldly set out to convey racial struggle in its deep-seated and disorienting complexity - Jones sees the whole where most only see pieces -- Calvin Baker * Atlantic *Palmares marries magic realism to an often brutal coming-of-age tale . . . but intimate and dreamily intense in the telling -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail *Palmares conjures up an epic quest for freedom and knowledge in 17th-century Brazil. The book's narrator is a young slave named Almeyda, who hears talk of Palmares, a place of refuge for the enslaved. Escaping there herself, she discovers love with a fellow fugitive, but the community is destroyed by war and her lover disappears. Almeyda sets out in search of him and of a new Palmares. Astonishingly rich in character and incident, filled with magic and mystery . . . always intriguing -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *A sprawling, ambitious tale of racial struggle, Portuguese colonial rule, magical realism and mythology, full of imaginative plotlines and language as pungent and varied as the food in the book: everything from rolls with jelly mango and coconut, to onion soup made with wild honey . . . [Palmares is] a sublime feat of imagination -- Martin Chilton * Independent *An intricate, imaginative story of love and brutality . . . After a two-decade absence, Jones is back with a formidable novel steeped in history, magical realism, trauma and triumph -- Kadish Morris * Observer *Complex and beguiling . . . Palmares is suffused with a strange magic that no other writer possesses' -- Michael LaPointe * Times Literary Supplement *Gayl Jones, recognized since the 1970s as one of America's most important black writers, is breaking new literary ground and performing a laudable act of historical redemption . . . A work of great imagination and remarkable depth and richness -- Larry Rohter * New York Review of Books *Daring, multifaceted . . . I love the novel for its scope, its singular vision, its playfulness with form as well as the complexity of its female characters. It marks the return of a lesser-known literary giant. Discovered by Toni Morrison no less, Jones withdrew from the publishing world after a few acclaimed novels. I'm thrilled she's returned with this bold, imaginative feat. -- Irenosen Okojie * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA prize-winning, spine-tingling gothic suspense novel based on a real-life murder trial in 1897 West VirginiaA SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 IRISH BOOK AWARDS''A novel that demands you turn the pages'' THE TIMES, BEST HISTORICAL FICTION''A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense'' MAIL ON SUNDAY''An intense, memorable tale'' SUNDAY TIMES''Brilliant'' IRISH TIMES''I was tenterhooked from the very first to the very last page'' JO BROWNING WROE, author of A Terrible Kindness''Compelling'' ANNE ENRIGHT''A glorious tour de force - gorgeous and moving'' IRISH AMERICA''Truly superb'' VICTORIA MACKENZIE, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little PainWest Virginia, 1897. Young newlywed Zona Heaster Shue is found dead in her house, in what Trade ReviewA sparkling, unusual novel that demands you turn the pages. The spirits tell me that this Irish debut author is a talent to watch * Antonia Senior, The Times *Written with a compelling, lyrical intensity, The Red Bird Sings is a historical drama whose characters are full of a a suppressed fury, and haunted by a need for justice. A deeply felt and accomplished debut * Anne Enright *A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense, it highlights domestic abuse and the silencing of women's voices * Mail on Sunday *Truly superb... Compelling and lyrical in equal measure * Victoria MacKenzie, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain *I was tenterhooked from the very first to the very last page * Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness *An atmospheric debut that keeps you turning pages right until the end. Loved it * Julie Owen Moylan, author of That Green Eyed Girl * Beautifully crafted ... wholly convincing in its historical detail and tone * Sarah Gilmartin, author of Dinner Party *Exceptional... What a treat. It's that rare beast: beautiful and literary with an extremely compelling and readable plot * Nicola Garrard, author of 29 Locks *An absolutely beautifully written story. Aoife Fitzpatrick's prose just lifts straight off the page and transports you to 1897 Virginia, where Zona Heaster's Shue's story is told by the women who loved her, despite efforts to silence her forever * Cailean Steed, author of HOME *I was spellbound by this incredibly accomplished piece of historical feminist fiction. Thrilling and beautifully written * Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS *An historical courtroom drama and ghost story that had me on tenterhooks until the very end. Fitzpatrick has a magpie's eye for detail and eccentricity, her prose shines... and she gives us a feminist heroine, a girl with a typewriter and a bicycle, whose loyalty and courage make her unstoppable. I loved The Red Bird Sings * Aingeala Flannery, author of THE AMUSEMENTS *Aoife Fitzpatrick gives voice to a murdered woman in this powerful, unflinching study of domestic brutality. The elegant, masterful prose hums with the righteous fury of women who cannot be contained and will not be silenced. This is not a whodunnit or a whydunnit, but a willhegetawaywith it, where the thrill of the reveal is how the murderer will be nailed for his crime, and boy does Fitzpatrick deliver! When Zona finally speaks, her voice hits like a punch. But this is a tender book too; at its core is the moving tale of a mother's ferocious love for her child. A triumph * Nikki Marmery, author of On Wilder Seas *A beautifully crafted novel about loss, faith and justice set against the backdrop of 19th century West Virginia. I was transported into the worlds of Mary Jane, Lucy and Zona and into the life of women at that time, where their word meant so little compared to a man's. I had to keep reading to find out what happened whilst also not wanting it to end. A brilliant debut * Alison Stockham, author of The Cuckoo Sister *A beautifully paced retelling of the nineteenth century real life murder in West Virginia of Zona Shue. Through the voices of her distraught mother, Mary Jane, her childhood friend and would-be journalist, Lucy Frye, and Zona herself, in the form of letters and visions, it explores feminist themes that are contemporary and important. An utterly engrossing read, I adored it. Aoife Fitzpatrick is a powerful new voice in historical fiction * Paula McGrath *I loved The Red Bird Sings ... a haunting story of love, revenge and grief * Stacey Thomas, author of The Revels *Excellent, immersive historical fiction inspired by a true story. Beautifully written, this is a brilliant novel that asks questions that we're still trying to answer today * Louise Hare, author of Miss Aldridge Regrets *Seriously stupendous ... A read-late-into-the-night tense, well-up-weeping touching, truly transformational read * Meg Clothier, author of The Book of Eve *A masterful debut * Image magazine *The trial thrills the most, with its combative lawyers, sickening jeopardy and gasp-worthy reveals * Daily Telegraph *A stunning debut * Daily Mail *Intense [and] memorable * Sunday Times *Stunning . . . Fitzpatrick unspools an uneasy shimmering tale of coercive control, spiritualism and staunch friendship. It's a brilliant take on Southern Gothic . . . simmers with suspense and suspicion * Irish Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisA prize-winning, spine-tingling gothic suspense novel based on a real-life murder trial in 1897 West VirginiaA SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 IRISH BOOK AWARDS''A novel that demands you turn the pages'' THE TIMES, BEST HISTORICAL FICTION''A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense'' MAIL ON SUNDAY''An intense, memorable tale'' SUNDAY TIMES''Brilliant'' IRISH TIMES''I was tenterhooked from the very first to the very last page'' JO BROWNING WROE, author of A Terrible Kindness''Compelling'' ANNE ENRIGHT''A glorious tour de force - gorgeous and moving'' IRISH AMERICA''Truly superb'' VICTORIA MACKENZIE, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little PainWest Virginia, 1897. Young newlywed Zona Heaster Shue is found dead in her house, in what seems to have been a tragic accident. However, her mother, Mary Jane, is convinced Zona was murdered - and by none other than Zona''s husband, Trout, the handsome blacksmith beloved in their small Southern town.But when Trout is put on trial, no one believes he could have done it, apart from Mary Jane and Zona''s best friend Lucy, who was always suspicious of Trout. As the trial raises to fever pitch and the men of Greenbrier County stand aligned against them, Mary Jane and Lucy must decide whether to reveal Zona''s greatest secret in the service of justice. But it''s Zona herself, from beyond the grave, who still has one last revelation to make.*The Red Bird Sings was announced as the winner of the Kate O''Brien Award 2024 on 25/02/24Readers love THE RED BIRD SINGS:''Amazing'' READER REVIEW ?????''This book has so much: feisty feminist characters ahead of their time, ghosts, historical drama, justice,beautiful writing'' READER REVIEW ?????''Very compelling . . . not one to be missed!'' READER REVIEW ?????''A haunting story of love, revenge and grief'' READER REVIEW ?????''Difficult to put down'' READER REVIEW ★★★★★Trade ReviewA sparkling, unusual novel that demands you turn the pages. The spirits tell me that this Irish debut author is a talent to watch * Antonia Senior, The Times *Written with a compelling, lyrical intensity, The Red Bird Sings is a historical drama whose characters are full of a a suppressed fury, and haunted by a need for justice. A deeply felt and accomplished debut * Anne Enright *A gothic mystery pulsing with suspense, it highlights domestic abuse and the silencing of women's voices * Mail on Sunday *Truly superb... Compelling and lyrical in equal measure * Victoria MacKenzie, author of For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain *I was tenterhooked from the very first to the very last page * Jo Browning Wroe, author of A Terrible Kindness *An atmospheric debut that keeps you turning pages right until the end. Loved it * Julie Owen Moylan, author of That Green Eyed Girl * Beautifully crafted ... wholly convincing in its historical detail and tone * Sarah Gilmartin, author of Dinner Party *Exceptional... What a treat. It's that rare beast: beautiful and literary with an extremely compelling and readable plot * Nicola Garrard, author of 29 Locks *An absolutely beautifully written story. Aoife Fitzpatrick's prose just lifts straight off the page and transports you to 1897 Virginia, where Zona Heaster's Shue's story is told by the women who loved her, despite efforts to silence her forever * Cailean Steed, author of HOME *I was spellbound by this incredibly accomplished piece of historical feminist fiction. Thrilling and beautifully written * Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS *An historical courtroom drama and ghost story that had me on tenterhooks until the very end. Fitzpatrick has a magpie's eye for detail and eccentricity, her prose shines... and she gives us a feminist heroine, a girl with a typewriter and a bicycle, whose loyalty and courage make her unstoppable. I loved The Red Bird Sings * Aingeala Flannery, author of THE AMUSEMENTS *Aoife Fitzpatrick gives voice to a murdered woman in this powerful, unflinching study of domestic brutality. The elegant, masterful prose hums with the righteous fury of women who cannot be contained and will not be silenced. This is not a whodunnit or a whydunnit, but a willhegetawaywith it, where the thrill of the reveal is how the murderer will be nailed for his crime, and boy does Fitzpatrick deliver! When Zona finally speaks, her voice hits like a punch. But this is a tender book too; at its core is the moving tale of a mother's ferocious love for her child. A triumph * Nikki Marmery, author of On Wilder Seas *A beautifully crafted novel about loss, faith and justice set against the backdrop of 19th century West Virginia. I was transported into the worlds of Mary Jane, Lucy and Zona and into the life of women at that time, where their word meant so little compared to a man's. I had to keep reading to find out what happened whilst also not wanting it to end. A brilliant debut * Alison Stockham, author of The Cuckoo Sister *A beautifully paced retelling of the nineteenth century real life murder in West Virginia of Zona Shue. Through the voices of her distraught mother, Mary Jane, her childhood friend and would-be journalist, Lucy Frye, and Zona herself, in the form of letters and visions, it explores feminist themes that are contemporary and important. An utterly engrossing read, I adored it. Aoife Fitzpatrick is a powerful new voice in historical fiction * Paula McGrath *I loved The Red Bird Sings ... a haunting story of love, revenge and grief * Stacey Thomas, author of The Revels *Excellent, immersive historical fiction inspired by a true story. Beautifully written, this is a brilliant novel that asks questions that we're still trying to answer today * Louise Hare, author of Miss Aldridge Regrets *Seriously stupendous ... A read-late-into-the-night tense, well-up-weeping touching, truly transformational read * Meg Clothier, author of The Book of Eve *A masterful debut * Image magazine *The trial thrills the most, with its combative lawyers, sickening jeopardy and gasp-worthy reveals * Daily Telegraph *A stunning debut * Daily Mail *Intense [and] memorable * Sunday Times *Stunning . . . Fitzpatrick unspools an uneasy shimmering tale of coercive control, spiritualism and staunch friendship. It's a brilliant take on Southern Gothic . . . simmers with suspense and suspicion * Irish Daily Mail *

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Book Synopsis''A page-turning melodrama and a fascinating portrait of London on the verge of great change'' Guardian It is 1922, and in a hushed south London villa life is about to be transformed, as genteel widow Mrs Wray and her discontented daughter Frances are obliged to take in lodgers. Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the ''clerk class'', bring with them gramophone music, colour, fun - and dangerous desires. The most ordinary of lives, it seems, can explode into passion and drama... A love story that is also a crime story, this is vintage Sarah Waters.''Another wild ride of a novel... magnetic storytelling'' Tracy Chevalier, Observer''You will be hooked within a page'' Charlotte Mendelson, Financial Times''Sumptuous... the writing is impeccable. A joy in every respect'' New Statesman''An unsurpassed fictional recorder of vanished eras and hidden lives'' Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisGore Vidal''s fictional recreation of the Roman Empire teetering on the crux of Christianity and ruled by an emperor who was an inveterate dabbler in arcane hocus-pocus, a prig, a bigot, and a dazzling and brilliant leader.

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Book SynopsisVidal''s historical novel set in the 5th century BC and narrated by Cyrus Spitama, son of a Persian prince and Greek sorceress, grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, and ambassador to the courts of India, China and Greece. Pericles, Thucydides, Sophocles and Confucius are among the book''s characters.Trade ReviewOur greatest living historical novelist. * ANTHONY BURGESS *An historical novel of awesome scope and scholarship. * OBSERVER *Highly absorbing, rich in history, irony and erudition. * GUARDIAN *Splendid, serene, magisterial. * SUNDAY TIMES *

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Book SynopsisContinuing what has been dubbed his ''revenge on two hundred years of American history'', Gore Vidal locates this novel in Washington. But this is 1917, and Hollywood is now competing with America''s capital as the nation''s power-base, just as it fights for centre-stage in this book. Caroline Sanford, erstwhile newspaper magnate, launches herself into the West Coast land of celluloid dreams and becomes, overnight, an international star. Not for nothing, on the dawn of World War One, is Caroline making films like the Huns from Hell. She is a government agent. But in Washington, that government isn''t doing awfully well. Weighed down by his League of Nation''s failure, by Roosevelt, Clemenceau, a stroke and the ship-like tonnage of his wife Edith, President Woodrow Wilson is on the wane - and Warren Harding is on the up. A popular, handsome, toothpick-chomping philanderer and dimwit whose wife is given to consulting spiritualists, he is about to usher in a new era. One of unprecedented Trade ReviewAddictive ... almost indecently entertaining * NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW *Rich, readable stuff, and only Vidal could make it work * FINANCIAL TIMES *Gore Vidal's magnificent series of historical novels or novelised histories' Gabriel García Márquez

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Book SynopsisHistory is gossip,'' says a protagonist in Washington, D.C., ''but the trick is determining which gossip is history.'' It is a trick that Gore Vidal has mastered in his ongoing chronicle of that circus of opportunism and hypocrisy called American politics and which he plays with renewed vigour in this expose of the nation''s capital.Young Clay Overbury, Senator Burden Day''s assistant, has both a modest background and immense ambitions. Extremely handsome, oozing charm and seemingly dedicated to the Senator''s cause, he is also duplicitous, conniving, and disloyal. But Enid Canford doesn''t think so: she marries him, so providing the Sanford newspaper dynasty with a direct line to the Senator. Her father Blaise, at first loathing his son-in-law, later learns to love him - for all the wrong reasons. So begins this tale of lust and ambition set in the Republic''s high noon. From the late 1930s to Jo McCarthy''s reign of terror, Gore Vidal charts the seamy, sleazy side of Washington. Trade ReviewA lounge lizard look at American politics * Peter Ackroyd, Spectator *Superb ... sustains constant interest and more than a little suspense * Washington Post *Gore Vidal, who grew up in the town, wrote in Washington, D.C. what may well be the finest of contemporary novels about the capital * The New Yorker *Gore Vidal's magnificent series of historical novels or novelised histories * Gabriel Garcia Marquez *

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Book SynopsisHere is the story of arguably America''s finest hour; of the time when the twentieth century dawned, Queen Victoria died, and America, basking deliciously in excess wealth, rather thought it might snap up an empire of its own. Yet while politicians muse over the potential of China or the Philippines - even Russia - empires are being built at home; railway empires; industrial empires; newspaper empires. Into this arena float the delectable Caroline Sanford, putative heiress and definite catch. Caroline is an oddity; she has been raised in France where they teach rich girls to talk and think. American society women, required only to think of themselves as the most interesting beings on earth, are rather alarmed. American men are amused - until Caroline shirks from marriage, sues her brother, buys a newspaper, and becomes that even greater oddity - a powerful woman. Mingling with the movers and shakers of the day - with President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Randolf Hearst,

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Book SynopsisWith the centennial year of the United States as the target of this historical novel, Gore Vidal again mounts a glorious expedition into that grimy and intricate activity called politics. And this is politics as it ought to be: gossip, corruption, money, dinner parties, more corruption, and all the tacky panoply of power. Into the rarefied atmosphere of a world where money has begun to talk very loudly ? usually through the mouths of people called Astor ? step Charles Schuyler and his daughter Emma. Charlie is the unacknowledged bastard son of Aaron Burr; Emma is rather beautiful; and both think it is prudent to return from penury in Europe and secure a fortuitous marriage for Emma. But America is no longer a young republic; it''s a fledgling international superpower with its attendant seedy administration, dubious election campaigns, snobbery, ''popped corn'', ''speaking tubes'' and ''perpendicular railways'' (lifts). It''s a world that will welcome into its social and political boTrade ReviewRewarding and highly accomplished * NEW STATESMAN *Skilful, sharp and assured * SUNDAY TIMES *Magnificent * Gabriel Garcia Marquez *

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Book SynopsisIn the hazardous fictional terrain of his historical novels, Gore Vidal is never especially kind to American history in general, or to its icons in particular. Yet in this brilliantly realised study of Abraham Lincoln, he paints a surprising and near-heroic picture of the man who led America through four of the most divisive and dangerous years of the nation''s history. Observed alternately by his loved ones, his rivals and his future assassins, Lincoln at first appears as an inept and naïve backwoods lawyer. People in this novel are not averse to turning up, getting drunk, and regaling the reader with details of Lincoln''s whoring activities and his seemingly inexhaustible supply of folksy stories. Yet gradually Lincoln the towering leader of deep vision emerges in a Washington engulfed by fear, greed and the horrors of the Civil War. Lincoln''s loving but mentally decomposing wife, his view from the White House on slavery and America''s bloodiest war, and his own, fierce personal

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of myth, passion and loyalty from the Lebanon''s troubled past, The Rock of Tanios is another superbly rich and rewarding novel from the author of Samarkand and Leo the African. Expertly controlling his multi-faceted narrative with prose of great beauty and power, Maalouf delves into the history of an extraordinary life: that of Tanois, child of the mountains.Trade ReviewHe is a master storyteller...and his observations of human nature in all its facets is wonderfully accurate throughout. * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *This is as colourful as a fairy tale, and brilliantly translated from the French. * THE TIMES *Told with the simplicity of fable but set on the cusp of the modern world, this is a wonderful tale. * INDEPENDENT *This is a beautifully crafted story detailing the intricacies of the folklores and superstitions which dominated nineteenth-century Oriental village life. * OBSERVER *

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Book SynopsisJane Austen''s love life- long the subject of speculation- is finally, delightfully dealt with in the title story of this collection. Many of the other stories, like ''The Sidmouth Letters,'' bring together past and present- with sometimes hilarious, sometimes disturbing, often intensely moving results.With quiet elegance and devastating accuracy, Jane Gardam probes many and varied lives. We meet a trio of Kensington widows, mean-spirited and middle-aged, paying improbable tribute to a long exploited nanny; we await- with dread- a stranger to tea in an Engliish home; we witness the mercurial changes that take place in young love, and we watch as a bohemian, passionate past returns to tempt domestic bliss.Trade ReviewA fresh and huge delight... deliciously barbed. * GUARDIAN *The economical exactitude of her observation makes each of these eleven stories a keen pleasure. * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Brilliantly observed... moving. * THE TIMES *... combines an extraordinary vivid imagination with a felicity of expression, a hugely developed sense of the absurd, and the ability to involve a reader's emotions with her characters in a few pages. * EVENING STANDARD *She does fiction as it should be done, with confidence and insight -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie * Observer *

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Book SynopsisTHE GOLDEN AGE is the final, eponymous novel that brings to an end what Gabriel García Márquez has called ''Gore Vidal''s magnificent series of historical novels or novelised histories'', NARRATIVES OF EMPIRE. Like a latter day Anthony Trollope, Vidal masterfully balances the personal with the political, the invented with the historical fact. His heroine from Hollywood, Caroline Sanford, reappears in Washington as President Roosevelt schemes to get the USA into the war by provoking the Japanese. In the novel''s ten year span America is master of the globe, with Japan and Europe as colony and dependency under her empire. Against this backdrop there is a glittering explosion in the arts (we see the likes of Lowell, Bernstein and Tennessee Williams and witness the opening night of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE). But by 1950 and the coming of the Korean War, the Golden Age is over. For the reader who wants to be informed as well as vastly entertained about the last two hundred years of AmTrade ReviewVidal's combination of learning, wit and disdain gets into your blood. He can change the way you think * OBSERVER *This entertaining portrait of an imperial elite may well be, as Vidal intends, the version of US history that survives in the coming decades. * IRISH TIMES *Crackpot theory has seldom been so suavely and entertainingly put across. * NEW STATESMAN *Vidal's satiric thrusts are enormous fun. * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Wonderfully compelling. It is serious and entertaining. It rings diamond-true. It is a novel for grown-ups; and that is something very rare in contemporary fiction * SCOTSMAN *Brilliantly evokes the decade when the US believed it was the undisputed master of the universe ... imperious, well-informed and wickedly accomplished, it brings American politics to life in a way that few other modern novels can match * DAILY MAIL *Our greatest living historical novelist * ANTHONY BURGESS *Iconoclastic, yet never mere satirical caricature, this remarkable novel sequence is a melange of historical demystification ... The bold sweep of Vidal's design continues to enthral, and throughout The Golden Age, as throughout the sequence, he delights in giving the read entree to a heady variety of gatherings ... Vidal's touch in handling these set pieces and portraying the famous remains wonderfully assured * LITERARY REVIEW *There are still few novelists with the ability to so vividly imagine a scene, and even fewer who so completely understand and write about the nature of power. And anyone who wants to learn about the history of the United States will learn as much from this series of novels [Narratives of Empire] as they will from the history books * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY *

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Book SynopsisBrilliantly accomplished and critically acclaimed novel of Nazi Germany and the plight of internees in wartime Britain by writer and comedian David Baddiel.Trade ReviewAn intriguing novel about history and truth . . . The intelligence and inquiry of this book will surprise many * THE TIMES *Wonderful . . . brilliantly realised * INDEPENDENT *It is a sombre, clever book, but, being Baddiel, is irradiated by flashes of dark humour * Sally Vickers, SPECTATOR *David Baddiel's excellent new novel . . . Sensitive, intelligent and deeply moving, THE SECRET PURPOSES is both a gripping read and a long overdue indictment of Britain's treatment of Jewish refugees * IMAGE *

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