Magical realism
Atlantic Books And Then She Fell
Book Synopsis'Mesmeric, intoxicatingly original' Hannah Kent, bestselling author of Burial Rites'Haunting and surreal... With its sharp wit and beautiful writing, this book had me flying through the pages.' Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of The House in the Pines'A towering achievement, stunningly good storytelling.' Melissa Lucashenko, Miles Franklin Award winning author of Too Much LipOn the surface, Alice is exactly where she should be in life: she's just given birth to a beautiful baby girl; her ever-charming husband - an academic whose area of study is conveniently her own Mohawk culture - is nothing but supportive; and they've moved into a home in a wealthy neighbourhood. But strange things have started happening. Alice finds herself hearing voices she can't explain and speaking with things that should not be talking back to her, all while her neighbours' passive aggression begins to morph into something far more threatening... Told in Alice's raw and darkly funny voice, and infused with Native American myth and legend, And Then She Fell is a wild, fierce novel.Trade ReviewAlice and her husband have woven a lattice pattern of silence and secrets that slowly implodes in this fierce, remarkable debut. Elliott's meticulous prose is an agile portal through the narrator's complex inner life, the tensions, and fractures that surface when the trappings of success hide the weight of intergenerational trauma, racism, sexism, and the unwieldy expectations of Motherhood. And Then She Fell saves us from devastation by the grace it shows its characters and, ultimately, by the strength of their connections. -- Eden Robinson * Eden Robinson, bestselling author of RETURN OF THE TRICKSTER *And Then She Fell is an unblinking look at the complex and often terrifying journey of new motherhood and what we're told we should want, with moving insights into connecting with our ancestors and our own identity. Alicia Elliott is a powerful storyteller, and this book is both suspenseful and heartfelt, with haunting elements that linger long after the final page is turned. -- Vanessa Lillie, bestselling author of LITTLE VOICE and BLOOD SISTERSA towering achievement, stunningly good storytelling. -- Melissa Lucashenko, Miles Franklin Award winning author of TOO MUCH LIP * Melissa Lucashenko *And Then She Fell is an incredible and indelible novel. It's full of wonder and surprise, full of life and heart. This book is a gift that breathes life into the reader. Alicia Elliott has given us a knockout - a book so good you can't put it down. -- Morgan Talty, bestselling author of NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZI could not put this book down. And Then She Fell is one of the most mesmeric, intoxicatingly original novels I have read in recent years, with a central character I will carry with me for a very long time. -- Hannah KentFamiliar and ethereal. Brutal and beautiful. And Then She Fell is the fulfilment of the promise of Alicia Elliott 's storytelling prowess. . . . A soundtrack for the gorgeous nightmare that is both motherhood and belonging in and of itself, stitched together by the depths only grief and love can hook together. The Naked Lunch meets Rosemary's Baby . . . and shot together with the golden humour and philosophy of Haudenosaunee story like an intimate lifeline, And Then She Fell is remarkable, and a world unto itself. What an accomplishment. What a gift. -- Cherie Dimaline, author of ThE MARROW THIEVES and VENCOAnd Then She Fell is a stunning, propulsive novel that complexly folds generational love and mental health into a story about relationships: the ones we have with our ancestors, our family and friends, and ourselves. Through Alice's strong and unforgettable voice, Alicia Elliott highlights the macro and micro aggressions, gaslighting, and violence that Indigenous women often face from white people, even the ones who claim to love us. I laughed, cried, and rooted for the women in these pages. For their unending love for each other in every timeline of life, and for the ways in which they continue to choose each other in spite of trauma, disorder, and colonial forces who hope they don't. I'm so happy that a novel like this exists, and I am excited to see the future of writing that this work inspires. And Then She Fell is a triumph of a debut. -- Jessica Johns, author of BAD CREEAnd Then She Fell is an unblinking look at the complex and often terrifying journey of new motherhood and what we're told we should want, with moving insights into connecting with our ancestors and our own identity. Alicia Elliott is a powerful storyteller, and this book is both suspenseful and heartfelt, with haunting elements that linger long after the final page is turned. -- Vanessa Lillie, bestselling author of LITTLE VOICES and BLOOD SISTERSHaunting and surreal, And Then She Fell had me questioning reality alongside Alice as she grappled with motherhood, being a writer, a wife, and feeling like an outsider in her own life. With its sharp wit and beautiful writing, this book had me flying through the pages. -- Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of THE HOUSE IN THE PINESAnd Then She Fell is an outstanding debut novel by an eminent literary voice. Alicia Elliott's thorough and thoughtful examination of motherhood, intergenerational trauma, and modern Indigenous realities is a caring salve for Indigenous readers and an important enlightenment for others. I loved its profound exploration of the spaces we navigate as Indigenous peoples - from the rez to the city and beyond - and I greatly appreciated the depth of humanity with which Elliott was able to portray her rez characters. This novel is a triumph of Indigenous truths and experiences. -- Waubgeshig Rice, author of MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW and MOON OF THE TURNING LEAVESAnd Then She Fell is at once engrossing and profound, terrifying and empathetic. Like The Bell Jar, it sheds new light on the trope of the mad woman, laying bare the million blows it takes to leave a person unhinged. * The Walrus *
£16.14
Vintage Publishing A Wild Sheep Chase: Special 3D Edition
Book SynopsisHaruki Murakami's third novel, A Wild Sheep Chase is the mystery hybrid which completes the odyssey begun in Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973.The man was leading an aimless life, time passing, one big blank. His girlfriend has perfectly formed ears, ears with the power to bewitch, marvels of creation. The man receives a letter from a friend, enclosing a seemingly innocent photograph of sheep, and a request: place the photograph somewhere it will be seen. Then, one September afternoon, the phone rings, and the adventure begins. Welcome to the wild sheep chase.'Mr. Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving' New York TimesTrade ReviewWonderfully easy to read and just as wonderfully difficult to make sense of...like the narrator, who slowly accepts the presence in his life of mystery, we slowly recognize the possibility of a new kind of world. Like him, we lean forward and topple headlong into magic * Washington Post *It begins as a detective novel, dips into a screwball comedy, and at its close becomes a tale of possession...A highly accomplished piece of craftsmanship * New Yorker *Mr. Murakami's style and imagination are closer to that of Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and John Irving * New York Times *A Wild Sheep Chase has the conventional hull of a thriller - a quest, a mystery, an extraordinary woman, and plenty of elegant duress - but its fantastic superstructure transforms it into something quite different...a science fiction fantasy, a romance, a metaphysical tease, or a dramatisation of philosophical ideas * Independent *If you consider yourself an intelligent, sensitive common reader but wish to accommodate something a little removed from your experience, and probably your imagination, I dare you to turn your eyes towards Murakami and head off on a wild sheep chase. * Glasgow Herald *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Haroun and Luka
Book SynopsisSalman Rushdie was born in Bombay in 1947. He is the author of many adult novels including the Booker winning Midnight's Children. He wrote Haroun and Luka for his sons, Zarfar and Milan.Trade ReviewLively, wonderfully inventive comic tale -- Alison Lurie * New York Times Book Review on Haroun *A beautiful book... It's like a bridge, built between generations, fabulous and strange and from the heart -- Neil Gaiman on Luka
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Strange Pilgrims
Book SynopsisStrange Pilgrims is a collection of unforgettable stories about distinctive South American individuals in Europe from the Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. ''The first thing Señora Prudencia Linero noticed when she reached the port of Naples was that it had the same smell as the port of Riohacha''The twelve stories here tell of Latin Americans adrift in Europe: a bereaved father in Rome for an audience with the Pope carries a box shaped like a cello case; an aging streetwalker waits for death in Barcelona with a dog trained to weep at her grave; a panic-stricken husband takes his wife to a Parisian hospital to treat a cut and never sees her again. Combining terror and nostalgia, surreal comedy and the poetry of the commonplace, Strange Pilgrims is a triumph of storytelling by our most brilliant writer.''Celebratory and full of strange relish at lifeTrade ReviewCelebratory and full of strange relish at life's oddness. The stories draw their strength from Márquez's generous feel for character, good and bad, boorish and innocent * William Boyd *
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co The Prestige Gollancz
Book SynopsisTwo 19th century stage illusionists, the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden, engage in a bitter and deadly feud; the effects are still being felt by their respective families a hundred years later.Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls, they prowl edgily in the background of each other''s shadowy life, driven to the extremes by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity.At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple, and the reader is in on it almost from the start, but to the antagonists the real mystery lies deeper. Both have something more to hide than the mere workings of a trick.Trade ReviewThe prestige is certainly at home in the presitgious SF masterworks series, You can't lose - and that's no illusion! * British Fantasy Society *
£9.49
Headline Publishing Group The FrameUp
Book Synopsis''Romantic, clever, and makes grand larceny more fun than ever'' HOLLY BLACK''A twisty, riveting and fantastically original story'' ELLE COSIMANO''Gwenda Bond at her absolute best: magical romantic and fun as hell'' ALIX E. HARROWDani Poissant is the daughter and former accomplice of the world''s most famous art thief. There was no job too big for Maria and her loyal crew. The secret to their success? A little thing called magic, kept rigorously secret from the non-magical world. They seemed unstoppable . . . until a teenage Dani turned her mother over to the FBI.Ten years later, with Maria still in prison, Dani finds herself approached for a job that only Maria and her crew could pull off . . . if any of them were still speaking to her. But it''s the job of a lifetime and might just be the lure Dani needs to reconcile with her mother and be reunited with her mother''s old gang-including both the love of her life and her former best frienTrade ReviewThe Frame-Up is Gwenda Bond at her absolute best: magical, romantic, and fun as hell. Dani and her crew will leave your pockets empty and your heart full. -- ALIX E. HARROW, New York Times bestselling author of STARLING HOUSEA clever art heist, a smoldering old flame, an irresistible found family tied together through magic . . . Gwenda Bond's The Frame-Up is a twisty, riveting, and fantastically original story. -- ELLE COSIMANO, New York Times bestselling author of Finlay Donovan Is Killing ItMagic, mystery, and a daring art heist set the stage for Gwenda Bond's twisty, delightful read! Brimming with secrets, danger, and intrigue, The Frame Up explores the lure of power, the bonds of friendship, and the legacy of family. Clever, suspenseful, and impossible to put down. -- MEGAN MIRANDA, New York Times bestselling author of The Only SurvivorsOcean's Eleven meets The Picture of Dorian Grey in this delightful magical heist novel. A quirky cast, a charming protagonist, and a fantastic dog. Plus art history, monsters, and family secrets-who can ask for more? -- T. KINGFISHER, bestselling author of NETTLE & BONEA thrilling, twisty, deliciously fun portrait of a magical art heist. Gwenda Bond has crafted a clever Knives Out-but-with-magic book to keep readers guessing where the con will take them next. -- MEGAN SHEPHERD, New York Times bestselling author of MALICE HOUSEI love a good heist novel, and I love a good magical heist novel even more. Gwenda Bond's The Frame-Up is fun and moving and full of delicious surprises and twists. I enjoyed it immensely. -- KAT HOWARD, author of the Unseen World duologyWho knew magic and art heists would go together like chocolate and peanut butter? The Frame-Up is a thoroughly delightful whirlwind of a read. -- ALMA KATSU, author of THE FERVOUR
£10.44
Canongate Books Island of Time
Book SynopsisA mind-bending time heist novel that will appeal to fans of V.E. Schwab''s ''Shades of Magic'' series.There was no murder . . . Because they never existed.The Geneva branch of Interpol - the international agency tasked with policing magic and the arcane arts - is where careers go to die. Action is rare as Switzerland banned magic seven hundred years ago. That''s how Agent Jackson Burnett likes it. But then reports of an explosion lead Jackson to the home of businessman Bernard Bouchon. What''s there is unfathomable: The family and their possessions have vanished into ash.Jackson''s enigmatic new partner Luca Tami, a blind Talent able to perform magic, suspects powerful supernatural forces are at play. The family weren''t killed . . . they''ve been erased from time. With all traces of the family disappearing, the case is hours away from being forgotten. How can Jackson solve a crime no one remembers happening? He must find
£19.94
Canongate Books Himself
Book SynopsisA BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2016Shortlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2017Longlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 20171950. A teenage girl is brutally murdered in a forest. But, somehow, her baby survives.1976. A mysterious and charming young man returns to the remote coastal village of Mulderrig, seeking answers about the mother who, it was said, had abandoned him on the steps of a Dublin orphanage.With the help of its oldest and most eccentric inhabitant, he will force the village to give up its ghosts. Nothing, not even the dead, can stay buried forever.Trade ReviewKidd's brilliantly bold debut mixes up murder and mayhem with the eerily supernatural. It's a tender, violent and funny story told in prose that is lyrical, lush and hugely imaginative. Utterly unputdownable * * Sunday Express * *Diabolical deeds, ferociously kept secrets, black humour and magical realism abound in Jess Kidd's richly textured, thronging debut . . . Kidd has imagination to die for and a real command of plot and character * * Guardian * *Wonderfully entertaining . . . the ghosts are not the main attraction in this delightful first novel; it is also a detective story, in which Mahony and Mrs C make an unlikely Holmes and Watson * * The Times * *A genuinely intriguing mystery, with moments of real tenderness . . . otherworldly and wonderfully original * * Stylist * *Very funny, very profound, very moving . . . One of the finest books of the year -- SIMON MAYO * * BBC Radio 2 Book Club * *[Kidd] has imagination to spare. The forest feels alive at times. There is magic in the air . . . As a noirish thriller with a supernatural edge, Himself is atmospheric and intriguing. As a portrait of village hypocrisy and the dark things that lurk beneath the surface, it's also compelling * * Observer * *An intriguing story of family secrets and haunting -- ANDREW MICHAEL HURLEY, author of The LoneyThis striking literary debut is a darkly comic tale of murder, intrigue, haunting and illegitimacy . . . wickedly funny * * Daily Express * *I love this book. It's a magic realist murder mystery set in rural Ireland, in which the dead play as important a part as the living. It's one of those books that has you smiling as you read, and that you plan to read again very soon. -- LOUIS DE BERNIÈRES, author of Captain Corelli's MandolinIn lyrical prose that is by turns touchingly tender and violent, Kidd's brilliantly bold debut mixes murder and mayhem with the eerily supernatural, and throws in a dash of laugh-out-loud humour for good measure * * Psychologies * *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Stone Raft
Book SynopsisWhat if, one day, Europe was to crack along the length of the Pyrenees, separating Spain and Portugal from the rest of Europe?In Saramago's fable, a new island is sent spinning through the ocean like a great stone raft. While the authorities panic and tourists flee, three men, two women and a dog are drawn together by omens that burden them with a peculiar responsibility. In this magical realist tale, the six take to the road, finding themselves adrift in a world now unfamiliar and forced to reckon with their relationships, human psychology and the shakiness of belief itself.Trade ReviewAn irresistible blend of shrewd detail and lyrical fantasy... A seductive novel that needs to be savoured -- Helen Dunmore * Observer *An invitation to one of the richest bodies of work by a living writer -- Amanda Hopkinson * New Statesman *Jose Saramago's brilliant evocation...is magical realism of a sort that stirs real wonder -- James Park * Time Out *Saramago's lovely and original questing story, in a lineage of others such as Don Quixote and Kipling's Kim, is a journey of the spirit told as a journey of the feet -- Richard Eder * Los Angeles Times *Tremendous wit is always apparent in his imaginative conceits, comic digression and verbal and narrative games -- Ian Critchley * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the
Book SynopsisIt's a warm summer's afternoon when young Alice first tumbles down the rabbit hole and into the adventures in Wonderland that have kept readers spellbound for more than 150 years. Collected here are Lewis Carroll's two classics - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass - in which Alice encounters the laconic Cheshire Cat, the anxious White Rabbit and the terrifying Red Queen, as well as a host of other outlandish and charming characters.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is brought to life by Sir John Tenniel's legendary illustrations in colour, and with an afterword by Anna South.Trade ReviewI revelled in all the logical games, and the wordplay. It made me laugh till my sides hurt -- Richard Cohen * Independent *‘Alice’ makes the logic of the everyday world appear nonsensical and the absurd make glorious sense -- Mark Hudson * The Telegraph *
£10.79
Penguin Books Ltd The League of Gentlewomen Witches
Book SynopsisTHE RIOTOUSLY FUNNY AND JOYOUSLY ROMANTIC SECOND INSTALLMENT IN THE DANGEROUS DAMSELS SERIES THAT TIKTOK CAN''T GET ENOUGH OF!The Princess Bride meets Jane Austen in this swoony second novel in The Dangerous Damsels series - an enemies-to-lovers historical romance with a magical twist . . .''OBSESSED. If you love playful dialogue and language, fun characters, and interesting worlds, I recommend'' 5**** Reader Review!--- Charlotte Pettifer belongs to a secret society skilled in witchcraft. When rumours of the Amulet of Black Beryl start to circulate, Charlotte is determined to find the jewel before it falls into the wrong hands. Which is what happens when the evil Lady Armitage reaches it first. Demanding the help of rakish pirate, Alex O''Riley, Charlotte sets off to find the jewel. There''s just one problem: pirates and witches are sworn enemies. But little do theTrade ReviewThe whimsical worldbuilding forms a perfect backdrop to the angsty couple, and Holton's winking narration, which puts her in cahoots with the reader, makes her exaggerated characters work. Overflowing with heart, humour, and hyperbole, this clever romance enchants * Publishers Weekly *Holton provides plenty of chuckles...a fun-filled romp in a topsy-turvy world of corset-wearing, knife-wielding, magic-casting women and gun-wielding, light-fingered, charming pirates * Kirkus Reviews *Clever word play, delightful double entendres, and adventurous high jinks will delight fans of smart, witchy romances * Booklist *Sexy, funny, and utterly charming . . . Buckle up, readers, because this is a ride you won't want to miss * Lynn Painter, author of Mr. Wrong Number *The League of Gentlewomen Witches has punch and verve, and makes for one heck of ride. It's romantic, sensual and a lot of fun, too * All About Romance *A brilliant mix of adventure, romance, and Oscar Wildesque absurdity - one of the wittiest, most original rom coms I have read all year * Evie Dunmore, USA Today bestselling author of Bringing Down the Duke *Filled with wit and an intriguing enemy-to-lovers romance. For fans of Jane Austen and Evie Dunmore * LibraryReads *Holton takes readers on a wild ride through a fun, limitless world, where frivolity and whimsy reign supreme and skilled swordwork and grand displays of magic abound * Bookpage *India Holton's joyous, swoony, genre-exploding novel is a marvel, bristling with wit (and weaponry!) and brimming with love. The League of Gentlewomen Witches will steal your heart, fly it to the moon, and return it to your chest, sparking with magic and just in time for tea * Joanna Lowell, author of The Runaway Duchess *Another wickedly funny romp through this glorious world created by India Holton * Harper St. George, author of The Devil and the Heiress *Fantastical, romantic fun! Sparkling with witty allusions to Shakespeare and Austen, whimsical adventure, and tenderhearted romance. A book lover's dream come true * Chloe Liese, author of the Bergman Brothers series *A wild, rollicking, delicious carnival ride of a story . . . You've never read Victorian romance like this before and it'll ruin you for everything else * Lana Harper, New York Times bestselling author of Payback's a Witch *
£9.49
Europa Editions (UK) Ltd The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree:
Book Synopsis*SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2020* *LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2020* “If ever there was a book that needs to be read more than once, this is it.”—ArtsHub “A book that keeps on giving.”—Brona’s Books “Extraordinary.”—The Irish Times “Compelling, delightful and powerful.”—David’s Book World A family story about the unbreakable connection between the living and the dead Set in Iran in the decade following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, this moving, richly imagined novel is narrated by the ghost of Bahar, a thirteen-year-old girl, whose family is compelled to flee their home in Tehran for a new life in a small village, hoping in this way to preserve both their intellectual freedom and their lives. But they soon find themselves caught up in the post-revolutionary chaos that sweeps across their ancient land and its people. Bahar’s mother, after a tragic loss, will embark on a long, eventful journey in search of meaning. The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree speaks of the power of imagination when confronted with cruelty, and of our human need to make sense of trauma through the ritual of storytelling itself. Through her unforgettable characters, Azar weaves a timely and timeless story that juxtaposes the beauty of an ancient, vibrant culture with the brutality of an oppressive political regime. "Not only richly imaginative but also emotionally powerful." - 1st Reading's Blog “Her novel ... embodies Iranian life in a state of constant “oscillation”, bringing into play “opposing poles” — like life and death, religion and politics ... — to evoke the extent of damage by an oppressive political regime.” - The Indian ExpressTrade Review“A fiercely clever book.” * The New Statesman *“A Farsi Isabel Allende.” * The Guardian *“It takes a special writer – and Azar is one such – to avoid faltering when the harshest experiences are interlaced with scenes of fantastical interventions in the routine experiences of the characters. The lives created within this novel and the conditions to which they must adapt, lead to extraordinary scenes.” * The Irish Times *“A sumptuous meditation on the practice of interpretation.” * Asymptote Journal *“A mesmerizing and richly textured novel about Iranian history post Islamic Revolution. A sublime tale about how a nation’s past defines its national and personal narratives, written by one of Iran’s rising literary talents.” * BookRiot *“If ever there was a book that needs to be read more than once, this is it.” * ArtsHub *“[Azar’s] book is a great journey. It moves places and it moves us as readers, in an emotional and intellectual sense.” * The Los Angeles Review of Books *“The plot is intricate…the writing is ravishing: shimmeringly poetic…so mesmerizing is the storytelling.” * The Weekend Australian *“Azar delves deep into the mythological spirit realm and pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religion of ancient Persia . . . [taking] us into breathtaking worlds of imagination and allegory . . . Astonishing.” * Backstory *
£8.54
And Other Stories Praiseworthy
Book SynopsisIn a small Aboriginal town dominated by a haze cloud, which heralds both ecological disaster and a gathering of the ancestors, Cause Man Steel is chasing a mad vision: a national donkey transport scheme that will guarantee his people’s independence forever. He finds, however, as he bundles feral donkeys into his Ford Falcon and dumps them en masse in the cemetery, that not all of Praiseworthy agrees. Outrage ferments at his desecration of traditional land, while Cause’s wife Dance seeks refuge with butterflies and dreams of moving their family to China. Bad feelings reach fever pitch when citizens catch wind of the suicide of Aboriginal Sovereignty, Cause’s eldest son. All are distraught – all, that is, except eight-year-old Tommyhawk Steel, who, with his brother gone, gleefully pursues his dream of becoming white and powerful. Told with the richness of language and scale of imagery for which Alexis Wright has become renowned, Praiseworthy is a marvel of explosive sentences, a shock to allegory, an outraged cry against oppression, and a biting satire for the end of days.y for which Alexis Wright has become renowned.Trade Review'The great Moana Jackson declared the doctrine of discovery a legal fiction. In Praiseworthy, farce, satire, tragedy, the colloquial, myth, pun, repetition, elegy, and the epic expose the absurdity of the doctrine and the everyday lies, habits and horrors keeping it in place. Praiseworthy is simply astonishing.' Judges of the 2023 Queensland Award for Literary Fiction ---- 'I'm awed by the range, experiment and political intelligence of Alexis Wright's work. She is vital on the subject of land and people.' Robert Macfarlane, New York Times Book Review ---- 'Monumental. Praiseworthy blew me away. If you think you know what assimilation is, you should read Praiseworthy and think again.' Tony Hughes-d'Aeth, Australian Book Review ---- ‘Linguistically commodious, panoramically plotted, Praiseworthy’s 700-plus-page scale would have given Henry James a heart attack: it is a baggy monster, and more monstrous than most. Its vision is dark, humour tar-black, narration irrepressible, language roiling and rococo. All life, as in Balzac, is here … Wright gives us the living and the dead, material and non-material, Country and people; all the masters dreamed of, and all they neglected to; the entire human (and non-human) comedy … Long after the lesser concerns of contemporary fiction have ceased to matter, the work of Alexis Wright will remain.’ Declan Fry, The Guardian ---- 'The rich interrelations of ancestral spirits, larger-than-life characters, and Country all derive from the Aboriginal traditions of storytelling. But there are also signs of literary influence from every compass point on the map, including, most notably, the surrealism and magic realism of writers such as Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.' Jack Cameron Stanton, The Age ---- 'Praiseworthy is Alexis Wright's most formidable act of imaginative synthesis yet . . . A hero's journey for an age of global warming, a devastating story of young love caught between two laws, and an extended elegy and ode to Aboriginal law and sovereignty.' Jane Gleeson-White, The Conversation
£17.09
Pan Macmillan The Master and Margarita
Book SynopsisA literary sensation from its first publication, The Master and Margarita is considered a masterpiece of twentieth-century Russian literature. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library, a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold-foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O’Connor, and features an introduction by Orlando Figes.In Mikhail Bulgakov's imaginative extravaganza, Satan, disguised as a magician, descends upon Moscow in the 1930s with his riotous band, which includes a talking cat and an expert assassin. This visit has several aims, one of which concerns the fate of the Master, an author who has written a novel about Pontius Pilate and is now in a mental hospital. By turns satiric, fantastic and ironically philosophical, The Master and Margarita constantly surprises and entertains as the action switches back and forth between twentieth-century Moscow and first-century Jerusalem.Trade ReviewFunny and frightening * London Review of Books *Incandescent . . . One of those novels that, even in translation, make you feel that not one word could have been written differently . . . It has too many achievements to list, but the way it keeps faith in love and art even in moments of unspeakable humiliation and cruelty must be the greatest * New York Times *It had everything: Satan and a wise-cracking cat, Jesus as a wise simpleton, doomed love, hints of sex, blasphemy -- Jonathan Grimwood * Independent *I read it as a book about how to go on living when your spirit is broken -- Viv Groskop * Guardian *
£10.44
Metonymy Press Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Atlantic Books The Book of Speculation
Book SynopsisFor fans of The Night Circus, comes a sweeping and captivating debut novel about a young librarian who discovers that his family labours under a terrible curse.Simon Watson lives alone on the Long Island Sound. On a day in late June, Simon receives a mysterious book connected to his family. The book tells the story of two doomed lovers, two hundred years ago. He is fascinated, yet as he reads Simon becomes increasingly unnerved. Why do so many women in his family drown on 24th July? And could his beloved sister risk the same terrible fate?As 24th July draws ever closer, Simon must unlock the mysteries of the book, and decode his family history, before it's too late.Trade ReviewIn this dazzling debut, the immensely talented Erika Swyler sweeps seamlessly through generations and centuries, moving deftly back and forth and weaving the strands into an exquisite tapestry. I was immediately swept up in this quirky, raucous, and bewitching family saga. I absolutely loved this book * Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants *A luscious experience - dark, sweet and wild * Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love *Compulsive reading * Elle *
£8.54
Troubador Publishing DestinyQuest: The Raiders of Dune Sea
Book SynopsisMany truths lie hidden beneath the desert sands… You are an orphan with a strange gift for magic. Hunted by the church, you have fled south to the desert lands of Khitesh, lured by tales of exotic adventure and fabulous riches. However, a simple treasure-seeking mission quickly turns sour, plunging you into the heart of a criminal underworld, where shady dealings and poisoned blades hide a deadly secret. Do you have what it takes to survive on the cut-throat tides of the Dune Sea? You decide in this epic fantasy adventure – one where you make the decisions.
£15.29
Pan Macmillan Black Water Sister
Book SynopsisThis mischievous Malaysian-set novel is an adventure featuring family, ghosts and local gods - from Hugo Award winning novelist Zen Cho.'A sharp and bittersweet story of past and future, ghosts and gods and family, that kept me turning pages into the dark hours of the night' – Naomi Novik, author of UprootedHer grandmother may be dead, but she's not done with life . . . yet.As Jessamyn packs for Malaysia, it’s not a good time to start hearing a bossy voice in her head. Broke, jobless and just graduated, she’s abandoning America to return ‘home’. But she last saw Malaysia as a toddler – and is completely unprepared for its ghosts, gods and her eccentric family’s shenanigans.Jess soon learns her ‘voice’ belongs to Ah Ma, her late grandmother. She worshipped the Black Water Sister, a local deity. And when a business magnate dared to offend her goddess, Ah Ma swore revenge. Now she’s decided Jess will help, whether she wants to or not.As Ah Ma blackmails Jess into compliance, Jess fights to retain control. But her irrepressible relative isn’t going to let a little thing like death stop her, when she can simply borrow Jess’s body to make mischief. As Jess is drawn ever deeper into a world of peril and family secrets, getting a job becomes the least of her worries.‘This may be Zen Cho's best work yet’ – Karen Lord, author of The Best of All Possible Worlds‘A compelling and deftly written ghost story' – Kate Elliott, author of Cold MagicTrade ReviewZen Cho's brilliant and distinct voice brings worlds to life on the page. A sharp and bittersweet story of past and future, ghosts and gods and family, that kept me turning pages into the dark hours of the night -- Naomi Novik, author of UprootedTold with love and humour, Black Water Sister is both ode and accusation to all the ties that bind - to family, duty and home. Thrilling and terrifying, honest and hopeful, this may be Zen Cho's best work yet -- Karen Lord, author of The Best of All Possible WorldsA creepily atmospheric and surprisingly heartwarming tale of gangsters, family, and spirits -- Aliette de Bodard, author of The House of Shattered WingsZen Cho’s Black Water Sister is a perfect blend of ghosts, gods, and the eternal bonds of family ties. Set in the gorgeous backdrop of Penang, Jess reunites with her extended family and navigate the world of spirits and gangsters. This novel is perfect for readers craving an otherworldly, atmospheric fantasy -- Roselle Lim, author of Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and FortuneZen Cho’s Black Water Sister is the diaspora fantasy of my dreams – funny, creepy, and heartfelt. Jessamyn Teoh never wanted to be haunted by her sassy, score-settling grandmother, but when she moves from America to her parents’ hometown in Malaysia, she must navigate family, gods, ghosts and old grudges in this compelling and heartwarming ghost story -- Vanessa Len, author of Only a MonsterA thrilling modern fantasy tale packed to the brim with deliciously petty spirits, intriguing family secrets, and an achingly tender personal journey for our thoroughly relatable heroine. I absolutely loved it -- Sarah Kuhn, author of the Heroine Complex seriesA compelling and deftly written ghost story of a young woman's passage through the grudges and tragedies of her family's past to find a path into a future she chooses for herself -- Kate Elliott, author of Cold MagicGhosts, gods, and supernatural vengeance collide in vividly-depicted modern day Malaysia to create a contemporary fantasy story that’s full of voice and heart. At turns suspenseful, poignant and hilarious, Black Water Sister is an addictive tale of personal identity, family secrets, and culture clash -- Fonda Lee, author of Jade CityCho’s multifaceted characters, like her masterful plot, are never quite what they first appear. Unpredictable twists keep the pages turning while the comic but endearing relationship between Jess and her sassy grandmother provides the story’s heart. This is must-read fantasy -- Publishers WeeklyClever, funny and compulsively readable – I loved it! -- Lavie Tidhar on The True QueenAn enchanting cross between Georgette Heyer and Susannah Clarke, full of delights and surprises. Zen Cho unpins the edges of the canvas and throws them wide -- Naomi Novik on Sorcerer to the CrownA captivating debut . . . tells an entertaining story with wit and consummate skill -- Guardian on Sorcerer to the Crown
£9.49
Legend Press Ltd The Metamorphosis (Legend Classics)
Book SynopsisAs Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.The Metamorphosis - the masterpiece of Franz Kafka -was first published in 1915 and is one of the seminal works of fiction of the twentiethcentury. The novel iscited as a key influence for many of today's leading authors; as Auden wrote:"Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man".Traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, wakes to find himself transformed into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Gregor''s transformation is never revealed, and as he attempts to adjust to his new condition he becomes a burden to his parents and sister, who are repelled by the horrible, verminous creature Gregor has become.A harrowing, yet strangely comic, meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation,The Metamorphosishas taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction.The Legend Classics series:Around the World in Eighty DaysThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Importance of Being EarnestAlice''s Adventures in WonderlandThe MetamorphosisThe Railway ChildrenThe Hound of the BaskervillesFrankensteinWuthering HeightsThree Men in a BoatThe Time MachineLittle WomenAnne of Green GablesThe Jungle BookThe Yellow Wallpaper and Other StoriesDraculaA Study in ScarletLeaves of GrassThe Secret GardenThe War of the WorldsA Christmas CarolStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeHeart of DarknessThe Scarlet LetterThis Side of ParadiseOliver TwistThe Picture of Dorian GrayTreasure IslandThe Turn of the ScrewThe Adventures of Tom SawyerEmmaThe TrialA Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan PoeGrimm Fairy TalesThe AwakeningMrs DallowayGulliver's TravelsThe Castle of OtrantoSilas MarnerHard Times
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Mistress Of Spices
Book SynopsisBorn in India, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni lives near San Francisco with her husband and two children. She teaches creative writing at a local college, and is the coordinator for a helpline for South Asian women. She is the author of several award-winning volumes of poetry, as well as Arranged Marriage, her acclaimed collection of short stories, a bestseller in America and winner of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Prize for fiction, an American Book Award, and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award for fiction. She is also the author of two novels, The Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart.Trade ReviewA dazzling tale of misbegotten dreams and desires, hopes and expectations, woven with poetry and storyteller magic. -- Amy TanI read Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel The Mistress of Spices and felt excited and empowered by the way she used words * Guardian *An unusual, clever, and often exquisite first novel...The result is rather as if Isabel Allende met Laura Esquivel. * Los Angeles Times *A splendid novel, beautifully conceived and crafted. -- Pat ConroyMythical and mystical, Mistress of Spices is reminiscent of fables and fairy tales. . . . The story Divakaruni tells is transporting, but it is her gift for metaphor that makes this novel live and breathe, its pages as redolent as any freshly ground spice. * Booklist *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Women Could Fly
Book SynopsisMegan Giddings is the author of the novel Lakewood; a features editor at The Rumpus, a channel of the Los Angeles Review of Books; and a contributing editor at Boulevard. She is a recipient of a Barbara Deming memorial fund grant for feminist fiction. Her short stories have been published in Black Warrior Review, Gulf Coast, and The Iowa Review. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Indiana University. She lives in Michigan.Trade ReviewFor fans of Margaret Atwood * Elle Magazine *Thoughtful novel, written in a wry, magical realist tone reminiscent of Kelly Link and Carmen Maria Machado * Guardian *Megan Giddings's prose is brimming with wonder. The Women Could Fly is a candid appraisal of grief, inheritance, and the merits of unruliness. -- Raven Leilani, Bestselling author of LusterThis novel put me in the mind of the works of Margaret Atwood. An extraordinary concept * Platinum *The relationship at the heart of this novel — between Jo and her mercurial mother — is much closer to timeless. * The New York Times *Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. * Stylist *The Women Could Fly is an absolute triumph. Giddings conjures up a world that feels familiar, despite the increasingly creepy hints of dystopia. And along the way, she shows what the anti-witch crusaders really fear most: our ability to create a better world if we work together. * Washington Post *One of the most exhilarating and fulfilling books I've read in years. It's wildly imaginative, funny, deep, radical, and full of suspense. -- Jamie Attenberg, author of The MiddlesteinsProfound, daring, wondrous, and utterly original. A feminist dystopian epic . . . a hypnotic blend of enchantment and outrage. I could not love this novel more. -- Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good MothersThis is a gem of a book about womanhood, lineage, and defiance. -- C Pam Zhang, author of How Much of These Hills Is GoldReading this book is like putting on an old winter coat and discovering a magical talisman in the pocket: it’s full of warmth, comfort, and a whole new world of possibility. -- Adrienne Celt, author of End of the World HouseThe Women Could Fly recalls legendary works of dystopian fiction but casts a spell all its own. -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the SunMegan Giddings has a knack for taking her readers on a wild, suspenseful and thrilling ride. With descriptive setting and peculiar character development, I'm sure this novel is about to give us Dune meets The Salem Witch Trials realness. * Buzzfeed *A book with echoes of Octavia Butler and Shirley Jackson. * Electric Lit *Megan Giddings is a young writer to watch. * Kirkus Reviews *Buzzes with hot-button issues * Daily Mail *
£9.49
HarperCollins Focus The Other Year
Book Synopsis2023 Target Book of the Year FinalistPerfect for fans of Rebecca Serle''s One Italian Summer and Josie Silver''s The Two Lives of Lydia Bird.Can the entire course of a life be traced back to a single instant? And can hope be found in every moment after?On a coveted two-week beach vacation, working mom Kate Baker''s nine-year-old daughter, Olivia, vanishes suddenly among the waves--a heart-dropping incident that threatens to uproot her entire reality. But in the next moment, Olivia resurfaces, joyously splashing.What would I do if she didn''t come up? Kate wonders. How would I live without her?In another set of circumstances that hold a different fate, Kate doesn''t have to wonder. Because in that other world, in the pulse-pounding seconds after Olivia goes under, she doesn''t come back up.Told in parallel timelines, Kate begins to live two lives--one in whTrade ReviewIntriguing, thought-provoking . . . Rea Frey breathes life into universal themes concerning love, family, parenthood, forgiveness, grief, and second chances. * The New York Journal of Books *
£9.89
Vintage Publishing Orange World
Book Synopsis'I loved Orange World... a collection of short stories in which demons live in drains, bog women come back from the dead and trees can grow inside the human body' Daisy Johnson, New Statesman BOOK OF THE YEAR'A rare combination of literary brilliance and unbridled entertainment' Mark HaddonThese exuberant, unforgettable stories showcase Karen Russell's comedic and imaginative talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner lives. In 'The Bad Graft', a couple on a road trip stop in Joshua Tree National Park, where the spirit of a giant tree accidentally infects the young woman, their fates becoming permanently entangled. In 'The Prospectors' two opportunistic young women fleeing the Depression strike out for new territory, but find themselves fighting for their lives. In the brilliant and hilarious title story a new mother desperate to ensure her baby's safety strikes a deal with the devil to protect her baby. Stories of survival, love and of surreal and magnificent transformation show Russell writing at exhilarating new heights.Praise for Orange World:'The worlds of the stories are entirely convincing, small pockets in which it is possible to become lost' Guardian'One of our most original short story writers... Russell has impeccable command of her form' New York Times Book ReviewTrade ReviewSuperbly crafted...the weird and the outlandish exist side-by-side with everyday concerns... Russell is among the most skilled of this generation’s fabulist writers. In her surreal worlds, life is passing strange, but it is not devoid of wry comfort -- Nilanjana Roy * Financial Times *I loved Orange World by Karen Russell, which is a collection of short stories in which demons live in drains, bog women come back from the dead and trees can grow inside the human body -- Daisy Johnson * New Statesman, Books of the Year *One of our most original short story writers... Russell has impeccable command of her form... Russell’s particular gift lies in taking themes that are close to universal and presenting them in stories whose strangeness comes to seem entirely natural, even necessary * New York Times Book Review *A rare combination of literary brilliance and unbridled entertainmentA mesmerising, often hilarious, new collection that embraces survival, love and magnificent transformation -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday, *Books of the Year* *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing Spells for Forgetting: the spellbinding magical
Book Synopsis'Spellbinding' JODI PICOULT'Bewitching' REBECCA ROSS'Exquisite' STEPHANIE GARBER'Captivating' SUE LYNN TANEmery Blackwood's life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily. She'd once dreamt of running away with August, eager to escape the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and chase new dreams together. Now, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence among this tight-knit community steeped in folklore and tradition, ruled by the seasons and ancient superstitions.But when August returns after fourteen years to bury his mother's ashes, Emery must confront her first love and the reason he left so abruptly. But the town wants August gone again. And as the island begins to show signs of strange happenings, the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises threatens to reveal the truth behind Lily's death once and for all.'There were tales that only the island knew. Ones that had never been told. I knew, because I was one of them'Trade ReviewLush with secrets, magic, and a past that won't stay where it belongs, this novel is (quite fittingly) spellbinding * Jodi Picoult *A bewitching mystery, equal parts thrilling and romantic. I felt the isle's salt-laced winds, deeply rooted secrets, and the draw of the tides in Adrienne Young's stunning prose. Not to be missed * Rebecca Ross *A thrilling, rich mystery with exquisite twists. Adrienne Young's adult debut will trick you, bewitch you and leave you begging for more * Stephanie Garber *Spells for Forgetting seamlessly weaves mystery, magic, and love into a captivating tale. Deeply immersive and filled with intrigue, each page draws you closer and leaves you wanting more * Sue Lynn Tan *With magic, murder, and prose that reads like music, Adrienne Young weaves together an immersive tale amidst the Pacific Coast island of Saoirse where love and pain both stick to the bone and a novel that will surely stick with me for many years to come, too * Chandler Baker *With quiet magic like wind on a spooky autumn evening, Spells for Forgetting is so atmospheric it will leave you breathless. Adrienne Young's exquisite prose blends slow-burn romance and intense mystery into a beautiful, twisty gem of a novel. You won't want to miss this one * Sarah Addison Allen *A mysterious island with a will of its own. A fire. A murder. Love and betrayal, secrets and deep connections. And everything tinged with magic. A gripping and enthralling read. Beautifully crafted storytelling * Nydia Hetherington *Tense, lyrical, and wholly romantic, Spells for Forgetting is as immersive a story as you could ask for. I could feel the salt on my skin, smell the smoke, and every page felt like a tentative step into a mist concealing all of Saoirse's darkest secrets * Ruth Emmie Lang *Bewitching * E Online *Young casts a spell that will keep readers turning the pages * Publishers Weekly *While Young's fascinating, atmospheric, and mystical adult debut blends a few different genres, it is a mystery at its core * BuzzFeed *This tale has a claustrophobic Stranger Things atmosphere . . . highly emotional * Daily Mail *Haunting and mythical * Woman *At its heart this is a book about a community and relationships . . . thrilling * SF Books *
£9.49
Rogue River The Owl of Death Row
£10.19
Vintage Publishing The WindUp Bird Chronicle
Book SynopsisIn 1978, Haruki Murakami was 29 and running a jazz bar in downtown Tokyo. One April day, the impulse to write a novel came to him suddenly while watching a baseball game. That first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won a new writers' award and was published the following year. More followed, including A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, but it was Norwegian Wood, published in 1987, which turned Murakami from a writer into a phenomenon. His books became bestsellers, were translated into many languages, including English, and the door was thrown wide open to Murakami's unique and addictive fictional universe.Murakami writes with admirable discipline, producing ten pages a day, after which he runs ten kilometres (he began long-distance running in 1982 and has participated in numerous marathons and races), works on translations, and then reads, listens to records and cooks. His passions colour his non-fiction output, from What I Talk About WhTrade ReviewMurakami writes of contemporary Japan, urban alienation and journeys of self-discovery, and in this book he combines recollections of the war with metaphysics, dreams and hallucinations into a powerful and impressionistic work * Independent *Deeply philosophical and teasingly perplexing, it is impossible to put down * Daily Telegraph *Murakami weaves these textured layers of reality into a shot-silk garment of deceptive beauty * Independent on Sunday *Critics have variously likened him to Raymond Carver, Raymond Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Don DeLillo, Philip K. Dick, Bret Easton Ellis and Thomas Pynchon - a roster so ill assorted as to suggest Murakami is in fact an original * New York Times *Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original * The Times *
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Mischief Acts: 'Joyous' THE TIMES, Best summer
Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR _______________ 'A work of extraordinary ambition, brilliantly realised’ OBSERVER 'A mesmerising journey down the byways of English folklore' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Verbally dextrous, inventive, and hugely entertaining’ THE TIMES _______________ Herne the hunter, mischief-maker, spirit of the forest, leader of the wild hunt, hurtles through the centuries pursued by his creator. A shapeshifter, Herne dons many guises as he slips and ripples through time – at candlelit Twelfth Night revels, at the spectacular burning of the Crystal Palace, at an acid-laced Sixties party. Wherever he goes, transgression, debauch and enchantment always follow in his wake. But as the forest is increasingly encroached upon by urban sprawl and gentrification, and the world slides into crisis, Herne must find a way to survive – or exact his revenge.Trade ReviewWeaving together prose and poetry, myth and history, the past, present and future, it’s a work of extraordinary ambition, brilliantly realised * OBSERVER *A dark-dazzling archive of enchantments, pursuit, and desire -- ELEY WILLIAMSInventive and subversive ... A mesmerising journey down the byways of English folklore * MAIL ON SUNDAY *Verbally dextrous, inventive, and hugely entertaining * THE TIMES *This is the most adventurous, stylistically magnificent thing I’ve read for years. Nobody does fantasy like Zoe Gilbert -- NATASHA PULLEYMischief Acts is a deeply lyrical, century-spanning polyphony of voices; a dazzling new take on an ancient myth, reminding us of the wildness within. I adored it -- KERRY ANDREWMischief Acts is brimming with magic - full of wild hunts, river spirits and revelry. The story of Herne, like the forest itself, transforms, entangles and enchants -- LUCY WOODSuperb. A work of shimmering allure. By turns beguiling and mercurial, Gilbert takes British folklore to new heights -- IRENOSEN OKOJIEPraise for Folk: 'An extraordinary debut novel … It feels both ancient – drawing on deep seams of myth and folklore – and strikingly contemporary, pushing at the edges of what we mean when we call a book a novel. In Folk, Zoe Gilbert has made a thing of strange and enduring beauty -- ALEX PRESTON * FINANCIAL TIMES *Folk is a special book: immersive and dripping with life, each story a spell, an allegory, a dark, smoky poem divined from the landscape of our ancient kingdom … It reads like a dream that, once visited, is difficult to leave behind -- BEN MYERS * GUARDIAN *Genuinely original, disturbing, beautiful and gripping ... Folk can be read as a map of the British mythic imagination: of the river under the river. Starkly original and expertly written, it draws you, like a faerie song, into a kingdom from which you may never escape, and may not want to * NEW STATESMAN *Dazzling and unsettling, much like the best and darkest of fairy tales * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *A dark, often discomforting debut … Gilbert’s sensuous prose conjures fantastical figures including a man born with a wing for an arm, and a girl who’s abducted by a water bull … Bewitching * MAIL ON SUNDAY, BEST NEW FICTION *Folk is absolutely stunning. I loved it. With gorgeous, incantatory prose, it submerges you in a mysterious and utterly compelling world. Its illumination lingers long after you close the book -- MADELINE MILLERI was thoroughly absorbed. Zoe Gilbert’s invented folk-world is sensuous and dangerous and thick with magic -- TESSA HADLEYThat rare thing: genuinely unique. It’s part-myth, part-allegory, wholly wonderful * OBSERVER, BOOKS OF THE YEAR *A captivating mythical, magical and haunting debut which draws on fascinating folklore * I PAPER *
£9.49
Europa Editions (UK) Ltd Beautiful
Book Synopsis“Massimo Cuomo’s writing, not the protagonist’s beauty, is what’s truly wonderful about this book.” - Coooperazione “Intense, engaging, psychologically deep. Beautiful lives up to its title.” - Ex Libris “With this Márquezian novel Massimo Cuomo outdid himself.” - Corriere del Veneto A magical tale of love and rivalry between two brothers. Miguel is beautiful. His beauty is so rare and miraculous that it has made him the object of cult-like devotion in the city. Santiago, his older brother, watches with a mix of admiration and disquiet the prodigious effect that Miguel’s looks have on his mother and father, on passersby, their neighbours, and the droves of female suitors that follow him everywhere. With Miguel constantly under the spotlight, Santiago is left to inhabit darker, hidden places, from where he will finally learn that life is not easy for anyone, even his prodigiously handsome brother. Set in Mexico, this story shines at every turn with the colours and mythical light of magical realism. The conflict between brothers, the role of the parents, the loves, the violence, the journeys are presented with realism and deep psychological insight yet possess an aura of legend. Disappointments, flights, regrets, reunions, goodbyes, epiphanies make up this story, as we follow the two brothers, and the people around them—all forever marked, each in their own way, by their extraordinary encounter with Beauty. “In contemporary Italian literature, never has the theme of the close-knit yet ambivalent relationship between two brothers been addressed with such clarity, depth, and ability to bring to light the conflict raging within each soul.” - AvvenireTrade Review“A book to be savoured.” * Sololibri *“Truly beautiful.” * Il Manifesto *“The surrealism of the best of magic realism within the frame of a bildungsroman.” * Gioia *“A tale à deux, told by Cuomo with great tenderness, sorrow, and emotion.” * La Nuova Venezia *
£11.69
Troubador Publishing I’ll Weave a Song for You
Book SynopsisShe holds the verse in the palm of her hand and tells a story she died in. When Megan dies, she leaves a promise with her twin Emily: ‘I’ll weave a song for you…it may take a while, but I’ll come back to you Em, somehow’. Her song threads a tapestry, spinning through a mosaic of memories and weaving into the present day, touching the lives of Alice and Jon. The Café by the Oak is in the heart of Crayshead, a Cornish seaside town with a sleepy tortoise, a vocal parrot, and a dog named Wellington. Emily is charmed by Alice, an old lady with secrets hidden behind the walls of a convent. Jon’s life lacks purpose. After taking up a new teaching post he feels settled enough to begin unravelling his past, but when he finds something he isn’t looking for it causes him to question everything. Emily seeks comfort in her art, reflecting on her childhood, and helping Jon pursue his past. And as Alice slowly reveals her secret, Emily breathes life into a painting on canvas… Can Megan weave a song without leaving them all with a sense of betrayal?
£8.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC White Cat, Black Dog
Book SynopsisSeven modern fairytales from Pulitzer Prize finalist Kelly Link, featuring illustrations by award-winning artist Shaun Tan. Leaving behind the enchanted castles, deep, dark woods and gingerbread cottages of fairytales for airport waiting rooms, alien planets and a cannabis farm run by a team of hospitable cats, White Cat, Black Dog offers a fresh take on the stories that you thought you knew. Here you’ll find stoner students, failing actors and stranded professors questing for love, revenge or even just a sense of purpose. Poised on the edges between magic, modernity and mundanity, this collection will remind you once again of why Kelly Link is incomparable in the realm of short fiction. Don’t stray from the path! Not without Kelly Link as your guide. 'Uncanny brilliance' Sunday Times 'An expert illusionist' New Yorker 'Link is a genius' LA Times 'Thrilling... glittering' Spectator 'A short story sorceress' Washington Post 'Joyful... awe-inspiring' Jessamine Chan 'Contains all the good stuff' Bustle 'Magically transporting' Salon 'Wonderfully told' BuzzFeed 'Liable to linger in your mind' Today 'Enchanting' Publishers Weekly 'Wondrous' Stephen Graham Jones 'This book is sublime' Emma Straub 'Enchanting... unsettling' Kiersten White 'Glorious and bewitching' Clare Beams Tales you live inside' Victor Lavalle 'Luminous... surreal' Kate MascarenhasTrade ReviewA billionaire is a king, a housesitting gig is a portal, and fans of 'Station Eleven,' speculative fiction or simply anyone who needs a brief escape from the hard, cold world will find the prose here magically transporting. Under Link's hand, the stories promise to be wild, wicked and utterly unforgettable. -- Alison Stine * Salon *Kelly Link is the master of the modern fairytale. This collection of short stories is deceptively easy to read – you'll be turning the pages of strange events quickly, but the stories and their strange events are liable to linger in your mind. * Today *Link’s most direct engagement with the fairytales and folk legends that have always inspired her work... as intense, absorbing and weird as the best dreams * The Guardian *Like Angela Carter, Link understands the psychological (and narratological) powers of her raw material, and makes thrilling shapes while also dissecting modern society . . . White Cat, Black Dog marks a glittering new height in the literature of the weird * The Spectator *'MacArthur Genius Grant fellow Kelly Link’s latest collection reworks seven fairy tales... in fantastic modern contexts. Hansel and Gretel must escape a very different sort of hunger on a planet of vampires; a house-sitting gig is the setting for a portal fantasy; and the white cat of the title turns out to run a weed dispensary. There are layovers in airports (familiar) and wealthy fathers sending sons on absurd quests – also familiar, but in a much more bone-deep way in the retellings of such symbolic stories' * LitHub *The maestro fantasist of short fiction brings us more mystical stories – of animals, human and not, and the unattainable desires that make up all our lives. Each story reworks a folk tale, sourced from the Brothers Grimm, Scottish ballads, and beyond, then sprints off in surprising new directions. The collection contains all the good stuff: doppelgängers right and left, puppies that might be foxes, foxes that might be embroidery, and divine swimming sessions in a dinky hotel pool.' * Bustle *Link refashions classic fairy tales, myths, and adventure sagas for contemporary settings in her wondrous collection.... [she] delivers the kind of off-the-cuff oddness her readers expect, and her reworkings take the clockwork of familiar stories and give them bloody, beating hearts... This is enchanting. * Publishers Weekly *Reading Kelly Link makes my heart burst with gladness. Perfect for longtime fans as well as new readers, these seven mischievous, nimble, joyful, wise, awe-inspiring, soul-enriching, positively Linkian fairy tales will make you feel like you’re discovering the power of stories for the very first time and will expand your capacity for enchantment in our jaded world. White Cat, Black Dog is a book I will read, reread, and treasure all my life. -- Jessamine ChanLink has produced a body of work that is formally original and emotionally rich... in her hands, the Grimms’ enchanted animals are still enchanted animals, but straight princes and princesses are fabulous gay men and lesbian professionals, the ominous woods are airports with endless delays or post-apocalyptic landscapes... This is fiction that pulls you swiftly into its world and then holds you completely, lingering like an especially intense dream * Kirkus *Reading Kelly Link is stepping onto a slide that spirals you down into the heart of the kaleidoscope, splashes you into a technicolor fairy tale, and either makes you smile wide enough that you cry, or the other way around. Her storytelling is wondrous and fanciful, full of longing and terror. -- Stephen Graham JonesKelly Link’s stories are spooky and funny, grounded and floating, and, as always, completely her own. There is no mistaking a story by Kelly Link. This book is sublime. -- Emma StraubLink is one of America’s most respected – and original – short story writers... Her latest book contains her updated takes on seven fairy tales, featuring a cast of characters who are all searching for something elusive. * The OC Register *If I could find a way to use every superlative in a never-ending Borges-ian Carter-esque sentence, I would. Kelly Link’s stories are generous with their intellect, wit, humanity, and the hope and dread of what was, of what might be, of what is. White Cat, Black Dog is a marvel -- Paul TremblayKelly Link’s stories wriggle under your skin and take up a permanent home there, and somehow you’re grateful to be infested. An enchanting collection from one of the most astonishingly funny, unsettling, insightful, and brilliant writers of our time -- Kiersten WhiteWith White Cat, Black Dog, Kelly Link puts her sui generis magic to work on the older magic of fairy tales, forging something revelatory. These stories delight and terrify and seem to ask us, Yes, this is the way the world works — haven’t you been paying attention? I am now. What a glorious and bewitching gift this book is. -- Clare BeamsIf Kelly Link writes a book, I am reading that book. White Cat, Black Dog is a glorious book, full of grand journeys across times, lives and realities. These are big stories, tales you dive into, live inside, and come out the other end changed. Kelly Link is the Alice Munro of the fantastic. And we readers are so lucky to have more of her writing in our lives. -- Victor LaValleA luminous and unsettling collection of fables, with flashes of surreal humour -- Kate MascarenhasThe Brothers Grimm meet Black Mirror meets Alice in Wonderland in White Cat, Black Dog. Kelly Link, a MacArthur Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist, is an expert in the art of darker, sci-fi-infused magical realism and shows off her skills in her new short story collection. In seven remixed fairy tales, Link delivers wit and dreamlike intrigue. One story follows a cat who runs a weed dispensary and enchants the three sons of an aging billionaire. In another, a reimagined version of “Hansel and Gretel,” a brother and sister wait for their parents to return to an alien planet where vampires and handmaidens run amok. And even “Snow-White and Rose-Red” gets an update in which a grad student housesits a cabin — and is visited by beguiling guests. * TIME *Link displays her usual uncanny brilliance...in these generous reimaginations that reflect our own world, darkly * The Sunday Times *Link is a genius, and not just according to the MacArthur Foundation. A small-press publisher, bookstore owner and producer of a zine, she consistently publishes stories that upend expectations. In her new collection, the author both reinvents and reclaims fairy tales, and the results are pure modern folklore — eccentric, taut and tapped into the collective subconscious. Dive in to meet Hansel and Gretel on a planet of vampires, as well as a cat who runs a weed dispensary. * LA Times *There's a distinct pleasure in discovering what kind of monster is waiting to be encountered next * SFX *Right up there with the very best stories she has ever written * Book Munch *'Link has already proven herself the fairy godmother of fairy-tale retellings in her previous four short story collections, expertly updating and humanizing them into enchanting, perfectly contained vignettes. Her latest collection so seamlessly entwines the real with the surreal that the stories threaten to slip into reality, resonating long after reading... Thought-provoking and wonderfully told' * BuzzFeed *'In the stories of Kelly Link, strange things happen in otherwise ordinary settings. Her stories do not abide by the rules of conflict and resolution — they make sense in the way that dreams make sense.' * New York Times *Link is a genius, and not just according to the MacArthur Foundation. A small-press publisher, bookstore owner and producer of a zine, she consistently publishes stories that upend expectations. In her new collection, the author both reinvents and reclaims fairy tales, and the results are pure modern folklore — eccentric, taut and tapped into the collective subconscious. Dive in to meet Hansel and Gretel on a planet of vampires, as well as a cat who runs a weed dispensary. * LA Times *'Kelly Link is a writer whose work is easy to revere and difficult to explain. She began her career by publishing stories in sci-fi and fantasy magazines in the mid-nineteen-nineties, just when the boundary between genre fiction and the literary mainstream was beginning to erode, and, in the years since, her work has served to speed that erosion along….Through it all, the essential qualities of her work have remained unchanged. To those familiar with her writing, ‘ Linkian' is as distinct an adjective as 'Lynchian,' signifying a stylistic blend of ingenuousness and sophistication, bright flashes of humor alongside dark currents of unease, and a deep engagement with genre tropes that comes off as both sincere and subversive . . . To read Link is to place oneself in the hands of an expert illusionist, entering a world where nothing is ever quite what it seems.' -- Kristen Roupenian, The New Yorker'Kelly Link is something of a short story sorceress. The 2018 MacArthur fellow refuses rules, subverts conventions, and in so doing, delivers unpredictable adventure. “White Cat, Black Dog,” her fifth collection, is a set of seven slipstream short stories that edge, in length, toward novelettes. Where her earlier collections were anchored by a zany, wondrous youthfulness (as well as vampires, faeries, and other fantastical genre staples), this one seems to convey: Never fear, aging has entertaining horrors all its own.' * Washington Post *Classic fable retold with a modern twist, breathing new life into old favourites with Kelly’s signature imagination and wit * Damian Barr's Literary Salon *Gives Black Mirror, Alice in Wonderland and the Brothers Grimm a run for their money * ES Magazine *Overflowing with beauty and stinging ferocity...White Cat, Black Dog contains the most wonderful storytelling, of the deepest dark kind * LoveReading, Star Book *Shows just how much life there is left in fairy tale retellings if the writer is bold and inventive enough. The stories delight, frighten and disrupt in equal measure, and serve as an ample reminder of Link’s remarkable talents * The Fantasy Hive *A selection of fairytales for the modern world... Link's signature weird and uncanny style results in a delightful collection * The Sunday Times *Link has carved out a unique niche, somewhere where the strands of fantasy, weird fiction, and the speculative combine and become inextricably entangled. These are stories in which the fairy tale and the mundane world we live in overlap and mix together, rendering both of them freshly uncanny * Tor.com *Drawing inspiration from fairy tales… Link contemporises them and shapes them in the unexpected forms that only she knows how * Esquire Singapore *By turns unsettling and delightful, White Cat, Black Dog captures the essential poetry at the heart of fables * Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post Best SFF of 2023 *Eerie, confounding retellings of Scottish ballads, Grimm fairy tales, and cottagecore horror full of stumbles into the otherworldly, the uncanny swirling around the mundane... a leap in Link’s creative muscles and an excellent taste of her forthcoming, eagerly-awaited debut novel The Book of Love * Den of Geek, Books of the Year 2023 *
£9.49
Scribe Publications Bad Cree
Book SynopsisA haunting debut novel where dreams, family, and spirits collide. Night after night, Mackenzie — a young Cree woman living in Vancouver — has dreams that return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death. But when the waking world starts closing in, too — crows stalk her every move around the city; she gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina — Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone. Desperate for help, she returns to her mother, sister, cousin, and aunties in her small Alberta hometown. Together, they try to uncover what is haunting Mackenzie before it’s too late.Trade Review‘A rare voice in contemporary fiction. Her debut novel similarly carves out a unique space.’ -- Claire Alfree * Daily Mail *‘At once stunning, terrifying, and deeply affecting, in Bad Cree, the reader is invited to flock with Jessica Johns through soaring prose glistening with the power of family, Cree culture, and togetherness. A novel that haunts; a novel impossible to put down.’ -- Laura Jean McKay, author of The Animals in That Country ‘Bad Cree deftly explores the permeable boundaries of dreams, reality, and culture, as well as complex family dynamics and relationships. A compelling novel that is a mystery and a horror story about grief, but one with defiant hope in its beating heart.’ -- Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Pallbearers Club‘The novel serves as a window into a world where dreams intersect with waking reality … It works equally well as spine-tingling thriller and a touching meditation on grief.’ -- Publishers Weekly, starred review‘Bad Cree is an engaging read with well-drawn characters.’ * New York Journal of Books *‘Bad Cree is a masterwork of creeping tension. Wry, moody, and subversive, Johns explores the power of connections, both the harm and the healing, with characters rich and warm, tangled in each other, to the land and to the supernatural. Couldn’t put it down.’ -- Eden Robinson, author of Son of a Trickster‘In evocative yet understated prose, Jessica Johns weaves a captivating tale of love, loss, the violence of greed, and the healing power of family. In Bad Cree, Johns delivers a suspenseful and thought-provoking page turner you won’t want to put down.’ -- Michelle Good, #1 bestselling author of Five Little Indians‘Johns … ties Cree beliefs about dreams and deep-rooted indigenous lore to how women in a family rally around one another to battle grief.’ * The Washington Post *‘Bad Cree is a mesmerising, enticing read. Jessica Johns writes the world in all its messiness and terror, while simultaneously remembering to centre its tender beating heart. A book about family and foundations, but also about how the secrets we keep can knock the floor out from under us. A captivating novel from an exciting new author.’ -- Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things‘With creeps that are ever-creepy and love flowing like beer at a bush party, Bad Cree is a book about the power of dreams, home, and family. It reads like a tribute to the ones who came before us: Lee Maracle, Jeanette Armstrong, Eden Robinson. This book is tough iskwew in flannel shirts with long unbrushed hair, just looking good. It’s tea rings on Formica tables, cigarette smoke wafting through windows, and an eerie magical realism that only belongs to the bush. Full of auntie power, Jessica Johns is really coming into her own immense storytelling ways.’ -- Katherena Vermette, author of The Break‘Both tactile and dreamy, terrifying and beautiful, Bad Cree will wrap you up and pull you along for the journey — once it starts, there’s no backing out, no pause, no stall. I have been waiting years for Jessica Johns’s books — I say books because there had better be more! She did not disappoint.’ -- Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves‘Lovingly layered, haunting, and effectively executed.’ -- Alastair Mabbott * The Herald *‘Johns deploys and transforms horror motifs in this haunting story of Indigenous survivance … The ghosts here are entirely natural, native to the setting of this novel and the worldview of its characters … [A] narrative that is truly chilling and suspenseful. A powerful exploration of generational trauma and an artful, affecting debut.’ -- Kirkus Reviews‘Johns laces cryptid terror into the sense of loss that her community feels … Visceral details will have readers hanging on the edge of every chapter, waiting to see when the wheetigo will strike next. Perfect for fans of Ramona Emerson’s Shutter and Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians — Johns is a writer to watch.’ -- Booklist, starred review‘A story about grief and family and the lingering effects of the infringement of industrialism on native lands. At its heart are the strong familial bonds between its predominantly Cree cast of characters as the story is put in the context of the Cree experience, with aspects of their history, culture, and lore present throughout … When the book ends, what readers will remember most are the moments these characters shared together, playing cards and talking late into the night.’ * Library Journal *‘Steeped in Cree tradition, the complicated dynamics found in strong families and the perennial challenges of coming-of-age, this novel smoulders its way towards a gripping, supernatural, and unforgettable conclusion.’ * Cambridge Edition *‘Johns utilises horror tropes to work out the ramifications of generational trauma to perfect effect … a chilling narrative that’s about spirits and ghosts, but also about healing.’ * BookRiot *‘This gripping horror debut … is a satisfying slow burn that explores loss, generational trauma, and violence through a narrative that is chilling yet, at its centre, burning with a defiant resilience.’ * Electric Lit *‘Eerie, atmospheric, and intriguing … a notable intervention into the genre and an accomplished debut: rich in dark folklore-inspired imagery, this is a novel about grief as a bond, inherited trauma through a cultural lens, and refreshingly intersectional sorority; with remarkable representation and a large cast of female characters at the core of the story.’ -- Venezia Castro * The Skinny *‘[A] wonderfully haunting and oft visceral read; one which plays with genre conventions to tell a story steeped in culture and chills.’ -- Simon Clark * The AU Review *‘Bad Cree, the debut novel from Cree woman Jessica Johns, is a work of decolonisation. Reading this paranormal thriller is like watching your reflection as you walk towards a glass door: the story is fluid and lifelike but there’s an unsettling essence of the untouchable, a reminder that there’s more to life than the tangible.’ -- Monique Grbec * The Saturday Paper *‘Clever, funny, moving, and haunting, Bad Cree employs and subverts genres.’ -- Will Smith * The Bookseller *‘[A] debut novel of extraordinary power.’ -- Tammy Moir * HappyMag *‘Bad Cree is a creepily effective horror story. Johns makes the most of strange happenings, potentially deadly dreams, jump scares and evil spirits. This is a book that dares readers to turn off the light, consider not walking alone and possibly even turn off their phones. But Bad Cree is ultimately about the power of family and the deep well of knowledge within the Cree community … She has delivered a sometimes chilling, page-turning narrative in which dreaming and the power of dreams is central. But Bad Cree is also a stake in the ground for the power of a community that continues to survive while dealing with the ongoing destructive impacts of colonisation and environmental exploitation.’ -- Robert Goodman * The Newtown Review of Books *‘[D]reams take centre stage in the narrative, there is a freshness to the way she explores the real impact that dreams have on ourselves … The narrative is intricate and offers enough structurally and linguistically for more mature readers to take away from the text … Johns demonstrates a real talent in the connection between waking life and dreaming, giving the impression of the spiritual world and its impact on the day to day existence of the “real world” that sits so comfortably in the narratives of first nation peoples … It’s dark, and there are some horrific sequences, but the construction of the supernatural really is something worth noting … It sits in a genre of its own and creates an otherworldliness that is rare in modern novel writing. Highly recommended.’ * NZ Booklovers *‘Jessica Johns weaves Native American mythology and classic horror themes together seamlessly to build a captivating and thrilling story of family, love, and grief … One of Bad Cree’s greatest powers is its effortless ability to show that not all hauntings are bad; we can be haunted by the ones we love and find comfort and solace in that.’ -- Jennifer Fraioli * Readings *‘Bad Cree is an extremely accomplished first novel and Jessica Johns is a writer of huge potential. This is the future of the horror genre and it fills this old horror fan with hope.’ -- Reader review‘Definitely a book to add to your list!’ -- Reader review‘Jessica Johns’ writing digs its talons into you — a chilly fever dream that unpicks family dynamics and generational trauma against a body-horror backdrop.’ -- Reader review
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Hedge Witch A Threadneedle Novella
Book SynopsisAn enchanting new novella set in the magical world of Sunday Times bestseller Threadneedle.Rowan is visiting her aunt Winne the hedge witch in the Welsh countryside, to get back to nature and hone her skills, as well as taking a break from her annoying sisters and enjoying some peace and quiet. However, Rowan soon comes to realise that hedges are a serious business and this isn't quite the opportunity to rest and escape she thought it might be.Not only that, but mysterious events around the town are causing panic in the secret magical community and cowans non-magical folk are starting to take notice.Can Rowan hone her hedge craft, try to make some friends and solve the riddle of the mysterious goings-on, or is magic about to be revealed to the world or at least Wales?Pre-order the stunning sequel SHADOWSTITCH now coming June 2024.Trade ReviewPraise for THREADNEEDLE: ‘An enthralling and original fantasy, woven inside a magical web of lies’Jay Kristoff, Sunday Times bestselling author of NEVERNIGHT and EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE ‘The magic both gleams and threatens. There are riddles and puzzles to be solved and there’s a library – trust me, it’s a good one. You’ll want to give this a try.’Sunday Times bestselling author Robin Hobb ‘In this beautiful coming-of-age book, Thomas tackles big issues, family secrets and heartbreak in a brilliantly imagined, yet authentic world.’Woman’s Weekly ‘There’s magic in every nook and cranny – as well as shops selling memories – in this fantastical novel that stalks the streets of London’s underbelly’METRO ‘A bewitching tale of magic, family secrets and twisted affections, of finding your true self in a world of treacherous mystery. Prepare to be charmed!’David Wragg, author of THE BLACK HAWKS ‘THREADNEEDLE had me spellbound – a luminous, captivating fantasy that left me longing to return to Thomas’s vividly imagined magical world. With teen witches, hidden libraries, secrets and lies, it’s a dream of a book, and I loved it.’Katie Lowe, author of THE FURIES ‘The first in a new fantasy trilogy, Anna's aunt has always warned her of the dangers of magic and now, aged 16, she is counting down the days to a ceremony that will bind her magic forever. That is, until her eyes are opened to a London she never knew existed one with a shop that sells memories, a secret underground library and nightclubs full of magic.’Woman Magazine ‘An enthralling and inventive story you’ll enjoy getting lost in’Woman & Home
£11.69
Orion Publishing Co The Prestige SF MASTERWORKS
Book SynopsisTwo 19th century stage illusionists, the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden, engage in a bitter and deadly feud; the effects are still being felt by their respective families a hundred years later.Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls, they prowl edgily in the background of each other''s shadowy life, driven to the extremes by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity.At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple, and the reader is in on it almost from the start, but to the antagonists the real mystery lies deeper. Both have something more to hide than the mere workings of a trick.******''I can''t believe how far the two of them went to prolong their feud of pranks. It was great seeing two professionals unwilling to harm their craft still work around all the little niceties to get at one anotherTrade ReviewStylish, enigmatic and enthralling ... Highly recommended. * SFFworld.com *
£9.49
Atlantic Books The Rain Heron: SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES
Book Synopsis**SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD 2021**'Astonishing... With the intensity of a perfect balance between the mythic and the real, The Rain Heron keeps turning and twisting, taking you to unexpected places. A deeply emotional and satisfying read. Beautifully written.' Jeff VanderMeer, author of BorneRen lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading - and forgetting. But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a legendary creature, Ren is inexorably drawn into an impossible mission. As their lives entwine, unravel and erupt - as myth merges with reality - both Ren and the soldier are forced to confront what they regret, what they love, and what they fear.A vibrant homage to the natural world, bursting with beautiful landscapes and memorable characters, The Rain Heron is a beautifully told eco-fable about our fragile and dysfunctional relationships with the planet and with each other, the havoc we wreak and the price we pay.'I was transfixed' Catherine Lacey, author of Pew'Fantastic' Kawai Strong Washburn, author of Sharks in the Time of SavioursTrade ReviewArnott's eco-fable, set in a politically broken near future, explores the constant push-pull that exists between our capacity for enchantment and our need to exploit what we find. It's sad and satisfying. * The Times *Written with economy and grace, The Rain Heron is a timeless and poignant meditation on our fragile relationship with the natural environment. * Guardian *A quietly unsettling fable... Arnott writes vibrantly about the harsh wonder of nature, his vivid characters becoming almost animal themselves. * Observer *Each narrative thread could stand as a shocking, beautiful and moral short story in its own right, but Robbie Arnott weaves them seamlessly together into a satisfying whole. * Scotsman *Astonishing... With the intensity of a perfect balance between the mythic and the real, The Rain Heron keeps turning and twisting, taking you to unexpected places. A deeply emotional and satisfying read. Beautifully written. * Jeff VanderMeer, author of Borne *The Rain Heron is a patient and rooted fable told as naturally as a tree grows. With timeless and captivating prose, Robbie Arnott has a talent for making it look easy. I was transfixed. * Catherine Lacey, author of Pew *The Rain Heron is fantastic. The ripping pace of a thriller combined with the emotional complexity of a Shakespearian tragedy, delivered in diamond-sharp prose. It pulls you into a world of myths come to life, where environmental destruction collides with socio-political decay, and you can't help but feel for all the characters as they navigate through the wreckage. Highly recommended. * Kawai Strong Washburn, author of Sharks in the Time of Saviours *A searing exploration of the entanglement of internal and external nature, and the human mind's unconscious pull towards dominating [nature]...Arnott is brilliant at writing the natural world. * Kill Your Darlings *Arnott's vision coalesces into an affecting narrative, charged with symbolism and characters who hold trauma, pain and cruelty in the same space... His is a lyrical, natural style that combines the expansiveness of a fable with fully realised detail. * Saturday Paper *Arnott weaves a narrative that feels both timely and timelessly engaging. A powerful meditation on human greed and frailty, The Rain Heron also leaves room for redemption. This bracing follow-up to Flames will reinforce Arnott's reputation for unusual, risk-taking literary fiction. * Laura Elizabeth Woollett, Australian Book Review *Unlike anything I have ever read. As luminescent as it is devastating, Arnott's tightly-wrought storytelling reveals the myriad harms we wreak both on our planet and on each other. It is mesmerising. * Ruth Gilligan *The Rain Heron is genuinely and completely magnificent - a magical thing. * Robert Lukins *The Rain Heron is literary art. Robbie Arnott has deftly crafted an audacious idea into an original, compelling work. Nothing is overdone or superfluous. * Australian *The Rain Heron is exquisite. Reading it feels like hearing a legend from our past, from our near future; like remembering something you had always known but somehow forgotten. It is both fantastical and deeply true. * Jane Rawson *Robbie Arnott imagines a thoroughly strange, inky-dark land of the near future. Sharp and original, The Rain Heron is a beautiful novel about love, violence and redemption. * Laura Elvery *A book full of heart - it's so richly imagined, inventive and beautifully written, with a strong message, but is never didactic. It's like nothing I've read. * J. P. Pomare *The Rain Heron is an intoxicating fable from an extraordinary imagination. Robbie Arnott writes like the words want to be his. * Anna Spargo-Ryan *Robbie Arnott is singlehandedly reinventing Australian literature. The Rain Heron is a soaring feat of the imagination. * Bram Presser *With its emotional power and rich symbolism, The Rain Heron is an immersion in landscape, climate and an animal world that lives despite us, not for us. * Jock Serong *The Rain Heron is a beautifully told story in four parts, in which the line between reality and myth is impossible to draw... Arnott expertly navigates the fraught relationships between humans and the natural world, and paints shades of grey into moments that for a lesser writer would be purely black and white... A compelling, original read. * Elizabeth Flux, Books+Publishing *A strange and curious book...The craft is extraordinary. * The Bookshelf, Radio National *A story of survival, an ecological thriller weighted with a mythological perspective, and a dystopian adventure...This is a novel that beautifully captures people at war with themselves, with each other, with nature-and it's a taut, tense thriller at the same time...It is the perfect book to read now. It brings us closer and it steadies the world just a little. * Readings *Full of enchanted realism...[Arnott] writes on behalf of the fierce dedication necessary for anyone to be her best self. This is a lofty ambition but it is what great stories demand from us: figurative blood, figurative tears, and a commitment to witness the world in all its wonder. * Age *The Rain Heron confirms [Robbie Arnott's] place as one of Australia's leading young novelists...As myths collide with reality, Arnott's imaginative dark novel ends with a sobering uplift, reaffirming that ultimately relationships and kindness matter * Canberra Times *Arnott's writing is clear and compelling * New Yorker *
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The Lost Runes
Book SynopsisBOOK 2 OF THE RUNES OF WAR SAGAThe adventure beginsCaspar travels South into Belbidida with his companions Hal and Brid, straight into the heart of the New Faith, the enemy of Brid's Goddess. The trio trail Vaalakan spies, seeking out the Druids Eye the Egg- in all its glory. The Eggs power alone can keep the fortress of Torra Alta safe.But in the land of the Inquisition, all trace of ancient lore has been stamped out, including a sect of mute priestesses known as the Keepers. As the fate of Torra Alta hangs in the balance, Caspar must race to find the Lost Runes the Keepers guarded, or the Eye may never be found Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR JANE WELCH “A blockbuster fantasy”SFX “As intriguing as anything Tolkien dreamed up.”Starburst “Wonderful author, in the Robert Jordan mould”The Bookseller
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Lost Steps
Book SynopsisA vivid and inspiring adventure story from the father of magical realismDissatisfied with his empty, Sisyphus-like existence in New York City, where he has abandoned his creative dreams for a job in corporate advertising, an aspiring composer wants nothing more than to tear his life up from the root. He soon finds his escape hatch: a university-sponsored mission to South America to look for indigenous musical instruments in one of the few areas of the world safely untouched by the industrial world. Retracing the steps of time, he voyages with his lover into a land that feels outside of history, searching not just for music but ultimately for himself, and turning away from modernity towards the very heart of what makes us human.Trade Review“Penguin Classics has recently published sensational new translations of two of Carpentier’s novels, The Lost Steps (1953) and Explosion in a Cathedral (1962). . . . What made them influential, and makes them so dazzlingly readable still, is their style. . . . Needless to say, this marriage of style and subject would be illegible to English-language readers without a first-rate translator, and in Adrian Nathan West, Penguin Classics has found their man.” —The Wall Street Journal“An erudite yet absorbing adventure story . . . A book full of riches—stylistic, sensory, visual.” —The New York Times Book Review“Carpentier’s novels are full of luscious descriptions of nature. . . . His descriptions of food and drink are exquisite. . . . The mannered intensity of Carpentier’s language—maintained at fever pitch by West—propels the reader. . . . Every sentence in the novel [is] freighted with learning and a passion for high art. . . . What the reader takes away overall from West’s translation is a freshness and bite and aesthetic ambition that match Carpentier’s.” —Natasha Wimmer, The New York Review of Books“Extraordinary.” —The New Yorker“The most remarkable translating feat I encountered in 2023 comes courtesy of Adrian Nathan West, who in The Lost Steps and Explosion in a Cathedral brings the almost orgiastically baroque prose of Alejo Carpentier into glorious English.” —Sam Sacks of The Wall Street Journal, via Twitter“An absolutely magnificent piece of literature . . . The prose is mesmerizing, and it’s one of those books where I just want to have it tattooed on me in its entirety to keep with me forever.” —BuzzFeed“The greatest novel to have appeared in Latin America in our time.” —Le Figaro Littéraire“Beautiful and stirring . . . One of [Carpentier’s] finest works . . . which for many readers is the most alluring of his novels.” ―Leonardo Padura, from the Introduction
£12.60
WW Norton & Co Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
Book SynopsisMachado de Assis’s iconic novel, now considered a progenitor of twentieth-century South American fiction, is finally rendered as a stunningly modern work.Trade Review"The most modern, most startlingly avant-garde novel I read this year was originally published in 1881. Jull Costa and Patterson offer a peerless translation of this comic masterpiece, narrated from beyond the grave by a feckless, pretentious, impossibly winning aristocrat. The Brazilian novelist Machado was besotted with the license afforded by fiction and the social critique permitted only by comedy. Read this witty, wildly inventive work and how conservative, how painfully corseted so much modern fiction will suddenly seem." -- Parul Sehgal, 'Times Critics' Top Books of 2020' - The New York Times"One of the wittiest, most playful, and therefore most alive and ageless books ever written." -- Dave Eggers"The book’s invigorating style, as much as its backdrop of racial and social injustice, makes it ideal reading for this morbid, insurgent summer... Sprinkled with epigrams, dreams, gags and asides, the story teases, dances and delights... [Machado']s worldly, bruised voice reaches out to touch readers today with its rueful comedy and wry sensuality." -- The Economist"A great ironist, a tragic comedian... In [De Assis] books, in their most comic moments, he underlines the suffering by making us laugh." -- Philip Roth"The greatest writer ever produced in Latin America." -- Susan Sontag
£13.29
Quercus Publishing The Good Neighbours
Book SynopsisCath is a photographer hoping to go freelance, working in a record shop to pay the rent and eking out her time with her manager Steve. He thinks her photography is detective work, drawing attention to things that would otherwise pass unseen and maybe he's right . . .Starting work on her new project - photographing murder houses - she returns to the island where she grew up for the first time since she left for Glasgow when she was just eighteen. The Isle of Bute is embedded in her identity, the draughty house that overlooked the bay, the feeling of being nowhere, the memory of her childhood friend Shirley Craigie and the devastating familicide of her family by the father, John Craigie. Arriving at the Craigie house, Cath finds that it's occupied by Financial Analyst Alice Rahman. Her bid to escape the city lifestyle, the anxiety she felt in that world, led her to leave London and settle on the island. The strangeness of the situation brings them closer, leading them to reinvestigate the Craigie murder. Now, within the walls of the Craigie house, Cath can uncover the nefarious truths and curious nature of John Craigie: his hidden obsession with the work of Richard Dadd and the local myths of the fairy folk.The Good Neighbours is an enquiry into the unknowability of the past and our attempts to make events fit our need to interpret them; the fallibility of recollection; the power of myths in shaping human narratives. Nina Allan skilfully weaves the imagined and the real to create a magically haunting story of memory, obsession and the liminal spaces that our minds frequent to escape trauma.Trade ReviewHer literary sensibility fuses the fantastic and the mundane to great effect * Guardian (on The Dollmaker) *Nina Allan weaves a haunting, intricate tale that masterfully blurs genre lines. You'll want to savour every page * CultureFly (2021 picks) *A captivating exploration of community, tragedy and memory. Nina Allan's writing is enthralling. -- Irenosen OkojieA compulsive and twisting read . . . Nina Allan has created a surging and artistic narrative that lingers like a cold breath down your neck at the turn of the last page. -- Fiona Murphy * Mummy Pages *a compelling murder mystery filled with superstition, fairy folk and murder houses, set on Nina's beloved Isle of Bute ... spellbinding * Scots Magazine *Allan keeps multiple plates spinning without ever losing psychological coherence as a portrait of its self-denying protagonist's engrossingly complicated inner life. Satisfying, sophisticated and very finely done. * Daily Mail *This book cleverly weaves the imagined and the real to create a haunting story that relives the past. * Candis *[A] splendid crime narrative of memory, compulsion and the effects of trauma. * Guardian *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Victory City
Book SynopsisShe will breathe a new empire into life – but all worlds can escape their creator…‘Full of adventure… A celebration of the power of storytelling’ GUARDIANIn the wake of an unimportant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history. Pampa Kampana becomes a vessel for a goddess, who tells her that she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga, ‘victory city’.Over the next two hundred and fifty years, Pampa Kampana’s life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga’s as she attempts to make good on the task that the goddess set for her: to give women equal agency in a patriarchal world. But all stories have a way of getting away from their creator, and Bisnaga is no exception.‘Mesmerising’ ELIF SHAFAK, author of The Island of Missing Trees‘A total pleasure to read’ SUNDAY TIMES‘One of the planet’s greatest writers’ EVENING STANDARD‘A triumph… Enthralling’ I***A FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR******A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK***Trade ReviewIn its haunting, uncanny, predictive power Victory City shows once again why his work will always matter. * New York Times *A novel by a man who still, in his eighth decade, derives delight in his talent and all that he can do with it. The book is a total pleasure to read, a bright burst of colour in a grey winter season. * Sunday Times *A joyfully extravagant alternative Mahabharata... a mashup of myth and fairytale, comedy and melodrama, celebrating women's agency and the enduring power of storytelling. * Guardian, *Summer Reads of 2023* *Victory City is full of life and colour, and some of Rushdie's key themes: female strength, the importance of storytelling, the danger of censorship. * Sunday Times, *Summer Reads of 2023* *What of Rushdie's powers? We cannot know if they are god-given, but on the evidence of this profoundly entertaining tale... Rushdie certainly still has the gift of alchemy. * Financial Times *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Cereus Blooms at Night: The Booker-Longlisted
Book SynopsisEVERYONE THINKS MALA IS A MURDERER'A Caribbean classic' Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch-------Everyone in Paradise thinks Mala Ramchandin is a murderer. But with no body, no evidence and no witnesses, Mala is sent to an Alms House as a madwoman instead of prison. Here she meets Tyler, the only openly queer person on the island of Lantanacamara with whom she feels an affinity as an outsider. Despite Mala's muteness, she manages to communicate with Tyler about her missing sister, Asha.This is Mala's story, and an appeal to find Asha, told in Tyler's words. He dives deeply into Mala's family history, uncovering years of trauma passed down through generations and - staggeringly, beautifully - the love that has survived through it all.With an introduction by Ingrid Persaud.'Visceral, sensual and heartbreakingly tender' Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, author of When We Were Birds'A story of magical power' Alice Munro, author of Dear Life'Will remind many readers of Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things' Kirkus'Clearly ahead of its time' BooksellerFINALIST FOR THE GILLER PRIZEFINALIST FOR THE ETHEL WILSON FICTION PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZETrade Review'A novel about otherness, queerness, and hidden domestic crimes, Shani Mootoo was writing well ahead of her peers around taboo subjects. Cereus Blooms at Night is of Trinidad's finest novels, a portrait of how things really are on an island where there's been so much past hurt. A Caribbean classic' -- Monique Roffey * author of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH *'Visceral, sensual and heartbreakingly tender, Cereus Blooms at Night is that rare book which is not only critically acclaimed but has the devoted following of a cult classic. A generation of us in the Caribbean have held it close and pressed it into the hands and hearts of fellow readers knowing that it may never be returned, so strong was our desire to have others share in its wonder. It changed me, utterly, the first time I read it and there have been echoes of Mala Ramchandin and her teeming, crumbling house in everything I have written or tried to write since' -- Ayanna Lloyd Banwo * author of WHEN WE WERE BIRDS *'A story of magical power' -- Alice Munro * author of DEAR LIFE *'Vigorously inventive prose... The sinuous unwinding of Mootoo's clever plot will remind many readers of Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things' * Kirkus *'My first experience of reading this novel was at university. Revisiting it, the novel was clearly ahead of its time, dealing with the complex issues of racial identity, diaspora, colonialism, desire and trauma' * Bookseller *
£9.49
Scribe Publications The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida: a novel of
Book SynopsisA bewitching novel set in contemporary Japan about the mysterious suicide of a young woman. Miwako Sumida is dead. Now those closest to her try to piece together the fragments of her life. Ryusei, who always loved Miwako, follows her trail to a remote Japanese village. Chie, her best friend, was the only person to know her true identity — but is now the time to reveal it? Meanwhile, Fumi, Ryusei’s sister, has her own haunting secret. Together, they realise that the young woman they thought they knew had more going on than they could ever have dreamed.Trade Review‘The gap between the private pain we suffer and the public image we project is explored with sensitivity and tenderness.’ -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail *‘Vivid and intriguing — an elegantly cryptic, poetically plotted Murakami-esque whydunit.’ -- Sharlene Teo, award–winning author of Ponti‘An offbeat, tender exploration of the secrets we keep from others … Goenawan is clearly a talented and creative storyteller … She excels at suspense, keeping the reader guessing with left-field plot developments and forays into magic realism that somehow seem in keeping with realities on the ground.’ -- Sarah Gilmartin * The Irish Times *‘Clarissa Goenawan’s style is effortless and emotionally charged, and it’s particularly heartening to see a trans character depicted in a lead role, written in a real and sympathetic way.’ -- Prudence Wade * Press Association *‘A novel in three voices about the inner turmoil — and beauty — that people keep walled behind flawless surfaces.’ -- Tiffany Tsao, author of The Oddfits and The Majesties‘Dazzling.’ * Foyles Bookstore *‘She has created a Murakami-inspired novel that does away with all of his problems and tells a story far more rounded, pleasing, and sophisticated.’ -- Will Heath * Books & Bao *‘From the first page of Clarissa Goenawan’s The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida, we know that the titular Miwako has taken her own life, but we don’t know why. This same question plagues Miwako’s close friends as they grieve her death and search for answers. In this elegant and haunting novel, Goenawan deftly explores the messiness of grief, the pain of lost chances, and the way a life can collapse under the weight of secrets. Miwako and her friends are under my skin, and I’ll be thinking about them for some time.’ -- Kathleen Barber, author of Truth Be Told and Follow Me‘An exquisite tale about the way secrets shape and transform young lives. Behind Goenawan’s crisp, spare prose lies a world of emotional complexity.’ -- Mira T. Lee, award–winning author of Everything Here Is Beautiful‘Written in clear, simple prose, Goenawan’s novel presents the intriguing mystery of Miwako Sumida through the eyes of three characters who try to piece together her puzzle while struggling with their own questions of meaning and identity. This story about youth, friendship, grief, and trauma invites us through secret doors, ready to discover more.’ -- Intan Paramaditha, PEN Award–winning author of Apple and Knife and The Wandering‘Miwako is a powerful, memorable character … The way these characters’ lives intersect makes for a complex and satisfying tale, one that’s sad at the same time as it’s lively and warm.’ -- Rebecca Hussey * Book Riot *‘As three stories interlink, rich plot, description, and dialogue make this fiction seem like reality. While readers may be aware they’re not a part of the novel, through Goenawan’s enthralling writing, they will nonetheless become immersed in her fictional world.’ -- Budi Darma‘Tender and tragic … Goenawan’s luminous prose captures the deep emotions of her characters as they grapple with questions about family history, gender, and sexuality. The tug of Miwako’s strange, troubled spirit will wrench readers from the beginning.’ -- Publishers Weekly‘Goenawan, like any skilled novelist, manages to elegantly reveal both the pain and beauty of unraveling a life after loss. This is only her second novel to date, and she’s already been compared to the wizard of world-building, Haruki Murakami.’ * Lambda Literary *‘[Goenawan] raises an age-old question on the fine line where literature ends and life begins ... [she] has her own distinctive voice, as she sensitively explores traumatic sexual experiences through a woman’s perspective.’ * The Jakarta Post *‘A compelling protagonist ... Like Japanese brush painting, the author’s simple, clear prose captures Miwako’s vulnerability and complexity. Also vividly drawn are Fumi and Chie, each having built their own unusual protective personas that are gradually revealed. An eerie and elegant puzzle.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘Like Goenawan’s previous Rainbirds, this is more literary fiction than conventional mystery, featuring exceptionally well-drawn characters facing adversity in a narrative written with an elegance and delicacy.’ -- Michele Leber * Booklist *‘Goenawan does an expert job of getting to the core of this university student with a mysterious past, and on how people grapple with the death by suicide of a loved one.’ * Alma *‘This haunting tale of grief and tragedy by the author of Rainbirds might appeal to new adults who remember John Green’s Looking for Alaska. The leisurely narrative uncovers a world of Japanese customs, ghosts, and grief.’ -- Lesa Holstine * Library Journal *‘[A] a complex, interpersonal mystery … [A] tremendous examination of sadness … [A] book with heart about the mysteries of the heart.’ -- Benjamin Welton * New York Journal of Books *‘Goenawan’s prose is transportive in its directness and evocative in its simplicity. In Miwako, she has succeeded in an intricate character study of a perturbed soul … An immersive, haunting tale.’ -- Walter Sim * The Strait Times *‘If her debut novel brings Murakami to mind, her second, with its winsome tone, harkens to early Banana Yoshimoto. However, with her blend of mystery, magic and social issues — in this case, sexual abuse, transgender awareness and suicide — Goenawan is developing her own distinct brand.’ -- Suzanne Kamata * The Japan Times *‘A quietly powerful meditation on the destructive power of secrets, as well as the power of truth to heal even beyond death.’ -- Christina Ladd * The Nerd Daily *‘[A] subtly fantastical story, driven by themes of love, loss, and grief. It toes the line between YA and literary fiction, and it does so effortlessly … [A] three-dimensional story that moves seamlessly from the distant past to the recent past to the present, painting a colourful image of Miwako Sumida that grows in detail as the story gains momentum. Despite not having been written by a Japanese novelist, The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida strongly and elegantly echoes the style and tone of manga like Erased and Orange, and most vividly the novels of Haruki Murakami … There are mysteries that tease at you and lies you’ll be told, all in service of a complex, intense story that ebbs and flows so beautifully. It’s a wild ride, and a delightfully satisfying one.’ * Books & Bao *‘This novel is both familiar and unusual. It is written in English by an Indonesian-born Singaporean author, but summons the atmospheres of Japanese fictions (both written and cinematic) … Clarissa Goenawan is an emerging talent … Compassionate and compelling.’ -- Alison Huber * Readings *‘Powerful and compelling.’ * Reading, Writing and Riesling *‘Very absorbing and incredibly well written … Highly recommended and I’ll be looking out for more from this author.’ * Theresa Smith Writes *‘A novel that examines a tragedy from three sides … Ultimately very readable and enjoyable.’ -- Emily Paull * The AU Review *‘What a beautiful, heartbreaking book … the language is reminiscent of Japanese books The Travelling Cat Chronicles (Hiro Arikawa) and If Cats Disappeared from the World (Genki Kawamura). In these stories, as in Goenawan’s, beautiful language and scenes are used as backdrops for a gentle uncovering of what it really means to be human.’ -- Kaylia Payne * Lip Magazine *‘This is a bittersweet tale of abuse and identity, of the potentially destructive nature of secrets and of the value of having people around who can understand and help process painful or traumatic events.’ * Pile by the Bed *‘This is a deep-cut examination of what happens to a life left behind.’ * Keeping Up with the Penguins *‘This is Murakami without the male gaze – a feminist Murakami, perhaps … An engrossing tale clearly influenced by Japanese women writers such as Risa Wataya and Banana Yoshimoto, The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is about the crushing weight of secrets and how the long arm of history returns to haunt a person. In this novel, young women straitjacketed by the standards of mainstream society demand: give us a closer look.’ -- Cher Tan * The Saturday Paper *‘Quietly quirky in the manner of Haruki Murakami, including shades of magic realism, The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida focuses on the subtle intricacies of social interactions and sexuality, particularly in Japanese culture at the time … This is a lingering fable about learning to accept yourself, even in the wake of grief.’ -- Doug Wallen * Big Issue *‘The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is a vibrant and at time surreal exploration of lost love, death, trauma, and friendship in Japan in the 1980s/90s … This novel is beautifully created and provides a mature look into suicide and its impacts on those left behind.’ FOUR STARS -- Akina Hansen * Good Reading *‘Captivating and sometimes heartbreaking … The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida is hard to put down and despite its tragedy is a thoroughly enjoyable read.’ -- Vittoria Bon * Gold Coast Bulletin *‘A novel that lingers in the mind thanks to its poetic delivery, layering of ideas and an engrossing tale, all led by vivid characters.’ * Bad Form Magazine *Praise for Rainbirds: ‘A murder mystery and a family drama in one, this book is as beautiful as it is understated. The author presents us with a fascinatingly structured look into Japanese society and a depiction of mourning and grief that is universally recognisable.’ * San Francisco Chronicle *Praise for Rainbirds: ‘A transnational literary tour-de-force. Readers will be carried along by its creepy charm.’ * The Japan Times *Praise for Rainbirds: ‘Clarissa Goenawan spins a dark, encapsulating story that will certainly reel you in completely.’ * Bustle *Praise for Rainbirds: ‘Mysterious and dark.’ * Daily Beast *
£10.44
Acre Books You Shall See the Beautiful Things – A Novel & A
Book SynopsisEnvisioned as a “nocturne,” Steve Amick’s playful, multilayered novel expansively retells Eugene Field’s famed verse “Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.” In the fishing village of Scheveningen in 1889, three men build and secretly launch an unorthodox fishing vessel, departing from the long tradition of netting herring using massive boats and large crews. Collaborating in this venture are Wyn van Winkel, a cavalier joker and opium addict currently AWOL from the Aceh War in Sumatra; Ned Nodder, a seasoned fisherman trying to support his family while plagued by narcolepsy and prophetic dreams; and Luuk Blenkin, a scattered young troubadour failing at love and searching for his place in the world. As formally innovative as the “picarooner” this mismatched trio construct, the narrative lifts off into the fantastical, flitting between reality and irreality. Sparked by lines of the “Dutch lullaby,” the inexplicable adventure unfolds—and along the way, we learn of Wyn’s romantic recklessness, his broken relationship with his father, and the tragedies of war that scarred and changed him. We witness Ned’s unconventional path toward matrimony, as well as the painful loss that made his marriage a true union. We follow Luuk’s fumblings for purpose and fulfillment beyond the disgrace that befell his family and marred both his outlook and his prospects. In the spirit of a nocturne, Steve Amick envelops his characters in the world of night and dreams. Lyrical, historical, surprising, magical, heartwarming, and heartbreaking, You Shall See the Beautiful Things will make readers look at the stars—and herring—in a new light.Trade Review"Wynken, Blynken, and Nod have never been so ingeniously revived as in this rollicking romp of a book! In You Shall See the Beautiful Things, Steve Amick creates a zany world that, ultimately, shows us more about the tenderness of the human heart and the mysteries of this star-filled world." * Ellen Bass, Chancellor Emerita, Academy of American Poets *"Love this this sweet, clever, and gritty retelling of the 'Dutch Lullaby,' the one about the army deserter opium addict, the lovesick balladeer with a voice like 'an ill-fitting oarlock,' and the radish-eating narcoleptic—in a boat. Yet it's no joke: Amick’s language is inspired, as transcendent as the inaugural fishing trip in the small craft these unlikely friends build at the edge of the North Sea. Every page is filled with marvelous revelations about the nature of the world and about being human. Amick’s vivid landscape of the 1880s herring-centered world even includes glimpses of Vincent 'Cent' Van Gogh. Here, despite the weight of colonialism, war, and financial and family struggles, folks with open hearts can still find magic and goodness, can still live lives 'mostly full of awe.' You Shall See the Beautiful Things is a promise delivered." * Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of "Mothers, Tell Your Daughters" *"Amick presents an innovative retelling of nineteenth-century American poet Eugene Field’s 'Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.' . . . In what is tagged as a novel and a nocturne, Amick introduces characters Winken van Winkel, Ned Nodder, and Luuk Blenkin. In keeping with elements of a nocturne, much of the story takes place in the evening or at night, and as it alternates between fantasy and reality, it evokes a dreamlike atmosphere. . . . Readers find themselves in the center, stitching and weaving together the characters' fantasies and realities. Cleverly, Amick’s story and its themes lead readers to reflect on their own experiences; creatively, it inspires readers to construct their own unique interpretations." * Booklist *"In a tale fit for a dreamy summer night. . . Amick's new novel waltzes across fantasy and history. . . . There's something in this story about male vulnerability—and maybe about the necessity of becoming more comfortable with feeling unmoored. It was so present in all three [characters]. . . . The story is absolutely gorgeous." -- April Baer in an interview with the author * Stateside, Michigan Public Radio *
£12.80
Little, Brown Book Group Chasm A Weekend
Book SynopsisChasm is the only novel by Dorothea Tanning, the famed surrealist artist, and was published when she was 93 years old.Trade ReviewTanning's fictional debut unquestionably deserves to be recognised as a complete artistic success . . . Told in confident, fluid prose highlighted by passages of hallucinatory beauty. -- Nicholas Royle * Guardian *It seems hardly fair that Dorothea Tanning, in a long, passionately inventive career as a painter, should have acquired as well the other harmony of prose, and that her passionate inventions as a writer should be so lovingly, so wisely resolved -- Richard Howard
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Lovecraft Country: TV Tie-In
Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestselling book behind the HBO Series from J.J. Abrams, Misha Green and Jordan Peele (Director of Get Out)A chimerical blend of magic, power, hope, and freedom that stretches across time, touching diverse members of two black families, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff is a devastating kaleidoscopic portrait of racism – the terrifying specter that continues to haunt us today.Chicago, 1954. When his father Montrose goes missing, twenty-two year-old Army veteran Atticus Turner embarks on a road trip to New England to find him, accompanied by his Uncle George – publisher of The Safe Negro Travel Guide – and his childhood friend Letitia. On their journey to the manor of Mr. Braithwhite – heir to the estate that owned one of Atticus’s ancestors – they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of the weird tales George devours.At the manor, Atticus discovers his father in chains, held prisoner by a secret cabal named the Order of the Ancient Dawn – led by Samuel Braithwhite and his son Caleb – which has gathered to orchestrate a ritual that shockingly centers on Atticus. And his one hope of salvation may be the seed of his – and the whole Turner clan’s – destruction.Trade ReviewAnother "only Matt Ruff could do it" production. Lovecraft Country takes the unlikeliest of premises and spins it into a funny, fast, exciting, and affecting read -- Neal Stephenson, author of Snow Crash and CryptonomiconAt every turn, Ruff has great fun pitting mid-twentieth-century horror and sci-fi clichés against the banal and ever present bigotry of the era. * New York Times Book Review *A brilliantly conceived story brilliantly executed -- Christopher Moore, author of Lamb and A Dirty JobLovecraft Country doesn't just race along, it tears, demanding that you keep turning its pages without interruption -- Cory Doctorow, author of Little BrotherTable of ContentsChapter - 1: LOVECRAFT COUNTRY Chapter - 2: DREAMS OF THE WHICH HOUSE Chapter - 3: ABDULLAH’S BOOK Chapter - 4: HIPPOLYTA DISTURBS THE UNIVERSE Chapter - 5: JEKYLL IN HYDE PARK Chapter - 6: THE NARROW HOUSE Chapter - 7: HORACE AND THE DEVIL DOLL Chapter - 8: THE MARK OF CAIN Section - i: EPILOGUE Acknowledgements - ii: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Enchantress of Florence
Book SynopsisSalman Rushdie is the author of sixteen novels, including Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), The Satanic Verses, and Quichotte (which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022.Trade Review"A brilliant, fascinating, generous novel...wonderful" -- Ursula le Guin Guardian "A wild and whirling novel" Observer "For Rushdie, as for the artists he writes about, the pen is a magician's wand. There is more magic than realism in this latest novel. But it is, I think, one of his best. If The Enchantress of Florence doesn't win this year's Man Booker I'll curry my proof copy and eat it" Financial Times "My first desire on finishing it was to go back and re-read it. Like all of Rushdie's work, the playfulness, the passion, the erudition and the sensuousness go hand in hand. It's immensely rich...it's one of his best" Scotsman "An exuberant mix of fantasy and history" Daily Mail
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Wizard of Oz Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
Book SynopsisThe coveted and award-winning Penguin Threads series continues with three more enchanting, beautifully sewn covers by a talented visual artistWith paper and pen or needle and thread, storytelling has many traditions. Penguin's award-winning art director Paul Buckley presents Penguin Threads, a series of Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions inspired by the aesthetic of handmade crafts with specially commissioned cover art. Jillian Tamaki's embroidered artwork appears on The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Emma by Jane Austen, and Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. This latest set features three beloved classics for both adults and children with cover art by painter and illustrator Rachell Sumpter. Sketched in a traditional illustrative manner, the final covers are sculpt embossed and present full front and reverse hand-stitched designs. Through story, style and texture, the Penguin Threads is an exciting chapter in Pe
£11.69
Penguin Random House Children's UK Dirty Beasts
Book SynopsisShh! Listen! What is that I hearGallumphing softly up the stair?This beautiful edition of Dirty Beasts, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.
£7.99
Penguin Books Ltd Leaf Storm
Book SynopsisNobel Laureate Gabriel García Márquez,, author of the One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, portrays a food company violating a small Colombia town in his vivid and powerful novel Leaf Storm. ''Suddenly, as if a whirlwind had set down roots in the centre of the town, the banana company arrived, pursed by the leaf storm''Drenched by rain, the town has been decaying ever since the banana company left. Its people are sullen and bitter, so when the doctor - a foreigner who ended up the most hated man in town - dies, there is no one to mourn him. But also living in the town is the Colonel, who is bound to honour a promise made many years ago. The Colonel and his family must bury the doctor, despite the inclination of their fellow inhabitants that his corpse be forgotten and left to rot.''The most important writer of fiction in any language'' Bill Clinton''Márquez is a retailer of wonders'' Sunday Times''An exquisite writer, wise, compassionate and extremely funny'' Sunday TelegraphTrade ReviewThe most important writer of fiction in any language * Bill Clinton *
£999.99
