Narrative theme: coming of age

Book SynopsisA coming of age novel set in India.

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Book Synopsis''A sweet, charming, funny story about finding friendship, finding yourself, and love'' Netgalley Reviewer''I was waiting for a book like this!'' Netgalley Reviewer***INCLUDED IN THE AFRICA CENTER''S ROUND-UP OF 50 NOTABLE AFRICAN BOOKS OF 2021***___________________________________Zainab Sekyi is on a quest to find herself. . .She''s moving to New York City to pursue her lifelong dream to become an illustrator, but she doesn''t just want to get a job. She''s also on a mission to make enough money to go on a night out, buy a whole bottle of wine (not just a glass) and, most importantly of all, to fall in love.But as she grows accustomed to the hustle and bustle of city life - with the help of her new roommate Mary Grace, and life-long friend, Densua - she begins to hear the voices of her ancestors in her mind. . .Could understanding her family''s past h

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Book SynopsisFrom bestselling author Karen McQuestion comes a moving novel about broken hearts…and what it takes to put them back together again. At nine years of age, Logan Weber knows the routine. Keep quiet, make the food last, and don’t ever cause trouble. He’ll do what it takes to evade the rages of his troubled, violent father. Even though he’s only a child, Logan already knows too much—has seen too much. So when the opportunity presents itself, Logan runs. He has no idea where his journey will lead, or that the grandmother he’s been told is dead is desperately searching for him. Alone with no home of his own, Logan looks for a safe place to hide. Relying on his instincts and the kindness of strangers, the boy manages to touch the lives of everyone he meets. But his innocent heart cannot survive in the adult world without the most basic human need of all: love.

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Book SynopsisDuckling's a nickname Lucy has never been able to shake off.And, if she's honest, maybe it suits her.She just isn't the type to socialise with other people.You might say she's reluctant to leave her nest.Lucy's life is small, but safe. She's got a good routine. But all that's about to change...When Lucy's neighbour asks her to look after her little girl for a couple of hours - and then doesn't come back - Lucy is suddenly responsible for someone other than herself.It takes courage to let the outside world in, and Lucy's about to learn there's much more to life - but only if she's brave enough to spread her wings...________________________________Praise for Duckling'A poignant read' Woman's Own'[I] loved this gorgeous, funny, poignant and very human book' Rowan Coleman'Underlines the importance of friendship, community and family while maintaining a galloping plot that keeps you gripped until the last page' Sarah J Harris'A lovely, heart-warming story about the importance of friendship and family, the power of forgiveness and about learning to love yourself' Clare Swatman'Duckling is joyous, life-affirming and refreshing' - Joanne Harris'Combines uplifting and poignant moments with a plot that is so gripping it had me feverishly turning the pages!' Jessica Ryn'Charming and compassionate, dark at times yet peppered with joy' Eleanor RayTrade ReviewUplifting, heart-warming and with characters you truly root for, I couldn't put [Duckling] down. It underlines the importance of friendship, community and family while maintaining a galloping plot that keeps you gripped until the last page. Highlight recommend a read -- Sarah J HarrisI love a story about an underdog, and Lucy is definitely one of those! I loved watching her blossom - or learn to fly - throughout the course of the novel, and was with her all the way on her journey of self-discovery. Duckling is a lovely, heart-warming story about the importance of friendship and family, the power of forgiveness and about learning to love yourself. It's a warm, satisfying read with a great, relatable cast of characters and, even though it deals with some gritty issues, it does so with real intelligence and understanding. A great story. -- Clare SwatmanThis beautiful story combines uplifting and poignant moments with a plot that is so gripping it had me feverishly turning the pages! -- Jessica Ryn[I] loved this gorgeous, funny, poignant and very human book -- Rowan ColemanCharming and compassionate, dark at times yet peppered with joy. I fully expect Duckling to spread its wings and fly! -- Eleanor Ray

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Book SynopsisIn 2017 Hodder published Frank White's There Was A Time, surely the last novel about the Second World War to be written by someone who actually served in it. Now at the age of 93, Frank has written a poignant, nostalgic novella of coming of age in a Yorkshire village in the sixties and it is paired with another short novel set in Manchester at the outbreak of war and first published by Hodder in 1964. Innocence and A Morse Code Set are beautifully complementary in theme and show Frank White to be an author of extraordinary insight and tenderness.Trade ReviewA wonderful read * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisMorgan Flowers just wants to hide. Raised by their neurodivergent father, Morgan has grown up haunted by the absence of their mysterious mother Zoe, especially now, as they navigate their gender identity and the turmoil of first love. Their father Julian has raised Morgan with care, but he can't quite fill the gap left by the dazzling and destructive Zoe, who fled to Europe on Morgan's first birthday. And when Zoe is dumped by her girlfriend Brigid, she suddenly comes crashing back into Morgan and Julian's lives, poised to disrupt the fragile peace they have so carefully cultivated.Through it all, Julian and Brigid have become unlikely pen-pals and friends, united by the knowledge of what it's like to love and lose Zoe; they both know that she hasn't changed. Despite the red flags, Morgan is swiftly drawn into Zoe's glittering orbit and into a series of harmful missteps, and Brigid may be the only link that can pull them back from the edge. A story of betrayal and trauma alongside queer love and resilience, ALL THE THINGS WE DON'T TALK ABOUT is a celebration of and a reckoning with the power and unintentional pain of a thoroughly modern family.

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Book SynopsisA powerful novel about the expectations of family—and the risks and liberation of defying them—by the Washington Post bestselling author of One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow. 1975. In the town of Rexburg, Idaho, aspiring artist Aran Rigby, his younger sister, Tamsin, and their two brothers are locked in orbit around their emotionally abusive father. Gad is the kind of man who soothes the failures of his own life by controlling the lives of others. But Aran and Tamsin are united in rebellion against their father. They understand each other. They have dreams beyond their small town. Arriving in Rexburg is Linda Duff, an outsider from Seattle hoping to plant new roots far from the bitter ones of her childhood. She’s quickly taken with Aran, in no small part because of his talent. But when they fall in love, Linda is drawn into a family more damaged than the one she left behind. She also becomes privy to a secret Aran and Tamsin share that could dismantle everything everyone holds dear. Upsetting the precarious balance in the Rigby home, Linda becomes an unwitting catalyst for the upheaval of Gad’s oppression. Now it’s time for them all to break free of the past, overcome the unforgivable, and find a new way forward—whatever the price.

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Book SynopsisAn emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. “Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…” Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.Trade ReviewA Texas Center for the Book Great Read Selection “A delightful read.” —The New York Times Book Review “West with Giraffes is truly a fun read…I [can’t] imagine a reading list that would not contain Lynda Rutledge’s astonishing novel.” —Old Naples News “Every year I find at least one book that soars above all the others. This year West With Giraffes is that book.” —Florida Times Union “A flawless novel.” —Austin American-Statesman “A perfect balance between history and fiction.” —POPSUGAR “[A] larger-than-life story about the power of both animal magnetism and human connection…witty, charming, and heartwarming.” —Booklist

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Book SynopsisBen Shippers doesn’t have much use for school, friends, or pretty much anyone except his smartass siser, but he does harbor a secret passion: Trash Mountain, the central feature of the noxious landfill next to his house, the fumes from which have made his sister ill. After a botched attempt to destroy Trash Mountain with a homemade firebomb, Ben begins a years-long infiltration operation that leads him to drop out of school to work alongside homeless trash-pickers, and then, eventually, intern at the very place he meant to destroy. Ben’s boss there, a charismatic would-be titan of sanitation, shows Ben the intricate moralities of the trash industry, forcing him to choose between monetary stability and his environmental principles. With dark humor, Trash Mountain reflects on life in small southern cities in decline and an adolescent’s search for fundamental values without responsible adults to lead the way.Trade Review"The novel has an episodic feel, as Ben encounters an array of fellow students, potential employers, and local luminaries. Throughout, Bazzle chronicles the ways in which Ben’s early idealism erodes under more complex concerns. The novel’s tone is occasionally uneven: Bazzle’s observations on questions of race and class feel rooted in a social realism tradition, while other characters, like a long-winded local businessman and his father, a contentious figure nicknamed “Donkey Dan,” seem imported from a more broadly satirical work. Bazzle’s novel explores the compromises one makes in life even as it blends the gritty and the extravagant along the way."--Kirkus Reviews“From Mark Twain to George Saunders, Bradley Bazzle's Trash Mountain joins a long tradition of dark humor, wild inventiveness, and social satire in American letters. By turns hilarious, colorful, and strange, this affecting debut novel revels in the absurd but never strays far from the deeply felt humanity of its characters.”—Maceo Montoya, author of The Deportation of Wopper Barraza “In Trash Mountain, ​Bradley Bazzle has created a perfect protagonist in Ben Shippers: peculiar yet endearing, curiouser than a cat, and ready to take on the (trashy) challenges his young life throws at him. The novel is funny and engaging, and Bradley's concise and vivid prose guides us masterfully to its insightful conclusion. What a fine debut!”—Samrat Upadhyay, author of Arresting God in Kathmandu"Trash Mountain is gripping, with a finely drawn young protagonist, Ben, and a gigantic dump next door to his home. He and his friends call it Trash Mountain, and it is the central character in this book, a multifaceted character that encompasses and compresses all the strands of modern life . . . So, sure, the dump is a veritable mountain of a metaphor for modern life, and even though the whole proposition sounds distasteful, you’ll want to keep on reading and living along with Ben as he tries to figure things out and wreak revenge on the man who owns Bi-Cities and enriches himself by trashing the lives of all who are impacted by Trash Mountain." —Pete McCommons, Flagpole Magazine

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Book SynopsisA tumultuous novel about America's loss of innocence in the late Sixties.Turner Raines is Mr Heartbreak. Everybody leaves him. They walk out, they run away... they die. When his oldest friend Mel Kissing dies with an ice pick through his skull, Raines picks up the thread and sets out to ask 'who?' and 'why?'But this is America in 1969 and one death is just a drop in the ocean. The USA is about to land a man on the moon and the Vietnam War is ripping the country to pieces, setting sons against fathers, fathers against sons. The Woodstock festival is in full swing and Norman Mailer is standing as candidate for Mayor of New York.Against this backdrop, Raines' questions take him back to the childhood home he left in Texas, back to the battered remains of his youth... and as his memory unravels, America unravels with it.Trade ReviewA sprawling heartbreaker of a novel. * Literary Review *More than enough verve and wit to ensure happy page-turning wakefulness. * The Sunday Times *A terrific job... excellent at catching the mood of that hot summer of 1969 when the Vietnam War had divided families. * Observer *Sets the pulse racing and the jaded responses tingling. * Irish Times *Atmospheric... absorbingly intelligent. * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThe perfect read for fans of Succession or The White Lotus “As a novelist, Tarkington is the real deal. I can’t wait to see this story reach a wide audience.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife When Charlie Boykin was young, he thought his life with his single mother on the working-class side of Nashville was perfectly fine. But when his mother arranges for him to be admitted as a scholarship student to an elite private school, he is suddenly introduced to what the world can feel like to someone cushioned by money. That world, he discovers, is an almost irresistible place where one can bend—and break—rules and still end up untarnished. As he gets drawn into a friendship with a charismatic upperclassman, Archer Creigh, and an affluent family that treats him like an adopted son, Charlie quickly adapts to life in the upper echelons of Nashville society. Under their charming and alcohol-soaked spell, how can he not relax and enjoy it all—the lack of anxiety over money, the easy summers spent poolside at perfectly appointed mansions, the lavish parties, the freedom to make mistakes knowing that everything can be glossed over or fixed? But over time, Charlie is increasingly pulled into covering for Archer’s constant deceits and his casual bigotry. At what point will the attraction of wealth and prestige wear off enough for Charlie to take a stand—and will he? For readers of Wiley Cash, Ann Patchett, and Pat Conroy, The Fortunate Ones is an immersive, elegantly written story that conveys both the seductiveness of this world and the corruption of the people who see their ascent to the top as their birthright.Trade Review“Ed Tarkington’s wonderful second novel, The Fortunate Ones, feels like a fresh and remarkably sure-footed take on The Great Gatsby, examining the complex costs of attempting to transcend or exchange your given class for a more gilded one. Tarkington’s understanding of the human heart and mind is deep, wise and uncommonly empathetic. As a novelist, he is the real deal. I can’t wait to see this story reach a wide audience, and to see what he does next.” —Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin “There's a sharpness to Ed Tarkington's view of the world, an exacting truthfulness of how things work, but he marries it to such an open-hearted and resonant humanity in his writing that it's hard not to place him easily in the company of Pat Conroy and Alice McDermott. In The Fortunate Ones, Tarkington examines privilege and friendship with that same incredible perspective, and he helps us see the difficulties of trying to hold onto yourself even as you want so badly to be transformed. An amazing, thought-provoking novel by one of our most generous writers.” —Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here “The Fortunate Ones has echoes of Gatsby . . . Tarkington [is] a talented and compassionate writer . . . [and] aspects of The Fortunate Ones echo a slew of classic novels, including As I Lay Dying, A Separate Peace, The Moviegoer, and Big Fish . . . Tarkington’s insight into the meaning of home rings true.” —The Washington Post “Readers who love a good wallow in the Southern Gothic steam bath of a Pat Conroy novel (The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini) are always ready to investigate a possible literary heir. The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington, set in Nashville through the 1980s and ’90s, bears all the markings of this lineage.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune “Tarkington’s prose glows like the sun hitting the chlorine-scented pool chairs lining the lush backyards . . . [H]is portrayals of quirky teachers, black tie galas and mysterious benefactors are biting and real. The Fortunate Ones is filled with good characters behaving badly, and vice-versa, perhaps best articulated by Charlie’s thoughts on his landmark painting: ‘I wanted it to express a feeling, an emotion I considered to be complex—the juxtaposition of allure and revulsion, guilt and desire, remorse and indifference.’ Tarkington succeeds, reminding the reader that the South is never perfect and privilege will always have a price.” —Atlanta Journal-Constitution “A gorgeous, deep probing treatise on the myriad manifestations of love, envy, privilege, and longing… A fathoms-deep exploration of love, loyalty, and the ties that bind, written masterfully from all angles. It’s a laser-sharp look at the underbelly of power and privilege’s repercussions as told through the power of story.” —New York Journal of Books “In a narrative that smacks of privilege while also reckoning with its insidiousness, Ed Tarkington spins a southern yarn about manhood, family and desire . . . Although the relationship between [Charlie and Arch] could certainly be classified as toxic, it also compels the reader, and the intrigue intensifies as the novel depicts the reflections of the now-grown Charlie interspersed throughout his own coming-of-age story . . . I found myself rooting for a character that made deeply flawed decisions while still seeming like a deeply human (and indeed, humane) person.” —Jackson Free Press “In this well-considered coming-of-age novel set in Nashville, a boy learns that the trappings of wealth hide secrets, and he faces truths about loyalty and idealism.” —Shelf Awareness “The essence of Jay Gatsby’s self-destroying discontent charges the pages of The Fortunate Ones.” —Christian Science Monitor “For anyone disappointed in Tennessee’s response to any of this year’s crises, The Fortunate Ones is not to be missed.” —Memphis Flyer “Tarkington is a gifted storyteller, largely because he knows how to let his finely developed characters do the heavy lifting . . . An impressive literary balancing act that entertains as it enriches.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “Delicious with drawn-out tension and intrigue, The Fortunate Ones is an atmospheric triumph.” —Booklist “[A] spirited coming-of-age story . . . Tarkington’s strong story of loyalty and the corruption of privilege transcends.” —Publishers Weekly “Ed Tarkington perfectly captures the heady, conflicted emotions that come with proximity to privilege—both the irresistible longing and the heartbreaking disillusionment. I’m recommending The Fortunate Ones to every book club I know.” —Mary Laura Philpott, author of I Miss You When I Blink “To the great literature of anointment, of the young person plucked from obscurity and given a place at the glittering table, we can now add Ed Tarkington’s lovely novel of a young man mystified by his good fortune until the reasons behind it are revealed and the cost is extracted. A beautiful read.” —Ann Packer, author of The Children’s Crusade

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Book SynopsisIn this rapturous coming-of-age debut, a naive-yet-determined Appalachian boy will go to any length to save his family over the course of one life-changing summer. “If you’re famous, you don’t have to go to war.” Summer 1968. When thirteen-year-old Jack Elliot overhears the barbershop men grousing, he devises a secret plan to keep his oldest brother, Pete, from the draft. If famous boys don’t go to war, he’ll make his brother their small town’s biggest celebrity. Jack gets unexpected help when his book-smart cousin Frankie arrives in their rural Pennsylvania town for the summer. Together, they convince Jack’s brothers to lead an expedition to find a fighter jet that crashed many winters ago—the perfect adventure to make Pete a hero. But with a greedy developer determined to flood their valley, a beautiful girl occupying his middle brother’s attentions, a wild motorcycle gang causing trouble in town, and a disturbed neighbor setting fires, Jack realizes it isn’t just Pete who needs saving. Set during a single, tumultuous summer, this beautifully told tale is a heartwarming tribute to innocence, first love, and the unbreakable bond of brotherhood.Trade Review“A wonderfully evocative coming-of-age tale about a young boy’s determination to hold on to all he holds dear during the tumultuous sixties in rural America. The setting and the time period are perfectly captured, but it was the characters in Last Summer Boys that really pulled me in. I found myself rooting for these boys from the first page to the last in this unforgettable debut novel that’s sure to capture your heart, too.” —Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author of Every Now and Then and Whistling in the Dark “Over the course of one life-changing summer, one boy will do whatever it takes to save his oldest brother from the draft. But when other hurdles arise that threaten his family, he’ll summon every ounce of his courage and strength to try to protect them all. Part coming-of-age tale, part adventure narrative, this heartwarming and uplifting debut is perfect for fans of William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land or the beloved film Stand by Me (adapted from Stephen King’s The Body).” —Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell and The World Played Chess

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Book SynopsisPart hallucination, part queer bildungsroman, Never Was is a beautifully strange novel about grief, addiction and working-class masculinity, taking us from a limbo of lost dreams to a small salt-mining town and exploring the way identity is both inherited and re-invented. Daniel sits on a clifftop in the aftermath of a party at Fin's mansion, looking out over a junky sea. Daniel's not sure why they're there, or who Fin is, even though Fin seems to be somebody famous. To find out, Daniel must tell Fin the story of their childhood, going back to a small salt-mining town in The North, a visit from their now-estranged cousin Crystal, and the life and losses of their salt-miner father, Mika. Taking us from bus shelters to playgrounds to McDonalds, from the depth of a salt mine to a nightclub toilet, Daniel describes their world of soap operas, sunglasses, newspaper clippings and Princess Diana, steering Fin through the events that led up to The Great Subsidence, when their town and the mine that sustained it collapsed. As Daniel tells their story, they come to learn they're in a place called Never Was, a limbo for lost dreams and disappointments, a landfill for things that never came to be, but also a place of change and transition. Dreamy, poignant, and revelatory, Never Was is a bold and inventive novel by an inimitable voice in literary fiction.Trade Review"Otherworldly and hyperreal, Never Was is a mind-bending and totally beautiful wrestling match with trans and queer lust, the mineral lives of drug trips and extractive industries, and the mysterious alchemy of the people we're thrown together with, whether in work or family or the undersides of towns. Nobody writes like Honor Gavin. This book is an inimitable gem." - Jordy Rosenberg, author of Confessions of the Fox

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Ten years ago, two girls’ lives changed forever.Now one of them is ready to tell their story.***'A quirky lovable mystery and a brilliant, heartbreaking debut' Stylist'A new face of fiction [and] an original coming of age novel' Observer ***The first memory I have of you is all knickers and legs. You had flipped yourself into a handstand and couldn’t get back down. We became best friends, racing slugs, pretending to be spies – all the things that children do.Ten years later, eighteen-year-old Ravine Roy spends every day in her room. Completing crosswords and scribbling in her journal, she keeps the outside world exactly where she wants it; outside. But as the real world begins to invade her carefully controlled space, she is forced to finally confront the questions she’s been avoiding. Who is her mother meeting in secret? Who has moved in next door?And why, all those years ago, when two girls pulled on their raincoats and wellies and headed out into the woods did only one of them return?‘A breakout book from an incredibly talented debut writer. Read, weep and laugh’ Stylist ‘An original heartfelt read by a new British talent’ Independent‘A delightfully fresh voice’ Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 PEN/Faulkner Award'A mesmerizing, revelatory novel, smart and funny and laced with a strangeness... For my money, Chloe Aridjis is one of the most brilliant novelists working in English today' Garth GreenwellOne autumn afternoon in Mexico City, 17-year-old Luisa does not return home from school. Instead, she boards a bus to the Pacific coast with the reckless, impulsive Tomás, a boy she barely knows. Their quest: to track down a troupe of Ukrainian dwarfs who have recently escaped a touring circus.Together they head for Zipolite, the ‘Beach of the Dead’, a community peopled by hippies, nudists, beach combers and eccentric storytellers, and Luisa searches for someone, anyone, who will ‘promise, no matter what, to remain a mystery’. But as Luisa wanders the shoreline, she begins to discover that a quest is more easily envisioned than accomplished.'Destined to be a classic: a richly imaginative, reflective and entracing novel' Xiaolu GuoTrade ReviewThe novel's brilliance lies in capturing so convincingly that state of adolescent restlessness... Aridjis’s languid prose lets these images wash over the reader, unfurling in comma-rich sentences that beautifully render a state of inertia -- Francesca Carington * Daily Telegraph *Sea Monsters is a mesmerizing, revelatory novel, smart and funny and laced with a strangeness that is never facile but serves as a profound and poetic tool for navigating our shared world. Chloe Aridjis is the rare writer who reinvents herself in each book; she is, for my money, one of the most brilliant novelists working in English today -- Garth GreenwellA mesmerising novel… Aridjis beautifully renders the perspective of a bored, intelligent, privileged teenage girl — a decadent, solipsistic daydream -- Emily Rhodes * Financial Times *Self-contained, inscrutable, and weirdly captivating, like a salvaged object that wants to return to the sea -- Katy Waldman * New Yorker *Aridjis riffs like a poet, letting each image twist and grow into the next... The novel’s strength lies in its ability to turn to the next magic trick, the next detail, the next sight. Those sights are all the more impressive when conjured solely from language. By opting out of fiction’s conventional prioritization of plot or character development, Aridjis foregrounds her ability to develop images and metaphors. The result is seductive in its multiplicity. Mallarmé would be proud -- Lily Meyer * Atlantic *

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Book Synopsis· · NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2019 BY NYLON, ELECTRIC LITERATURE, THE MILLIONS AND LITHUB · ·____________________'Soulful, striking and ablaze with promise' Observer__________________At the Beijing Olympics, a pair of synchronized divers stand poised at the edge of success and sexual self-discovery. A Chinese-American girl in Paris finds her life changed when she begins wearing a dead person's clothes. And on a winter evening, a father creates an algorithm to troubleshoot the problem of raising a daughter across an ever-widening gulf of culture and experience.From second-generation rich kids and livestream stars to a glass-swallowing qigong grandmaster, this funny and wise debut collection upends the well-worn path of the immigrant experience to reveal a new face of belonging: of young people testing the limits of who they are and who they will one day become, in a world as vast and various as their ambitions.__________________'Artful, funny, generous and empathetic' Lauren Groff, author of Florida'Sublimely captivating' Vogue'Striking, soulful and ablaze with promise.' ObserverTrade ReviewStriking, soulful and ablaze with promise. * Observer *Remarkable...Wang captures the strivings and uncertainty of Chinese youth establishing themselves in America and beyond...[A] deft, striking debut. * New York Observer, Spring 2019 Must-Read Books *The sixteen stories in Home Remedies are so artful, funny, generous and empathetic that they'll linger in readers for weeks after you finish the book. Xuan Juliana Wang is a radiant new talent. -- Lauren Groff * author of Fates and Furies *In just 12 stories, Wang manages to whip up the portrait of a generation...Proving herself to be anincredible new talent and giving voice to Chinese millennials, this is a short story collection you need to read this summer. * Stylist *An exciting, electric new voice... Sublime. * Financial Times *The dozen stories in this dazzling and unclassifiable collection interrogate the fractures, collisions and glorious new alloys of what it means to be a Chinese Millennial. Xuan Juliana Wang has the dark soul of an old poet's inkwell, the deep knowing of an ancient remedy, and linguistic incandescence of a megacity skyline. Trust these stories to show you the way. * Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Orphan Master's Son *With style, verve and grace, Wang brings a new perspective to stories about family and community. Both modern and innovative, her stories surprise and challenge in wonderful, wonderful ways. * Weike Wang, author of Chemistry *Tasty little bits of perfection. One of the great debuts of the year. * Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story *The American dream goes global in Xuan Juliana Wang's spectacular debut.... Moving from lower Manhattan to mainland China, the dozen tales in the collection are peopled by immigrants in limbo and Asian millennials riding high on WeChat and rock'n'roll.... Sublimely captivating. * Vogue *Endearing characters with bizarre fixations fill Wang's superb debut collection, a perfect book to dip into this summer.... Wang's striking characters are fresh, clever, and shouldn't be missed. * Publishers Weekly *Bright * Elle *Studded with poetic lines... Home Remedies is full of soulful, Beijing-based coming-of-age stories. * Skinny *Clever and strange, these stories move from America to China and back again, with themes of identity, privilege and race. * Independent *Elements of the surreal and the elegiac mixed in with the comedy and social satire. A memorable collection. * Dan Brotzel, The Scotsman *A striking demonstration of Wang's versatile storytelling gifts, presenting a range of characters, perspectives, and formal choices that prove she has the tools to write a story in whatever way it needs to be written. Home Remedies is filled with characters facing boundaries to be crossed: cultural, familial, economic, political. The magic of these stories radiates from the friction created as characters enter new worlds and try, imperfectly, to make a home for themselves. * The Rumpus *Xuan Juliana Wang's remarkable debut introduces us to the new and changing face of Chinese youth... her dazzling, formally inventive stories upend the immigrant narrative to reveal a new experience of belonging: of young people testing the limits of who they are, in a world as vast and varied as their ambitions... In stories of love, family, and friendship, here are the voices, faces and stories of a new generationnever before captured between the pages in fiction. What sets them apart is Juliana Wang's surprising imagination, able to capture the innermost thoughts of her characters with astonishing empathy. * Book Riot *

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Book SynopsisIt is 1966 and 12-year-old Mary Foster’s narrow, prescribed world is abruptly disturbed by a sudden move from suburban London to a neglected Victorian house on the south coast of England. A new friendship provides Mary with some comfort in an unfamiliar world of seagull squawks, endless horizons and strange new lodgers. But an unexpected discovery of deceit and deception profoundly affects her life and Mary is left to carry on, bitter and resentful, but silent on the matter. 40 years later, Mary wants to know more. Another age, another era, another century; such secrecy and lies seem cowardly and irrelevant. Mary is anxious for the truth. Or at least she thinks she is – until the chance to uncover certain realities tests her resolve.

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Book Synopsis'We are despised, yet we grow. We are tortured and crucified and yet we flourish. We are hated and still we multiply. Why is that? You must wonder, how is it we survive?' In a far corner of the Roman Empire, a radical sect is growing. Alone, unloved and battling his sexuality, Saul scrapes together a living exposing these nascent Christians, but on the road to Damascus, everything changes.Saul - now Paul - becomes drawn into this new religion and its mysterious leader, whose crucifixion leaves followers waiting in limbo for his promised return. As factions splinter and competition to create the definitive version of Christ's life grows violent, he begins to question his new faith and the man at its heart.Damascus is an unflinching dissection of doubt, faith, tyranny, revolution, cruelty and sacrifice. A vivid and visceral novel with perennial concerns, it is a masterpiece of imagination and transformation.Trade ReviewThe novel Tsiolkas was born to write * Financial Times *A visceral portrait of the life of St Paul -- Rob Doyle * Guardian *A powerful testament to spiritual yearning and the human desire to transcend the physical world. * Sunday Times *A narrative of shock and awe, fear and trembling, so large in ambition it will probably be the book for which he will be best remembered... Tsiolkas has made a career of taking sanctioned narratives and flipping them to reveal a dark human underbelly... At its best, which is miraculously often, the novel is conjugated not in the simple present but in what is knows as the "prophetic perfect". * The Weekend Australian *There are too many highlights to count in this daring, shocking, speculative work of biblical fiction by one of Australia's highest-profile authors. Captivating... * The Herald Sun *One of the most significant contemporary storytellers at work today * Colm Tóibín *A vivid novel... an insightful and sympathetic portrait of a man assailed by doubts, envy and pride, and tormented by his own homosexuality. Both insider and outsider, Tsiolkas writes with enormous respect and admiration for Christianity's message of love and equality, while recognizing all the flaws that Christianity, like any religion, is subject to - intolerance, populism and fundamentalism, and grubby worldliness. * Selina O'Grady *An enormously ambitious novel... Tsiolkas' message is ultimately one of hope and humanity... This is a brave, unflinching book. * The Listener *Hyper real. I could taste the salt of Saul's sweat as I gasped and cried my way through the book... This latest release confirms his ability to identify and describe both the best and the worst of us humans, whether we wear sandals or sneakers. * The Age *Startling... Moving and powerful... * ABC *There aren't any cinematic sandal-and-toga moments here; these people are hyper real. I could taste the salt of Saul's sweat as I gasped and cried my way through the book. * Sunday Star Time *A deeply researched, crafted fictional world created by one of Australia's greatest literary talents. * Sydney Morning Herald *Tsiolkas takes on nothing less than the birth of Christianity - and does so with rigour and grit. This is as-it-happens history, deeply immersive, yet alive to hindsight irony. It's a brave book, and sincerely spiritual. * Sydney Morning Herald *One of Australia's best writers... rough, gutsy and sometimes shocking book, but always a gripping read. * About Regional *

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Book SynopsisTHE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2023'A gritty heartbreaker of a thriller... Part heartfelt coming-of-age tale, part brutal Irish noir, this is a spectacular read for Donna Tartt and Tana French fans' KirkusIn the seaside town of Kinlough, on Ireland's west coast, three old friends are thrown together for the first time in years. They - Helen, Joe and Mush - were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann as their group's white-hot centre. Soon after that summer's peak, Kala disappeared without a trace.Now it's fifteen years later. Human remains have been discovered in the woods. Two more girls have gone missing. As past and present begin to collide, the estranged friends are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance, and to try to stop Kinlough's violent patterns repeating themselves once again...Against the backdrop of a town suffocating on its own secrets, in a story that builds from a smoulder to a stunning climax, Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption.'Tana French fans will relish Kala' Guardian, Best Summer Reads'The thriller of the moment' The i Paper, Best Summer Reads 'An addictive read with explosive revelation' Daily Telegraph'A compulsive joy' Daily Mail'Kala heralds an exciting new voice' ObserverTrade ReviewTana French fans will relish Kala's stylish prose and slowburn menace... An impressive debut -- Justine Jordan * Guardian, Best Summer Reads *With promised shades of Donna Tart and Tana French, this is the thriller of the moment * The i Paper, Best Summer Reads *A sizzling debut of nostalgia and secrets... With the strong group dynamic and the lingering promise of bloodshed, comparisons to Donna Tartt's The Secret History are justified. Kala is both a genuine page-turner and a profound meditation on memory and how it shapes our lives - how our past selves forever haunt the people we become -- Ruth Gilligan * Guardian *A stonkingly good read, especially if you're looking for something gripping, pacy and plot-driven... This is a masterful reworking of the whodunnit, one you'll have immense difficulty putting down -- Lucy Sweeney Byrne * Irish Times *Luminous, unforgettable... Gorgeous and lingering, Kala is not to be missed -- Alison Flood * Observer *Compelling... Kala is an addictive read, with a pacy denouement - and explosive revelation - that's more than worth the wait. -- Claudia Rowan * Daily Telegraph *Impressive... Walsh brilliantly conveys the cruelty, self-absorption and vulnerability of teenagers, their shifting allegiances and betrayals, as well as their love for one another... His characterisation is superb and he has a vivid turn of phrase. Kala heralds an exciting new voice -- Lucy Popescu * Observer *A vividly spun web of a novel, in which allegiance, betrayal, complicity and the truth of what happened to Kala interweave... Walsh's pin-balling language seems to contain within it both the volatile ecstasy of being young, and the precipitous darkness that often accompanies it. A compulsive joy. -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail *The characters unfold beautifully on the page as the plot builds to breakneck speed. A mesmerising debut thriller wrapped in lyrical writing * Woman & Home, Book of the Month *This shimmering novel teems with tension and is so brilliantly executed it's hard to believe it's a debut * The Bookseller, Editor's Choice *I was kept awake until the birds were singing. What a story. I was riveted. It captures so much of the essence of the thrill and excitement of teenage summers, the wonderful optimism of youth and first loves, and the ease with which corruption and evil can take hold and thrive. This is a dazzling novel. * Donal Ryan, Booker-listed author of The Queen of Dirt Island *Kala is a thriller - and a lot more. It is exciting and cleverly structured, but its great strength is the characters: they are terrific. * Roddy Doyle, the Booker Prize-winning author of Life Without Children *Now here's a truly ambitious debut novel that purrs with narrative confidence - hugely engaging and thoroughly addictive. * Kevin Barry, Booker-listed author of Nightboat to Tangiers *Kala is so good. Skilfully assembled, suspenseful, brilliant about being a teenager and then of the difficult experience, as an adult, of going back home * Sara Baume, author of Seven Steeples *The very definition of page-turner, full of big personalities, rapid twists and unpredictable moments, cast both in vivid colour and deepest shadow. I tore through it. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation *A compelling, moving novel... Simmering with darkness and rich with the accumulation of life * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch *A debut novel of skill and fire, Kala crackles with passion as it depicts the urgent bonds of youth and the monsters that emerge when we peer into the past. * Rob Doyle, author of Threshold *Colin Walsh's debut is a heartbreaking story of love and lost youth that is at once tender and absolutely gutting. Psychologically rangy and ultimately riveting, Kala is a book you'll not just read and love, but lend to those you love * Smith Henderson, author of Fourth of July Creek *A slow burner that draws you in and spins you around until you don't know where you stand. It kept my heart pounding and my head guessing until the very end. * Aingeala Flannery, author of The Amusements *

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Book SynopsisCharles Dickens's second novel is the tale of a young orphan who faces the gruelling conditions of a Victorian workhouse before finding himself sucked into the criminal underworld of London. Teeming with unforgettable characters such as the villainous Fagin, the virtuous Nancy and the brutal Bill Sikes, Oliver Twist combines dark humour, elements of melodrama and social polemic. At once a ferocious indictment of the author's era and a timeless story of coming of age, this classic has enthralled readers and inspired countless adaptations and imitations since it was first published in 1838.Trade ReviewThe power of [Dickens] is so amazing that the reader at once becomes his captive. -- William Makepeace Thackeray

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Book SynopsisNestling on India's southern coast lies the town of Kittur. Ranging through the city's streets and schoolyards, bedrooms and businesses, its inner workings and its outer limits, through the myriad and distinctive voices of its inhabitants, Aravind Adiga brings an entire world vividly and unforgettably to life.

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Book SynopsisI am Eve. Collector of words. I look them up. I write them down. I knead them into sentences. I am the story. When her mum rescues a book from a garbage can, Eve's life changes. She reads her way into the stories, into a place in the world, worlds she never knew existed. Eve becomes the story. Everything is possible. But with adulthood comes deception and betrayal; to survive Eve strips life bare. No stories, no people, no connection. But the stories are determined to win her back.

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Book SynopsisKasia Van Schaik’s debut story collection follows the journey of Charlotte Ferrier, a child of divorce raised by a single mother in a small town in British Columbia after moving from South Africa. Mother and daughter wait out the end of a bad year in a Mexican hotel; a friendship is tested as forest fires demolish Charlotte’s town; a childhood friend disappears while travelling through Europe; and a girl on the beach examines the memories of dying jellyfish. The stories traverse the most intimate and transforming moments of female experience in a world threatened by ecological crisis. Longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize 2023.Trade Review"Full of diffuse longing and hallucinatory memory, these stories shimmer and compel like half-remembered dreams. Van Schaik's poetic linked collection brings the reader on an evocative journey across decades and continents." Saleema Nawaz, author of Songs for the End of the World"We Have Never Lived On Earth contains a bright humour, a sharpness. There's an authentic, human thrumming behind these stories. With their focus on mothers, fathers, and daughters, these linked stories explore how initial models of care feed into our romantic loves. Kasia Van Schaik captures the souring phase of relationships, where the glue has become brittle and two individuals begin to lean away from each other. Yet the characters forge their way through these moments of dislocation with grace, humour, and the perfect amount of self-awareness, which makes the reader laugh out loud, or nod knowingly. At least it did for me." Eliza Robertson, author of Demi-Gods"Few writers can work with memory as vividly as Kasia Van Schaik—fusing fiction and remembrance with confidence, sensitivity and the shivering logic of dream. These are stories that glitter and then duck away from view, like a swimmer half-discerned. A beautiful book you can't forget." Sean Michaels, Giller Prize-winning author of Us Conductors and The Wagers“A riff on loneliness. Exquisitely written. Profoundly moving. A must read.” Rosemary Sullivan, OC, award-winning author"In Kasia Van Schaik’s visionary stories a generation will recognize its rootlessness and frail sense of futurity, as well as its desire for grace. We Have Never Lived On Earth is a beautiful collection that explores all realms of experience—what we see and what we dream. I couldn’t get enough of this work’s exquisite precision and depth." Seyward Goodhand, author of Even That Wildest Hope“We Have Never Lived On Earth speaks to many readers’ own experiences of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, which involve the difficult work of figuring out how to move through loss and grief and, ultimately, how to be most alive in all of our imperfections. I have read many novels and collections that capture the feeling of threat the world can impose upon female bodies, but the quality of Van Schaik’s prose made these experiences alive, honest, and corporeally real throughout each story in a way I had not encountered before." Heather Jessup, author of The Lightning Field and This Is Not a Hoax: Unsettling Truth in Canadian Culture“Traversing themes such as transience, loss, painful attachment, and belonging, Kasia Van Schaik’s stories recall literary icons Mavis Gallant and Alice Munro, though with a more immediate, youthful, contemporary lens. The vital introduction of topics such as parenthood in an age of climate crisis, Canada’s history of genocide against Indigenous peoples, as well as immigrant women and girls’ experiences in Canada, make this a powerful and much-needed addition to Canadian publishing.” Jenna Butler, author of Magnetic North"Charlotte is a compelling heroine whose story captures the specific strangeness of contemporary women’s comings-of-age with pathos, poetry, and humor. The collection is engrossing, compulsively readable, bold in its formal experimentation, and masterful on both the sentence and story levels." Miranda Cooper, Foreword Reviews, September/October 2022 [Full review at https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/we-have-never-lived-on-earth/]"Kasia Van Schaik’s debut short story collection explores the slipperiness of memory, poking at the past to see what kinds of ephemeral meaning might be found there. Throughout, Van Schaik’s craftsmanship is unfaltering. She sketches out fully realized characters with just the lightest of strokes, then traces connections between them that resonate with familiarity… We Have Never Lived on Earth augurs the arrival of a major literary talent, a writer of great skill with an unfailing barometer for emotional resonance. It’s an outstanding debut collection that’s polished and unvaryingly satisfying, leaving an enduring mark on the reader’s memory." Jury comments, Concordia University First Book Prize“Themes of geography, movement, departure, and renewal animate We Have Never Lived on Earth, weaving a narrative cohesiveness that balances the contrast between stories set at various times and in various places…. As a narrator, [Charlotte] is incisive and compelling; as a character, she is appealingly vulnerable. The collection manages to be both dense and sparsely elegant…. The writing is intellectually rich without being obtrusive, and often warm and poignant, sometimes highlighting moments that hover between comedy and pathos…. We Have Never Lived on Earth is bold in the questions it asks, and the scope of the narrative it conveys, but in the tradition of the best short stories, it is the small, precisely rendered moments that make it resonant, familiar, and refreshing.” Danielle Barkley, Montreal Review of Books, December 8, 2022 [Full review at https://mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/we-have-never-lived-on-earth-kasia-van-shaik/]“We Have Never Lived On Earth explores the care that exists between mothers and daughters, and between friends and lovers. It also considers what it means to care for other species — land animals, birds and whales — and, above all, for the planet.” -- Carol Matthews, British Columbia Review of Books, December 8, 2022. [Full review at: https://thebcreview.ca/2022/12/08/1659-matthews-van-schaik/]"Van Schaik debuts with a compelling collection of short stories. The character-driven coming-of-age narratives focus on Charlotte, a South African immigrant raised by her single mother in Canada. The stories explore every intimate aspect of life... Notes of fantasy give the richly detailed writing a dreamlike atmosphere, while topics from objectification to ecology keep listeners tethered to reality... [The stories] will appeal to listeners seeking brief, beautiful stories about family, friendships, and their power to transform. Recommended for fans of Chelsea Bieker, Elizabeth Strout, and Zadie Smith." Lauren Hackert, Library Journal, August 2023"Kasia Van Schaik is an extraordinary writer. She paints story worlds from memory akin to how Isak Dinesen recreated her farm in Africa. She drills into difficult topics like parental neglect, sexual assault, heartbreak, poverty, aloneness and mental illness without shame, and with a tragic beauty that reminds of Elizabeth Smart or Heather O’Neill. And she describes Charlotte’s most vulnerable insecurities – her disappointments, her secrets, the moments that break her heart – in so intimate a way you feel like your own heart is breaking." Wanda Baxter, The Miramichi Reader, March 16, 2023 [Full review at https://miramichireader.ca/2023/03/we-have-never-lived-on-earth-stories-by-kasia-van-schaik/]"We Have Never Lived on Earth is the debut collection of Kasia Van Schaik, a South African-Canadian writer. In this Bildungsroman of linked short stories, Charlotte, a nomadic young woman, leaves home, tries different careers and lovers, travels to Germany to teach, and wanders through Europe. Beautifully written and rich in allusions to women writers (Virginia Woolf, Emily Carr, H.D.), the collection captures the loneliness and chaos of the narrator’s transition to maturity.... Juxtaposing personal truths and imagery of ecological crisis, We Have Never Lived on Earth explores a young woman’s insights into the hazards of living on earth." Kat Cameron, Prairie Fire Magazine, October 23, 2023 [Full review at https://bit.ly/3Qvy3Ri]Table of ContentsHow Will You Prepare for Happiness? Premium Girl Highwayman House on Carbonate The Peninsula of Happiness A Girl in Nova Scotia A Girl Called Helsinki Swimming Upright How to Be Silent in German Notes on a Separation Visitor to Crete Houseboat Youth Orchestra Stingray Cellular Memory The Cascades This Is Fine We Have Never Lived on Earth An Ounce of Care Notes Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisIt's the summer of 1979, and Hunter Frank is desperate to escape both his monstrous mother and his small northern town. With the help of three elders, a man named Crow, his two best friends, and a drug dealer, the twelve-year-old may be getting out of Red Rock sooner than he hoped.

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Book SynopsisTranslated for the first time in English, Lev Levanda's brilliant coming-of-age story of Russian Jewish students on the cusp of modernity in their struggle against religious chauvinism and an oppressive government.Despite being Russia's best Jewish writer of the nineteenth century, Lev Levanda (1835–1888) is barely known in the English-speaking world, with some of his most famous works, like the 1873 novel Seething Times, having yet to be published in their entirety. Another such work is An Amateur Performance (Reminiscences of a Student in the 1850s), which appears here in English for the first time, translated with elegance by Hugh McLean and edited by Brian Horowitz and Conor Daly. A classic in Russian-Jewish literature from 1882, An Amateur Performance describes the rush by Jews to government schools, secular education, and the lights of enlightenment, while also revealing the struggles of these Jewish students on the cusp of modernity, including keen observations on their lack of preparation, their confusion over the new ideas, and their confrontation with the repressive power of the Russian government. In short, it’s a brilliant sociological study of Russian Jewry in the 1850s as remembered by a writer who fought for progress and Jewish integration. Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsPreface, by Professor William Craft Brumfield Introduction1. An Amateur Performance (Reminiscences of a Student in the 1850s)2. On Hugh and a Berkeley PhD: Recollections of Hugh McLean, Translator and Professor of Slavic Studies, by Brian HorowitzPhotographs1. Lev Levanda in his youth. From the New York Public Library Collections.2. Lev Levanda in middle age. From the New York Public Library Collections.3. Invitation to the funeral service for Lev Levanda. From the New York Public Library Collections.4. Brian Horowitz. Photograph courtesy of Brian Horowitz. 5. Hugh McLean. Photography courtesy of the Slavic Department at UC Berkeley.6. William Brumfield at Dwinelle Plaza, June 1966. In background: Wheeler Hall and Campanile. Photograph courtesy of William Brumfield Collections.7. Sproul Plaza meeting, fall 1967. In background: Sproul Hall. Photograph: William Brumfield. Courtesy of William Brumfield Collections.

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Book SynopsisThe first published novel by the award-winning, bestselling and acclaimed Michael Arditti'It is unusual to find an English first novel of such unflinching moral seriousness ... a varied and involving read' Gregory Woods, Times Literary Supplement'An exceptional book - at its core it combines the sexual with the spiritual' Sunday Times'An ambitious first novel, which traces the liberation of a human soul through a gradual revelation of the meaning of passion and the Passion' Candia McWilliam, Independent on SundayThe Celibate is the story of a young man with a mind full of God, but a heart closed to love. While studying at the theological college, he is confused by his feelings for a fellow ordinand and suffers a nervous collapse at the altar. His college principal sends him on a placement to London, where he enters an unfamiliar world of outcasts, down-and-outs, rent boys and religious fundamentalists.In increasing despair, he embarks on a journey through the world of Jack the Ripper, the devastation of the Great Plague and the mysteries of his own family. As the past and present come full circle, he finally understands the true meaning of Passion.This is an intelligent and emotive novel, potent with atmosphere and rich in ideas and insights. It employs a unique fictional structure which integrates the contemporary and the historical, the personal and the theological, the comic and the polemic in a revelatory way. On its initial publication, it was hailed as the debut of a major literary talent.Trade ReviewIt takes courage to write about faith in this faithless world, particularly from a homosexual viewpoint. But in The Celibate, Michael Arditti's first novel, the author's anger, conviction and sharp observation hold the reader's attention throughout -- Alistair Bruton * The Times *An ambitious first novel, which traces the liberation of a human soul through a gradual revelation of the meaning of passion and the Passion -- Candia McWilliam * Independent on Sunday *This deeply spiritual novel ... a carefully crafted, intensely analytical and deeply honest theological quest where the storyline becomes consumed in a broader faith journey -- Peter Stanford * Catholic Herald *A bold and multi-layered first novel and one which negotiates a remarkably taut high-wire between frailty and ardour -- Graham Anderson * City Limits *A fine political novel. Michael Arditti's eloquently beautiful style burns with passion and commitment. My mind and emotions were engaged for all of its 341 pages. A brave, unique book, this deserves the widest possible readership -- John Roman Baker * Rouge *It is unusual to find an English first novel of such unflinching moral seriousness ... a varied and involving read -- Gregory Woods * Times Literary Supplement *I found Arditti's heartfelt, even desperate, plea for tolerance and acceptance moving and honourable, not to mention timely -- Karen Lewis * Literary Review *An exceptional book - at its core it combines the sexual with the spiritual * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA beautiful hardcover repackaging of this timeless classic from the publishers of the Autobiography of Mark Twain and in partnership with the Mark Twain Project. This definitive edition ofAdventures of Huckleberry Finnwasthe only version of Mark Twain's masterpiece based on his complete manuscript, including the 663 pages found in a Los Angeles attic in 1990. Prepared by the Mark Twain Papers, the official archive of Sam Clemens's papers at the University of California, Berkeley, this volume features the gorgeous original illustrations that Twain commissioned from Edward Windsor Kemble and John Harley and also includes historical notes, a glossary, maps, selected manuscript pages, and even a gallery of letters, advertisements, and playbills from Twain's first book tour to promote the original publicationeverything the discerning reader needs to enjoy this classic of American literature again and again.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewHesse is not a traditional teller of tales but a novelist of ideas and a moralist of a high order...The autobiographical undercurrent gives Demian an Existentialist intensity and a depth of understanding that are rare in contemporary fiction. * Saturday Review *Beautifully written, it has a seriousness as compelling as as that of The Waste Land . . . the work of a major writer * Observer *One can neither date nor doubt the sincerity of the hero s search for satisfaction or the quality of the spirit that lies behind it -- Times Literary Supplement

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