Narrative theme: coming of age
Sourcebooks, Inc The Lonely Hearts Book Club
Book SynopsisA young librarian and an old curmudgeon forge the unlikeliest of friendships in this charming uplit novel about one misfit book club and the lives it changed along the way.Because books have a way of bringing even the loneliest of souls together...Sloane Parker lives a small, contained life as a librarian in her small, contained town. She never thinks of herself as lonely...but still she looks forward to that time every day when old curmudgeon Arthur McLachlan comes to browse the shelves and cheerfully insult her. Their sparring is such a highlight of Sloane's day that when Arthur doesn't show up one morning, she's instantly concerned. And then another day passes, and another.Anxious, Sloane tracks the old man down only to discover him all but bedridden...and desperately struggling to hide how happy he is to see her. Wanting to bring more cheer into Arthur's gloomy life, Sloane creates an impromptu book club. Slowly, the lonely misfits of their sleepy town begin to find each other, and in their book club, find the joy of unlikely friendship. Because as it turns out, everyone has a special book in their heart-and a reason to get lost (and eventually found) within the pages.
£11.39
Sourcebooks, Inc New Adult
Book SynopsisNolan Baker longs to be "thirty, flirty and thriving" in this charmingly quirky LGBTQIA+ romance that's one part 13 Going on 30 and one part One Last Stop.WHY CAN'T WE SKIP TO THE GOOD PART?Twenty-three-year-old Nolan Baker wants it all by the time he's thirty. Too bad he's single, barely able to cover his own expenses, and still paying his dues at a prominent NYC comedy club. When faced with his perfect sister's wedding, Nolan takes it as a wakeup call. It's time to quit comedy and make good on his practical dreams-most importantly, asking Drew Techler, his best friend, to be his date.But right as Nolan is about to give it all up, he's asked to fill a last-minute spot for a famous comedian. Score! He crushes his set, but stands Drew up, misses his sister's big day, and disappoints his entire family. After major blowouts with everyone he loves, Nolan desperately wishes on a set of gift "magical healing crystals" to skip to the good part of life. When he wakes the next morning, it's seven years later, he's a successful comedian, and he has everything he always thought he wanted. Everything, that is, except his friends and family, none of whom are taking his future self's calls.With nowhere else to turn, Nolan sets out to find the only person he trusts to help. Except Drew is all grown up now, too. He's hot, successful...and hates Nolan's guts. As Nolan works to get back to his younger self-and the life he so carelessly threw away-he'll have to prove he's not the man everyone thinks they know in order to regain Drew's trust, friendship, and maybe, ultimately, his heart.While part of a series, this book stands alone.People Are Raving About Timothy Janovsky:"This book made my queer heart so very full and deeply happy."-Anita Kelly"A cinematic daydream guaranteed to steal your heart."-Julian Winters"Wonderfully upbeat and sweet."-Suzanne Park"Full of hope and heart."-Alexandria Bellefleur"[A] fresh, sweet, and swoony love story that blends coming-of-age comedy with the nuances of exploring sexual identity."-Alison CochrunTrade ReviewVoicy, playful, heartbreaking, and ultimately perfect. I felt every possible emotion while I read this, and hugged the book when I'd finished. New Adult is delicious. It is everything I love about reading. * Christina Lauren, author of The Unhoneymooners *
£8.54
Sourcebooks, Inc How to Be Remembered: A Novel
Book SynopsisFor fans of Matt Haig and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue comes a big-hearted novel following a man who can never be remembered and his journey to become unforgettable...On an ordinary night in an ordinary year, Tommy Llewellyn's doting parents wake in a home without toys and diapers, without photos of their baby scattered about, and without any idea that the small child asleep in his crib is theirs.That's because Tommy is a boy destined to never be remembered.On the same day every year, everyone around him forgets he exists, and he grows up enduring his own universal Reset. That is until something extraordinary happens: Tommy Llewellyn falls in love.Determined to finally carve out a life for himself and land the girl of his dreams, Tommy sets out on a mission to finally trick the Reset and be remembered. But legacies aren't so easily won, and Tommy must figure out what's more important-the things we leave behind or the people we bring along with us.With the speculative edge of How to Stop Time, the unending charm of Maria Semple, and the heart of your favorite book club read, How to Be Remembered is a life-affirming novel about discovering how to leave your mark on the places and people you love most.Trade ReviewHow to Be Remembered wears its heart proudly, earnest in the way of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or, dare I say, Forrest Gump * The Guardian Australia *Original, engrossing, sweet. * Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project *
£15.44
Bloom Books Broken Knight
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£16.14
Srmg/Tvpc Shaping of an Agent: An UnderShadow Story
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£9.50
Black Glory Publishing House Strange Things Await
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£20.70
Swan Isle Press Someone Speaks Your Name
Book SynopsisA lyrical novel following an idealistic student who explores the power of literature in Franco’s Spain. It’s the summer of 1963 and León Egea, a cocky nineteen-year-old student and aspiring author, has just finished his first year studying literature at the University of Granada and is starting a summer job as an encyclopedia salesman. León, infuriated by the injustices in Spanish society under the Franco dictatorship, comes to find that literature can speak the truth when the reality is clouded. In this coming-of-age novel by renowned Spanish writer Luis García Montero, León discovers that, under the repressive Franco dictatorship, people, places, and events are not always what they seem. But literature, words, and names open paths to discovery, both personal and political. Through lyrical fast-paced narrative, Someone Speaks Your Name explores literature as a foundation for understanding human relationships, national character, discrete differences between right and wrong, and for pursuing the path forward. As León’s professor tells him: “Learning to write is learning to see.” Trade Review"Very ably translated into English by Katie King, Someone Speaks Your Name is coming-of-age novel by renowned Spanish writer Luis Garcia Montero that will have immense appeal to readers with an interest in literary fiction with political and historical themes." * Midwest Book Review *“‘It’s hard to endure evil in the world. But it’s equally hard to endure innocence.’ A would-be writer finds himself spending the hot, dry summer of 1963 in Granada, where he works as an encyclopedia salesman and unexpectedly undergoes a passionate sexual initiation with a woman seventeen years older than he is. Their story plays out under the shadow of Franco’s dictatorship and amid unspoken memories of the Spanish Civil War, as literature and romance lead the young man into an startling new role. García Montero is among Spain’s most beloved and admired writers. This potent, rueful tale of coming of age—beautifully transformed into English in Katie King’s skilled, appreciative, and committed translation —is the first of his many works to appear in English.” -- Esther Allen, translator of Antonio Di Benedetto’s Zama“A furtive individual traverses these pages. . . . We don’t know who he is, but each time we read the book, when we open it randomly or search among its pages for favorite lines, we encounter him, a blurred but undeniable presence. He crosses paths with us, readers and visitors to this book. He is like someone who walks by on the street and is captured in the photos of others, an eternal stranger who ends up becoming familiar. He survives by calibrating each day, as if administering medicine, the right dose of tenderness and sarcasm, and if he conjures up temerity, he calculates, at the same time, its return.” -- Antonio Muñoz Molina, author of Sepharad, translated by Edith Grossman“The calendar in the neighborhood café is frozen at April 19, 1960, but León Egea, a restless college student, is not. Luis García Montero, Spain’s leading poet today, in Someone Speaks Your Name offers us a coming-of-age story in which León grows intellectually, erotically, and politically. At the same time Spain, in the clutches of a repressive dictatorship and still suffering the aftermath of a brutal civil war, is also coming of age in its struggle toward democracy.” -- Anthony Geist, translator of Rafael Alberti’s Roma, peligro para caminantes
£21.85
Books from Graestone Members of the Cast
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£9.49
Prufrock Communications, LLC One Black Day
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£17.09
Cybirdy Publishing Limited The Porridge of the Countess Berthe
Book SynopsisFirst-ever translation in English of a unique goblin tale from Alexandre Dumas, the famous author of The Three Musketeers and The Comte of Monte Cristo. On the bank of the Old Medieval Rhine, there was a kind, compassionate, determinate and noble human being; the Countess Berthe. She founded a rather unusual tradition, an annual feast set on the first of May of each year, The Porridge of the Countess Berthe. To ensure the future of this newfound tradition and in spite of Nature's forces as well as greed of the living, the Countess Berthe resorted to unite with the Cobolds, the good spirits which were known to live, work and prosper in the foundation of the castle. "I must first tell you that in Germany there was once a race of good little spirits, who have unfortunately since disappeared, the tallest of them was barely six inches high. They were called Cobolds." A hidden gem from the past that has been uncovered with this translation for the interest, comfort and amusement of readers whatever their age and wherever they are.
£10.44
Cybirdy Publishing Limited La bouillie de la comtesse Berthe
Book SynopsisLa Bouillie de la Comtesse Berthe est un conte du petit peuple écrit par Alexandre Dumas, le célèbre auteur des Trois Mousquetaires et du Comte de Monte-Cristo. Sur les rives du Rhin médiéval, vivait jadis une femme au grand coeur, charitable, une personne aimable, compatissante, déterminée et noble : la comtesse Berthe. Celle-ci instaura une tradition plutôt inhabituelle, une fête annuelle qui devait se tenir le premier mai de chaque année, la bouillie de la comtesse Berthe. " Je dois d'abord vous dire qu'il y avait autrefois en Allemagne une race de bons petits esprits, malheureusement disparus depuis, dont le plus grand mesurait à peine six pouces. On les appelait les Cobolds. " La Bouillie de la Comtesse Berthe est une perle rare du passé remise au goût du jour par cette nouvelle édition dans l'intérêt mais aussi pour l'amusement des lecteurs, petits et grands, où qu'ils se trouvent sur la planète Terre.
£11.70
Dani Rene Books A Death to Seek: A MMF, Arranged Marriage Romance
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£14.24
Cipher Press Never Was
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
£10.79
Allen & Unwin Freeing Grace
Book SynopsisA tender and thought-provoking story exploring the sacrifices we make for family and what it takes to be a good parent.Grace's teenage mother dies shortly after giving birth and the perfect adoptive parents are found for her: David, the curate of an inner-city parish, and his wife Leila, who are unable to have children of their own. What they don't count on is Matt Harrison, Grace's shell-shocked young father who falls in love with his daughter and fights to keep her.The Harrisons are an unconventional family who see in Grace a chance for redemption. To convince the courts of their suitability will require a commitment from Matt's mother to return from Africa to her unhappy marriage. The Harrisons enlist their friend, the feckless, charming Jake Kelly, to retrieve her and he sets off on a quest that will force a confrontation.Ultimately, there are terrible decisions to be made about Grace's fate. Everyone only wants what's best for her - but who can say exactly what that is?Trade ReviewWill appeal to devotees of Joanna Trollope and Jodi Picoult...[Norman] is hot on their heels. * Daily Mail *Easy to read, hard to put down, it'll move you to tears. * Easy Living *
£9.49
Allen & Unwin Questions of Travel
Book SynopsisLaura travels the world before returning to Sydney, where she works for a publisher of travel guides. Ravi dreams of being a tourist until he is driven from Sri Lanka by devastating events. An enthralling array of people, places and stories surround these superbly drawn characters - from Theo, whose life plays out in the long shadow of the past, to Hana, an Ethiopian woman determined to reinvent herself. Michelle de Kretser illuminates travel, work and modern dreams in this brilliant evocation of the way we live now. Questions of Travel is infused with wit, imagination, uncanny common sense and a deep understanding of what makes us tick.Trade ReviewThis is a novel unlike any other I have read... It is not really possible to describe, in a short space, the originality and depth of this long and beautifully crafted book. -- A.S. Byatt * The Guardian *Ambitious and entertaining... Questions of Travel should ensure her place as a serious international novelist of the first rank. * The Economist *Sweeping and virtuosic... An outstanding novel. -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *Novel by novel, the Sri Lankan-born Australian has emerged as one of the most fiercely intelligent voices in fiction today. This new work, her most ambitious yet, makes globalisation and its discontents the focus of a multi-faceted story that unites grandeur and intimacy. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Independent *An artful meditation on movement and migration. * The Times Literary Supplement *Man Booker-longlisted de Kretser's precisely written novel is concerned with tourists, refugees and the complexities of immigration... a nuanced and ambivalent look at the crassness of tourism. * The Sunday Times *This truly is a book for our times. * Irish Times *
£8.54
Allen & Unwin The Son-in-Law
Book SynopsisOn a sharp winter's morning, a man turns his back on prison. Joseph Scott has served his term. He's lost almost everything: his career as a teacher, his wife, the future he'd envisaged. All he has left are his three children but he is not allowed anywhere near them.This is the story of Joseph, who killed his wife, Zoe. Of their three children who witnessed the event. Of Zoe's parents, Hannah and Frederick, who are bringing up the children and can't forgive or understand Joseph. They slowly adjust to life without Zoe, until the day Joseph is released from prison...Trade ReviewEngrossing. * Woman and Home *The author's third novel, this is another wonderful and very thought-provoking story that I consumed in a single day. * The Sun *A gripping tale that would appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult and Joanna Trollope... A page turning book to while away a winter's evening. * Red Online on After the Fall *Original, wonderfully written and utterly gripping, this is a corker of a tale. * The Sun on After the Fall *Jodi Picoult had better look over her shoulder - she's got a new contender by the name of Charity Norman. * Sydney Morning Herald on After the Fall *Will appeal to devotees of Joanna Trollope and Jodi Picoult... [Norman] is hot on their heels. * Daily Mail on Freeing Grace *Easy to read, hard to put down, it'll move you to tears. * Easy Living on Freeing Grace *
£9.49
Allen & Unwin Harry Mac
Book SynopsisTom and Millie are best friends who live in a quiet lane on the edge of town. They rely on each other to make sense of what's going on in their lives and in the lives of their families - especially Harry Mac's.Harry Mac, Tom's dad, is a man of silences and secrets. And now Tom is involved in one of those secrets.At school, Tom sits through lessons on the arms race and President Kennedy, waiting until he can be back on the lane where life is far more interesting: why does a black car drive slowly up the lane every night? And what did Harry Mac mean when he wrote in his newspaper 'people disappear in the night'? A series of shocking events and discoveries lead Tom closer to the truth, but threaten to tear his world apart.Set within a fascinating period of South African politics, this is a coming-of-age story full of heart, soul and hope, in the tradition of Jasper Jones and To Kill a Mockingbird.Trade ReviewOne of the best coming-of-age novels I have read. -- Jean Ferguson * Illawarra Mercury *I was thoroughly engaged with the characters and the plot; the writing was terrific and I can highly recommend this book. * Queensland Times *Come into a world full of secrets and politics with the 12-year-old Tom Macgregor... I strongly recommend this book * Launceston Examiner *
£11.69
Allen & Unwin Wonderful Feels Like This
Book SynopsisA feel-good story of an unconventional friendship between an old retired jazz musician and a young girl who is trying to find her place in the world.What can a bullied teenager learn from an old man spending his days in a retirement home? For a start, she'll learn that it ain't got a thing, if it ain't got that swing...Passing by a retirement home on her way from yet another awful day at school, she hears a familiar song playing through an open window. An old man is playing her musical idol Povel Ramel - a quirky jazz musician from the 1940s - and it sparks a new stage of her life. The man's name is Alvar and just like Steffi, he has a huge interest in music.Before long he starts telling her his story. In his youth, as the Second World War tore across Europe, he travelled to Stockholm. Young, innocent and quite naive, Alvar began his life in the big city, struggling to become a famous jazz musician. Or at least someone who was in a band. Or at the very least someone who could dance the jitterbug and talk to girls.Intrigued and inspired by Alvar's story, Steffi spends more and more time at the retirement home, learning about jazz and forgetting about school. She begins to realize that she doesn't have to be the Steffi other people know; instead, as Alvar did, she can recreate herself through music.Trade ReviewThere is much naive charm to be found in this story of a young girl who finds both a new friend and the hope for a new life through her growing interest in jazz... this is a loving, quietly charming... portrayal of jazz as a music which salves the soul of a misfit, brings her friendship and a sense of camaraderie and connects the future with the past. * Glasgow Sunday Herald *Wonderful Feels Like This is a gifted and moving novel, elegantly translated from the Swedish... Lovestam can make difficult narrative feats look easy (the way she can sketch character so economically, using only a few telling brushstrokes, is especially engaging) and the sharply observed central relationship draws you into its poignancy and quiet heroism. * Sydney Morning Herald *Sensitive and deeply moving: outstanding. * Kirkus Reviews *Empathy, identity, and the transformative power of music bind this tale of an atypical friendship between a teenage outcast and a jazz musician. * Publishers Weekly *Lövestam is a musical writer, with such an eye on language and storytelling that she can do almost anything she wants... She writes with the perfect pitch. -- Malin Persson Giolito * Amelia *A well written, warm and cosy story about how unexpectedly you can find a friend when you most need one. -- Stefan Holm * Värmland Folkblad *I know of no writer who can make me so genuinely happy as Sara Lövestam does... And if I'm ever asked what is the best book I've ever read, I will definitely answer: Wonderful Feels Like This. * Annika Koldenius *
£10.44
Allen & Unwin The Eye of the Sheep
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2015 Miles Franklin Literary AwardShortlisted for the 2015 Voss Literary Prize and the 2015 Stella Prize Longlisted for the 2016 International IMPAC Dublin Literary AwardMeet Jimmy Flick. He's not like other kids - he's both too fast and too slow. He sees too much, and too little. Jimmy's mother Paula is the only one who can manage him. She teaches him how to count sheep so that he can fall asleep. She holds him tight enough to stop his cells spinning. It is only Paula who can keep Jimmy out of his father's way. But when Jimmy's world falls apart, he has to navigate the unfathomable world on his own, and make things right.Trade ReviewIt is outrageous that someone as young, beautiful and - goddamit - as happy looking as Sofie Laguna has written this wee beauty of a novel... As a "domestic" novel, it could be cliched, but Laguna, through Jimmy's wonderful eyes, makes every sentence, every word, sing and soar. * Irish Times *A book that crosses the boundaries of adult and YA fiction. * Guardian *Quite an achievement... It is quite a feat to write characters with such nuance... Laguna is an author proving the novel is a crucial document of the times. -- Louise Swinn * The Weekend Australian *Harrowing, beautifully written, insightful and absorbing... Unique, forceful and absolutely hypnotic... Fresh, honest writing. -- Emily Macguire * Canberra Times *A beautiful, sombre style, relieved by occasional happy-go-lucky moments and strangely surprising resilience... Laguna has vividly brought to life what it must be like to be a different child and the effect his condition can have on a family. * Sydney Morning Herald *Jimmy is a tour de force of a character, brilliantly maintained... Laguna's great skill is in conveying the contradictory human depths in all her characters. * Adelaide Advertiser *A book that intrigues and affects every essence of your humanity... A dark and terrible tale told in lyrical, poetic language and stark imagery. * Australian Bookseller and Publisher *Laguna's child narrator both emphasises and conceals, through simple yet articulate images, the complicated extent of suffering and release. * Guardian on One Foot Wrong *An extraordinary achievement. Hester's voice is original and compelling...compels us to see our familiar world as new and intriguing - no small feat. -- Jo Case * Big Issue on One Foot Wrong *
£8.54
Allen & Unwin Close Enough to Touch
Book SynopsisOne time a boy kissed me and I almost died...And so begins the story of Jubilee Jenkins, a 28-year-old woman with a unique and debilitating medical condition - she's allergic to other humans. After a humiliating, near-death experience in high school, Jubilee has become reclusive in her adulthood, living the past nine years in the confines of the Victorian house her unaffectionate mother deeded to her when she ran off with a wealthy businessman. But now, her mother is dead, and without her financial support, Jubilee is forced to leave home and face the world - and the people in it - she's been hiding from.One of those people is Eric Keegan, a man who just moved into town for work. With a daughter from his failed marriage no longer speaking to him, and a brilliant, if psychologically troubled, adopted son who believes he has untapped telekinetic powers, Eric's struggling to figure out how his life got so off course, and how to be the dad - and man - he wants so desperately to be. Then, one day, he meets a mysterious woman named Jubilee...Trade ReviewI absolutely devoured this novel, which took me from laughter to tears in the turn of a page. From its brilliant premise to its wonderful ending, it was gripping, romantic and thought-provoking as it showed how two people can fall for each other without ever being able to hold each other's hand. I absolutely loved it. -- Katie Marsh author of A LIFE WITHOUT YOUA touching and often comedic tale of fitting in. * Prima *One of the most thought-provoking love stories of the year * Real Simple *Oakley's sophomore novel is a treat... Fans of Jojo Moyes and rom-coms set within the stacks of libraries will rejoice. * Booklist *It is easy to get lost in this vividly told story with characters and a fictional malady that are utterly believable. Oakley's second novel should build on the author's popularity and continue comparisons to popular authors such as Jojo Moyes. * Library Journal *Oakley masterfully creates a high-stakes story that still feels solidly real. All of her characters are well-rounded and charming, especially Jubilee. Readers will cheer each time she takes a risk and delight in her triumphs. A romantic, sweet story about taking chances and living life fully. * Kirkus Reviews *It's so rare these days to find an utterly original heroine like Jubilee - one who is bravely living an almost unimaginable life. Gripping, raw, and moving, this is one of my favourite novels of the year. -- Sarah Pekkanen, bestselling author of SKIPPING A BEAT and THE OPPOSITE OF MEA witty, inventive, and bittersweet story of a reclusive young woman forced to venture into the world where complex medical issues become tangled with longings of the heart. -- Beth Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT and LOOKING FOR MEA funny, moving and tear-jerking love story. * The Sun on BEFORE I GO *Colleen Oakley's debut deftly balances sorrow with laughs and compassion. * Us Weekly on BEFORE I GO *Before I Go brings humour and authenticity to a heart-wrenching journey. * Sunday Age *Author Oakley has set herself a tricky balancing act here, blending a comic sensibility with the depth and poignancy her subject requires. She pulls it off. * People Magazine on BEFORE I GO *Colleen Oakley takes on the big three - life, death,and love - and delivers a jewel. Before I Go absolutely glows with humour, wit, and compassion. I adore Oakley's fresh voice and could hardly bear for the book to end. * Lynn Cullen, bestselling author of MRS POE *
£7.59
ECW Press Far Creek Road
Book Synopsis
£15.96
Drawn and Quarterly Rave
Book SynopsisIt s the early 2000s. Lauren is fifteen, soft-spoken, and ashamed of her body. She s a devout member of an evangelical church, but when her Bible-thumping parents forbid Lauren to bring evolution textbooks home, she opts to study at her schoolmate Mariah s house. Mariah has dial-up internet, an absentee mom, and a Wiccan altar the perfect setting for a study session and sleepover to remember. That evening, Mariah gives Lauren a makeover and the two melt into each other, in what becomes Lauren s first queer encounter. Afterward, a potent blend of Christian guilt and internalised homophobia causes Lauren to question the experience. Author Jessica Campbell (XTC69) uses frankness and dark humour to articulate Lauren's burgeoning crisis of faith and sexuality. She captures teenage antics and banter with astute comedic style, simultaneously skewering bullies, a culture of slut-shaming, and the devastating impact of religious zealotry. Rave is an instant classic, a coming-of-age story about the secret spaces young women create and the wider social structures that fail them.Trade ReviewPraise for XTC69: Singular, honest, and hilarious. The Comics Beat. In Jessica Campbell s scathing take on gender dynamics, a trio of gender-fluid space explorers return to a futuristic Earth . . . Campbell skewers contemporary misogyny in these pages, but also praises the strength and perseverance of women and non-binary individuals. The AV Club
£17.09
Cormorant Books,Canada The Family Took Shape
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£9.49
Cormorant Books,Canada Chasing Painted Horses
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£9.49
Cormorant Books The Great Goldbergs
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£9.49
House of Anansi Press Ltd ,Canada Thirteen Shells
Book SynopsisSpanning the late 1970s to the late 1980s, Nadia Bozak’s thirteen stories are narrated from the perspective of Shell, the only child of bohemian artisans determined to live off their handicrafts and uphold a left-wing lifestyle. At the age of five, Shell’s world is transformed when the family moves into a new house, where she grows up. Over time, she gradually trades her unconventional upbringing for junk food, rock music, and boys. All the while, Shell quietly watches her parents’ loveless marriage fall apart and learns to survive divorce, weight gain, heartache, and first love.A funny, sensitive portrayal of the innocence and uncertainty of childhood and adolescence, Thirteen Shells is a true-to-life collection that is as unforgettable as it is poignant.Trade ReviewNadia Bozak’s coming-of-age snapshots are a gentle reminder of all that’s immediate and fleeting. Wistful, distinct, and full of life. * Iain Reid, author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things *Unflinching and forgiving, sentimental and unsparing. Nadia Bozak writes straight to the heart of girlhood, where secrets are both awkward and empowering, as childhood’s magic gives way to the discomfort of adolescence and a young woman comes into her own. Thirteen Shells is a beautifully written book. * Teva Harrison, author of In-Between Days *Thirteen Shells is a true-to-life account of a totally captivating character, another unforgettable work of fiction from [Nadia Bozak] * Owen Sound Sun-Times *There is a certain beauty in literature that only can be expressed through the naive, unsure nature of a child growing up amidst the razor edges of dysfunctionality. In Thirteen Shells, Ottawa author Nadia Bozak takes this to a new level by dulling these edges with the unassailable love of a girl for her parents…Shell is no angel. She lies and steals, at least a little. Experiments with drugs. And has her petty jealousies. But by the midpoint in the novel, the readers find themselves rooting for Shell, hoping that her dreams will come true. And that is the novel's brilliance. * Ottawa Review of Books *Bozak’s interwoven stories most obviously parallel [Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women]. Both Shell and Munro’s women and girls come of age in extremely realistic fictional Ontario towns. Both can be broken down to stand alone as stories, or read through as a novel. Both focus less on a particular climax, and more on the ongoing understated crises of expectations: the ones we put on ourselves, and the ones other people have of us. Furthermore, both authors are masterful when it comes to language, churning out brilliant turns of phrase worth revisiting….Thirteen Shells quietly captures each painful gasp of growing up: the anxiety and shame, along with the treasures found along the way. * National Post *Bozak’s newest book, [is] all repressed heartbreak and wry humour…It is difficult not to be entranced by Shell * Ottawa Citizen *...Thirteen Shells is enticing, reminding us of the difficulty and joy of simply growing up and getting on with it. -- Rory Runnells * Winnipeg Free Press *richly detailed...There's a grittiness and emotional dynamism in these... tales * Quill & Quire *Nadia Bozak's gorgeous collection of linked short stories, Thirteen Shells is drawing tons of praise, including comparisons to Alice Munro, for its deft rendering of a young girl coming of age...Bozak's funny and poignant prose connects us with Shell's deeply relatable longings. * Open Book *As a vivid picture of growing up in the ‘80’s, Thirteen Shells is a landmark. * The London Yodeller *Like Munro, Bozak is less interested in dramatic incident than in a careful examination of everyday events; like Linklater, she focuses closely on isolated moments in Shell’s life…Bozak has structured her work carefully, providing repeated images and symbols, as with musical themes, that serve as unifying devices across different stories, deepening the reading experience as the volume progresses. * Globe and Mail *The linked-collection form is well-suited to this exploration of identity since the stories can be read in isolation or in any order, but read straight through they function as a coming-of-age novel, a full and satisfying bildungsroman. Like a shell necklace, beauty can be found in both the parts and the whole…Though Thirteen Shells departs from Bozak’s earlier fiction in terms of content, the quality of this new offering is consistent with the first two widely acclaimed novels. Bozak is a talented writer and brings insight and beauty to her account of a southwestern Ontario childhood. * Winnipeg Review *Nadia Bozak gets to the heart - and the heartbreak - of girlhood with Thirteen Shells. * CBC Candy Palmater show *A coming-of-age tale that resists the usual clichés to focus on the telling details that reveal the essence of a life. * Kirkus Reviews *Finally, there exists a penetrating, nuanced account of Canadian girlhood. * Booklist *This wise, moving ode to an era turns the pain of growing up with divorce into a hopeful journey. * Foreword *
£11.39
Book*hug Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the 2017 Brage PrizeFanny, a 17-year-old high school senior, has lost both her parents in a car accident. Granted permission to live independently in the family home located on the outskirts of a small Norwegian town, the days pass by as she performs her daily routine: going to school, maintaining the house, chopping and stacking wood, and keeping the weeds at bay. As Fanny grieves and attempts to come to terms with the sad circumstances of her life, a fairy tale-like world full of new possibilities begins to emerge around her.Written by Rune Christiansen, one of Norway's most exciting literary talents, and masterfully translated by Kari Dickson, Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest is a beautiful, poetic portrait of grief, friendship, independence and transgression.Praise for Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest:"Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest is among the saddest and most uplifting books I've read. This story of a grieving young woman is told in short bursts of lustrous writing crisp as aquavit that leave the reader seeing the world anew. Christiansen is taking on the big themes, love and death, but I know what side he's on." —Michael Redhill, Scotiabank Giller Prize winning author of Bellevue Square"Rune Christiansen's Fanny and the Mystery of the Grieving Forest is one of those special stories I find myself petting once I've finished, as if it were a wee forest creature I have fallen in love with. A shimmering musing on grief, Fanny is both ecstatic fairytale and Gothic novel—beguiling, haunting, and erotic in equal measure. There are very few books I would put in the category of heart places, but this is certainly one." —Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, author of All the Broken ThingsTrade Review"Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest is among the saddest and most uplifting books I've read. This story of a grieving young woman is told in short bursts of lustrous writing crisp as aquavit that leave the reader seeing the world anew. Christiansen is taking on the big themes, love and death, but I know what side he's on." -- Michael Redhill, Scotiabank Giller Prize winning author of Bellevue Square"Rune Christiansen's Fanny and the Mystery of the Grieving Forest is one of those special stories I find myself petting once I've finished, as if it were a wee forest creature I have fallen in love with. A shimmering musing on grief, Fanny is both ecstatic fairytale and Gothic novel -- beguiling, haunting, and erotic in equal measure. There are very few books I would put in the category of heart places, but this is certainly one." -- Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer, author of All the Broken Things
£16.16
Guernica Editions,Canada Telescope
Book SynopsisTelescope is a story cycle about Lawrence Teitel, the protagonist of Living Room (Boheme Press, 2001). The collection deals with seeing distances: above all, the growing distancing of Lawrence's family as they cope with new challenges and Lawrence's own maturation, physical and spiritual. The cycle is made up of nine stories, each covering a different stage in Lawrence's development after his family has moved from their old neighbourhood in Montreal to a somewhat wealthier suburb, Ville St. Laurent.Trade Review"If The Simpsons were a novel (or closely connected stories) it would be called Telescope by Allan Weiss. Not because of raw comedy, but the fact that the world's history, its creativity, its politics and its humanity is brilliantly filtered through a typical family in an isolated suburb of a place called Montreal." -- Clark Blaise
£16.16
University of Alberta Press We Have Never Lived On Earth
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
£17.99
Anvil Press Publishers Inc Borderline
Book SynopsisSearing and lyrical, Marie-Sissi Labrèche's auto-fictional novel, Borderline, describes a young girl's experience growing up in Montreal's working-class neighbourhood of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Raised by her "two mothers" - a stern grandmother and a mother struggling with schizophrenia, the story's protagonist, Sissi, is artistic, feral, fragile, insightful, and wild. The novel flicks between the traumas of Sissi's young childhood and early adulthood, spinning a web of connections between her history and the stories she begins to unspool as she studies writing in school. Raw, violent, and at times absurd, Borderline treats all things - the city, class, education, mental health, despair, sexuality, love, and art, with an unflinching, unblinking regard.
£12.59
Conundrum Press July Underwater
Book SynopsisAs Lina steps into adulthood, she turns to the work of Virginia Woolf and Patricia Highsmith for insight into who sheand her friendswill becomeIt's a typically sticky Toronto summer and Lina''s spending her first couple of weeks after graduation reading and hanging out with her best friend Cara. Everything's calmuntil she finds out that her childhood friend Alicia has died. With her high school friends quickly drifting apart and her parents out of town, Lina tries to make sense of what has happened on her own. Hoping for answers, she turns to Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse and Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt. As Lina reunites with her friends for a final party on the shores of Lake Ontario, she finds herself wondering what it means to have known someone, and who they''ll all become when they''re no longer anchored to each other. Winner of the Expozine Awards, July Underwater is an early work of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) based artist Zoe Maeve, now available to widespread audiences for the first time.A beautifully illustrated, poetic, at times impressionistic yet straightforward tale that is strongly evocative of the kind of reminiscences and reflections experienced during summer beachfront escapes.Juror comments, 2016 Expozine Awards"
£12.34
Goose Lane Editions The Gunsmith's Daughter
Book SynopsisShortlisted, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction1971. Lilac Welsh lives an isolated life with her parents at Rough Rock on the Winnipeg River. Her father, Kal, stern and controlling, has built his wealth by designing powerful guns and ammunition. He’s on the cusp of producing a .50 calibre assault rifle that can shoot down an airplane with a single bullet, when a young stranger named Gavin appears at their door, wanting to meet him before enlisting for the war in Vietnam. Gavin’s arrival sparks an emotional explosion in Lilac’s home and inspires her to begin her own life as a journalist, reporting on the war that’s making her family rich.The Gunsmith’s Daughter is both a coming-of-age story and an allegorical novel about Canada-US relations. Psychologically and politically astute, and gorgeously written, Margaret Sweatman’s portrait of a brilliant gunsmith and his eighteen-year-old daughter tells an engrossing story of ruthless ambition, and one young woman’s journey toward independence.Trade Review“I was thrilled by The Gunsmith's Daughter, by how cinematic and engrossing it is, what big questions it asks.” -- Joan Thomas, author of Five Wives“In this beautifully written and tightly plotted novel, Margaret Sweatman gives us a searing look into ourselves. Lilac Welsh is faced with a moral dilemma. She loves her father but is conflicted about the way he makes his living — he makes guns that kill people. Set in the time of the Vietnam War, Lilac's dilemma is Canada's: we criticize U.S. foreign policy, even while our economic well-being remains entangled in America's. The Gunsmith's Daughter delivers uncomfortable home truths as sharply and poetically as George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man.” -- Wayne Grady, author of The Good Father“The Gunsmith’s Daughter, possessing the forward thrust of a whodunit, makes for compulsive reading and is clearly the work of a seasoned writer who knows what she’s doing every step of the way.” -- Ian Colford * Atlantic Books Today *“Throughout the novel, dialogue sparkles with authenticity and wit comparable to the novels of Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Bothers, French Exit). Sweatman’s unpredictable but convincing snippets of conversation go a long a long way in revealing the characters and their relationships, particularly the complex relationship between Lilac and her father.” -- Faith Johnston * Winnipeg Free Press *
£16.99
Fernwood Publishing Co Ltd Sister Seen, Sister Heard
Book SynopsisFarah's ready to move out of her parent's house. It takes an hour to get to campus, and she has no freedom to be herself. Maiheen and Mostafa, first-generation Iranian immigrants in Toronto, find their younger daughter's "Canadian" ways disappointing and embarrassing, and they wonder why Farah can't be like her older sister Farzana - though Farah knows things about Farzana that her parents don't. They begrudgingly agree to let Farah move, and she begins to explore her exciting new life as an independent university student. But when Farah gets assaulted on campus, everything changes. This beautiful coming-of-age story will be familiar to every immigrant in the diaspora who has struggled to find a way between cultures, every youth who has rebelled against their parents and every woman who has faced the world alone.
£13.46
Fernwood Publishing Co Ltd This House Is Not a Home
Book SynopsisAfter a hunting trip one fall, a family in the far reaches of so-called Canada's north return to nothing but an empty space where their home once stood. Finding themselves suddenly homeless, they have no choice but to assimilate into settler-colonial society in a mining town that has encroached on their freedom.An intergenerational coming-of-age novel, This House Is Not a Home follows K????, a Dene man who grew up entirely on the land before being taken to residential school. When he finally returns home, he struggles to connect with his family: his younger brother whom he has never met, his mother because he has lost his language, and an absent father whose disappearance he is too afraid to question.The third book from acclaimed Dene, Cree and Metis writer Katłįà, This House Is Not a Home is a fictional story based on true events. Visceral and embodied, heartbreaking and spirited, this book presents a clear trajectory of how settlers dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of their land - and how Indigenous communities, with dignity and resilience, continue to live and honour their culture, values, inherent knowledge systems, and Indigenous rights towards re-establishing sovereignty. Fierce and unflinching, this story is a call for land back.
£14.39
Vagrant Press What Comes Echoing Back
Book SynopsisA poignant novel imbued with music from the Giller Prize ? shortlisted author of Like This and Twenty-Six that follows two social outcasts as they navigate through their traumatic pasts.The worst moment of Sam''s life was captured on video and shared across the Internet for all to gawk at. This is something she has in common with Robot, who just wants to move past the mistakes he''s made, if only his small town will let him. When the two meet in a high school music class, they start to find their way to each other. Music might offer a way not only forward, but forward together, if Sam and Robot can overcome the echoes of the moments that made them infamous.The past reverberates in ways we don''t expect, in this new novel by Giller Prize ? shortlisted author Leo McKay, Jr. From family secrets and old relationships that resurface, to the tape loops that endlessly replay private moments of trauma and despair, What Comes Echoing Back travels back and forth in time to get to what''s true, with humour, humanity, and the healing power of music.
£17.05
Tidewater Press People Like Frank: And Other Stories from the Edge of Normal
Book SynopsisFinalist for the Indigenous Voices Awards. On the edge of normal, challenges take many forms—the everyday can be an adventure and the ordinary a triumph. A young woman in a group home investigates a mysterious piece of knitting. An obsessed bag boy does grim battle with a squirrel. A woman, an asparagus bag and a garbageman have a tumultuous short-term relationship. Otherwise unremarkable achievements become epic on the edge of normal. In the tradition of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Room and If I Fall, If I Die, this uplifting short story collection explores the world through the eyes of protagonists whose perspectives are informed by their unique circumstances. Some are struggling with physical challenges while others seek to overcome psychological barriers. Far from being defined by their limitations, these characters revel in achievements others take for granted and find wonder in unexpected places. By celebrating the private triumphs of people who are all too often dismissed, Ashton reminds us all of our own humanity.
£11.35
Orion Publishing Co Inland
Book SynopsisFEATURED ON BARACK OBAMA'S 2019 READING LIST SHORTLISTED FOR THE SWANSEA UNIVERSITY DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 'SPECTACULAR' Guardian'A WONDER' Daily Mail'SPARKLING' The Times'EXQUISITE' Observer'MAGNIFICENT' TLS'EPIC' Entertainment Weekly'A TRIUMPH' LitHub'INFECTIOUS' Financial Times'A MASTERPIECE' Sunday Express Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life, biding her time with her youngest son - who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home - and her husband's seventeen-year-old cousin, who communes with spirits. Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht's talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely - and unforgettably - her own.NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY: Guardian, Time, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, The New York Public Library 'Should have been on the Booker longlist' Claire Lowdon, Sunday Times'Magnificent... Brings to mind Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude or Toni Morrison's Beloved' Times Literary Supplement'Exquisite ... The historical detail is immaculate, the landscape exquisitely drawn; the prose is hard, muscular, more convincingly Cormac McCarthy than McCarthy himself' Alex Preston, ObserverTrade ReviewA tremendously talented writer * Ann Patchett *Magnificent . . . brings to mind similar effects in, say, Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude or Toni Morrison's Beloved. * Times Literary Supplement *This free-ranging tale of an American frontierswoman should have been on the Booker longlist... I'm already looking forward to whatever Obreht writes next. -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *This exquisite frontier tale from the author of The Tiger's Wife is a timely exploration of the darkness beneath the American dream ... The historical detail is immaculate, the landscape exquisitely drawn; the prose is hard, muscular, more convincingly Cormac McCarthy than McCarthy himself ... [The] paranormal element reminds us strongly of George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo ... Inland also feels of a piece with another recent novel, Sarah Perry's Melmoth, a brilliantly eerie gothic tale in which the horrors of history are condensed into a single ghostly figure -- Alex Preston * Observer *[Obreht] has used the little-known existence of the Camel Corps as the inspiration for Inland, her propulsive second novel ... Infectious storytelling ... Obreht is as engrossing with her depiction of the colourful and disparate encounters experienced by Lurie and Burke as she is on the claustrophobia of small-town rivalries -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *It's a voyage of hilarious and harrowing adventures, told in the irresistible voice of a restless, superstitious man determined to live right but tormented by his past. At times, it feels as though Obreht has managed to track down Huck Finn years after he lit out for the Territory and found him riding a camel. She has such a perfectly tuned ear for the simple poetry of Lurie's vision... Sip slowly, make it last. -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *Set against a backdrop of hardship and saturated with magic and myth, this ambitious novel is a modern masterpiece, culminating in an unforgettable ending -- Rosie Hopegood * Sunday Express *"Obreht is the kind of writer who can forever change the way you think about a thing, just through her powers of description . . . Inland is an ambitious and beautiful work about many things: immigration, the afterlife, responsibility, guilt, marriage, parenthood, revenge, all the roads and waterways that led to America. Miraculously, it's also a page-turner and a mystery, as well as a love letter to a camel, and, like a camel, improbable and splendid, something to happily puzzle over at first and take your breath away at the end. -- Elizabeth McCracken * O Magazine *Obreht is superb at tracing such inescapable wounds, both personal and national. Her 2011 Orange prize-winning debut, The Tiger's Wife, mapped the aftermath of civil conflict in an unnamed "Balkan country still scarred by war", which was based on her native Serbia ... The fictional territory of Inland is as vivid and as violent: Arizona in the second half of the 19th century, populated by "cowpokes and prospectors", gunslingers and cattle kings - and, yes, cameleers ... Exquisitely panoramic ... compelling ... On every page gorgeously tinted images conjure the otherworldliness of this desert existence ... Obreht's narrative skill here is part of the magic of Inland, which succeeds spectacularly at reinventing a well-worn genre and its tropes. There are no stereotypes in this western, only ferociously adroit writing that honours the true strangeness of reality in its search for the meaning of home -- Elizabeth Lowry * The Guardian *As it should be, the landscape of the West itself is a character, thrillingly rendered throughout... Here, Obreht's simple but rich prose captures and luxuriates in the West's beauty and sudden menace. Remarkable in a novel with such a sprawling cast, Obreht also has a poetic touch for writing intricate and precise character descriptions. * New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice) *At a time when old-fashioned storytelling seems to be in decline, Téa Obreht is a class apart ... a bustling, bravura adventure that's part Western, part Cormac McCarthy and part Obreht's unique blend of spiritual realism ... This is not a novel to gulp down, but to savour, as Obreht fleshes out every possible detail in language that tastes both of the soil and of the skies. The final chapter, meanwhile, rich in poignant symbolism, is a wonder -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail *Set at the end of the 19th century, it has dual narratives of a frontierswoman and a former outlaw. Suspenseful, atmospheric, near mythical in tone, and lyrically written * I paper *With Inland Obreht makes a renewed case for the sustained, international appeal of the American West, based on a set of myths that have been continually shaped and refracted through outside lenses . . . Discovering the particular genre conventions that Obreht has chosen to transfigure or to uphold soon becomes central to the novel's propulsive appeal. * New Yorker *Sparkling descriptions ... Obreht is alive to the sharp, enduring pain of grief and how it alters even the most mundane aspects of life - and she convincingly conjures the jagged anxiety of clinging on to life and livelihood in the face of terrible odds -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times *It's eight years since Obreht's debut, The Tiger's Wife, made her the youngest winner of the Orange Prize. Inland, her second novel, is an equally skilful exploration of myth and fable, and histories both forgotten and elaborated -- Sophie Ratcliffe * Daily Telegraph *Téa Obreht was just 25 when she wrote her Orange Prize-winning debut The Tiger's Wife, a lush and magical retelling of the bloody history of the Balkans. Her new book ventures into the Wild West for an intricate, slow-burn two-hander that, while more sober and rugged, by no means ditches her interest in the supernatural -- Anthony Cummins * Metro *What Obreht pulls off here is pure poetry. It doesn't feel written so much as extracted from the mind in its purest, clearest, truest form * Entertainment Weekly *The landscape of the West itself is a character, thrillingly rendered throughout in phrases such as "red boil of twilight" and "a stillness so vast the small music of the grasses could not rise to fill it." Here, Obreht's simple but rich prose captures and luxuriates in the West's beauty and sudden menace. Remarkable in a novel with such a sprawling cast, Obreht also has a poetic touch for writing intricate and precise character descriptions... Inland has the stoic heroic characters and the requisite brutal violence of the western genre, but the decision to place an immigrant and a middle-aged mother at its center is a welcome deviation... In Obreht's hands, this is an era that overflows with what the dead want, and with wants that lead to death. Her two central characters may not be who we have been conditioned to think of when we conjure the old American West, but they, too, are America. * International New York Times *Inland is a classic story, told in a classic way - and yet it feels wholly and unmistakably new... Obreht offers a new representation of the West, both in the characters she chooses and the emotional rigor and range with which she writes. The result is at once a new Western myth and a far realer story than many we have previously received - and that's even with all the ghosts. * NPR *Téa Obreht's M.O. is clear: She's determined to unsettle our most familiar, cliché-soaked genres . . . Inland can feel like Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian turned inside out: contemplative rather than rollicking, ghostly rather than blood-soaked . . . giving so much of the novel's stage to Nora makes this a less familiar woman's western, one that's more about resilience, wit and family than frontier justice. * Minneapolis Star Tribune *There is so much to admire and enjoy here: the interplay of magic and reason, the threats of progress, the tribalism of a nation forming. Above all the difficulty of simply living alongside one another, evoked in Obreht's masterful language, variously lyrical, hilarious, and profound -- Francesca Steele * The Spectator *Refreshing ... plenty of fine descriptive writing to admire -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday *Obreht has a gift for vivid language and deft stories-within-stories ... She gives words fresh purposes, to great effect; verbs sizzle ... haunting. * Economist *This book is everything you'd expect the literary event of 2019 to be: sweeping, confident, ambitious, well-researched and difficult ... it really packs a punch ... it is moving and learned, and it reminds us how the history of America has always been about trying to create a home in a hostile place -- Niamh Donnelly * Irish Times *A captivating, sweeping novel * Grazia *Every page is a triumph - even if you don't think you like Westerns. Trust me, this book will make you a believer. * Lit Hub *It will enchant lovers of lyrical prose and the myth of the American West. * Harper's Baazar *Obreht's novels are capital-E Events - big, ambitious, provocative reading experiences...At last we have Inland, a bracingly epic and imaginatively mythic journey across the American West in 1893, in which the lives of a former outlaw and a frontierswoman collide and intertwine. * Entertainment Weekly *Obreht uses her prodigious writing gifts to create a new mythology for the American West, one that glimmers with the intensity of a desert mirage. * Nylon *Obreht brings her extraordinarily intricate worldview, psychological and social acuity, descriptive artistry, and shrewd, witty, and zestful storytelling to another provocative inquiry into the mysteries of place, nature, and human complexities... As her protagonists' lives converge, Obreht inventively and scathingly dramatizes the delirium of the West-its myths, hardships, greed, racism, sexism, and violence-in a tornadic novel of stoicism, anguish, and wonder. * Booklist (starred review) *The most thrilling discovery in years * Colum McCann *The unrelenting harshness of existence in the unsettled American West sharply focuses what Obreht refers to as 'the uncertain and frightening textures of the world' in this mesmerizing historical novel spun from two primary narrative threads . . . The novel's unforgettable finale, evocative and grimly symbolic, crystallizes its underlying themes of how inconsolable grief and unforgivable betrayal shape the circumstances that bind its characters to their fates. Obreht knocks it out of the park in her second novel. * Publisher's Weekly *A frontier tale dazzles with camels and wolves and two characters who never quite meet. Eight years after Obreht's sensational debut, The Tiger's Wife, she returns with a novel saturated in enough realism and magic to make the ghost of Gabriel García Márquez grin. She keeps her penchant for animals and the dead but switches up centuries and continents. Having won an Orange Prize for The Tiger's Wife, a mesmerizing 20th-century Balkan folktale, Obreht cuts her new story from a mythmaking swatch of the Arizona Territory in 1893 . . . Obreht throws readers into the swift river of her imagination . . . [A] deep stoicism, flinty humor, and awe at the natural world pervade these characters. [Lurie and Nora] are both treacherous and good company . . . The final, luminous chapter is six pages that will take your breath away. * Kirkus *
£8.54
Rebellion Publishing Ltd. A Broken Darkness
Book SynopsisIt’s been a year and a half since the Anomaly, when They tried to force Their way into the world from the shapeless void.Nick Prasad is piecing his life together, and has joined the secretive Ssarati Society to help monitor threats to humanity – including his former friend Johnny.Right on cue, the unveiling of Johnny’s latest experiment sees a fresh incursion of Them, leaving her protesting her innocence even as the two of them are thrown together to fight the darkness once more…Trade Review"With a strong sense of adventure and an engaging prose style, A Broken Darkness is a worthy, enjoyable entry to the sprawling genre of cosmic fiction." * Aurealis *
£8.54
Rebellion Publishing Ltd. The Storm's Betrayal
Book SynopsisLies. Treason. Magic.The great Stormhawk—Bourshkanya’s paranoid, fascist leader—is seemingly unkillable. But for the rebellion to succeed, he must die.Celka Prochazka uses magic in ways no one believed possible. She could be the perfect resistance assassin—if she can avoid being discovered as a traitor.Gerrit Kladivo, the Stormhawk’s son, is determined to end his father’s tyrannical rule. But to get Celka close enough to his father he must first prove unflinching loyalty to the regime.Filip Cizek swore his life to protect Gerrit and the regime. But with Gerrit’s actions twisting him into a stranger, Filip must decide how deep his loyalty runs.Together, they will attempt the impossible—but the cost may be everything they hold dear.Trade Review“A sweeping epic of romance, revolution, elegant strangeness, and elemental magic.” -- Jason Heller“Tense, timely, and crackling with urgent energy. I guarantee that by the end of the book, you will be looking for your own resistance to join... or to start.” -- Premee Mohamed -- Premee Mohamed“Lee's debut is a dazzling and timely high-wire act.” -- Ian Tregillis -- Ian Tregillis"Focused and honed as a lightning strike, beautifully balanced and directed; a cutting story of revolution, rebellion, romance, and the sort of strange sorcery that we don't see very often" -- Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of October Daye -- Seanan McGuire
£10.59
Benediction Classics Freckles, A Girl of the Limberlost AND Laddie: A True Blue Story
£33.14
Pushkin Press Temptation
Book SynopsisBéla has never had much luck. His mother abandoned him at birth to go to work in Budapest, leaving him in the care of the dubious 'Aunt Rozika', a former prostitute who now runs a foster home with equal parts hauteur and cruelty. Victimised and almost starved by his guardian, Béla must fight for everything, from scraps of the other boys' food to the right to go to school. At fourteen he is caught trying to steal a pair of shoes; his mother is called and she reluctantly takes him with her to Budapest. Once in the capital Béla manages to secure a position at a grand old hotel, and it is here that a more privileged lifestyle seems to extend a hand to him. Operating the lift, Béla encounters people from across Hungarian society and beyond, including the beautiful daughter of an American businessman and a passionate revolutionary. But his new lifestyle offers both pleasures and perils, and Béla must find a way to forge his own life from the divergent influences that surround him. A picaresque classic with a rich vein of bawdy humour, Temptation is an under-appreciated masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction. Rich, varied and endlessly entertaining, the novel creates a stunning panorama of Hungarian society through the travails of its singularly charming hero.Trade ReviewTemptation is a fascinating novel set in the Horthy period, and its author, János Székely, is equally fascinating... The densely packed story is, in genre terms, a racy, filmic cross between a Picaresque and a Bildungsroman * TLS *
£11.69
Pushkin Press As Rich as the King
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE FRANÇOISE SAGAN PRIZE WINNER OF THE BOOKSTAGRAM PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE GONCOURT PRIZE FOR DEBUT NOVEL 'With this book, Abigail Assor announces herself as one of the most distinctive voices in North African literature. This is a vibrant, sensual, subversive novel with an unforgettable heroine' LEÏLA SLIMANI _______________ Sarah is poor, but at least she's French, which allows her to attend Casablanca's elite high school for expats and wealthy locals. It's there that she first lays eyes on Driss. He's older, quiet and not particularly good looking-apart from his eyes, which are the deep green of thyme simmering in a tagine. Most importantly, he's rumoured to be the richest guy in the city. She decides she wants those eyes. And she wants a life like his. But to get to Driss she will have to cross the gaping divide that separates them and climb to the top of the city's society, from street corner merguez and chips to a mansion overlooking the ocean. Provocative, immersive, sensual, As Rich as the King is a twisted love story and a bittersweet ode to Casablanca.Trade Review'With this book, Abigail Assor announces herself as one of the most distinctive voices in North African literature. This is a vibrant, sensual, subversive novel with an unforgettable heroine' - Leila Slimani'The sounds, the smells, the gritty details of every scene are laid bare in a light as harsh and bright as the sun... A captivating novel' - Le Figaro'Casablanca stretches out before our astonished eyes, humming with rage and life... A captivating debut' - Lire'Abigail Assor's writing is precise, sensual, subversive and wildly lyrical. Astonishing' - Le Parisien'Stunning in its truth, cruelty and style' - Paris Match
£15.29
Atlantic Books The Lives of Women
Book SynopsisThe stunning new novel from Christine Dwyer Hickey, bestselling author of Last Train from Liguria.'One of Ireland's most lauded modern writers, Christine Dwyer Hickey teases out the strands of her story... It leaves the reader with the aftertaste of regret for their own what might have been...' - Daily MailFollowing a long absence spent in New York, Elaine Nichols returns to her childhood home to live with her invalid father and his geriatric Alsatian dog. The house backing on to theirs is sold and as she watches the old furniture stack up on the lawn, Elaine is brought back to a summer in the 1970s. She is almost sixteen again and this small out-of-town estate is an enclave for women and children while the men are mysterious shadows who leave every day for the outside world. The women are isolated but keep their loneliness and frustrations hidden behind a veneer of suburban respectability. When an American divorcee and her daughter move into the estate, the veneer begins to crack. The women learn how to socialise, how to drink martinis in the afternoon, how to care less about their wifely and maternal duties. While the women are distracted, Elaine and her friends find their own entry into the adult world and the result is a tragic event that will mark the rest of Elaine's life and be the cause of her long and guilt-ridden exile.Insightful and full of suspense, this is an uncompromising portrayal of the suburbs and the cruelties brought about by the demands of respectability.Trade ReviewThis study of suburbia shows how the "savagery of respectability" can wreck lives... A reflection on neglect that engages right to the shocking end. * Psychologies *One of Ireland's most lauded modern writers, Christine Dwyer Hickey teases out the strands of her story... It leaves the reader with the aftertaste of regret for their own what might have been... * Daily Mail *As the compelling narrative alternates between Elaine's teenage summer and her present-day loneliness, Dwyer Hickey offers a devastating picture of suburban isolation. * Irish Times *A stunning portrait of a section of '70s Ireland... The Lives of Women is a wonderful read - thought provoking and compelling - and is, to my mind, Christine's best to date. * Irish Examiner *[A] richly textured, insightful and uncompromising look at life in unforgiving 1970s Ireland. Another triumph for this talented and original writer. * Irish Independent *Dwyer Hickey is as astute in conveying everyday conversation as dark events... It left me with that vague, almost physical chest ache one feels on experiencing great sadness. * Independent on Sunday *A beautiful, suspenseful look at life in the suburbs and the compromises required by the expectations of society. * Sunday World *Insightful and full of suspense, this is an uncompromising portrayal of the suburbs... Here is a novel that will truly make us think about the lives of women. * Newstalk *
£8.54
Atlantic Books Treason's Daughter
Book SynopsisLove, betrayal and a family divided amid the turmoil of the English Civil War.London, 1640. Fifteen-year-old Henrietta Challoner dreams of adventure, of a life lived at the gallop, of the opportunities afforded to her brothers, Ned and Sam. She cannot know how devastatingly real these dreams will become, as the country slides towards vicious civil war...The crisis threatens to tear Henrietta's family apart. As religious and political tensions spill into the streets, they all must decide what comes first - their family, their country or their desires. But while she strives to maintain the peace at home, Henrietta becomes embroiled in a deeper plot: to hand London over to the King.Trade ReviewSenior's fresh, forceful writing breathes new life and relevance into the most destructive, dangerous era in English history. Totally gripping -- Kate Saunders * The Times *This study of a family divided by the Civil War is powerfully engaging. Senior is equally convincing on the fast-moving, 'male' world of politics and war and the more pragmatic (but equally painful) battles fought by the women who must somehow live with the results. Hen is a delightful heroine; I was rooting for her right up to the novel's heartbreaking conclusion. -- Maria McCann, bestselling author of THE WILDINGSenior's prose is as fresh as a country walk in spring, and arrestingly original... This is a compelling book that truly gets under the skin of its characters, and does so with compassion and passion... I predict a glittering future for its hugely talented author -- Angus Donald, bestselling author of THE OUTLAW CHRONICLES
£7.59
Atlantic Books Night for Day
Book SynopsisA feverish vision of McCarthy-era Hollywood...Los Angeles, 1950. Over the course of a single day, two friends grapple with the moral and professional uncertainties of the escalating Communist witch-hunt in Hollywood. Director John Marsh races to convince his actress wife not to turn informant for the House Committee on Un-American Activities, while leftist screenwriter Desmond Frank confronts the possibility of exile to live and work without fear of being blacklisted. As Marsh and Frank struggle to complete shooting on their film She Turned Away, which updates the myth of Orpheus to the gritty noir underworld of post-war Los Angeles, the chaos of their private lives pushes them towards a climactic confrontation with complicity, jealousy, and fear. Night for Day conjures a feverish vision of one of the country's most notorious periods of national crisis, illuminating the eternal dilemma of both art and politics: how to make the world anew. At once a definitively American novel, echoing Philip Roth and Raymond Chandler, it also nods to the mythic landscapes of Dante and the iconoclastic playfulness of James Joyce. With as much to say about the early years of the Cold War as about the political and social divisions that continue to divide the country today, Night for Day is expansive in scope and yet tenderly intimate, exploring the subtleties of belonging and the enormity of exile-not only from one's country but also from one's self.Trade ReviewImmersive... Flanery is an accomplished novelist. [He] writes with skill and conviction. * Guardian *Flanery's funniest and most entertaining... novel * TLS *Craftsmanlike * Sunday Times *Patrick Flanery is an exceptionally gifted novelist. * Philip Gourevitch, New Yorker, on Patrick Flanery *Flanery is a master of puzzling, alarming and even terrifying storytelling. * A.S Byatt, Guardian, on Patrick Flanery *A passionate, gripping, brilliantly voiced and scintillatingly intelligent novel... I Am No One will get under your skin. * Neel Mukherjee, on I am No One *
£9.49
Atlantic Books Bone by Bone: A psychological thriller so
Book SynopsisLaura loves her daughter more than anything in the world. But nine-year-old Autumn is being bullied. Laura feels helpless. When Autumn fails to return home from school one day, Laura goes looking for her. She finds a crowd of older children taunting her little girl. In the heat of the moment, Laura makes a terrible choice. A choice that will have devastating consequences for her and her daughter...Trade ReviewA powerful and compelling story about the lengths a mother will go to to protect her child. What begins as a worrying situation quickly escalates into a nightmare as the result of a single bad decision. I found myself wondering what I would have done in that situation and the ending had me holding my breath. -- C.L. TaylorOnce I picked it up, I could not stop reading - I literally raced to the end. Laura's fierce love for her daughter Autumn, mixed with her desperation in the face of her powerlessness to prevent her daughter being bullied, made for a riveting and unsettling read. Bone by Bone is a tense, dark novel. Dread seeps from each page as Laura and her daughter descend deeper and deeper into a living nightmare and the story spirals towards an ending that is both unexpected and deeply satisfying. Sanjida is such a wonderful, assured writer. -- Luana LewisA page turner but also a book that explores with chilling realism the insidious nature of bullying and how helpless parents can feel in the face of damage being done to their child; I can imagine this will appeal to many parents. -- Jane ShemiltThis novel about the insidious nature of bullying escalates into a tale of violence, fear and suspense. * Daily Mail *
£11.69
Atlantic Books What a Way to Go
Book Synopsis1988. 12-year-old Harper Richardson's parents are divorced. Her mum got custody of her, the Mini, and five hundred tins of baked beans. Her dad got a mouldering cottage in a Midlands backwater village and default membership of the Lone Rangers single parents' club. Harper got questionable dress sense, a zest for life, two gerbils, and her Chambers dictionary, and the responsibility of fixing her parents' broken hearts... Set against a backdrop of high hairdos and higher interest rates, pop music and puberty, divorce and death, What a Way to Go is a warm, wise and witty tale of one girl tackling the business of growing up while those around her try not to fall apart.Trade ReviewWhat a fabulous novel! So fresh, touching, truthful and laugh-out-loud funny. I absolutely loved it. -- Deborah MoggachI hugely, entirely enjoyed this book. What a Way to Go is richly transporting - and so funny, and so moving. Julia Forster has all the marks of a prize-winning novelist; you know it from the first pages. -- Horatio ClareA brilliant debut. Sharp, sweet, bristling with wit and full of hilarious, wildly imaginative observations. In Harper Julia Forster has created a bold and distinctive 12 year old voice that manages to be nostalgic and authentic at the same time. -- Emma Jane Unsworth, author of 'Animals'I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Harper is such a lovable, funny character, and seeing the the 1980s through her eyes is both moving and revealing. I loved the 'mis-en-scene' of Blackbrake, the whole small town atmosphere where the skies are as grey as her 'school uniform', and I thought the monstrously selfish but somehow sympathetic Mum is a great comic creation. Above all, I thought Harper's tone was perfectly judged, that mix of knowingness, naivete, and humour was great. It deserves to do really well. I will put a 5 star review on Amazon! -- Francis GilbertI haven't enjoyed a book this much in ages. It's wonderful... Harper [is] an amazing protagonist - all the things I wanted to be at that age but probably never was - bright, funny, inquisitive, happy in her own skin. -- Megan Bradbury, author of 'Everyone Is Watching'Oh, this one is good, so very good. Heart-breaking, humorous and thought provoking. Thank you Julia Foster for a brilliant debut novel. -- Phylippa Smithson for lovereading.co.ukPoignant, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny and a fabulous portrait of the time. * Woman & Home *As a first novel it has promise, with some sensitive writing and funny lines. * The Scotsman *This is a bittersweet tale of one girl just at the cusp of becoming a young woman with a burgeoning mind of her own, and a blossoming sense of life's possibilities. * The Western Mail *What a Way to Go is very funny and warm, sometimes sad, always beautifully written and just a ... joy [to read]. -- Hayley Long, blogger and author, twice nominated for the Costa AwardWhat A Way To Go is funny and sharp and it's a treat to hang out with Harper as she and her Chambers dictionary flit between her Midlands parental homes. * Emerald Street *What a joy to read... Julia Forster's assured debut novel marks the start of a brilliant writing career. * Reader's Digest *I loved this novel. It's by turns incredibly poignant and very funny. A touching coming of age tale that completely hits its mark. -- Kate HamerThis amusing coming-of-age novel, narrated by 12-year old Harper Richardson, is full of humour, often of the black variety... this gauche yet likable character emerges chrysalis-like, a bit more armoured for the next stage of her young life. * Irish Examiner *A glowing debut * Daily Mail *
£7.59
Atlantic Books If I Forget You
Book SynopsisWhen Margot and Henry meet, they fall deeply in love. And then they lose each other.But Henry can't forget Margot and Margot is haunted by her memories of Henry. They live in each other's minds. Twenty-one years later, they meet, by chance, on a Manhattan street. And that's where their story truly begins...If I Forget You is a beautiful exploration of what it means to find the person you are destined to be with, but then spend a lifetime apart.Trade ReviewThomas Christopher Greene's If I Forget You is the most moving and beautifully-written love story I've read since Cold Mountain. -- Howard Frank Mosher, author of God's KingdomRomantic, full of yearning, and hopeful, this is an unapologetically passionate tale about the kind of enduring love we dream about when we are young. -- Robin Oliveira, New York Times bestselling authorThis love story makes for a perfect beach read. * Real Simple *A powerful, emotionally moving love story. * Library Journal *Hypnotic. -- Eric da Costa, author of Seven DaysBeautifully written... addictive -- Civilian ReaderIncredibly beautiful and compulsively readable, The Headmaster's Wife will keep you mesmerized into the wee hours. A master storyteller, Greene's biggest achievement is proving that the most complex mystery of all is how and why we love. * Kimberly McCreight, bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia on The Headmaster's Wife *Nothing is what it appears in this brilliant story of a life gone awry... The author's true intentions make this tale even more remarkable, for the book is, at its core, a trenchant examination of one family's terrible loss and how the aftermath of tragedy can make or break a person's soul. * Publishers Weekly on The Headmaster's Wife *Greene's haunting tale tracks the unraveling of a marriage. It starts, eerily, with a naked man's arrest... then twists back in time through love, grief, betrayal, and love again. * Good Housekeeping US on The Headmaster's Wife *
£7.99
