Narrative theme: death, grief, loss

Book Synopsis*The USA Today bestseller*An edge-of-your-seat, page-flipping, stay-up-all-night, heart-racing suspense thriller!' Real ReviewerHoly mother of! This book was SO good. I devoured itYou NEED to read this!' Real ReviewerHoly cr*p! This is good! Riveting, excitingkept me guessing. Loved it!' Real ReviewerIn a cabin in a wood,A woman by the window stood.Glancing out, she thought she heardFootsteps, whistling, something stirred.Hiding here, she fears the night,For what's done in the dark will come to light.She must run fast to escape her lieOr she'll be the next to dieThe unmissable new thriller from the USA Today bestselling master of edge-of-your-seat reading and screenwriter of Netflix Original movie, The Weekend Away.Readers are gripped by The Cabin in the Woods:Buckle up because you are in for a ride! Every time I thought the ending was close, there was another twist that I didn't see coming I felt like my heart was going to stop or burst out of my chest!' NetGalley Reviewer, ?????This Trade Review PRAISE FOR SARAH ALDERSON: This is an exhilarating ride where nothing is what it seems… Good luck getting anything else done until you've turned the final page. (Heat) Fast-moving and beautifully told, it is hard to put down. (Daily Mail) Cleverly plotted, well written book kept me engaged to the last page. (Rachel Abbott, author of Come A Little Closer) Captivating writing with just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you on your toes… Absolutely loved it! (SJI Holliday, author of The Lingering) A brilliant psychological read. (Woman)

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Book Synopsis**Pre-order Graham Norton''s new novel Frankie now**''Atmospheric, creepy and impossible to put down'' THE TIMES''A compelling and moving story, expertly told'' DAILY EXPRESS''Magnificent ... his writing is evocative and perfect'' MARIAN KEYESFrom the bestselling author of Holding comes a masterly tale of secrets and ill-fated loves set on the coast of Ireland.Elizabeth Keane returns to Ireland after her mother''s death, intent only on wrapping up that dismal part of her life. There is nothing here for her; she wonders if there ever was. The house of her childhood is stuffed full of useless things, her mother''s presence already fading. And perhaps, had she not found the small stash of letters, the truth would never have come to light. 40 years earlier, a young woman stumbles from a remote stone house, the night quiet but for the tireless Trade ReviewA compelling and moving story, expertly told, that will draw you in and keep you in its grip until the last page. - DAILY EXPRESSMagnificent ... his writing is evocative and perfect. His grasp of human loneliness and longing is beautiful and comforting.Atmospheric, creepy and impossible to put down. - THE TIMESI raved about Holding two years ago ... A Keeper is even better. A powerful, very sad story, beautiful writing, two time frames that are perfectly balanced. Outstanding. Will easily be one of my books of 2018.A gripping, thoughtful tale about the search for identity, belonging and self-possession. - OBSERVERMoving and darkly funny. - GOOD HOUSEKEEPINGSmart, well-written and thoroughly entertaining. - IRISH INDEPENDENTIt's a sad and lovely book, brimful of tenderness and compassion, where the revelations of the past upturn the perceptions of the present. - SUNDAY EXPRESS

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“This is a fantastic way to read the Dune epic and to become immersed in the greater details of the novel. The clear and precise artwork makes the narrative easy to follow and imbues the story with a cutting edge of the best stylish qualities that graphic novels have to offer. * Alex Ross *Bloody duels and larger set pieces—particularly explosive ones involving near-escapes from Arrakis’s mammoth sandworms—that thrill. * Publishers Weekly *I liked the first volume of Abrams ComicArts' Dune adaptation, but I loved DUNE: The Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad'Dib. * Boingboing.net *Dune: Book 2 continues the story of Paul Atreides in this fast-paced and action-packed installment to the series that has captivated sci-fi fans for decades. * The Nerd Daily *

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Book Synopsis''A writer the world should be reading right now.'' IndependentWho would you be, if you hadn''t turned out to be the person you are now?Dawn is a death doula, and spends her life helping people make the final transition peacefully.But when the plane she''s on plummets, she finds herself thinking not of the perfect life she has, but the life she was forced to abandon fifteen years ago - when she left behind a career in Egyptology, and a man she loved.Against the odds, she survives, and the airline offers her a ticket to wherever she needs to get to - but the answer to that question suddenly seems uncertain.As the path of her life forks in two very different directions, Dawn must confront questions she''s never truly asked: What does a well-lived life look like? What do we leave behind when we go? And do we make our choices, or do our choices make us?Two possible futures. One impossible choice.----------------------------------------------------------------''It is hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.'' Financial Times''Her intelligent, meticulously researched novels explore ethical dilemmas through heartrending, headline-grabbing scenarios.'' The Sunday Times''A matchless talent for hitting emotional notes.'' Irish TimesMAD HONEY, the stunning and compelling Sunday Times bestseller by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan is available now.Trade ReviewA writer the world should be reading right now * Independent *It is hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes * Financial Times *A wise, cerebral, propulsive adventure . . . It eruditely spans the worlds of Egyptology, university physics and end-of-life care, while never losing sight of its high-stakes human story... a captivatingly immersive, multilayered, painstakingly researched and impressively realised exploration of deeply human geographies -- Patricia Nicol * Sunday Times *Ambitious * The Times *This complex, time-shifting romance combines moral hazard with Wuthering Heights echoes and degree-level Egyptology. And there aren't many books you can say that about. -- Wendy Holden * Daily Mail *The pull of the well-drawn characters and powerful themes of regret and love make this head-spinning story a compelling read * Sunday Mirror *Literary powerhouse Jodi Picoult writes novels that make you think and her latest is no exception * Sunday Express *This brilliant Sliding Doors-style novel will really get you thinking * Sun, Fabulous Magazine *Riveting * Hello *A consummate storyteller * Saga *A thrilling adventure ... one that will lead readers to both learn a lot and also ask themselves key questions about how to create happy lives for themselves * Associated Press *Similar to Alice Hoffman's depiction of complex family ties, Picoult's latest stretches the importance of recognizing our bonds to those we love. Highly recommended for open-minded readers. * Library Journal, starred review *The Book of Two Ways is a return for Picoult to the themes of her earliest books -motherhood, complicated romantic love . . . Picoult, at this point in her career, could skilfully build tension in a broom closet, but the best part of this book is not the suspense; it's the look at the complexity of a woman as she enters middle age . . . [Picoult] always tells both sides of a story not with judgment, but with grace. * Washington Post *Picoult's fans will appreciate this multifaceted, high concept work. * Publishers Weekly *Picoult's fans will be more than ready for this puzzle of a novel . . .[they] will find heady themes to consider. * Booklist *Powerful and compelling * VIP Magazine *You're sure to be moved by the questions it poses about the meaning of life and death. Food for thought in these current crazy times * Heat *If you've ever wondered if you could have lived another life, you'll like this * Sun *Picoult's writing is insightful and richly descriptive * Press Association *A stunning Sliding Doors-style novel about life, death, and missed opportunities * East Anglian Daily Times, Top 10 of 2020 *

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Book Synopsis It has been over a year since journalist Seema Chaudry accompanied cult survivor Avril Eason back to the village of Harrowvale, the site of her terrifying experiences at the hands of Jasper Hillman’s Thistlebone worshippers, a crazed occult group that believed in an ancient woodland deity. Intended as a cathartic experience, both women were changed forever by what they were confronted with. Now, in the process of researching a book on the Thistlebone legend, Seema believes much of it centres around one man — Malcolm Kinniburgh.Trade Review"A fetid, brackish wormy folk horror that will burrow under your skin and haunt you way after you have read it. You were drawn to this book.. give in." - Ben Wheatley (A Field in England, In the Earth, Kill List, Sightseers)

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Book Review choice as one of the10 Best Illustrated Children''s Books of 2008.Skim is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth stuck in a private girls'' school in Toronto. When a classmate''s boyfriend kills himself because he was rumoured to be gay, the school goes into mourning overdrive, each clique trying to find something to hold on to and something to believe in. It''s a weird time to fall in love, but that''s high school, and that''s what happens to Skim when she starts to meet in secret with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But when Ms. Archer abruptly leaves, Skim struggles to cope with her confusion and isolation, armed with her trusty journal and a desire to shed old friendships while cautiously approaching new ones.Depression, love, sexual identity, crushes, manipulative peers --teen life in all its dramatic complexities is explored in this touching, pitch-perfect, literary graphic masterpiece. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki collaborate brilliantly in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being sixteen.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3Describe how a particular story''s or drama''s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.Trade Review...the expressionistic fluidity of the black and white illustrations serves the purpose of pages of prose, so that the laconic conversation of these girls and Skim's almost equally economical and intermittent diary entries ring true. * Canadian Literature *Being able to tap into that visceral experience, warts and all, is what makes Skim such an amazing read...A powerful and poignant story that is as perfect a synergy of words and art as you're likely to find in comics, Skim is a true gem. * Metro *...avoids all the cliches of a coming-of-age story...Original in every which way. -- Valerie D'Orazio * Friends of Lulu *...intelligent choice...a sensitive and caring portrayal of youth...universal...a complete success...[Jillian's] storytelling is solid...[and] her art is very atmospheric... * Gay Comics List *...traverse[s] the turbulent landscape of high school with tenderness and a keen eye for the yearning of adolescent girls...From the particularities of slang to the bigger concepts like fear and isolation, Mariko and Jillian Tamaki capture the subtle details that comprise this understated part of life...a world [in] which anyone who has ever been a teenager would be able to relate to at some level...Jillian Tamaki's use of line and shadow is effective in rendering the psychology of characters and the moody spaces they find themselves in...Formally, Skim is interesting for its varied approach to panel-use. Some pages flaunt over 10 similarly sized and shaped panels while others reveal only one (often silent) borderless image. The overall effect reveals impressive artwork and many powerful scenes...Skim is a unique piece, one not to be missed. Highly Recommended. [Skim uses] high school as a fertile setting for pungent commentary on racial, cultural, and sexual issues...The narrative, mainly in diary form, feels accurate and realistic, drenched in a sense of confusion and nihilism, and the art, influenced by Craig Thompson's Blankets (2003), reflects the spare, gloomy emotional landscape in which Skim exists. This story will appeal to many female comics fans... * CM Magazine *...[Skim is a] stunningly emotional graphic novel...an artful jumble that is as true-to-life as it is diffuse...unfussy and immediate...The delicately lined art alternately expands and contradicts the prose to achieve layers of meaning, tone and irony...With honesty and compassion, this innovative narrative communicates a life just beginning, open and full of possibility. * Horn Book, STARRED REVIEW *...[Skim] manages to avoid the usual cliches...The b/w cirt is fluid and curvy and looks like it came straight out of a sketchbook. The little details are wonderful...Highly recommended for high school graphic novel colelctions, especially those catering to girls. * Kliatt *...rendered delicately...Mariko's writing is assured...Skim's self-searching entries are wrenched off or lit up by the next image...Skim comes into its own, building a teenage girl mood that's struggling observant and shyly heartfelt by turns. * Vue Weekly *[Skim] is a convincing chronicle of a teenage outsider who has enough sense to want to stay outside...All in all, Skim offers a startlingly clear and painful view into adolescence for those of us who possess it only as a distant memory. It's a story that deepens with successive rereadings. But what will teenagers think? Maybe that they've found a bracingly honest story by a writer who seems to remember exactly what it was like to be 16 and in love for the first time. * New York Times *Skim comes out on top...connects in every way...This graphic novel is a winner...a unique creation...Scenes are often hilarious and black-humoured as well as serious...Mariko Tamaki's prose captures an authentic adolescent voice that's dramatic, self-obsessed, funny, earnest, and sometimes glib...Skim is an unforgettable character in the tradition of Holden Caulfield-a clear social commentator on adult and adolescent behaviour whose ironic observations on social hypocrisy ring sharp and true...Illustrator Jillian Tamaki's fine draughtsmanship gives Skim a classic elegance that's missing in many other graphic novels...a powerful sense of mystical eeriness that deepens and enhances the story. Skim is a funny, poignant, memorable drama of navigating adolescence. * Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW *The Tamaki cousins in their first graphic novel take a huge fistful of typical high school story trappings and distill a beautiful and funny time capsule of real feeling...striking black-and-white artwork flows in clear but soft, shaded line work...The visual storytelling is firm and often quite lovely...Skim is a refreshing reminder of the inevitability of change and the importance of looking beneath the surface. * VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) *This beautifully rendered graphic novel portrays the confusion of adolescence and how it can lead to depression and experimentation. * Book Links *...an auspicious graphic novel debut by cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki...It's Jillian's artwork that sets it apart from the coming-of-age pack. Jillian has a swooping, gorgeous pen line-expressive, vibrant and precise all at once...evocative and wondrous...It complements Mariko's fine ear for dialogue and the incidentals and events of adolescent life. Skim is an unusually strong graphic novel-rich in visuals and observations, and rewarding of repeated readings. * Publishers Weekly *[Skim uses] high school as a fertile setting for pungent commentary on racial, cultural, and sexual issues...The narrative, mainly in diary form, feels accurate and realistic, drenched in a sense of confusion and nihilism, and the art, influenced by Craig Thompson's Blankets (2003), reflects the spare, gloomy emotional landscape in which Skim exists. This story will appeal to many female comics fans... * Booklist *[Skim] is bringing kudos to Canadian children's book publisher Groundwood Books for its poignant and funny portrayal of a teenage girl...[Jillian Tamaki's] monochromatic ink drawings with their fluid lines add powerful cinematic storytelling to [Mariko Tamaki's] minimalist text...Jillian's ability to catch the gestures and body language of the private school girls in their plaid skirts and knee socks equals Mariko's well-attuned ear for dialogue. The combination of words and images makes Skim a fully rounded and memorable character struggling with a welter of confused feelings...we feel for her...[Jillian Tamaki] has won several awards. It seems a sure bet that Skim will garner her a few more. * Calgary Herald *A gorgeous, poetic pen line and sharp dialogue bring this angsty story of a disaffected teenage girl to life. * Publishers Weekly *Jillian Tamaki's illustrations perfectly match the rough edges and continuous movement of Skim's teenage characters and reveal humour in the agonizing minutiae of high school life...Mariko Tamaki's text blends teen-speak with eloquence and wry one-liners...blending colloquialisms and sharp observations into something profound... * Toronto Star *No medium can capture the sense of being plunged into another person's mind like comics can, and Skim is the perfect example, its words and pictures and storytelling so unified in conjuring Kim's world that it comes as a surprise to see it has two creators rather than one...The careful layering of perception, desire, and reality is handled so deftly that the effect is almost subliminal...The Tamakis have done the hardest and most rewarding thing an artist can do: they have captured the texture of real life and made it into something beautiful. * Irish Times *The Tamaki cousins in their first graphic novel take a huge fistful of high school story trappings and distill a beautiful and funny time capsule of real feeling... Skim is a refreshing reminder of the inevitability of change and the importance of looking beneath the surface. * VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) *The tricky part with graphic novels is getting the story to be as good as the drawings, and [the Tamakis] have figured out a winning combination for sure. The story is riveting and will bring you right back to 11th grade angst within the first few pages. Jillian Tamaki has an especially expressive, loose style that lends itself beautifully to this slightly morose tale. * Bust *This stunning coming-of-age novel will draw in not only GN buffs, who will appreciate the creative design and dramatic use of both illustration and narration, but also realistic-fiction fans who may not normally gravitate to the format but will find this a sympathetic standout. * Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books *Writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Jillian Tamaki stunningly entwine their acute dialogues and visual riches in brush, soft pencil and grey tones, illuminating this adolescent romance in all its conflicted depths. [Skim is the] most sophisticated and sensitive North American graphic novel debut of the year. * Paul Gravett *A quietly moving graphic novel...sharply witty and incisive...Long, languid lines portray Skim's turmoil and angst with pitch-perfect resonance...Recommend this to fans of Daniel Clowes's Ghost World, who have been waiting for another graphic novel of teen angst and suburban ennui. * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Bestseller'A beautiful book' Giovanna Fletcher'Will stay with you long after you have put it down' Jools Oliver'Bold, compelling... will blow you away' Marina Fogle'Heartbreaking... such an important read' Sarah Turner (The Unmumsy Mum)***********************************************What do you do when the unthinkable happens?Elle Wright had an admittedly easy pregnancy, and in May 2016 she and her husband welcomed their son, Teddy, into the world. Just a few hours later, they woke to find him cold and unresponsive, and the happiest day of Elle's life had turned into every parent's worst nightmare. Three days after delivering him into the world, she sat with Teddy as he took his last breaths, and tucked him in for the final time.Ask Me His Name is a moving account of Elle's pregnancy, Teddy's life, and what happens when a mother leaves hospital with empty arms. In the UK, 1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss, but conversations about the heartbreakingly frequent experience are few and far between. In this honest and hopeful exploration of mothering, Elle shows us how she navigated a parenthood no one had prepared her for.* A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Tommy's charity. Reg. (1060508) *

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Book Synopsis'This is one of those special books . . . Even if it were only a book about eels, it would be wonderful.' - Sunday Times'I never thought I would see myself in an eel, until I read Svensson’s beautiful book, in which he anthropomorphizes eels and shows how mysterious they are, and how little we know about them. It’s a beautiful book that makes you realize that the eel is our cousin — we are the eel, and the eel is us.' - Michaela Coel’I can’t recall us ever talking about anything other than eels and how to best catch them, down there by the stream. Actually, I can’t remember us speaking at all. Maybe because we never did.’The European eel, Anguilla anguilla, is one of the strangest creatures nature ever created. Remarkably little is known about the eel, even today. What we do know is that it’s born as a tiny willow-leaf shaped larva in the Sargasso Sea, travels on the ocean currents toward the coasts of Europe – a journey of about four thousand miles that takes at least two years. Upon arrival, it transforms itself into a glass eel and then into a yellow eel before it wanders up into fresh water. It lives a solitary life, hiding from both light and science, for ten, twenty, fifty years, before migrating back to the sea in the autumn, morphing into a silver eel and swimming all the way back to the Sargasso Sea, where it breeds and dies.And yet . . . There is still so much we don’t know about eels. No human has ever seen eels reproduce; no one can give a complete account of the eel’s metamorphoses or say why they are born and die in the Sargasso Sea; no human has even seen a mature eel in the Sargasso Sea. Ever. And now the eel is disappearing, and we don’t know exactly why.What we do know is that eels and their mysterious lives captivate us.This is the basis for The Gospel of the Eels, Patrik Svensson’s quite unique natural science memoir; his ongoing fascination with this secretive fish, but also the equally perplexing and often murky relationship he shared with his father, whose only passion in life was fishing for this obscure creature.Through the exploration of eels in literature (Günter Grass and Graham Swift feature, amongst others) and the history of science (we learn about Aristotle’s and Sigmund Freud’s complicated relationships with eels) as well as modern marine biology (Rachel Carson and others) we get to know this peculiar animal. In this exploration, we also learn about the human condition, life and death, through natural science and nature writing at its very best.As Patrik Svensson concludes: 'by writing about eels, I have in some ways found my way home again.'Trade ReviewThe best mysteries are those science hasn’t yet cracked, and top of the list comes the sex life of eels. -- Melanie Reid * The Times *Extraordinary . . . Such is his skill that the echoes and parallels he finds never seem stretched. It’s as if the eel’s mysteriousness is snaking out, beyond its extraordinary life cycle and uncanny ability to confound scientists, and into the writing. * Observer *This beguiling book . . . completely won me over to these astonishing, mysterious creatures . . . Beautifully written, The Gospel of the Eels left me in awe of the animal. * Sunday Times ‘Nature Books of the Year’ *A gorgeously evocative blend of science, nature writing and family memoir * Guardian *What a joy! Patrick Svensson’s sinuous weaving of natural history, philosophy, psychology and autobiography is as compelling and rewarding as a silver eel’s return to the Sargasso Sea. I loved every moment. * Isabella Tree, author of Wilding *I’m still not sure I like eels, but I loved this book. * Sunday Times *In this lovely, thoughtful blend of natural science and memoir, Patrik Svensson elevates the European eel . . . to an almost mythical status . . . We must hope this marvellous book is not the eel's eulogy. * Mail on Sunday *Just as the eel glides between freshwater and salt, Svensson’s book swims in the seas of both natural history and memoir. Svensson’s father took the young Patrik eel fishing often, and their beautifully rendered nocturnal outings have the feel of occult ritual. * New York Times *Svensson’s book, like its subject, is a strange beast: a creature of metamorphosis, a shape-shifter that moves among realms. It is a book of natural history, and a memoir about a son and his father. It is also an exploration of literature and religion and custom, and what it means to live in a world full of questions we can’t always answer. * New Yorker *There’s an underlying theme here that made me think science is about discovery, not always about perfect answers. * Forbes, ‘Best Summer Reads For Those Stuck Inside Working Remotely’ *Drawing from literature, science and his own studies, Svensson inspires readers to see eels in a whole new way. * Los Angeles Times, ‘21 new and classic books to keep you in touch with the natural world’ *

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Book SynopsisDark, sleek and dangerous ferociously intelligent. If you aren't reading B P Walter yet, now's the time' A. J. FinnThe Talented Mr Ripley meets The White Lotus. Unpredictable, whip smart, utterly absorbing. I ADORED that ending!' John MarrsOne of the most unsettling novels of recent years. It's also one of the most compelling' John Boyne***Everyone is capable of murder. Are you? It started with an invitation to dinner. An evening of good food and good company at a luxury villa. But as the night progresses, the party takes a dark turn.The host makes you an offer, a party favour he calls it: another guest has committed a heinous crime, you can end their life, stop their terror. He tells you there will be no consequences; do you believe him?Your decision will change your life. Choose carefully. ***You've read The Talented Mr Ripley, you've devoured American Psycho, get ready for your next dark obsession! The unrelenting new thriller from Sunday Times bestseller B P Walter is available nowTrade Review‘Sinister and original, Notes on a Murder explores the darkest sides of human desire’ L.V. Matthews, bestselling author of The Twins ‘A quietly brilliant novel that unnerved and unsettled me, the characters lingering long after I set it down. Utterly compelling’ Marian Todd ‘A compelling and disturbing fever-dream of a novel – I loved it’ Philippa East

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Book SynopsisA hypnotising summer novel from the twice Booker-shortlisted author of Hot Milk and Swimming Home_________________________________ A group of hedonistic West European tourists gather to celebrate Christmas in a remote French chateau. Then an Englishwoman is brutally murdered, and the sad, eerie child Tatiana declares she knows who did it. The subsequent inquiry into the death proves to be more of an investigation into the nature of love, insatiable rage and sadistic desire. The Unloved offers a bold and revealing look at some of the events that shaped European and African history, and the perils of a future founded on concealed truth. _________________________________''Brave and brilliant, measured and lyrical'' Independent''Levy''s prose throbs its way into the imagination'' Observer ''Startling, compelling, cool'' The Times ''

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Book SynopsisDI Eve Hunter is back in the edge-of-your-seat new detective thriller from Deborah Masson, winning author of the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year 2020.A young man, the son of an influential businessman, is discovered dead in his central Aberdeen apartment.Hours later, a teenaged girl with no identification is found hanged in a suspected suicide.As DI Eve Hunter and her team investigate the two cases, they find themselves in a tug-of-war between privilege and poverty; between the elite and those on the fringes of society.Then an unexpected breakthrough leads them to the shocking conclusion: that those in power have been at the top for too long - and now, someone is going to desperate lengths to bring them down...Can they stop someone who is dead set on revenge, no matter the cost?*****READERS ARE OBSESSED WITH THE DI EVE HUNTER SERIES''One of the best books I''ve ever read!''''I lovTrade ReviewBrilliant. A great new voice in the police procedural world. Hooks you in from the first chapter and doesn't let up. Characters are real people you want to spend time with. Out For Blood has everything you need in a crime thriller and more. * Rebecca Bradley *Really enjoyed DI Eve Hunter's second outing. Out For Blood is every bit as good a page-turner as the first in the series. * Emma Curtis *A slickly plotted, fast paced read with a strong emotive core - I loved it. * Steph Broadribb *A brilliant follow-up novel. DI Eve Hunter is truly a force to be reckoned with. * David Jackson, author of THE RESIDENT *Skilful plotting, a complex detective and utterly believable characters - this is first-class crime fiction. * Marion Todd, author of SEE THEM RUN *

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Book Synopsis''I love this woman''s writing. Golden sentences'' Diana Evans''Witty, fiery, wistful and even shocking, with engrossing heady prose, Campbell''s style is unique'' Irish Independent''An immensely enjoyable novel, and a great validation of Campbell''s uncanny emotional insight'' Megan Nolan, Sunday IndependentCormac is a photographer. Approaching forty and still single, he suddenly finds himself ''the leftover man''.Through talent and charm, he has escaped small town life and a haunted family. But now his peers are all getting divorced, dying, or buying trampolines in the suburbs. Cormac is dating former students, staying out all night and receiving boilerplate rejection emails for his work, propped up by a constellation of the women and ex-lovers in his life.In the last weeks of the year, Cormac meets Caroline, an ambitious young dancer, and embarks on a miniature odyssey of intimacy. SimultaTrade ReviewCampbell writes beautiful sentences with breath-taking imagery -- Mia Letvin * Irish Times *She appears to digest the world in layers, receiving not only what is there, but what once was, and whatever memory or thought it sparks anew -- Niamh Donnelly * Irish Times *Though its short, and deceptively simple, we are treated to a portrait of an entire life . . . Beguiling . . . with astounding intimacy . . . Effortless . . . There is joy and playfulness here, and the novel is also laugh-out-loud funny in places . . . We become intimate with Cormac's circle because they feel so real . . . A breathtakingly accomplished novel that really gets at the soul of a person -- Emer O'Hanlon * Irish Independent *There is so much to love in this deeply intelligent, insightful book . . . One of the best achievements here is conveying that maddening sense one gets at times on the border of intimacy, unable to break through . . . We Were Young is an immensely enjoyable novel, and a great validation of Campbell's uncanny emotional insight -- Megan Nolan * Sunday Independent *Beguiling and funny . . . such a pleasurable story * Financial Times *What sets We Were Young apart, aside from the calibre of her writing is the point of view. Where most accounts of lopsided relationships with arty age gaps are told, as they are written, by women, this time Campbell has boldly handed the microphone to a man -- Susannah Goldsborough * Daily Telegraph **** *An immensely talented writer * Irish Examiner *Campbell's new novel confirms what an outstanding writer she is . . . What makes the novel so endlessly rich is how patiently and sensitively Campbell evokes a complex depth of feeling and sedimented experience . . . She writes with a deliciously refined sense of irony without ever torpedoing the book's emotional sincerity. Superb -- Anthony Cummins * Daily Mail *A beguiling, remarkable work of art. It renders exquisitely the melancholy of living in an always changing Dublin, and of family sorrow which is always threatening to break through the surface of its silence. It feels like an instant classic of Irish literature -- Megan Nolan, author of ACTS OF DESPERATIONWE WERE YOUNG is a truly exceptional novel, by an exceptional writer -- Adrian Duncan, author of LOVE NOTES FROM A GERMAN BUILDING SITEWE WERE YOUNG captures an Ireland I've never before seen in print, namely the erotic and artistic lives of a generation displaced.It is a stunning book that cracked me open more than once. Campbell's sentences are nothing short of magnificent. -- Sue Rainsford, author of FOLLOW ME TO GROUNDThis is trenchant, lucid writing. Niamh Campbell's novel is somehow both sharp and forgiving, steely and warm.With WE WERE YOUNG, Campbell takes up her place as one of the finest Irish stylists of her generation -- Seán Hewitt, author of TONGUES ON FIRE

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Book Synopsis1939. After the sudden and tragic loss of her husband, Helen is returning home to her mother’s house in Biggin Hill, Kent – the one place she vowed she’d never go back to again.Alone and not knowing where to turn, Helen finds herself joining the local women’s sewing circle despite being hopeless with a needle and thread. These resourceful women can not only make do and mend clothes, quilts and woolly hats, but their friendship mends something deeper in Helen too. Lizzie is a natural leader, always ready to lend a helping hand or a listening ear. Effie has uprooted her life from London to keep her two little girls away from the bombing raids, and the sewing circle is a welcome distraction from worries about how to keep a roof over their heads and about her husband too, now serving in active duty overseas.When the reason for Helen's husband's death comes to light, her world is turned upside down yet again. The investigating officer on the case, Richard, will leave no stone unturned, but it’s not long before his interest in Helen goes beyond the professional. As she pieces together old fabrics into a beautiful quilt, will Helen patch up the rifts in her own life?The Patchwork Girls by Elaine Everest is a moving story about the ties of friends and family, set during the turbulence of World War II.Trade ReviewHeartwarming . . . a must-read -- Woman's Own on The Teashop GirlsA warm, tender tale of friendship and love . . . sweet as a Woolies pick ’n’ mix -- Milly Johnson on The Woolworths GirlsA lovely read -- Bella on The Woolworths GirlsElaine brings the heyday of the iconic high-street giant to life in her charming novel -- S Magazine on The Woolworths Girls

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Book Synopsis'A magnum opus... Puts the reader at the heart of the horror that came to be called the Atlanta child murders' Toni MorrisonZala Spencer is barely surviving on the margins of Atlanta's booming economy when she awakens one summer's morning in 1980 to find her teenage son, Sonny, has disappeared. As uneasy hours turn into desperate days, Zala realizes that Sonny is among the many cases of missing children beginning to attract national attention. Growing increasingly disillusioned with the authorities, who respond to Sonny's disappearance with cold indifference, Zala and her estranged husband embark on an epic search. Through the eyes of a family seized by anguish and terror, we watch a city roiling with political, racial, and class tensions. Written over a span of twelve years, and edited by Toni Morrison, who called Those Bones Are Not My Child the author's magnum opus, Toni Cade Bambara's last novel leaves us with an enduring and revelatory chronicle of an American nightmare.Trade ReviewA magnum opus... Puts the reader at the heart of the horror that came to be called the Atlanta child murders -- Toni MorrisonA full-bloodied, important book and an eloquent final testament of a writer whose art was always dictated to by her humanity and sense of justice -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *These Bones Are Not My Child isn't just a gripping thriller; it's a masterwork of American literature * Harper's Bazaar *Bambara has produced both a human drama and a steely report on contemporary society. . .admirable * The Times *Bambara's achievement - in this masterly work - is to voice this sense of loss, to give full human dimension to events that for too long many of us flashed by like billboards at highway speed * New York Times Book Review *Captures for all time a nightmare of private hate and public racism * Independent on Sunday *A woolly mammoth of a novel, truly worthy of being called an epic, a book with great big feet that sometimes take ponderous steps but that always hit the ground with the sound of thunder * Chicago Tribune *Riveting... A carefully crafted mystery [that is] difficult to put down * Boston Globe *Toni Cade Bambara's writing is so great it lifts you off the ground * New Statesman *Nobody writes with her breathtaking humor, empathy, ferocity, and surrealness... As a writer, her observation and humanity are timeless. As a reader, I release myself into Ms. Toni's sure and steady hands, knowing every part of me will be illuminated by her gaze -- Adjoa Andoh

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Book Synopsis'This is such a rich book, both visually and narratively' - Isabel Greenberg, author of Young Hag'A ravishing new take on a storied city' - Katherine May, New York Times bestselling author of, Wintering and EnchantmentAt once heartrending and enlivening, this phenomenal graphic memoir is not another ode to New York but a meditation on how easy it is to fall beautifully, ridiculously in loveOn her first night in New York, Kay Sohini sits on the tarmac of JFK airport making an inventory of all she's left behind in India. Kay realises two things: she's finally made it to the city that made her in celluloid and prose from across the Pacific Kerouac, Friends, Plath and that trauma she's endured in her relationship has left gaping holes in her memory. In New York, at last, Kay has room to begin the work of piecing herself back together through art and food. But as her personal story becomes a window onto a mystifying metropolis both inhospitable and inspiring to the many who call it home, Kay embarks on an electric exploration of how to forge the self and a life of one's own today. At once heartrending and enlivening, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is not another ode to New York but a phenomenal meditation on how easy it is to fall beautifully, ridiculously in love with places and indeed people that do not always love us back but somehow still save us in weird, unexpected ways.

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Book SynopsisBertie''s respite from his overbearing mother, Irene, is over. She has returned from the middle-east, only to discover that her son has been exposed to the worst evils of cartoons, movies and Irn Bru, and her wrath falls upon her unfortunate husband, Stuart. Meanwhile, Bruce has fallen in love with someone other than himself; Big Lou wants to adopt her beloved Finlay; Matthew and Elspeth host the Duke of Johannesburg for supper and Bertie decides he wants to move out of Scotland Street altogether and live with his grandmother, Nicola.Can Irene and Stuart''s marriage survive? Will Bruce''s newfound love last? And will Bertie really leave Scotland Street? Find out in the next instalment of this charming, beloved series.

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Book Synopsis‘He did kill. Kill and kill and kill.’  Tess’s number one priority has always been her three-year-old daughter Poppy. But splitting up with Poppy’s father Jason means that she cannot always be there to keep her daughter safe.   When she finds a disturbing drawing, dark and menacing, among her daughter’s brightly coloured paintings, Tess is convinced that Poppy has witnessed something terrible. Something that her young mind is struggling to put into words.   But no one will listen. It’s only a child’s drawing, isn’t it?  Tess will protect Poppy, whatever the price. But when she doesn’t know what, or who, she is protecting her from, how can she possibly know who to trust . . . ?   ‘An intense, brilliantly crafted thriller that hums with menace from start to finish' TM Logan, Trade Review'I love Nicci French’s books, and with The Unheard they are right at the top of their game. Few crime writers can match their psychological acuity, of their ability to lead a reader through dizzying plot twists without ever losing pace. It’s an absolute masterclass of crime writing' -- Kate Rhodes, author of the Locked-Island Mystery series‘What an intriguing, compelling page-turner. I ate it up in two days’ -- Liz Nugent, author of Our Little Cruelties

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Book SynopsisRomance, intrigue, and dangerous ambitions combine to create the perfect escape: welcome to the beautiful Hotel Portofino on the magical Italian Riviera.     ***NOW A MAJOR TV DRAMA*** It is the summer of 1927 and Hotel Portofino is prospering under Bella’s stewardship. As the season begins, Bella is keenly looking forward to her son Lucian’s imminent arrival and the chance to discuss with him her plans to convert the hotel’s basement into a spa. But then Bella’s husband Cecil turns up unannounced, Over the course of several hot weeks in the middle of the Italian summer, Bella is forced to confront the reality of her relationship with Cecil and to decide to what extent she is prepared to go against social convention to get what she wants. As she welcomes her guests, old and new, an anonymous visit from a travel guide inspector threatens to make or break the hotel&rsq

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for The Women’s Prize for Fiction. From the bestselling author of The Dutch House, Commonwealth and Bel Canto, Winner of The Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Pen/Faulkner Award. A magician (with one memorable appearance on the Johnny Carson Show to his credit) takes the name Parsifal. He is gay. He has a Vietnamese lover, Phan. When Phan dies of AIDS, Parsifal marries the woman who has always adored him and who has lived with them both, his assistant Sabine. Then Parsifal himself dies in California, suddenly and shockingly, of an aneurysm. Parsifal always said that he had no living family and that he came from wealthy upscale Connecticut stock. The reality is very different, as Sabine learns from his lawyer. He came from a poor Nebraska family and they are very much alive. Indeed his mother and sister are on their way to California to meet Sabine, the daughter- and sister-in-law they know nothing about. It is bad that her husband has died. What Sabine must now cope with is coming to terms with his horrific past and the reason he divorced himself from his family and roots.Trade Review‘Original, sparkling, funny and sad – a book you read in one gulp and want to revisit immediately’ Penelope Lively, Daily Telegraph ‘A delicate exploration of impossible love and new-found friendship’ Guardian ‘The kindliness of The Magician's Assistant is beguiling, and Patchett is an adroit, graceful writer’ Suzanne Berne, New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisLook anyone who invents something really great has a moment where they think it''s going to destroy the world.For the first time in her life, Fin is off the network. A few months ago, she was the inventor of a programme so powerful, so unusual that she was untouchable.Until she wasn''t.Meanwhile, people have started disappearing from the streets of the city and the technology she created might be implicated. Square Eyes is a graphic novel about a future where the boundaries between memory, dreams and the digital world start to blur. It's a kaleidoscopic mystery story which asks: in a city built on digital illusion, who really holds the power? What is weakness? And when is it most dangerous?Trade ReviewThe book I keep going back to for its peerless haunting art… is Anna Mill’s and Luke Jones’s Square Eyes… it’s utterly confident and audacious in its space, aesthetics, innovation and design, and I could page through it from now until next Christmas with the same sense of wonder. A thing of beauty, indeed. -- Tim Martin * Spectator *This exquisite book… may scare you half to death… [but] what truly sets this book apart is its extraordinary illustrations… on every beautiful, teeming, phantasmagorical page… it fairly takes the breath away. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *[An] instantly gripping work with an important point to make. -- James Smart * Guardian, **Books of the Year** *A spiky tale set in a dystopian near-future… [Square Eyes] certainly is a wild ride. -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times *A remarkable, prophetic graphic novel debut. Through 286 deliriously colourful pages, [Anna Mill and Luke Jones] plunge us into an all-too-plausible future, where the real and the digital are blurring and dangerous powers want to control them both. * Bookseller *Whatever you put on your head to stop your mind from exploding, make sure it’s fitted properly before immersion in Square Eyes. Just the volume and quality of work alone defies belief, and that’s before you get onto the disconcerting psychedelia of the graphics and the story. * Strong Words *A big, bleak yet gorgeous dystopia... Square Eyes comes at you in a disorienting rush… This immersive, inventive graphic novel offers its own brand of escapism. -- James Smart * Guardian *The digital dystopia presented by Square Eyes is scarily busy and psychedelic, contrasted by the grey near-ruins of the modern age. The world building in this book is extraordinary. Take your time to absorb the crowd details and bits of characterisation layered into Anna Mill's art. * Shortlist *

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Book Synopsis'Affecting and engaging' COLM TÓIBÍN'A wistful, witty meditation on a gay man's twilight years and the twilight of America' GuardianOut in the drought-struck backwaters of rural Florida, The Kingdom of Sand's nameless narrator lives a life of semi-solitude, enjoying the odd, fleeting sexual encounter and the friendship of a few.His world is ageing, and the memories of another time flash, then fade - visions of parties filled with handsome young men, the parents whom he chose to spend his life besides, the generation he once knew, struck down by AIDS. But, when forced to watch the slow demise of a close neighbour, he is drawn back to the here and now, and his own borrowed time in this kingdom of sand.'Bracingly honest and wise' The Times, Books of the Year'Both melancholy and hilarious' New York TimesTrade Review[Holleran's] new novel is all the more affecting and engaging because the images of isolation and old age here are haunted . . . in 1978 Holleran wrote the quintessential novel about gay abandon, the sheer, careless pleasure of it: Dancer From the Dance. Now, at almost 80 years of age, he has produced a novel remarkable for its integrity, for its readiness to embrace difficult truths and for its complex way of paying homage to the passing of time -- Colm Tóibín * New York Times *Bracingly honest and wise... A beautiful way to describe how we fade away. * The Times, *Books of the Year* *Holleran's fifth novel - both melancholy and hilarious - finds the protagonist living out his days in his late mother's Florida home, navigating loneliness, a changing world and a life post-cruising. The book's image of isolation and old age is all the more haunting because in 1978 Holleran wrote the quintessential novel about the sheer, careless pleasure of gay abandon, Dancer From the Dance. * New York Times *[With] grim wit and flashes of sanctity from above... Holleran's writing is as calmly compelling as the repetitive tasks that occupy a monastic day. * Observer *Holleran renders an elegiac and very funny contemplation of not just ageing but an age... A wistful, witty meditation on a gay man's twilight years and the twilight of America. -- Jeremy Atherton Lin * Guardian *[Holleran's] new novel is all the more affecting and engaging because the images of isolation and old age here are haunted . . . in 1978 Holleran wrote the quintessential novel about gay abandon, the sheer, careless pleasure of it: Dancer From the Dance. Now, at almost 80 years of age, he has produced a novel remarkable for its integrity, for its readiness to embrace difficult truths and for its complex way of paying homage to the passing of time -- Colm Tóibín * New York Times *Bracingly honest and wise... A beautiful way to describe how we fade away. * The Times, *Books of the Year* *Holleran's fifth novel - both melancholy and hilarious - finds the protagonist living out his days in his late mother's Florida home, navigating loneliness, a changing world and a life post-cruising. The book's image of isolation and old age is all the more haunting because in 1978 Holleran wrote the quintessential novel about the sheer, careless pleasure of gay abandon, Dancer From the Dance. * New York Times *[With] grim wit and flashes of sanctity from above... Holleran's writing is as calmly compelling as the repetitive tasks that occupy a monastic day. * Observer *Holleran renders an elegiac and very funny contemplation of not just ageing but an age... A wistful, witty meditation on a gay man's twilight years and the twilight of America. -- Jeremy Atherton Lin * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog - now in a stunning new edition as part of Virago''s 50th anniversary Five Gold Reads seriesWINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD''A true delight: I genuinely fear I won''t read a better novel this year'' FINANCIAL TIMES''Loved this. A funny, moving examination of love, grief, and the uniqueness of dogs'' GRAHAM NORTON''Delicious'' SUNDAY TIMES 100 BEST SUMMER READSWhen a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.Isolated from the rest of the woTrade ReviewA true delight: I genuinely fear I won't read a better novel this year * Financial Times *A beautiful book . . . crammed with a world of insight into death, grief, art, and love * Wall Street Journal *Very very clever. Mature. Entertaining. Eminently readable and re-readable. In short, absolutely delightful. * Irish Times *Delicious ... An intensely pleasurable read because it is so accessible, capacious and clever * Sunday Times *A pitch-perfect novel ... Wry and moving, The Friend is a love story, a mania story and a recovery story * Vanity Fair *Loved this. A funny, moving examination of love, grief, and the uniqueness of dogs * Graham Norton *A sneaky gut punch of a novel . . . a consummate example of the human-animal tale * Harper's Magazine *The book is an intimate, beautiful thing, deceptively slight at around 200 pages, but humming with insight . . . [an] artfully discursive meditation on friendship, love, death, solitude, canine companionship and the life of an aging writer in New York .. peppered with wry observations * The Economist *I loved it . . . It's one of my favourite books and it moved me * Whoopi Goldberg, The View *A poignant reflection on loss and companionship * Marie Claire *Often as funny as it is thoughtful, The Friend is an elegant meditation on grief, friendship, healing, and the bonds between humans and dogs * Buzzfeed *An elegant and darkly humorous meditation on grief and companionship, it's a great read - whether or not you're obsessed with canines * Shondaland.com *Charming ... the comedy here writes itself... The snap of her sentences sometimes puts me in mind of Rachel Cusk * New York Times *The contemplation of writing and the loss of integrity in our literary life form the heart of the novel . . . Nunez's prose itself comforts us. Her confident and direct style uplifts - the music in her sentences, her deep and varied intelligence. She addresses important ideas unpretentiously and offers wisdom for any aspiring writer who, as the narrator fears, may never know this dear, intelligent friend - or this world that is dying. But is it dying? Perhaps. But with The Friend, Nunez provides evidence that, for now, it survives * New York Times Book Review *In crystalline prose, Nunez creates an impressively controlled portrait of the 'exhaustion of mourning' * New Yorker *Astonishingly fresh and tinged with sadness . . . a highly entertaining, uplifting book exploring the magical bond between humans and canines. A must-read for dog-lovers. * The Lady *She has a wry compassion, and an eye for the kind of detail only grown-ups can catch. The books feel lived-in rather than hard-earned, the voice is smart and kind -- Anne Enright * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe gripping new thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller!I adored this twisty thriller Thoroughly entertaining I'd love to see this on our TV screens!' PRIMA Book of the MonthThe perfect escape, or the perfect trap?When a select group of influencers and journalists receive an exclusive invitation to a luxury resort in the Maldives, it seems like the ultimate press trip.But when the island is cut off during a storm and people start dying, it looks like someone has murder in mind.Are the guests really who they seem to be, or does each one of them have a secret to hide?Something they would kill for?Lose yourself in the latest twisty page-turner from the queen of glamorous crime, Catherine Cooper.Love for The Island:An eerily perfect location but paradise turns into a claustrophobic nightmare An absolute page-turner' Michelle FrancesCooper's darkest, most devious thriller yet. Utterly unputdownable!' A.A. Chaudhuri''I love Catherine Cooper''s wonderfully twisty destination mysteries. ATrade Review Praise for The Island: ‘With lots of suspects and a couple of characters who you’ll love to hate, this is an entertaining whodunnit’ RED ‘A slick read’ Best ‘This slick and easy-to-read tale of long-awaited revenge is brilliantly escapist in every way’ The Bookseller Editor’s Choice ‘The perfect destination thriller to accompany you on far flung travels – just make sure you keep an eye on your fellow travellers, as Cooper will leave you feeling you won’t know who to trust’ Lizzy Barber ‘I got swept up in this book … an absolute page-turner. Would highly recommend!’ Helen Cooper ‘A cracking plot, deftly executed with a killer twist. Truly excellent’ Marion Todd ‘Kept me guessing right up until the end … Contemporary fiction at its best’ Katy Brent ‘No one is safe under the sun’ Jaqueline Sutherland ‘This brilliant destination thriller will hook you in, whether you’re on a sunny island or your sofa’ Fabulous (Sun on Sunday) ‘Gripping’ BELLA ‘If you like your thrillers glossy with a side of melodrama, this is huge amounts of fun’ HEAT Praise for Catherine Cooper ‘Agatha Christie meets the glamour of apres-ski’ SUNDAY TIMES STYLE ‘‘An intense, claustrophobic thriller’ HEAT ‘A brilliant book with a twist you won’t see coming’ BELLA ‘A great, pacy read fans of Lucy Foley will love’ FABULOUS ‘Atmospheric and suspenseful’ WOMAN’S WEEKLY ‘A striking debut – the ultimate winter read!’ FRANCE MAGAZINE ‘Adrenaline-charged – makes for superb, wintry reading’ WI LIFE ‘Pure adrenaline, from the killer first page to the chilling last line’ ERIN KELLY

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Book SynopsisAs intricate and absorbing as a Van Gogh paintingMRS VAN GOGH will stay with me for a long time. New York Times bestseller Hazel GaynorAll the characters jump off the pagewhat we have here is a very fine novel. Historical Novel SocietyShe's been painted out of historyuntil nowWho tells her story?In 1890, Vincent Van Gogh dies penniless, unknown, a man tortured by his own mind.Eleven years later his work is exhibited in Paris and his unparalleled talent finally recognised. The tireless efforts of one woman gave the world one of its greatest creative minds.But twenty-eight year old Johanna Van Gogh-Bonger, Vincent's sister-in-law and the keeper of his immense collection of paintings, sketches and letters, has, until now, been written out of history. This beautiful, moving novel finally gives this extraordinary woman a voicePraise for Mrs Van Gogh:[A] brilliantly fictionalized account of the life of a woman who the world needs to know better Lit HubWhat an exquisitely written book, I loved every moment! How lucky readers are going to be to read this utterly absorbing and deeply moving book for the first time. Such a treat! USA Today bestseller Deborah CarrA truly impressive book and a great talent. Sunday Times bestseller Caroline CorcoranBrings to vivid life an extraordinary woman will appeal to all lovers of historical fiction. A story that deserves to be told and widely known. Essie Fox????? This book is exquisite! Everything about Johanna''s story is astoundingly beautiful and hers is a story that needed to be told, a voice that deserved to be heard????? A beautifully done historical novel, it was so well written and did everything that I was hoping for???? A beautifully written historical novel Johanna was ahead of her time and the author portrayed her authentically????Historical fiction at its best. A well-written story about a strong woman with a fascinating life???? The author paints a beautiful pictureIf you enjoy historical fiction and you like strong female characters, I highly recommendTrade Review Praise for Caroline Cauchi writing as Caroline Smailes: ‘Magical, weird, wonderful’ Matt Haig ‘Witty and touching’ Guardian ‘Haunting, heartfelt and beautiful’ Chris Cleave ‘I loved it, so good!’ Carrie Hope Fletcher

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Book SynopsisFrom the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN''S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Swing Time, White Teeth and On Beauty''A pleasure from the first page to the last'' Evening Standard''A glorious concoction by our most beguiling and original prose-wizard'' Independent on Sunday ''Full of humour, the search for love and the fear of death... A touching, thoughtful, deeply felt rite-of-passage novel'' Sunday Telegraph The Autograph Man follows one Alex-Li Tandem: a twenty-something Chinese-Jewish autograph dealer turned on by sex, drugs and organised religion. From London to New York, love to death, fathers to sons, Alex tries to discover how a piece of paper can bring him closer to his heart''s desire. Exposing our misconceptions about our idols - about ourselves - Zadie Smith delivers a brilliant, unforgettable tale about who we are and what we really want to be.

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Book Synopsis''A monument to crazy love. Magic'' New York Times ''The actress arrived in his village the only way one could come directly . . .''In spring 1962 American actress Dee Moray''s boat motors into an Italian bay and the life of hotelier Pasquale Tursi. Dee - fleeing a film set, claiming to be dying and desperately awaiting her lover - throws herself on Pasquale''s generous mercy. Fifty years later Pasquale lands in Hollywood, sporting a fedora and seeking a long-forgotten actress. Why he''s come, what happened to Dee in Italy and, later, LA, are questions that Beautiful Ruins answers in the most surprising and wonderfully entertaining manner.''Exhilarating. Very, very funny'' The TimesTrade ReviewJust about the perfect summer read. It is intelligent and thought-provoking, but also a lot of fun. Reading hours fly by and reaching the final page feels like a genuine wrench * Sunday Times *Ambitious, large-hearted, exhilarating novel that leaves you wanting more . . . Very, very funny * The Times *Beautiful Ruins is a novel unlike any other you're likely to read this year -- Nick HornbyRomantic, very funny...Turbo-charged satire meets a Garcia Marquezesque love story. What's not to like? * Daily Mail *Walter creates an epic here - one that took him 15 years to write. The end result, however, is well worth the wait * Observer *A sparkling summer read * Telegraph *Thoroughly enjoyable, a tender, funny, ridiculous tale which has love at its core and a keen satirical edge to cut through the lovely, lush romanticism * Sunday Express *You're going to love this book * New York Times Book Review *A brilliant, madcap meditation on fate * Kirkus Reviews *A novel shot in sparkly Technicolor * Booklist *The beach read of the summer * Vogue *Hilarious and compelling * Esquire *Magic. Walter is a believer in capricious destiny with a fine, freewheeling sense of humour . . . A monument to crazy love with a deeply romantic heart * New York Times *Poignant, comical and marvellous * San Francisco Chronicle *Larger-than-life characters, billowy romance and crafty satire ... Any book that includes Richard Burton as a character is fine by us * Esquire *Cinematic and utterly romantic . . . the big beach read for summer * Sunday Times *My absolute favourite read this year -- Nick Curtis * Evening Standard 'Books of the Year' *A bravura feat -- Peter Kemp * Sunday Times 'Books of the Year' *Walter's account of the filming of the Burton/Taylor classic Cleopatra is a playful imagining of emotional history and hidden lives just out of view. Be warned, this is a novel that may make any festive guests somewhat anti-social as I read it in two days flat -- Olivia Cole * GQ 'Books of the Year' *

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 McILVANNEY PRIZE FOR BEST SCOTTISH CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEARAs the house burns, the hunt for a killer begins...In the dead of night someone starts a fire in a home for underprivileged children in Aberdeen. The flames spread quickly, and one person doesn''t make it out alive.But the victim wasn''t found in their bedroom; they were discovered locked inside a secret basement underground. As DI Eve Hunter and her team search the blackened ruins, the case takes them into even darker territory.Soon Eve unearths a horrific discovery at the heart of the property - one that turns the whole investigation on its head. Everyone in this home has something to hide, but who has a secret worth killing for?______________________________________''Taut and gripping, with a pace that never slows, From The Ashes is a master-class in police procedurals.'' Andrea Mara''Unmissable and addictive, Masson delTrade Review'Taut and gripping, with a pace that never slows, From The Ashes is a master-class in police procedurals.' * Andrea Mara, Sunday Times bestselling author of All Her Fault *'Pacy, intelligent and so so satisfying. Another brilliant outing for Eve Hunter who is fast becoming my favourite detective. I can't get enough of Deborah Masson's writing.' * Marion Todd *'Unmissable and addictive, Masson delivers beautifully crafted punches and red hot twists. Neatly plotted with some stunning characterisations, this is belter of a book.' * Helen Fields *'If you're a fan of Val McDermid or Stuart MacBride then you're going to love this new thriller ... This page-turning thriller sure won't let crime fans down.' * Chat *'A well-plotted police procedural.' * The Herald *

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Book SynopsisOne of the most exciting new voices in crime fiction.' ERIN KELLYA fresh, bitingly witty take on the whodunnit.' REDThe night beforeRupert's 30th is a black tie dinner at the Kentish Town McDonald's catered with cocaine and Veuve Clicquot.The morning afterHis girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath. All the party-goers have alibis. Naturally.This investigation is going to take Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp down a rabbit hole of Classics degrees and aristocrats, Instagram influencers and who knows who. Or is it whom? Caius isn''t sure -- can he pin any of them down long enough to see how the other half live, before anyone else dies?''Brilliantly compulsive . . . I could not stop reading this book.'' DENISE MINA''Sharply witty . . . an enticing blend of frothy social satire and deadly serious detective work.'' Daily MailWHAT READERS ARE SAYING⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐A perfectly horrid cast of over the top characters and an engaging detective. Glorious.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Such a fun, biting take on the thriller genre . . . I loved this book!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Highly recommend if you enjoy Lucy Foley, I raced through this in less than a day!

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Book Synopsis'An engrossing and inspiring story of loss, love and hope, set against a backdrop of art, activism and addiction.' – ObserverMoving from the Tompkins Square Riots and attempts by activists to galvanize a response to the AIDS epidemic, to the New York City of the future, Tim Murphy's Christodora recounts the heartbreak wrought by AIDS, illustrates the allure and destructive power of hard drugs, and brings to life the ever-changing city itself.The Christodora is home to Milly and Jared, a privileged young couple with artistic ambitions. Their neighbour, Hector, a Puerto Rican gay man who was once a celebrated AIDS activist but is now a lonely addict, becomes connected to Milly's and Jared's lives in ways none of them can anticipate. Meanwhile, the couple's adopted son, Mateo, grows to appreciate the opportunities for both self-realization and oblivion that New York offers.As the junkies and protestors of the 1980s give way to the hipsters of the 2000s and they, in turn, to the wealthy residents of the crowded, glass-towered city of the 2020s, enormous changes rock the personal lives of Milly and Jared and the constellation of people around them.'An impassioned, big-hearted, and ultimately hopeful chronicle of a changing New York that authoritatively evokes the despair and panic in the city at the height of the plague.' – Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little LifeTrade ReviewBrilliantly kaleidoscopic . . . Murphy is exceptionally skilled at writing about addiction, the intertwining of bliss and abjection... What makes this novel remarkable, though, is the way it captures the full arc of Aids in New York . . . There have been several whopping New York novels in the last couple of years, but none of them possesses Christodora’s generosity, its weathered and unflinching faith in what people can achieve. -- Olivia Laing * Guardian *This novel is your next must-read . . . A captivating, multi-stranded New York epic about the AIDs crisis . . . An engrossing and inspiring story of loss, love and hope, set against a backdrop of art, activism and addiction. * Observer *This thrillingly accomplished novel... [Its] varied minds and voices are realized so convincingly that Christodora sometimes seems the product of spirit possession. And it is joyous despite its subject matter... Murphy's skills are most nakedly on display as he describes the addictions in which Mateo and others find solace, and their electrical-shocking, soul-warping, mind-annihilating trips. Desperately intense, it is the kind of scene that requires putting a book down for a moment to take a breather. * New York Times *Hugely ambitious . . . this rich, complicated story . . . compelling . . . The richness of Murphy's account . . . the most moving sections of the book deal not with the height of the [AIDS] crisis but with its aftermath . . . The book's overwhelmingly powerful final sections... the last hundred [pages] have a rare narrative sweep and force. For all the despair it documents, [it is] a book about hope -- Garth Greenwell * Washington Post *An impassioned, big-hearted, and ultimately hopeful chronicle of a changing New York that authoritatively evokes the despair and panic in the city at the height of the plague. -- Hanya Yanagihara[Murphy] writes about addiction with undeniable fluency and power. * Sunday Times *A moving portrait of New York in the time of AIDS, Tim Murphy's honest and insightful writing gives Christodora a particular vibrancy that causes the characters to leap, whole, into the reader's imagination. This spectacular novel is an important addition to literature that captures New York in all its glory and despair. -- Candace BushnellMurphy injects fresh vim into this tale . . . [He] jumps back and forth through the decades here, creating a fractured structure that neatly reflects the fractured lives of those caught up in the epidemic and its aftermath. And it’s the latter, in the end, that proves Murphy’s most poignant subject. * Daily Mail *An intimate portrait of a bohemian family, Christodora is also a capacious historical novel that vividly recreates the lost world of downtown Manhattan in the eighties - a nuanced portrait of an era in which artists were unwitting agents of gentrification and the bright dawn of gay liberation was brutally interrupted by the AIDS epidemic. -- Jay McInerneyAn ambitious, time-traveling novel textured with the detail and depth of a writer who spent years reporting from the front * New York magazine *A magnificent novel . . . I was struck by the unflinching generosity of Tim Murphy's vision. -- Olivia LaingAn impassioned and "devastating" story set in a real-life building . . . the breathtaking new novel from Brooklyn writer Tim Murphy . . . a powerful and rewarding reading experience. Stylistically challenging, emotionally devastating (both positive and negative), realistic (even when it shifts into an imagined future) and impassioned, it is one of the finest novels we are likely to encounter this year. * Toronto Star *Tim Murphy's rich saga of New York in the age of AIDS . . . To write a novel as full of truth as Christodora . . . Tim Murphy had to know Manhattan; he had to know AIDS; he had to be fluent in the languages of visual art, addiction, activism, bipolar disease and depression; he had to have American cultural history from 1981 at his fingertips . . . Then he had to make all that information disappear, more or less, by seamlessly embodying it in characters and plot . . . He pulls it off with very few lapses, developing a rich and complicated New York saga . . . An exciting read . . . While Christodora has the scope of other New York epics, such as Bonfire of the Vanities, The Goldfinch and City on Fire, it is slimmer than any of these by several hundred pages. Capacious yet streamlined, it is a very fine book. * New York Newsday *Brilliant . . . this year's most ambitious and devastating contribution to the New York City realist novel * Interview *Murphy has written The Bonfire of the Vanities for the age of AIDS, using the same reportorial skills as Tom Wolfe to re-create the changing decades, complete with a pitch-perfect deployment of period detail . . . A powerful evocation of the plague years. * Publishers' Weekly *An ambitious social novel informed by an extended perspective on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, from the early 1980s to the near future . . . A poignant . . . exploration of a health crisis that hasn't yet ended. * Kirkus Reviews *A textured, layered, tightly woven exploration of the AIDS epidemic and its impact on a community linked by proximity, love, drugs, and pain. -- Barnes and Noble blogOutstanding and judicious . . . This breathtakingly panoramic saga feels lithe and refreshingly current . . . Christodora is the most exciting New York novel since Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life. * Attitude *Christodora . . . has got it all: drugs, sex, music, race, class, art, activism, adoption, and tears. It’s a gut-wrenching, happy-ending story . . . Murphy’s troubled characters move deliberately toward but instinctively away from each other, too unsettled and sad to be comfortably together, too human and hopeful to stay apart for long. -- Salon.comSeveral times a year, a few books are published that are so compelling and immersive they simply demand the unadulterated free time of the reader. Tim Murphy's Christodora is one of those powerful, ambitious sagas . . . The folks who populate his pages are difficult to forget, and their legacy fully dramatizes the devastation and frenzied panic of the epidemic . . . Each scene is filled with atmospheric detail, period dialogue, and the intricate nuances of a character's movement, attitude, and emotion . . . A novel that reads like a contemporary motion picture beautifully acted by a durable cast with a been-there-done-that caliber of experience. Murphy has truly outdone himself with a perceptive and accomplished novel that is captivating and immensely entertaining. * Bay Area Reporter *Although it’s epic in scope, ultimately [Christodora] is about loneliness and the struggle to find love, accept love and to arrive at a state of self-love. A tremendous achievement. * Winq *Reminiscent of [Jay] McInerney at his peak, concerning itself with young Manhattanites and their relationships with sex, drugs, psychologists, art and real estate . . . There is no denying the quality of the writing and the deep integrity of this novel. -- John Boyne * Irish Times *

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Book Synopsis'Sharp' - The Guardian'Excellent' - Glamour'Darkly funny' - Harper's BAZAAR'Chaotic' - The SkinnyAmelia is no stranger to sex and death.Her job as a cosmetic mortician at her family's funeral parlour might be unusual but she's good at it. When it comes to meeting people who are still breathing she uses dating apps. Combining with someone else's body at night Amelia can become something else, at least for a while.But when a sudden loss severs her ties with someone she loves, Amelia sets off on a seventy-two-hour mission to outrun her grief - skipping out on the funeral, running away to stay with her father in Tasmania and experimenting on the local BDSM scene. There, she learns even more about sex, death, grief and the different ways pain works its way through the body. It'll take a pair of fathers, a bruising encounter wiht a stranger and recognition of her own body's limits to bring Amelia back to herself.Wise and heartbreakingly funny, Ella Baxter’s New Animal is a stunning debut.'Self-destructive anti-heroines are in vogue, but what Amelia's story makes clear is how under-represented female sexuality still is.' – The Telegraph, The Four best Debut Novels to Read'There's a compelling quality to Amelia's honesty that recalls Raven Leilani's Luster or the sex-addicted eponymous narrator of Leïla Slimani's Adele.' - The Irish TimesTrade ReviewBaxter’s writing is so forthright, her protagonist so raw and unmediated in her feelings, thoughts and flailing at the “arrowhead of sorrow” that New Animal makes for compelling reading . . . an intense, viscerally affecting book, with the quotient of tenderness to violence in an equal scale. * Sydney Morning Herald *Baxter is fascinated with the female body, which “trots everywhere with you like an indebted lover”, and how it assimilates extreme emotions . . . Self-destructive anti-heroines are in vogue, but what Amelia’s story makes clear is how under-represented female sexuality still is. -- 'The four best debut novels to read in 2022' * Telegraph *There's a compelling quality to [Amelia's] honesty that recalls Raven Leilani's Luster or the sex-addicted eponymous narrator of Leila Slimani's Adele. As with these books, Baxter focuses on the ways in which pain works its way through the body. * Irish Times *There’s not one expected detail here . . . Excellent. * Glamour *This story is unique and compelling. New Animal is funny, sad, and illuminating about the nature of mourning. Turns out, there's a lot to be learned about grief from the kink community. Who knew? * Buzzfeed *Amelia is in her late 20s and working at her stepfather’s mortuary. But when her mother suddenly dies, rupturing her fragile family, Amelia flees to Tasmania, joins a BDSM community and embarks on a journey toward self-acceptance. * The New York Times *New Animal is a wonderfully tender book. Ella Baxter doesn't shy away from any of the messiness of humanity, choosing instead to lean in, hard, and unpack all the ways that grief breaks us down and ultimately reshapes us. It's feral and raw, laugh out loud funny in parts, and absolutely the kind of family mess I love best. Baxter is a delightful writer and New Animal is a hell of a read. * Kristen Arnett, New York Times-bestselling author of With Teeth and Mostly Dead Things *One of 2022's most exciting debuts, New Animal is a blistering, darkly funny account of its narrator's eventful attempt to outrun her grief, in a 72-hour exploration of sex, death and pain. * Harper's BAZAAR *I inhaled Ella Baxter's New Animal, which is the sort of animal that is all spine, all teeth. The deftness of her prose, which is so damn funny, along with such a poignant and true and entertaining story, make this a book that positively glitters. Ella Baxter's New Animal is an animal that is so animal it's human. * Lindsay Hunter, author of Eat Only When You're Hungry *[Main character Amelia] has outrageous sex to swallow her ineffable sadness, and though she's from Australia rather than Ireland, she could have stepped from the pages of a Sally Rooney novel... Baxter is a sharp observer, and seems to have the Didion knack of getting close to a subject without surrendering her scepticism. * The Guardian *I loved this macabre, mordant, and very moving book. New Animal surprised and comforted me with its deft investigations of grief, power, and self, and with its beautiful prose. This is an economical novel that packs a major emotional punch. * Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State *This is writing that is sharp and fearlessly chaotic, grappling with the depths humans go to for mere illusion of control. Luridly funny and always surprising, New Animal takes on the promise of catharsis--and upends it entirely. * The Skinny *

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Book Synopsis'A sparky, bright, hilarious road-trip rom com' BETH O'LEARY, AUTHOR OF THE FLATSHARE'Full of humour and heart' TAYLOR JENKINS REID, AUTHOR OF DAISY JONES & THE SIXTwo love stories decades apart. One chance to prove love is worth the ride.Former childhood star and die-hard romantic Millie is bound for Key West from Washington DC, determined to fulfil a promise to her elderly best friend, Mrs Nash, by reuniting her ashes with her long-lost love. And if this grand gesture also reassures a recently heartbroken Millie that love is real, all for the better. When flights are grounded, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis, an also-stranded near-stranger from her ex's grad school. Rising literary star Hollis doesn't believe in forever-loves (or even for-now loves). He was headed to Miami for a no-strings-attached hook-up, in the hope of curing his writer's block. But as Millie and Hollis make their way across country, racing down open highways and staying in questionable hotels, will their trip turn into a love story all their own?A joyous road trip romcom, perfect for fans of Lucy Score, Rachel Lynn Solomon and Ali Hazelwood.'A complete delight' CARLEY FORTUNE'Heartfelt and hilarious in equal measure' 5* READER REVIEW'Sweet and charming' 5* READER REVIEW'Witty, romantic and full of gorgeous storytelling' CATHERINE WALSH'Romantic and sexy' 5* READER REVIEW'Soft, sweet and utterly enchanting' ASHLEY POSTON'Funny, tender, emotional and sexy' 5* READER REVIEW'A wickedly funny romance' WOMAN'S OWNTrade ReviewA sparky, bright, hilarious road-trip rom com with a heroine who is 100% pure sunshine . . . it has a touch of Emily Henry to it, which is obviously the highest possible compliment * Beth O'Leary *Sarah Adler nails the ultimate rom-com alchemy with her sparkling debut, Mrs. Nash's Ashes. Full of zippy banter, gorgeous prose, and tender-hearted characters who give the novel a deep, emotional core, it's a complete delight -- Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer AfterFull of humour and heart * Taylor Jenkins Reid *I laughed. I sobbed. I loved it! Soft, sweet, and utterly enchanting, Mrs. Nash's Ashes by Sarah Adler is a delightfully funny and poignant romance that sticks with you like a warm and gooey cinnamon roll -- Ashley Poston, New York Times bestselling author of The Dead RomanticsA wickedly funny romance * Woman's Own *Brilliantly constructed and full of unforgettable characters, Mrs. Nash's Ashes is an unequivocal delight. Fans of Emily Henry and Sarah Hogle, you've found your newest obsession -- Ava Wilder, author of How to Fake It in HollywoodDebut author Adler combines heat and sweet in this charmingly offbeat rom-com * Publishers Weekly *At turns both zany and heart-wrenching...this is a treasure of a story that lived and breathed inside my heart -- Anita Kelly, author of Something Wild & WonderfulThis unforgettable road trip runs on laugh-out-loud humor, deeply felt romance, a profound sense of the unexpected, and classic rock radio-we loved every mile -- Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of The Roughest DraftMrs. Nash's Ashes is a delightfully fun and utterly romantic debut. Adler has it all-fresh characters, fabulous writing, and enormous heart -- Sarah Grunder Ruiz, author of Luck and Last ResortsWith an unforgettable voice, Adler crafts a tale full of humor and heart, proving that love sometimes finds us when we least expect it -- Ashley Herring Blake, USA Today bestselling author of Astrid Parker Doesn’t FailInstantly addictive! . . . Pure rom-com gold. Witty, fun, and yet also deeply affecting, this remarkably strong debut from Sarah Adler is sure to win hearts -- India Holton, bestselling author of The League of Gentlewomen WitchesWitty, beautifully written, and laced with sexual tension and suspense . . . I expected that I'd be enjoying one romance but ended up falling in love with two. Extraordinary storytelling -- Sarah Hogle, author of Just Like MagicA delightful debut from Sarah Adler! This is a road-trip romance at its best, with all the forced proximity, unexpected intimacies, and questionable music playlists that come with it . . . a journey I didn't want to end -- Jen DeLuca, USA Today bestselling author of Well MatchedAdler perfectly mixes humor, heart, and steam to create a flawless rom-com. If you're in the mood for a true rom-com, you cannot go wrong with this book! -- Falon Ballard, author of Lease on Love and Just My TypePlayful, sexy, and unexpected in the very best way, Sarah Adler is a dazzling new voice in romantic comedy -- Jen Devon, author of Bend Toward the SunA total mood-lifter of a book that charmed me from the first page. Witty, romantic, and full of gorgeous storytelling, I couldn't believe this was Sarah Adler's debut! -- Catherine WalshA wickedly funny, charming romance * Woman's Weekly *

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Folio Prize'Unforgettable' - Anne Tyler'Stunningly original' - GuardianOne long last summer for Dad Lewis in his beloved town, Holt, Colorado. As old friends pass in and out to voice their farewells and good wishes, Dad's wife and daughter work to make his final days as comfortable as possible, knowing all is tainted by the heart-break of an absent son. Next door, a little girl with a troubled past moves in with her grandmother, and down town another new arrival, the Reverend Rob Lyle, attempts to mend strained relationships of his own.Utterly beautiful, and devastating yet affirming, Kent Haruf's Benediction explores the pain, the compassion and the humanity of ordinary people.Trade Review"The precious ordinary," is the central concern of this remarkable book. Benediction is quiet and nearly uneventful, but it is also unforgettable . . . In the very best sense, it is an old-fashioned novel-virtuous and kind-hearted, dealing with issues that are timeless -- Anne TylerIn Benediction, a fine contender for the inaugural Folio Prize, Kent Haruf's beautifully spare prose charts the events of that summer with unpretentious aplomb . . . Sensual descriptions of landscape and weather create an impression of timelessness * Daily Telegraph ***** *Haruf handles human relationships with fierce, reticent delicacy, exploring rage, fidelity, pity, honour, timidity, the sense of obligation . . . his courage and achievement in exploring ordinary forms of love - the enduring frustration, the long cost of loyalty, the comfort of daily affection - are unsurpassed by anything I know in contemporary fiction . . . A stunningly original writer in a great many ways . . . He's careful to get the story right. And it is right, it's just right; it rings true * Guardian *I wrote to Kent Haruf to tell him how much I liked his novels, for the precision of his vocabulary, for the grace that runs through his books, and for the realism . . . I thought, I wrote, of Laura Ingalls Wilder overlaid with Cormac McCarthy. American Wild implies loss, as well as exhilaration, and danger. All of that is there in Haruf, along with a measure of grace and peace of mind -- Sigrid Rausing * Independent *A brilliant end to his brilliant Plainsong trilogy. -- Lucy Mangan * Stylist *Kent Haruf describes Dad Lewis's last summer with beautiful simplicity . . . Haruf's existing fans have been waiting patiently for Benediction for years. They won't be surprised by how fine this book is, but newcomers to his writing will be reaching for his previous novels to catch up. * Sunday Express *In spare, Cormac McCarthy-like prose, Kent Haruf writes about facing death in modern America. * Independent on Sunday *Haruf is the master of what one of his characters calls "the precious ordinary". . . . With understated language and startling emotional insight, he makes you feel awe at even the most basic of human gestures. -- Ben Goldstein * Esquire *Benediction is as richly laced with metaphysics as its title suggests . . . The most affecting moments of this supremely graceful novel are conjured by farewells to the quotidian. * Times Literary Supplement *Benediction suggests there’s no end to the stories Haruf can tell about Holt or to the tough, gorgeous language he can summon in the process. * New York Times *Truly showcases the novel as an art form. * Psychologies *We’ve waited a long time for an invitation back to Holt, home to Kent Haruf’s novels. . . He may be the most muted master in American fiction [and] Benediction seems designed to catch the sound of those fleeting good moments [with] scenes Hemingway might have written had he survived. -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *His finest-tuned tale yet. . . . There is a deep, satisfying music to this book, as Haruf weaves between such a large cast of characters in so small a space. . . . Strangely, wonderfully, the moment of a man's passing can be a blessing in the way it brings people together. Benediction recreates this powerful moment so gracefully it is easy to forget that, like [the town of] Holt, it is a world created by one man. -- John Freeman * The Boston Globe *Reverberant… From the terroir and populace of his native American West, the author of Plainsong and Eventide again draws a story elegant in its simple telling and remarkable in its authentic capture of universal human emotions. -- Brad Hooper * Booklist *Haruf is maguslike in his gifts. . . to illuminate the inevitable ways in which tributary lives meander toward confluence. . . . Perhaps not since Hemingway has an American author triggered such reader empathy with so little reliance on the subjectivity of his characters. . . . [This] is a modestly wrought wonder from one of our finest living writers. -- Bruce Machart * The Houston Chronicle *Grace and restraint are abiding virtues in Haruf's fiction, and they resume their place of privilege in his new work. . . . For readers looking for the rewards of an intimate, meditative story, it is indeed a blessing.' -- Karen R. Long * The Cleveland Plain Dealer *As Haruf's precise details accrue, a reader gains perspective: This is the story of a man's life, and the town where he spent it, and the people who try to ease its end. . . . His sentences have the elegance of Hemingway's early work [and his] determined realism, which admits that not all of our past actions or the reasons behind them are knowable, even to ourselves, is one of the book's satisfactions.' -- John Reimringer * The Minneapolis Star-Tribune *There's something of the tone of Joyce's Dubliners in Haruf's simply-told tale of elderly Dad Lewis, diagnosed with cancer and living out his last summer. An elegiac tone, of someone who has already gone, gives Haruf's prose its extraordinary dignity and humanity. * Sunday Herald *

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Book Synopsis***WINNER OF THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZE 2020***''Simmonds is a copper-bottomed genius... she is as brilliant a writer as Britain has'' Jenny Colgan, Mail OnlineCassandra Darke is an art dealer, mean, selfish, solitary by nature, living in Chelsea in a house worth 7 million.She has become a social pariah, but doesn''t much care. Between one Christmas and the next, she has sullied the reputation of a West End gallery and has acquired a conviction for fraud, a suspended sentence and a bank balance drained by lawsuits. On the scale of villainy, fraud seems to Cassandra a rather paltry offence - her own crime involving ''no violence, no weapon, no dead body''.But in Cassandra''s basement, her young ex-lodger, Nicki, has left a surprise, something which implies at least violence and probably a body . . . Something which forces Cassandra out of her rich enclave and onto the streets. Not those local streets paved with gTrade ReviewSimmonds is a copper-bottomed genius… she is as brilliant a writer as Britain has. -- Jenny Colgan * Mail Online *Scrooge is reimagined for 21st-century London in Posy Simmonds’s devilishly good graphic novel, Cassandra Darke — her first in a decade. Cassandra is a marvellous creation… There is too much clever detail in each of the panels to take in everything at first read — but Cassandra is an antiheroine you’ll want to return to. -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times *Simmonds has long been something of a national treasure. -- Teddy Jamieson * Herald Scotland *[This] glorious, inky black tale about a mean-spirited old bag of a Chelsea art deal provides more proof of [Posy Simmond’s] genius. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer, **Books of the Year** *The new graphic novel by cartoonist, writer and national treasure Posy Simmonds... is a page-turner, [but] it’s impossible to gallop through words and pictures that are so richly textured, so sharply observed. -- Francis Wheen * Mail on Sunday *A Christmas crime story that’s bags of fun… Simmonds’ pictorial storytelling is a joy. -- Anthony Cummins * Metro *Simmonds’ drawings are exquisitely observed, and seamlessly incorporate text messages and online news reports. Her muted palette, with occasional splashes of colour, is absorbing and in the curmudgeonly Cassandra… Simmonds has produced another character that comes living and breathing off the page. -- Carl Wilkinson * Financial Times *Posy Simmonds's delightful new graphic novel Cassandra Darke, full of wonderfully observed vignettes... [is] treasurable. -- David Sexton * Evening Standard **Books of the Year** *[Posy Simmonds] is back with a new anti-heroine… [and] jewel-sharp illustrations. -- Claire Armitstead * Guardian *Posy Simmonds is the mother of the British graphic novel… The end [of Cassandra Darke] is startlingly poignant, and like all good satire it has a quiet reflection on human mortality at its heart. -- Lucy Lethbridge * Tablet *

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Book Synopsis''So impossibly funny, clever, demented, charming and altogether wonderful that I was a convert within three pages. Buy it for everyone you know, regardless of what you think they like. Brilliant stuff'' Lucy Mangan, Stylist Books of the Year''An eye-opener... The more I think about this, the higher I esteem it'' - Nicholas Lezard, Guardian Books of the Year*Winner of the British Book Design and Production Award for Graphic Novels**Winner of the Neumann Prize in the History of Mathematics**Nominated for the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist*In The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage Sydney Padua transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into a hilarious set of adventures Meet two of Victorian London''s greatest geniuses... Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron: mathematician, gambler, and proto-programmer, whose writings contained the first evTrade ReviewSo impossibly funny, clever, demented, charming and altogether wonderful that I was a convert within three pages. Buy it for everyone you know, regardless of what you think they like. Brilliant stuff -- Lucy Mangan, Book of the Year * Stylist *An utter joy... Padua has done her research: she has teased out the connections between Babbage, Lovelace and what would seem to be the whole of Victorian culture and society - and done so in a way that appears almost effortless on the page, her light, easy graphic style an excellent vehicle not only for deep and complex thought, but for excellent, and sometimes excellently corny, jokes. This is a book to reread, not just read -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *My new favourite book. It has everything. Byron, maths, imaginary computers, emotion -- Matt Haig, author of Reasons to Stay AliveThe book does more than simply celebrate the genius of the first computer programmer, it encourages us to turn our imagination to technology - just as Lovelace did. And that's an inspiration to us all -- Nicola Davis * Observer Tech Monthly *The wittiest, best-researched and most original tribute yet paid to the achievements of Ada Lovelace... An astonishing debut... a book that ought to be ordered in triplicate by every school in the land... Ingenious as a textbook, marvellous fun as inventive biography -- Miranda Seymour * Literary Review *Rich with in-jokes, warmth and charm... It's difficult not to be ignited by Sydney Padua's enthusiasm. There is so much to discover that I'll treasure my copy for years to come -- Hannah Fry * BBC Focus *A stylish, funny graphic novel featuring Ada Lovelace, estranged daughter of Lord Byron, and co-programmer, had it ever been built, of the "mathematical engine". Playful, earnest, and beautifully drawn, the book cuts a swathe through early computing theory, explores Ada's relationship with Charles Babbage, and brings to the fore one of the unsung heroines of science -- Sarah Hall * Independent *There is no way around this, Sydney Padua's Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage is bloody brilliant... and educational too -- Robin InceI love it... everyone is getting a copy -- Martha Lane-FoxWonderful and genuinely informative... Padua's gorgeous art and very funny text are combined with factual footnotes to create an utterly unique and enormously enjoyable book - -- Anna Carey * Irish Times *Sydney Padua's smart and sassy steampunk science graphic novel is a delightful mixture of research and invention, dressed up in Padua's bouncy cartooning. If nothing else, it is one of the best introductions to its real-life heroine, proto-computer programmer Ada Lovelace, you could wish for. If only all science lessons could be this much fun * Herald Scotland *Immensely delightful and illuminating... Padua delivers a thoroughly unsynthesizable range of enchantment and elucidation -- Maria Popova * Brain Pickings *

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Book SynopsisA gorgeous, collectible hardcover edition of Will Eisner’s pioneering graphic novel to celebrate the author’s 100th birthday.

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Book SynopsisC. S. Lewis was their mentor and friend. When tragedy struck, he became their guide and a comforter of piercing insight and compassion. His letters are carefully preserved and reproduced in this moving account of the extraordinary love between Sheldon Vanauken and Jean Davis. This beautiful tale bears witness not only to the relationship between Van and Davy, but to the understanding which grew between two men who both had to suffer the severe pain of loss.Trade ReviewOne of the most remarkable books I've ever read. It belongs in the genre of St Augustine's Confessions. * Dom Julian OSB *Very, very good ... I don't think I could ever forget it. * The Rev. Walter Hooper *

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Book SynopsisHenry Hoke is the author of the memoir Sticker, The Book of Endless Sleepovers, the story collection Genevieves, and the novel The Groundhog Forever. His work has appeared in Electric Literature, Triangle House, The Offing, and the Catapult anthology Tiny Crimes. He holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, where he taught for five years, and presently teaches at the University of Virginia Young Writers Workshop.Trade ReviewOpen Throat is a blinding spotlight beam of a book that I was completely unable and unwilling to put down. I am not convinced Henry Hoke isn’t a mountain lion. -- Catherine Lacey, author of PewAn instant classic . . . The writing is so sinuous, so wry and muscular, yet with a padding, pawing playfulness, that you’re ready to go anywhere Hoke wants to take you . . . It’s funny, it’s heartbreaking and nail-bitingly propulsive, with an exquisite Hitchcockian climax. -- Rahul Raina * The Guardian *The lion king of Los Angeles . . . Hoke’s choice of narrator results in some fang-sharp incisiveness andflashes of brilliant humour * The Observer *A beguiling and memorable work * The Irish Times *Witty, emotional and gripping, Open Throat is a short but savage thrill ride * The Independent *[A] slim jewel of a novel . . . Though many readers will label Open Throat unconventional, this act of ravishing and outlandish imagination should be the norm, not the exception. At its best, fiction can make the familiar strange in order to bring readers and our world into scintillating focus. Open Throat is what fiction should be. * The New York Times Book Review *A propulsive, one-sitting read, if also a somber one . . . Without spoiling the story, it’s perhaps enough to say that the climax of Open Throat is a very L.A. one, with spotlights and drama. But it’s also a universal one. * Los Angeles Times *My definition of an unputdownable book is one that is funny, full of longing, and a bit fantastical. If a novel is all three, I'm sold. Open Throat by Henry Hoke is, for me, a Rosetta Stone of unputdownability: an allegorical tale of a queer mountain lion fighting for survival (and love) in the hills of Los Angeles. -- Melissa Broder * The Guardian *Your off-beat beach read? Open Throat is Bret Easton Ellis meets mountain lion in the Hollywood Hills . . . it already has people talking * The Sunday Times Style *I defy you to hear the premise of this sophomore novel from the always-interesting Henry Hoke and not immediately smash that preorder button . . . a playful, poignant, tragicomic delight * Lit Hub *A mountain cougar’s glimpses of LA (‘ellay’). Loved this tale of loneliness, longing and gore in the Hills. -- James Cahill, author of Tiepolo BlueI didn't know I would feel such attachment to a mountain lion when I started reading, but in Henry Hoke's talented hands, they become an instantly memorable and endearing protagonist. * Buzzfeed *This is one of the most unique books of the summer . . . a miniature masterpiece * iNews *Open Throat is a strange and beguiling prose/poem/novella about a curious, queer and raveous mountain lion stalking the Hollywood hills . . . Uniquely and bizarrely seductive * Attitude *This lyrical story of loneliness and kinship in Los Angeles is, by turns, delightful and melancholy—and inventive throughout. * Vanity Fair *Henry Hoke’s narrator is the most credible animal witness to human behavior since Robert Bresson’s Balthazar. Original, fun and completely awakening, Open Throat is a devastating portrait of LA today. -- Chris Kraus, author of I Love DickIt's not often you come across a book with such an incredibly unique premise that you can't help but read it, if only for pure curiosity. And it's even less common for these books to be wholly and entirely gratifying, entertaining, and enjoyable beyond expectation. Reader, Open Throat by Henry Hoke is all of these things. * NB Magazine *Open Throat strikes the perfect balance of humor and trauma, creating an encapsulating read that interrogates the complexities of gender identity and a world marked by climate change. -- Michael Welch, Chicago Review of BooksOpen Throat feels like a comic book and a really good one; it feels the inside of animals, specifically one animal, a mountain lion, and with them we desire blood and I can’t tell you how it ends but I love knowing a mountain lion so much. The beauty and tragedy of all of nature is in this character. Open Throat is a fierce writing act. Henry Hoke makes it true. -- Eileen Myles, author of For NowDaring and moving . . . Give this sinewy prose poem a chance and you'll fall under the spell of a forlorn voice trapped in the hellscape of modern America -- Ron Charles * The Washington Post *Strange, unique, and mesmerizing. -- Gabino Iglesias, Boston GlobeIn this fantastical, deeply moving, and original adventure--also an unforgettable reckoning with contemporary Los Angeles--Henry Hoke introduces an animal whose life is more than just survival: they are full of longing, regret, memory, sadness, and astute observation. -- Brontez Purnell, author of 100 BoyfriendsOpen Throat is an instant cult classic and a bloody masterpiece. Rhythmically brilliant, heart-wounding, and scathingly funny, I’m in love with a mountain lion and in awe of this book. -- Melissa Broder, author of The PiscesThe premise alone makes Henry Hoke's startling achievement worth the purchase . . . Philosophical and heartfelt, Open Throat is the ultimate immersion into the mind of an unlikely protagonist. -- Lauren Puckett-Pope * ELLE *If like many people you are sick of human protagonists that are often nihilistic, self-destructive, fundamentally lonely people, then perhaps you would prefer Open Throat, which is narrated by a similarly lonely mountain lion who lives in the Hollywood Hills. -- i-D, 'fiction to be excited for in 2023' My favorite book of this century so far! I keep putting off writing this blurb because every time I pick up Open Throat I re-read it and fall back in love with this gay-ass big cat and then I have to spend the whole rest of the day thinking about mountain lions and humans and sex and bodies and death and climate change and bad dads and NY v LA and what is even possible in this world. Henry Hoke is a magician. -- Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal GirlWholly original, inventive, and surprising on every level. It affirms the capaciousness of the novel as a form. I wish more books took the kinds of chances Open Throat does. -- Diane Cook, author of the Booker Prize finalist novel The New WildernessBrave; moving; excitingly bold. -- Charlotte Mendelson, author of The ExhibitionistOpen Throat is a fable for our times that cements Henry Hoke as an essential voice in experimental and deliciously queer fiction. * Electric Literature *A tight, funny book with an alarmingly unique tone * The Brooklyn Rail *Distinctive. Endearing. Poetic. Funny. In Open Throat, Henry Hoke has given voice to something both familiar and strange, that speaks to the conscious and unconscious mind at the same time, deftly revealing the world. -- Octavia Bright, author of This Ragged GraceCompulsively readable -- Megan Milks, 4ColumnsRead something crazy this summer. * The Philadelphia Inquirer *I defy you to hear the premise of this sophomore novel from the always-interesting Henry Hoke and not immediately smash that preorder button . . . a playful, poignant, tragicomic delight. * Lit Hub *Inspired by a real lion who famously lived in Hollywood, this hilarious and touching tale is blazingly original and really rather brilliant. * The Bookseller, Editor's Choice *Unique and bizarrely seductive * Attitude *. . . replete with wisdom and an unnervingly astute understanding * NB *Playful [and] provocative . . . By turns funny and melancholy, this is a thrilling portrait of alienation. * Publisher's Weekly *Compassionate, fierce, and bittersweet, this is an unforgettable love letter to the wild. * Kirkus *Highly imaginative . . . a fascinating take on the human world and his place in it. Open Throat is a treat for both animal lovers and anyone who appreciates innovative fiction. * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisAmerica's preeminent fiction writer' New YorkerA raw, propulsive tale of love and grief' Mail on SundayA novel of love and loss from the bestselling and prizewinning author of Blonde.Michaela and her husband have moved to the starkly beautiful but uncanny landscape of New Mexico, to take up an academic residency. But when Gerard is struck by a fatal illness, their life begins to resemble a nightmare. At thirty-seven, Michaela must first face the terrifying prospect of widowhood, then the chaos of the days when Gerard is gone.Haunting and utterly heart-wrenching, Breathe explores the intense madness of grief and what happens when a love cannot be surrendered.A fever dream of a novel' New York TimesSimply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going, as far as I'm concerned' Gillian Flynn, author of Gone GirlTrade Review Praise for Breathe: ‘The dizzyingly prolific Oates returns with a raw, propulsive tale of love and grief. It unfolds against the stark landscape of New Mexico, where 37-year-old Michaela’s older husband, a Harvard professor, has taken up an academic residency, only to be stricken with a fatal illness. In the nightmarish moths that follow, Michaela cares for him with desperate devotion; in the aftermath, her struggle to accept his loss sends her hurtling towards a hallucinatory denouement’ Hephzibah Anderson, New York Times ‘The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and the demon-gods of the Native American Pueblo people combine to nightmarish effect in Joyce’s unrelenting latest, which is set against the uncanny landscape of New Mexico … nothing in her hallucinatory horror equals the simple, devastating awfulness of the moment when Michaela discovers her dying partner, his brilliant mind now addled with opioids, trying to read his paper upside down’ Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail ‘Breathe is a fever dream of a novel, and it’s as an allegory of grief that it most sparkles. What appears to be hallucination is actually more emotionally complicated’ Joshua Henkin, New York Times ‘The dizzyingly prolific Oates returns with a raw, propulsive tale of love and grief ’ Mail on Sunday ‘Breathe is a fever dream of a novel, and it’s as an allegory of grief that it most sparkles. What appears to be hallucination is actually more emotionally complicated’ New York Times

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Book SynopsisSUSAN HILL has been a professional writer for over fifty years. Her books have won awards and prizes including the Whitbread, the John Llewellyn Rhys and a Somerset Maugham, and have been shortlisted for the Booker. Her novels include Strange Meeting, I'm the King of the Castle, In the Springtime of the Year and The Mist in the Mirror. She has also published autobiographical works and collections of short stories as well as the Simon Serrailler series of crime novels. The play of her ghost story The Woman in Black is one of the longest running in the history of London's West End. In 2020 she was awarded a damehood (DBE) for services to literature. She has two adult daughters and lives in North Norfolk.Trade ReviewOne of those novels you never forget * The Times *I love this wonderful book... Just read it -- Jo Brand * BBC Radio 4, A Good Read *One of Hill’s earlier, quieter masterpieces -- Emma Hagestadt * Independent *Immediately arresting…you come away affected, but there is a quiet, unhurried pace which is, incongruously, a lovely and fitting touch * bookgeeks.co.uk *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewChris Ware is one of the great writers of our generation whose graphic novels make most novels (both the graphic and the regular kind) seem thin and simplistic. I spent 20 minutes reading the cover of Rusty Brown. Buy it. Buy all his work. Make your life larger. -- Mark Haddon * Observer, *Books of the Year* *The biggest story in graphic novels this year was the return of Chris Ware… the epically inventive Rusty Brown is a single day at a Nebraska school in the mid-1970s, from which Ware spins the life stories of a shy nerd, his frustrated father, the privileged class jerk and a thoughtful, banjo-playing teacher. -- James Smart * Guardian *Books of the Year* *Chris Ware's adventurous, sprawling, dazzling book [Rusty Brown]...is so intricately designed that, like many of Ware’s books, the result is an art object… You feel protective, anxious about dog-earing anything, worried you’ll blink and miss something. And that’s before you reach the story… there are winter days here I haven’t seen since childhood, and a stillness so evocative and tender you feel like an intruder. Which is the point, a generous act of detailing, and honoring, everyday life. -- Christopher Borrelli * Chicago Tribune *A treasure trove of invention… With its awe-inspiring exploration of regret and ageing, anxiety and ennui…Rusty Brown is a human document of rare richness. -- Leo Robson * Guardian, *Book of the Day* *Moving, sourly funny and virtuosically drawn… It’s hard to express in prose how imaginatively and effectively Ware marries words to images, how expressive his almost diagrammatically minimalist style can be, how he juxtaposes banality and trauma, how he sketches the passing of time and the sense of nowhereness in blank wide shots. -- Sam Leith * Daily Telegraph *Rusty Brown is a towering achievement… a powerful and sometimes heartbreaking book. -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue *An astounding graphic novel about nothing less than the nature of life and time... Ware's dazzling geometric art – pointillism for Woody's eyesight sans glasses; close-ups of Joanne's face through the decades – has never been better... Ware again displays his virtuosic ability to locate the extraordinary within the ordinary, elevating normal lives into something profound, unforgettable, and true. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Once seen, the Ware technique is compelling and unmistakeable… those who loved Jimmy Corrigan are going to faint with delight at Rusty Brown… the combination of a hypnotic drawing stlye and the characters rattling around within the doll’s house his technique creates makes for a mesmerising few hours. * Strong Words *Mordantly funny and beautifully drawn. -- Sarah Hughes * i *Charting the lives of Nebraskan outcast Rusty Brown and his family, friends, and enemies, Ware brings his telescoping lens to the large and small details of his characters’ intersecting, brutally human experiences. His dazzling geometric art amply rewards the challenge posed by each puzzle-like page. -- Rich Johnston * Bleeding Cool *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA clever, twisty plot that takes psychological mind games to a new level. Nuala Ellwood has done it again! -- Jane Corry, on 'The Day of the Accident'Brilliantly compulsive and with one hell of a twist! I was consumed until the final heartbreaking page -- Claire Douglas, on 'The Day of the Accident'A stunning book. Compelling, unsettling and powerful this is a book that will stay with me for a long time -- C. L. Taylor, on 'The Day of the Accident'With a twist that'll make you want to read the entire book in one afternoon, we don't blame you if you struggle to put this one down! * Crafts Beautiful Magazine *

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Book SynopsisOne of Amazon.com''s Top 10 Graphic Novels of the year''[My Brother''s Husband] arrives in the UK garlanded with praise from, among others, Alison Bechdel. It''s not hard to see why. Not only is it very touching; it''s also, for the non-Japanese reader, unexpectedly fascinating'' Rachel Cooke, Observer, Graphic Novel of the Month''When a cuddly Canadian comes to call, Yaichi - a single Japanese dad - is forced to confront his painful past. With his young daughter Kana leading the way, he gradually rethinks his assumptions about what makes a family. Renowned manga artist Gengoroh Tagame turns his stunning draftsmanship to a story very different from his customary fare, to delightful and heartwarming effect'' Alison Bechdel, author of Fun HomeYaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at theiTrade Review[My Brother's Husband] arrives in the UK garlanded with praise from, among others, Alison Bechdel. It's not hard to see why. Not only is it very touching; it's also, for the non-Japanese reader, unexpectedly fascinating -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *When a cuddly Canadian comes to call, Yaichi - a single Japanese dad - is forced to confront his painful past. With his young daughter Kana leading the way, he gradually rethinks his assumptions about what makes a family. Renowned manga artist Gengoroh Tagame turns his stunning draftsmanship to a story very different from his customary fare, to delightful and heartwarming effect -- Alison Bechdel, author of Fun HomeHeartbreaking yet hopeful, Gengoroh Tagame's beautifully rendered meditation on the struggle for gay acceptance in today's Japan is quietly dazzling. I am already looking forward to part two! * CNN *My Brother's Husband is one of the most poignant books about self-growth I've read in a long time, and almost certainly the most moving graphic novel I've ever encountered . . . a beautiful piece of fiction -- Scott Manley Hadley * Triumph of the Now *

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Book SynopsisA 2023 best book to look forward to in Vogue, Bustle, GQ and the New Statesman''A superbly observed exploration of intimacy and its failings'' Megan Nolan''West-Knights is a masterful, hilarious and humane story-teller'' Olivia Sudjic''A sharp and clear-eyed portrait of familial love and the ways it makes us mad'' Monica HeiseyBillie and Tom have just lost their father. It should be a time to comfort each other, but there''s always been a distance to their relationship. Determined to change this, Billie boards a flight to her brother in Paris.Dazed by grief, the siblings spend days wandering the streets, both helping and hurting each other in the process. When their explorations lead them to the infamous Paris catacombs, they will finally be forced to face the secrets lurking in their past that illuminate the questions in their present.Funny, moving and unexpected, DEEP DOWN is an empathetic anTrade ReviewThe novel is a serious and very accomplished examination of what it means to love and grieve for someone who might seem unlovable. It wrestles, too, with the timeless question of how to form one's own distinct adult identity in the shadow of a difficult parent. But it's also immensely funny. * Guardian *A dry comedy that's as astute as her reported writing - and funny too * Vogue *DEEP DOWN is a beautifully constructed and unnervingly assured debut which deeply moved and impressed me. Imogen West Knights reveals family silence and repression in a way which feels almost agonisingly true to life. There are no histrionics here, nor any glib resolutions, but a superbly observed exploration of intimacy and its failings. Not to be missed -- Megan NolanI am in awe of this genius debut novel. A brilliant page-turner - I also wanted to pause every few paragraphs and read aloud as a treat for whoever happened to be sitting next to me. West-Knights is a masterful, hilarious and humane story-teller. -- Olivia SudjicAs a longtime fan of Imogen West-Knight's writing, I was thrilled to discover her fiction is just as charming: a sharp and clear-eyed portrait of familial love and the ways it makes us mad -- Monica Heisey, author of REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLYThis perceptive account of the undercurrents that shape our family relationships and the ways in which they play out in adulthood had me gripped. A tender, moving novel with heart, by a new talent in fiction -- Rhiannon Lucy CosslettDeep Down is a nuanced and sensitive study of family and abuse, of the unbridgeable gulfs in communication that render us inert and helpless, of the truths we can't bear to confront, and the loyalties we can't bear to betray -- Susannah DickeyA sensitive look at grief, families, ambition, anger and the complexity of loving and hating someone all at once. * Bookseller *An intimate, emotional and witty take on grief and complicated relationships -- Justin MyersDeep Down examines that which we would rather suppress - grief, shame, hurt - with unflinching verve while treading a careful line between finding the absurd in the humane, and the humane in the absurd. West-Knights has written a book with real heart -- Jo HamyaImogen handles complicated family dynamics and the unspoken things that come between us with remarkable sensitivity and insight, as well as perfect dark humour that is so much a part of navigating grief. I honestly can't believe this is a debut -- Emma HughesA lot of novels spin around grief, trauma, abuse and emotional disconnection. But not many can emotionally sucker punch you with one sentence and have you in tears of laughter the next. One of the remarkable things about Deep Down is how finely attuned it is to the way grief is intimately tangled up with ridiculousness. -- Eloise Hendy * Dazed *Deep Down is a wonderfully astute and often hilarious look at sibling relationships, intimacy and family repression. * iNews *West-Knights casts an adult's ear to the hopes and fears particular to the young child's mind, and the result is a thing of beauty -- Conrad Landin * Westminter Extra *

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Book SynopsisDenton, 1984. After a morning's betting at the races, bookmaker George Price is found in his car, barely alive with a bullet in his head. As he's rushed to hospital, Detective Inspector Jack Frost and the Denton police force start their hunt for the would-be murderer.But with a long list of enemies who might want the bookie dead, the team have got their work cut out for them. And with a slew of other crimes hitting the area, from counterfeit goods to a violent drugs gangs swamping Denton with cheap heroin, the stakes have never been higher.Will Frost find the answers he's looking for before things go from bad to worse?DETECTIVE JACK FROST IS...''A splendid creation, a cross between Rumpole and Columbo'' The Times''Deplorable yet funny, a comic monster on the side of the angels'' Guardian

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