Narrative theme: death, grief, loss
Vintage Publishing My Coney Island Baby
Book Synopsis'A poignant, piercing meditation on middle age and the passing of time… will linger with you long after the book is closed' Guardian *SHORTLISTED FOR THE ENCORE AWARD 2020*On a bitterly cold winter’s afternoon, Michael and Caitlin escape their unhappy marriages to keep an illicit rendezvous. Once a month, for the past quarter of a century, Coney Island has been their haven; these precious, hidden hours their only nourishment. But now, amid the howling of an angry snowstorm, the shut-down, out-of-season resort feels like the edge of the world. And their lives, suddenly, are on the brink – with news of serious illness on one side, and a move to the Midwest on the other.Trade ReviewNovel of the year is My Coney Island Baby, by Billy O’Callaghan, a lush, precise, poetic account of a love affair that ends the way most love affairs do. We knew O’Callaghan to be a master of the short story, and here he shows the grand reach of his powers as a novelist. -- John Banville * Irish Times *Books of the Year* *Billy O’Callaghan’s new novel grips from the opening page. The stride of his sentences is long and powerful, his vision raw. A spectrum of intensities from grief to love is revealed as relationships unfold with an honesty that is utterly believable. -- Bernard MacLavertyO’Callaghan [has made a] significant achievement in this fine novel… Good books remind us of other good books and in its treatment of adultery this one calls to mind thematic ancestors such as Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina and The Scarlet Letter. -- Bert Wright * Sunday Times *A poignant, piercing meditation on middle age and the passing of time… these characters will linger with you long after the book is closed. -- Claire Kilroy * Guardian *Quiet, subtle and deeply moving… This is a fine novel, with elegance and wisdom lying beneath an unpretentious surface and O’Callaghan, a gifted writer, has managed to do that most difficult of things: take a quiet, almost everyday story and transform it into a thing of beauty. -- John Boyne * Irish Times *
£8.54
Canongate Books Mrs Death Misses Death
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZEMrs Death tells her intoxicating story in this life-affirming fire-starter of a novelMrs Death has had enough. She is exhausted from spending eternity doing her job and now she seeks someone to unburden her conscience to. Wolf Willeford, a troubled young writer, is well acquainted with death, but until now hadn't met Death in person - a black, working-class woman who shape-shifts and does her work unseen.Enthralled by her stories, Wolf becomes Mrs Death's scribe, and begins to write her memoirs. Using their desk as a vessel and conduit, Wolf travels across time and place with Mrs Death to witness deaths of past and present and discuss what the future holds for humanity. As the two reflect on the losses they have experienced - or, in the case of Mrs Death, facilitated - their friendship grows into a surprising affirmation of hope, resilience and love. All the while, despite her world-weariness, Death must continue to hold humans' fates in her hands, appearing in our lives when we least expect her . . .Trade ReviewA fantastically imaginative story about life, death and everything in between - a potent reminder that life is short and every second should be cherished -- IDRIS ELBAA modern-day Pilgrim's Progress leavened with caustic wit . . . This is not light-hearted stuff, yet Godden has produced a miraculously light-hearted novel . . . an elegant, occasionally uproarious, danse macabre * * Guardian * *Exquisite. A daring, poetic offering that establishes Godden as one of our most exciting voices. I loved it -- IRENOSEN OKOJIEA rhythmic and powerful poetic meditation on death, life and love and the hidden mysteries of the universe; both playful and sombre, hilarious and human -- NIKESH SHUKLAIn this timely and exquisite meditation on breath and its best rhyme, we see a stunning performance poet crowding all the energy, wisdom, passion and laughs of her live work into the solid ingot of this astounding novel, as profound as Cohen, as playful as Brautigan. Salena Goddess, more like -- ALAN MOOREIt's light, it's dark, it's twisted and it's brilliant. As we all encounter life, so too we should all encounter Mrs Death. Poetry, prose, life and death. Salena Godden brings them together with ease. She is a wordsmith of the highest order -- BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAHDark at times - with compelling stories about miscarriages of justice, murder and racial oppression - it is nonetheless celebratory and life-affirming, aglow with love, fortitude and compassion * * Mail on Sunday * *I love Salena Godden and I love Mrs Death Misses Death. Salena, like the lead character, is a force to be reckoned with. If the page were a stage, Mrs Death is its star. She soaks in the spotlight, commanding the eye of the audience. It is an assured debut by a poet whom I hold in the highest regard -- LEMN SISSAYA witty, angry, warm and elemental combination of poetry and prose . . . an exhilarating combination of allegory, poetry and very real fury * * Guardian * *Salena Godden's pin-sharp ability to mine the intricacies of human nature fuels her long-awaited debut novel, a life-affirming and unflinching treatise on death and its stark realities. Always playful, infused with her trademark humour and commitment to truth, Godden reinvents the form while staying true to an emotional honesty that's as forthright as it is courageous. Mrs Death's finale is some of the most powerful writing I've read in years. Here is necessary, beautiful work. Thank God for Godden -- COURTTIA NEWLAND
£999.99
New Island Books Lenny
In the Ubari Sand Sea in 2011, during the First Libyan Civil War, a mysterious pilot falls from the sky – a sky devil – and is forever changed by the little boy who rescues him. One year later, in the town of Roseville, Louisiana, in the aftermath of economic crisis and corporate environmental damage, 10-year-old Lenny Lockhart is losing the people and things dearest to him. His only friends now are his plucky, elderly neighbour, Miss Julie, and the town’s lonely librarian, Lucy Albert. Homeless and neglected, Lenny heads deep into the dark and unpredictable bayou, determined to conquer the sinkhole that is threatening to swallow his town. As time seems to be simultaneously slowing down and running out, is it really Lenny who needs saving, or the broken adults in his life? As these two timelines converge, Lenny tells a deeply affecting story of family and love, the ways we can be kind, and the power of one boy’s imagination to heal and survive.
£12.59
Quercus Publishing The Lonely Hearts Hotel: the Bailey's Prize
Book Synopsis'Joyful, funny and vividly alive' Emily St John Mandel'The Lonely Hearts Hotel sucked me right in and only got better and better . . . I began underlining truths I had hungered for' Miranda July'Makes me think of comets and live wires . . . raises goosebumps' Helen Oyeyemi'A fairytale laced with gunpowder' Kelly Link The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with a difference. Set throughout the roaring twenties, it is a wicked fairytale of circus tricks and child prodigies, radical chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians and brooding clowns, set in an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss. It is the tale of two dreamers, abandoned in an orphanage where they were fated to meet. Here, in the face of cold, hunger and unpredictable beatings, Rose and Pierrot create a world of their own, shielding the spark of their curiosity from those whose jealousy will eventually tear them apart. When they meet again, each will have changed, having struggled through the Depression, through what they have done to fill the absence of the other. But their childhood vision remains - a dream to storm the world, a spectacle, an extravaganza that will lift them out of the gutter and onto a glittering stage. Heather O'Neill's pyrotechnical imagination and language are like no other. In this she has crafted a dazzling circus of a novel that takes us from the underbellies of war-time Montreal and Prohibition New York, to a theatre of magic where anything is possible - where an orphan girl can rule the world, and a ruined innocence can be redeemed.Trade ReviewHeather O'Neill's style is laced with so much sublime possibility and merciless actuality (and vice versa) that it makes me think of comets and live wires and william blake's tyger . . . between prose like that and a story like this, you have a book that raises goosebumps and the giddiest of grins more or less simultaneously * Helen Oyeyemi *Because this book is so filled with delightful things - bold and complex sex; heartache and wickedness and glittering hearts - it would be easy to overlook how finely it is made. The Lonely Hearts Hotel sucked me right in and only got better and better, ultimately becoming much tougher, wiser than I was prepared for. I began underlining truths I had hungered for but never before read. By the end I was a gasping, tearful mess. * Miranda July *O'Neill is an extraordinary writer, and her new novel is exquisite. She has taken on sadness itself as a subject, but it would be terribly reductive to say that this book is sad; it's also joyful, funny, and vividly alive. * Emily St John Mandel, author of Station Eleven *A fairy tale laced with gunpowder and romance and icing sugar, all wrapped round with a lit fuse. Each of Heather O'Neill's sentences pricks or delights. If you haven't read her other books, start with this one and then read all of the rest. * Kelly Link *O'Neill at the height of her literary powers . . . her most book gripping to date . . . Ferociously direct. . . A ravishing novel, that, for all its brutality, retains a childlike appreciation for the fantastic. -- Andre Forget * Walrus *A love story of epic proportions...this novel will cast a spell upon readers from page one. * Publisher's Weekly *Walking the hypnotic line between tragedy and fairy tale ...Grotesque and whimsical at once, the love story that unfolds is a fable of ambition and perseverance, desperation and heartbreak. But while Pierrot is unforgettable, the novel belongs to Rose, a woman who - if she cannot carve out space for herself in upstanding daylight - will rise to power in the underworld of night. O'Neill's prose is crisp and strange, arresting in its frankness; much like the novel itself, her writing is both gleefully playful and devastatingly sad. Big and lush and extremely satisfying; a rare treat. * Kirkus *O'Neill is a mistress of metaphor and imagery ... This is brilliant tragicomedy ... in a melancholy love story that brings to life the bygone days of theatrical revues. It's a little weird and a lot of fun. * Booklist *O'Neill's prose is gorgeous, with arresting imagery. This simultaneously heartbreaking and life-affirming novel depicts the range of the human experience through the eyes of its almost pretenaturally charming hero and heroine . . . This is an original and unforgettable novel. * Library Journal *A romance that's straight out of a strange, prettily twisted fairytale * Psychologies *Award-winning Canadian author Heather O'Neill spins a spell-binding yarn set in the seedy worlds of pre-war Montreal and Prohibition New York . . . There are many cruel forks in the road along the way, but the novel has a magical quality that softens the blows. * Boundless *loved the world weary tone of Heather O'Neill's debut novel Lullabies For Little Criminals (shortlisted for the Orange Women's Prize) and The Lonely Hearts Hotel more than lives up to the promise of her earlier work . . . This novel has a gorgeous, gin-sodden, rain-soaked feel that reminds me of Jean Rhys. * Red *A larger-than-life, gritty love story that reads like a fable . . . The greatest strength of O'Neill's work, however, is her wholly unique narrative voice, which is at once cool and panoramic, yet shockingly intimate and wisely philosophical. The novel brims with shimmering one-liners..."THE LONELY HEARTS HOTEL is that rare find: a novel you have never before read anything quite like. O'Neill, a genius at metaphor, and who tackles graphic and delicate topics with rare tenderness and even charm, has created a sweeping story with elements of historical fiction, romance, crime and noir, yet writes in a style that authoritatively claims all terrain in her reach as her own. -- Gina Frangello * Boston Globe *An extremely unusual modern fairy tale. It shows us the dark side of how fragile our lives are and how easily damaged. Overall, it was a beautiful, magical love story * Waterstones *To read Heather O'Neill's dazzling new novel is to enter an enchanting and poetic world that is also amusing, troubling and often lascivious. O'Neill's lively style is so filled with vivid descriptions and complex characters that the reader's experience is virtually cinematic. * Washington Post *The Giller-shortlisted author's new novel has all the absurd, frightening, fantastical qualities of a midnight reverie - complete with depressed clowns, dancing bears, lunatic nuns and smitten mobsters - and with a similar power to haunt . . . O'Neill, always an original and enchanting storyteller, is at the height of her powers. The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a feat of imagination, accomplished through the tiny, marvellous details she scatters across the page. * Toronto Star *Walks a tightrope between social and magical realism . . . She grafts Angela Carter-esque fairytale darkness on to her forays into her native Montreal's gothic underbelly . . . A gritty, giddy fairyground ride of a book [involving] rapture, wonder and an unquenchable faith in the extraordinary * Daily Mail *Heather O'Neill [is] determined to see wonder in unlikely places . . . I admired the novel's big-heartedness, its defiant affirmation of the whole seedy, sad, beautiful burlesque that is the life of these characters . . . This novel is neither gritty realism nor noir, not Dickens nor commedia dell'arte nor dystopian fairytale, but a little bit of all of them. -- Molly McCloskey * Guardian *O'Neill magics up a world that's both lush and brutal. But The Lonely Hearts Hotel also shows us that the chorus girls are turning tricks, the clowns are taking heroin and the dancing children have already seen too much. It's a beguiling mix, with paragraphs you'll want to read over and over to revel in their rightness. * Emerald Street *Art, love, imagination - these values are held aloft in O'Neill's novel . . . it's achingly romantic . . . a feminist fairy tale of sorts . . . the nature of the theatrical spectacle Rose and Pierrot and company have created speaks to the mesmerizing effects of the novel itself * San Francisco Chronicle *Theatrical glitter and a romance that's straight out of a strange, twisted fairy tale . . . O'Neill's magical storytelling is packed with startling images * Mail on Sunday *A harrowing story of abuse, addiction and the loss of innocence. And yet it is charming, lyrical, magical and often funny . . . There is a fragile beauty and childish fascination and even fun within the seediest of her scenes. It reads like a poetic act of rebellion -- Anne Cunningham * Sunday Independent *
£9.49
Orenda Books The Waiting Rooms
Book SynopsisSwinging from South Africa to England: one woman’s hunt for her birth mother in an all-too-believable near future in which an antibiotic crisis has decimated the population. A prescient, thrilling debut. ‘Combines the excitement of a medical thriller à la Michael Crichton with sensitive characterisation and social insight in a timely debut novel all the more remarkable for being conceived and written before the current pandemic’ Guardian ‘STUNNING and terrifying … The Waiting Rooms wrenches your heart in every way possible, but written with such humanity and emotion’ Miranda Dickinson ‘Chillingly close to reality, this gripping thriller brims with authenticity … a captivating, accomplished and timely debut from an author to watch’ Adam Hamdy ________________ Decades of spiralling drug resistance have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one over seventy is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms’ … hospitals where no one ever gets well. Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age. As Kate unearths disturbing facts about her mother’s past, she puts her family in danger and risks losing everything. Because Kate is not the only secret that her mother is hiding. Someone else is looking for her, too. Sweeping from an all-too-real modern Britain to a pre-crisis South Africa, The Waiting Rooms is epic in scope, richly populated with unforgettable characters, and a tense, haunting vision of a future that is only a few mutations away. ________________ ‘Engrossing and eye-opening, with heart-stopping plot twists … a stunning medical thriller set in a terrifying possible future’ Foreword Reviews ‘A touching, gut-wrenching story of family mystery and tragedy … a thriller that punches on two fronts – heart AND mind’ The Sun ‘Gripping and disturbing … the medical research is convincing, the scenarios plausible, and the story is emotionally engaging. This is an incredible debut!’ Gill Paul ‘If the themes are dark and topical, the writing is exquisite. Breath held, I got to the finale with my heart in my mouth. Eve Smith weaves a complex and clever tale, merging countries and timelines; the result is a superb and satisfying novel’ Louise Beech ‘Margaret Atwood is one of my all-time writing heroes and The Handmaid's Tale is probably the best book I’ve ever read. Eve Smith and The Waiting Rooms really do challenge that long-held crown…’ Random Things through My Letterbox ‘Thoroughly engaging … an eye-opening read’ Crime Fiction Lover ‘A novel of our times’ Trip Fiction ‘Haunting, honest and horrifying in its reality … An epic and thrilling read’ Book Literati ‘Stunning dystopian debut. A prescient and alarming tale that seems just a whisper from reality’ Suzy Apsley ‘The Waiting Rooms will certainly distract us from the real world for a few hours and this is the immeasurable value of fiction. It gives hope that, as in Eve Smith’s fictitious world, the possibility of a happy ending still exists’ Die Burger ‘The Waiting Rooms is a seriously impressive debut, a novel that is intuitive and chilling, one that will resonate with all in this current climate’ Swirl & Thread
£8.54
Saraband Cold Fish Soup
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2021 NORTHBOUND BOOK AWARD 'Adam Farrer is a bold new voice in nonfiction writing. His keen observations are as gentle as they are wry, as attentive to the bleak truths of loss and deprivation as they are to the eccentric humour of humans being entirely themselves ... Witty, charming, moving and real.' Jenn Ashworth Before Adam Farrer’s family relocated to Withernsea in 1992, he’d never heard of the Holderness coast. The move represented one thing to Adam: a chance to leave the insecurities of early adolescence behind. And he could do that anywhere. What he didn’t know was how much he’d grow to love the quirks and people of this faded Yorkshire resort, in spite of its dilapidated attractions and retreating clifftops. While Adam documents the minutiae of small-town life, he lays bare experiences that are universal. His insights on family, friendship, male mental health and suicide are revealed in stories of reinvention, rapacious seagulls, interdimensional werewolves, burlesque dancing pensioners, and his compulsion towards the sea. Cold Fish Soup is an affectionate look at a place and its inhabitants, and the ways in which they can shape and influence someone, especially of an impressionable age. Adam’s account explores what it means to love and be shaped by a place that is under threat, and the hope – and hilarity – that can be found in community.Trade Review'Vividly documents the minutiae of small-town life on the margins … captures it beautifully.' * The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice *‘In a book as laced with humanity as it is with the presence of the North Sea, Adam Farrer asks that you fall in love with the overlooked, with that which is crumbling and destined to be lost to the sea. I fell for it hard.’ * Wyl Menmuir, Booker-listed author of The Draw of the Sea *'Cold Fish Soup is such a wide-ranging and thought-provoking essay collection, covering masculinity, mental health, werewolves and alien sightings, sense of belonging, the difficulties of carving out a creative life in a geographically marginalised place, coastal erosion and burlesque, amongst other things. It drew me in, and kept me hooked, through all diversions and detours in time and narrative, and made me both cry and laugh heartily and fully. It is a love letter to Withernsea and all the people in it, its crumbling cliffs, its strange beauties and its losses, that made me love Withernsea too.' * Polly Atkin *'Cold Fish Soup understands the oddity, tenderness and brutal ordinariness of small town life. Adam Farrer is a bold new voice in nonfiction writing. His keen observations are as gentle as they are wry, as attentive to the bleak truths of loss and deprivation as they are to the eccentric humour of humans being entirely themselves ... Witty, charming, moving and real.' * Jenn Ashworth *'What a glorious book! Just beautiful. Adam dances down that line between happy and sad with such sure-footed grace. It underlines that there is no such thing as 'an ordinary life' or indeed an 'ordinary place'.' * Catherine Simpson *'Witty, moving, wry, insightful and caring in how it deals with its subject matter.' * The Bookseller, Category Highlight, annual preview *'Witty and introspective … moving … elegiac … vivid evocations of the landscape … Echoing the canny writing of David Sedaris, Farrer has a knack for wringing hilarity from life’s grim moments … this meditation on the beauty of impermanence charms.' * Publishers Weekly *'[Farrer] documents his own personal history with guile and candour, but it is the tenderness with which he introduces his family that enriches the reading experience … Farrer has an uncanny grasp of his chosen form’s mechanics … he writes with a suppleness that gifts his stories a winning momentum … [The book] emerges as a gnarly companion piece to Amy Liptrot’s delicate ode to Orkney The Outrun … and Adam Buxton’s Ramble Book … Cold Fish Soup is like nothing else you will read this year: a lyrical and courageous exercise in uncovering one’s own personal history.' -- Gary Kaill * Lunate magazine *
£9.49
The Book Guild Ltd Ollie & Ada
Book SynopsisOllie & Ada cross paths in a bereavement support class. There's an instant attraction but both are lost broken souls who need to find the road to recovery. Despite the tragic environment they find themselves in, they hope together that love can heal heartache but in this most delicate and challenging of environments, danger lurks at every turn. Will they push each other along, or will the demands of a new relationship cause them to crash and burn as crushing grief threatens to take over everything consuming them both? They will need to find strength, courage and rediscover their self-worth. The path of true love seldom runs smoothly. Can the pair leap from trauma to tranquillity or will fate have other ideas? One thing is for sure, life will never be the same again...
£6.74
Boom! Studios Dune House Atreides Vol. 3
Book Synopsis
£14.24
HarperCollins Publishers Day
Book SynopsisUnsparing and tender' Colm Tóibín, author of BrooklynA brilliant novel from our most brilliant of writers' Colum McCann, author of ApeirogonA quietly stunning achievement' Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We're Briefly GorgeousAs the world changes around them, a family weathers the storms of growing up, growing older, falling in and out of love, losing the things that are most precious and learning to go on.April 5th, 2019: In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, troubled husband and wife, are both a little bit in love with Isabel's younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, has created a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. And then there is Nathan, age ten, taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents.April 5th, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown the brownstone is feeling more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open, obsessed with keeping her family safe. Isabel and Dan circle each other warily, communicating mostly in veiled jabs and frustrated sighs. And beloved Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts and his secret Instagram life for company.April 5th, 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis, the family comes together to reckon with a new, very different reality with what they've learned, what they've lost, and how they might go on.From the brilliant mind of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Day is a searing, exquisitely crafted meditation on love and loss, and the struggles and limitations of family life how to live together and apart, and maybe even escape the marriage plot entirely.Cunningham is one of our great American writers, and here is another masterpiece Read it and be changed' Andrew Sean Greer, author of LessTrade Review‘Michael Cunningham displays his great gift for creating memorable characters, for noticing the world in all its oddness and beauty, for writing about love and loss in tones that are both unsparing and tender. In this book, he also sharply and brilliantly captures contemporary New York’ Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn ‘Day is a novel about the collisions of love within our days. Michael Cunningham crafts a glorious sentence and at the same time he tells an achingly compelling story that speaks precisely to the times we live in. And it all flows so damn gorgeously that at times you just want to suspend the sacred day itself and hold it close, never let it, or the characters, go. A brilliant novel from our most brilliant of writers’ Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon ‘Cunningham, the perennial master of rendering the quotidian with a profound and deeply considered eye for human frailty, returns with a book that exemplifies the hallmarks of his style: lush, erudite, voracious in its seeking, and, like a true poet, remakes the world in his descriptions, freshened with care, compassion, and tinged with radiant heat of grief. What a quietly stunning achievement’ Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous ‘Cunningham is one of our great American writers, and here is another masterpiece. Day shows all his extraordinary gifts of epic sweep and intricate detail, lyrical language and plain hard words, memory and imagination, love and hope and loss. It does what only great books can do. Read it and be changed’ Andrew Sean Greer, author of Less ‘Few writers capture the crazy contradictions of modern life with as much clarity and wisdom as Michael Cunningham.Dayglows with beauty and energy; its characters slip off the page and into your life’ Tash Aw, author of We, the Survivors
£15.29
Abrams A Gift for a Ghost
Book SynopsisThe lives of two teenage girls living 160 years apart intertwine in this magical coming-of-age story . . . [an] evocative graphic novel. Publishers WeeklyAn untalented punk band and a parallel dimensionwhat could go wrong? In Borja González's stunning graphic novel, two parallel stories reflect and intertwine in a tale of youthful dreams and desires.In 1856, Teresa, a young aristocrat, is more interested in writing avant-garde horror poetry than making a suitable marriage. In 2016, three teenage girls, Gloria, Laura, and Cristina, want to start a punk band called the Black Holes. They have everything they need: attitude, looks, instinct . . . and an alarming lack of musical talent. They''ve barely started rehearsing when strange things begin to happen. As their world and Teresa''s intersect, they're haunted by the echo of something that happened 160 years ago.Elegantly crafted, with delicate cartooning and a brilliant autumnal color palette, GonzálTrade Review“Gonza´lez’s first full-length work delivers a quietly emotional evocation of the universal hopes and desires linking characters across centuries.” * Library Journal *“This thoughtful, graceful look into young women trying to find their place in the world may appeal to other adolescent, frustrated artists.” * Booklist *“A Gift for a Ghost is an uncommon fantasy that speaks to the perennial, difficult-to-verbalize issues that teenagers face.” * BookPage *“The story unfolds slowly and endearingly, and you find yourself drawn in to its air of mystery and magic.” * BookPage *“A Gift For A Ghost is the exact opposite of the way so many stories are told today… It’s about collaboration between the reader and the work and creating a personal experience from it, something that all the best creative works aspire to.” * The Comics Beat *
£17.09
Pan Macmillan One Summer
Book SynopsisOne Summer by bestselling author, David Baldacci, is a tender and absorbing portrait of a family rebuilding itself after being torn apart by grief.Now an Original Movie on Hallmark Movies & MysteriesWhen thirty-four-year-old ex-war veteran Jack Armstrong is told he has only weeks to live, his first concern is for his beloved wife Lizzie, and their children: baby Jackie, twelve-year-old would-be actor Cory and rebellious teenage daughter Mikki. It seems so cruel that an apparently fatal illness should claim him, a survivor of Afghanistan and Iraq, when he still has so much left to live for. On Christmas Eve, as Jack prepares to say goodbye to his family, unthinkable tragedy strikes again and Lizzie is killed in a car accident. Just when Jack thought living was far harder than dying, and the children's future looked so bleak, something remarkable happens which gives Jack the valuable second chance he'd only dreamed of. Unexpectedly, the family inherits Lizzie's beautiful childhood home on the oceanfront in South Carolina. During one unforgettable summer Jack and the children struggle to rebuild their lives. They learn to live again – and to love again. And they learn the biggest lesson of all – the importance of family.Trade Review[A] touching family story. * USA Today *Readers better have their hankies ready. * RT Book Reviews *[Fans] will find in these pages a good message and a big heart. * Washington Post *
£8.09
HarperCollins Publishers Dark Hollows
Book SynopsisWowzers, what a read I absolutely LOVED this book An unputdownable page turner of a read.' Ginger Book Geek, 5 starsJacob Reese enjoys the quiet life, running a coffee shop and renting out his cottage in The Hollows, Vermont.But the calm is shattered when a woman who looks eerily similar to his ex-girlfriend Laura turns up to stay in the cottage, and leaves a mysterious note in the guest book.Now Jacob's seeing Laura everywherea glimpse of her face across the street, her music box left outside his house, a gift he gave her years before hanging from the trees.But it can't be Laura. Because Laura's dead.Someone knows Jacob's secretwhat really happened the night Laura diedand they're out for revengeA gripping and twisted thriller. Fans of Gillian Flynn, Gregg Olsen and Mark Edwards will love Steve Frech.Readers LOVE Dark Hollows:Wow! This book just pulls you right in I couldn't put it down!' NetGalley reviewer, 5 starsOne of the best thrillers I've read this year.' NetGalley reviewer, 5 s
£8.54
Pan Macmillan The Promise
Book SynopsisThe Promise is a unforgettable story about finding love, hope and joy in even the darkest moments, by the Sunday Times bestseller Lucy Diamond, author of The Secrets of Happiness.'I loved The Promise' - Libby Page, author of The 24-Hour CaféWhen faced with the sudden death of his brother, Dan’s mission is clear. He puts together a project to help pick up the pieces and support his grieving sister-in-law Zoe, plus her young children. This is Dan’s promise - to ensure his family’s happiness, and to try and live up to the man his brother was.But tying up loose ends brings a shocking secret to light, and calls into question everything Dan knew about his older brother. With more than just his promise on the line, Dan is faced with an ultimatum: Should he tell the truth and risk his family’s fragile happiness, or will his brother’s secrets end up becoming his own?'A bittersweet, big-hearted take on family dynamics, grief, and how to make happiness a priority' - Woman and Home'This is Lucy Diamond at her very best - a stunning novel that will break your heart into little pieces and then glue it back together again with joy' - Milly Johnson'We couldn't put this down' - Bella'Family drama at its very best with characters that have you reaching out to them' - My WeeklyReal readers love The Promise:'I cried and laughed''It was a beautifully written book from start to finish. Each night I couldn't wait to read the next chapter.''I literally cannot put it down.'
£8.09
Pan Macmillan The Patchwork Girls
Book SynopsisThe Patchwork Girls by Elaine Everest is a moving story about the ties of friends and family, set during the turbulence of the Second World War.1939. 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?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
£7.59
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Daddy's Rainbow: A story about loss and grief
Book SynopsisErin’s daddy sees the colour in everything. Even on the greyest days, they put on their wellies and go splashing in puddles because, Daddy says, ‘We can’t see rainbows without rain!’ But what happens when the greyest day of all comes, and Daddy isn’t there any more? Can Erin learn to find colour in the world again? This deeply sensitive picture book about the loss of a parent is the ideal starting point for conversations about love, loss and learning to live again.Trade ReviewOne of the best best books for this age-range I have read on the topic of loss and grief. I won’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is needing to discuss this matter with their young one * NetGalley Reviewer *The perfect book to read to any child coping with loss ... [It] shows there is a path through the sadness of losing a loved one and how all the colours of the rainbow can once again shine in our hearts, minds and memories * INIS Magazine (Children's Books Ireland) *Ideal for those who may be suffering the loss of a loved one but equally valuable to all children. A perfect way to help build empathy * NetGalley Reviewer *A poignant story, beautifully told with care, love and a delicate touch * NetGalley Reviewer *A beautiful, heartbreaking book about losing a loved one, and how we can find the colour in the world after loss * Pen & inc. *A really beautiful, sensitive book about the pain of losing a parent and learning to live again * The Bookseller *
£6.99
HarperCollins Publishers The Stranger
Book SynopsisTo avoid disappointment please note this novel was previously titled THE GALLOWS BIRD. Scandinavian crime sensation and No. 1 international bestseller, Camilla Lackberg's fourth psychological thriller - for fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo NesboA local woman is killed in a tragic car crash. It's a strange accident the victim's blood contains high alcohol levels, but she rarely drank a drop. The case marks the end of a quiet winter for Detective Patrik Hedstrom.Meanwhile, a reality TV show begins shooting in the town, and as cameras shadow the stars' every move, tempers start to flare. When a drunken party ends with an unpopular contestant's murder, all eyes turn to the cast and crew could there be a murderer among them?The ratings spike as the country tunes in to a real life murder mystery. Under the unforgiving media spotlight, Patrik tackles his toughest investigation yetTrade ReviewPraise for Camilla Lackberg: ‘The hottest female writer in Sweden’ Independent ‘Heart-stopping and heart-warming … a masterclass in Scandinavian crime writing’ Val McDermid ‘Pacy … with flashing insight into the dark places of the psyche’ Sunday Times ‘Lackberg is an expert at mixing scenes of domestic cosiness with blood-curdling horror’ Guardian ‘Both chilling and thrilling’ Sun
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Zero K
Book SynopsisJeffrey Lockhart has been summoned to The Convergence: a remote and secret compound where death is exquisitely, cryogenically controlled.He is there to say goodbye to his stepmother, Artis, who has chosen to surrender her dying body; preserving it until a future time when biomedical advances and new technologies can return her to a life of transcendent promise. And his healthy father, Ross, might join her.Hypnotic and seductive, Don DeLillo's Zero K is a visionary novel about the legacies we leave, the nobility of death, and the ultimate worth of 'the mingled astonishments of our time, here, on earth.'Trade ReviewBoth beautiful and profound, certainly DeLillo's best since Underworld, it forces us to confront the spectre of our own mortality, to ask deep questions of our motives in wishing to prolong our span on Earth. We finish the novel with a sudden recognition of the kindness of death, the balm of a bounded life * Observer *DeLillo is one of urban life's most perceptive chroniclers * Independent *DeLillo's 16th novel takes a sanguine and, as usual, perceptive look at life as it is now, beset by wars, terrorism and the catastrophic results of climate change, and balances them against the beauty and joy that can be involved in being human * Daily Mail *Humanly moving . . . sentence by sentence brilliance of phrasing and cadence * Literary Review *A kind of greatest-hits compilation of earlier motifs and gestures * London Review of Books *Haunting. . . Simultaneously terrifying yet beautifully told with a real tenderness for the everyday details of life in New York. . . certainly not to be missed * GQ *Very moving . . . his optimism is a welcome gift in this intense and deeply considered book * Prospect *A visionary novel of ideas that remembers even visionary novels are read by living, breathing humans * Independent *As he approaches 80, Don DeLillo is still producing work that channels America's tensions. . . supple and sad and oddly compassionate too; his most fully realised work in more than a decade * Guardian *DeLillo's spare eloquence and the cosmic depression underlying it makes this emptiest of novels a rich reading experience * The Times *Time has done nothing to diminish this writer's casually epigraphic style, his daring narrative choreography nor his sensitivity to the swelling fears of our age . . . truly provocative' * The Washington Post *[DeLillo's] most persuasive [novel] since his astonishing 1997 masterpiece, Underworld . . . Zero K reminds us of Mr. DeLillo's almost Day-Glo powers as a writer and his understanding of the strange, contorted shapes that eternal human concerns (with mortality and time) can take in the new millennium' -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Brilliant in its imaginative scope * The Atlantic *Among DeLillo's finest work . . . DeLillo sneaks a heartbreaking story of a son attempting to reconnect with his father into his thought-provoking novel * Publishers Weekly *Sentence by sentence, DeLillo magically slips the knot of criticism and gives his readers what Nabokov maintained was all that mattered in life and art: individual genius. Sentence by sentence, DeLillo seduces . . . DeLillo has written a handful of the past half-century's finest novels. Now, as he approaches 80, he gives us one more, written distinctly for the 21st -- Joshua Ferris * New York Times *A return to full realization for DeLillo. . .Deserves to win old and new readers alike. A marvellous blend of DeLillo's enormous gifts; his bleak humour and edged insight, the alertness and vitality of his prose, the vast, poetic extrapolations are all evident. So is the visceral quickness and wit in the sentences -- Sam LipsyteAs ever, DeLillo explores the depths of an edgy, timely topic, completely resisting cliché, and emerges with something both fresh and universal * The Huffington Post *The reigning poet of unease, DeLillo has always understood the greatest disquiet — our mortality — and how our sense of it coats the surfaces of day-to-day life with a film, something DeLillo peels back at last in this bravura new novel about cryogenic life extension, family, and the losses we can’t overcome * Boston Globe *An eerie descent into a secret collective that seeks to elude death through cryonic freezing. It blends DeLillo's typical mix of introspection and creeping dread with something else — a menacing sense of the absurd, borrowed from Kafka. Combine this with a wry sense of humor and you've got a dive into the murky boundary between life and death that's as amusing as it is alarming * NPR *
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well Thank You Meet the
Book SynopsisAn exquisitely poignant tale of life, friendship and facing death Everyone should read this book'Ruth Hogan, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost ThingsUSA TODAY BESTSELLER*Shortlisted for the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year Award*Eudora''s beautifully-told story shows us how we can live and support others at all stages of life, value what matters most and suck the juice out of every day'Kathryn Mannix, Sunday Times bestselling author of With the End in MindWow definitely my book of the year in my all time top ten!' Reader reviewThis is undoubtedly one of the best books that I have read this year' Reader reviewEudora Honeysett is done with all of it. Having seen first-hand what a prolonged illness can create, the eighty-five-year-old has no intention of leaving things to chance. With one call to a clinic in Switzerland she takes her life into her own hands.But then ten-year-old Rose arrives in a riot of colour on her doorstep. Now, as precocious Rose takeTrade Review‘An exquisitely poignant tale of life, friendship and facing death. In the latter, the author dares to explore a subject that many shy away from, but she does so with touching sensitivity, gentle humour and absolute honesty. Eudora’s courage, dignity and wry sense of fun are beautifully drawn as she takes the reader on the heart-breaking yet ultimately uplifting journey of her life and death. Everyone should read this book’ Ruth Hogan, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things ‘Made me laugh out loud’ Sue ‘An incredibly uplifting book…made me read into the night’ Kerry ‘An absolute perfect read…I cannot speak highly enough of this book’ Maria ‘It celebrates life… a surprise in a book’ Angela ‘A beautifully written book and highly recommended’ Laura ‘The author writes with such inspiring words…Love this story’ Eileen ‘Emotional, moving, delightful’ Abby ‘A fantastic story of love and friendship which I recommend’ Christine
£10.44
Boom! Studios Animal Pound
Book SynopsisAn Orwellian masterpiece for the modern age, an Animal Farm for the 21st century!When animals grow tired of being caged and abused, it’s only a matter of time before they have nothing to lose but their cages… When an uprising puts a pound in control of the animals, they make quick comrades, united against everything that walks on two legs. But with this newfound power comes a sudden challenge: how best to lay the groundwork for this new democracy as they write their first constitution. The conditions are ripe for a dictator, primed for instating a new system of brutality and death. When two groups of animals work together will their efforts be enough to prevent further animal authoritarianism? Discover a timely graphic storytelling event from celebrated New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-winning writer Tom King (The Human Target, Love Everlasting) and New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-nominated artist Peter Gross (American Jesus, The Books of Magic), collaborating for the first time ever to bring this enduring Orwellian allegory to life for the 21st Century. Collects Animal Pound #1-5.
£20.90
HarperCollins Publishers The Verdict The most gripping crime thriller you
Book SynopsisA cheating wife. An estranged mother. But is she guilty of murder?Please raise your right hand.An affair at work has cost Julia Winter her job and her marriage. There's no denying she has let her family down.Please remain standing.When a body is discovered on the North Downs, it hits local headlines. But for Julia, the news is doubly shocking because the body was buried just opposite the house she lived in over twenty years ago. And it is one of her former housemates.Please resume your seat.Up on the stand, Julia's not the only person to have secrets that are unearthed during the trial. But the evidence against her is overwhelming.And yet one question remains: is she the murderer, or the victim?Jurors, you may be excused.Readers, what is your verdict?A gripping thriller perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Claire McGowan and Lucinda BerryWhat others are saying about The Verdict:LOVED LOVED LOVED this!!' Reader reviewWHAM! I got knocked for a loop! Excellent setup which led to a great ploTrade Review PRAISE FOR OLIVIA ISAAC-HENRY ‘An excellent debut with a sinister sting. Reveals and plot twists delivered so skilfully that you won’t know who to trust.’ Mel Sherratt ‘Someone You Know is such a compelling, page-turning read – full of secrets, intrigue, and twists. Isaac-Henry has created a wonderful cast of characters – I doubted almost all of them, but how wrong I was. Highly recommended.’ Elisabeth Carpenter ‘The first page hooked me, the brilliant writing, fabulous characters and tight plot reeled me in, and the skilfully revealed twists kept me enthralled until the final page.’ Sam Carrington ‘Someone You Know is a tale that evokes the well-used phrase ‘a page turner’ but manages to do so without compromising on language or intelligence. Very well-written with an original plot that kept me guessing till the end. Isaac-Henry has a unique voice and brings a thoroughly fresh perspective to the crime novel genre. Heartily recommended. Can't wait for her next offering.’ Syd Moore ‘Olivia Isaac-Henry very skillfully leads her readers a macabre dance into the heart of a community and family where everyone has their secrets … I would highly recommend this tightly-plotted, clever debut.’ NetGalley reviewer ‘Dark, twisted, creepy, atmospheric, engaging, unputdownable brilliance. Read this book in 2019. I implore you.’ NetGalley reviewer ‘An intense, creepy and pacy thriller.’ NetGalley reviewer ‘A must-read for any fan of mystery, murder, and twists that you don’t see coming!’ NetGalley reviewer ‘A creepy tale that had me hooked from the opening pages and held me right up until the final paragraph.’ NetGalley reviewer ‘This story peels back in layers to reveal the truth about what really happened to Edie. A gripping story that has a couple of surprises.’ NetGalley reviewer
£11.07
HarperCollins Publishers STOLEN CHILDREN A gripping and addictive new
Book SynopsisShe is the perfect heroine' Elly GriffithsThe addictive new crime thriller featuring DCI Matilda Darke. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons.DCI Matilda Darke is going places' James OswaldSome cases won't die.A young boy walks into a police station in France. He claims to be Carl Meagan a missing child from Sheffield whose name is still whispered as a warning to kids who stay out after dark.Some children won't be found.On her way home from the supermarket, nine-year-old Keeley Armitage vanishes without trace. Her family is overcome with shock and DCI Matilda Darke can't help but focus on memories of the Carl Meagan case that almost ruined her career.Some killers won't be stopped.As Matilda investigates, she peels back the layers of grief and sadness that surround Keeley's family. Until she is left with an unimaginable choice: betray those closest to her or let a violent killer walk freeTrade ReviewPraise for Michael Wood: ‘A tense, nail-biting story with a truly twisted ending’ Katerina Diamond “An established master of the serial killer novel takes us on another dangerous journey through the streets of Sheffield. Watch out for those twists – you won't see them coming!” Stephen Booth ‘A gritty and atmospheric thriller with more twists and turns than a hangman's knot. I loved it’ Matt Hilton ‘Solid storytelling and great unravelling of plot. Michael Wood ups the pace as the noose tightens’ Rachel Sargeant ‘Taut, twisting and sharp as a blade, The Hangman’s Hold wrong-footed me at every, devious turn’ Chris Whitaker 'Wood hit the ground running with For Reasons Unknown, first in the DCI Matilda Darke series. In the fourth instalment, The Hangman's Hold, he picks up the pace again with a twisting plot that races to a nail-biting finish’ Chris Simms ‘Bites into you like the rough twine of a hangman’s noose and refuses to let go. Tautly plotted, brilliantly realised, this is further proof that Michael Wood is only going to get better and better. The Hangman’s Hold is going to be big…’ Neil Broadfoot Praise for Michael Wood: ‘You can count on Michael Wood to deliver a deliciously twisted and intriguing plot, leading to a surprise ending by a likeable and very real protagonist, Matilda Darke’ Yrsa Sigurdardottir ‘She is the perfect heroine’ Elly Griffiths ‘A pitch-black concept, tightly delivered and played at exhilarating pace’ Paul Finch ‘Crackling dialogue, dark wit and an exciting ending. Recommended if you liked Happy Valley’ Mark Edwards ‘DCI Matilda Darke is going places’ James Oswald ‘A compelling, addictive read, it’s hard to put down. I really enjoyed getting to know DCI Matilda Darke. She's strong character with real depth’ Robert Bryndza, bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE ICE ‘A beautifully written book with a dark heart and a secret that impacts on generations’ Sarah Ward
£999.99
HarperCollins Publishers Out of Sight Dont miss the next gripping DCI
Book SynopsisA cracker of a page-turner Highly recommended' Neil Lancaster, bestselling author of Dead Man's GraveHis biggest mistake was trusting someone he shouldn't haveWhen a body is found abandoned under a bridge, teeth and fingerprints removed, DCI Warren Jones and his team have little to go on. And once they finally identify the victim, the case doesn't get any easier.Estranged from his family but desperate to reconnect, the victim led a solitary life apart from secretive liaisons with a series of partners he met online. Could one of them be guilty of his murder? Or does the truth lie closer to home?The more Warren digs, the murkier the picture becomes re-written family wills, sabotaged CCTV footage and black-market deals are just the beginning. Only one thing is for sure: whoever was behind the brutal murder, they carefully won the trust of their victim before ending his lifeA thrilling police procedural, perfect for fans of Peter James and Peter Robinson.Readers LOVE Out of Sight!Engros
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Lake
Book SynopsisThe truth lies just beneath the surfaceKate''s world falls apart when her teenage son drowns in the waters by his school. She's convinced it wasn't just a tragic accident, but no one will listen.Then, six years later,Kate unearths Michael's lost diary and realises she may finally be able uncover what really happened that night.But as she delves deeper, she begins to realise that she didn't really know her son or the people in his life at all. And that, sometimes, secrets are better left submergedAn absorbing, emotionally-charged and addictive page-turner that will keep you gripped into the dark hours, perfect for fans of Linda Green and Teresa Driscoll.Readers love The Lake:Atmospheric, unsettling, and gripping, Louise is clearly a fresh new talent to the genre' Phoebe Morgan, author of The BabysitterOne of the best debut novels I have read compelling, claustrophobic and captivating' Katerina Diamond, author of The Heatwave''An intelligent and thought-provoking story that combines pTrade Review‘Atmospheric, unsettling, and gripping, Louise is clearly a fresh new talent to the genre’ Phoebe Morgan, author of The Babysitter ‘One of the best debut novels I have read – compelling, claustrophobic and captivating’ Katerina Diamond, author of The Heatwave 'An intelligent and thought-provoking story that combines psychological thrills with the heartfelt emotions of a grieving mother, with a great cast of characters, this book is highly recommended’ Louise Douglas, author of The House by the Sea ‘This was a great book to read, it had all the twists and turns in it which kept me guessing right until the end.’ Reviewer ‘A compelling emotional journey of a mother determined to get the truth. Absolutely amazing read, highly recommended.’ Reviewer ‘I stayed up all night to read this. I will need a lot of coffee soon. Help me.’ Reviewer ‘I am already eager from a new book from this author. She has been added to my auto buy list.’ Reviewer ‘The ultimate denouement is a breath-taking climax to an original and compelling read.’ Reviewer ‘The Lake easily made it onto my Loved list for 2021.’ Reviewer ‘Believable characters and author shows great insight into the tragic death of the young boy in the book.’ Reviewer ‘This was such a tense suspenseful book! It had me hooked from get go. The characters were raw… Felt what Kate was feeling and I just love that in a book!’ Reviewer ‘The plot develops beautifully, unfolding piece by piece and you really feel you’re on the voyage of discovering, taking the highs and lows with her. Stunning and a book that will stay with me for a long time.’ Reviewer ‘I will be looking out for more of Louise's books as this one was a brilliant psychological thriller.’ Reviewer
£11.07
HarperCollins Publishers Whisper Island
Book SynopsisDon't miss the gripping new page-turning thriller from the USA Today bestseller!It was the perfect escapeUntil one by one they vanishedFor friends Riley, Sam, Mia and Scarlett, their trip to Whisper Island, Alaska, was meant to be a once in a lifetime adventure just four young women, with everything to live forBut as soon as they arrive things start to go wrong. First there is the unexpected arrival of Sammy's drug addict brother and his girlfriend Opal why are they here?And then the deaths begin.As the dream trip quickly turns into a nightmare, suspicion is high. Are they really alone on the island? Or is there a killer hiding in the shadows?And as each of the girls reveals a dark secret of their own, perhaps the truth is the killer is closer than they thinkjust a whisper awayReaders can't stop raving about Whisper Island:This five-star read had my heart poundingI was completely shocked at the ending' NormaThe girls all had secrets and they twisted around the story perfectly. I loveTrade Review“Reminiscent of Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects, MY SISTER IS MISSING is a beautifully haunting story that dives beneath the surface and tackles tough issues, all while weaving together a compelling tale of the disappearance of a loved one and returning home to face one’s demons." Christina Kaye, award-winning author of PRESUMED DEAD ‘A craftsman of the novel world. This book is a fine example of why reading is the perfect form of escapism. Edge of your seat thriller action’ 5* Karen Whittard, Netgalley ‘Had me on the edge of my seat’ 5* Tracy Cavanah, Netgalley ‘The most gripping novel with the perfect amount of mystery and thrill…the ending is great!’ 5* Cloud of Thoughts Blog ‘A well-written, fast-paced thriller that is packed full of twists and turns, mystery and suspense. I was hooked from the very first page … Worth far more than five stars’ Nicki’s Life of Crime Blog ‘Takes a heavily used plot line and puts a fresh spin on it’ Rosemary Smith, Netgalley
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Time Is Running Out A gripping and addictive new
Book SynopsisThis is a total BOOM BOOM POW! of a bookBudge up Jed Mercurio when you are done working on Line of Duty I think it is time for you to meet Matilda' LJ, Read and Rated Book Review BlogExcellent plotting. The twists keep on coming making this an irresistible read' Michael J. Malone, author of A Song of IsolationYou're a survivor, aren't you, Matilda? But what's the point in surviving when everyone around you is dead?When DCI Matilda Darke receives a mysterious telephone call, she immediately dismisses the threat. Afterall the Homicide and Major Enquiries team are a regular target for prank calls.But ignoring this warning might soon be the biggest regret of Matilda Darke's life.A lone gunman is on a deadly rampage around Sheffield, leaving a bloody trail in his wake. Taking his shots with a sickening precision, he's about to leave his mark on the world and change Matilda and her team's lives forever.The next chilling instalment in the DCI Matilda Darke thriller series, perfect for fans ofTrade ReviewPraise for Michael Wood: ‘A tense, nail-biting story with a truly twisted ending’ Katerina Diamond “An established master of the serial killer novel takes us on another dangerous journey through the streets of Sheffield. Watch out for those twists – you won't see them coming!” Stephen Booth ‘A gritty and atmospheric thriller with more twists and turns than a hangman's knot. I loved it’ Matt Hilton ‘Solid storytelling and great unravelling of plot. Michael Wood ups the pace as the noose tightens’ Rachel Sargeant ‘Taut, twisting and sharp as a blade, The Hangman’s Hold wrong-footed me at every, devious turn’ Chris Whitaker 'Wood hit the ground running with For Reasons Unknown, first in the DCI Matilda Darke series. In the fourth instalment, The Hangman's Hold, he picks up the pace again with a twisting plot that races to a nail-biting finish’ Chris Simms ‘Bites into you like the rough twine of a hangman’s noose and refuses to let go. Tautly plotted, brilliantly realised, this is further proof that Michael Wood is only going to get better and better. The Hangman’s Hold is going to be big…’ Neil Broadfoot Praise for Michael Wood: ‘You can count on Michael Wood to deliver a deliciously twisted and intriguing plot, leading to a surprise ending by a likeable and very real protagonist, Matilda Darke’ Yrsa Sigurdardottir ‘She is the perfect heroine’ Elly Griffiths ‘A pitch-black concept, tightly delivered and played at exhilarating pace’ Paul Finch ‘Crackling dialogue, dark wit and an exciting ending. Recommended if you liked Happy Valley’ Mark Edwards ‘DCI Matilda Darke is going places’ James Oswald ‘A compelling, addictive read, it’s hard to put down. I really enjoyed getting to know DCI Matilda Darke. She's strong character with real depth’ Robert Bryndza, bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE ICE ‘A beautifully written book with a dark heart and a secret that impacts on generations’ Sarah Ward
£999.99
HarperCollins Publishers Want You Dead
Book SynopsisLeft me begging for more.' NetGalley reviewer, ?????The back yard is full of balloons and streamers, and a piñata hangs from a tree branch, circling lazily in the breeze. But beneath the table of party food, a body lies half-covered by a brightly coloured tablecloth, blood seeping onto the floorA child's birthday party ends in chaos when one of the parents is found brutally beaten to death. With no way for anyone to leave unnoticed, it's clear the killer must be another guest, but with twenty high-spirited children as a distraction, anyone might have had the opportunity to slip away from the rest of the party.Detective Meredith Somerset soon discovers the victim had no shortage of enemies, and everyone has a potential motive. Fractured marriages, jealousy and betrayals all come to light but Meredith can't seem to cut through the lies and find the truth.When another party-goer disappears Meredith knows the clock is ticking before the killer strikes again. But when everyone has a motive, how can she be sure who was the one who struck the fatal blow? Who is innocentand who is out for blood?A gripping thriller you won't be able to put down, this is perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh.Readers LOVE Want You Dead!Steve Frech does it again! A gripping, chilling, intense, thrilling and absorbing story that I didn't want to put down!' NetGalley reviewer, ?????Fast-paced I can''t stop thinking about the ending.' NetGalley reviewer, ?????Another great read by Steve Frech! I could barely put this book down There were so many twists and turns I highly recommend this thrilling detective series to all fans of thrillers. You won''t be disappointed!' NetGalley reviewer, ?????Awesome I loved it very much.' NetGalley reviewer, ?????A twisty road of lies, deception, and vengeance One of the very best parts of Frech's books are the characters. They are perfectly flawed and each fighting their own demons.' NetGalley reviewer, ?????
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The Seaside Cocktail Campervan Escape with the
Book SynopsisBringing love, laughter and friendship from coast to coast*The new heartwarming and cosy romance from Caroline Roberts the perfect seaside escape!*Next stop: seaside, sunshine and romance!When Lucy isn't in her cosy cottage by the sea, she's winding through the Northumberland coast with her loveable Dachsund Daisy, cooking up a storm at the local village celebrations. Inspired by her Italian Poppa, Lucy's chasing a new dream with her pizza van business. And at one particular party she meets Jack, the brooding but gorgeous owner of the Cocktail Campervan.Wary of repeating mistakes of the past, Lucy and Jack keep it strictly business. But as the summer drifts by in a swirl of garden parties, fun and fizz, and as the cocktail campervan creates the community they so desperately need, romance starts to blossom one stop at a timeReaders love escaping with The Seaside Cocktail Campervan!:Just the most gorgeous book, really summery, romantic and heartwarming' Netgalley reviewerTHIS BOOK! I aTrade ReviewPraise for Caroline Roberts’ gorgeously heartwarming novels: ‘Pure comfort – warmth and cosiness exude from every page’ Woman ‘Cosy and uplifting – a real treat!’ Debbie Johnson ‘Family, friendships, farming and fabulous food’ Heidi Swain ‘Warm, romantic, emotional . . . gave me ALL of the feels. A truly lovely read’ Carmel Harrington
£7.59
HarperCollins Publishers The Waves Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.There was a star riding through clouds one night, and I said to the star, Consume me'Six friends traverse the uneven road of life together in Virginia Woolf's most unconventional classic. Bernard, Jinny, Louis, Neville, Rhoda and Susan first meet as children by the sea, and their lives are forever changed.A poetic novel written in a lyrical way only Woolf could master, these narrators face both triumph and tragedy that touches them all. Throughout their lives, they examine the relationship between past and present, and the meaning of life itself.A landmark of innovative fiction and the most experimental of Virginia Woolf's novels, The Waves is still regarded as one of the greatest works ever written in the English language.
£7.59
Penguin Books Ltd Poems and Readings for Funerals
Book SynopsisWords of sadness and loss, comfort and consolationSummoning the words to express our feelings of loss for a loved one in the days following a death can feel almost impossible. And often the choice of readings available can seem daunting.Poems and Readings for Funerals is a carefully curated collection of the very wisest words about death by some of the world''s greatest poets, thinkers, playwrights and novelists.Featuring beautifully and thoughtfully written poems, prose extracts and prayers, these readings have been chosen to move and console, sympathize and relieve - to bring everyone attending a funeral or memorial closer together.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Everything is Teeth
Book SynopsisEvie Wyld was a girl obsessed with sharks. Spending summers in the brutal heat of coastal New South Wales, she fell for the creatures. Their teeth, their skin, their eyes; their hunters and their victims. Everything is Teeth is a delicate and intimate collection of the memories she brought home to England, a book about family, love and the irresistible forces that pass through life unseen, under the surface, ready to emerge at any point.Trade ReviewA visual memoir with beautifully drawn illustrations by Joe Sumner. -- Danuta Kean * Independent on Sunday *Its minute observations and most unsettling moments stayed with me, like a shark tooth kept in a pocket, a souvenir of someone else’s life. -- Charlotte Runcie, 4 stars * Telegraph *It is remarkable how an autobiographical – I stress this – book can enact a movement away from the self and become the repository of so much humility. -- Neel Mukherjee * Independent *Wyld tells the story of her obsession and fascination with the shark, and charts the undercurrents, tensions and joys of family life. Model-maker Joe Sumner’s illustrations, full of tension and grace, are a haunting accompaniment. -- Louise Gorrod * Simple Things *Sumner’s wondrous art is a perfect visual correlative to Wyld’s spare lyricism. * i *
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd joinedupwriting
Book Synopsis''The patron saint of poetry'' Carol Ann Duffy''McGough is a true original and more than one generation would be much the poorer without him'' The Times_______________For fifty years, Roger McGough has delighted readers with poetry that is at once playful and poignant, intimate and universal. In his latest collection, he explores the whole gamut of the human experience, from forgotten friendships and family life, to the trauma of war and contemporary politics, wittily showing us who we are in all our shades of light and dark. _______________''McGough has done for poetry what champagne does for weddings'' Time out ''Memorable and enduring and fresh. Age has not withered [his lines] nor diminished their potency. Of how much modern poetry can you say that?'' Sunday Herald ''McGough''s trademarks: the craft worn as lightly as the crown, the jokes that are something more, the underlying heartache, the acute sense of the way time slips away'' Poetry ReviewTrade ReviewHe is a true original and more than one generation would be much the poorer without him—The TimesMemorable and enduring and fresh. Age has not withered [his lines] nor diminished their potency. Of how much modern poetry can you say that?—Sunday HeraldMcGough's trademarks: the craft worn as lightly as the crown, the jokes that are something more, the underlying heartache, the acute sense of the way time slips away—Poetry Review
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Safety in Numbers
Book SynopsisThis is not the time for adultery.Your lover will fail to be impressed,not so much by the face maskand stale musk of sanitizing gel,but your flouting of the rules.At once funny and moving, Safety in Numbers is the new collection from the nation''s favourite poet. Traversing new yet timeless terrain with his signature wit and intimacy, Roger McGough brings to life the very strangeness of our timesFrom lost tongues and violins to rising oceans, from adulterers in lockdown to ghosts in line, we may live in dark times and yet find ourselves laughing. From surprising angles and with unexpected voices, McGough, ''a trickster you can trust'', reveals the telling moments of our lives._______________PRAISE FOR ROGER MCGOUGH''A witty and ingenious chronicler of British life with a deftness and agility that is hard to beat'' Poetry Society''The patron saint of poetry'' Trade ReviewSparky, thoughtful, inventive, and fun, it's also the mix of these qualities that makes this a fantastic collection * Buzz Magazine *This slim volume is a joy, packed with wry observation, vim and wit that deftly captures the spirit of these strange times we inhabit. Journeying through topical subjects, from rising oceans and adultery in lockdown to seaside staycations and an ode to Laura Kuenssberg, poet Roger McGough has a keen eye for the magical moments within the mundanities of modern life * Herald *Probably the best-known contemporary poet in the country, Roger McGough still tours his brand of zany takes on British culture . . . Safety in Numbers runs with several themes, including the pandemic, how to write poems and even being a narrator and voice-over artist. . . . [with] a lot of characteristically clever imagery and wordplay, such as in Warning Signs, a list of aphorisms, "Time to hit the road? You stumble, hit the road". * Expert Reviews, Best Poetry Books for 2022 *McGough is a true original and more than one generation would be much the poorer without him * The Times *McGough has done for poetry what champagne does for weddings * Time Out *Memorable and enduring and fresh. Age has not withered [his lines] nor diminished their potency. Of how much modern poetry can you say that? * Sunday Herald, on ‘joinedupwriting’ *McGough's trademarks: the craft worn as lightly as the crown, the jokes that are something more, the underlying heartache, the acute sense of the way time slips away * Poetry Review, on ‘joinedupwriting’ *The patron saint of poetry * Carol Ann Duffy *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Forgive Me
Book SynopsisDiscover the intense and gripping story of a daughter uncovering her mother''s secret past from the international bestseller Lesley PearseEva''s life was secure, until the death of her mother changed everything.For when Flora leaves Eva a London artist''s studio in her will, she finds her mother had a secret past.In the studio''s attic are Flora''s paintings and diaries, and Eva learns her mother was a popular artist in the swinging sixties. Eva''s hunt for answers uncovers clues to a shocking crime which led Flora to hide her past.But will discovering the truth destroy Eva''s belief in everything she holds dear?And will this journey lead her and those she loves into danger?___________''Engrossing and emotional, it''s another winner from Lesley Pearse'' Woman''s Own''I absolutely loved this book. The characters are likeable and the writing is always brilliant'' SunTrade ReviewLesley Pearse, No. 1 UK bestselling author of Dead to Me and The Woman in the Wood, brings Forgive Me, a compelling story of a daughter uncovering her mother's secret past.Eva Patterson's life is forever altered by the devastating discovery of her mother, Flora, dead in the bath leaving only a note: 'Forgive Me'. * from the publisher's description *Storytelling at its very best * Daily Mail *I absolutely loved it. The characters are likeable and the writing is always brilliant * Sun *Intriguing, heart-tugging, beautifully written * Closer *Engrossing and emotional, it's another winner from Lesley Pearse * Woman's Own *An addictive tear-jerker with characters you'll adore, laugh with and cry for * Bella *Evocative, compelling, told from the heart * Sunday Express *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Trick to Time
Book Synopsis''There''s a trick to time. You can make it expand or you can make it contract. Make it shorter or make it longer . . .''Some moments you want to last forever. Some moments shape a life. For Mona, it''s the joy of playing on a Wexford beach as a young girl, next to her family''s cottage overlooking the Irish sea. The thrill of moving to Birmingham with a new job and a room of her own in a busy boarding-house. Meeting the love of her life; a whirlwind marriage; a sudden, tragic loss. But now, decades later, Mona is determined to find happiness before it''s too late. She knows that every moment is precious. But can we ever let go of the past that shaped us?''Devastatingly emotional. De Waal''s storytelling gives us the poetry and sorrow of life itself'' Financial Times ''Weaving tragedy and joy, big themes and the minutiae of life, this is a love story to take on the classics'' Emerald Street''An emotionally sure-handed novel exploring harrowing terrain with deft sensitivity'' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewTender with a fierce undercurrent of tension and heartbreak -- Jane Shemilt, bestselling author of 'Daughter'The "trick to time" is that it can expand or contract at will, and in creating a mature heroine with decades of history, De Waal has herself performed a feat of skilful comprehension * Guardian Review *[An] emotionally sure-handed novel exploring harrowing terrain with deft sensitivity * Sunday Times *Moving and enlightening * Independent *A beautifully written, exquisitely crafted story of love, grief and the quiet courage it takes to survive great loss * S Magazine *A beautiful book -- Andrew MarrAn aching tale of love and loss * Stylist *Excellent. The novel's ending will leave you reeling * Daily Mail *An unforgettable tale of grief and life-long love * Woman's Own *The Trick to Time starts gently and ratchets up the emotional intensity until you're ugly crying into your pillow * Sunday Times *Weaving tragedy and joy, big themes and the minutiae of life, this is a love story to take on the classics * Emerald Street *It's slight but engaging. The style is simple yet artful * Evening Standard *A story that's full of care; even in its saddest moments it is tender and kind. It feels like a book about all the best parts of being human, about family and friendship, and the way that loss only hurts the way it does because it's grounded in love. -- S K PerryThese distillations of everyday life have all the beauty of a finely crafted life drawing * Financial Times *A warm and endearing book about learning to live again * Good Housekeeping *The Trick to Time proves that Kit de Waal is a writer destined for even greater things * Red *
£8.54
Little, Brown Book Group Deep Down
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 and hard-hitting look at both the struggles and the joys of sibling relationships, and the realities of grieving the loss of someone who was already an absence.Trade 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 SudjicI read Deep Down in one go, staying up late to finish it. West-Knights takes the tradition of the British family novel - with all its resentment, over-drinking and passive aggression - and transcends it: Deep Down is funny, sad, tender and hopeful. A fantastic bookAs 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 *I read Deep Down in one go, staying up late to finish it. West-Knights takes the tradition of the British family novel - with all its resentment, over-drinking and passive aggression - and transcends it: Deep Down is funny, sad, tender and hopeful. A fantastic book. * Yara Rodrigues Fowler *
£13.49
Canongate Books Best Laid Plans 1 A Nora Best mystery 1
Book SynopsisIn the first of a new mystery series, we meet Nora Best as she flees her old life - cheating husband and all - and takes to the road with an Airstream trailer. Nora Best is the envy of her friends. She''s just turned fifty and has traded in her home with The Perfect-Ass Husband for an Airstream trailer and an adventure of a lifetime across the US. But during their leaving party, Nora finds her husband in a compromising position with a friend. Storming out of the party she jumps into her truck with no idea how to tow the Airstream or where she''s going. Nora ends up in a campground in the mountains of Wyoming, drowning her sorrows with its managers, Brad and Miranda. When she is woken by a frantic Miranda after Brad has disappeared and bloodstains have been found around the campsite, Nora finds herself caught up in an adventure she could never have expected . . . facing a charge of murder.
£19.94
Little, Brown Book Group The Guardian
Book SynopsisSwept off your feet and into a nightmare . . . A powerful blend of love story, betrayal and obsession, The Guardian is written with electrifying intensity, playing with your emotions at every turn.Widowed at a young age, Julie understands the pain that comes with love and has avoided romance for a long time. As she eases herself back into the dating scene, her eye is caught by the darkly sophisticated Richard, as he begins a passionate pursuit of her affections. But she is still confused by her feelings for best friend Mike: funny, loyal, but definitely not sophisticated.A seemingly innocent choice sets off a deadly chain of events that leaves Julie fighting for her life, as jealousy simmers into murderous desire.Trade ReviewAchingly moving ... will have you weeping for the joy and tragedy of it all Daily Mail A page-turner ... Sparks's fans won't be disappointed Glamour We have a soft spot for Nicholas Sparks ... his stories are a reminder of the man we wish our boyfriends could be Heat Definitely one to read with a box of tissues handy The Times
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co Maya
Book SynopsisA mysterious novel by the author of the international bestseller SOPHIE''S WORLD.A chance meeting on the Fijian island of Taveuni is the trigger for a fascinating and mysterious novel that intertwines the stories of John Spooke, an English author who is grieving for his dead wife; Frank Andersen, a Norwegian evolutionary biologist estranged from his wife Vera; and an enigmatic Spanish couple, Ana and Jose, who are absorbed in their love for each other. Why does Ana bear such a close resemblance to the model for Goya''s famous Maja paintings? What is the significance of the Joker as he steps out of his pack of cards? As the action moves from Fiji to Spain, from the present to the past, unfolding further stories within the stories, the novel reveals an astonishing richness and complexity. As bold and imaginative in its sweep as Sophie''s World, it shows again that Jostein Gaarder''s unique and special gift is to make us wonder at the awe-inspiring mystery of the unive
£9.49
Octopus Publishing Group Sudden Loss Slow Grieving
Book SynopsisA heartbreaking grief memoir, One Thousand Days and One Cup of Tea uncovers the process of healing from a personal and psychological view, written by a bereaved clinical psychologist Vanessa's husband Paul died suddenly and tragically on their regular Sunday morning swim. This is a raw narrative of how she found a way to move forward for her teenage children, their dilapidated home and the patients who all need her. Beautifully written and honestly relayed, the book dives into the aftermath of death, the painful reminders, the heartwarming moments and how to endure the pain of loss. 'This book is about a period of great loss in my life, a time when the tables were completely turned on me. I was a qualified therapist who suddenly found myself needing psychological therapy. I was a trained researcher who became my own research subject, as I tried to make sense of what was happening to me. I was an experienced manager who now struggled to manage the events taking place in my own life. Yet, throughout all this turmoil, my patients were always there, in the background, reminding me that there are many different ways to deal with loss and trauma and search for a way forwards.' Vanessa Moore
£10.44
Abrams How I Learned to Hate in Ohio
Book SynopsisTrade Review“A sharp debut...observant and piercing set pieces about suburban malaise and economic drift punctuated with starker themes... MacLean distinguishes himself with his voice — that is, Barry's voice, at first sarcastic and distant, then earnest and ultimately heartbroken.” * Minneapolis Star-Tribune *“MacLean has mastered the tones of striving diffidence in his teen characters as their worlds fall apart at home with badly behaving adults, anger simmers below the surface of daily life, and racial violence erupts. How I Learned to Hate in Ohio becomes not only a finely observed novel but one with a deep social conscience.” * National Book Review *
£15.19
Pan Macmillan Tell the Wolves Im Home
Book SynopsisHaunting and heart-wrenching, Tell the Wolves I'm Home is a tender story of love lost and found.1987, New York City. There's only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that's her uncle, the renowned painter, Finn Weiss; he is her godfather, confident, and best friend. So when he dies far too young of a mysterious illness, June's world is turned upside down.But Finn's death brings a surprise acquaintance into June's life. At the funeral, she notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd, and a few days later, June receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn's apartment, and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet.A the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she's not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he might just be the one she needs theTrade ReviewA bittersweet tale of unrequited love, faily portraits, and uncovered secrets. * Marie Claire *
£8.54
Pan Macmillan Nine Lives: Escape with a sparkling story of
Book SynopsisNine Lives is a thought-provoking story of lost love and new beginnings, by the number one bestseller Danielle Steel.After a carefree childhood, Maggie Kelly came of age in the shadow of grief. Her father, a pilot, died when she was nine. Maggie saw her mother struggle to put their lives back together. As the family moved from one city to the next, her mother warned her about daredevil men and to avoid risk at all cost. Following her mother’s advice, and forgoing the magic of first love with a high-school boyfriend who she thought too wild, Maggie married a good, dependable man. Together they had a son and found happiness in a conventional suburban life – until tragedy struck again. Now on her own, feeling a sense of adventure for the first time, Maggie decides to face her fears, setting off on a whirlwind trip from the US to Rome, Paris, London and Monaco. But when her travels reconnect her with the irresistible, thrill-seeking man she’s spent thirty years trying to forget, Maggie is terrified that rushing into love and sharing his life may end in disaster. But while Maggie tries to outrun her fears and painful memories, fate will surprise her in the most astounding of ways, as she walks the tightrope between danger and courage, and between wisdom and love.
£8.54
Pan Macmillan If I Let You Go: The Heartbreaking, Shocking
Book SynopsisA Richard and Judy Book Club pick, If I Let You Go is a darkly comic tale of searing loss, coercive control and the consequences of taking the wrong path.'Simultaneously tragic and uplifting . . . Charlotte Levin is SUCH a clever writer' - Ruth Jones, author of Love UntoldEvery morning, Janet Brown goes to work cleaning offices. It calms her – cleanliness, neatness. All the things she’s unable to do with her soul can be achieved with a damp cloth and a splash of bleach. However the guilt she still carries, about a devastating loss that happened eleven years ago, cannot be erased.When Janet finds herself involved in a train crash, she recognizes her chance to do what she couldn’t all those years ago. And she makes a decision. As news spreads of Janet’s actions, her story inspires everyone around her and, for the first time, her life has purpose. Her future is filled with hope.But Janet's story isn't quite what it seems. And, as events spiral out of control, she soon discovers that coming clean isn't an option. Because if Janet washes away the lies, what long-buried truths will she finally have to face?If I Let You Go by Charlotte Levin is a deeply moving and compelling portrayal of a woman coming to terms with loss.Trade ReviewA gripping story. My heart was in my mouth! -- Ruth Jones, author of Love UntoldHeartrending and surprising, with an very believable protagonist, this is a tale of loss, grief, abuse and fractured relationships. A tremendously moving second novel from Charlotte Levin. * Culturefly *Exploring grief and guilt, this thriller is an easy page turner. Heartfelt but with a dark streak. * Heat *Levin's debut If I Can't Have You was a must-read and this new book is just as addictive. * Good Housekeeping *A moving portrait of a coercive marriage that will have you gripped to see if Janet will break free * Women & Home *A thoughtful, beautifully written book about grief, and ordinary people being thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Unusual and compelling, with just a touch of humour. Loved it -- Catherine Cooper author of The Chalet and The CruiseImpossible to put down, this is a darkly brilliant novel that balances the heartbreak with the humour. -- Louise Hare, bestselling author of This Lovely CityPowerful, hard-hitting, provoking -- L.V. Matthews, bestselling author of The Twins and The PrankTremendously powerful. Nobody writes quite like Charlotte Levin. It's at once uplifting and heartbreaking; excruciating and inspiring. She captures the essence of her characters like no other writer I know. A brilliant achievement. -- Emma Christie, bestselling author of Find Her First and The Silent DaughterWhat a treat this book is. There hasn't been a protagonist who has got under my skin in such a big way since Eleanor Oliphant. I rooted for Janet from the first page, and in all her sadness and shyness, wanted the best for her. Beautifully observed and tender, this is a story of redemption, of loss and survival, full of twists and turns, and with a big northern heart pulsing throughout -- Julie Hesmondhalgh, from The Pact, Broadchurch and Coronation StreetI loved If I Let You Go. It is beautifully written, stark yet redemptive — moving, hopeful, powerful and wonderfully human. Charlotte Levin is the queen of complex narrators. I feel like I’ve known Janet all my life. -- Caroline Hulse, author of All the Fun of the FairUtterly gripping, almost unbearably poignant yet warm, wise and full of hope - a story I'll remember for a long time. -- Frances Quinn bestselling author of The Smallest ManCharlotte Levin is one of the most interesting and talented writers around at the moment -- Trevor Wood, bestselling author of Dead End StreetIt is both heartbreaking and hopeful - Charlotte writes the most stunning prose and her character observations are both darkly humorous and incredibly insightful. I loved it! -- Nikki Smith author of Look What You Made Me DoA deeply empathetic exploration of grief, loneliness, guilt, toxic relationships and forgiving oneself. At its heart, this is a poignantly sad story, but it is told with such humour and warmth that one cannot help but enjoy every nuance drawn through the perfectly written prose -- Louise Fein, author of People Like UsAn intensely beautiful depiction of vulnerability that instantly draws you into the world of a disturbingly fragile woman. This is powerful and subtle writing that is incredibly moving. An exquisite book! -- Victoria DowdIf I Let You Go is a funny, dark, heart-breaking book about love, courage and finding yourself. With sharp characterisation and warmth on every page, and a heroine you’ll be rooting for from the word go. I absolutely adored it. -- Eleni Kyriacou, author of She Came To Stay
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Death of Jesus
Book SynopsisThe luminous new novel from 'one of the best writers of our time', double Booker Prize winner J. M. Coetzee.'Full of truth, tearfully moving to read... Brilliant' Evening StandardSimón and David - a tall ten-year-old - are in a new land, together with a woman named Inés. The small family have found a home in which David can thrive. But David is spotted by Julio Fabricante, the director of a local orphanage, playing football with his friends. He shows unusual talent. When David announces that he wants to live with Julio and the children in his care, Simón and Inés are stunned. David is leaving them, and they can only love him and bear witness.The Death of Jesus is the completion of an incomparable trilogy in which J. M. Coetzee explores the meaning of a world empty of memory but brimming with questions.* A New York Times Notable Book *___________________'Extraordinary... Coetzee stands as the pre-eminent novelist in the English-writing world' New Statesman'You will read its cool, dry final sentences - as I did - with tears in your eyes' The TimesTrade ReviewAnything J.M. Coetzee writes deserves our full attention…The Death of Jesus is full of truth, irreducible, tearfully moving to read -- David Sexton * Evening Standard, *Book of the Week* *Concludes the trilogy with force and heart… if The Death of Jesus strikes you in the right place, then you will read its cool, dry final sentences – as I did – with tears in your eyes -- John Self * The Times *Any new novel from Coetzee commands respect, and the final part of the trilogy is no exception… The Death of Jesus constantly challenges what we believe and why -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday *The Death of Jesus is a necessary read, casting a strange new light on one of the world’s greatest and most elusive novelists -- Doug Battersby * Financial Times *A phenomenon that arrives from out of nowhere and challenges our received ideas to breaking point ... a delicate, iridescent mystery * Guardian *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton A Pure Heart
Book Synopsis'EXQUISITE' Vanity Fair 'REMARKABLE . . . POISED, INTELLIGENT, VERY GROWN-UP WRITING, EQUALLY AT HOME IN ALL ITS ENVIRONMENTS.' Guardian'AS HONEST AS IT IS ENGROSSING' NPR'A TIMELY, SWEEPING TALE . . . BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN.' Boston Globe'ARTICULATES THE FULL-BODIED CHORUS OF EGYPT'S VOICES' New York TimesSisters Rose and Gameela Gubran could not have been more different. Rose, an Egyptologist, married an American journalist and immigrated to New York City, where she works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gameela, a devout Muslim since her teenage years, stayed in Cairo. During the aftermath of Egypt's revolution, Gameela is killed in a suicide bombing. When Rose returns to Egypt after the bombing, she sifts through the artifacts Gameela left behind, desperate to understand how her sister came to die, and who she truly was. Soon, Rose realizes that Gameela has left many questions unanswered. Why had she quit her job just a few months before her death and not told her family? Who was she romantically involved with? And how did the religious Gameela manage to keep so many secrets? Rich in depth and feeling, A Pure Heart is a brilliant portrait of two Muslim women in the twenty-first century, and the decisions they make in work and love that determine their destinies. As Rose is struggling to reconcile her identities as an Egyptian and as a new American, she investigates Gameela's devotion to her religion and her country. The more Rose uncovers about her sister's life, the more she must reconcile their two fates, their inextricable bond as sisters, and who should and should not be held responsible for Gameela's death. Rajia Hassib's A Pure Heart is a stirring and deeply textured novel that asks what it means to forgive, and considers how faith, family, and love can unite and divide us.Trade ReviewExquisite * Vanity Fair *A timely, sweeping tale that examines the intersection of fate and choice, the pull of culture and identity, family and love . . . Beautifully written. * Boston Globe *Hassib is a perceptive writer with a real understanding of how people act - not how they ought to act . . . a novel that's as honest as it is engrossing. * NPR *Remarkable . . . poised, intelligent, very grown-up writing, equally at home in all its environments. * Guardian *Shines as one of the finest explorations of identity, religion, and culture in modern American literature. Her background leaves her particularly well situated to develop these themes ... brilliantly illuminates the complications of our world: the clash of religious beliefs, the uneven division of wealth, our classist snobbery, the failure of our best intentions. Yet the story is not simply an examination of problems. It is also a fervent illustration of the strength and beauty of familial bonds, ties that persist even after death. * Southern Literary Review *Hassib . . . articulates the full-bodied chorus of Egypt's voices . . . dismantling stereotypes of her country and culture. In so doing she exposes mankind's best and worst qualities, our universalities and differences, illuminating all the while the myriad ways in which a heart can be pure. * New York Times *A profound and deeply affecting examination of fate and free will, family and identity, sin and redemption, and the unique bond between sisters. * Buzzfeed, 'Summer Books to Be Excited About' *Characters are deeply woven and veiled in their own facades . . . a stellar entry into the world's library. * Irish Examiner *A captivating novel about family, love, and home. Hassib masterfully excavates the secret loyalties that drive women to make fateful choices and, in so doing, explores important themes of guilt and responsibility, shame and forgiveness. * Laila Lalami, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Moor's Account *A Pure Heart is an emotional portrait of sisterly relationships and how political strife and change affects even the most personal aspects of our lives. * Real Simple's "Best Books of 2019 (So Far) *[A] gripping contemporary novel about two Muslim sisters. . . . When one sister is killed, the other uncovers continuous challenging questions in her quest for understanding and closure. * Ms. Magazine *A Pure Heart grapples with the question of how to be many things at once. . . . Hassib is especially talented at rendering the small details of daily Egyptian life-not in some exoticized fashion but rather as a foundation on which to lay the wide variety of experiences, ideologies, and aspirations of the country's citizenry. These details found throughout the book, shine. . . . What's most impressive about A Pure Heart . . . [is] the novel's meditation on the nature of multiple identities. * Omar El Akkad, BookPage (starred review) *A multifaceted look at the complicated legacies of identity, religion, and politics in Egypt after the Arab Spring emerges. Even the story of the suicide bomber is given careful consideration in this enlightening, heartrending novel. * Booklist (starred review) *[A Pure Heart] fluidly explores how even seismic historical events can mix with everyday emotions such as sibling rivalry and insecurity to concoct a potent brew. . . . A devastating definition of the new normal in which revolution does not always deliver real power to institute change. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *A profound tale of two Egyptian Muslim women in the 21st century, and the decisions they make in work and love that determine their destinies. This is a timely, thought-provoking novel that explores the intersection of religion, identity, and politics in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. * BookRiot's “7 of The Buzziest Beach Reads of The Year *Hassib's impressive second novel is a fascinating depiction of sisters Rose and Gameela, their shared heritage, and the country that ultimately divides them. . . . Hassib seamlessly transports the reader from one culture to another, eloquently showcasing the triumphs, heartaches, and beliefs shared by the protagonists. * Publishers Weekly *Hassib draws an intimate portrait of contemporary Egypt, deftly explaining the complexity of political viewpoints regarding the revolution and post-revolutionary years. Through her characters, she shows the subtle differences in class, culture, and religious belief that can cause fractures in families, marriages, and societies. . . . Giving a voice to everyone, even the bomber, Hassib displays empathy and compassion steeped in a deep knowledge of her subject. Recommended. * Library Journal *A captivating novel about family, love, and home. Hassib masterfully excavates the secret loyalties that drive women to make fateful choices and, in so doing, explores important themes of guilt and responsibility, shame and forgiveness. * Laila Lalami, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Moor's Account *Full of intelligent reflections about exile, this moving novel about two Egyptian sisters-one in New York, the other in Cairo-carefully dramatizes the curdling of individual dreams in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. * Karan Mahajan, author of National Book Award finalist The Association of Small Bombs *A stunner of a book. Weaving through the lives of two sisters split by destiny, Hassib's latest novel is a story of excavation: of countries and people. With the Egyptian revolution as backdrop, Hassib masterfully explores the loyalties, geographies and histories that can both partition and bind family. * Hala Alyan, author of Dayton Literary Peace Prize and Arab American Book Award winner Salt Houses *It would be unjust to call Hassib's A Pure Heart anything but heartbreaking and beautiful. Nearly every character is trapped between political, religious, and geographic extremes, trying to figure out who they are and what they love. These goals are always in sight, but, for some, ever beyond reach. * Ian Bassingthwaighte, author of Live from Cairo *Rajia Hassib's latest novel is a lyrical, heartfelt reflection on the Egyptian revolution as well as on the painful secrets that separate two sisters. * Susan Muaddi Darraj, author of Arab American Book Award winner A Curious Land *A gripping tale of two sisters whose lives intersect with tragic consequences. A Pure Heart beats to its own rhythm of heartaches, joy, loss and courage. An extraordinary achievement. * Zeba Talkhani, author of My Past is a Foreign Country *'An intimate portrait of "fractured souls in a fractured nation"' * TLS *
£15.29
Hodder & Stoughton The Downstairs Neighbour: A twisty, unexpected
Book Synopsis 'The unrelenting tension of this well-crafted debut kept me whizzing through the book . . . I loved the tension, the secrets and the satisfying, unexpected conclusion' KL Slater In a converted Georgian townhouse in south west London, three families live under one roof.The large flat that takes up the top two floors is home to the Harlow family: happily married Paul and Steph, and their bubbly teenage daughter Freya. The smaller first floor flat is rented by Emma, who spends most of her time alone, listening to people coming in and out of the building. And the basement flat belongs to Chris, a local driving instructor, who prefers to keep his personal life private from the neighbours.But their lives are all upended when Freya vanishes. As the police become involved and a frantic Paul and Steph desperately search for answers, they begin to realise that the truth behind their daughter's disappearance may lie closer to home than they were expecting. When everyone has something to hide, can you ever really know those closest to you? Or will some secrets be taken to the grave?Trade ReviewThe unrelenting tension of this well-crafted debut kept me whizzing through the book, eager to discover exactly what had happened to Freya and whether the intriguing neighbours had anything to do with it. Loved the tension, the secrets and the satisfying, unexpected conclusion. Recommended! * KL Slater *I can't remember the last book that made me guess and long for answers quite as much as The Downstairs Neighbour. The story was always one step ahead of me, catching me out. Gripping, teasing, intricately plotted, an accomplished debut that's impossible to put down. * Cath Weeks *Lock your doors, close your curtains, and sink into this claustrophobic tale of families, neighbours and buried secrets. Tense and perfectly paced, this emotionally charged novel will keep you guessing right to the very end * Emma Rous, bestselling author of The Au Pair *A gripping read with plenty of twists, Cooper's debut will keep you guessing throughout * Heat *The air is thick with the sound of chickens coming home to roost in this promising domestic noir debut -- Mark Sanderson * The Sunday Times Crime Club *I am a sucker for an eavesdropping premise, and Helen Cooper's The Downstairs Neighbour doesn't disappoint. Cooper starts with a bang, with a missing girl and a big house filled with suspects, then holds the suspense high with characters that will keep the reader guessing - and guessing wrong. A gradual unearthing of long-held secrets wrapped in a smoothly plotted page-turner * Kimberly Belle, internationally bestselling author of Stranger in the Lake *A heart-pounding debut . . . Even avid suspense readers won't be able to predict all the twists. Cooper is off to a strong start * Publishers Weekly *An intriguing and compulsive story about family, secret pasts and private lives. Simmering with suspense and packed with twists and tension, this expertly crafted novel kept me gripped from start to finish * Holly Miller *If you loved Harlan Coben's The Stranger, this is the perfect pick * Woman & Home *A compelling story about secret pasts and private lives * Waitrose Magazine *If you want smart writing and a book that dashes all your theories on 'who dun it' The Downstairs Neighbour is your bag. I adored this book! So clever, so engaging, such heart * L.V. Matthews *
£16.19
Hodder & Stoughton Consumed: In Search of my Sister - SHORTLISTED
Book Synopsis*** SHORTLISTED for the 2021 COSTA BOOK AWARDS: BIOGRAPHY, PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE and the JHALAK PRIZE ***'Moving, engrossing, elegantly written' Lucy Atkins, Sunday TimesAll happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.When Arifa Akbar discovered that her sister had fallen seriously ill, she assumed there would be a brief spell in hospital and then she'd be home. It was not until the day before she died that the family discovered she was suffering from tuberculosis.On a mission to unearth family secrets and finally understand her sister, Arifa takes us to Rome to haunt the places Keats and her sister had explored, to her grandparent's house in Pakistan, to her sister's hospital bedside in Hampstead and back to the London of the seventies when her family arrived, poor, homeless and hungry.Consumed is an eloquent and moving exploration of sisterhood, grief and the redemptive power of art.Trade ReviewBeguiling . . . The story and the writing have an unusual mystery about them, with striking imagery and a relatable insight into the darknesses and half-truths of family life . . . this one stands out for its eccentricity and elegiac splendour. -- Diana Evans, Guardian Summer Books[Consumed] is a tender memoir of sisterhood, of growing up in a low-income immigrant family in Primrose Hill in the 1970s and 1980s and, above all, of family dysfunction, mental illness, grief and survival . . . Akbar sews many disparate strands into a work of art. If her moving, engrossing, elegantly written memoir does not win prizes, there really is no justice in the literary world. -- Lucy Atkins * Sunday Times *An insightful and often lyrical study of sibling and the story of a troubled life cut short . . . as Fauzia immortalised her sister in art, [Akbar] has done the same, vividly and wonderfully, in prose. -- Fiona Sturges * Guardian *One of this year's must-read memoirs . . . A rich and beautiful story that will at times leave you weeping while simultaneously hugging Akbar's writing close. -- Francesca Brown * Stylist *'Consumed is Akbar's poised and scholarly memoir; her sister and their relationship is at its heart, skilfully woven together with a cultural history of the disease that killed her . . . A moving story of loss, grief and sisterhood. -- Francesca Carington * Tatler *Akbar explores complicated family dynamics with candour - never sentimentalising what was often a difficult relationship, nor smoothing over the ugly side of dying. -- Prospect, Best Books of the YearAn engrossing and moving book, both forensic and delicate in its dredging of complicated truths . . . I have rarely read a memoir with such a combination of powerful, tender feeling and cool-headed analysis. Rather like Fauzia's embroideries, the tapestry of sisterly passion and pain is worked here in precise, gleaming little stitches: a literary labour of love. -- Jenny McCartney * Mail on Sunday *Beautifully written, extremely moving -- Lucy Scholes,The White Review Books of the YearA beautifully written memoir with the ghost of Fauzia haunting every page. -- Shirley Whiteside * Herald *A meditation on memory and the arts, the book also explores Arifa's often fraught relationship with her sister, her grief, and the inherent subjectivity of memory . . . I was profoundly moved by this book, thinking of particular passages long after reading it. -- Rageshri Dhairyawan * The Lancet *While Akbar's meticulously written memoir is often heartbreaking - there are passages that will move you to tears - it is never maudlin . . . [It] stands as a testament to familial love precisely because she is brave enough to explore how it can be entangled with its opposite. -- Alex Peake-Tomkinson * Prospect *Compelling, searingly honest, so real that, at times, you feel the burn on the skin, but the teller never exploits these emotions. Akbar's artistic sensibility turns what could be a misery memoir into a literary tour de force. -- Yasmin Alibhai-BrownA brilliant book about loss and grief, about art and death, and, more importantly, about family and belonging. The strength of feeling is remarkable, but it's Arifa Akbar's writing that lifts it to an even higher plane of achievement. -- Anthony Quinn, author of Our Friends in BerlinI loved this haunting, beautiful exploration of sisterhood, love and loss. Consumed weaves together art history, medical mystery and grief memoir with enormous honesty and tenderness. -- Rachel Clarke, bestselling author of Dear Life and BreathtakingI'm bowled over. It's a searing, brilliant, dazzling memoir of sisterhood, mental illness, art and grief. Heartbreaking and beautiful. I can't recommend it highly enough. -- Christina Patterson
£10.44
Hachette Books Ireland The Heavens Are All Blue: A memoir of two
Book SynopsisWhen Dr Kate McGarry was diagnosed with an advanced cancer of unknown origin she resolved to write a book to chart her experience: as a woman coming to terms with such devastating news and what this meant to her as a wife and a mother but also, crucially, how she experienced cancer and its treatment as a doctor, who had become a patient. As Kate adjusted to living with cancer and underwent treatment, she enlisted the help of her husband, fellow doctor, Finbar to help her write the book but then she sadly passed away on the 5 January 2018. With no writing experience, and wrestling with his own heartache, Finbar set about finishing their story. The result is a touchingly beautiful memoir about love, grief and togetherness.'A loving memoir of time spent both together and apart ... [Kate's] personal legacy, as a mother, a wife and the life and soul of the party, is recorded beautifully in this moving memoir' Sunday Business Post
£12.59
