Narrative theme: identity / belonging

Book SynopsisA brilliant collection of short stories from Leonora Brito exploring race, identity, and love''Magical, enigmatic, distinctive, accomplished and haunting . . . Brito was ahead of her time'' BERNARDINE EVARISTO, FROM THE INTRODUCTIONLeonora Brito was a writer of exceptional stories. In Dat''s Love, she soaks up the sights, sounds and colours of Cardiff to boldly explore race and history.With each electric story, Brito introduces a unique cast of characters, vibrantly elevating their everyday lives. From 59-year-old Dorothy taking up nude modelling to black aristocrat Dido Elizabeth Belle absconding her uncle''s estate, from the assassination of JFK to what''s going down at the Blue Bayou bar, Brito blends the surreal and the mundane to redress history and immerse the reader in a vibrantly painted world.Containing an unusual exactness and sense of place, Brito''s stories are unique in Welsh fiction in presenting an insider''s perspective oTrade ReviewScintillating . . . Dat’s Love conjures into being a vivid and vital picture of life in Cardiff’s Tiger Bay . . . Brito’s communicable zest for language fizzes like a seltzer . . . a high-water mark in Welsh fiction, with stories that have a real sense of a real place and stand proud on the shelf * Nation Cymru *Outstanding . . . Leonora Brito shares stirring social observations that cut to the core of the human condition through intimate portraits of a diverse cast of characters. These are stories that stir the soul, quiver the heart, and quicken the brain * LoveReading *Leonora Brito's perspective is utterly unique and her voice is remarkable. I feel incredibly lucky to have discovered this book and to have made this connection to her legacy -- Orla Mackey, author of MOUTHINGA collection that is sometimes funny and always highly original. Brito's narrators and characters are freetalkers and freethinkers with strikingly singular perspectives * Publishers Weekly *The themes of race, community, a sense of place, history and identity (and specifically a Welsh identity) explored in Brito's writing are timeless and relevant as ever, making Dat's Love a must-read for everyone * Wales Arts Review *

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Book Synopsis''Niven Govinden''s Diary of a Film, his sixth novel, is also his best yet. Smart, sexy and cinematic (in many senses), it is a love letter to Italy and to film'' Observer''Immersive . . . This is a wise and skilfully controlled novel that can be read in an afternoon, but which radiates in the mind for much longer'' Financial Times''A beautiful, poignant novel of love and longing'' TelegraphAn auteur, together with his lead actors, is at a prestigious European festival to premiere his latest film.Alone one morning at a backstreet café, he strikes up a conversation with a local woman who takes him on a walk to uncover the city''s secrets, historic and personal. As the walk unwinds, a story of love and tragedy emerges, and he begins to see the chance meeting as fate. He is entranced, wholly clear in his mind: her story must surely form the basis for his next film.This is a novel about cinema, flânTrade ReviewDiary of a Film is an achingly intimate novel--tender and wise like Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet through the lens of Luca Guadagnino. Govinden drops us into the fray of an Italian film festival only to reveal a secret garden of quiet and stolen moments with a director whose film is about to premiere. In hotel rooms, abandoned buildings, and in a whisper in front of the international press corps, joy blooms, ideas are born, liberties are taken. Trust holds it all afloat. A stunning meditation on the art of creation and the nature of the artist -- Saskia VogelDiary of a Film is about how art ravages and redeems. It is about the responsibility artists bear both for their art and the world that must contain it; about the imperative to create something substantial in a world that moves too quickly to capture beauty to one's satisfaction; it is about living an ideal, committing to a principle whatever the potential cost, leaping into love and trusting that it will hold you -- Stephen Kelman, author of Pigeon EnglishVicariously I experienced again the freedom to travel and visit a European city just to catch an exhibition, go dancing or merely escape the mundane for a weekend. Diary of a Film is about seeing the familiar in new ways, finding friends wherever we are and coming to terms with the past being the past. Set amongst the gourmet surroundings of a Northern Italian film festival, it reads like an elegy for a just-gone era -- Paul Mendez, author of Rainbow MilkA wonderful mediation on why we tell stories, and who gets to tell those stories - and the grief of your masterpiece belonging only to its audience once it's finished. Sentence by sentence, one of the most beautiful novels I've read all year -- Nikesh ShuklaA meditation on film-making, art, grief and privacy. Constructed with the skill of a watchmaker, with a precise, consistent pitch of intensity -- Keith RidgewayPrecision engineered European modernism from a master stylist. It walks us into a luminous and loving conversational drama, rich with complex erotics and interwoven private agonies. He writes exquisitely about art making, about obsession and responsibility. It's a gorgeous novel -- Max PorterGovinden has created a work of taut and enveloping beauty, which gets to the heart of what it is to live an artistic life caught in the never-present of the piece just made and the piece as yet uncreated -- Andrew McMillanA serious, elegant and elegiac novel: an evocative tribute to the lost world of high cinematic glamour and a lament for the artists' struggle towards greatness. When the time comes again, this is the book I'll carry to read during days spent wandering around the grandeur of a city, moving from cafe to cafe, dreaming of the beautiful life -- Preti TanejaI truly fell in love with this book. It gifts the reader, offering complex human relationships, beautifully-written; I felt a genuine sadness when each scene ended. Reading Diary of a Film, I was powerfully reminded of the depth of the human heart, and of the work which proceeds from it -- Okechukwu NzeluImmensely talented -- Sarah Hughes * i newspaper *Niven Govinden's Diary of a Film, his sixth novel, is also his best yet. Smart, sexy and cinematic (in many senses), it is a love letter to Italy and to film -- Alex Preston * Observer *One for literary fiction fans, Niven's prose is intoxicating * Cosmopolitan *Immersive . . . This is a wise and skilfully controlled novel that can be read in an afternoon, but which radiates in the mind for much longer * Financial Times *Govinden's prose flows with the smooth lilt of a moving camera . . . an outstanding, luxurious novel * The i *Fall into its rhythms, and a few nights at a film festival will become an existential exploration of the creative process * The Skinny *A beautiful, poignant novel of love and longing . . . This tale of a director beguilingly captures the agony of making a film - and letting the public see it -- Tim Robey * Telegraph *A sophisticated and sensitive book about storytelling and queer kinship * Attitude *Elegant . . . In a strong, clear tone that's unfettered by hyperbole, Govinden allows us access to the narrator's mind as he muses on love, work and who should tell whose stories * Monocle *A beguiling exploration of artistic obsession -- Colin Grant * The Guardian *It is a book about the dysfunctions of grief and about what rights the artist has to take liberties with somebody else's story. Gorgeously written, Diary of a Film is a book quite ripe, fittingly, for film adaptation * Literary Review *Because this is a novel of introspection - the narrator ponders his relationship to his lead actors, themselves embarking on a relationship with one another, and his life's work - its tone is one of intimacy and shared confidences that draws the listener ever further inwards * Financial Times *What a pleasure it is to read this love letter to art and to human connection (fragile, powerful, transforming), at a time when we're masked and lonesome and can't kiss our own hand without washing it afterwards -- Deborah Levy * New Statesman *Stole my heart . . . it captures a sense of the fragility and intimacy of human endeavour, but also the silence and resilience needed to survive as a woman, a man, as lovers and as artists in a market-driven world. -- Preti Taneja * New Statesman Book of the Year *A passionate director goes to an Italian film festival for the premiere of his latest work. He meets a young woman. They share a cigarette, talk for hours about coffee and gentrification, before she takes him to see a painted mural in an empty apartment block. If Diary of a Film is filmic in spirit, it is not a straightforward paean to art. The book continually returns to the inadequacy of art at representing real life, which, as the narrator realises, "would continue to burn long after the life of the film". Govinden handles it all with great subtlety, posing probing questions but never letting dogma get in the way of what is an outstanding, luxurious novel * i News, Best Books of the Year *Niven Govinden's sixth novel is an unequivocal triumph; everything in his practice has come together . . . With great subtlety, Govinden helps us see we are on a journey of discovery ourselves, as to who owns stories, and who has the right to tell them. -- Paul Mendez

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2010 Penguin Prize for African Writing. In this coming-of-age novel, acclaimed author Ellen Banda-Aaku offers a profound exploration into the effects of stigma, class, and family dynamics in 1970s Zambia.''Everyone calls me Pumpkin. Firstly, because I was a fat, chubby-cheeked baby. And, secondly, because when Ma was pregnant with me, no matter how much pumpkin she ate, she just couldn''t get enough...''Pumpkin is a nine-year-old girl pulled between two vastly different worlds that of her father, the wealthy and power-hungry Joseph Sakavungo, and her mother, his unstable mistress.As Pumpkin attempts to come to terms with her own identity, will she be able to fashion a future for herself out of the torn patchwork of her life?Beautifully constructed, Banda-Aaku moulds a story that is heart-rending and bittersweet.

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Book SynopsisA propulsive and dazzling debut novel set against the backdrop of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and one Chinese girl fighting to claim her place''An engulfing, bighearted and heartbreaking novel'' ANN PATCHETT, author of Women''s Prize longlisted The Dutch House''A sweeping adventure of identity, love and belonging'' C PAM ZHANG, Man Booker longlisted author of How Much of These Hills are Gold''An impressive and original debut'' THE SUNDAY TIMES__________Daiyu was named after a ghost . . .Little Daiyu is twelve when her parents disappear. So she runs, disguising herself as a boy, to sweep the steps of Master Wang''s calligraphy school in Zhifu.But this is just the beginning of a journey that sends her across an ocean to San Francisco and the lawless American west.Kidnapped. Trafficked. Betrayed.Prize virgin in a brothel.Passion. Revenge. FreedTrade ReviewAn engulfing, bighearted and heartbreaking novel. Illuminates shocking injustices, making us stop and consider how many survive to this day -- Ann Patchett, author of Women's Prize longlisted The Dutch HouseAn impressive and original debut * THE SUNDAY TIMES *A sweeping adventure of identity, love and belonging -- C Pam Zhang, Man Booker longlisted author of How Much of These Hills are GoldBrilliant and devastating. Four Treasures of the Sky tells the story of Daiyu, who is brought to America against her will and forced to hide who she is even as she grows into her true self. Weaving together myth and history, Zhang's work is both timeless and utterly necessary right now. -- Anna North, author of the New York Times bestseller OutlawedAn instant and necessary classic, easily among the best novels of this past decade. The story lingers long after its final pages -- T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless GirlsAn astonishing novel propelled by private and public histories, rich with reflections on self-making, moral calling, great love, and profound injustice -- Megha Majumdar, author of A BurningThis unforgettable novel dazzles. An exhilarating rush of character, history and storytelling -- Kali Fajardo-Anstine, US National Book Award finalist author of Sabrina & CorinaBrings alive a heroine for the ages, an indomitable teenage girl whose relentless spirit and self-reinvention carries this story. Daiyu is sure to take her place in the canon of great Western heroines next to True Grit's Mattie Ross -- Juliet Grames, author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella FortunaThis book is haunting, luscious and precise - it's historical fiction as we most want and need it to be. Four Treasures of the Sky paints a neglected chapter in history with sharp and devastating brushstrokes -- Julia Fine, author of The Upstairs HouseA lyrical and sweeping Bildungsroman, fierce and moving * Publishers Weekly, starred review *A book to sit alongside Yaa Gyasi's Homecoming and Anna North's Outlawed, this is a powerful tale of reclamation, spun with soul by a remarkable new talent * Lauren Puckett, Shelf Awareness *

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Book SynopsisAn epic fantasy series where prophecy and mystery combine, with bloody results in the ancient walled city of the Twelve Kings . . .In the cramped west end of Sharakhai, the Amber Jewel of the Desert, Çeda fights in the pits to scrape a living. She, like so many in the city, pray for the downfall of the cruel, immortal Kings of Sharakhai, but she''s never been able to do anything about it. This all changes when she goes out on the night of Beht Zha''ir, the holy night when all are forbidden from walking the streets. It''s the night that the asirim, the powerful yet wretched creatures that protect the Kings from all who would stand against them, wander the city and take tribute. It is then that one of the asirim, a pitiful creature who wears a golden crown, stops Çeda and whispers long forgotten words into her ear. Çeda has heard those words before, in a book left to her by her mother, and it is through that one peculiar link that she begins to find hidden riddTrade ReviewTwelve Kings in Sharakhai is the gateway to what promises to be an intricate and exotic tale. The characters are well defined and have lives and histories that extend past the boundaries of the plot. The culture is well fleshed out and traditional gender roles are exploded. Çeda and Emre share a relationship seldom explored in fantasy, one that will be tried to the utmost as similar ideals provoke them to explore different paths. I expect that this universe will continue to expand in Beaulieu's skillful prose. Wise readers will hop on this train now, as the journey promises to be breathtaking -- Robin Hobb * author of Assassin's Apprentice *The protagonist, pit-fighter Çeda, is driven but not cold, and strong but not shallow. And the initial few scenes of violence and sex, while very engaging, soon give way to a much richer plot. Beaulieu is excellent at keeping a tight rein on the moment-to-moment action and building up the tension and layers of mysteries - (9/10 Rating) * SciFiNow *I am impressed... An exceedingly inventive story in a lushly realized dark setting that is not your uncle's Medieval Europe. I'll be looking forward to the next installment -- Glen Cook * author of The Black Company *Bradley P. Beaulieu's new fantasy epic is filled with memorable characters, enticing mysteries, and a world so rich in sensory detail that you can feel the desert breeze in your hair as you read. Çeda is hands-down one of the best heroines in the genre-strong, resourceful, and fiercely loyal to friends and family. Fantasy doesn't get better than this! -- C. S. Friedman * author of The Coldfire Trilogy *Exotic, sumptuous and incredibly entertaining, Beaulieu has created memorable characters in a richly imagined world -- Michael J. Sullivan, * author of The Riyria Chronicles *Beaulieu's fantasy worlds are well-imagined and richly drawn...the kind you want to keep visiting * Kirkus Speculative Reading List for September 2015 *Twelve Kings is the best new Epic Fantasy I've read in years -- Mark Yon * SFFWorld *A memorable heroine, a poetically told tale of revenge, and superb world-building make Twelve Kings in Sharakhai a splendid read -- John Marco * author of The Jackal of Nar and The Eyes of God *Bradley Beaulieu has crafted a rich, fascinating world, filled it with compelling characters, and blended them into an epic tale that grabbed my attention on the first page and refused to let go. I look forward to more stories of Sharakhai -- David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson * author of Rules of Ascension and Thieftaker *It's hard to take a desert novel and not draw comparisons to Dune, but Beaulieu manages to create a rich, totally individual world, teeming with wonders and wondrous characters. Çeda and Emre and their relationship rings true and draws the reader on through magic, vengeance, and above all, excitement. A hellacious start to what looks like the next towering epic fantasy -- John Hornor Jacobs * author of The Incorruptibles *Crammed with intrigue, suspense, and stunning action sequences. Engaging characters and masterful world-building -- Howard Andrew Jones * author of The Desert of Souls *Pit fighting smugglers high on steroid-like flower petals alongside immortal plutocrats, who will do anything to keep on living, make this blood and sand fueled epic fantasy something to behold. Trust me. It'll bowl-yer ass off -- Justin Landon * Staffer’s Book Review and Tor.com *Brad Beaulieu's Twelve Kings in Sharakai isn't the same as the last epic fantasy you read. Like the desert sands of Sharakhai, this first volume of Beaulieu's new series is a constantly shifting narrative of betrayal and friendship, loyalty and vengeance. Leave the farm boys to their chickens and the scullions to their pots, because Çeda's bringing a knife to this fight. It's vivid and diverse, full of complex relationships, eye-opening magic, and world building for this new age of fantasy that's broken out of its medieval shackles -- Aidan Moher * A Dribble of Ink *A lavish epic featuring gods, gangs, gladiators and everything in-between. With its deliciously original magic system, vast new world, reckless heroine and sinister array of ageless villains, this is a must for fans of Brandon Sanderson -- Jared Shurin * Pornokitsch *it all makes for what is probably going to be one of THE fantasy books of the year and a series that will surely be up there with the Big Boys * Terror Tree *Twelve Kings is a beautifully rich, absorbing novel, the beginning of a promising epic fantasy series. * SF Book *A beautiful richly imagined story that will end high in my top 2015 list for sure. * The Book Plank *A positively gripping opening, a wonderful story, vivid setting and an equally gripping finale. Bring on No.2 please....I have no hesitation in recommending this book to readers of epic fantasy - it's simply wonderful and compelling to read. * Lynns Books *Bradley Beaulieu builds a complex world around the city state - it's just as alive and characters, a fascinating fantasy realm that you'll wish you could visit. Ceda herself is much like the city: fiery and complicated * SFX *an incredibly well crafted traditional fantasy...Beauliey is excellent at keeping a tight rein on the moment-to-moment action and building up the tension and layers of mysteries. * Sci-Fi Now *I loved this book, want more of Çeda and I am fascinated by this world and its mythology (hint: I want to learn more about the Twelve Kings themselves). * SFF World *Beaulieu has created something altogether vivid and perfectly natural...Though Twelve Kings ends its narrative at a suitable point to stop and draw breath, I'm eager to read the next installment and disappointed that I will have to wait another year to do so. * Forbidden Planet International *Fantasy and horror, catacombs and sarcophagi, resurrections and revelations: The book has them all, and Beaulieu wraps it up in a package that's as graceful and contemplative as it is action-packed and pulse-pounding. * NPR.org *This is a series that will enthral me and many others for some time to come im sure.... another clear winner for Gollancz and a bright start for Beaulieu...bring on book 2 * Parmenion Books *Twelve Kings blends together action and adventure with political intrigue to create a wonderfully engrossing hybrid. Well rounded characterisation and an enthralling plot are elevated further by some truly effective world-building. Fans of epic fantasy are going to get a real kick out of this. * The Eloquent Page *This looks like the beginnings of a terrific new fantasy series, one that works largely within the accepted conventions, but finds a wealth of imaginative ways to build something new within it. * The Digital Fix *a breathtaking setting, a marvellously twisty plot, more intrigue than you can shake a stick at, and a cleverly drawn, strong protagonist to follow through it all. * Overtheeffingrainbow.co.uk *Overall this is a incredulously well thought out Fantasy Adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat, turning pages and keeping you up late into the night. It flows enticingly, with ease, for a story with so much detail and depth. Not at one point was I bored but allured as these pages are full of twists and unexpected turns, mini cliff hangers that keep you on the edge of your seat, mystery that keeps you intrigued and your mind ticking and failing that a good old scrap in the pits. * The Fantasy Book Collector *A grand tapestry of a fantasy * BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY *

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Book SynopsisWAR MAKES MONSTERS OF EVERYONE.Foolish Cur, once named Wen Alder, finds that his allies in the rebellion might cross any line if it means freedom from the Empire. But he can''t overcome a foe as strong as Emperor Tenet alone.REBELLION HAS UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.Koro Ha, Foolish Cur''s former tutor, discovers the Empire is not so forgiving of those who raise a traitor. And their suspicion may cost him and his people more than he can imagine.THE GODS ARE LURKING IN THE SHADOWS.As war against the Empire rages, Foolish Cur knows there is a greater threat. The emperor plans his own coup against the gods, and they will wreak destruction if he tries. To stop him, Foolish Cur might have to risk everything - and resort to ancient magics that could tear the world apart.This is perfect for fans of Robin Hobb and Shelley Parker-Chan.Readers can''t get enough of The Garden of Empire:''This Trade ReviewThere were several scenes which left me in complete shock while the slow build up kept me sweating like a tea kettle waiting to scream . . . Wild twists and shocking revelations will leave you begging for the finale * Under the Rader SFF Books *J.T. Greathouse writes fantastically rich and complex characters . . . the prose remains both rich and elegant. The plot is masterfully executed . . . The Garden of Empire is simply an absolutely amazing piece of fantasy fiction * Fantasy Book Nerd *Some lines took my breath away or sent shivers up and down my spine because of the delivery. I adored it immensely * The Quill to Live *An incredibly fascinating fantasy tale, with a few twists I definitely did not see coming * The Bibliophile Chronicles *Superb and on par with the finest moments I've read in SFF so far this year . . . I'm all-in for the final novel in this series * Grimdark Magazine *The characters are the strongest point in this book, and J.T does a brilliant job of showcasing these characters. Honestly, it's a great sequel, and I really recommend it! * Al Alhambra Book Reviews *A worthy read for those who like their fantasy epic. I think it is one of the best fantasy series I have read * SFF World *Broader in scope, seeped in electrifying magic and topped with a heart stopping finale, this is a sequel not to be missed * The Fantasy Hive *The Garden of Empire is a great novel, it's quite the novel indeed . . . I really recommend it! * FanFiAddict *This book is a complete package of beautiful prose, well written characters , well explained magic with good battle scenes and immersive world-building * The Reading Notions *

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Book SynopsisNow a major motion picture titled Blinded by the Light, directed by Gurinder Chadha, a charming memoir of growing up during the eighties as both a Pakistani Muslim and Bruce Springsteen fan 'Every detail rings so true ... Manzoor's warm, humane, unsensational voice ... makes you want to extend the hand of friendship to him' Sunday Telegraph 'A richly humane, smile-inducing memoir' Observer Sarfraz Manzoor was two years old when his family emigrated from Pakistan to join his father in Bury Park, Luton. His teenage years were a constant battle to reconcile being both British and Muslim. But when his best friend introduced him to Bruce Springsteen, his life changed for ever. In this affectionate and timely memoir, Manzoor retraces his journey from the frustrations of his childhood to his reaction to the tragedies of 9/11 and 7/7. Original, darkly tender and wryly amusing, this is an inspiring tribute to the power of music to transcend race and religion and a moving account of a relationship between father and son.Trade ReviewEvery detail rings so true ... Manzoor's warm, humane, unsensational voice ... makes you want to extend the hand of friendship to him * Sunday Telegraph *A beautiful and absorbing love letter to his family, his culture and his hero Bruce Springsteen * Rob Brydon *A small wonder - like some melancholy refit of Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia, where boredom replaces bohemia and real life is something only glimpsed in a Bruce Springsteen lyric * Mojo *Like Blake Morrison's And When Did You Last See Your Father? ... it's about trying to make sense of the rubble left behind by a father's death... A richly humane, smile-inducing memoir * Observer *While the book is many things - the impact of multi-culturalism, a coming-of-age story and a Nick Hornby-style documentation of musical obsession - it is Manzoor's relationship with his father that lies at its heart * Independent *Beautiful and moving ... A book to make you believe that we are all more alike than we know -- Tony Parsons

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Book Synopsis'A blazing mystery . . . tremendous' Guardian'Moving and masterful' Daily Mail'Masterful storytelling' Washington Post'Brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable. It is marvellous' Ann Patchett'Remarkable' Harper'sA MASTERFUL NOVEL BY THE PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE NIGHT GUEST AND THE HIGH PLACES, AN EPIC TALE OF UNSETTLEMENT, HISTORY, MYTH, LOVE AND ART.In September 1883, a small town in the South Australian outback huddles under strange, vivid sunsets. Six-year-old Denny Wallace has gone missing during a dust storm, and the entire community is caught up in the search for him. As they scour the desert and mountains for the lost child, the residents of Fairly - newlyweds, landowners, farmers, mothers, artists, Indigenous trackers, cameleers, children, schoolteachers, widows, maids, policemen - confront their relationships with each other and with the ancient landscape they inhabit. The colonial Australia of The Sun Walks Down is unfamiliar, multicultural, and noisy with opinions, arguments, longings and terrors. It's haunted by many gods - the sun among them, rising and falling on each day in which Denny could be found, or lost forever.'McFarlane's treatment of the dust storm has a simple Steinbeckian majesty . . . Her prose is full of detail, comparable to Claire Keegan's keen-eyed novellas, Foster and Small Things Like These' Sunday Times'A thrilling success . . . full of mystery and wonder' Wall Street Journal'Fiona McFarlane's last book was scintillating. The Sun Walks Down is even better' Sarah Moss'Gorgeous storytelling and superb characters . . . magnificent' Michelle de Kretser'I can't think of another writer working today who I admire more' Kevin Powers'Gloriously orchestrated . . . kaleidoscopic in the Victorian tradition, as much a portrait of a community as Middlemarch . . . McFarlane knows what she's doing, and she does it exceptionally well' Irish TimesTrade ReviewA blazing mystery set in the colonial outback . . . The writing is tremendous . . . This is a beguiling novel, not just of ideas about history and place but of fiercely beautiful translations -- Elizabeth Lowry * Guardian *A sensitive, slow-burn panorama of society in colonial Australia. Moving persuasively between a vast, impressively diverse array of characters, young and old, incoming and indigenous, privileged and deprived, she lets us listen in on their private (often competing) hopes and desires as the community pulls together to hunt for the boy. The result is moving and masterful - rich slices of life made vivid by the old-fashioned nitty-gritty of flesh-and blood character-making -- Anthony Cummins * Daily Mail *Ambitious . . . McFarlane amplifies her theme in ways that are often touching and ingenious . . . its style is at once spare and attentive to detail, and Fiona McFarlane has a sharp eye for historical injustices -- Andrew Motion * Times Literary Supplement *A thrilling success . . . A novel full of mystery and wonder * Wall Street Journal *Gloriously orchestrated . . . kaleidoscopic . . . This book earns its place by the simultaneous seriousness and playfulness of its commitment to all the voices in the contested times and spaces of its setting. McFarlane knows what she's doing, and she does it exceptionally well -- Sarah Moss * Irish Times *This novel is also made hypnotic by its wonderfully atmospheric dreaminess -- Andrew Martin * Mail on Sunday *McFarlane's treatment of the dust storm has a simple Steinbeckian majesty . . . Her prose is full of detail, comparable to Claire Keegan's keen-eyed novellas, Foster and Small Things Like These -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *Ambitious . . . McFarlane's figures emerge in intricate detail, defined by their petty desires, their moral imperfections, and their relationship both to the cataclysm of colonization and to the grandiosity of the landscape and the sun * New Yorker *In precise, often glorious prose, the novel affords each character, including little Denny, a rich interiority, even as the landscape itself - a terrain layered with significance and myth for aboriginal peoples, while for Europeans "civilization" there appears thin - provokes awe . . . With this remarkable novel, McFarlane establishes her place in the firmament of Australian letters, reworking and expanding the imaginary of its early years -- Claire Messud * Harper's *Fiona McFarlane's last book was scintillating. The Sun Walks Down is even better. It's compelling: old-fashioned in all the best ways, historically sensitive, generous in storytelling and yet modern and sharp -- Sarah Moss, author of SUMMERWATERThe Sun Walks Down is the book I'm always longing to find: brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable. It is marvellous. I loved it from start to finish -- Ann Patchett, author of THE DUTCH HOUSEGorgeous storytelling and superb characters are among the glories of The Sun Walks Down. Fiona McFarlane is an extraordinary writer, one of the best working today. Her magnificent reworking of the lost child story showcases the profound understanding she brings to people, places and the past. I lived in this wise, majestic novel for days and never wanted it to end -- Michelle de Kretser, author of SCARY MONSTERSAn exceptional, multi-layered historical novel with a beautifully styled plot. The power with which Fiona McFarlane evokes the place and time is extraordinary - a gorgeously written book -- Evie Wyld, author of THE BASS ROCKQuite simply, the best novel I've ever read about 19th-century Australia. A tense search for a lost child unfolds with rising dread against a landscape of harsh and radiant beauty, amid lives as tangled as barbed wire -- Geraldine Brooks, author of HORSEThe Sun Walks Down is a revelation. McFarlane places her lens first over the disappearance of a small boy in the Australian Outback and zooms out, weaving the stories of the people involved in the search for him into a tapestry as richly imagined and fully realized as anything I've read in recent memory. Her sentences fit together with the beauty of fine carpentry, and with them she's constructed a novel that calls to my mind no less than Patrick White's The Tree of Man. I can't think of another writer working today who I admire more -- Kevin Powers, author of THE YELLOW BIRDSMesmerising . . . It's a story with the quality of a myth or fable, that somehow manages to seem both restrained and infinite at once. And if that's all sounding a bit hoity-toity, be assured it's an engrossing mystery * Sydney Morning Herald *An extraordinary work of fiction that I have no doubt will become a classic of Australian literature -- Emily Bitto, author of THE STRAYSThis tale of a farming community's search for a missing child offers intimate human drama, ruminations on the intersections of art and life, and a sweeping, still relevant view of race and class in Australia . . . A masterpiece of riveting storytelling * Kirkus *Taut, rich, intelligent and mesmerizing * ABC News *The Sun Walks Down is a brilliant, intimate epic, a book about a family and also about history that is full of heart and heat. Fiona McFarlane's ear for the gurgles and clamor and hidden symphonies of her characters' souls is flawless; the way their lives intertwine is propulsive, heartbreaking. She is, simply, one of the best writers around -- Elizabeth McCracken, author of THE HERO OF THIS BOOKWith a child missing in remote Australia, this may sound like any recent 'outback noir' thriller - but McFarlane's beautifully written second novel has much more in common with Lanny by Max Porter or Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor: all vibrant, otherworldly stories of a small community in flux, discombobulated by a singular tragedy * Guardian Australia *The Sun Walks Down is that rare kind of novel, where there is something to enjoy and admire on every page. McFarlane's elegant, sharply observed prose beautifully conjures an unforgettable time and place -- Carys Davies, author of THE MISSION HOUSEMasterful storytelling . . . Tension mounts every time tragedy looms or disaster strikes. We read on with queasy dread when the spotlight falls on frightened and exhausted Denny . . . But we also read on captivated by the novel's beautiful prose and polyphonic voices, and marveling at both its epic scope and rare intimacy * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisA letter writing workshop. Five strangers. Countless secrets bursting in between the pages.When French bookseller Esther loses her father, she decides to place an ad in a newspaper, inviting struggling readers to join her secret letter writing workshop.To Esther's surprise, applications pile in by the dozens - and before long, an elderly lady, a disillusioned businessman, a disheartened couple and an awkward teenager find themselves sharing stories, seeking advice, and forging new friendships.As Esther's students uncover the hopes, dreams and fears that were hiding behind the pen, Esther, too, finds herself thrown into a new world full of unexpected adventures.

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Book Synopsis'A subversive debut... Her spiky prose style provocatively undercuts received narratives about the "American dream" from the immigrant's perspective' Guardian'Unforgettable... Rarely does a book sharpen how you see the world around you, but American Fever does just that. It dazzled me on every page' Julie Buntin, author of Marlena*The winner of an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature*On a year-long exchange programme in rural Oregon, sixteen-year-old Hira must swap Kashmiri chai for volleyball practice and understand why everyone around her seems to dislike Obama. An unforgettably witty narrator, Hira finds herself stuck between worlds. The experience is memorable for reasons both good and bad; a first kiss, new friends, racism, Islamophobia, homesickness. Along the way Hira starts to feel increasingly unwell until she begins coughing up blood, and receives a diagnosis of tuberculosis, pushing her into quarantine and turning her newly-established world upside down.'Marks the debut of a thrilling new global voice' Peter Ho Davies'Completely engrossing . . . Amna's prose moves along quickly and Hira's appraisal of the people and places she encounters is sharp and untarnished by tact' DawnTrade ReviewA subversive debut . . . It is the sharpness, and surprise . . . that makes Dur e Aziz Amna's coming-of-age, coming-to-America debut novel stand out . . . The highly quotable Hira is a force to be reckoned with. Her spiky prose style provocatively undercuts received narratives about the 'American dream' from the immigrant's perspective. -- Sana Goyal * Guardian *What comes sharply into focus in this beautifully written debut, is that we can never leave the past behind -- Jane Shilling * Daily Mail *American Fever is the unforgettable story of a teenage girl in a year of transformation. Dur e Aziz Amna navigates the choppy waters of adolescence with blistering insight and humour, and exquisitely captures the way we can long for home while yearning to escape it. Rarely does a book sharpen how you see the world around you, but American Fever does just that. It dazzled me on every page. * Julie Buntin, author of Marlena *"The one thing I shouldn't ever do was take an American's word on America." Good point: take Dur e Aziz Amna's word instead. In this sharply observed twist on the classic coming-to-America story, we find an America recognizable in all its generosity, cruelty, and sometimes-well-intentioned bumbling. And we find a brilliant exploration of the sacred, scary moment when a girl comes into the wider world. * Benjamin Moser, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Sontag: Her Life and Work *Brave, tender-hearted, and painfully bittersweet, American Fever is a sharply observed debut that announces Dur e Aziz Amna as a brilliant new voice. * Fatima Farheen Mirza, author of A Place for Us *In American Fever, Dur e Aziz Amna gives us an unforgettable South Asian protagonist - clever, clear-spoken, equal parts brash and vulnerable - navigating the mores of illness, separation and small-town America. Charming, fearless and politically aware, American Fever is a novel that will stay with you for a long time. * Sarah Thankam Mathews *American Fever is an extraordinarily assured and gripping debut. The intelligence, humour and longing of Hira's voice, as she negotiates what it means to belong to a place, will certainly stay with me * Aysegül Savas *Hira's is a voice I won't soon forget; her biting intelligence, her irreverence, and her wit blazes through this riveting, brilliant novel which stuns in its insights, its sensitive understanding of the complexities of identity, of what home means, and what it means to exist within a globalized world. A searing debut. * Aamina Ahmad, author of The Return of Faraz Ali *A poetic, memorable novel. I loved it. Hira is a marvellous creation - American Fever marks the arrival of a hugely promising writer. * Mirza Waheed *A loving and unflinching exploration of home and homeland, the ways they make and unmake us, how they feed us and also eat away our insides. Amna's crystalline prose reflects and refracts, dazzles and captivates. * Nawaaz Ahmed, author of 'Radiant Fugitives', finalist for the PEN-Faulkner Award *American Fever is a fresh, fierce bildungsroman - a story of homesickness and adolescent ache, not to mention a biting meta-commentary on what we expect from immigrant narratives. It's a relief to witness America as Hira does, seeing it clearly as an absurd, flawed nation that is all too often, as Hira says, a concept on whose behalf immigrants are unreasonably asked to testify. * Sanjena Sathian, author of GOLD DIGGERS *American Fever is a beautifully written book . . . Hira [is] a narrator whose insight and skepticism is addictive . . . Excellent * Tribune Magazine *Hira is a compelling, emotionally astute narrator . . . Hira's freshness in the way she assesses the world and herself while skewering the inconsistencies of those around her makes for a layered read . . . Amna's debut novel showcases her adeptness in tackling some of the big migration questions of home and identity within the context of her insightful young protagonist's complex experiences * Booklist *This is a funny and affecting novel, understated but powerful, a wonderful new spin on the coming-of-age story. A smart, charming debut. * Kirkus Reviews *An utterly hypnotic, witty and brilliant novel about young Hira's journey across two oceans... Dur E Aziz Amna's virtuosic way with language kept me enthralled the whole way through. This book is a necessary next-leveling of diasporic consciousness, the unraveling of borders between homeland and newfound home that happens inside of us. * Tanaïs, author of IN SENSORIUM *American Fever is an exhilarating juxtaposition of discovery and nostalgia. With great humour and fine attentiveness, Dur e Aziz Amna captures the feverish excitement and confusion of America from the point of view of a young outsider, questioning our assumptions about relationships, politics, food, clothes, illness, grief and beyond. It's a fast-paced yet contemplative story of malaise and opportunity, intercultural (mis)understanding, and transgenerational debt. Every page is filled with the zest of life that makes you want more. * Kit Fan, author of DIAMOND HILL *Fierce, razor-sharp, poignant, and rendered with fiery wit and deep empathy for human foibles, American Fever is a powerful tale of exile, identity, and belonging in our complex world. * Vikram Paralkar, author of NIGHT THEATER *A gripping debut on a journey that so many young people embark on but very little is written about with such audacity, skill and compassion. The narrative toggle between teenage and adult Hira adds depth to an already evocative book. * Zeba Talkhani *Gorgeous... Amna is a bold storyteller skilled at blending character, plot, and the kind of existential crises that keep us up at night. Her debut novel, American Fever-as propulsive as it is lyrical, as hilarious as it is sobering-is, above all, an irresistible read from an impressive new literary voice. * Michigan Quarterly Review *Completely engrossing . . . Amna's prose moves along quickly and Hira's appraisal of the people and places she encounters is sharp and untarnished by tact. At times, her wit and judgement land like the crack of a whip and leave you both laughing and uncomfortable. -- Mariam Tareen * Dawn *When I finished reading the novel, I was filled with gratitude for finding this brilliant voice from our country at the start of her career . . . Dur e Aziz Amna is a writer that every Pakistani should be reading. * The News *Prose that dances with charge and potency . . . American Fever firmly puts Amna on the literary map as a sharp young voice to look out for. Its striking cast of characters, both Pakistani and American, stand out in their pugnacious individuality, and its potent themes are woven through the story with genuine subtlety -- Anandi Mishra * Los Angeles Review of Books *

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WINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY 2023A Times Best Literary Non-Fiction Book of the YearCritic and writer Darryl Pinckney recalls his friendship and apprenticeship with Elizabeth Hardwick and Barbara Epstein and the introduction they offered him to the New York literary world.At the start of the 1970s, Darryl Pinckney arrived in New York City and at Columbia University and enrolled in Elizabeth Hardwick's writing class at Barnard. After he graduated, he was welcomed into her home as a friend and mentee, and he became close with Hardwick and her best friend, neighbor, and fellow founder of The New York Review of Books, Barbara Epstein. Pinckney found himself at the heart of the New York literary world. He was surrounded by the great writers of the time, like Susan Sontag, Robert Lowell, and Mary McCarthy, as well as the overlapping cultural revolutions and communities that swept New York: the New Wave in film, rock, and writing; the art of Felice Rosser, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucy Sante, Howard Brookner, and Nan Goldin; the influence of feminism on American culture and literature; the black arts movement confronted by black feminism; and New Negro veterans experiencing the return of their youth as history. Pinckney filtered the avant-garde life he was exposed to downtown and the radical intellectual tradition of The Review through the moral values he inherited and adapted from abolitionist and Reconstruction black culture.In Come Back in September, Pinckney recalls his introduction to New York and the writing life. The critic and novelist intimately captures this revolutionary, brilliant, and troubled period in American letters. Elizabeth Hardwick was not only the link to the intellectual heart of New York, but also a source of continual support and inspiration-the way she worked, her artistry, and the beauty of her voice. Through his memories of the city and of Hardwick, we see the emergence and evolution of Pinckney himself: as a young man, as a New Yorker, and as one of the essential intellectuals of our time.

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Book SynopsisAs Lina steps into adulthood, she turns to the work of Virginia Woolf and Patricia Highsmith for insight into who sheand her friendswill becomeIt's a typically sticky Toronto summer and Lina''s spending her first couple of weeks after graduation reading and hanging out with her best friend Cara. Everything's calmuntil she finds out that her childhood friend Alicia has died. With her high school friends quickly drifting apart and her parents out of town, Lina tries to make sense of what has happened on her own. Hoping for answers, she turns to Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse and Patricia Highsmith's The Price of Salt. As Lina reunites with her friends for a final party on the shores of Lake Ontario, she finds herself wondering what it means to have known someone, and who they''ll all become when they''re no longer anchored to each other. Winner of the Expozine Awards, July Underwater is an early work of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) based artist Zoe Maeve, now available to widespread audiences for the first time.A beautifully illustrated, poetic, at times impressionistic yet straightforward tale that is strongly evocative of the kind of reminiscences and reflections experienced during summer beachfront escapes.Juror comments, 2016 Expozine Awards"

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Book SynopsisMulti-prizewinning and internationally acclaimed Yan Lianke -- 'China's most controversial novelist' (New Yorker) -- returns with a campus novel like no other following a young Buddhist as she journeys through worldly temptationTo tell the truth, religious faith is really just a matter of believing stories. The world is governed by stories, and it is for the sake of stories that everyone lives on this earth.Yahui is a young Buddhist at university. But this is no ordinary university. It is populated by every faith in China: Buddhists, Daoists, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims who jostle alongside one another in the corridors of learning, and whose deities are never far from the classroom.Her days are measured out making elaborate religious papercuts, taking part in highly charged tug-of-war competitions between the faiths and trying to resist the daily temptation to return to secular life and abandon the ascetic ideals that are her calling. Everything seems to dangle by a thread. But when she meets a Daoist student called Mingzheng, an inexorable romance of mythic proportions takes hold of her.In this profoundly otherworldly novel, Chinese master Yan Lianke remakes the campus novel in typically visionary fashion, dropping readers into an allegorical world ostensibly far from our own, but which reflects our own questions and struggles right back at us.** Beautiful edition illustrated throughout with beautiful original papercuts **'One of China's greatest living authors' Guardian'His talent cannot be ignored' New York Times'China's foremost literary satirist' Financial TimesTrade ReviewHeart Sutra...has startling pleasures... similes are sharp, synaesthetic and anchored in the lives of the characters * The Telegraph *Heart Sutra is a warm-hearted, if not gentle, satire that skewers religious institutions without mocking faith itself . . . A deeply satisfying read . . . Yan's storytelling has a luminous, irrepressible quality -- Lily Meyer * NPR *Picaresque, but with serious matters of faith, love, and political wrangling at its fast-beating heart * Kirkus (starred review) *Heart Sutra brings clarity to the dynamic and fraught relations between organised religion and the party on a broader scale and does not shy from difficult histories -- Bryan Karetnyk * Financial Times *[An] otherworldly novel * Asian Art Newspaper, *Books of the Year* *

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Book SynopsisA funny, heartfelt graphic memoir about living in foreign countries, and finding one's place both at home and abroad.In this delightful graphic novel, Lucie Arnoux chronicles her adventures around the world. Growing up in Marseille as a misfit with a passion for drawing, she decides to settle in London to pursue her dream career as a comics writer. Je Ne Sais Quoi shows us London through the eyes of a mischievous and clear-sighted young French woman, the joys and pains of being an outsider and, ultimately, how to live life to its fullest.Trade ReviewOh la la, but this is fun!... [Je Ne Sais Quoi] is very endearing, and I predict great things of its creator, who has a passionate heart and an abiding sense of how best to life to its fullest. * Observer, *Graphic Novel of the Month* *

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Book Synopsis'One of the best books for 2023' Cosmopolitan Against a rising tide of fundamentalism in India, a mother and daughter lose the most important man in their lives. Shashi, fifty-something and suddenly widowed, tries to contact her only daughter, Tara, to break the news, but cannot reach her. As Shashi confronts her loss, she finds, amidst grief, unexpected new freedoms. Meanwhile, Tara, a spoiled but brilliant university student, has retreated to Dharamsala to deal with the fall out from an ill-advised relationship. Her self-imposed solitude makes contact near impossible, so by the time she learns of her loss, the funeral is already over. Without the man that bound them, Shashi and Tara struggle to reconcile. But his absence also makes them a target for an emerging religious group determined to put women in their place, and Shashi and Tara individually prepare to defend their independence. If mother and daughter are to come together, they must find a way to understand both their new world, and each other. But can you ever emerge from an eclipse unscathed? 'Lyrical throughout yet so deceptively easygoing... an extraordinary novel' André Aciman 'Powerful, evocative and accomplished – it's hard to believe The Illuminated is a debut' Alice Ryan 'Gives voice to a new generation’ BBC Radio 4Trade ReviewAn extremely elegant work, an interesting take on the universality of feminism from a uniquely Indian perspective.’ * Irish Independent *A clever nuanced debut novel * Platinum Magazine *'One of the Best Books for January 2023!' * Cosmopolitan *'Lyrical throughout yet so deceptively easygoing... The Illuminated is an extraordinary novel' -- André Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name'A novel of such self-assurance one can scarcely believe it is the author's first' -- Shanta Gokhale'An incisive portrayal of the abusve and exploitation that thrives as duty, perhaps even attraction, in relationships' -- Shubhangi Swarup'Sad and funny and wise, The Illuminated is one of those books that will make you hug your loved ones tight' -- Akhil Sharma‘Powerful, evocative and accomplished – it’s hard to believe The Illuminated is a debut.’ * Alice Ryan *One of the best debuts, a must-read for 2023! * Harper's Bazaar Australia *

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Book SynopsisFollowing a car crash, for several seconds Dublin photographer Sean Blake is clinically dead but finds his progress towards the afterworld blocked by a haunting face he only partially recognises. Restored to a miraculous second chance at life – he feels profoundly changed. He is haunted by not knowing who he truly is because this is not the first time he has been given a second life. At six weeks old he was taken from his birth mother, a young girl forced to give him up for adoption. Now he knows that until he unlocks the truth about his origins, he will be a stranger to his wife, to his children and to himself. Struggling against a wall of official silence and a complex sense of guilt, Sean determines to find his birth mother, embarking on an absorbing journey into archives, memories, dreams and startling confessions. The first modern novel to address the scandal of Irish Magdalene laundries when it was published in 1994, A Second Life continued to haunt Bolger’s imagination. He has never allowed its republication until he felt ready to retell the story in a new and even more compelling way. This reimagined text is therefore neither an old novel nor a new one, but a completely ‘renewed’ novel, that grows towards a spelling-binding, profoundly moving conclusion. Trade ReviewFor me it is Bolger's finest work ... remarkable in its sensitivity and tragic in its accuracy. -- Madeleine Keane * Sunday Independent *A marvellous, multi-faceted, fascinating read…Ireland itself (its landscape, its tensions and generational conflicts) is brilliantly realized. -- Tom Adair * Scotland on Sunday *Audacious and moving. Bolger’s brilliant conflation of detective story, ghost hunt and history lesson is compulsive. -- Alison Foster * The Times (London) *'...a devastating, brilliantly wrought novel from one of our finest.' -- Anne Cunningham * The Meath Chronicle *This beautiful novel shows Bolger at his best. The twisty, often surprising plot is driven by the characters, and as they are all empathic, and ring true, the reader is constantly rooting for them. There is a mysterious element to the novel too, which adds drama and colour. In all, this is a great achievement and a valuable addition to the canon. -- Sue Leonard * Irish Examiner *

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Book SynopsisFive hundred miles from mainland Colombia, grassroots resistance, sloppy vacationers, and a muddy history of conquest converge for Verónica, returning after living in Mexico City, ready to understand herself and the place she came from.San Andrés rises gently from the Caribbean, part of Colombia but closer to Nicaragua, the largest island in an archipelago claimed by the Spanish, colonized by the Puritans, worked by slaves, and home to Arab traders, migrants from the mainland, and the descendants of everyone who came before.For Victoria – whose origins on the island go back generations, but whose identity is contested by her accent, her skin colour, her years far away – the sunburnt tourists, sewage blooms, sudden storms, and ‘thinking rundowns’ where liberation is plotted and dinner served from a giant communal pot, bring her into vivid, intimate contact with the island she thought she knew, her own history, and the possibility for a real future for herself and San Andrés.Trade Review"Colombian writer Bendek’s clear-eyed debut….heralds an intriguing new voice." —Publishers Weekly"A brilliant and sensory overload of a novel." —The Crack Magazine

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Book SynopsisEl Caribe es un ombligo, profundo, infinito.... susurro. Me aprietan unos músculos firmes, me hace cosquillas la brisa de un aliento fresco. Tiembla San Andrés extasiada. Y tiemblo yo.A mil doscientas millas de tierra firme, resistencia raizal, turistas descuidados, y una historia embarrada sobre la conquista convergen para Victoria, quien vuelve a su hogar desde la Ciudad de México lista para descifrarse a sí misma y al lugar de donde viene.Regresar a san Andrés hace que Victoria Baruq cuestione su relación con la isla. Una foto inquietante de sus tatarabuelos y el raro encuentro con Maa Josephine, una anciana raizal a quien conoce frente a la First Baptiste Church, son algunos de los detonantes que empiezan a revelar detalles de sus orígenes. Su pasado no solo la pone en contacto con la desconocida historia de la isla, sino también con los movimientos sociales que, entre zouk y calipso, celebran la identidad raizal, hacen thinking rundowns, resisten.Esta obra fue ganadora del Premio de Novela Elisa Mújica 2018 (Colombia).Five hundred miles from mainland Colombia, grassroots resistance, sloppy vacationers, and a muddy history of conquest converge for Verónica, returning after living in Mexico City, ready to understand herself and the place she came from.San Andrés rises gently from the Caribbean, part of Colombia but closer to Nicaragua, the largest island in an archipelago claimed by the Spanish, colonized by the Puritans, worked by slaves, and home to Arab traders, migrants from the mainland, and the descendants of everyone who came before.For Victoria – whose origins on the island go back generations, but whose identity is contested by her accent, her skin colour, her years far away – the sunburnt tourists, sewage blooms, sudden storms, and ‘thinking rundowns’ where liberation is plotted and dinner served from a giant communal pot, bring her into vivid, intimate contact with the island she thought she knew, her own history, and the possibility for a real future for herself and San Andrés.Trade Review"Colombian writer Bendek’s clear-eyed debut….heralds an intriguing new voice." —Publishers Weekly"A brilliant and sensory overload of a novel." —The Crack Magazine

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Book SynopsisMount Everest, and all it means to royalty, explorers, imperialists, and two sherpas, perched on a cliffside, waiting for a man on the ledge below to move.A British climber has fallen from a cliffside in Nepal, and lies inert on a ledge below. Two sherpas kneel at the edge, stand, exchange the odd word, waiting for him to move, to make a decision, to descend. In those minutes, the world opens up to Kathmandu, a sun-bleached beach town on another continent, and the pages of Julius Caesar. Mountaineering, colonialism, obligation—in Sebastián Martínez Daniell's effortless prose each breath is crystalline, and the whole world is visible from here.Trade Review"Daniell reveals a fascinating universe in scintillating prose, precisely translated by Croft….It’s a stunner." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"An ambitiously inventive, profoundly intelligent trek through highly personal experiences of lingering imperialism." —Kirkus, starred review"Brilliantly tangential...this book becomes a viewpoint from which we can see the whole world." —The Observer"Daniell uses a neat cast of characters, a sprinkling of sub-tales and a touch of comedy to create a story far broader than the reader might expect, an acerbic dissection of a tired world order and personal history of two very different individuals." —Lunate"Two Sherpas is sheer brilliance, a book that had me hooked in anticipation from its opening pages. It’s a wake up call." —Word by Word**********Praise for Sebastián Martínez Daniell"Daniell reveals a fascinating universe in scintillating prose, precisely translated by Croft….It’s a stunner." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"An ambitiously inventive, profoundly intelligent trek through highly personal experiences of lingering imperialism." —Kirkus, starred review"Brilliantly tangential...this book becomes a viewpoint from which we can see the whole world." —The Observer

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Book SynopsisA compulsive, searing political thriller set on a kibbutz in Northern Israel, where the discovery of the body of an Israeli-Arab worker sets off a devastating chain of events… ‘A first-class political thriller’ Steve Cavanagh ‘A bitingly sharp, pacy thriller. Devilishly good. I inhaled it’ Freya Berry ‘A powerful political thriller that brims with authentic detail. Clever, compulsive and achingly atmospheric’ Kia Abdullah –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––This is no utopia… 1996. Northern Israel. Lola leaves an unhappy home life in England for the fabled utopian life of a kibbutz, but this heavily guarded farming community on the Arab-Israeli border isn’t the idyll it seems, and tensions are festering. Hundreds of miles away, in the Jerusalem offices of the International Tribune newspaper, all eyes are on Israel’s response to a spate of rocket attacks from Lebanon, until cub reporter Jonny Murphy gets a tip from a mysterious source that sends him straight into the danger zone. When the body of an Arab worker is discovered in the dirt of the kibbutz chicken house, it triggers a series of events that puts Lola and the whole community in jeopardy, and Jonny begins to uncover a series of secrets that put everything at risk, as he begins to realise just how far some people will go to belong… ––––––––––––––––––––– ‘A fantastic page-turner and an intriguing look at a complex and dangerous world. Sarah Sultoon creates intelligent, memorable characters and fascinating stories’ Holly Watt ‘A powerhouse writer’ Jo Spain ‘An extraordinary piece of writing from a political thriller writer at the very top of her game’ Victoria Selman ‘Brilliant and gripping’ S J Watson ‘An immersive and evocative political thriller that thrust me into a unique, razor-edged world, with a plot filled with tension and complexity. The narrative twists around itself, becoming increasingly claustrophobic and fraught, until it arrives at its explosive dénouement’ Philippa East ‘Full of danger and pulsating characters’ Louise Beech ‘Sarah Sultoon draws on her time spent as a journalist in the Middle East to bring northern Israel, its people, its beauty, and its complexities to life in vibrant colour in this twisting whodunnit…' Antony Dunford ‘A compelling thriller that weaves a complex tale … escalating to a shocking finale' Eve Smith ‘Unsettling, riveting, gets under your skin’ Peter Hain Praise for Sarah Sultoon: **Longlisted for the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger** **WINNER of the Crime Fiction Lover Debut Thriller Award** ‘A brave and thought-provoking debut novel’ Adam Hamdy ‘A taut and thought-provoking book that’s all the more unnerving for how much it echoes the headlines in real life’ CultureFly ‘A tense thriller, a remarkable debut, heartbreaking, but ultimately this is a story of resilience and survival’ NB Magazine ‘A powerful, compelling read that doesn’t shy away from some upsetting truths … written with such energy’ Fanny Blake ‘A powerful story of the brutality of front-line journalism. Authentic, provocative and terrifyingly relevant’ Will Carver

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Book SynopsisA young man arrives in a small town, hoping to leave his past behind him, but when he takes a job in a peculiar old shop, and meets a lonely single mother, everything changes … with devastating consequences. A chillingly hypnotic gothic thriller and a mesmerising study of identity and obsession. ‘This chilling gothic tale explores the dark corners of identity … beautifully written and a real page-turner' C J Cooke 'Dark, lyrical and intriguing' Fiona Cummins ‘Like Stephen King on crack … the most accomplished book I’ve read this year. Dark, gothic as hell, and genuinely scary’ M W Craven 'Eerily atmospheric, with brilliant characterisation … really gets under your skin' Culturefly –––––––––––––––––––––––––––Fear blisters through this town like a fever… When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end. Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop. Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it. As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife edge. Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it has always found him before. And before long, it will find Ada too. –––––––––––––––––––––– ‘An utterly chilling psychological horror of modern-day witchcraft, possession, murder and madness’ Essie Fox ‘Compelling and dark – draws you in from the very first page’ Heather Darwent ‘Twisted, toxic and deeply dark, this gives off Needful Things vibes – and that ending is just *perfect*’ Lisa Hall ‘This book sucks you in from the first spine-tingling chapter and weaves a dark, twisted and compelling sense of foreboding' Claire AllanWhat readers are saying… ***** ‘I’m shook. This book is a force … a masterpiece’ ‘An ending that left me slightly dumbstruck’ ‘As delightful as it is dark, with beautiful turns of phrase that can be at once both buttery soft and sharp as a knife’ ‘Intense, creepy and utterly chilling’ ‘A story that will creep under your skin and leave you desperately unnerved' ‘Startling and incredibly intense’ ‘Exactly what I look for in a gothic thriller!’ ‘Deliciously dark’ ‘It shook me to the core’ ‘Dark, chilling, with a touch of genius’ ‘Twisted and unnerving’ ‘Beautiful and lyrical prose brings the setting to life and creates a pulsing tension’ ‘This book creeps up on you…’ ‘Captivating and claustrophobic’

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Book SynopsisPRE-ORDER ONE IN A MILLION, THE SPICY NEW ROMCOM FROM BEVERLEY KENDALL, OUT SPRING 2025. A sexy, whip-smart, enemies to lovers romcom that’s fresh and topical, tackling racism and tokenism as experienced by a young Black woman in the cutthroat world of Publicity. 'A funny, satisfying read full of sparkling banter and thoughtful social commentary' Shauna Robinson, author of Must Love Books 'The most delicious blend of a *very* heated novel, the dynamics of an age old and rock-solid friendship, the complexities that come with being a Black woman in any workspace and a romance that could melt any heart. Token had me rapt from the very first page with it’s humour and intelligence - I absolutely adored it'  Ore Agbaje-Williams, author of The Three of Us 'Brimming with angst, banter, and a fiery chemistry' Taj McCoy, author of ZorTrade Review'Token was EVERYTHING and more - the most delicious blend of a *very* heated novel, the dynamics of an age old and rock-solid friendship, the complexities that come with being a Black woman in any workspace and a romance that could melt any heart. But it’s also so much more, with Beverley asking us to reckon with the moral abyss that is being in the public eye and how difficult it can be in both sides of the coin. This book had me rapt from the very first page with it’s humour and intelligence - I absolutely adored it' ORE AGBAJE-WILLIAMS, author of The Three Of Us 'Beverley Kendall masterfully delivers the ABCs of a delectable second chance romance between Kendall and Nate - it’s brimming with angst, banter, and a fiery chemistry. The added dimension of the workplace dramas will strike a chord and keep you guessing' Taj McCoy, author of Zora Books Her Happy Ever After 'A funny, satisfying read full of sparkling banter and thoughtful social commentary. I loved watching Kennedy take the corporate world by storm - and follow her heart along the way' Shauna Robinson, author of Must Love Books'Fresh, sexy and funny' heat Reader Reviews ‘I loved it. The characters were amazing’ ‘Token will definitely make a good book club recommendation, as there is a lot to discuss’ ‘A joy to read. I was totally captivated by the story and the relationship between Kennedy and Nate’ ‘I just couldn’t stop turning the pages’ ‘Completely engrossing’ ‘Token is fantastic, I adored the fake dating trope, but was completely there for Kennedy and Nate, their chemistry was palpable and the spicy scenes were very hot’ 'A fun, sexy romance read with some great female characters and an underlying commentary on some of societies issues of racism and misogyny. The chemistry between Kennedy and her ex was undeniable' 'Tackles some tricky issues whilst still maintaining its appeal as a fun, romantic read. If you like your romances spicy, this is for you. The characters are appealing and engaging, and it has everything you could want from an intelligent romance' 'A sexy and smart novel! The banter between Kennedy and Nate is mesmerising! Issues of racism and sexism are focused on but ultimately the romance took over and I loved it' 'I gulped Token down in just a couple of sittings, I couldn’t read it fast enough! It’s fresh, feisty, and wow, it’s hot! I loved the way the story is told, it’s funny, straight-talking and original. I couldn’t get enough and truly loved it' 'I was hooked from the very first page and just knew that I was going to love the strong and sassy main character, Kennedy. Token is a fresh, modern and powerful novel that completely captivated me from start to finish' 'A really interesting, thought provoking and enjoyable read. It’s part romance, part looking at issues in modern life, specifically around race and gender' 'What a fresh, engaging and brilliant read. I loved Token - a narrative with sharp wit, incisive social comment and an underlying sexiness that makes it a fabulous read... intelligent, entertaining and, for me, quite brilliant' 'I love a romance, and I love it even better if the story has depth. Token delivers on this, and more. Well-paced, beautifully-plotted, written with humour, passion and strength, this story works as a romance and as a social commentary on the world' 'Token is HOT... packed full of chemistry! A great, fun and entertaining read' 'Well written, a mix of romance, current issues, a smattering of spicy sex and a serious look at the behaviours of those who often have the most power. A fascinating and fun look at the world of business in New York' 'Super sharp, I loved that Token couldn’t be pigeonholed - yes there’s a hot romance, but there’s also a focus on diversity... Kennedy is an absolute QUEEN!' 'A clever combination, combining a spicy second chance romance with an underlying exploration of the serious topic of DE&I in the workplace. Perfectly balanced, it makes for a fun and addictive read with a thought-provoking message'

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Book SynopsisWho can you trustWHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUTA group of new friends. But can she trust them? For struggling actress Ava, landing a role with the Chimera Theatre Group could lead to her big break. And relocating to a remote country village means stepping out from the shadow of her boyfrienddespite his determination not to let her go.Everyone in the group seems so welcoming, they're one big happy family. But, like all families, they each have secrets. And someone in the group doesn't want certain secrets to get outEveryone is GRIPPED by this thrilling book:I loved it! It''s such an immersive readthe story hurtles towards its compelling climax. Brilliant stuff!' Kate Rhodes, bestselling author of The Brutal TideA wonderful, character-driven thriller where alliances and friendships are put to the test' Sarah Ward, bestselling author of The QuickeningA dark psychological thriller that carefully draws you in as the tension mounts. Utterly fabulous' Victoria Dowd, winner of The People''s Book PrizeTrade Review'Subtle slow burner, which starts with pranks and ends somewhere else entirely…What a page turner!' Tina Baker ‘As the tension mounts we share Ava's fears that the lights may go out forever' Martin Edwards ‘The tangled knot of lies in this book is constantly being loosened then quickly pulled tight again. Leading and misleading, I enjoyed All the Little Lies all the way to the very last page’ June Taylor ‘A multi-layered psychological thriller with compelling characters’ Jackie Baldwin Praise for Chris Curran: ‘A cracker of a read! Will have you turning the pages, gripped, until you find answers’ The Welsh Librarian ‘Grabbed me from the first chapter and kept me gripped’ Rather Too Fond of Books ‘A truly engrossing and compelling tale of lies and loss. Loved it’ Jen Med’s Book Reviews ‘Powerful story telling with a dark mystery at its heart’ Amanda Hodgkinson, New York Times bestselling author of SPILT MILK and 22 BRITANNIA ROAD ‘Gripping and tense in all the right places’ Jen Med’s Book Reviews ‘Truly gripping’ SUNDAY EXPRESS ‘Rich cast, believable characters, powerful premise, lovely prose and proof that crime fiction can be intelligent and pulse-racing’ JJ Marsh, author of BEHIND CLOSED DOORS ‘I would highly recommend this novel for readers who enjoy excellently narrated dark and thrilling crime mysteries’ Liza Perrat, author of WOLFSANGEL ‘I look forward to reading more from Chris Curran and recommend to all who enjoy a good mystery with lots of twists’Julia Connor, Goodreads

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Book SynopsisSherman Alexie offers nine poignant and emotionally resonant stories about Native Americans who find themselves at personal and cultural crossroads. In ''The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above'', an intellectual feminist Spokane Indian woman saves the lives of dozens of white women all around her, to the bewilderment of her only child. In ''Do You Know Where I Am?'' two college sweethearts rescue a lost cat - a simple act that has profound moral consequences for the rest of their lives together. In ''What You Pawn I Will Redeem'', a homeless Indian man must raise $1,000 in twenty-four hours to buy back the fancy dance outfit stolen from his grandmother fifty years earlier. Even as they often make us laugh, Sherman Alexie''s stories are driven by a haunting lyricism and naked candour that cut to the heart of the human experience.Trade Review[Written] with engaging humour and acuity... These stories irreverently explore the yearning for the sacred * Guardian *Arresting and funny * Times Literary Supplement *Intensely absorbing...Like Raymond Chandler, small deeds ripple through these lives without necessarily changing them, but Alexie's rich tales will certainly affect, if not change, yours * Scotsman *Alexie's painfully funny and astute stories chase the dilemmas of the Spokane diaspora, stripped of any myth or presumption of what Indian might be * Independent *A potent collection that takes a swipe at modern life and gives it a universal human face * Herald *

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Book SynopsisA GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK AUGUST 2022''Definitely ''best books of 2022'' material!'' GLAMOUR''A funny, touching celebration of second chances'' MAIL ON SUNDAY''Warm, funny and a brilliant read'' SUN''By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this is a total joy of a read'' HOLLY MILLER, author of The Sight of You________Penny Calvin has questions.Placed for adoption sixteen years ago, she''s desperate to get to know the mother she''s never met.Mika Suzuki just wants to hide.Jobless, single and living in a chaotic flat share, she can''t bear her daughter knowing her life is a mess. So, when Penny gets in touch, Mika tells a few white lies, pretending to have it all - a career, partner and money.Keeping up the pretence over the phone is one thing. But when Penny and her widowed adoptive father Thomas spring a visit on Mika, things get comTrade ReviewDefinitely 'best books of 2022' material * Glamour US *A funny, touching celebration of second chances * Mail on Sunday * Smart and offbeat funny: think Maria Semple * i *Warm, funny and a brilliant read * Sun *An endearing, joyful tale about finding (and accepting) yourself * Good Housekeeping *A poignant and compelling exploration of identity, love and what it means to be a mother. Mika and Penny swept me along on their emotional and unforgettable journey, leaving me uplifted yet bereft when I turned the final page. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this is a total joy of a read -- Holly Miller, author of The Sight of YouTouching and heartfelt ... captures the essence of mothers and daughters, the nuances that make a family, and where we've come from and where we're going. Sharp and brimming with heart, this tender read will have you alternating between laughter and tears (the very best kind) and missing the characters long after the last page. Mika In Real Life is a sheer delight to read -- Rochelle Weinstein author of This Is Not How It EndsWith the offbeat humour and poignancy of Maria Semple and Kirsty Capes, this has the potential to be a big hit * Bookseller, Editor's Choice *Entertaining, funny and uplifting. Exploring identity, motherhood and second chances, it's one of the most life-affirming books to come out of 2022 * Culturefly *I laughed, I cried and had the worst book hangover when I finished this gorgeous read * Red *Mika's story is a beautiful exploration of the bond between mother and child - what we pass along, what we long for, and what we withhold. As Mika rescues herself from a downward spiral of heartbreak and loss, she weaves for us a primer on healing our broken relationships. A must read for anyone who's ever had a mother or been one -- Annabel Monaghan, author of Nora Goes Off ScriptTender and profound, Emiko Jean's writing had me laughing, crying, and cheering for Mika -- Lauren Kate, author of By Any Other NameBighearted, sometimes bawdy, and always brave, Mika in Real Life explores the inescapable bonds between mothers and daughters, the enduring families by friendship that we make, and the weight of secrets that keep us from creating ourselves. This hilarious, tender, and very real novel is for every human trying to figure it out-basically, all of us -- Nancy Jooyoun Kim, bestselling author of The Last Story of Mina LeeA wonderful, life-affirming story about second chances, parenthood and love. By turns tender, funny, and deeply romantic, I was rooting for Mika, Penny and Thomas -- Lauren Ho, author of Lucie Yi Is Not A Romantic and Last Tang StandingBuckle up for an emotional rollercoaster ride . . . A genuinely moving read * Suitcase Magazine *A poignant coming-of-age story * Heromag *

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Book SynopsisThroughout her short but brilliant literary career, Nell Larsen wrote piercing dramas about the black middle class that featured sensitive, spirited heroines struggling to find a place where they belong. Passing is a disturbing story about the unravelling lives of two childhood friends, one of whom turns her back on her past and marries a white racist. Just as disquieting is the portrait in Quicksand of biracial Helga Crane, who is unable to escape her loneliness no matter where and with whom she lives. Race and marriage offer few securities here or in the other stories in this compulsively readable collection, rich in psychological complexities and imbued with a vibrant sense of place - be it 1920s Harlem, Chicago, or Copenhagen.

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Book SynopsisChildhood polio has left Reggie Rainbow with a limp, but his strong arms and nimble fingers are perfect behind the scenes of down-at-heel variety theatres-where he helps illusionist Mr Brookes 'disappear' his glamorous assistants. When Mr Brookes accepts a booking at the Brighton Grand, Reggie finds himself in a strange new town. The seaside air works its own magic and the disappearance boy begins to wonder how much longer he can go on keeping secrets for a living...Trade Review"Vivid characters, a fascinating subject and an expertly evoked setting. Excellent'"- Daily Mail; "Bartlett delights in taking that which was once hidden and making it clear for all to see." - Independent; "This book and its enchanting characters had me under their spell. I was bewitched." - Sheila Hancock; "Mysterious, tender and utterly compelling." - S.J. Watson "One of England's finest writers" - Edmund White

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Book Synopsis'Will burrow under your skin and live forever in your darkest dreams' BustJoyce Carol Oates assembles a spectacular cast to explore, subvert and reinvent one of horror's most visceral of subgenres. Focusing on distortions of the human body, the fifteen short stories of A Darker Shade will delight, disgust and shock you.From the metaphysical horror of a snail trapped in body of a young office worker, to a women cursed to dance endlessly, her body ravaged and torn, these are stories that confront the inextricable link between physical and mental terror.Featuring brand-new stories by: Margaret Atwood, Raven Leilani, Lisa Tuttle, Tananarive Due, Joyce Carol Oates, Megan Abbott, Aimee Bender, Cassandra Khaw, Lisa Lim, Elizabeth Hand, Valerie Martin, Sheila Kohler, Joanna Margaret and Aimee LaBrie, and Yumi Dineen Shiroma.Trade ReviewA bold collection of horror stories that flies in the face of both gender and genre conventions * Kirkus Reviews *Will burrow under your skin and live forever in your darkest dreams * Bust *A provocative and incisive collection . . . Prepare yourself for some truly unsettling stories * CrimeReads *For this chilling anthology, Oates brings together 15 stories exploring body horror through women's experiences . . . the thematic probe into bodily autonomy makes this a must-read for fans of feminist horror * Publishers Weekly *

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Book Synopsis** AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST AND BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR 2023 ** ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2023: DEBUT FICTION ** ‘A voice unlike any other’ OBSERVER ‘I fell in love immediately’ MAX PORTER ‘A writer of imagination and flair’ ECONOMIST ‘Smart, subversive, funny, heartbreaking’ KAMILA SHAMSIE ‘Buoro's writing deserves to inspire a generation of superheroes’ THE TIMES Fifteen-year-old Andrew Aziza lives in Kontagora, Nigeria, where his days are spent about town with his droogs, Slim and Morocca, grappling with his fantasies about white girls – especially blondes – and wondering who his father is. When he’s not in church, at school or attempting to form ‘Africa’s first superheroes’, he obsesses over mathematical theorems, ideas of black power and HXVX: the Curse of Africa. Sure enough, the reluctantly nicknamed ‘Andy Africa’ soon falls hopelessly and inappropriately in love with the first white girl he lays eyes on, Eileen. But at the church party held to celebrate her arrival, multiple crises loom. An unfamiliar man claims, despite his mother’s denials, to be Andy’s father, and the gathering of an anti-Christian mob is headed for the church – both set to shake the foundations of everything Andy knows and loves. The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa announces a dazzling, distinctive, new literary voice. Profound, exhilarating and highly original, this tragicomic novel is a stunning exploration of the contemporary African ‘condition’, the relentless infiltration of Western culture and, most of all, the ordinary but impossible challenges of coming of age in a turbulent world.Trade ReviewThis is extraordinary, driven by a gloriously eccentric central character. It is utterly compelling, not shy about posing difficult questions for the reader * 2023 Nero Book Prize Judges *The pleasure here is as much in the journey as the destination, with sex, terrorism and, er, catechisms in the mix. Buoro has energy to burn -- IndependentCraft and verve abound in this tragicomic coming-of-age debut fuelled by the lapel-grabbing voice of its 15-year-old narrator, Andy . . . Both sweet and sour, it offers a family story, a thwarted romance and a story of friendship * Daily Mail *A smart and incisive coming-of-age tragicomedy * i *The vivid immediacy of Buoro’s prose is transporting, his similes as alive as the scenes he paints . . . [Buoro's] writing deserves to inspire a generation of superheroes * The Times *This ticks all the boxes of a literary blockbuster . . . Buoro commits to representing diversity within Blackness, the way Toni Morrison does . . . You wouldn’t be wrong to read the book as satire of a certain kind of Black aspiration, or as an allegory of Africa and the western imperialist project. Or you could read it as itself, without abstracting its particularities: the story of a boy doing his best under the assault of powerful western influences and illusions * Guardian *An assured debut . . . [Buoro] brings Andy’s world to life with such immediacy * Independent *Buoro is a writer of imagination and flair . . . His sentences are mad, boisterous, incantatory – and, in a continent where rhythm is as common as praying, quite singular. The prose on any page could only be his. And Andy Africa is an unforgettable character … Contemporary African literature is rich in coming-of-age stories. For its sheer energy, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa is among the best * Economist *An exhilarating, tragicomic novel that questions what it means to come of age in Nigeria today . . . A voice unlike any other * Observer *Beautiful, intelligent and heart-wrenching -- NoViolet Bulawayo, author of GLORY and WE NEED NEW NAMESA barnstorming, heartbreaking debut . . . Tackling the perils of carving out a unique identity in a world of carnage and confusion, in the shadow of colonialism, this assured, engaging book, will make you fall in love with teenager Andy Aziza, and will undoubtedly make a star of Stephen Buoro * Harper's Bazaar, Highlights for 2023 *This novel exudes a wonderfully vivid sense of place and leads the reader inside the head of its teenage hero . . . It’s a narrative of depth that also manages to be instantly engaging -- Ian RankinI fell in love with this novel immediately. [It has] hilarious energy, a satirical but also wildly ambitious philosophical framework … It’s eccentric, profound, timely, specific but it also has global concerns and a really, really brilliant central character -- Max PorterFascinating; unashamedly, brilliantly intelligent. It grapples with ideas around maths, Afrofuturism, biblical myth . . . profound philosophical stuff, but fundamentally it’s a really playful, pleasurable book about young boy who’s falling madly in love, and has a difficult, intense, loving relationship with his mother -- Sarah PerryStephen Buoro’s wonderful The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa is filled with lovable, memorable characters. You’ll meet a young man pining over a fantasy; his fierce mother who tries to shield him as best she can; a friend who confides; and others who just want happiness. This novel is at once funny and heartbreaking. Most importantly, it’s honest -- De'Shawn Charles Winslow, author of DECENT PEOPLE and IN THE WEST MILLSA blazing debut – smart, subversive, funny, heartbreaking. I’m already impatient for Buoro’s next book -- Kamila ShamsieHilarious and heartbreaking and full of surprises, Stephen Buoro’s debut novel puts us inside the head of the titular teenager, a charming, nervous Nigerian kid who is curious about the world but convinced that he lives on a cursed continent. It’s a fun and harrowing place to be * The Philadelphia Inquirer *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE_______________________Near perfection... one of the outstanding works of fiction of the year.'' - The Times''A splendidly bracing experience.'' - New Statesman_______________________Sheila Redden, a quiet, 37-year-old doctor''s wife, has long been looking forward to returning with her husband to the town where they spent their honeymoon over twenty years ago. Little does she suspect that after a chance encounter in Paris she will end up spending her holiday with a man she has only just met, an American man ten years her junior. Four weeks later, Sheila is nowhere to be found. Owen Deane, her brother, follows her steps to Paris in the hopes of shedding some light on her disappearance, but soon begins to wonder if she will ever reappear. Interspersed with Sheila''s harrowing memories of her hometown of Ulster at the height of the troubles, this is a compelling and powerful tale of love, escape and abandon.Trade Review‘The subject - an ordinary woman seized by love for a younger man in the middle of her life - supplies just the right material for Mr Moore's tender, probing technique. It is uncanny: No other male writer, I swear (and precious few females), knows so much about women' * Sunday Telegraph *‘The novel is near perfection. The elegance and clarity of style rides in perfect harmony with the subtlety and depth of feeling. The dialogue is perfect- the author's ear sharp for the cadences of ecstasy, self-pity, love and anger. The feeling for mood and background is perfect... a novel of mature assurance and brilliant insight that must make it one of the outstanding works of fiction of the year.' * The Times *‘Nightmare images of tanks cruising down empty night streets, feverish erotic couplings with a stranger in foreign hotels; a married woman from a provincial backwater breaking out on a trip abroad; a concerned sibling observing a rebellious sister; the palpable absence of God in the central characters' lives and the notion that art and sex might replace Him... a splendidly bracing experience.' * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisSELECTED FOR STYLIST'S FICTION YOU CAN'T MISS IN 2022 - 'AN ESSENTIAL READ' NAMED AS A BOOK OF 2022 BY ESQUIRE, STYLIST, SHEERLUXE AND FOYLES 'A stone-cold masterpiece by a shocking new talent' OLIVIA LAING It’s four in the morning, and our narrator is walking home from the club when they realise that it’s February 29th – the birthday of the man who was something like their first love. Piecing together art, letters and memory, they set about trying to write the story of a doomed affair that first sparked and burned a decade ago. Ten years earlier, and our young narrator and a boy named Thomas James fall into bed with one another over the summer of their graduation. Their ensuing affair, with its violent, animal intensity and its intoxicating and toxic power play will initiate a dance of repulsion and attraction that will cross years, span continents, drag in countless victims – and culminate in terrible betrayal. At Certain Points We Touch is a story of first love and last rites, conjured against a vivid backdrop of London, San Francisco and New York – a riotous, razor-sharp coming-of-age story that marks the arrival of an extraordinary new talent. 'Lauren John Joseph writes with such wit, glamour, and style! I haven’t read a book that so powerfully evokes what it’s like to be a wild young artist among other wild young artists since the Bright Young Things' TORREY PETERS, author of Detransition, Baby 'Lauren's debut novel is so exciting. The writing is so fresh, funny and gripping - and carries the trademark wit that I have always loved from Lauren' TRAVIS ALABANZA 'The struggle to find ones place in the world as an artist and lover, creating self and culture as you go along - At Certain Points We Touch captures this fleeting, dazzling moment with glamour and heart' MICHELLE TEA Trade ReviewA stone-cold masterpiece, which in its scope, frankness and ambition reminds me of The Line of Beauty, retooled for the 21st century. By turns libidinous, hilarious, melancholy and full of feeling, it reveals Lauren John Joseph as a shocking new talent -- OLIVIA LAINGA moving portrait of youth, friendship and first love * OBSERVER, Debut Novelists of 2022 *Described as “a stone-cold masterpiece – The Line Of Beauty retooled for the 21st century” by writer Olivia Laing, this is the story of a destructive love affair played out over years and cities that’s going to be an essential read * STYLIST, Books you can't miss in 2022 *Lauren John Joseph writes with such wit, glamour, and Style! I haven’t read a book that so powerfully evokes what it’s like to be a wild young artist among other wild young artists since the Bright Young Things were publishing -- TORREY PETERS, author of Detransition, BabyLauren's debut novel is so exciting. The writing is so fresh, funny and gripping - and carries the trademark wit that I have always loved from Lauren -- TRAVIS ALABANZAThis vivid debut novel has a live current running through its pages ... An impressive debut with lines that linger with on the page * ESQUIRE, Books of the Year 2022 *The struggle to find ones place in the world as an artist and lover, creating self and culture as you go along - At Certain Points We Touch captures this fleeting, dazzling moment with glamour and heart -- MICHELLE TEAAt Certain Points We Touch is as much a love letter to the glamour and glory of countercultural nightlife as a self-aware sendup of its absurdities and deprivations. This novel is a rollicking study of the stubbornness, irrationality, and dysfunction of the human heart, with prose as extravagant and daring as a Rococo gown. I would spend as many pages with this narrator as Lauren John Joseph cares to write -- KIM FU, author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st CenturyA riotous coming-of-age story that marks the arrival of a bold new writer * SHEERLUXE *A searing debut * HARPER'S BAZAAR *

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Book SynopsisA powerful exploration of identity and belonging, Where You Come From is the major new novel from internationally acclaimed and bestselling author Saša StanišicSaša Stanišic's Where You Come From is a novel about a village where only thirteen people remain, a country that no longer exists, a shattered family that is his own. Blending autofiction, fable, and choose-your-own-adventure, Stanišic traces a family's escape during the conflict in Yugoslavia, and the years that followed as they built a life in Germany. As he explores what it means to be European today, he examines how it feels to learn a new language, to find new friends and new jobs, and to build an identity between countries and cultures.Translated by Damion Searls, Where You Come From is about homelands, both remembered and imagined. A book that bends form and genre with wit, heart, and exceptional craftsmanship to explore questions that lie inside all of us: about language and shame, about arrival and making it just in time, about luck and death, about what role our origins and memories play in our lives.'Wonderfully inventive and impressive.' - GuardianTrade ReviewA triumph, funny and touching and subtly profound... it builds a momentum that dazzles throughout. An exhilarating and powerful read. * Jennifer Croft *Stanišic is a poet and revolutionary who has found his true home in language. * Rolling Stone *Wonderfully inventive and impressive. * Guardian *Offensively gifted... Some kind of freak genius. * Irish Examiner *Stanišic is an exceptionally talented, impish and caring writer who has walked the edge of the abyss. * LA Times *

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Book Synopsis“Moving, poetic and quietly provocative.” – The Independent. A novel sure to appeal to fans of Outlander. When Alys revisits the beautiful Scottish island of Garve after an absence of 25 years, she is captivated by the embroidered casket on display in her hotel. She discovers that it belongs to Donal, her childhood playmate, and soon they resume their old friendship. Interwoven with the story of their growing love is the darker 18th-century tale of Henrietta Dalrymple, kidnapped by the formidable Manus McNeill and held on Garve against her will. Despite the 300 years separating them, the women are strongly connected: their parallel lives are linked by the cabinet and its contents, by the tug of motherhood and by the magic of the Hebridean island itself. But Garve has its secrets, past and present. Donal must learn to trust Alys enough to confide in her and, like Henrietta before her, Alys must earn the right to belong.Trade Review“Elegant, restrained prose...compelling.” * Sunday Times pick of historical fiction *“Historical fiction at its most luxurious.” * Authors Electric *“A powerful story of love and obligation.” * John Burnside *“Moving, poetic and quietly provocative.” * The Independent *“Heart-warming, realistic and page-turning.” * Lorraine Kelly *“Beautiful – lyrical and sensual.” * Hilary Ely *“Blisteringly eloquent.” * The Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisThe uplifting, unforgettable new novel from the acclaimed author of The Reading List ‘It was a complete joy to spend time in The Twilight Garden’ Sally Page, bestselling author of The Keeper of Stories_____________________________________________________________Trade Review‘It was a complete joy to spend time in The Twilight Garden, especially with the wonderful Winston by my side’ Sally Page ‘A gorgeous story of love, friendship and gardening which really moved me. A magical novel’ Ajay Chowdhury ‘Sara's done it again, woven a beautiful story of isolation versus community, with characters you really want to see happy’ Tracy Rees ‘I LOVED this book. I get lost in every single page of a Sara Nisha Adams book, and I never quite want to find my way out again!’ Debbie Johnson ‘This was such a tender, nuanced and hopeful story of connection; I thought it was wonderful’ Huma Qureshi ‘Beautiful and moving and so, so warm all at once’ Rosie Price

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Book SynopsisIn The New Tribe, pioneering author Buchi Emecheta tells the tale of a young Nigerian boy adopted by a white family. Life changes overnight for the Arlingtons when an abandoned baby girl, Julia, arrives unexpectedly on their doorstep. The couple take her in and settle into family life. But then, just two years later, their lives change once again when they are told a Nigerian mother is in desperate need of a loving home for her baby boy, Chester. Instantly marked as different from the other children in his school and even from his own family Chester's pain and confusion at growing up an outcast ignites in him a desire to find out about his biological family.In this poignant, heartwarming story of Chester's journey through childhood, Buchi Emecheta weaves together a tale of love and acceptance while illuminating the vital importance of self-discovery.''We are able to speak because [Buchi Emecheta] first spoke.'' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie''Her name deserves to be emTrade ReviewWe are able to speak because [Buchi Emecheta] first spoke -- Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieHer name deserves to be embedded in our literary history -- Bernardine EvaristoA pioneer among female African writers * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZE'Masterful . . . [This Other Eden] has much to say to our times.' Guardian'A testament of love . . . so real it could make you weep.' Danez Smith, New York Times'A luminous, thought-provoking novel.' Esi Edugyan, author of Washington BlackSet at the beginning of the twentieth century and inspired by historical events, This Other Eden tells the story of Apple Island: an enclave off the coast of the United States where waves of castaways - in flight from society and its judgment - have landed and built a home.Benjamin Honey- American, Bantu, Igbo- born enslaved- freed or fled at fifteen- aspiring orchardist, arrived on the island with his Irish wife, Patience, and discovered they could make a life together there. More than a century later, the Honeys' descendants remain, with an eccentric, diverse band of neighbours. Then comes the intrusion of 'civilization': officials determine to 'cleanse' the island, and a missionary schoolteacher selects one light-skinned boy to save. The rest will succumb to the authorities' institutions or cast themselves on the waters in a new Noah's Ark.Full of lyricism and power, Paul Harding's This Other Eden explores the hopes and dreams and resilience of those seen not to fit a world brutally intolerant of difference.'Harding invites comparisons with authors such as William Faulkner, Robinson and even Elizabeth Strout . . . This Other Eden . . . begs to be widely read.' SpectatorTrade ReviewThe Pulitzer prize-winning author's gifts have found their fullest expression . . . [This Other Eden] impresses time and again because of the depth of Harding's sentences, their breathless angelic light * Observer *Masterful . . . This Other Eden is a story of good intentions, bad faith, worse science, but also a tribute to community and human dignity and the possibility of another world. In both, it has much to say to our times * Guardian *Harding's new novel is suffused with the tremulous imagery and soaring imagination that won him the Pulitzer Prize . . . Exquisite -- Financial TimesMasterful . . . This Other Eden is a story of good intentions, bad faith, worse science, but also a tribute to community and human dignity and the possibility of another world. In both, it has much to say to our times. * Guardian *Harding's new novel is suffused with the tremulous imagery and soaring imagination that won him the Pulitzer Prize . . . Exquisite. * Financial Times *Rich and full-bodied in its lyricism, Harding's novel, too, is part warning, part memorial, but perhaps above all, reinforces the power of art to bring us into sympathy with strangers' lives. * Daily Mail *Harding invites comparisons with authors such as William Faulkner, Robinson and even Elizabeth Strout . . . This Other Eden . . . begs to be widely read. * Spectator *This Other Eden is ultimately a testament of love: love of kin, love of nature, love of art, love of self, love of home . . . The humans he has created are, thankfully, not flattened into props and gimmicks, which sometimes happens when writers work across time and difference; instead they pulse with aliveness, dreamlike but tangible, so real it could make you weep. * New York Times *Powerful . . . a moving indictment of a shocking episode in America's past that is rendered in lyrical prose. * Mail on Sunday *[Harding] writes with the gravitas of a mythmaker . . . The pace of Harding's storytelling is stately, his descriptions, even of small events, gorgeous . . . This Other Eden is beautiful and agonizing. * Harper's *Beautiful . . . Perhaps the chief wonder of this novel is its vivid depictions of a community that is loving, longstanding, peculiar, full of surprises, filled with history, both dark and joyous and above all, functional and self-sustaining - until as has happened so many times and so many places, someone comes along to mess it up. * TLS *In boldly lyrical prose, This Other Eden shows us a once-thriving racial utopia in its final days, at a time when race and science were colliding in chilling ways. In the stories of the Apple Islanders - especially that of Ethan Honey, spared a destructive fate because of his artistic gifts and his fair skin - we are made to confront the ambiguous nature of mercy, the limits of tolerance, and what it means to truly be saved. A luminous, thought-provoking novel.A special book by a rare writer.Harding, who won a dark-horse Pulitzer Prize for Tinkers, again demonstrates his gifts for concision and compassion in a narrative that balances historical fact with fully drawn characters. . . . Sure to be a standout of 2023. * Los Angeles Times *There is no writer alive anything like Paul Harding, and This Other Eden proves it: astonishingly beautiful, humane, strange, interested in philosophy and the heart, stunningly written. It's about home, love, heredity, cruelty, and the very nature of art, so completely original it's hard to know how to describe it in a mere blurb, by which I mean: you must read this book.Tender, magical, and haunting, Paul Harding's This Other Eden is that rare novel that makes profound claims on our present age while being, very simply, a graceful performance of language and storytelling. Here is prose that touchingly holds its imagined island community in a light that can only be described as generous and dazzling. I have not read a novel this achingly beautiful in a while, nor one in which the fate of its characters I will not soon forget.An exquisite book which is both intimate and epic. The writing is polished, precise, luminous. A beautiful testament to people, and whole ways of life, which are have simply been removed from history, and leave hardly a trace behind.'A tragic tale beautifully told. * The Scotsman *

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Book SynopsisIn 1990, three boys are born, unrelated but intertwined by circumstance: Dayo, Iseul and Youssef. They are adopted as infants and live in a shared bedroom perched atop a mosque in Staten Island. The boys are a conspicuous trio: Dayo is of Nigerian origin, Iseul is Korean and Youssef indeterminately Middle Eastern, but they are so close as to be almost inseparable. Nevertheless, Youssef is keeping a secret from his brothers: he has an imaginary double, a familiar who seems absolutely real, a shapeshifting creature he calls Brother. The boys' adoptive father, Imam Salim, is known for his radical sermons extolling the virtues of opting out of Western ideologies. But he is uncharismatic at home, a distant father who spends evenings in his study with whiskey-laced coffee, writing letters to his former compatriots back in Saudi Arabia. Like Youssef, he too has secrets, including the cause of his failing health, the reason for his nighttime excursions from the house and the truth about what happened to the boys' parents. When Imam Salim's path takes him back to Saudi Arabia, the boys will be forced to follow. There they will be captivated by an opulent, almost futuristic world and find traces of their parents' stories. But they will have to change if they want to survive in this new world, and the arrival of a creature as powerful as Brother will not go unnoticed.With stylistic brilliance and intellectual acuity, in Brother Alive Zain Khalid brings characters to vivid life with a bold energy that matches the great themes of his novel - family, capital, power, sexuality and the possibility of reunion for those who are broken.Trade ReviewBeguiling...Khalid's sentences abound with florid, poetic metaphors while maintaining the clipped, declarative tempo of Scripture....a searing collage of the profound and the mundane * New York Times *[An] auspicious debut...Khalid brilliantly reveals new shades of truth from each character's point of view, and perfectly integrates the many ideas about capitalism and religious extremism into an enthralling narrative. It's a tour de force * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *One of the most exciting debuts in recent years...That Khalid executes a novel this intricate, elegant, and compassionate with such masterly prose all but guarantees that this will be one of the finest works of literature this year * Library Journal *This wildly ambitious novel seeks to break new ground in big-issue territory like provenance, race, class, birth and rebirth...that it succeeds in some of its lofty aspirations is impressive. To do so while creating memorable characters is even more of a feat. * Big Issue *Zain Khalid's imagination and talent are a marvel to behold in these pages. Brother Alive bristles with a kinetic, hypnotic energy that also manages to ask profound questions about love, faith, family, and loyalty. Hallucinatory and electrifying, Brother Alive announces the arrival of a writer with an impassioned and fearless vision. -- Maaza Mengiste, author of THE SHADOW KING, shortlisted for the Booker PrizeBrother Alive is a hallucinatory revelation. With beautifully-written prose, characters that truly leap from the pages, and a rendering of love, both familial and romantic, that made my heart ache, Zain Khalid has announced himself as a writer the world needs to sit up and pay attention to. An exquisitely told, breathtaking, revolutionary book, I barely blinked while reading it and was bereft when I finished it. -- Kasim Ali, author of GOOD INTENTIONSA rigorously intelligent, wholly sensitive and quietly rebellious work of art, with prose as profound as it is beautiful. What an inspiring examination of the waywardness of life and the grounding of love this story is. What a wise, thoughtful writer Zain Khalid is. What a gift to humanity this book is. -- Robert Jones, Jr., New York Times-bestselling author of THE PROPHETSBrother Alive is a remarkable work. Zain Khalid creates an immersive world rich in compelling detail. But even more impressively, Khalid achieves a kind of resistance text against our endemic inhumanity. The thrill lies in witnessing such a cogent and powerful intellect tune in to the music of life. An inspiring reminder of the great capacity of novels. -- Sergio de la Pava, author of A NAKED SINGULARITYThis genre-defying novel, and the intelligence, originality, and awareness of the mind that produced it, astonished me. I was reminded of Günter Grass, of Viet Thanh Nguyen. Through the consciousness of an unforgettable narrator, Youssef, Khalid begins by subtly illuminating the contours of a globalized world in which the personal is geopolitical; he ends by turning up the light and refusing to let us look away. -- Vauhini Vara, author of THE IMMORTAL KING RAO

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Book Synopsis'A laugh-out-loud romcom about what it means to come out... A must-read' Red 'The queer rom com I've been waiting for' Laura Kay 'Literary crack. I am so on board it hurts' Leena Norms Georgina has a strict routine: 1) teach piano to bored children 2) schedule dates with long-term boyfriend 3) repeat until dead Perfect. But then, one wild night, she auditions for a lesbian pop band and realises: 1) she longs to play her own music 2) she wants to be just like them 3) she has a huge crush on their female drummer... Realising she might like girls as well as boys, Georgina – and her schedule – are in chaos. Torn between the safety of her old life, and the freedom of a new one, she does what any rational person would do. She splits herself in two. After all, two lives are twice the fun... right? Praise for Double Booked: 'A laugh-out-loud romcom about what it means to come out, not just to those around you but ultimately to yourself... A must-read' Red Magazine 'The queer rom com I've been waiting for. A fresh and fun take on finding yourself stuck between two worlds, I challenge anyone not to fly through this novel, rooting for Georgina Green the entire time' Laura Kay, author of Tell Me Everything 'So fun and steaming hot' Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta, authors of The View Was Exhausting 'Warm and witty, smart and sassy, this bi romcom is a big-hearted and beautifully fresh story of love and self-discovery' Emylia Hall, author of The Book of Summers 'Sweet, charming, and has left me feeling hopeful about the future' Matt Cain, author of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle 'The bisexual romcom of your wildest dreams' DIVA Magazine 'I loved and adored this – it's absolutely hilarious' Emma Hughes, author of No Such Thing as PerfectTrade ReviewThe queer romcom I've been waiting for. A fresh and fun take on finding yourself stuck between two worlds -- Laura KayA laugh-out-loud romcom about what it means to come out, not just to those around you but ultimately to yourself... A must-read * Red *Lily Lindon has a real funny bone that comes through in every page -- Abigail MannBrilliant. Whip-smart, horribly relatable and so perceptive. You will love it -- Hannah ToveyThis is right up my street – hook it up to my veins immediately, please -- Laura Jane WilliamsJoyous romantic comedy * Red *The hilarious bi romcom you've been waiting for * Diva *Lily Lindon's debut is a fresh and funny romantic comedy about a young woman rediscovering her identity and finding her place in the LBGTQ+ community * CultureFly *A fun, fresh book to get into this summer * Attitude *A light-hearted rom-com about bisexuality and self-discovery * Sunday Business Post *A laugh-out-loud debut rom com * Get It *

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Book Synopsis'One of the best books for 2023' Cosmopolitan Against a rising tide of fundamentalism in India, a mother and daughter lose the most important man in their lives. Shashi, fifty-something and suddenly widowed, tries to contact her only daughter, Tara, to break the news, but cannot reach her. As Shashi confronts her loss, she finds, amidst grief, unexpected new freedoms. Meanwhile, Tara, a spoiled but brilliant university student, has retreated to Dharamsala to deal with the fall out from an ill-advised relationship. Her self-imposed solitude makes contact near impossible, so by the time she learns of her loss, the funeral is already over. Without the man that bound them, Shashi and Tara struggle to reconcile. But his absence also makes them a target for an emerging religious group determined to put women in their place, and Shashi and Tara individually prepare to defend their independence. If mother and daughter are to come together, they must find a way to understand both their new world, and each other. But can you ever emerge from an eclipse unscathed? 'Lyrical throughout yet so deceptively easygoing... an extraordinary novel' André Aciman 'Powerful, evocative and accomplished – it's hard to believe The Illuminated is a debut' Alice Ryan 'Gives voice to a new generation’ BBC Radio 4Trade ReviewAn extremely elegant work, an interesting take on the universality of feminism from a uniquely Indian perspective.’ * Irish Independent *A Clever Nuanced Debut Novel * Platinum Magazine *'One of the Best Books for January 2023!' * Cosmopolitan *One of the best debuts, a must-read for 2023! * Harper's Bazaar Australia *'Lyrical throughout yet so deceptively easygoing... The Illuminated is an extraordinary novel' -- André Aciman, author of Call Me By Your Name'A novel of such self-assurance one can scarcely believe it is the author's first' -- Shanta Gokhale'An incisive portrayal of the abusve and exploitation that thrives as duty, perhaps even attraction, in relationships' -- Shubhangi Swarup'Sad and funny and wise, The Illuminated is one of those books that will make you hug your loved ones tight' -- Akhil Sharma‘Powerful, evocative and accomplished – it’s hard to believe The Illuminated is a debut.’ * Alice Ryan *

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Book Synopsis'Powerful' Sunday Times 'Electric' Danya Kukafka 'Vital' Katie Gutierrez 'A triumph' Alice Ryan 'A powerful read' Heat 'Read this book!' Angie Cruz 'An instant classic' Morning Star 'Deserves all the hype' Glamour 'Crackles with life' Xochitl Gonzalez 'The book of the year' Rene Denfeld Carmen and Grace have been inseparable since they were little girls – more like sisters than cousins, survivors of a childhood marked by neglect and addiction. For too long, all they had was each other. That is, until Doña Durka swept into their lives and changed everything, taking Grace into her home and playing an outsize role in Carmen’s upbringing too. But Durka is more than a beneficent force in their Bronx neighbourhood. She’s also the leader of an underground drug empire, a larger-than-life matriarch who understands the importance of taking what power she can in a world too often ruled by violent men. So when Durka dies suddenly, Carmen and Grace’s lives are thrown into chaos. Grace has been primed to take over and has grand plans to expand the business, but Carmen is ready to move on – from Durka’s shadow, and from always looking over her shoulder in fear. As tough and tender as its main characters, Carmen and Grace is a devastatingly wise and intimate story about the bonds of female friendship, ambition and found family. Trade ReviewIn a world fraught with violence, Melissa Coss Aquino brilliantly delivers a heartwarming, loving novel with characters you are inspired to ride or die with. From page one, I was deeply invested in Carmen and Grace and their wild predicament of having to negotiate between their tight bonds and their ambitions. It had me up late turning the pages wanting to know if they will make it out without destroying everything. If you love reading novels about creative, ambitious, and relentless women who are committed to community and making a way out of no way, read this book! -- Angie Cruz'Electric, heartrending, and exceptionally tender – this novel examines the limits of familial loyalty, twisted cycles of poverty and violence, and how far we'll go to protect those we love most. Carmen and Grace are unforgettable characters, vital and flawed and relentlessly enthralling. Every sentence of Melissa Coss Aquino's debut feels acute and deliberate, a shard of glass held up to the light.' -- Danya Kukafka'Prepare to not breathe. This is a remarkable, heart-pounding book based on the best kind of tension – the real kind. Carmen and Grace is the story of two young women swept into the underground drug trade, each trying desperately to gain freedom, in their own ways. It is by turns touching, terrifying, and mesmerising. Melissa Coss Aquino is a brilliant writer and this is the book of the year.' -- Rene Denfeld'I was crying like I lost my best friend as I finished. Carmen and Grace crackles with life: its cruelty and kindness in equal measure. This book is an act of love, a story about found family, the magic sacred space that is created in a circle of women and, above all, the power and lessons of intuition. It will break you apart and remind you that we can all be put back together again, stronger, and wiser than before.' -- Xochitl GonzalezCarmen and Grace is everything I could want in a novel: a wise and ferocious exploration of mothers and motherlessness; an urgent, heart-pounding journey to power and safety; and an all-too-human rendering of what we choose when choice is an illusion. In Carmen and Grace, Melissa Coss Aquino offers us two of the most indelible, vital characters in modern literature. If this novel were a lifetime achievement, it would be enough – but it's only the beginning for Aquino, and for that we should all be thankful. -- Katie GutierrezCousins Carmen and Grace share a traumatic childhood that has bonded them together tightly. That is, until they meet a sisterhood of women known as the D.O.D, who are guided by a leader of an underground drug empire, Doña Durka. This plot-driven novel explores the bonds of found family and the ways in which power and ambition can sever relationships -- Lupita Aquino * Today.com *A grittily realistic book... a writer to watch' * Daily Mail *This is superbly written, the characters are complex and a presence on the page, you can feel their frustration, despair, and bond as they persevere against all the odds. A Latinx drama that deserves all the hype and praise. * Glamour *A powerful read **** * Heat Magazine *A powerful portrait of two women trying to make it in the Bronx... Melissa Coss Aquino offers a rich portrait of a dystopian matriarchy where shelter and security come at a high price. -- Erica Wagner * The Sunday Times *This passionate, uninhibited book, written with great craft as well with great feeling, has the air of an instant classic. * Morning Star *The characters are gripping, the story is fast-paced and the NYC Bronx setting is incredibly evocative – all the makings of a perfect summer read. * STYLIST *

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Book Synopsis'Clever, sharp, and deliciously dark... A one-sitting read.' Andrea Mara_____________________________When you fake it for a living, the truth is hard to find...Former child star Lily Thane is now a struggling thirty-something actress. Her old stage-school buddy, Adam Harker, is on the brink of making it big, but he needs an appropriate red-carpet companion to seal the deal, and Lily fits the bill.Soon after signing on the dotted line, Adam's dark side starts to surface and their perfect fauxmance turns toxic. But when Adam winds up dead in a swimming pool, Lily is the only person who cares enough to find out why. She's convinced someone was out to get Adam - and now they're after her...Trade ReviewClever, sharp, and deliciously dark - I flew through Let's Pretend. A one-sitting read. * Andrea Mara *'An award-winning performance' * The Times *You can't help but be captivated by the glamour and grit of celebrity life * Belfast Telegraph *The ultimate twist is both sad and shocking in its credibility * Literary Review *A gripping story about the dark realities of the showbusiness world which is packed with deliciously egocentric characters who will do anything to be famous. I absolutely loved it! Unputdownable and totally addictive * Katy Cox, author of M is for Mummy *A treat ... excellent insights ... elegant prose * Daily Mail on The Favour *Intensely captivating ... will cast its spell, leaving you on edge with unexpected twists * Heat Magazine on The Favour *Intelligent, elegant and immersive -- Claire Kendal, bestselling author of 'The Book of You', on 'The Favour'Absorbing, intelligent and atmospheric ... Genius -- Elizabeth Haynes on 'The Favour'

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Book SynopsisSits squarely at the tender intersection of race, class, and ethics wrapped in beautiful prose and a killer plot that keeps you turning the pages' JODI PICOULTOh my goodness this book; quite possibly one of the most emotionally powerful, heart wrenching books about motherhood that I have ever read I laughed and cried, and I know that this book will stay with me forever I would give this book six stars if I could' Reader review ?????It is a beautifully written book with a sensitivity and nuance that makes it an immensely rewarding read. I couldn't recommend it more highly and if you are looking for the perfect book club read, this is it!' Reader review ?????* * * *Is the truest family the one we're born into, or the one we make for ourselves?Cinnamon Haynes has fought hard for everything she has her marriage, a stable job as a career counsellor, and home of her own. She's overcome the difficult circumstances of her childhood to build this life, and yet, she can't help but wonder isTrade Review Praise for You Were Always Mine ‘The work of Jo Piazza and Christine Pride sits squarely at the tender intersection of race, class, and ethics – wrapped in beautiful prose and a killer plot that keeps you turning the pages. Before you begin You Were Always Mine, ask yourself why you often see white foster parents with Black kids . . . but rarely the other way around. What makes a family? Who has the right to raise a child? Does race matter more than love or security? And perhaps most important of all – why don't we feel comfortable asking these questions? This novel will spark one of many conversations America should be having’ Jodi Picoult Praise for Christine Pride and Jo Piazza ‘A painfully amazing read teaching us that sometimes, when it comes to race, the real enemy is ignorance’ Rhys Stephenson, actor and TV presenter ‘Provides a starting point for conversations which are crucial, at times uncomfortable, but long overdue’ Ruth Hogan, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things ‘The best kind of book, one that manages to educate readers as it entertains them. Riveting, timely and honest, this powerful page-turner explores the complexity of friendship and race – and will stay with you long after its stunning conclusion’ Greer Hendricks, Sunday Times bestselling co-author of The Wife Between Us ‘A brilliant novel from Christine Pride and Jo Piazza capturing today’s complex issues of race and class’ HELLO! ‘This is one of those books that is guaranteed to get people talking’ Joanne Finney, Good Housekeeping ‘A powerful story race, compassion, friendship and justice[…] a challenging and important read’ Daily Mail ‘I rarely say this, but I think everyone should read this’ Platinum ‘Powerful, accessible and wholly relatable’ Stylist

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Book Synopsis** SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIE BOOK AWARDS 2023 ** CHOSEN AS A BEST BOOK OF 2022 BY THE GUARDIAN, OBSERVER, DAILY MAIL, FINANCIAL TIMES AND IRISH TIMES ** ‘A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces’ - Madeline Miller 'A shining tour de force' - Ali Smith, Guardian Summer Reading 'An intimate study of the ties that bind us' - Stylist _______________ A dazzling new novel of friendship, identity and the unknowability of other people - from the international bestselling author of Home Fire, winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction Sometimes it was as though the forty years of friendship between them was just a lesson in the unknowability of other people… Maryam and Zahra. In 1988 Karachi, two fourteen-year-old girls are a decade into their friendship, sharing in-jokes, secrets and a love for George Michael. As Pakistan’s dictatorship falls and a woman comes to power, the world suddenly seems full of possibilities. Elated by the change in the air, they make a snap decision at a party. That night, everything goes wrong, and the two girls are powerless to change the outcome. Zahra and Maryam. In present-day London, two influential women remain bound together by loyalties, disloyalties, and the memory of that night, which echoes through the present in unexpected ways. Now both have power; and both have very different ideas of how to wield it… Their friendship has always felt unbreakable; can it be undone by one decision? _______________ 'A new Kamila Shamsie novel is always worth celebrating, but Best of Friends is something else: an epic story that explores the ties of childhood friendship, the possibility of escape, the way the political world intrudes into the personal, all through the lens of two sharply drawn protagonists' - Observer, Books of the Year 2022Trade ReviewA defining novel for our times … An intimate study of the ties that bind us * Stylist *A shining tour de force about a long friendship’s respects, disrespects, loyalties and moralities. Shamsie never compromises. This novel is of a rare quality, and even more evidence of her ability to write fiction that’s simultaneously vividly alive to its time and so good and true that it’s as if it has always been with us. -- ALI SMITH * GUARDIAN, Summer Books 2022 *I loved Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie– witty and painful, and so sharp on the problem of love and politics -- Katherine Rundell * Guardian *An adolescent coming-of-age novel and paean to female friendship … particularly excellent on the particularities of adult friendship forged in childhood * Independent *A moving exploration of friendship and identity across ideological divides * GRAZIA *A new Kamila Shamsie novel is always worth celebrating, but Best of Friends is something else: an epic story that explores the ties of childhood friendship, the possibility of escape, the way the political world intrudes into the personal, all through the lens of two sharply drawn protagonists * OBSERVER, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022 *The spirit of Elena Ferrante haunts this tale of a friendship forged in Karachi * SUNDAY TIMES *A profound novel about friendship. I loved it to pieces -- MADELINE MILLERIt is a rare writer who can examine with such insight and tenderness the forces that bind us to certain moments in life, and do it in language that is both precise and exquisite, expansive and attuned to the tiniest emotional detail. Kamila Shamsie has done it again in this magnificent, profoundly moving novel. Best of Friends is compulsive reading, and a reminder that in the end, the strongest force is always love -- MAAZA MENGISTEA powerful story about friendship * RED *A compelling exploration of private and public lives in free fall in 1980s Karachi * IRISH TIMES, Books of the year *The human heart can harbour deeply hidden contradictions. Here Kamila Shamsie brilliantly unearths the darker emotions that can live beneath the surface of a friendship - virtue laced with venality and love poisoned with the sugared toxins of envy and even hate. A disturbing and carefully crafted novel of rich psychological insight -- BARONESS HELENA KENNEDY QCFriendship and power collide in Best of Friends * GUARDIAN, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022 *A gripping portrayal of female connection * FINANCIAL TIMES, Books of the year *A twisting story brilliantly told * EVENING STANDARD, Autumn highlights *A haunting novel which asks big questions about justice, class, and the borders of our moral selves, all wrapped around the deliciously absorbing story of a childhood friendship that endures - fun, complicated, the kind of friendship that feels elemental -- MEGHA MAJUMDAR, author of A BURNINGSophisticated and poignant … A moving portrait of two lifelong friends * KIRKUS REVIEWS *A beautiful, enchanting story about friendship * INDEPENDENT *A story of power, identity and friendship … Told in lyrical prose, Best of Friends is a compelling tale by one of today’s greatest writers * MONOCLE *I devoured this novel. Both a stinging indictment of corruption and prejudice in modern Britain and a nuanced portrait of friendship * The Bookseller *‘Best of Friends has much the same premise as Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet: a friendship charted from girlhood to middle age, taking in education, puberty, sex, ideological conflicts, personal rivalries, intimate secrets …’ * Guardian *Cleverly captures the competitive nature of even the closest friendships … a beautifully crafted novel with excellent characterisation, skilfully interweaving the personal and the political throughout * Daily Mirror *The relationship between Maryam and Zahra captures the passion, intimacy and depth of longstanding female friendships as well as the hidden currents that sometimes take decades to rise to the surface. The realities of life under dictatorship in 1980's Pakistan is highlighted against the privileges and concerns of the upper class. This is a magnificent and important novel by a writer in full mastery of her powers * Nadifa Mohamed, author of the Booker shortlisted The Fortune Men *Wonderfully realised. Shamsie captures the fizz and fissure of teenage friendship, the rivalry and trust, the secrets shared and hidden. … Shamsie’s observations about social media are clever and incisive, as are those about Pakistani and English social mores * Art Review *PRAISE FOR HOME FIRE: The book for our times -- Judges of the Women's Prize 2017Home Fire has lit a light that'll never go out -- Ali SmithHer prose is propulsive and unfailingly elegant, and her eye for detail is acute ... A brave and brilliant novel * Sunday Times *Managed to do all the things I want novels to do - tell me something about the world, give me a tiny glimpse into the otherness of others, and, most of all, give me that ache of longing as I turned the last page and realised I would never meet these characters again -- Tahmima Anam * Observer *Shamsie's writing resonates on the human, political and lyrical plane but its topicality, tight plot and vivid characterisation also suggest a film script in the making * New Statesman, Books of the Year *Elegant and evocative ... A powerful exploration of the clash between society, family and faith in the modern world, tipping its hat to the same dilemma in the ancient one * Guardian *Builds to one of the most memorable final scenes I've read in a novel this century ... There is high, high music in the air at the end of Home Fire * New York Times *Utterly contemporary and deeply original too -- Arifa Akbar * Evening Standard *One of the best novels of the year ... magnificent ... Insistently intelligent without becoming didactic ... conveyed in prose of stunning suppleness and economy ... Home Fire is everything literary fiction should be - an exciting, beautiful, profound novel of lasting value that deserves laurels * Spectator *

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