Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction
The New York Review of Books, Inc Nightmare Alley: Movie tie-in edition
Book SynopsisNow a major motion picture from Academy Award–winning director Guillermo del Toro and starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and Toni Collette.Nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best PictureNightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a carnival-show geek—alcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowd’s gleeful disgust and derision—going about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There’s no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him.And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he’s going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute assistant (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan’s for the taking. At least for now.
£15.26
The New York Review of Books, Inc Sojourn
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£13.56
The New York Review of Books, Inc The Stronghold
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£14.36
Black Rose Writing Cannibal Club
Book SynopsisArmed with extraordinary medical talent and a winning smile, newly trained surgeon, Chase Callaway, enters the world of private practice in Los Angeles, only to be greeted by a wall of stunning peer rejection. A charge of malpractice is levied a mere three days into his career, followed by professional attacks intended to ruin, effectively ending his surgical practice after only one month. Battling back to respectability takes many years, but even then, dark clouds linger. Significant mental injuries still fester, reinforcing his growing fear and belief in a multi-generational family curse, eventually prompting a return to academic medicine at his alma mater, Far West Texas University. Under the direction of his former mentor, he is given the charge to develop a multidisciplinary breast center, a new concept in the late 1980s, in the midst of a controversial revolution in breast cancer management. Energized by his abiding belief that the California experience served a Providential purpose to strip away personal gain in favor of group excellence, Dr. Callaway''s indomitable spirit meets head-on with unrelenting tribulation.
£19.90
Black Rose Writing Heavenly Blues
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£19.90
Black Rose Writing Nutshell
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£21.80
Sourcebooks, Inc The Second Mother: A Novel
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£21.59
Poisoned Pen Press The Summoning
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£14.44
Sourcebooks Landmark True Crime Story
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£16.14
Sourcebooks, Inc Laws of Wrath
Book Synopsis"All thriller; no filler-a white-knuckled treat" -James PattersonThere are those who fight the devil within them. And those who worship it.The butchered body of a cross-dresser is found in a dumpster in Chinatown, New York. Nothing out of the ordinary for the NYPD, except the victim just so happens to be the brother of Detective Phee Freeman. At first the slaying looks like the random act of a vicious killer, but when it is discovered that there are similar ritualistic murders throughout the city, Phee and his partner Quincy Cavanaugh, along with FBI Agent Janet Maclin, have no choice but to join forces with Dr. Daria Zibik, a brilliant but deranged Satanic cult leader. Phee and his partners must do everything they can to stop the bloodshed and determine if the evil they are hunting and the psychopath they are trusting could actually be one and the same.Actor, director, producer and award-winning author Eriq La Salle does it again in the second novel of his gritty, tension-packed Martyr Maker series, which will have readers reflecting on the struggle of good versus evil and why it's not always so easy to do the right thing.Praise for Laws of Wrath:"Fast-paced... Characters are richly textured [and] none is without faults. Sets the hook for the captivating series." -Kirkus Reviews"Penetrating and incisive...Laws of Wrath is outstanding fiction, with its basis firmly planted in the nonfictional evil man is capable of committing." -Lee Ashford, Readers' Favorite
£15.54
Sourcebooks, Inc Laws of Annihilation
Book SynopsisWith grit, relentless action, and twists you'll never see coming, Laws of Annihilation is the third installment in the highly acclaimed Martyr Maker crime fiction series from actor, director, producer, and award-winning author Eriq La Salle.A war is brewing in New York City, and nobody can stop it.It's summer in New York City, and a sweltering heat wave stifles the area. The entire city is on edge.Tensions between the Hasidic and Black communities of New York have been steadily escalating since a tragic incident a few weeks ago left a Black teenager dead. Then, two rabbis are killed in a gruesome attack at their synagogue.Meanwhile, FBI agent Janet Maclin has dreams of finally being appointed the FBI's first female director, when she is diagnosed with stage IV cancer and given four months to live. While keeping her illness a secret, she is assigned to help NYPD detectives Quincy Cavanaugh and Phee Freeman solve the case of the murdered rabbis as more hate crimes threaten a city on the brink. As the body count mounts, time is running out for Maclin in more ways than one.Also in the Martyr Maker series:Laws of DepravityLaws of Wrath
£15.71
Sourcebooks, Inc The Locked Door
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£15.29
Green Writers Press Crosshairs: A Justin McGee Mystery
Book SynopsisInspired by the author's own experiences and observations as a child and throughout adulthood, Crosshairs tells the story of the the implosion of the traditional Boston underworld that created a vacuum for the players left at the table. Justin McGee is a high-powered attorney who moonlights as the city's most successful and highly paid assassin. Former Irish crime family member, Darby McBride, is an aging mobster looking for a new life as a sole proprietor in the reinvented underworld. Captain Caleb Frost is a hardscrabble Gloucester fisherman who comes to a crossroads between his own sense of principles and ethics and the lure of the lucrative New England heroin trade. Crosshairs is the story of three desperate individuals grappling with a world that places money and hidden desires above all else. These players are seeking not only survival, but the ability to thrive. Their unique advantage—unlike the drones of the rest of the world—is that they are devoid of any pesky morals that could get in the way of achieving their desires. Everything comes to a head when Justin is called upon to accept the most challenging assignment of his life. Little do they know, but their worlds will all tragically collide, as readers will discover, because in Boston, politics, history, and crime are all one when caught in the crosshairs…Trade Review"There's no greater reading pleasure than to meet a new player in the field of Boston crime fiction. So allow me to introduce Matthew Fitzpatrick, and allow him to introduce you to his fictional gang of sharp-tongued, sardonic, hopeful, hopeless wise-guys and gals. His narration sings with the song of the streets, and their dialogue is so real it spits. A most promising debut. Enjoy." William Martin , New York Times Bestselling author of Back Bay and Bound For Gold" Crosshairs is a gritty story about gritty people in a city where only the strong and strategic survive." Capt. Linda Greenlaw , best-selling author of The Hungry Ocean and Bimini Twist
£19.76
Green Writers Press Today My Name Is Billie
Book SynopsisEvery Year thousands of educators are accused of physical abuse. Some are guilty and are prosecuted, but hundreds who are innocent are forced to surrender their licenses. This is what happened to Billie. Deceit and betrayal threatened her survival, extinguished her life’s dream, and erased her sense of self worth. She wondered if she could ever trust again. Rejected by family and friends, she was forced to reinvent every aspect of her entire life. When a catastrophic fire crippled her community, and individuals grappled with personal tragedy, she gained a deeper understanding of the gift of forgiveness and the power of hope. Her brave struggles saved not only her life but also the lives of others. At times brutally painful, at other times hugely positive, Today My Name Is Billie reveals how a single lie can spread like fire and destroy all that it touches.Trade Review"Neile Parisi's debut novel, Today My Name is Billie , explores the aftermath of teacher Billie Murray's life when one of her trusted students falsely accuses her of physical abuse. In the fallout from this boy's lie, Billie loses her job as well her relationship with her husband and two sons. Billie chooses to relocate from Connecticut to a small southern town where she begins to heal. After many years she experiences another horrifying experience. This time, however, she learns to love, forgive and become an empowered version of herself. Today My Name is Billie ignites hope in the tenacity of the human spirit." Charita Cole Brown, author of Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life
£13.46
Wicked Run Press Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror
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£10.99
Wicked Run Press Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror
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£20.99
Darklit Press Lessons in Demoralization
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£16.14
Cherry Tree Publishing Nothing Left To Lose
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£15.99
Muswell Press Scent
Book SynopsisThe cracks in Clementine and Edouard's marriage are becoming impossible to ignore. Her work as a perfumer is no longer providing solace and her sense of self is withering. Then, decades after the disturbing end of a bisexual love triangle, Clementine's former lover Racha resurfaces and her world tilts. What does she want, if not revenge? Set in Paris and Provence, this is a beautifully written, intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.Trade Review'Very, very good, an intense and unflinching expose of desire and its legacy'. Elizabeth Buchan. 'Vividly passionate, Costello's prose is reminiscent of masters like Leila Slimani. Thrillingly stylish' Daisy Buchanan. 'A writer of enormous intelligence and sensitivity. she is also a skilled storyteller. Inventive, vivid and distinctive' Mary Loudon
£8.54
Drawn and Quarterly Paul At Home
Book SynopsisPaul at Home is Quebecois superstar Michel Rabagliati s most personal book yet, a riveting, emotional, and frequently amusing take on the losses and loneliness of being closer to retirement than to university. Paul is in his mid-50s, a successful cartoonist with an achy shoulder living in a house he once shared with his wife and daughter. The backyard is unkempt, full of weeds. A swing set sits idle, slowly rusting beside a half-dead tree Paul planted with his then-five-year old daughter. The room that belonged to his now-18-year-old daughter is mostly unused, especially once she decides to move overseas. Left unspoken but lingering in the background is Paul s divorce after a three decade relationship with his high school sweetheart. Amid all of this emotional turmoil, Paul visits his ailing mother in the final months of her life. Like Paul, she divorced in mid-life after a long marriage. She spent most of her remaining years alone or in unfulfilling relationships, which Paul implicitly fears might happen to him. Online dating only seems to make the world worse. Rabagliati doesn t shy away from these intimate issues, approaching them as much with self-deprecating humor as with sorrow or pain. Characterized by both a deep insight and a willingness to poke fun at life s shortcomings, Paul at Home is a playful and poetic rumination on loss and the sometimes unsettling changes that come with middle age.
£16.80
Cormorant Books Lost Dogs
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£9.49
Cormorant Books Some Unfinished Business
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£9.49
Cormorant Books Double Karma
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£9.49
Biblioasis White Shadow
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£12.34
Anvil Press Publishers Inc The Loop
Book SynopsisWinner of the 41st International 3-Day Novel Writing Contest Alan is unsure if he is dead or dreaming, he only knows that he is stuck in a loop. He finds himself being forced to walk along a straight path through an unending pine forest where any deviation from the path causes him to black out and begin again. Dipping in and out of an endless purgatorial walk, Alan relives key moments in his life where he missed the opportunity to learn, escape, and change: The death of his mother, an abusive relationship with his father, and the opportunity to connect with his only real friend, a neighbour he never speaks to named Edgar. The Loop chronicles the life of an alcoholic who is unable to escape his past to explore the ways in which abuse can shape someone into their abuser and the ways trauma can transfer from one generation to the next. How much of who we are is who we are? How much of it is someone else? What if this has all happened before?
£12.59
Vagrant Press Some There Are Fearless
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£18.95
Lucky Dollar Media Immortal North
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£13.99
Pushkin Press Bad Kids
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER 2023 A dark Chinese suspense thriller about teenage accountability, where no one is innocent, for fans of Keigo Higashino and Un-Su Kim One beautiful morning, Zhang Dongsheng pushes his wealthy in-laws off a remote mountain. It's the perfect crime. Or so he thinks. For Zhang did not expect that teenager Chaoyang and his friends would catch him in the act. An opportunity for blackmail presents itself and the kids start down a dark path that will lead to the unravelling of all their lives. Dark, heart-stopping and violent, Bad Kids is the suspense thriller that has taken China by storm, proving that anyone has what it takes to become a killer.Trade Review“A perfect noir for modern China!” --Crime Reads“I really loved [this] book…every twist and turn had me well and truly hooked…genius…one of those books where I was desperate to know how it might end, yet didn’t want to reach the end!” --Jackie McLean, author of the DI Donna Davenport series
£9.49
Pushkin Press Another Person
Book Synopsis'A mesmerising debut. Dark, twisted and bracingly empathetic' Diana Reid, author of Love and Virtue Winner of the 2017 Hankyoreh Literary Award ---------------- Who is Jina? The stupid woman who ruined a young man's promising career? The weird loner whose university boyfriend thinks she has a victim complex? The naïve country girl who ignored a friend's cry for help? The survivor? To answer these questions, Jina will have to return to Anjin University and the toxic culture that destroyed the lives of many female students - including one, Ha Yuri, who died tragically and mysteriously not long before she left. ---------------- PRAISE FOR ANOTHER PERSON 'Immaculately crafted, shocking and moving' Sang Young Park, author of the International Booker-longlisted Love in the Big City 'Dark Academia the way I like it... smart and full of suspense' Hanna Bervoets, author of We Had to Remove This Post 'Sharp social commentary and amazing, complex female characters. An unusual, unpredictable thriller' Simone Campos, author of Nothing Can Hurt You NowTrade Review'Dark Academia the way I like it: Another Person is one of those novels where you're never sure who you should be rooting for, or if you should be rooting for anyone at all. Smart, and full of suspense, it will keep you guessing until the end.' - Hanna Bervoets, author of We Had to Remove This Post'Sharp societal commentary and amazing, complex female characters. An unusual, unpredictable thriller' - Simone Campos, author of Nothing Can Hurt You Now'This is not a remote-controlled weapon aiming at us from a distance. This is a novel standing right before us like a stone-age axe, hacking at our blunted hearts. A novel not like a drone, but like dynamite; more like a dagger than an arrow. In an ever-more misogynistic society, day after day feminism plots its self-transformation-Another Person is its latest weapon. I love Kang Hwagil's direct and primal writing style. I love her perseverance and courage, not to gracefully skirt around a topic, but instead to shout out, 'This is not okay' - Cheong Yeoul, writer'This novel exposes and interrogates. Another Person's protagonists Yuri, Jina and Sujin-as well as the countless women within the 'brackets' of the Korean context-are screaming out... This is a novel that will spark debate.' - Young-Sook Kang, author of Rina'A novel so immaculately-crafted, shocking, and moving, it's hard to believe it's the author's first; this is what Kang Hwagil's ANOTHER PERSON is to me' - Sang Young Park, author of the International Booker-longlisted Love in the Big City'A confronting and timely book about consent, toxic masculinity, sexual assault and how women are treated in South Korea, by one of the country's most prominent feminist writers' -Independent
£13.49
Atlantic Books Try Not to Breathe: Gripping psychological
Book SynopsisThe most talked about psychological suspense novel of the 2016, loved by Marian Keyes and Tess Gerritsen. Once you start reading TRY NOT TO BREATHE you will be hooked on this gripping, fast-paced thriller.You won't be able to put it down.Just remember to breathe. Alex is sinking. Slowly but surely, she's cut herself off from everything but her one true love - drink. Until she's forced to write a piece about a coma ward, where she meets Amy.Amy is lost. When she was fifteen, she was attacked and left for dead in a park. Her attacker was never found. Since then, she has drifted in a lonely, timeless place. She's as good as dead, but not even her doctors are sure how much she understands. Alex and Amy grew up in the same suburbs, played the same music, flirted with the same boys. And as Alex begins to investigate the attack, she opens the door to the same danger that has left Amy in a coma...Look out for Holly's new novel, DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, available to pre-order now!Trade ReviewA razor-sharp, fast-paced plot and wonderfully complex characters. Not since The Girl on the Train have I been so captivated by a work of suspense. -- Tess GerritsenSuch a grippy book. -- Marian KeyesTry not to breathe, try not to make plans, try not to commit to anything till you've finished Holly Seddon's debut novel, because we must warn you now - you'll be fully hooked from page one...a brilliant, gripping, must-read. * Glamour *Forget girls on trains and girls who are gone, you will not be able to put Try Not to Breathe down. It's that good. * Goodreads *A top-notch psycho-drama * Independent *A gripping psychological thriller * New *Seddon's storytelling skills are strong and the book engrossing... the world she's constructed is fascinating * Kirkus *A gripping debut novel...as addictive as the best box sets. * Independent *
£7.59
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Things We Thought We Knew
Ten years ago, two girls’ lives changed forever.Now one of them is ready to tell their story.***'A quirky lovable mystery and a brilliant, heartbreaking debut' Stylist'A new face of fiction [and] an original coming of age novel' Observer ***The first memory I have of you is all knickers and legs. You had flipped yourself into a handstand and couldn’t get back down. We became best friends, racing slugs, pretending to be spies – all the things that children do.Ten years later, eighteen-year-old Ravine Roy spends every day in her room. Completing crosswords and scribbling in her journal, she keeps the outside world exactly where she wants it; outside. But as the real world begins to invade her carefully controlled space, she is forced to finally confront the questions she’s been avoiding. Who is her mother meeting in secret? Who has moved in next door?And why, all those years ago, when two girls pulled on their raincoats and wellies and headed out into the woods did only one of them return?‘A breakout book from an incredibly talented debut writer. Read, weep and laugh’ Stylist ‘An original heartfelt read by a new British talent’ Independent‘A delightfully fresh voice’ Daily Mail
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Fire Starters
Book Synopsis**WINNER of the EU Prize for Literature**'One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation' SUNDAY TIMES'Gripping, affecting, surprising. I inhaled it' LISA MCINERNEY 'Captivating, intelligent and courageous' IRISH TIMES'Spectacular. At once grittily real, wildly magical and insanely alluring - a siren-song of a novel.' DONAL RYAN'Jan Carson seems to have invented a new Belfast in this gripping, surprising, exhilarating novel.' RODDY DOYLE'Blew me away with its power, anger and wit.' JOSEPH O'CONNOR Dr Jonathan Murray fears his new-born daughter is not as harmless as she seems. Sammy Agnew is wrestling with his dark past, and fears the violence in his blood lurks in his son, too.The city is in flames and the authorities are losing control. As matters fall into frenzy, and as the lines between fantasy and truth, right and wrong, begin to blur, who will these two fathers choose to protect?Dark, propulsive and thrillingly original, this tale of fierce familial love and sacrifice fizzes with magic and wonder.Trade ReviewGripping, affecting, surprising. I inhaled it. -- Lisa McInerneySpectacular . . . Dark, beautiful, at once grittily real and wildly magical. Insanely alluring. -- Donal RyanBlew me away with its power, anger and wit. * Joseph O'Connor, Books of the Year *A big and rambunctious novel that casts a cold satirical eye on themes such as language, culture, identity, sectarianism, and the terrifying proximity of the past * Sunday Times, 50 Greatest Irish Novels of the 21st Century *Shimmering with wit, simmering with an incandescent rage, shot through with a seam of wild magic, The Fire Starters is a powerful, disturbing portrait of East Belfast and its people and its hope for the future. I won’t be the only reader to proclaim that, in the best way possible, Jan Carson is on fire. * Lucy Caldwell *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Gustav Sonata
Book SynopsisWhat is the difference between friendship and love? Gustav grows up in a small town in Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem a distant echo. But Gustav's father has mysteriously died, and his adored mother Emilie is strangely cold and indifferent to him. Gustav's life is a lonely one until he meets Anton. An intense lifelong friendship develops but Anton fails to understand how deeply and irrevocably his life and Gustav's are entwined until it is almost too late...'A perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers...' Kate Kellaway, Observer'Heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain.' John Boyne, The Irish TimesTrade ReviewThis is a perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers... Remarkable and moving novel. -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain. -- John Boyne * The Irish Times *Beautifully tender and brilliantly written novel... A tale of the most powerful part of any friendship: love. ***** * Stylist *In The Gustav Sonata, Tremain once again proves herself to be a writer of exceptional talent ... Previous novels like The Road Home have already showcased her staggering sensitivity and capacity for empathy but they're here again, magnificently undiminished. Tremain is a writer who understands every emotion ... and it's ultimately this understanding that has produced another exquisite book -- Matt Cain * i *Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect... Glorious. -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Sense of an Ending: The classic Booker
Book SynopsisNow a major film starring Academy Award nominees Jim Broadbent (Iris) and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2011 Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.Now Tony is retired. He's had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He's certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer's letter is about to prove.Trade ReviewA masterpiece... I would urge you to read - and re-read - The Sense of an Ending * Daily Telegraph *Mesmerising... the concluding scenes grip like a thriller - a whodunit of memory and morality * Independent *A very fine book, skilfully plotted, boldly conceived... Barnes has achieved...something of universal importance -- Justin Cartwright * Observer *A precise, poignant portrait of the costs and benefits of time passing, of friendship, of love. A small masterpiece -- Erica Wagner * The Times *A wonderful story that is all too human and all so real * Irish Times *An extremely moving, a precise book about the imprecision of memory and how it constructs people, stories and histories. -- Alasitair Bruce * Guardian *From the moment that we hear from the woodworm which snuck aboard Noah’s ark to the final pages of the novel, Barnes interrogates moral dilemmas and motivations. These tales could easily be read is isolation, but are much better when consumed as a whole. * WeAreTheCity *A masterpiece... I would urge you to read - and re-read - The Sense of an Ending * Daily Telegraph *Mesmerising... the concluding scenes grip like a thriller - a whodunit of memory and morality * Independent *A very fine book, skilfully plotted, boldly conceived... Barnes has achieved...something of universal importance -- Justin Cartwright * Observer *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Only Story
Book Synopsis**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.First love has lifelong consequences, but Paul doesn’t know anything about that at nineteen. At nineteen, he’s proud of the fact his relationship flies in the face of social convention.As he grows older, the demands placed on Paul by love become far greater than he could possibly have foreseen.Tender and wise, The Only Story is a deeply moving novel by one of Britain's greatest mappers of the human heart.Trade ReviewA novelist at the height of his powers ... Quietly devastating. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * The Times *Exquisite. -- Kate Clanchy * Guardian *Emotionally acute, profoundly beautiful, as droll as it is deep... this has to be one of the smartest novels that 2018 has to offer. -- Hephzibah Anderson * Mail on Sunday *A gentle, bleak, and brilliant novel. -- Jon Day * Financial Times *Immensely powerful. -- Alex Clark * New Statesman *This intense, taut, sad and often beautiful tale may well be Barnes’ best novel for years. -- Lara Feigel * Spectator *A tender and heartbreaking novel. -- Alex Preston * Observer *As quiet and aching and intimate as a James Blake ballad. -- Rupert GooldA sensitive look at what makes lovers tick. -- Robbie Millen * The Times *A vivid dramatization of the narcissism of obsessive love. * Economist *
£8.99
Vintage Publishing Charlie Savage
Book SynopsisMeet Charlie Savage.Charlie is a middle-aged Dubliner with an indefatigable wife, an exasperated daughter, a drinking buddy who’s realised that he’s been a woman all along … Compiled here for the first time is a whole year’s worth of Roddy Doyle’s hilarious series for the Irish Independent. Giving a unique voice to the everyday, he draws a portrait of a man – funny, loyal, somewhat bewildered – trying to keep pace with the modern world (if his knees don’t give out first).SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC WRITING 2019'A delight from start to finish' Irish Mail on SundayTrade ReviewA delight from start to finish. -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday *A refreshingly positive take on middle age, it’s optimistic, warm-hearted, blokishly moving and written with a master’s pin-sharp command of humour… a book that’s sure to be picked up and revisited time and time again. * Herald Scotland *More than comedy or insight, this work has tenderness… It does more than tickle our bellies, it warms our hearts. -- Niamh Donnelly * Irish Times *Brilliantly funny. Heart-warmingly, vulnerably hilarious in fact. Doyle has crafted Charlie Savage with great care and has imbued him with such depth of character that I can’t imagine a reader finishing the book without loving him, just a little… savour every page because Charlie Savage will enrich your life as long as he is in it. -- Ceire Duggan * RTE Guide *This portrait of an ordinary man (and one clearly past his best) is by turns hilarious and heartfelt. -- Rachel Lloyd * Economist, 1843 *
£8.99
Vintage Publishing The Story of a Marriage
Book Synopsis'Brilliant and breathtaking...sexy and sad' A.M. HomesIn his struggle to understand what has happened to his family, how his wife could fall in love with another man after twenty happy years, Jon attempts to tell the story of the painful collapse of his marriage, but from her point of view. He tries to get inside her head, to see it all as she did, all the while knowing that he can never really achieve this, and that his efforts reveal more projection than insight. How can one truly know another person? How much of what we think is love, is just a construct? Is it possible to find – and maintain – the great love we long for? Gulliksen explores these questions, turning them over again and again till they crack, revealing hollowness – or possible new meanings.Intense, erotic, dramatic, raw – Story of a Marriage examines two people's inner lives with devastating and fearless honesty. It is a gripping but slippery narrative of obsession and deceit, of a couple striving for happiness and freedom and intimacy, but ultimately falling apart.Trade ReviewA brilliant and breathtaking novel that is for anyone who has ever loved… Story of a Marriage is the naked truth, sexy and sad, stunning for its clarity, the author’s ability to simultaneously render denial and knowing too much. It is a novel about all the things we know and don’t want to know about ourselves, our partners and our lives and the shocking reminder that the very same things that draw us together are the ones that pull us apart. -- A.M. HomesBristling with the urgency of lived experience, this is a short and beautifully written account of love’s autoimmunity. -- Andrew Anthony * Observer *Exquisitely lean prose -- Elisa Segrave * Literary Review *this philosophical domestic drama...is painfully persuasive in its view of relationships * The New Yorker *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Need
Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2019 A New York Times 2019 Notable Book2019 BOOK OF THE YEAR: Oprah Magazine, Time, Vulture, and Entertainment Weekly 'The Need is a profound meditation on the nature of reality, a fearless examination of parenthood, and also somehow a thriller. This is an extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers' Emily St. John MandelShe crouched in front of the mirror in the dark, clinging to them. The baby in her right arm, the child in her left. There were footsteps in the other room...Molly is exhausted, anxious, losing her grip on reality. Her husband is away and she is running between her children and her job, where things are unravelling. She’s a paleobotanist, working at a fossil quarry, and has recently unearthed artefacts that defy understanding; the coke bottle with the lettering that leans the wrong way, an alternate version of the Bible. Where do these things come from?At home, as dusk falls, she gets jumpy. Are those footsteps out in the hall? What was that noise? She holds her two small children close to her, and tries to pull herself together. But her worlds of work and home are about to collide. She discovers that the stranger in her sitting room knows everything about her life and, as their identity becomes chillingly clear, this intruder makes a demand of Molly that upends everything, forcing her to reckon with her most unspeakable fears. The Need is a gripping, unsettling and stunningly original story that probes deep truths about motherhood, and explores grief, loss and how we treat others. It's a compulsive, reality-warping novel that makes us rethink our world, and question how far we would go to protect the ones we love.'The atmosphere is as close and taut as a thriller, but this is, in fact, both a highly original examination of grief and an extraordinarily vivid evocation of motherhood -- the moments of terror and hilarity, the visceral burden of it, and the fleeting, but almost transcendent, joy' Daily Mail'A chilling novel from a blazing talent' Observer Trade ReviewA chilling novel from a blazing talent...in addition to being a cerebral meditation on motherhood at its most elemental – fierce, beatific, sanity-thieving – it’s an adroitly executed thriller with a quasi-sci-fi twist. Mercilessly tense throughout, its opening chapter is a belter... A bracingly singular achievement, it’s surreal, blackly comic and ultimately generous. -- Hephzibah Anderson * Observer *[A] frenzied fever dream of a novel. Read it as a sci-fi thriller, or understand it instead as metaphorical; either way, it’s a page-turner… magnificent... This is a smart, sharp book that cuts to the heart of what it’s like to be a mother -- Lucy Scholes * Financial Times *Phillips can conjure pure nightmare in a single sentence… Thrillingly disturbing, frighteningly insightful about motherhood and love, and spilling over with offhand invention, The Need is one of this year’s most necessary novels. -- Sarah Ditum * Guardian *The atmosphere is as close and taut as a thriller, but this is, in fact, both a highly original examination of grief and an extraordinarily vivid evocation of motherhood -- the moments of terror and hilarity, the visceral burden of it, and the fleeting, but almost transcendent, joy -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *Helen Phillips’s novel begins to reveal itself, veering away from what looks initially like conventional suspense into something more speculative and philosophical with nods to both sci-fi and horror...the what-ifs animate this novel, the narrative splitting and looping back on itself as it tries out parallel possibilities, various fantasies and nightmares... frightening and maddening and full of dark comedy.. Phillips, as careful with language as she is bold with structure, captures many small sharp truths * New York Times *The Need is a profound meditation on the nature of reality, a fearless examination of parenthood, and also somehow a thriller. This is an extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers -- Emily St. John MandelPhillips writes exceptionally well of the insatiable demands two young children can make on a mother... yet this is also a horror story about the vulnerability of motherhood that doubles up as a love letter to the miracle existence of children. At the same time, Phillips consistently plays tricks with the reader's perspective...and with the possibility of parallel realities, rooted in a mother's worst possible fears, playing out at the level of science fiction... One of the most heart-stopping motherhood novels you'll read all year * Metro *So smart and brave about motherhood... Molly's struggle to remain her full self while giving so much away is electrifying... Mothers will recognize so much in this fresh novel -- but they aren't the only ones who should read it. Phillips has found a way to make these experiences universal -- Bethanne Patrick * Washington Post *An enthralling book. With its short chapters, unsettling prose and riveting suspense, it feels designed for binge-reading. But keep an eye on the clock. Immersion in this novel before bedtime is a recipefor sleeplessness. * Economist *It’s a classic opening: a woman hears an intruder in her home while her husband is away, grabs her two young kids and hides in terror. But the true power of Helen Phillips’ brilliantly paced thriller emerges when Molly, a paleobotanist, comes face to face with the only person in the world who can shake her identity as a mother—a person who brings her to question her very reality. Phillips taps into the overwhelming anxiety that comes with love in its deepest, truest form, a sense of fierce protectiveness one need not be a parent to understand -- Lucy Feldman * Time's Best Fiction Books 2019 *An exciting, enjoyably eccentric novel that more than delivers as both a reality-warping thriller and a searching meditation on motherhood * Mail on Sunday *The weirdness of everyday life is beautifully explored… The Need's true subject is motherhood, rendered here as a painful, visceral, almost impossibly tender undertaking. In contrast to this extreme normality, the supernatural elements tingle like bugs against the skin. In all, a grand achievement. The novel exists on that narrow borderlinewhere strangeness merges with the mundane, and Phillips is both an explorer, and a brilliant chronicler of this murky realm. * Spectator *Sinister, existential and written in blazing prose * i *I love Helen Phillips's wild, brilliant, eccentric brain -- Lauren GroffHelen Phillips is one of the most exciting young writers working today, and I envy those who get to discover her work here for the first time -- Jenny OffillThis book held me hostage, invaded my dreams and my waking thoughts, and readjusted my brain; Phillips is, as always, doing something at once wildly her own and utterly primal. Maybe it doesn't surprise me that the strangest book I've read about motherhood is also the best, but it does thrill me -- Rebecca Makkai, author of THE GREAT BELIEVERSHelen Phillips has created an existential page-turner that captures, with perfect sharpness, the fierce delirium of motherhood, the longing to understand the workings of our universe, and the wondrous and terrifying mystery that is time. The Need is a brain-bending heartbreaker of a novel, and definitive proof that Helen Phillips is one of the most spellbindingly original writers working today -- Laura Van Den Berg, author of THE THIRD HOTELThis is a book about the biggest things you can imagine--the dreadful potentiality of life, the fierceness of love, and the terrifying and exhilarating mystery of motherhood. Helen Phillips writes at the nexus of science fiction and psychological realism, conjuring a narrative so mind-bending and immersive that it'll change what you see as real. She is an author at the height of her power, and we are so lucky to be living in her moment -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of YOU TOO CAN HAVE A BODY LIKE MINEThe Need is a spellbinding novel, both unsettling and irresistible. The best fiction finds the uncanny within the familiar; it makes us feel the fantastical undercurrent of our embodied lives. With exquisite economy and evocative prose, Phillips manifests the surreal, terrifying, and visceral experience of motherhood -- Dana Spiotta, author of INNOCENTS AND OTHERSA superbly engaging read – quirky, perceptive, and gently provocative... Suspenseful and mysterious, insightful and tender, Phillips' new thriller cements her standing as a deservedly celebrated author with a singular sense of story and style * Kirkus, starred review *
£15.29
Vintage Publishing To The Lighthouse (Vintage Classics Woolf Series)
Book SynopsisRediscover one of Virginia Woolf's greatest works in this beautiful new gift edition from Vintage Classics. 'My mind was warped into a new shape by her prose and it will never be the same again' Greta GerwigMr and Mrs Ramsay and their eight children have always holidayed at their summer house in Skye, surrounded by family friends. The novel's opening section teems with the noise, complications, bruised emotions, joys and quiet tragedies of everyday family life that might go on forever. But time passes, bringing with it war and death, and the summer home stands empty until one day, many years later, the family return to make the long-postponed visit to the lighthouse.One of the great literary achievements of the 20th century, To the Lighthouse, is at once an intensely autobiographical and universally moving masterpiece about changing relationships and attitudes amongst the early 20th-century middle class.'To The Lighthouse is one of the greatest elegies in the English language, a book which transcends time' Margaret Drabble 'Thrillingly introspective' The IndependentTrade ReviewIt is an elegy for lost times and family life * The Week *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing Stoner: A special edition of the literary classic
Book SynopsisA beautiful hardback edition of the iconic forgotten classic, the story of one man's ordinary, extraordinary life. William Stoner enters the University of Missouri at nineteen to study agriculture. A seminar on English literature changes his life, and he never returns to work on his father's farm. Stoner becomes a teacher. He marries the wrong woman. His life is quiet, and after his death, his colleagues remember him rarely.Yet with truthfulness, compassion and intense power, this novel uncovers a story of universal value - of the conflicts, defeats and victories of the human race that pass unrecorded by history - and in doing so reclaims the significance of an individual life.'A beautiful, sad, utterly convincing account of an entire life' Ian McEwan'A brilliant, beautiful, inexorably sad, wise and elegant novel' Nick Hornby'A terrific novel of echoing sadness' Julian BarnesVINTAGE QUARTERBOUND CLASSICS: Bound to be beautiful
£16.14
Legend Press Ltd The Teacher's Secret: all is not what it seems in
Book Synopsis''Packed with heart and suspense; I absolutely loved it'' Jenny AshcroftThings aren''t always as they seem... A small town can be a refuge, but while its secrets are held, it''s hard to know who to trust and what to believe.The Teacher''s Secret is a tender and compelling story of scandal, rumor and dislocation, and the search for grace and dignity in the midst of dishonor and humiliation. Suzanne Leal draws us into a public school in the intimate town of Brindle, Australia in which vice principal Terry comes to generational loggerheads with stand-in principal Laurie concerning teachers and their treatment of their pupils. Told over four semesters, this conflict will slowly change their lives.Perfect for fans of The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys BrayWhat Reviewers and Readers Say:''Delicately woven a big-hearted book,'' Joanne FedlerElegantly structured, unsettling, yet with moments of surprising wit,' Kathryn HeymanMasterfully constructed, this moving novel warns us of our capacity to make or break the lives of those around us Drawn with wit and clear-eyed affection, the inhabitants of this wonderful novel will remain with you long after you have put it down.' Mark LamprellA rich interweaving of beautifully drawn characters told so gently and in such exquisite detail that they grew on me until I was lost in their world.' Robin de Crespigny''The Teacher's Secret is a gutsy yet intricate examination of one of society's nightmares, filled with strong characters and relationships interwoven in a storyline that has the reader engrossed to the last page,' Robert WainwrightSuzanne Leal writes with her hand on her heart, writing according to its beat translating the ordinary into the extraordinary. An Australian talent, universally understood.' Charles WaterstreetSuspenseful, moving and full of heart. I couldn't put it down.' Richard GloverAn eloquent story of a life thrown into disarray; it drew me in and held me, page after page.' Rachel SeiffertSuzanne Leal is a writer of unusual sensitivity, with a rare ability to shed light on the dark tangle of emotional attachments which lies just below the surface of everyday life.' John Colle''What a great read! I could not put it down. I can imagine this book being talked about and passed around from teacher to teacher in the school staff room and from parent to parent in the school car park ...'' Schooldays Magazine
£13.49
Atlantic Books Nocturnal Animals: Film tie-in originally
Book SynopsisThe novel that inspired the 2016 major motion picture Nocturnal Animals, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams, is a dazzling, eerie, riveting thriller of fear and regret, blood and revenge.Many years after their divorce, Susan Morrow receives a strange gift from her ex-husband. A manuscript that tells the story of a terrible crime: an ambush on the highway, a secluded cabin in the woods; a thrilling chiller of death and corruption. How could such a harrowing story be told by the man she once loved? And why, after so long, has he sent her such a disturbing and personal message...?Originally published as Tony and Susan.Trade ReviewAbsorbing, terrifying, beautiful and appalling. I loved it... Unforgettable -- Ruth RendellA superb and thrilling novel... Extraordinary -- Ian McEwanTony and Susan is unbeatable. I was bowled over by this disturbing, bold novel * Observer *A f***king masterpiece. I wish that Wright was still alive so that I could tell him so... It's going to become a living, breathing, knock-out classic. Astonishing -- MJ HylandAstute, cunning and thrilling in equal measure, this is one lost novel that deserves to be found by a whole new generation of readers * Independent on Sunday *I want to read it all over again... Not since Cormac McCarthy's The Road have I been so gripped and unsettled by a piece of fiction -- Sarah WatersMarvellously written - the last thing you would expect in a story of blood and revenge. Beautiful -- Saul BellowCompelling... Mesmerizing... Absolutely irresistible * New York Times *A nail-biter and a penetrating portrait of guilt and revenge * Sunday Times *
£8.54
Atlantic Books The Pharmacist's Wife
Book SynopsisA dark and thrilling tale of Victorian addiction, vengeance and self-discovery, perfect for fans of Sarah Waters, Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist and Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent.______________________Love. Desire. Vengeance. A deadly alchemy.Edinburgh, 1869: Newly married, Rebecca longs for the life of a well-heeled gentlewoman. Her husband Alexander, a respected pharmacist, is eager to join pioneering fellow inventors in the history books. But beneath his ordered exterior, Rebecca is horrified to find a world of dark secrets. As she struggles with his infidelity and strange sexual desires, Alexander tries to pacify her so-called hysteria with his magical new wonder-drug, heroin...As Rebecca's forced dependence takes her further from herself, Alexander's desire to profit from his creation leads him along a path that blurs science, passion and death. Soon, they both learn that addiction, obsession and vengeance make for a deadly alchemy...'With shades of Sarah Waters, independence and vengeance make for a winning tale.' StylistTrade ReviewWith shades of Sarah Waters, independence and vengeance make for a winning tale. * Stylist *This chilling atmospheric novel will appeal to fans of The Miniaturist and The Essex Serpent. * RED Online *A fascinating, darkly powerful novel with biting attitude... Raw, elemental and disturbing, The Pharmacist's Wife is an entirely captivating, enthralling read - highly recommended. * LoveReading *A truly addictive, deeply atmospheric, sensual yarn... similar to the works of Sarah Waters and Michel Faber, it makes for a compelling, irresistible, utterly delicious read. * Goodreads *A captivating book.... It is a story that is both whimsical and disturbing. * Lady on The Looking Glass House *Tait's engaging novel... is sensuous and lyrical * Sunday Telegraph on The Looking Glass House *Moving and original. * Kate Saunders, The Times, on The Looking Glass House *
£8.54
Atlantic Books Trenton Makes
Book Synopsis"A novel of bewitching ingenuity" New York Times"Electrifying" Lit HubAbe Kunstler wants his share of the American Dream, which for him is a factory job, a wife and a family. Getting these things will be harder for Abe than it is for other people, however, because his life is a lie - an invention forged in the heat of a terrible crime. Haunted by his past, terrified of exposure, and searching obsessively for redemption, Abe moves from one ruthless act to the next, tricking an alcoholic young taxi-dancer into becoming first his wife, then the mother of a child she believes is his. When the life they have built is threatened, he becomes desperate, until even Abe himself isn't sure how far he'll go to keep his secret.SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZETrade ReviewThis is storytelling on steroids... Trenton Makes is as thrilling as it is disturbing -- author of THE LAST STATION * Jay Parini *Gritty, dense and intense... a thought-provoking read * Daily Mail *Trenton Makes boasts the force of real freshness... It's a novel of bewitching ingenuity, one whose darkling, melodic mind conceives a world of ruin and awe.... It is worthy of not only New Jersey but of that excessive fluorescence called art. * New York Times *Powerfully lyrical, attuned to the emotional cadences of his characters' worlds * TLS *The honed-steel sentences on display here - vivid and sharp and scarily persuasive - are all the more harrowing for the vulnerability they manage to convey. Abe Kunstler is a singular protagonist, and Trenton Makes is a passionate and original first novel. * Garth Risk Hallberg, author of CITY ON FIRE *This is a peculiar, gripping book, and Koelb's is a distinctive voice. Has Kunstler chosen the form his body must take, or has the society he was born into chosen it for him? Masculinity and femininity are both prisons here; and social progress - so-called - comes at a price. Trenton Makes is a fascinating interrogation of the industrial American dream. * Financial Times *A stunning debut. Utterly brilliant. * Philipp Meyer author of THE SON and AMERICAN RUST *Tadzio Koelb's imagining of his unforgettable protagonist is as tough as it is compassionate; his prose seduces not just because it is stunning, but because it is uncompromising in its pursuit of one character's mutilated truth. * Belinda McKeon, author of TENDER *Electrifying. * LitHub *A transgressive, barbed-wire sharp debut. * O, The Oprah Magazine *Lyrical, brutal, unorthodox, and brilliantly unsettling. * Robert Marshall, author of A SEPARATE REALITY *A novel cut from the same startling bolt of literary cloth used by writers like Djuna Barnes, William Faulkner or James Baldwin. * Laird Hunt, author of NEVERHOME *
£17.30
Atlantic Books Trenton Makes
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE, 2018__________________________________________"A novel of bewitching ingenuity" New York Times"Electrifying" Lit Hub__________________________________________Abe Kunstler wants his share of the American Dream, which for him is a factory job, a wife and a family. Getting these things will be harder for Abe than it is for other people, however, because his life is a lie - an invention forged in the heat of a terrible crime. Haunted by his past, terrified of exposure, and searching obsessively for redemption, Abe moves from one ruthless act to the next, tricking an alcoholic young taxi-dancer into becoming first his wife, then the mother of a child she believes is his. When the life they have built is threatened, he becomes desperate, until even Abe himself isn't sure how far he'll go to keep his secret...Trade ReviewThis is storytelling on steroids... Trenton Makes is as thrilling as it is disturbing -- author of THE LAST STATION * Jay Parini *Gritty, dense and intense... a thought-provoking read * Daily Mail *Trenton Makes boasts the force of real freshness... It's a novel of bewitching ingenuity, one whose darkling, melodic mind conceives a world of ruin and awe.... It is worthy of not only New Jersey but of that excessive fluorescence called art. * New York Times *Powerfully lyrical, attuned to the emotional cadences of his characters' worlds * TLS *The honed-steel sentences on display here - vivid and sharp and scarily persuasive - are all the more harrowing for the vulnerability they manage to convey. Abe Kunstler is a singular protagonist, and Trenton Makes is a passionate and original first novel. * Garth Risk Hallberg, author of CITY ON FIRE *This is a peculiar, gripping book, and Koelb's is a distinctive voice. Has Kunstler chosen the form his body must take, or has the society he was born into chosen it for him? Masculinity and femininity are both prisons here; and social progress - so-called - comes at a price. Trenton Makes is a fascinating interrogation of the industrial American dream. * Financial Times *A stunning debut. Utterly brilliant. * Philipp Meyer author of THE SON and AMERICAN RUST *Tadzio Koelb's imagining of his unforgettable protagonist is as tough as it is compassionate; his prose seduces not just because it is stunning, but because it is uncompromising in its pursuit of one character's mutilated truth. * Belinda McKeon, author of TENDER *Electrifying. * LitHub *A transgressive, barbed-wire sharp debut. * O, The Oprah Magazine *Lyrical, brutal, unorthodox, and brilliantly unsettling. * Robert Marshall, author of A SEPARATE REALITY *A novel cut from the same startling bolt of literary cloth used by writers like Djuna Barnes, William Faulkner or James Baldwin. * Laird Hunt, author of NEVERHOME *
£8.54
Bookouture Silent Lies: A gripping psychological thriller
Book Synopsis
£9.36
Bookouture The Perfect Sister: An absolutely unputdownable
Book Synopsis
£8.99
Bookouture I Know You: A gripping suspense thriller with a
Book Synopsis
£9.36
