Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction

Book SynopsisIn this dazzling story of art and illusion, secrets and schemes, who is to be trusted - and what is real?From the internationally acclaimed author of Optic Nerve *A TLS Book of the Year*'A writer who feels immediately important' ObserverAt a hotel in Buenos Aires, a woman checks in under a pseudonym. She wears a black fur shawl and has no luggage. She is alone.Over the coming days and nights, she tells a story, which begins with a secret shared in a local bath house, revealing art forgery and fraud on a dazzling scale. At its heart is an enigmatic genius who for years forged portraits of the city's elite, before disappearing without trace. It is a story of influence and intrigue, in which nothing is as it seems. We're not to expect 'names, numbers or dates', she cautions, but a more subtle kind of reckoning...Told in a mordant, irresistible voice and full of sharp surprises, Portrait of an Unknown Lady is a captivating enquiry into what we mean by 'authenticity', in life as in art. At once poised and capricious, elegant and bold, it is a thrilling exploration of the relationships between what is lived, what is told, what is remembered, and what is real.Translated from the Spanish by Thomas BunsteadTrade Review'Vividly detailed and saturated with intricate feeling, Gainza's novel is an engrossing exploration of authenticity, obsession, and the enveloping allure of art' -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of SOMETHING NEW UNDER THE SUNThis is a truly exquisite novel... It is moving, clever and written wry precision... As much as the narrator is haunted, the reader will be haunted -- Stuart Kelly * Scotland on Sunday *Gainza weaves a fascinating, often confounding story about beauty, obsession and authenticity... Gainza is sharp, modern and playful, a writer who multiples the possibilities of fiction -- Johanna Thomas-Corr * Observer *A richly detailed detective novel of sorts that explores authenticity and the distance between the way things appear and they way they really are -- Chiara Rimella * Monocle *Dazzling... [a] clever novel that explores the gap between what's remembered and what's real -- Chloë Ashby * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisJade isn't even my real name. Jade began as my Starbucks name, because all children of immigrants have a Starbucks name.'A raw, compulsive and nuanced novel' i newspaper‘Ela Lee is a remarkable new voice in fiction ... JADED made me laugh, cry and really bloody furious’ Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Familiars'One of 2024's hottest reads' Sunday Times'Authentic' Daily Mail------------------ Jade has become everything she ever wanted to be. Successful lawyer. Dutiful daughter. Beloved girlfriend. Loyal friend. Until one night after a work event she suffers an unspeakable attack. As she tries to confront what happened to her, she finds herself caught between her parents who can’t understand, her boyfriend who feels betrayed, and her job that expects silence. The world Jade has constructed starts to crumble. This raw, darkly funny novel explores the ‘grey-area’ of consent and recovery that’s far from linear, and will leave you asking yourself: what would you have done in Jade’s situation?'JADED is a thoughtful, hard-hitting exploration of race, identity, and the rippling effects of sexual assault. Ela Lee writes with an urgency and clarity that will have you hooked until the last page.' Cecile Pin, Women's Prize longlisted author of Wandering Souls 'This raw, dark novel explores racism, class and sexism and you'll want to savour every word on every page' Refinery 29'Moving' CosmoContent warning: this novel features themes of sexual assault and violence. Trade ReviewEla Lee is a remarkable new voice in fiction. I tore through JADED – it made me laugh, cry and really bloody furious * Stacey Halls *JADED is a thoughtful, hard-hitting exploration of race, identity, and the rippling effects of sexual assault. Ela Lee writes with an urgency and clarity that will have you hooked until the last page. * Cecile Pin, author of WANDERING SOULS *A raw, compulsive and nuanced novel about identity, race and consent * i *One of 2024's hottest reads * Sunday Times *This raw, dark novel explores racism, class and sexism and you'll want to savour every word on every page * Refinery 29 *

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Book Synopsis'Funny, merciless, brilliant... I loved it' CURTIS SITTENFELD, bestselling author of Romantic ComedySeamus, Fyodor, Ivan, Noah and Fatima are running out of time to decide on their futuresIn a university town in the American Midwest, this circle of lovers and friends ask themselves: what is the right thing to stake a life on? Work, love, money, dance, poetry? Is love possible without harm? And what does true connection look like in an age of precarity?The author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Real Life returns with a deeply involving new novel of young men and women trying to work out what they want, and who they are.***A DAILY TELEGRAPH AND FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023***'Taylor is a sharp chronicler' RAVEN LEILANI, author of Luster'Assures Taylor's position as one of the most important novelists of his generation' GUARDIANTrade ReviewAssures and deepens Taylor's position as one of the most accomplished, important novelists of his generation. He is undoubtedly on to something expansively new in his sense of what the contemporary novel can do * Guardian *I loved The Late Americans and its funny, merciless, brilliant portrayal of the beauty and pointlessness of art, and the absurdity and horror - and occasional transcendence - of being a person. Magnificent -- Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Romantic ComedyBrandon Taylor's third book is the most dazzling example of his sharp pen and keen observations of human nature... Taylor develops his characters so precisely, they feel like close friends: recognisable, sometimes infuriating, and always worth following to the book's last page * Harper's Bazaar *Taylor is a sharp chronicler of the body. In The Late Americans, the body is an instrument and an archive, vulnerable to the complicated violence of pleasure and work -- Raven Leilani, author of LusterTaylor's most accomplished book, a panorama of youth in the era of late capitalism * Guardian *Elegant... Taylor has a Chekhovian generosity that enables him to convey character with something like tenderness... The relationships move like an eighteenth-century quadrille, at once restrained and spritely... Taylor's vision is unsparing, but never bleak -- Claire Messud, author of The Emperor's ChildrenSensitive and unflinching… The Late Americans is thoroughly contemporary * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* *The Late Americans is remarkable. If you're going to write about art, the folly of pursuing it and the irrefutable power of it, you should probably do it well. Taylor does it truthfully and beautifully * Financial Times *Brandon Taylor has both a classic sensibility, expansive and elegant, and a razor-sharp ability to speak to the contemporary moment. The Late Americans is a full expression of his singular talent -- Emma Cline, author of The GirlsA dizzying plunge into the lives of young people making art in America in the era of survival capitalism, grappling over the big questions like they're fighting over a gun. Deep within their ambitions, their pettiness and lust, is the meaning and even grandeur they seek - and whether or not his characters ever find it, Brandon Taylor has. A bravura performance on the edge of a knife -- Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

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Book Synopsis'Duncan brings a new way of seeing to the world of prose' Irish Times Michael has been away from Ireland for most of his life and lives alone in Bilbao after the death of Catherine, his girlfriend. Each day he listens to two versions of the same piece of music before walking the same route to visit Richard Serra's enormous installation, The Matter of Time, in the Guggenheim. As he walks, his thoughts circle around the five-year period of mental agitation spent in Leipzig with Catherine. This 'sabbatical', caused by the stress of his job and the suicide of a former colleague, splits his career as an engineer into two distinct parts. Intensely realistic, mapped out like Michael's intricate drawings, this is a novel of precision and beguiling intelligence.Trade ReviewHe brings a mixture of the exact and the visionary . . . an original voice, a writer who has come to recreate the world on his own terms. * Colm Toibin *One of the most important, original and intriguing writers working now -- Niamh Campbell , author of We Were HappyA book such as W.G. Sebald might have written, had he been an Irish Engineer. A quietly compelling novel from a writer of real daring and poise -- Vona Groarke, author of Other People's HousesHaunting and devastating * Dublin Review of Books *Duncan has a sensibility and a course of investigation utterly his own -- Rob Doyle , author of ThresholdDuncan brings a new way of seeing to the world of prose * Irish Times *Its plainspoken, obsessive commitment to life as an engineering project makes no attempt to bring the reader into a blunt-edged or humanist vision of engineer-as-symbol. It's far, far more intelligent than that. * Niamh Campbell *Delightfully weird ... conjuring a deep and strange sense of stillness * Sunday Times *Highly satisfying to read * Buzz Magazine *

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Book SynopsisTom has decided he doesn't want to live. Adam wishes he had a choice.Tom's lost his job and now he's been labelled 'spermless'. He doesn't exactly feel like a modern man, although his double life helps. Yet when his secret identity threatens to unravel, he starts to lose the plot and comes perilously close to the edge.All the while Adam has his own duplicity, albeit for very different reasons, reasons which will blow the family's future out of the water.If they can't be honest with themselves, and everyone else, then things are going to get a whole lot more complicated.

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Book Synopsis'This story is full of adventure and heart! A real page turner!' Dani Harmer'Warm, funny, pacy, endlessly inventive and life-affirming; there are lots of young readers who will identify with Rory' Chris Beckett, Arthur C. Clarke-Award winnerEleven-year-old Rory Hobble has it tough: he gets upsetting thoughts all the time and they won't go away – 'Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)', the head doctors call it. His mum hasn't been very well for a long while either. Perhaps it's his fault... Maybe that's why she doesn't always feed him; maybe that's why she screams at him. At least Rory has his telescope – gazing at the unchanging stars keeps him calm. But, one night, Rory sees something impossible in the sky: mysterious lights – artificial and definitely not of earthly origin.When his mum is abducted by the shadowy Whiffetsnatcher, Rory – accompanied by his space-faring, care-experienced social worker, Limmy – travels beyond the Earth, chasing those mysterious lights to the frozen ends of the Solar System. Along the way he must outwit a breakaway human civilisation living on a Martian moon; survive the threat of otherworldly monsters; and learn to speak to alien whales.But his greatest challenge left Earth with him and it will take all the courage he has not only to overcome his OCD, but to decide whether he wants to rescue an abusive mother if he gets his chance…Trade Review'This story is full of adventure and heart! A real page turner!' Dani Harmer'Warm, funny, pacy, endlessly inventive and life-affirming; there are lots of young readers who will identify with Rory' Chris Beckett, Arthur C. Clarke-Award winner'A boy-and-social-worker space-travelling duo... What's not to love?! A truly unique sci-fi adventure, which does not shy away from the difficult realities being faced by some children here on Earth. Uplifting, and at moments so insightful it staggers, it's definitely a story Aniyah from The Star Outside My Window would have picked up' Onjali Q. Raúf, winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2019 and Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2019

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Book SynopsisThey can buy everything except the truth.Each week, they come to lie on her couch. Carrie, Henry and Grace. They don’t know one another, but Dr Alex knows them all too well. She listens as they reveal their dirtiest little secrets.Then a murderer strikes in their elite neighbourhood. Could her clients hold the answers? As a psychologist, she knows that anyone can be a killer if they’re pushed hard enough.But only some can get away with it.A twist-a-minute standalone thriller with a massive dose of guilty pleasure, from the million copy bestseller Rachel Lynch. Perfect for fans of Adele Parks, Catherine Cooper and Chris Brookmyre.Praise for The Rich ‘A fast-paced, twisty piece of escapism’ Heat‘This compelling thriller is one of the best I’ve read’ Sun‘Such a teriffic read... I could read a series’ Daily Mail‘A refreshingly intriguing thriller that will leave you guessing’ Woman's Weekly‘Smart, satisfying – a superb book. I loved this story of excess and narcissism’ Sam Holland, author of The Echo Man‘Punchy and powerful, Rachel Lynch’s writing gripped me from the very first page. Utterly compulsive reading’ Marion Todd, author of A Blind Eye‘Bold. Brutal. Brilliant.’ J. M. Hewitt, author of The Life She Wants‘Brilliantly observed, full of sharp insights about modern life. A gripping read that will have you racing through the pages to the final, shocking twist’ Sheila Bugler, author of Black Valley Farm‘Deliciously dark and utterly compelling. An absolute must-read for all psychological thriller lovers!’ A. A. Chaudhuri, author of The Final Party‘I tore through this! A slick and fresh voice in the psychological thriller genre’ Sophie Flynn, author of If They Knew‘A fabulous thriller. Lynch takes us on a wild ride, packed with twists and bursting with indulgence. The Rich will keep you guessing to the final pages’ Heather Critchlow, author of Unsolved‘A brilliantly plotted and breathlessly written thriller. It’s raw, sexy and chilling. A fantastic read’ Ian Moore, author of Death and Croissants‘Cleverly written with an intriguing premise, I was hooked from the start Sarah Ward, author of The Birthday Girl‘An expertly plotted psychological thriller oozing with decadence. Pacy and poised, it’s hard to look away from the pages… a pleasure to read’ Morgan Greene, author of Black Heart‘This is one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read in a long time. So many twists and turns and the characters were well written. I loved every minute of reading it!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review‘A thrilling rollercoaster of a novel that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Lynch takes you on a wild ride, weaving a complex web of intrigue, secrets, and unexpected twists that will leave you breathless. A must-read.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review‘The plot is super fast, full of twists and turns. The ending came as a complete shock to me, I never saw it coming. I will be recommending this book.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader review

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Book Synopsis'Moskovich is the master of silky, slinky sentences that run in unexpected directions' The Telegraph'Sexy and readable . . . a celebration of resilience and of myriad survivors' Times Literary Supplement'One of the best fiction releases of 2023' Dazed DigitalA queer anthem for doomed youth by the author of Virtuoso and A Door Behind a DoorOn the longest night of a Berlin winter two women sit side-by-side. Both fled the Soviet Union as children, one from Ukraine, and her girlfriend from Russia.A thigh shifts, fingers fold in, a shoulder is lowered. Neither speak.As silence weighs heavy between them, decades of Ukrainian and Russian history resurface, from Yiddish jokes, Kyiv's DIY queer parties and the hidden messages in Russian pop music, to resistance in Odessa, raids in Moscow clubs and the death of their friend.As the requiem inside the narrator's head expands within the darkness of the room, she asks the all-important question: what does it mean to have hope?'Nadezhda in the Dark is a marvel - a spellbinding work' LAUREN ELKIN'Yelena Moskovich is a true original, a literary titan, an innovator' JENNI FAGANTrade ReviewSexy and readable [...] This is a story of one night, but you could equally describe it as a 182-page love letter; a celebration of resilience and of myriad survivors; a troubling history of LGBTQ+ communities in Eastern Europe; and a lament for lost homelands, and all the other losses that ensue [...] If you love the Beats, you may find yourself loving Yelena Moskovich's night in Berlin even more * Times Literary Supplement *Moskovich is the master of silky, slinky sentences that run in unexpected directions . . . Fact and fiction intermingle, as storytelling becomes a means of making it through the night, and a way of processing a tumultuous history * The Telegraph *Yelena Moskovich's new novel Nadezhda in the Dark might just be one of the best fiction releases of 2023 * Dazed Digital *Nadezhda in the Dark is a marvel - a spellbinding work of essayistic, poetic prose, urgent, never not surprising. Yelena Moskovich reminds us that the best novels are adventures of language and form, and acts of bearing witness to the fates of the tender body in the world -- Lauren ElkinYelena Moskovich is a true original, a literary titan, an innovator, her prose is both poetry and punk, political without any obviousness to it, pure, demented in the best possible way, and always brilliant. She is one of my favourite living writers -- Jenni FaganCosmic and intimate, reading Nadezhda in the Dark is like tumbling through jewelled galaxies of words. There is tender grief and love in the negative space between its dazzling stars; and rays of turbulent history refracted through a turbulent mind and body. Easily one of the greatest writers to ever dance on our scorched, collapsing plane of reality -- Tom Benn * award-winning author of OXBLOOD *Yelena Moskovich writes the page on fire. Meandering, marauding, tender, lacerating, and entirely alive. All of life is here, and Yelena Moskovich does it like no other -- Rosa Rankin-Gee * author of DREAMLAND *Nadezhda in the Dark is a stunning read. It is beautiful and important and made me laugh and cry. If you read one book this year, it must be this one -- Camilla Grudova * author of CHILDREN OF PARADISE *A dazzling moonlit and deeply shadowed book, Nadezhda in the Dark draws out personal landscapes in the hopeless, war-wreckage of the now, the self against and within the unreachable and contradictory past. In its lovers, sitting in stillness together, it threads twin veins of queer love and queer angst. A novel that sings low and sinks teeth - is there anyone out there who is doing it like Yelena Moskovich right now? -- Helen McClory * author of BITTERHALL and THE GOLDBLUM VARIATIONS *Nadezhda in the Dark is a poem of a novel, a threnody of a paean, everything it takes to be human genrefucked and writhing on the page. Lyrical and lawless, Yelena Moskovich dares you to keep picking at the ingrown hair of love and see what erupts. 'I don't know any culture / that mixes party time with despair / as well as the Slavs' and I don't know any book like this, I have to quote it to define it, and you'll have to read it to understand -- Sonya VamtoskyMoskovich writes sentences that lilt and slink, her plots developing as a slow seduction and then clouding like a smoke-filled room * Guardian *Moskovich's prose radiates with heat * Financial Times *We don't often see writing like this: genuinely subversive and innovative * Guardian *Prose that reads as heady yet ephemeral as smoke * Independent *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Vivid . . . engagingly lucid and disarmingly funny' GUARDIAN'Beautifully done . . . witty and poignant' THE TIMES'Brilliant' OBSERVERWelcome to Mike Engleby's world. Deep in the hallowed halls of an esteemed English university, Mike is one of the only working-class boys, amongst the privileged masses. He's also different, starkly so, but able to observe it all. But observation soon tips into obsession when his fixation, fellow student Jennifer, goes missing. What has Mike Engleby overlooked?A cult classic and an exemplar of the campus novel, Engleby is a beguiling portrait of an outsider, told in an unforgettable voice.'Remarkable . . . intensely exhilarating' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'A tour-de-force . . . a great novel' DAILY MAIL'Compelling, disturbing and significant' SCOTSMAN Trade Review[A] book that made me realise there are fewer boundaries in fiction than I'd believed * Writing Magazine *

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Book SynopsisNo place left to run...After the shocking events of last Christmas, Jess Croft is determined this festive season will be the one to remember, for all the right reasons.But when a stranger turns up on her doorstep claiming to be her estranged father, Jess is shocked. Moreso, when the man claims that the little girl with him is none other than Jess’s sister - a child she knew nothing about.Jess isn’t sure she wants these strangers to stay, but she can’t turn them away, especially when she learns that their lives are in danger.Now Wrea Head hall isn’t just Jess’s home, it’s the only safe place for her new family to hide.Perfect for fans of Teresa Driscoll, Sue Watson, Jackie Kabler and Kendra Elliot.Please note: This book was originally published as The House of Christmas Secrets

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Book SynopsisWhen I cannot see words curling like rings of smoke round me I am in darkness - I am nothing. - Virginia WoolfFirst published in 1927, Virginia Woolf''s loosely autobiographical novel features the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye between 1910 and 1920, a period which spans World War I. Six-year old James wants to visit the lighthouse they can see from their window and his mother tells him they''ll go the next day if the weather permits... Following in the footsteps of Marcel Proust and James Joyce, To the Lighthouse is a modernist novel that uses a stream-of-consciousness technique to deal with the complexities of who and what we are and how we perceive the world as we trudge through the shifting sands of time. While the reader awaits the long-delayed trip to the lighthouse, the themes of the text are the transience of life, absence and the inevitability of death. Everything will pass but not the enduring power of art. This is a subtle, psychological masterpiece from a great writer.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Classics series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful collection which is perfect for any home library.

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Book SynopsisA middle-aged novelist devoid of inspiration alights on material in the form of an obsessive pet-shop worker from Cincinnati. A pregnant mother of two finds herself increasingly in thrall to her help, Nat. For Joad, the discovery of a haunting type-written document in an old desk in need of restoration is overwhelming. And when Roxanne rescues her sister from an institution, she comes to realise how vulnerable they both are.Each of the seven stories in Total is a full world, painted with vivid strokes. From the comforting mundanities of motherhood to a technologically infected near future that mirrors our present with dark prescience, each life captured in this collection is unforgettable.Deftly navigating the fault lines of relationships - new, established or remembered - Total is a powerful collection of brilliantly imaginative stories, and eloquent proof of Rebecca Miller's writing prowess.Trade ReviewWit and coolly slaying wisdom are constant delights in these emotionally complex stories . . . cinematically vivid * * Observer * *Miller knows and is playing with . . . all the ways stories and lives infinitely repeat. You've never quite seen them inhabited by these versions of these characters, nor at the tenor of these sentences, with these deftly deployed layers of surprise * * New York Times * *Miller's new collection shows her in many moods and modes, from wistful to comedic to speculative. What a pleasure! -- JEFFREY EUGENIDESA "cinematic prose style" is often a critical cliché, but in the case of Rebecca Miller, no other descriptor suffices . . . [a] captivating, coolly spare new collection * * Oprah Daily * *The characters in Total are instantly recognisable - they are privileged, deluged by memories and in situations fraught with anxiety, but Miller manages to offer a fresh perspective on old conundrums * * Daily Mail * *In Miller's alluring collection, protagonists search for connection and pleasure in strange, sometimes destructive ways . . . Miller brings a cinematic eye to her descriptions (a parking garage's "final floor" offers a "vivid sky") and plenty of drama to the situations. These stories are full of surprises * * Publishers Weekly * *The seven brilliantly knotty and piercingly intimate stories in Total depict characters undone, temporarily or irreparably, by obsessive love * * Lit Hub * *Slim but powerful . . . [Miller] adeptly encapsulates these women's experiences . . . Recommended for fans of Joyce Carol Oates and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go * * Booklist (starred review) * *Praise for Rebecca Miller: Miller is a luminous writer -- OLIVIA LAINGMiller is an excellent novelist -- KATE ATKINSON

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Book SynopsisA pregnant mother of two finds herself increasingly in thrall to her help, Nat. For Joad, the discovery of a haunting typewritten document in an old desk in need of restoration is overwhelming. And when Roxanne rescues her sister from an institution, she comes to realise how vulnerable they both are. Deftly navigating the fault lines of relationships - new, established or remembered - Total is a powerful collection of brilliantly imaginative stories. From the comforting mundanities of motherhood to a technologically infected near future that mirrors our present with dark prescience, each life captured in this collection is unforgettable.Trade ReviewWit and coolly slaying wisdom are constant delights in these emotionally complex stories . . . cinematically vivid * * Observer * *Miller knows and is playing with . . . all the ways stories and lives infinitely repeat. You've never quite seen them inhabited by these versions of these characters, nor at the tenor of these sentences, with these deftly deployed layers of surprise * * New York Times * *Miller's new collection shows her in many moods and modes, from wistful to comedic to speculative. What a pleasure! -- JEFFREY EUGENIDESA "cinematic prose style" is often a critical cliché, but in the case of Rebecca Miller, no other descriptor suffices . . . [a] captivating, coolly spare new collection * * Oprah Daily * *The characters in Total are instantly recognisable - they are privileged, deluged by memories and in situations fraught with anxiety, but Miller manages to offer a fresh perspective on old conundrums * * Daily Mail * *In Miller's alluring collection, protagonists search for connection and pleasure in strange, sometimes destructive ways . . . Miller brings a cinematic eye to her descriptions (a parking garage's "final floor" offers a "vivid sky") and plenty of drama to the situations. These stories are full of surprises * * Publishers Weekly * *The seven brilliantly knotty and piercingly intimate stories in Total depict characters undone, temporarily or irreparably, by obsessive love * * Lit Hub * *Slim but powerful . . . [Miller] adeptly encapsulates these women's experiences . . . Recommended for fans of Joyce Carol Oates and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go * * Booklist (starred review) * *Praise for Rebecca Miller: Miller is a luminous writer -- OLIVIA LAINGMiller is an excellent novelist -- KATE ATKINSON

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Book Synopsis'Fitzek's thrillers are breathtaking, full of wild twists' HARLAN COBEN Emma's the one that got away. The only survivor of a killer known in the tabloids as 'the hairdresser' – because of the trophies he takes from his victims. Or she thinks she was. The police aren't convinced. Nor is her husband. She never even saw her tormentor properly, but now she recognises him in every man. Questioning her sanity, she gives up her job as a doctor in the local hospital and retreats from the world. It is better to stay at home. Quiet. Anonymous. Safe. No one can hurt her here. And all she did was take a parcel for a neighbour. She has no idea what she's let into her home. 'Sebastian Fitzek is without question one of the crime world's most evocative storytellers. He always serves up an intense, impossible to put down thriller and The Package is no exception. A gripping read with a surprising twist, this one is not to be missed' KARIN SLAUGHTER 'Sebastian Fitzek is simply amazing. I truly hope that one day I will be able to create suspense and plot twists in the way only Sebastian can. A true Master of his craft' CHRIS CARTER Sebastian Fitzek is Germany's most successful author. His books have sold 13 million copies, been translated into more than thirty-six languages and are the basis for international cinema and theatre adaptations. Sebastian Fitzek was the first German author to be awarded the European Prize for Criminal Literature. He lives with his family in Berlin. Coming soon: PASSENGER 23Trade ReviewFitzek's thrillers are breathtaking, full of wild twists -- Harlan CobenSebastian Fitzek is without question one of the crime world's most evocative storytellers. He always serves up an intense, impossible to put down thriller and The Package is no exception. A gripping read with a surprising twist, this one is not to be missed -- Karin SlaughterSebastian Fitzek is simply amazing. I truly hope that one day I will be able to create suspense and plot twists in the way only Sebastian can. A true Master of his craft -- Chris CarterSpine-chilling... Masterful... Brilliant' * The Times *Dazzling * Sunday Times *A breakneck ride * Big Issue *Grimly atmospheric * Guardian *A seriously chilling, mind-burrowing read... An intense psychological thriller full of plot-twisty action' * LoveReading *Full of twists and turns, this thriller from Sebastian Fitzek is impossible to put down * Chat. *If you enjoy psycho noir then [The Package] will not disappoint... Fitzek squeezes every ounce of claustrophobic suspense out of the situation' * Shotsmag. *He draws you into [Emma's] world of fear and trembling. There are multiple twists which will change your perspective on events, and I suspect a reread will reveal how well Fitzek foreshadows these. An intriguing puzzle * Sci-Fi Bulletin *Fitzek has a reputation for stories with multiple twists, and this certainly has them... Gripping and spine-chilling' * Daily Mail *Fitzek is a past master at ramping up the paranoia * Guardian *Utterly chilling * Crime Reads *The reading experience was formidable, using the essence of the psychological thriller effectively and keeping the reader wondering what awaits them... There is a real sense of darkness in the writing and the plot, with characters who know how to add twists at just the right times... Kudos, Mr. Fitzek, for a stunning piece that left me tied in knots. This is the kind of story that entertains and disturbs in equal measure' * Mystery & Suspense *A masterfully written thriller that will give you goosebumps * San Francisco Book Review *

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Book SynopsisEvery year, on average 23 people disappear without a trace from cruise ships. No one has ever come back. Until now. Five years ago police psychologist Martin Schwartz lost his wife and son. They were holidaying on a cruise ship when they simply vanished, the case written off as a straightforward murder-suicide. They are not the only parent-and-child pair to have disappeared from the ship in recent years – and yet, the authorities seem unconcerned. But when a missing girl reappears – carrying Martin's son's beloved teddy bear – the police won't be able to avoid the truth that something sinister is lurking on board... 'Without question one of the crime world's most evocative storytellers' KARIN SLAUGHTER 'Fitzek's thrillers are breathtaking, full of wild twists' HARLAN COBENTrade ReviewThe whole thing is bloody, breathless, deliberately discomforting and outrageously gripping * Shots Magazine *The author constructs a closeted and claustrophobic atmosphere. The tension does not let up... The reader's expectation of a solution is continuously frustrated, the multiplicity of twists surprise, and those surprises keep coming' * Promoting Crime Fiction *It takes a certain type of writer to really get to the heart of a chilling tale and grip the reader throughout. Sebastian Fitzek has proven capable of that with his unique take on the crime thriller, using the open seas as the primary setting... Strong narrative movement and a unique plot let Passenger 23 stand out in the genre' * Mystery and Suspense *A very complicated, very clever story set in a simultaneously vast but claustrophobic super-liner * Crime Review *PRAISE FOR SEBASTIAN FITZEK: 'Fitzek's thrillers are breathtaking, full of wild twists' Harlan Coben. 'Sebastian Fitzek is without question one of the crime world's most evocative storytellers. He always serves up an intense, impossible to put down thriller and The Package is no exception. A gripping read with a surprising twist, this one is not to be missed' Karin Slaughter. 'Sebastian Fitzek is simply amazing. I truly hope that one day I will be able to create suspense and plot twists in the way only Sebastian can. A true Master of his craft' Chris Carter. 'Spine-chilling... Masterful... Brilliant' The Times. 'Dazzling' Sunday Times. 'Grimly atmospheric' Guardian. 'A breakneck ride' * Big Issue *

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Book SynopsisGermany's king of the thriller takes to the skies with a terrifying and twisted new novel. You know your fear is irrational, you've checked the statistics. Flying is safer than driving – nineteen times safer. Irrational, perhaps. But you're not wrong. Mats Krüger is terrified of flying. But his daughter, Nele, is about to give birth to his first grandchild, so, for once, he's taking the risk and making the thirteen-hour flight from Buenos Aires to Berlin. Of course, he's taken precautions. He's bought the five statistically safest seats on the plane, as well as seat 7A – the spot where you are most likely to die in a plane accident – so no one can sit there. Just in case. But Mats has to give up seat 7A to another passenger. Moments later, he receives a phone call. Nele has been kidnapped. The caller has a single demand. Convince the pilot to crash the plane. Or Nele dies.Trade ReviewOne of his best... The thrill of the ride' * Irish Independent *With its outlandish premise, its surfeit of shrinks (there are two more) and its improbable coincidences, Fitzek's brainy thriller is always at risk of becoming impossible to take seriously. And while it never quite topples over into farce, you keep reading more to find out what bonkers twist he'll come up with next rather than because you're anxious about the characters' fates * Sunday Times *There are so many tense moments and unexpected turns of events, my head was in a whirl by the last page. A highly recommended exceptional psychological chiller. Especially if the reader is not afraid of flying! * Promoting Crime Fiction *If the reader can accept the outrageous high-concept plot device here, a compulsive experience is guaranteed * Financial Times *With stories that confuse the mind and keep the heart pumping, Fitzek has the reader guessing by layering ideas and dramatic twists into a strong narrative * Mystery & Suspense *

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Book Synopsis'A cyclone of a novel' GuardianAn absolute marvel' Max Porter, bestselling author of Lanny'Dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant' Lisa McInerney, bestselling author of The Rules of RevelationFIRST VOICE: Why are we listening? SECOND VOICE: I dunno, I mean, what else is there to do? Tony Cooney, a local-radio DJ, spends his days on air, talking to the listeners of Cork. They call in to tell him about overturned sewage trucks and nuisance graffiti artists, each story a small testimony to the bustle of life that goes on in the county. Off air, however, Tony is beginning to feel unsettled. His long marriage is strained, his teenage daughter is struggling with her mental health, and then out of the blue an old girlfriend gets in touch and suggests he come to visit. Lou Fitzpatrick, Tony's young radio-show producer, is having her own off-air problems. She wants children, but her girlfriend has other ideas; they've lost their beloved cat and her father's drinking is way past problematic. Which is why both Tony and Lou are relieved to leave Cork and drive across Ireland as part of a radio publicity stunt organized by a local car dealership. Their aim is to give away the Mazda 2 that they're driving, the catch being that it must go to one of the many emigrants who have recently returned home to escape a wave of escalating terror attacks in London. But as they navigate dual-carriageways and Travelodges, giving airtime and narrative to the great cacophony of voices calling into the show, the car competition transforms into a surreal quest: Tony to find his first love, Lou to find answers to impossible questions, and all the while two mysterious voices listen in, making their own estimations... A mighty tale of radios, road trips and of the noisy static of life, All Along the Echo asks us whether our lives ever add up to more than the stories we tell ourselves. Funny, warm and in the wilding spirit of George Saunders or Samuel Beckett, Danny Denton's novel is a bravura capturing of modern Ireland, one that shows us the possibilities of fiction, the nature of love and death, and what it is for each of us to be only the briefest signal in life's splendid broadcastttzchidhcmxc [static].Trade ReviewOne of the best novels of 2022 so far... Brilliant... A beautiful cacophony * The Telegraph *A cyclone of a novel... Best of all, amid the imaginative pyrotechnics, there are moments of real tenderness * Guardian *Denton has done something magical here, maybe even a little metaphysical... Wonderful * Irish Times *One of my favourite contemporary writers. One of my favourite writers full stop. Danny Denton's work always blasts my mind and heart wide open, he's an absolute marvel * Max Porter, author of Lanny *A boisterous chorus, brimming with humanity. All Along the Echo feels like a living thing, dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation *An unruly, provocative and stunning novel. Lovers of literature and radio: this is for you * Cillian Murphy *Wild, full-hearted, high-concept with real emotional heft * Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time *All Along the Echo has the energy of a rebounding pinball. Danny Denton takes you on a voice-switching, shape-shifting adventure * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch *Grabs the reader by both shoulders and spins... Intensely exhilarating, moving, and often hilarious, this book is a wonder * Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat *Glowing with warmth yet resolute of focus across its fascinatingly fractured form, All Along the Echo is a declaration of love and frailty in a glitchy age of crossed wires and cross purposes * Gavin Corbett, author of Green Glowing Skull *Danny Denon has written a beast of a novel, stretching both hands around the absurd, strange, awful beauty of modern Irish life and hugging it close to him, all of it * Cathy Sweeney, author of Modern Times *All Along the Echo is a very funny book with a sincerely bleak underbelly; a gritty, socially-engaged book with an antic exuberance that is so rare in contemporary writing. It's gorgeous and life-affirming. * Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young *

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Book Synopsis'A cyclone of a novel' GuardianAn absolute marvel' Max Porter, bestselling author of Lanny'Dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant' Lisa McInerney, bestselling author of The Rules of RevelationFIRST VOICE: Why are we listening? SECOND VOICE: I dunno, I mean, what else is there to do? Tony Cooney, a local-radio DJ, spends his days on air, talking to the listeners of Cork. They call in to tell him about overturned sewage trucks and nuisance graffiti artists, each story a small testimony to the bustle of life that goes on in the county. Off air, however, Tony is beginning to feel unsettled. His long marriage is strained, his teenage daughter is struggling with her mental health, and then out of the blue an old girlfriend gets in touch and suggests he come to visit. Lou Fitzpatrick, Tony's young radio-show producer, is having her own off-air problems. She wants children, but her girlfriend has other ideas; they've lost their beloved cat and her father's drinking is way past problematic. Which is why both Tony and Lou are relieved to leave Cork and drive across Ireland as part of a radio publicity stunt organized by a local car dealership. Their aim is to give away the Mazda 2 that they're driving, the catch being that it must go to one of the many emigrants who have recently returned home to escape a wave of escalating terror attacks in London. But as they navigate dual-carriageways and Travelodges, giving airtime and narrative to the great cacophony of voices calling into the show, the car competition transforms into a surreal quest: Tony to find his first love, Lou to find answers to impossible questions, and all the while two mysterious voices listen in, making their own estimations... A mighty tale of radios, road trips and of the noisy static of life, All Along the Echo asks us whether our lives ever add up to more than the stories we tell ourselves. Funny, warm and in the wilding spirit of George Saunders or Samuel Beckett, Danny Denton's novel is a bravura capturing of modern Ireland, one that shows us the possibilities of fiction, the nature of love and death, and what it is for each of us to be only the briefest signal in life's splendid broadcastttzchidhcmxc [static].Trade ReviewOne of the best novels of 2022 so far... Brilliant... A beautiful cacophony * The Telegraph *A cyclone of a novel... Best of all, amid the imaginative pyrotechnics, there are moments of real tenderness * Guardian *Denton has done something magical here, maybe even a little metaphysical... Wonderful * Irish Times *One of my favourite contemporary writers. One of my favourite writers full stop. Danny Denton's work always blasts my mind and heart wide open, he's an absolute marvel * Max Porter, author of Lanny *A boisterous chorus, brimming with humanity. All Along the Echo feels like a living thing, dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation *An unruly, provocative and stunning novel. Lovers of literature and radio: this is for you * Cillian Murphy *Wild, full-hearted, high-concept with real emotional heft * Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time *All Along the Echo has the energy of a rebounding pinball. Danny Denton takes you on a voice-switching, shape-shifting adventure * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch *Grabs the reader by both shoulders and spins... Intensely exhilarating, moving, and often hilarious, this book is a wonder * Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat *Glowing with warmth yet resolute of focus across its fascinatingly fractured form, All Along the Echo is a declaration of love and frailty in a glitchy age of crossed wires and cross purposes * Gavin Corbett, author of Green Glowing Skull *Danny Denon has written a beast of a novel, stretching both hands around the absurd, strange, awful beauty of modern Irish life and hugging it close to him, all of it * Cathy Sweeney, author of Modern Times *All Along the Echo is a very funny book with a sincerely bleak underbelly; a gritty, socially-engaged book with an antic exuberance that is so rare in contemporary writing. It's gorgeous and life-affirming. * Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young *

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Book Synopsis'A cyclone of a novel' Guardian'An absolute marvel' Max Porter, bestselling author of Lanny'Dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant' Lisa McInerney, bestselling author of The Rules of RevelationTony Cooney, a middle-aged radio talk-show host, takes a road trip across Ireland with his producer, Louise (Lou) Fitzpatrick, as part of a publicity stunt organized by a local car dealership. Their aim is to give away to one lucky winner the Mazda 2 that they're driving, the catch being that it must go to one of the many emigrants who have recently returned home to escape a wave of escalating terror attacks in London. But as they navigate dual-carriageways and Holiday Inns, giving airtime and narrative to the great cacophony of voices calling into the show, the car competition transforms into a surreal quest - Tony to find his first love, Lou to find answers to impossible questions, all of us to discover whether our lives ever add up to more than the stories we tell ourselves and each other.Trade ReviewOne of the best novels of 2022 so far... Brilliant... A beautiful cacophony * The Telegraph *A cyclone of a novel... Best of all, amid the imaginative pyrotechnics, there are moments of real tenderness * Guardian *Denton has done something magical here, maybe even a little metaphysical... Wonderful * Irish Times *One of my favourite contemporary writers. One of my favourite writers full stop. Danny Denton's work always blasts my mind and heart wide open, he's an absolute marvel * Max Porter, author of Lanny *A boisterous chorus, brimming with humanity. All Along the Echo feels like a living thing, dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation *An unruly, provocative and stunning novel. Lovers of literature and radio: this is for you * Cillian Murphy *Wild, full-hearted, high-concept with real emotional heft * Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time *All Along the Echo has the energy of a rebounding pinball. Danny Denton takes you on a voice-switching, shape-shifting adventure * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch *Grabs the reader by both shoulders and spins... Intensely exhilarating, moving, and often hilarious, this book is a wonder * Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat *Glowing with warmth yet resolute of focus across its fascinatingly fractured form, All Along the Echo is a declaration of love and frailty in a glitchy age of crossed wires and cross purposes * Gavin Corbett, author of Green Glowing Skull *Danny Denon has written a beast of a novel, stretching both hands around the absurd, strange, awful beauty of modern Irish life and hugging it close to him, all of it * Cathy Sweeney, author of Modern Times *All Along the Echo is a very funny book with a sincerely bleak underbelly; a gritty, socially-engaged book with an antic exuberance that is so rare in contemporary writing. It's gorgeous and life-affirming. * Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young *

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Book SynopsisA man arrives at a house on the coast to write a book. Separated from his lover and family and friends, he finds the solitude he craves in the pyrotechnic beauty of nature, just as the world he has shut out is experiencing a cataclysmic shift. The preoccupations that have galvanised him and his work fall away and he becomes lost in memory and beauty. He begins to tell us a story ... A retired porn star who is made an offer he can't refuse for the sake of his family and future. So he returns to the world he fled years before, all too aware of the danger of opening the door to past temptations and long-buried desires. Can he resist the oblivion and bliss they promise? A breathtakingly audacious novel by the acclaimed author of The Slap and Damascus about finding joy and beauty in a raging and punitive world, about the refractions of memory and time and, most subversive of all, the mystery of art and its creation.Trade ReviewA genuinely brave counter-cultural novel... It's terrific, like everything he writes. * Johann Hari, author of STOLEN FOCUS *Rejecting the rage of contemporary politics for a tender celebration of sensuality, nature, memory and love, 7½ makesa defiant claim: that even now, as the world burns, beauty is worth our attention. In this thrilling mashup of autobiography, homage, film and fiction, Tsiolkas presents a rebellious paean to joy and artistic freedom. I've admired the risk and power of all his novels, but this might be riskiest of all-so personal, so delicate and true-and I love it. * Charlotte Wood, Stella Prize-winning author of The Weekend *

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Book SynopsisA man arrives at a house on the coast to write a book. Separated from his lover and family and friends, he finds the solitude he craves in the pyrotechnic beauty of nature, just as the world he has shut out is experiencing a cataclysmic shift. The preoccupations that have galvanised him and his work fall away and he becomes lost in memory and beauty. He begins to tell us a story ... A retired porn star who is made an offer he can't refuse for the sake of his family and future. So he returns to the world he fled years before, all too aware of the danger of opening the door to past temptations and long-buried desires. Can he resist the oblivion and bliss they promise? A breathtakingly audacious novel by the acclaimed author of The Slap and Damascus about finding joy and beauty in a raging and punitive world, about the refractions of memory and time and, most subversive of all, the mystery of art and its creation.Trade ReviewA genuinely brave counter-cultural novel... It's terrific, like everything he writes. * Johann Hari, author of STOLEN FOCUS *Rejecting the rage of contemporary politics for a tender celebration of sensuality, nature, memory and love, 7½ makesa defiant claim: that even now, as the world burns, beauty is worth our attention. In this thrilling mashup of autobiography, homage, film and fiction, Tsiolkas presents a rebellious paean to joy and artistic freedom. I've admired the risk and power of all his novels, but this might be riskiest of all-so personal, so delicate and true-and I love it. * Charlotte Wood, Stella Prize-winning author of The Weekend *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE PROMISEShortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best BookA gripping, claustrophobic novel of guilty secrets, obsession and self-reinvention on the African Savannah from the twice Man Booker-shortlisted author.When Adam moves into an abandoned house on the dusty edge of town, he is hoping to recover from the loss of his job and his home in the city. But when he meets Canning - a shadowy figure from his childhood - and Canning's enigmatic and beautiful wife, a sinister new chapter in his life begins. Canning has inherited a vast fortune and built for himself a giant folly in the veld, a magical place of fantasy and dreams that seduces Adam and transforms him absolutely, violently - and perhaps forever. Damon Galgut's magnificent novel evokes a hot and cruel and claustrophobic world, in which sex and death are never far from the surface.

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Book SynopsisTeena Maguire should not have tried to shortcut her way home that Fourth of July. Not after midnight, not through Rocky Point Park. Not the way she was dressed in a tank top, denim cutoffs, and high-heeled sandals. Not with her twelve-year-old daughter Bethie. Not with packs of local guys running loose on hormones, rage and alcohol. A victim of gang rape, left for dead in the park boathouse, the once vivacious Teena can now only regret that she has survived. At a relentlessly compelling pace punctuated by lonely cries in the night and the whisper of terror in the afternoon, Joyce Carol Oates unfolds the story of Teena and Bethie, their assailants, and their unexpected, silent champion, a man who knows the meaning of justice. And love.Trade Review"'Remarkable... as powerful as anything Joyce Carol Oates has produced' Kate Kellaway, Observer * 'Troubling and remarkable' Lavinia Greenlaw, Daily Telegraph * 'Demonstrates not only the passion, pathos and psychological intensity of this most explosive of major US writers but also again showcases Oates's full-blooded, soaring prose' Irish Times * 'An important book... all men should read it' Literary Review"

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Book Synopsis'A deeply rewarding and beautiful novel' HILARY MANTEL, GUARDIAN ' Towards Another Summer is a joy to read' MAGGIE O'FARRELL'Frame has been compared with Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf' TELEGRAPHLife in England seems transitory for Grace Cleave as the pull of her native New Zealand grows stronger. She begins to feel increasingly like a migratory bird. Grace longs to find her own place in the world, if only she can decide where that is. But first she must learn to feel comfortable in her own skin, feathers and all. Towards Another Summer is a meditation on the themes of exile and return, homesickness and not knowing where home really is. It is suffused with beauty and tenderness and shot through with self-deprecating humour and frailty.Written in 1963, Janet Frame considered this novel too personal to be published in her lifetime.'In this deeply personal novel of exile and loneliness, Janet Frame proves the master of nostalgia, beauty and loss. Frame is, and will remain, divine' ALICE SEBOLD'Exceptional . . . comic, melancholy and piercingly observant' SUNDAY TELEGRAPHTrade ReviewThe idea of a new novel by Janet Frame is in itself a delight and Towards Another Summer is a joy to read, with all the poise, inventiveness and clarity of her other workNo literary curiosity but a deeply rewarding and beautiful novel * Guardian *Frame has been compared with Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf. I am more often reminded of Jean Rhys, similarly distanced from her homeland in the West Indies, with an artistic viewpoint that may seem skewed by its own sensitivity, but is, in fact, courageously clear-sighted * Telegraph *Like every writer worth remembering, Frame exploits-or creates on the page, to be absolutely puristic about it-her peculiar sensibility, her private window into the universal * New York Times Book Review *Maybe Frame took pleasure in the thought of a novel appearing after her death, one that touched so closely on her essential nature, and reminded the world of her remarkable artistry * Daily Telegraph *A piercing, poetic revelation * Observer *In this deeply personal novel of exile and loneliness, Janet Frame proves the master of nostalgia, beauty, and loss. Frame is, and will remain, divine

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Book SynopsisPublishing in English for the very first time, Japan's beloved coming-of-age classic on what really matters in life The streets of Tokyo swarm below fifteen year-old Copper as he gazes out into the city of his childhood. Struck by the thought of the infinite people whose lives play out alongside his own, he begins to wonder, how do you live? Considering life's biggest questions for the first time, Copper turns to his dear uncle for heart-warming wisdom. As the old man guides the boy on a journey of philosophical discovery, a timeless tale unfolds, offering a poignant reflection on what it means to be human.The favourite childhood book of anime master Hayao Miyazaki, How Do You Live? is the basis a highly anticipated film from Studio Ghibli. Trade ReviewAn important, worthwhile and surprisingly of-the-moment novel ... as timely now as it was in 1937 * Asian Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe inspiration for The Boy & The Heron, the major new Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film and Golden Globe Award winner 2024A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'In How Do You Live?, Copper, our hero, and his uncle are our guides in science, in ethics, in thinking. And on the way they take us, through a school story set in Japan in 1937, to the heart of the questions we need to ask ourselves about the way we live our lives. We will experience betrayal and learn about how to make tofu. We will examine fear, and how we cannot always live up to who we think we are, and we learn about shame, and how to deal with it. We will learn about gravity and about cities, and most of all, we will learn to think about things - to, as the writer Theodore Sturgeon put it, ask the next question' - from the foreword by Neil GaimanTrade ReviewAn important, worthwhile and surprisingly of-the-moment novel ... as timely now as it was in 1937 * Asian Review of Books *Heartwarming and empathetic. . . Like the best Miyazaki films, [the] lessons are often deceptively simple, but they have implications for every person who comes of age through adversity. * Vulture *Not easily forgotten. . . Some may feel inclined to affirm an unusual truth: 'I am wiser for having read this book.' * The New York Times Book Review *How Do You Live? is that rare thing . . . It asks its young readers to think about the person they want to be, and its adult readers to reflect on the person they've become. * Wired *A quiet, introspective look at life and how to be human. * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisAs Mrs Dalloway works on the preparations for a dinner party, her thoughts throughout the day wander from memories of the past to interrogations about the present and lead her to assess the choices she has made in life and love. Her monologue interweaves with the account of the distress, on that same day, of the shell-shocked veteran Septimus Warren Smith, whose trauma and hallucinations end in tragedy, as the links between the two characters unfold. One of Virginia Woolf's most famous novels, Mrs Dalloway is a triumph of experimentation, a cornerstone of Modernism and a subtle examination of love, freedom, mental illness and the female condition in society.Trade ReviewShe was doing with language something like what Jimi Hendrix does with a guitar. -- Michael CunninghamTable of ContentsIncludes pictures and a section on Virginia Woolf's life and works.

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Book SynopsisRobinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is considered by many to be the first novel in English, and its success was so enormous that by the end of the nineteenth century it had spawned more translations and versions than any other previous English book. An everyman character who has become part of our cultural heritage, Defoe's castaway - shipwrecked, imperilled and facing a host of elemental challenges - lives an archetypal life of survival, adventure and personal development. On one level a simple adventure story, while at the same time an allegory, a quest novel and a spiritual autoEdition Biography, Robinson Crusoe has captured the imagination of readers for nearly three centuries.

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Book SynopsisEbenezer Scrooge is a lonely, miserly old man who hates Christmas, which he dismisses as "humbug". One Christmas Eve, however, he is visited by a series of ghosts who reveal to him the innocence he has lost, the wretchedness of his future and the poverty of the present, which he has so far ignored. This experience teaches Scrooge the true meaning of the holiday and leaves him a transformed man. With its memorable cast of characters such as Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is the most heart-warming of seasonal tales, a timeless classic that continues to enchant readers around the world and a lesson in charity and hopefulness that is as powerful today as when it was first written in 1843.Trade ReviewThe power of [Dickens] is so amazing that the reader at once becomes his captive. -- William Makepeace Thackeray

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Book SynopsisWhen Mrs Ramsay tells her guests at her summer house on the Isle of Skye that they will be able to visit the nearby lighthouse the following day, little does she know that this trip will only be completed ten years later by her husband, and that a gulf of war, grief and loss will have opened in the meantime. As each character tries to readjust their memories and emotions with the shifts of time and reality, this long-delayed excursion will also prove to be a journey of self-discovery and fulfilment for them. Rich in symbolism, daring in style, elegiac in tone and encapsulating Virginia Woolf's ideas on life, art and human relationships, To the Lighthouse is a landmark of twentieth-century literature and one of the high points of early Modernism.

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Book SynopsisPoverty-stricken and cut off from society, former law student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov leads a desolate life in a dreary little room in St Petersburg. Having abandoned all hopes of sustaining himself through work, he now obsesses over the idea of changing his fortunes through an extreme act of violence: the killing of an elderly pawnbroker. His mind baulks at the horror of his plan, but when he hears that his sister Dunya is about to agree to a loveless marriage in order to escape the advances of her employer, his disgust for the world becomes unbounded, and his feelings of rebellion and revenge push him closer and closer to the edge of the precipice. A masterpiece of psychological insight, Dostoevsky's 1866 novel features some of its author's most memorable characters - from the temperamental protagonist Raskolnikov to the amoral sensualist Svidrigailov and the immoral lawyer Luzhin. Presented here in a sparkling new translation by Roger Cockerell, Crime and Punishment is a towering work in Russian nineteenth-century fiction and a landmark of world literature.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Bowling, a forty-five-year-old insurance salesman with a wife and two children, is overweight, depressed and haunted by ever-present portents of imminent global conflict. Dreaming of escaping the staid suburban rut in which he has become embedded, he reminisces about his home town in Oxfordshire, Lower Binfield. But as he seeks refuge in the rural idyll of his treasured childhood memories, the rapacious forces of “progress” continue their relentless march, eventually forcing George to reflect on the folly of nostalgia and the impossibility of reliving the past. By turns comic and melancholy, Orwell’s fourth novel – published in 1939 to critical and commercial acclaim by Victor Gollancz – is Wellsian in its exploration of the frustrations and helplessness of a lower-middle-class protagonist faced with the indifference of a rapidly changing world, and a vital record of a society on the verge of war.

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Book SynopsisAs Mabel Waring takes off her cloak and steps into the drawing room of Clarissa Dalloway, she immediately realizes that something is not right: her pale-yellow silk dress, which she has had specially made for the occasion, is clearly old-fashioned, dowdy and out of place. Everyone seems to be looking at her in dismay or mocking her appearance. Crushed at once by her insecurity, Mabel is pervaded by a sense of selfloathing, and feels utter revulsion for the social world she has tried so hard to impress. Written in 1924 and perhaps intended for inclusion in Mrs Dalloway, a book Woolf was working on at the time, The New Dress is here accompanied by most of the short stories she published in her lifetime, as well as six posthumously published pieces that share the milieu and some of the characters of her celebrated novel. Together, they reveal their author as one of the finest practitioners in the field of short fiction.

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Book SynopsisAs a doctoral student at Trinity College Dublin, Darren Walton is trying to decode an elaborate conspiracy he stumbled across as an undergraduate. To do so he must locate an alternate Ireland named Camland, the existence of which is proven when he discovers a literary journal whose contents mirror his own past. With proof of his wild theories, Darren is sure academic fame is imminent. But for this he is willing to sacrifice not just his sanity and physical safety, but also his relationships with the ones who love him most. In breathless prose, Declan Toohey weaves a contemporary yarn of academic intrigue and youthful irreverence, sexual fluidity and neurodiversity. Experimental, trippy, hilarious, compassionate, Perpetual Comedown is a riotous reckoning in the construction of the self.Trade Review'A novel so unique, so zany it is unlike anything I have read before ... It is bold. It is bonkers. It is brilliantly clever. It is also blackly funny — the prose skips along with irreverent glee, laced with puns and put-downs and perfect observations ... Where the novel really shines, however, is in its — somewhat surprising — emotional core [...] at its heart Perpetual Comedown is a story about a wayward son’s unwavering love for his mother; about a young man’s desire to make his family proud, even after he has chosen to pursue a path they don’t quite understand, no matter the toll it takes on him or his mental health.' -- Ruth Gilligan * Irish Independent *'Toohey plays with style and form throughout, never letting an impossibly convoluted situation get in the way of great character development ... a difficult novel to describe, Perpetual Comedown must be read to be believed ... It’s impossible to know if Perpetual Comedown documents Darren’s unravelling or the creation of his true identity. Either way, this experimental, thought-provoking and creative novel is probably the strangest thing you’ll read this year – in the best possible way.' -- Andrea Cleary * Sunday Business Post *'Perpetual Comedown is a college daze of highs, lows, and humanities in-jokes ... Toohey writes with energy and wit and undoubtedly the novel has benefited from his mentor. Toohey has worked with Anne Enright, so there are no flies on him.' -- Josephine Fenton * Irish Examiner *'Toohey’s explosive prose transports the reader into Darren’s complex, hallucinatory world ... reveals a profound, moving insight into mental illness.' -- Aisling Arundel * Totally Dublin *It is the wont of the fledgling writer to blow open convention and in Perpetual Comedown we get the sense of a young writer at play ... What’s the maddest thing that could happen next, we wonder, and then something madder happens. -- Niamh Donnelly * The Irish Times *‘The sharp satire of this stunning debut gives an authentic voice to university life in Ireland … Bizarre, bleak, and as blackly comic as I’ve come across, Maynooth alumnus Declan Toohey’s first novel tracks the mental breakdown of an English student as he strives for just one unique academic thought. A whole new interpretation of dark academia … it’s the novel’s emotional core that gives it resonance - the human element, the desire to be loved and to make people proud, is what stays with you.’ -- Éabha Puirséil * Silverhand Journal *'From its opening, with narrator Darren Walton entering a woodland hovel, Declan Toohey’s debut throws us into an unstable reality with only the witty and wholly unreliable voice of its protagonist to guide us. To untether the reader from the known world and to leave us, from beginning to end, unclear as to what is and isn’t real is courageous. But, in Toohey’s case, it’s courage born of rightful confidence in the strength of his writing ... It’s not a bleak treatise on mental illness or drug taking. It’s a funny and clever, touching and wild exploration of one particular mind. It poses interesting questions about possible realities, parallel lives, times and stories. In the middle, Darren finds time for an examination of narrative. Is a story without ending even possible? We are left with an impression of how fine the lines are between genius and insanity, between a mind that is truly free and a mind that is on fire. Be prepared, this book requires energy. But once you’re ready, it’s an invigorating and challenging ride.' -- Estelle Birdy * Sunday Independent *

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Book Synopsis?I sit on the stone that will mark the bed of my bones. You?ll find the used-to-be-me, soon, flat body, washed up, wrinkly skin. No silly grin. You?ll say, What a waste of a life. Tut-tut sounds jump out. Dangle like worms from your crow?s mouth ...?Meet Daft Matt, the Mayo man at the heart of this astonishing, form-bending story, as he wanders the streets of Castlebar in search of Devil?s feet ? the claw marks of the cága, or jackdaws, who have spoken to him since he was a boy.Yet Matt is anything but daft. In lyrical prose, Walsh Donnelly explores the complex workings of Matt?s inner life: how he deals with the loss of his twin brother as a child, navigates the carefree days of early manhood and copes with the aftermath of the horse-riding accident that would see him incarcerated in the care system for the next thirty years. Richly imagined and beautifully written, this is a story for anyone who chooses to look beyond the surface of things.?I used to think those claws were the only things that kept me above sea-level.?

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Book SynopsisIt is 1962. The first avocado pears are appearing at the greengrocers, people are thinking about carpeting their lavatories and boxing in their banisters, and Ronnie Glover, housepainter, husband and father, is feeling the first vague stirrings of discontent with his life. Then, out of the blue, the fabulous, sophisticated (and married) Jacqueline bursts into his life and teaches him to tango. She seems to offer everything he ever dreamt of. But is it all too good to be true? What can a woman who has traveled the world want with a man who carries a stub of pencil behind his ear? And are the Ten O'Clock horses of Ronnie's painful childhood awake and sniffing the wind?Trade Review'Turbo-charged by the palpable rage and desperation of its hero ... the narrative rips along on a tide of beautifully observed dialogue' TLS. * TLS *

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Book SynopsisThe modern Italian classic discovered and championed by James Joyce, ZENO'S CONSCIENCE is a marvel of psychological insight, published here in a fine new translation by William Weaver - the first in more than seventy years.Italo Svevo's masterpiece tells the story of a hapless, doubting, guilt-ridden man paralyzed by fits of ecstasy and despair and tickled by his own cleverness. His doctor advises him, as a form of therapy, to write his memoirs; in doing so, Zeno reconstructs and ultimately reshapes the events of his life into a palatable reality for himself - a reality, however, founded on compromise, delusion, and rationalization.With cigarette in hand, Zeno sets out in search of health and happiness, hoping along the way to free himself from countless vices, not least of which is his accursed "last cigarette!" (Zeno's famously ineffectual refrain is inevitably followed by a lapse in resolve.) His amorous wanderings win him the shrill affections of an aspiring coloratura, and his confidence in his financial savoir-faire involves him in a hopeless speculative enterprise. Meanwhile, his trusting wife reliably awaits his return at appointed mealtimes. Zeno's adventures rise to antic heights in this pioneering psychoanalytic novel, as his restlessly self-preserving commentary inevitably embroiders the truth. Absorbing and devilishly entertaining, ZENO'S CONSCIENCE is at once a comedy of errors, a sly testimonial to he joys of procrastination, and a surpassingly lucid vision of human nature by one of the most important Italian literary figures of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisA subtle and insightful story about boredom, passion, curiosity and memory from the Nobel Prize-winner José SaramagoSenhor José is a lonely civil servant who spends his days labouring in the labyrinthine stacks of Lisbon's central registry. Among the file-cards for the living and the dead, one – of an apparently ordinary woman – will transform his life. Breaking away from his strict routine, José resolves to track the woman down, obsessively following a thread of clues in a bid to rescue her from an oblivion deeper than the grave. 'When a very good book finds us at just the right moment in life, it can become stitched into our own identity. All the Names – a novel about identity and connection – has become stitched into mine' Samantha Harvey, IndependentTrade ReviewA novel that has soul, which Saramago offers to his readers with all his witty, intelligent, tender and magical generosity -- Samantha Harvey * Independent *Offers an unearthly, muted beauty; a freedom from the obvious, the ideological and trivial; an atmosphere of profound serenity, and a benevolent humor * Literary Review *Both delightful and unsettling which is perhaps the mark of true literature -- Anthony Daniels * Sunday Telegraph *A tantalizing novel...shifting and teasing, full of metaphorical labyrinths and false trails * Herald *It is the marriage of the living and the dying...that so strongly characterizes the writing of Jose Saramago * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when the facts of history are replaced by the mysteries of love?When Raimundo Silva, a lowly proofreader for a Lisbon publishing house, inserts a negative into a sentence of a historical text, he alters the whole course of the 1147 Siege of Lisbon. Fearing censure he is met instead with admiration: Dr Maria Sara, his voluptuous new editor, encourages him to pen his own alternative history. As his retelling draws on all his imaginative powers, Silva finds – to his nervous delight – that if the facts of the past can be rewritten as a romance then so can the details of his own dusty bachelor present.Trade ReviewMarvellous, seriously witty, erotic and edgily surreal -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Sunday Times *Saramago is one of Europe's most original and remarkable writers...his writing is imbued with the spirit of comic enquiry, meditative pessimism and a quietly transforming energy that turns the indefinite into the unforgettable -- Richard Eder * Los Angeles Times *This cryptic, ingenious novel...is never dull or humourless... No candidate for [the Nobel Prize] has a better claim to lasting recognition than this novelist who was born in 1922 but was in his mid-50s before he started to publish the fiction that has won him an international reputation -- Edmund White * New York Times *A book filled with lyrical and intellectual rewards -- Bill Marx * Boston Globe *This hypnotic tale is a great comic romp through history, language and the imagination * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisIt is the first day of term at a secondary school on Merseyside, 2001. The Towers are soon to fall. A boy cowers in an alleyway, surrounded by a group clad in black. They whip his bare legs with nettles. This is only the start. As term unfolds, their bullying campaign intensifies. Soon the boy finds solace hiding in marshland under the nearby motorway. Voices there urge council with Grannies Rock, a strange stone that sits on derelict land known as The Breck. There, the whispers in the breeze promise a terrible revenge. Twenty years later, the boy has grown. He is back home from London to pack away his childhood. Armed with a Polaroid camera, he aims to exorcise those painful memories through a series of photographs. But is his memory of what happened reliable? Nettles is a powerful exploration of memory and violence, excavating the stories we tell ourselves to escape our past.

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Book SynopsisI am Eve. Collector of words. I look them up. I write them down. I knead them into sentences. I am the story. When her mum rescues a book from a garbage can, Eve's life changes. She reads her way into the stories, into a place in the world, worlds she never knew existed. Eve becomes the story. Everything is possible. But with adulthood comes deception and betrayal; to survive Eve strips life bare. No stories, no people, no connection. But the stories are determined to win her back.

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Book Synopsis'A gripping tale of homecoming and loss... ruthlessly honest and startlingly beautiful... profound and unforgettable' Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King 'Daring, intellectually rich, and unsettlingly hilarious. We have a powerful new voice in Maya Binyam, one who knows how to make a story sing' Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun 'A subtle and peculiar novel about subtle and peculiar things - home, exile, injustice, family, return and life itself... a remarkable book' Keith Ridgway, author of A Shock 'A strikingly masterful debut... a clean, sharp, piercing - and deeply political novel' Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows __________ A man returns home to sub-Saharan Africa after twenty-six years living in exile in America. When he arrives, he finds that he doesn't recognize the country, or anyone in it. Thankfully, someone at the airport knows him - a man who calls him brother. As they travel to this man's house, the purpose of his visit comes into focus: he is here to find his real brother, who is dying. Hangman is his tragicomic journey through homecoming and loss. It is a hilarious and twisted odyssey, peopled by phantoms and tricksters, aid workers and taxi drivers, the relatives and riddles that lead this man along a circuitous path towards the truth. This is the strangley honest story of one man's search for refuge - in this world and the one that lies beyond it. An existential journey, a tragic farce, a slapstick tragedy: Hangman is the shockingly original debut novel about exile, diaspora and the search for Black refuge, from a thrilling new literary voiceTrade Review'Hangman is a subtle and peculiar novel about subtle and peculiar things - home, exile, injustice, family, return, and life itself. Binyam has written a remarkable book - one that builds, beautifully, a world that feels true, while dismantling the world that feels real' - Keith Ridgway, author of A Shock'A strikingly masterful debut. With a slow, sure hand, Hangman beckons you into a zone that at first seems as clear, as blank, and as eerily sunny as the pane of a window. Then it traps you there, until you notice the blots, bubbles, and fissures in the glass-and then the frame itself, then the shatter. A clean, sharp, piercing-and deeply political-novel' - Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows'Daring, intellectually rich, and unsettlingly hilarious, Hangman is the rare book agile enough to balance the surreality and painfully rigid actuality of life. We have a powerful new voice in Maya Binyam, one who knows how to make a story sing.' - Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun'Hangman is a gripping story of homecoming and loss, of recuperation and letting go, all of it told in a voice that is at turns ruthlessly honest and startlingly beautiful. Maya Binyam is an immensely gifted writer and every page of this deeply moving novel offers us compelling and hard-earned truths. But what remains by the end is something that resembles a loving gesture from a long-lost relative: necessary and seismic, profound and unforgettable' - Maaza Mengiste, author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted The Shadow King'Maya Binyam exquisitely captures unseen forces: the edges of consciousness, abstract political forces, and how they act on one another. Hangman is immersive and astonishing' - Tavi Gevinson'Maya Binyam's controlled blend of surreal whimsy and unsettling existential dread makes this a remarkably assured and distinctive debut' -TLS

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Book SynopsisSandor Esterhazy is descended from a long line of talented pianists, but has no desire to play. So, one snowy afternoon, he promises his soul to the devil in exchange for a life of his own choosing. Afterwards, he laughs it off as a joke, but that night the devil arrives dragging someone - or something - with him.Trade Review'Like a beautiful melody played on the very edge of hearing, The Piano Room demands your attention while remaining elusive. Utterly captivating' —Lynda Clark, author of 'Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories'; 'A dark and beautifully written tale, seeped in music, yearning and breathless intrigue' —Edward Vass, author of 'Milton in Purgatory'

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