Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction

Book SynopsisChuck Palahniuk is the bestselling author of fifteen fictional works, including Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Survivor, Choke, Lullaby, Diary, Haunted, Rant, Pygmy, Tell-All, Damned, Doomed, Beautiful You, and most recently Make Something Up. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.Trade ReviewHypnotic, pitiless and told brilliantly -- Bret Easton EllisAn outrageously suspenseful apocalyptic comedy of horrors...with acid clarity...Fight Club only achieves something only terrifying books do - it tells us: this is how we live now. Maybe our generation has finally found its Don DeLillo * Bret Easton Ellis *Like a noxious Doug Coupland, Palahiuk charts new-felt and totally contemporary categories of despair -- Ali Smith * Guardian *An immensely skillful writer * Daily Telegraph *Short, sharp and savage, this haunting and strikingly original American urban nightmare is the most impressive US fiction début I can remember in years * Glasgow Herald *

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Book SynopsisAn instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestsellerSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 DYLAN THOMAS AWARD''A package of dynamite'' Stephen KingPowerful, compulsive, brilliant' Marian KeyesAn era-defining novel about the relationship between a fifteen-year-old girl and her teacherALL HE DID WAS FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AND THE WORLD TURNED HIM INTO A MONSTERVanessa Wye was fifteen-years-old when she first had sex with her English teacher.She is now thirty-two and in the storm of allegations against powerful men in 2017, the teacher, Jacob Strane, has just been accused of sexual abuse by another former student.Vanessa is horrified by this news, because she is quite certain that the relationship she had with Strane wasn''t abuse. It was love. She''s sure of that.Forced to rethink her past, to revisit everything that happened, Vanessa has to redefine the great love story of her life her great sexual awakening as rape. Now she must deal with the possibility that she might be a victim, and just one of many.Nuanced, uncomfortable, bold and powerful, My Dark Vanessa goes straight to the heart of some of the most complex issues of our age.Trade Review‘A hard story to read and a harder one to put down … a package of dynamite’ Stephen King ‘The book that scared Weinstein’ Metro ‘Compulsive. I burned through the first half in such a fever that I lost sleep, I missed meals … a lightning rod’ Washington Post ‘A brilliant and stunning debut … utterly truth-rattling, humane in its clarity and chilling in its resonance. An absolute must-read’ Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl ‘A skilled, terrifying depiction of grooming … we should all read it’ Marian Keyes ‘Once in a while, a book comes along that consumes your waking hours, unmoors you from your lived reality, grips the very core of you and doesn’t let go. My Dark Vanessa is that book’ Esquire ‘Clever, unsettling … this novel stands out for its elusiveness, its exceedingly complex, inventive, resourceful examination of harm and power’ New Yorker ‘The #MeToo novel that’s as gripping as any thriller’ Grazia ‘Gripping and unsettling… a bracingly uncompromising book. It will doubtless be devoured with an ache of recognition by large numbers of women. But it really ought to be read by men’ Economist ‘Superb … a book that asks what we have lost and gained in an era that has revolutionised the way we think about sex and power’ Observer ‘Addictively disturbing’ Red Magazine

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Book SynopsisWhat's this you're writing? asked Pooh, climbing onto the writing table.The Tao of Pooh, I replied.The how of Pooh? asked Pooh, smudging one of the words I had just written.The Tao of Pooh, I replied, poking his paw away with my pencil.It seems more like ow! of Pooh, said Pooh, rubbing his paw.Well, it's not, I replied huffily.What's it about? asked Pooh, leaning forward and smearing another word.It's about how to stay happy and calm under all circumstances! I yelled.Have you read it? asked PoohWinnie-the-Pooh has a certain way about him, a way of doing things that has made him the world''s most beloved bear, and Pooh''s Way, as Benjamin Hoff brilliantly demonstrates, seems strangely close to the ancient Chinese principles of Taoism.Follow the Pooh Way in this humorous and enlightening introduction to Taoism, with classic decorations by E.H.Shepard throughout. Over a million copies sold to date.This deluxe anniversary edition is a beautiful gift for any fans of this classic title or everyone's favourite bear.Trade Review‘Winnie-the-Pooh has always been a very special (albeit funny old) bear, not least of all because his books are filled with wonderful words of wisdom.', Stylist magazine "Aspects of Taoism told through the characters of 'Winnie the Pooh' – I mean, does it get better?” Meghan Markle ‘Mr. Hoff gives grown-ups permission to rediscover Winnie the Pooh’ New York Times

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Book Synopsis**Order the paperback of Bella Mackie''s latest hilarious novel, WHAT A WAY TO GO, now**THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERI loved this book' RICHARD OSMANFunny, sharp, dark and twisted' JOJO MOYESChilling, but also laugh-out-loud funny. Another corker' SUNDAY TELEGRAPHThey say you can't choose your family. But you can kill them.Meet Grace Bernard.Daughter, sister, serial killerGrace has lost everything.And she will stop at nothing to get revenge.-Funny and furious and strangely uplifting. Grace is a bitter and beguiling anti-hero with a keen eye for social analysis even in her most grisly deeds, you never stop rooting for her' PANDORA SYKESDeliciously addictivebrilliantly executed' i PAPERAddictive Grace Bernard is one of the most intriguing and bewitching protagonists I''ve read in years' EMMA GANNONA funny, compulsive read about family dysfunction and the media's obsession with murder' SUNDAY TIMES STYLEYou'll be gripped Grace's emotional detachment throughout will give you chills' Rated 5 stars by COSMOPOLITAN?????Hilarious and dark' ELLEIronic twists and caustic commentary on everything from liberal guilt to the consumerist con that is selfcare sharpen this debut novel' OBSERVERBrilliantly tongue-in-cheek stuff from the Vogue columnist' IRISH INDEPENDENTWitty, waspish satire of a murderer with no regrets' GRAZIAOriginal, funny, unique and such a refreshing read' PRIMAA deliciously dark debut novel' REDOne very entertaining read' WOMAN'S WAYHow To Kill Your Family was number 1 in the Sunday Times paperback chart on 26/04/2022Trade Review‘Funny and furious and strangely uplifting. Grace is a bitter and beguiling anti-hero with a keen eye for social analysis – even in her most grisly deeds, you never stop rooting for her’ PANDORA SYKES ‘I loved this book’ RICHARD OSMAN ‘I’ve struggled to recover my reading mojo since lockdown. This turned out to be the thing that sparked it back to life… Funny, sharp, dark and twisted, Grace is a character I found myself rooting for even as she committed the most vile misdeeds’ JOJO MOYES ‘Addictive… one of the most intriguing and bewitching protagonists I've read in years’ EMMA GANNON ‘A funny, compulsive read about family dysfuction and the media’s obsession with murder’ SUNDAY TIMES STYLE ‘You’ll be gripped… Grace’s emotional detachment throughout will give you chills’ Rated 5 stars by COSMOPOLITAN⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Hilarious and dark’ ELLE ‘Ironic twists and caustic commentary on everything from liberal guilt to the consumerist con that is “selfcare” sharpen this debut novel’ OBSERVER ‘Brilliantly tongue-in-cheek stuff from the Vogue columnist’ IRISH INDEPENDENT ‘Original, funny, unique and such a refreshing read’ PRIMA ‘A deliciously dark debut novel’ RED ‘This smart revenge comedy is told through the eyes of the Villanelle-esque anti-hero Grace Bernard… Chilling, but also laugh-out-loud funny. Another corker of a debut’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ‘Deliciously addictive… brilliantly executed’ i PAPER ‘Witty, waspish satire of a murderer with no regrets’ GRAZIA ‘Darkly hilarious’ IRISH TIMES MAGAZINE ‘Deliciously dark and twisted’ You magazine, MAIL ON SUNDAY ‘Bella Mackie’s debut novel is by turns pitch-dark and laugh-out-loud funny, with an outrageous final twist’ DAILY MAIL ‘hilarious… skilfully plotted’ Adele Parks The Sun

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewBy turns love letter to and critique of language itself, Greek Lessons is a brief yet, in its concision and finesse, lapidary work . . . one of Han's most intimate works * Financial Times *In Greek Lessons Kang reaches beyond the usual senses to translate the unspeakable . . . Han Kang turns the well-worn idea of the mind-body disconnect into something fresh and substantial * Los Angeles Times *This novel is a celebration of the ineffable trust to be found in sharing language . . . [Han] is an astute chronicler of unusual, insubordinate women * The New York Times *Han Kang is a writer like no other. In a few lines, she seems to traverse the entirety of human experience -- Katie KitamuraHan Kang's vivid and at times violent storytelling will wake up even the most jaded of literary palates * Independent *An elliptical, enigmatic book . . . Han's style creates mystery * The Economist *Han Kang's hypnotic Greek Lessons probes the limits of language * The Straits Times *Han Kang is what most writers spend their lives trying to be: a fearless, unsentimental teller of human truths . . . Han Kang is a genius -- Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious HeresiesAnother stunning gem: quiet, sharply faceted, and devastating * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisNOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED HULU ORIGINAL SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “A stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships” (People) from the author of Conversations with Friends, “a master of the literary page-turner” (J. Courtney Sullivan). ONE OF THE TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE—Entertainment WeeklyTEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—People, Slate, The New York Public Library, Harvard CrimsonAND BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, O: The Oprah Magazine, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vox, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation—awkward but electrifying—something life changing begins.A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t. Praise for Normal People “[A] novel that demands to be read compulsively, in one sitting.”—The Washington Post “Arguably the buzziest novel of the season, Sally Rooney’s elegant sophomore effort . . . is a worthy successor to Conversations with Friends. Here, again, she unflinchingly explores class dynamics and young love with wit and nuance.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Rooney] has been hailed as the first great millennial novelist for her stories of love and late capitalism. . . . [She writes] some of the best dialogue I’ve read.”—The New YorkerTrade Review“[Rooney] has invented a sensibility entirely of her own: sunny and sharp, free of artifice but overflowing with wisdom and intensity. . . . The novel touches on class, politics, and power dynamics and brims with the sparky, witty conversation that Rooney’s fans will recognize.”—Vogue “A future classic.”—The Guardian“Rooney is a tough girl; her papercut-sharp sensibility is much more akin to writers like Rachel Kushner, Mary Gaitskill, and the pre–Manhattan Beach Jennifer Egan. . . . Normal People is a nuanced and flinty love story about two young people who ‘get’ each other, despite class differences and the interference of their own vigorous personal demons. But honestly, Sally Rooney could write a novel about bath mats and I’d still read it. She’s that good and that singular a writer.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air “[Rooney] has written two fresh and accessible novels. . . . There is so much to say about Rooney’s fiction—in my experience, when people who’ve read her meet they tend to peel off into corners to talk.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times“[Rooney’s] two carefully observed and gentle comedies of manners . . . are tender portraits of Irish college students. . . . Remarkably precise—she captures meticulously the way a generation raised on social data thinks and talks.”—New York Review of Books“Normal People tackles millennial concerns with nineteenth-century wit . . . the millennial generation would no doubt be happy to accept her as its spokesperson were she so inclined.”—Elle“I’m transfixed by the way Rooney works, and I’m hardly the only one . . . like any confident couturier, she’s slicing the free flow of words into the perfect shape. . . . She writes about tricky commonplace things (text messages, sex) with a familiarity no one else has.”—The Paris Review“Funny and intellectually agile . . . [combines] deft social observation—especially of shifts of power between individuals and groups—with acute feeling . . . [Rooney is] a master of the kind of millennial deadpan that appears to skewer a whole life and personality in a sentence or two.”—Harper’s Magazine“Beautifully observed . . . crackles with vivid insight into what it means to be young and in love today.”—Esquire“I went into a tunnel with this book and didn’t want to come out. Absolutely engrossing and surprisingly heart-breaking with more depth, subtlety, and insight than any one novel deserves. Young love is a subject of much scorn, but Rooney understands the cataclysmic effects our youth has on the people we become. She has restored not only love’s dignity, but also its significance.”—Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter“Masterfully done. The quality of Rooney’s writing, particularly in the psychologically wrought sex scenes, cannot be understated as she brilliantly provides a window into her protagonists’ true selves.”—BookPage (starred review)

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Book Synopsis''I''m not exaggerating when I say this novel challenged everything I thought I knew about love and friendship. It''s one of those books that stays with you forever'' Dua LipaThe million-copy bestseller, Hanya Yanagihara''s A Little Life, by the author of To Paradise, is an immensely powerful and heartbreaking novel of brotherly love and the limits of human endurance.Winner of Fiction of the Year at the British Book AwardsShortlisted for the Booker PrizeShortlisted for the Women''s PrizeFinalist for the US National Book Award for FictionWhen four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they''re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity.Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he''ll not only be unable to overcome but that will define his life forever.''Yanagihara takes you so deeply into the lives and minds of these characters that you struggle to leave them behind'' The TimesTrade ReviewA singularly profound and moving work . . . It's not often that you read a book of this length and find yourself thinking "I wish it was longer" but Yanagihara takes you so deeply into the lives and minds of these characters that you struggle to leave them behind. * The Times *A Little Life makes for near-hypnotically compelling reading, a vivid, hyperreal portrait of human existence that demands intense emotional investment . . . An astonishing achievement: a novel of grand drama and sentiment, but it's a canvas Yanagihara has painted with delicate, subtle brushstrokes. * Independent *Here is an epic study of trauma and friendship written with such intelligence and depth of perception that it will be one of the benchmarks against which all other novels that broach those subjects (and they are legion) will be measured. * Wall Street Journal *It's not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork - if anything that word is simply just too little for it * San Francisco Chronicle *A Little Life feels elemental, irreducible-and, dark and disturbing though it is, there is beauty in it * New Yorker *Utterly compelling . . . quite an extraordinary novel. It is impossible to put down . . . And it is almost impossible to forget. * Daily Express *A darkly beautiful tale of love and friendship... I've read a lot of emotionally taxing books in my time, but A Little Life . . . is the only one I've read as an adult that's left me sobbing. * Los Angeles Times *Capacious and consuming . . . Boasts a scale and immersive power to rival the recent epics of Donna Tartt and Elizabeth Gilbert. * Boston Globe *Astonishing . . . tender, torturous and achingly alive to the undeniable pain that can scar a life. * Psychologies *It's Entourage directed by Bergman; it's the great 90s novel a quarter of a century too late; it's a devastating read that will leave your heart, like the Grinch's, a few sizes larger. -- Alex Preston * Observer *

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Book Synopsis'One to savour long after you have turned the last page.' Prima'Gripping ... an extraordinary concept, and it is so sensitively executed. Beautifully written ... her depiction of grief is really convincing. ... A terrific, terrific piece of writing.' Annabel CrabbWhen Gill and Gabe's elder son drowns overseas, they decide they must hide the truth from their desperately unwell teenaged daughter. But as Gill begins to send letters from her dead son to his sister, the increasingly elaborate lie threatens to prove more dangerous than the truth. A novel about family, food, grief, and hope, this gripping, lyrical story moves between Tasmania and London, exploring the many ways that a family can break down - and the unexpected ways that it can be put back together.Trade ReviewSometimes, books come along that have such an unassuming elegance about them, and this is one. Told from multiple voices following a family tragedy, the different viewpoints make this such an interesting read. One to savour long after you have turned the last page. -- Nina Pottell * Prima *Gill Jordan is at home in Tasmania, writing recipes, because that is what she does. Gabe is in England for the inquest into the death of their son, Dougie, drowned in a flooded cave. Daughter Sylvie is anorexic, fragile, so can't be told, and lies are spinning out of control. Read with a box of Kleenex. * Saga Magazine *What a devastatingly honest - and brilliant - book this is. Its portrayal of grief and the absurdity of death - the bizarre, unfathomable fact that someone just isn't there anymore - are simply incredible. Earth-shatteringly raw and resonant, it's a book that will break your heart and heal it. [...] The story reels and swerves to a truly edge-of-your-seat, hold-your-breath conclusion. While the family's pain and grief are always tangible, the buds of healing are too. What a book. * Love Reading *

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Book SynopsisDostoesky's drama of sin, guilt and redemption transmutes the sordid story of an old woman's murder by a desperate student into the nineteenth century's profoundest and most compelling philosophical novel. Grim in theme and setting, the book nevertheless seduces by its combination of superbly drawn characters, narrative brilliance and manic comedy.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is not your ordinary campus novel or another Groundhog Day. In magical, irreverent, and often humorous prose that calls up both Murakami and Moshfegh, The Tatami Galaxy repeatedly reimagines the existential crises of a college misfit in a kaleidoscopic display of imagination, character, and genre. There is no question why this mash-up of multiverse adventure and philosophy has already become a new classic." — Sequoia Nagamatsu, national bestselling author of How High We Go in the Dark "The team of Tomihiko Morimi and Emily Balistrieri is unbeatable: this novel vibrates with a voice that is sharp and funny, wacky and winning. It's a perfect slice of contemporary Japanese pop: a tangle of fates, simultaneously cosmic and comic. I loved my voyage through The Tatami Galaxy." — Robin Sloan, New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and Sourdough "Rich, unusual, and surprisingly profound, The Tatami Galaxy is a gorgeous application of the fantastic to celebrate the precious parts of life that we often forget." — Ada Palmer, award-winning author of Too Like the Lightning Tomihiko Morimi’s novel of burned out gods and misanthropic students jumping between alternate dimensions as they face their regrets proves to be just as touching and hilarious as the anime series it spawned. A surprisingly timely mash-up of Catcher in the Rye and Russian Doll, The Tatami Galaxy will resonate with anyone that’s found themselves too often stuck in looping isolation. — Tim Maughan, Locus Award-nominated author of Infinite Detail “Morimi’s delightful campus novel follows the quixotic adventures of an unnamed student dreaming of the perfect college experience…Light and sweet in its confection, this satisfies like a spongy piece of castella.” — Publishers Weekly "Beautiful and satisfying...Pick it up when you have the chance" — Tor.com "Translator Balistrieri meticulously deciphers the protagonist’s ' "rotten" university student voice' for English readers...anime aficionados will greatly appreciate the prose original that inspired the award-winning celluloid series of the same title." — Booklist “Who can deny the pleasures of a good time-loop narrative?... there’s a memorable payoff to several ongoing threads when the novel reaches its climax; you also may never look at moths the same way again.” — Words Without Borders "[The Tatami Galaxy] is a frolicking novel packed with slacker hijinks and escapades. At its core lies pithy wisdom about choice and destiny... Morimi’s sci-fi fusion of fun and the unfathomable offers a light touch that makes a lasting impression." — The Japan Times "[A] treat better left unspoiled." — The New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisLucy, a teenage girl from the West Indies, comes to North America to work as an au pair for Lewis and Mariah and their four children. At first glance Lewis and Mariah are a blessed couple – handsome, rich, and seemingly happy. Almost at once, however, Lucy begins to notice cracks in their beautiful facade.With a mixture of anger and compassion, Lucy scrutinizes the privileged, facile world of her employers while comparing it to the vivid realities of her home in the Caribbean. Lucy has no illusions about her own past, but neither is she prepared to be deceived about where she presently is.In this environment a new person unfolds: passionate, sexually forthright, and disarmingly honest. In Lucy, Jamaica Kincaid has created a startling new character: a captivating heroine possessed with clear-sightedness and ferocious integrity.Part of the Picador Collection, a new series showcasing the best of modern literature.Trade ReviewBeautifully precise prose . . . It leaves the reader with the unforgettable experience of having met a ferociously honest woman on her own uncompromising terms * New York Times *Brilliant . . . Lucy confirms Ms. Kincaid as a both a daughter of Bronte and Woolf and her own inimitable self * Wall Street Journal *A furious, broken-hearted gem of a novel . . . Part of the richness of this book is the way we come to see, as Lucy struggles to do, the connections between those of us who have too much and those who will never have enough - and between 'a sentence for life' (what can't be changed in the self) and that which can be wrestled with and, at least, understood * San Francisco Chronicle *What a writer – elegant, uncompromising, simultaneously direct and layered and complex. * Ali Smith *I’ve read everything by Jamaica Kincaid, and I’ve still never read anyone like her. If you are new to Kincaid, I envy you. -- Jackie kay

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021**From the bestselling author of Homegoing**______________________________________________As a child Gifty would ask her parents to tell the story of their journey from Ghana to Alabama, seeking escape in myths of heroism and romance. When her father and brother succumb to the hard reality of immigrant life in the American South, their family of four becomes two - and the life Gifty dreamed of slips away.Years later, desperate to understand the opioid addiction that destroyed her brother''s life, she turns to science for answers. But when her mother comes to stay, Gifty soon learns that the roots of their tangled traumas reach farther than she ever thought. Tracing her family''s story through continents and generations will take her deep into the dark heart of modern America.Transcendent Kingdom is a searing story of love, loss and redemption, and the myriad ways we try to rebuild our lives from the rubble of our collective pasts.______________________________________________________''Absolutely transcendent. A gorgeously woven narrative . . . not a word or idea out of place'' Roxane Gay''A piercing story of faith, science and the opioid crisis . . . There''s bravery as well as beauty here'' ObserverTrade ReviewA brilliant novel, with not a word out of place -- Caleb Azumah Nelson * Guardian, Best Books of 2021 *A piercing story of faith, science and the opioid crisis . . . Transcendent Kingdom really sings. There's bravery as well as beauty here * Observer *Transcendent Kingdom is a novel for all timesAbsolutely transcendent. A gorgeously woven narrative . . . not a word or idea out of place. I am quite angry this is so good * Roxane Gay *Transcendent Kingdom is a quietly magnificent novel - vivid, touching and beautifully written, and also unafraid to be, and to remain, really very sad. * i *Her equally outstanding second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, smaller in scale, is another graceful exploration of trauma reverberating through a family...introspective and intimate * Sunday Telegraph *This novel is an unflinching account of loss, but it is also a moving tribute to the ability of the human spirit to endure such tragedies * The Times *Gyasi's novel is a thoughtful analysis of a pressing social problem * Mail on Sunday *Among other things [Transcendent Kingdom] is a sharp reckoning with the tensions between race, science and religion...its scope is pared back, its register intimate - not many writers can switch style like this * Sunday Times Culture *A powerful portrayal of love and faith that reminds us how our parents' actions can ripple through generations * Telegraph *[A] mightily enjoyable novel * Daily Mail *Perhaps neither science nor religion alone could capture transcendence, but Gyasi has proved, once again, that a novel can * Guardian *A book of blazing brilliance . . . A double helix of wisdom and rage twists through the quiet lines of this novel. Yaa Gyasi is one of the most enlightening novelists writing today * Washington Post *A compelling look at a woman's struggle to move on from the devastating effects of her family falling apart in front of her eyes * Stylist *The must-read book of the year so far * Elle *A powerful, wholly unsentimental novel about family love, loss, belonging and belief that is more focused but just as daring as its predecessor, and to my mind even more successful * Wall Street Journal *Gyasi's second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, is a very different book, and, I think, a better one - contemporary, personal, acutely focused on a single family, and intensely felt * New Yorker *Exquisitely written with a lightness of touch despite its difficult themes; this novel is a triumph * Red *Raw, powerful storytelling that tackles race, religion, addiction and grief in a thoughtful way * Good Housekeeping *With deft agility and undeniable artistry, Gyasi's latest is an eloquent examination of resilient survival * Booklist *The Ghanaian-American has become a firm literary favour...Transcendent Kingdom is sure to cement her spot further * Stylist *Meticulous, psychologically complex ... At once a vivid evocation of the immigrant experience and a sharp delineation of an individual's inner struggle, the novel brilliantly succeeds on both counts * Publishers Weekly, starred review *Transcendent Kingdom is quiet in the way a wise soul will sit in the corner, clear their throat and when they speak, everyone listens...Transcendent Kingdom is a book always asking this question: how did we get here? * Bad Form Review *The range Gyasi displays in just two books is staggering * USA Today *Remarkable, a devastating account of America . . . explores horror without ever losing sight of humanity or hope * Sunday Times on 'Homegoing' *A stirringly gifted writer. It's impossible not to admire the ambition and scope of Homegoing * New York Times *If you want to know why the world is this way, try this book for starters * Naomi Alderman, author of The Power *I need a book like this to remember what is possible Beautifully written . . . a raw look at the personal destruction caused by the opioid crisis * Scotsman *A poignant story of family love, loss and ambition * Radio Times *Yaa Gyasi's writing is shining even as the tangled traumas of the past come to the surface * Sainsbury's Magazine *'Yaa's depiction of these illnesses; substance addiction and depression and the family's deep-rooted tangled traumas, is skilful . . . Transcendent Kingdom is a story of love, loss and redemption, and holds a mirror up to one version of the first-generation immigrant experience that will sadly seem familiar to many of us * Melan Mag *

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Book SynopsisOne of the very best science fiction novels of all time. An intelligent and thought provoking allegory for the Vietnam War.Private William Mandella is a reluctant hero in an interstellar war against an unknowable and unconquerable alien enemy. But his greatest test will be when he returns home. Relativity means that for every few months'' tour of duty centuries have passed on Earth, isolating the combatants ever more from the world for whose future they are fighting.Readers can''t stop thinking about The Forever War:''More than just a book about a futuristic war, Haldeman describes a society built around the codependency of the industrial military complex and with a fluid dynamic socio-economic culture that is fascinating to watch unfold'' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐''A hugely important story from a very human angle . . . It will come as no surprise that this was wTrade Review'Military science fiction comes in many flavours, and Joe Haldeman's is every bit as satisfying as Heinlein's.' * SciFiNow *

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Book SynopsisThe masterful second novel in Pat Barker''s classic ''Regeneration'' trilogy - from the Booker Prize-winning and Women''s Prize-shortlisted author of The Silence of the GirlsWINNER OF THE 1993 GUARDIAN FICTION PRIZE''Spellbinding and startlingly original'' Sunday Telegraph''Gripping, moving, profoundly intelligent'' Independent on Sunday''A new vision of what the First World War did to human beings, male and female, soldiers and civilians'' A. S. Byatt, Daily TelegraphLondon, 1918. Billy Prior is working for Intelligence in the Ministry of Munitions. But his private encounters with women and men - pacifists, objectors, homosexuals - conflict with his duties as a soldier, and it is not long before his sense of himself fragments and breaks down. Forced to consult the man who helped him before - army psychiatrist William Rivers - Prior must confront his inability to be the dutiful soldier his superTrade ReviewGripping, moving, beautifully constrcted and profoundly intelligent Independent on Sunday

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Book SynopsisItalo Calvino (Author) Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and grew up in Italy. He was an essayist and journalist and a member of the editorial staff of Einaudi in Turin. One of the most respected writers of the twentieth century, his best-known works of fiction include Invisible Cities, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, Marcovaldo and Mr Palomar. In 1973 he won the prestigious Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985. A collection of Calvino's posthumous personal writings, The Hermit in Paris, was published in 2003.William Weaver (Translator) William Weaver has translated Umberto Eco, Italo Svevo, Primo Levi, Italo Calvino and Roberto Calasso, among others. He is a professor at Bard College.Trade ReviewHere, Calvino, probably Italy's leading novelist before he died, focuses a probing eye on one man's attempt to name the parts of his universe, almost as though Mr Palomar were trying to define and explain his own existence. Where the Palomar telescope points out into space, Mr Palomar points in: walking the beach, visiting the zoo, strolling in his garden. Each brief chapter reads like an exploded haiku, with Mr Palomar reading an universe into the proverbial grain of sand * Time Out *Beautifully nimble, solitary feats of imaginationCalvino represents a high point of literary evolution; his skill is immense but retains a simian agility. As ever, his gaze is crystal clear and his writing has the easy beauty of clarity. * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisDon DeLillo is the acclaimed author of bestselling novels and plays. His work includes White Noise, Libra, Cosmopolis and Underworld. He has won the National Book Award, the Jerusalem Prize and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize.Trade ReviewAmerica's greatest living writer. * Observer *A brilliant excursion into the decadence of contemporary culture. * Sunday Times *A prose-poem about New York . . . DeLillo has always been good at telling us where we're heading . . . we ignore him at our peril. -- Blake Morrison * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIt's been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared without trace. Then a letter from her father arrives - 'I need to talk to you. That girl. I saw that girl.' Has her father's dementia worsened, or has he really seen Corinne? Returning home, Nicolette must finally face what happened on that terrible night all those years ago. Then, another young woman goes missing, almost to the day of the anniversary of when Corinne vanished. And like ten years ago, the whole town is a suspect. Told backwards - Day 15 to Day 1 - Nicolette works to unravel the truth, revealing shocking secrets about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne. Like nothing you've ever read before, All the Missing Girls is a brilliantly plotted debut thriller that will leave you breathless.Trade ReviewAre you paying attention? You'll need to be; this thriller will test your brain with its reverse chronological structure, and it's a page-turner to boot. * Elle Magazine *In All the Missing Girls Megan Miranda leads readers back through the past of a small town, enfolding them in a slow, tense nightmare of suspicion, menace, and tangled motives. A twisty, compulsive read - I loved it. * Ruth Ware, author of In a Dark, Dark Wood *Extremely interesting...a novel that will probably be called Hitchcockian * New York Times, editor's pick *All the Missing Girls is a smart, suspenseful, and emotionally complex thriller. Told in reverse, this story will make you want to lock the doors, turn off the phone, and read until the last satisfying page. * Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of 'The Ex' *As original as it is addictive, this story puts a knot in your gut from the opening pages. Vividly rendered, psychologically complex, All The Missing Girls is, above all, totally gripping. * Tim Johnston, New York Times bestselling author of 'Descent' *All the Missing Girls is set to become one of the best books of 2016 * Los Angeles Review of Books *Megan Miranda's utterly gripping and original All the Missing Girls keeps you off balance in the most perfect way. I was held hostage by the book from the first page to the stunning conclusion. This literally backward tale is a winner. * Lisa Lutz, author of 'The Passenger and How to Start a Fire' *A very unusual reading experience. Definitely worth a look. -- InStyle.co.uk * If You Liked Girl on a Train You’ll Love These… *The kind of book it seems like everyone has been hungry for since Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and Paula Hawkins's Girl on a Train. * Cosmopolitan.com *[An] impressive tale of suspense. * The Sun *A thoroughly nail-biting narrative puzzle * Closer magazine *I loved this book... the structure is amazing. A must read! * Kate Williams *

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Book Synopsis''One of the best books I''ve ever read'' Richard Osman''Tender and elegant'' Guardian''Unlike anything else in modern English literature'' D.J. Taylor, SpectatorA damaged survivor of the First World War, Tom Birkin finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is to spend the summer uncovering a huge medieval wall-painting. Immersed in the peace and beauty of the countryside and the unchanging rhythms of village life he experiences a sense of renewal and belief in the future. Now an old man, Birkin looks back on the idyllic summer of 1920, remembering a vanished place of blissful calm, untouched by change, a precious moment he has carried with him through the disappointments of the years. Adapted into a film starring Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh, A Month in the Country traces the slow revival of the primeval rhythms of life so cruelly disorientated by the Great War.With an introduction by Penelope FitzgeraldTrade ReviewThe book I keep coming back to, it's one of the best books I've ever read. I've never met anyone who didn't love it. -- Richard OsmanTender and elegant * Guardian *Unlike anything else in modern English Literature -- D.J. Taylor * Spectator *Carr's blessedly small tale of lost love is also a small hymn about art and the compensating joy of the artist, both in giving and receiving. It stays with us, too, and is oddly haunting * New Yorker *Carr has the magic touch to re-enter the imagined past -- Penelope Fitzgerald

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON READERS' MOST LOVED BOOK OF 2021WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR FICTION'BEAUTIFUL' Jodi Picoult, 'UPLIFTING' i, 'BRILLIANT' Daily Mail, 'AMAZING' Joanna Cannon, 'ABSORBING' New York Times, 'THOUGHT-PROVOKING' IndependentNora's life has been going from bad to worse. Then at the stroke of midnight on her last day on earth she finds herself transported to a library. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived. Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?Trade ReviewA beguiling read, filled with warmth and humour, and a vibrant celebration of the power of books to change lives * * Sunday Times * *A beautiful fable, an It's a Wonderful Life for the modern age - impossibly timely when we are all stuck in a world we wish could be different -- JODI PICOULTA celebration of life's possibilities . . . A beautiful concept . . . Charming * * Guardian * *A rare and welcome light of hope and wisdom in the darkness -- JOANNE HARRISA wonderful story . . . Such a beautiful book to get lost in -- Zoe Ball, BBC Radio 2I can't describe how much his work means to me. So necessary . . . The king of empathy -- JAMEELA JAMILWarm and humorous * * The Times * *A brilliant premise and great fun to have so many stories within one book * * Daily Mail * *Amazing and utterly beautiful, The Midnight Library is everything you'd expect from the genius storyteller who is Matt Haig -- JOANNA CANNONAbsorbing . . . A vision of limitless possibility, of new roads taken, of new lives lived, of a whole different world available to us somehow, somewhere, might be exactly what's wanted in these troubled and troubling times * * New York Times * *

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Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZEIRISH TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR NOVEL OF THE YEAR AT THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS, THE DALKEY LITERARY AWARDS AND THE KERRY GROUP AWARDSA BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, BIG ISSUE, i, THE ATLANTIC and LITERARY HUB'A true wonder' Max Porter'Beautifully written' GuardianIt's late one night at the Spanish port of Algeciras and two fading Irish gangsters are waiting on the boat from Tangier. A lover has been lost, a daughter has gone missing, their world has come asunder - can it be put together again?Trade ReviewA blackly comic journey into the abyss . . . Beautifully written . . . Barry is a clarvoyant narrator of the male psyche and a consistent lyrical visionary . . . What distinguishes this book beyond its humour, terror and beauty of description is its moral perception . . . It is a plunging spiritual immersion into the parlous souls of wrongful men -- Alan Warner * * Guardian * *I devoured Night Boat to Tangier. I loved the potent truth of it all, drenched in damage and romance. The Barry turn of phrase is a true wonder of this world -- MAX PORTERIt's a Kevin Barry novel, so the brilliance is expected; everything else is a brilliant surprise -- RODDY DOYLEThe novel 2019 has been waiting for - a masterpiece delivered by a glittering talent at the peak of his powers. It leaves the rest of the class looking somewhat underpowered and unambitious, perhaps even a bit shop-worn . . . If Beatlebone was his breakout work, Night Boat to Tangier should cement the Irishman's place among the literary elite * * Big Issue * *If prose were gold and diamonds there'd be thousands of hell-bent prospectors heading for the Black Hills of Kevin Barry's glistening, sparkling novel -- SEBASTIAN BARRYBarry is riding the waves with Night Boat to Tangier . . . Reminiscent of Waiting for Godot * * The Times * *I had to quit reading this book the first day I had it in my hands, just so I could have it to read the next day. It's that good -- RICHARD FORDExtremely talented creator, Kevin Barry, has a fine instinct for the sweet spot where the comforting familiarities of genre blend into the surprises and provocations of art . . . Powerfully evoked * * New York Times Book Review * *Brilliantly funny and terrifying at once, I was completely lost inside its dark craziness. Barry blends glorious voluptuous prose with entrancing storytelling -- TESSA HADLEYCaptures male friendship with rare brilliance . . . The pair's vaudevillian patter, dancing back and forth with an irrepressibly buoyant Irish rhythm, reminds you of Didi and Gogo in Beckett's Waiting for Godot, while their gleefully ominous threats of violence bristle off the page in a way that recalls Harold Pinter or Martin McDonagh . . . Startlingly good * * Independent * *Two ageing Irish drug smugglers sit in a Spanish ferry terminal trading absurd jokes and quasi-philosophical banter in this tautly written novel * * New Yorker * *A rogue gem of a novel . . . The seedy underbelly of a Spanish port and a stony Irish town are the backdrop for a story of misdeeds, madness and loss that swells with poetry and pathos -- BOOKER PRIZE JUDGES 2019Loved this! Made me nostalgic for people I've never met, places I've never been. Life distilled -- GRAHAM NORTONKevin Barry is still young, but in this novel he has found a deep and aged maturity; all the recognisable Barry phraseology and wit is still there, but there's also now a lovely melancholic kindness. Perhaps even a sentimentality, in the best sense of that word. Kevin Barry loves you; the least you can do is read this wonder of a novel -- JON McGREGORIn this latest novel, the Irish writer has almost invented a new genre, a fascinating hybrid of poetry, prose and drama . . . Mesmeric, exquisite . . . Night Boat to Tangier draws on the terrific vernacular energy in Irish English that is animating the best of Irish writing at present . . . This is a remarkably achieved novel which shows a writer in full command of the possibilities of the form * * Irish Times * *Lyrical, elegiac, taut and strange -- IAN RANKINBarry tells his grim story in Beckettian flashes of poetry . . . The relationship between Maurice and Charlie drives this often hilarious novel -- Kate Saunders * * The Times * *Lines that make me want to punch the air like I'm singing the final song from an 80s power ballad . . . Night Boat to Tangier suggests the past comes in waves, relentlessly, always different and yet always the same, and all we can put against it are the shifting sands of our present self * * Herald * *Infused with a uniquely Irish mixture of melancholy and myth, and written in a prose rich with the cadences of poetry, Barry's fifth work of fiction is witty, gritty and wise; it offers a sense of what it means to be fallible, to be human and to love. Sublime * * Irish Mail on Sunday * *Kevin Barry is one of the most original, daring, and seriously funny writers ever to come out of Ireland. I'd walk a hundred miles for a new Barry book and I would make the happy journey home, laughing -- COLUM McCANNStunning. One of the most affecting love stories I have ever come across -- MIKE McCORMACKA bloody mighty novel. It's audacious, but also it's Kevin Barry at his most tender. The novel carries a beautiful, mournful undertow to it, which is particularly affecting in a book so heavy with old myth and new poetry. May he keep twisting literature forever -- LISA McINERNEYBarry writes with real exuberance * * Sunday Times * *Barry's prose, which melds violence, profane comedy and tender lyricism, will be warmly embraced by those who read and loved the dystopian nightmare that was City of Bohane, his breakthrough book. Newcomers will, I'm sure, relish getting swept up in Barry's twisted universe for the first time * * Spectator, best summer reads for 2019 * *There's plenty of sex, drugs, death and magic in Night Boat to Tangier, but above all it is a biting, black comedy of manners, driven by the profane dance of gangster etiquette -- COLIN BARRETTBarry's ear for dialogue remains tip-top * * Daily Mail * *Thrilling * * Daily Telegraph * *Haunting . . . A sharply comic meditation on male friendship and the true cost of crime on the soul * * i, best books of 2019 * *The gods of literature, who have so much love for Ireland, are sweet on Kevin Barry -- RICHARD BEARDKevin Barry is one of the best. The essence of humanity and its many facets is buried deep in his bones, ready to be unearthed and exhibited in signature Barry style * * Irish Examiner * *One of the most abundantly talented novelists writing today * * Daily Telegraph * *Buoyant . . . Barry is such a deft and generous writer * * New York Times * *Utterly compelling . . . Reading him, I am given the feeling that I've achieved something, done something good and am being justly remunerated. The brain lights up and grins -- Niall Griffiths * * Spectator * *Kevin Barry's way with language is unique. The spring and bounce of it. The dark poetry. The cheek. And then there's the sheer joyful recklessness of his imagination. There's really no one to rival him -- RUPERT THOMSONExcellent -- DAVID NICHOLLSA desolate ferry terminal on the Spanish coast isn't a place where you'd expect to encounter sharp-edged lyricism or rueful philosophy, but thanks to the two Irish gangster antiheroes of Barry's novel, there's plenty of both on display . . . Their banter is a shield against the dark, a witty new take on Waiting for Godot * * New York Times, Books of the Year * *Heir to Beckett and O'Brien . . . Barry is a truly astonishing writer . . . Although the sheer bravado of the prose is a marvel, page after page, it is the emotive core behind it all which makes it remarkable -- Stuart Kelly * * Scotland on Sunday * *Barry, arch-divil of Irish literature and a feverishly unique mangler of the English language, is back with a third novel . . . The Barry brew of mayhem, violence and tenderness is still undeniably potent. He is out on his own in the broad scheme of things, and so much here reminds you of why this is so and what he can do when airborne * * Irish Independent * *Briskly told, in short paragraphs, with a dark wit and deftly managed suspense * * Literary Review * *Vivid * * New Statesman * *Heartfelt yet darkly hilarious and simmering with menace, written with the kind of earthy lyricism only Kevin Barry can pull off - I loved it -- PAUL HOWARTHIt is an understatement to say that nobody writes quite like Kevin Barry; in truth, there's nobody else in the same phylum. In Night Boat to Tangier you'll find all the Barry hallmarks - that inimitable style of his, both riotous and lyrical, the sly humour, and his seemingly effortless ability to create characters who spring to glorious life within a few short pages. I imagine you'll love this book just as I did, and wish, if anything, that you could spend just a little more time in the world Barry conjures -- CRAIG DAVIDSONAmong the next generation of writers - Zadie Smith, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Safran Foer and so on - the one that stands above the rest for ambition, language and sheer verve is Barry . . . If you haven't heard of him yet, you soon will. I'd wager he'll wind up with the Nobel Prize for Literature before he's done * * Evening Standard * *It's Barry's voice that propels us through the work, through paragraphs punctuated by turns of phrase that deliver little jolts of pleasure . . . Maurice and Charlie aren't just career criminals; they're comedians, philosophers, poets, and social critics. Their conversation has rhythm and snap; it's funny, lyrical, obscene, metaphysical, unflaggingly alive * * New York Review of Books * *Entertaining . . . Kevin Barry channels the music in every voice, from lowlife philosopher to slow-footed thug, ponderous wit to fluting child - and the comic genius in everyone, whether unfunny fool or God's own comedian * * Washington Post * *The work of a genuine artist: a writer who surprises and enlightens with everything he does * * Sunday Business Post * *The male codependents in his latest novel, Night Boat to Tangier, are proudly reptilian. As they announce with indecent pride, they wear excellent fucking shoes. Barry specialises in character pairings - death-driven, addicted to each other - in a way reminiscent of Beckett -- Nicole Flattery * * London Review of Books * *Deeply satisfying . . . Magical . . .Barry's narrative pacing creates and then brilliantly settles the tensions between his characters. For all readers of literary fiction * * Library Journal * *A darkly incantatory tragicomedy of love and betrayal, haunted lineage and squandered chances . . . Beautifully paced, emotionally wise. Spare in its prose, capacious in its understanding, it's as eerily attuned as his last one, Beatlebone * * Boston Globe * *Full of foreboding and of ghosts, not least that of Samuel Beckett, and is continuing proof of this writer's ability to pack more personality and mordant wit into a single sentence than most writers can manage in a novel * * Literary Hub * *You read this, and you can tell Barry doesn't take his sentences lightly. It'd kill him to mess one up. And he doesn't waste them. So what you get is his style's flawless, and yet it isn't soft. There isn't anything nice about the story, just that it's told beautifully -- NICO WALKER, author of CHERRYA meditation on love and crime, in which two elderly Irish gangsters await their reckoning in Algeciras * * i, Best Books of the Year * *One of the most gifted fiction writers to emerge from the English-speaking world in the new century * * Paris Review * *Impishly funny, shrewdly affecting, and pays elegant homage to a long literary line. Barry grows in stature with every book * * Big Issue, Books of the Year * *Arguably his finest novel to date, Kevin Barry's violent, elemental Night Boat to Tangier is set between Ireland and an atmospherically rendered Spain * * Irish Independent * *Inventive -- BENJAMIN MYERS * * Big Issue, Books of the Year * *A raw demonstration of the devastating consequences of alienation, regret and destruction that stem from a life in the world of organised crime . . . Beautifully written, in Barry's very specific lyrical style, the reader becomes heavily invested in their story and the story of all of those that they loved -- Rory Geraghty, First Secretary (Madrid) * * Irish Times * *Triumphant . . . Violent and tender, it escaped the long shadow of Beckett to create its own unforgettable dark shape -- Lee Langley * * Spectator * *The story of two Irish criminal biding their time in the Spanish port city of Algeciras, is full of foreboding and of ghosts, not least that of Samuel Beckett, and is continuing proof of this writer's ability to pack more personality and mordant wit into a single sentence than most writers can manage in a novel . . . By far one of my favorite novels of the year * * Literary Hub, Books of the Year * *Barry has a knack for dialogue . . . Night Boat to Tangier is remarkable, a novel that's both grim and compassionate, and it features gorgeous writing on every page. Barry never asks the reader to pity his characters; rather, he makes it nearly impossible not to relate to them, which is a remarkable trick -- NPRA writer of inspired prose, a funny and perceptive artist who can imbue a small story with tremendous depth . . . Night Boat to Tangier is a sad, lyrical beauty of a novel about regret, from a dependably entertaining and perceptive writer * * Star Tribune * *The pleasure to be found in this relatively short book is in the telling, plus the author's clear evocative prose that often deploys lines and paragraphs that suggest music but it's not the speedy pace of step dancing. Rather it is the sad, slow, and beautiful music of time * * Washington Times * *A bone fide Kevin Barry - it's very funny and very beautifully composed. . It's social realism, psychological realism, but with Barry's pointed wit, stupendous dialogue, and unerring tenderness -- BookmunchBarry is a writer of the first rate, and his prose is at turns lean and lyrical, but always precise * * Publishers Weekly * *Booze-soaked and lovelorn . . . with beat-perfect dialogue and the diamond-grade schlock of an HBO script . . . [with] a thousand wicked turns of phrase . . . Night Boat to Tangier is a darkly heady mood, thick enough and sweet enough to drink * * The List * *Beautifully written . . . Skilful * * Forbes * *

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Book SynopsisBret Easton Ellis is the author of several novels, including Imperial Bedrooms, Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho, Glamorama and Lunar Park, and a collection of stories, The Informers. Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho and The Informers have all been made into films. His first work of non-fiction, White, was published in 2019. He is the host of the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast available on Patreon. He lives in Los Angeles.Trade ReviewAn enormously entertaining novel, powered by a celebratory fun entirely absent in the writing of the generation of American writers who succeeded Ellis. * Independent *Great emotional complexity and depth . . . it’s a very interesting ride with an always interesting novelist – and, as such, is one worth taking. * The Times *Sharply observed, insidiously disquieting and extremely funny. * Literary Review *A triumphant piece of storytelling from a rebel whose work is controversial precisely because its sinister themes are so dexterously written. -- Chris Cleave * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThree men go out fishing, returning to a favourite spot on the river despite their memories of a terrible accident there years earlier. As a long, sultry day passes, they drink and cook and talk and dance, and try to overcome the ghosts of their past. But they are outsiders, and this intimate, peculiar moment also puts them at odds with the inhabitants of this watery universe, both human and otherwise. The forest presses close, and violence seems inevitable, but can another tragedy be avoided?Rippling across time like the river that runs through it, Selva Almada’s latest novel is the finest expression yet of her compelling style and singular vision of rural Argentina.This masterful novel reveals once again Selva Almada's unique voice and extraordinary sensitivity, allowing its characters to shine and express in action what the depths of their souls harbour.One of the Best Books of 2020 in Clarín and La NaciónShortlisted for the Mario Vargas Llosa Novel PrizeTrade Review"A virtuoso literary work. […] Flashbacks and side scenes deepen the story which curls and twines like a thrusting tropical vine through the past, roping in sisters, wives, old lovers, boyhood adventures, and jealousies."" —Annie Proulx , author of THE SHIPPING NEWS"Told with the hallucinatory atmosphere of a dream, this astonishing, stark novel doesn’t turn away from the hypnotic and disturbing effects of violence. Not a River plunges us straight into the depths of its silences, bracingly so—the longer the quiet goes, the more terrible the rupture."" —Manuel Muñoz , author of WHAT YOU SEE IN THE DARK"Selva Almada constructs a lyric of roughness, of few words, a lyric in which the strong, calloused hands of her characters hardly need to be described to make themselves felt. They touch you. "" —Gabriela Cabezón Cámara , author of THE ADVENTURES OF CHINA IRON"Whether we are on an island or not, water is displacement, and reading this novel gently carries us through characters and places. " —Agencia Paco Urondo"Selva Almada’s voice has made its own mark on contemporary Argentinean literature, to such an extent that situating her as a writer by referring to the Southern Gothic of authors such as Faulkner, O’Connor or McCullers are superfluous. With Not a River, she establishes her own way of looking at things in order to create literature. " —Pagina/12"Almada is not a folkloric writer, but even so, she knows how to capture the idiosyncrasy of a region. Her characters reveal, in their parsimony, a dense inner life, plagued by existential concerns. Perhaps silence and the voices of nature take the place of possible answers. " —La Nación"This is a narrative of great depth in which the settings (the river, fishing, the island) emerge from a very powerful poetic narration that keeps quiet more than it says aloud, that omits more than it recounts, a dreamlike voice marked by an infinite and familiar wound anchored in a dialectic between dreams and an indestructible future. " —El periódico"In some passages of the novel, Almada seems to whisper what she is recounting rather than saying it out loud: her asymptomatic, almost invisible writing, punctuates the breathing of the sentences to create brief, beautiful images. " —El Tiempo"It is worth asking ourselves whether, as has often been said, Selva Almada’s literature has reinvented the rural imaginary of a region of our country, or whether her task is rather to point out the contrasts and contradictions of the dominant culture, in order to indirectly confront it. " —Revista Otra Parte************Praise for Selva Almada"I always read Selva Almada with devotion but NOT A RIVER is something else. I had to stand up and read it out loud in my living room. It is that good." —Samanta Schweblin."A major Latin American literary force." —Shelf Awareness"Almada is forceful in her depictions of sex, violence, and rage. I feel her prose in my body: a punch in the gut, the sharpness of glass." —Chicago Review of Books"There is a tremendous carnality to Almada’s writing, vividly captured in McDermott’s translation" —LA Review of Books"Almada combines reportage, fiction, and autobiography to explore femicide in Argentina in her acute, unflinching latest." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"An unassuming yet intensely felt narrative. (4 stars)" —The Arts Desk"Not an easy book, but it feels like an important one – a work of investigative writing about how easily women’s lives are obscured." —The Scotsman"Part journalism, part history, part autobiography, part relentless nightmare." —Shelf Awareness, starred review"This is a powerful read...[Almada's] effective use of fiction ensures a deep empathy in her readers which strict reportage sometimes fails to evoke." —The Big Issue"Almada’s prose is sparse, but the details count. Her ear for dialogue and especially gossip is pitch perfect. Her eye for detail is hawkish." —LA Review of Books"A tense, precise chronicle that treats seriously a still serious subject." —El Cultural"You’ll walk away from this book with a vivid memory of where you were, how you were feeling, and what the weather was like on the day that you read Dead Girls." —Books and Bao"This is not a book that will make you feel at peace with the world, but that is precisely where its strength and persuasion lie." —Translating Women"The literary quality of the text shines." —Sound and Vision"The prose strikes a perfect tone – clinical and punchy when necessary, angry and lyrical, brutal yet humanistic." —TN2"Challenge[s] the true crime obsession in an indirect way. " —Pendora Magazine"A powerful read, shedding a stark light on the horrors of gender violence." —The Big Issue"What makes the book compelling is how the author explores issues of domestic violence, state complicity, machismo and family negligence, along with class and social inequalities, in a non-sentimental prose which is all the more effective as result." —Morning Star"Genre-defying, with beautifully crafted and reflective prose." —The F Word"The devastating conclusion of the narrator is that the women who survive are unlikely to have made it unscathed but they are lucky ones – lucky to be alive." —NB Magazine"It is a profound novel and call to action still relevant as activists continue to take to the streets throughout Latin America to decry, ‘ni una más’ (not one more)." —The Skinny"It’s crisp, bracing, and beautiful." —White Review"Part coming-of-age, part detective work, partly a web of rumors, Almada’s story fuses a variety of genres to create a work that splits the seams of personal narrative, journalism, and fiction." —NACLA"Exquisite prose that vibrates with a deep, melodious rage." —The Monthly Booking"Recounted with a lyrical simplicity that is almost brutal." —The Oxonian Review"Painstakingly investigated ... imbued with personal connection" —The Oxonian Review"Fate has in Dead Girls the perfume of a Greek tragedy: immutable, irreversible, lethal." —El País"Far from the detective story, this is an intimate tale, a certain negative of the autobiography of a young woman looking at other young women and how all of them are perceived by a society where misogyny and violence against them is still an everyday affair." —Pagina/12"Selva Almada reinvents the imaginative rural world of a country. She is an author gifted with a very uncommon power and sensitivity." —Rolling Stone (Argentina)"Gripping, shocking and sad." —The Book Satchel"Dead Girls is a brutal, necessary story in which Almada describes the crimes, states the facts and lays bare the horror of these femicides." —Tony's Reading List**********Edinburgh International Book Festival First book Award (Winner)Book Cover of the Year (Saltire Awards) (Winner)"Like Flannery O’Connor and Juan Rulfo, Almada fills her taut, eerie novel with an understanding of rural life, loneliness, temptation and faith." —BBC Culture"Billed as a ‘promising voice’ in Latin American literature, this tale delivers readily on that promise." —Booklist"The drama of this refreshingly unpredictable debut . . . smolders like a lit fuse waiting to touch off its well-orchestrated events. . . . A stimulating, heady story." —Publishers Weekly"The story packs a punch in its portraits of a man who exalts heaven and another who protests." —Kirkus"A dynamic introduction to a major Latin American literary force." —Shelf Awareness, starred review"[The Wind That Lays Waste] delivers exactly that compressed pressurised electricity of a gathering thunderstorm: it sparks and sputters with live-wire tension." —TANK Magazine"The Wind That Lays Waste is elegant and stark, a kind of emblem or vision fetched from the far edges of things, arrested and stripped to its essence, as beautiful as it is unnerving. "" —Paul Harding , author of TINKERS"The Wind That Lays Waste is a mesmerizing novel, at once strange and compelling."" —Bonnie Jo Campbell , author of MOTHERS, TELL YOUR DAUGHTERS"The quality and resolve of her prose produce a power of suggestion that is unique to Selva Almada." —El País"The best novel written in Argentina in the last few years? Don’t know, and don’t care, but you must read Selva Almada." —El País"Almada’s prose has a touch of the Faulkner of As I Lay Dying but passed through the filters of the dirty light of the cotton fields and the clean clothes worn by country people to Sunday mass."" —Germán Machado"A distinctive debut: atmospheric, tension-packed, and written in vivid, poetic language." —Books from Scotland"Perhaps most powerful in the book is Almada’s focus on detail―she skillfully renders the story of a day in brief chapters that reveal the thoughts and fleeting encounters of characters, who are largely living inside themselves." —Ploughshares"Almada’s nuanced approach leaves room to explore her characters’ pasts in some detail, but, crucially, these individuals . . . are not defined by their mistakes." —ZYZZYVA"What seems fantastical soon turns hyper-realistic, in a style that is reminiscent of Juan Rulfo or Sara Gallardo." —La Nación**********"A successful riff on a classic Shakespearean tale." —Publishers Weekly"Such is Almada’s command of shape and pace, and the clean-edged vigour of the style McDermott voices with such skill, that we take Brickmakers on its own uncompromising terms – as pulp, tragedy and epic all at once." —The Arts Desk"Almada is forceful in her depictions of sex, violence, and rage. I feel her prose in my body: a punch in the gut, the sharpness of glass. McDermott’s translation captures the bite of Almada’s sentences, which render both tenderness and violence with devastating clarity." —Chicago Review of Books"Almada's breathtaking multigenerational tragedy is a haunting, unforgettable examination of the lasting consequences of careless inhumanity." —Shelf Awareness, starred review"Best books of 2021" —The Financial Times"There is a tremendous carnality to Almada’s writing, vividly captured in McDermott’s translation" —LA Review of Books"A rich, confident and urgent read." —Lunate"Brickmakers is one of the best books I've read this year ... It’s a brilliant, sizzling, unmissable treat" —Translating Women**********

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1922, Elizabeth Von Arnim's The Enchanted April is a charming and light-hearted novel about unlikely female friendships and the power of a blissful escape.Complete & Unabridged. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, cloth-bound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.Four mismatched women respond to an advert in The Times offering a beautiful medieval castle to rent on the Italian Riviera. Bashful Mrs Wilkins, cheerless Mrs Arbuthnot, widowed Mrs Fisher and socialite Lady Caroline Dester are each enchanted by the promise of ‘wisteria and sunshine’, and they arrive on the tranquil Mediterranean shores full of hope for a heavenly escape. Tensions mount between the group at first, but, as the idyllic spring days tick by, each is slowly transformed by the warm sunshine and unexpected company.Trade ReviewElizabeth von Armin's most charming novel in every sense: it casts a spell . . . a sun-washed fairytale * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"As unsettling as it is enthralling, These Violent Delights will engulf you: first in the intoxication of obsession, then in its toxic consequences. Micah Nemerever's debut is a beautiful portrait of intimacy, desperation, and the damage that damaged hearts can cause. It shattered me." — Robin Wasserman, author of Girls on Fire and Mother Daughter Widow Wife “Nemerever does a crafty job of slowly ratcheting up the tension.... A clever novel of manners.” — New York Times “These Violent Delights is an utterly captivating fever dream of a novel whose tone and atmosphere will haunt you long after you finish. More haunting still is the skill with which Micah Nemerever reveals to us the lengths we will go to in order to be known, to be seen, to be understood. A thrilling first novel.” — Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life "A startling debut by a heady talent." — Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times “It’s only a matter of time before things start to explode in this enthralling, unpredictable thriller.” — Patrick Rapa, Philadelphia Inquirer "Nemerever's darkly shrewd debut exists in that hazy liminal space between desire and obsession, where the vagaries of a relationship come shaded with the constant threat of cruelty." — Michelle Hart, O Magazine.com “Few novelists make an impression as quickly and effectively as Micah Nemerever does in his stirring debut, an explosively erotic and erudite thriller. Kicking off with an electrifying prologue… readers will keep turning pages in desperate pursuit of the tension-breaking relief that can only come from seeing the story to its conclusion.” — Stephenie Harrison, BookPage “Nemerever’s debut tackles obsession, destruction, sex, and the intersection of all three…. Nemerever’s prose is haunting and beautiful, powerful, and twisted… it will keep you up at night, turning page after page.” — Jen St. Jude, Chicago Review of Books “[An]intense and beautiful thriller.” — Literary Hub “A gorgeous and wickedly smart novel. I was so seduced by the dazzling love story of these two vulnerable young men I became an unwitting accomplice in their swerve toward violence. Nemerever has created a rich, engrossing, and morally complex book filled with dark truths and dangerous delights.” — Christopher Bollen, author of A Beautiful Crime “Readers who need some thrill in their life will find this page-turner very binge-able. Micah Nemerever showcases a lot of skills on the pages, but it is the intricate plotting that propels this novel forward.” — Adam Vitcavage, Electric Lit “Nemerever has done something extraordinary in his debut novel. He’s mixed eloquent and vivid writing with psychological depth and an addictive plot…. Akin to Bronte’s Wuthering Heights… the intensity of Paul and Julian’s climatic moment at the novel’s end [is] a moment worthy of Emily Bronte herself.” — Mikey Byrd, Lambda Literary “[A] dark, inspired debut…. Fans of Patricia Highsmith will definitely want to take note of this promising writer.” — Publishers Weekly “Visceral, intimate, and all-consuming, this gutsy debut is both intellectual and fiercely animal. A chilling exploration into desire and infatuation that questions how well we ever really know our lovers—or ourselves. Nemerever’s propulsive, crystalline language and gutting insights make the pages fly by, hurtling you toward the inevitable, astounding ending.” — Julia Fine, author of What Should Be Wild “An impressive, ambitious debut that raises the right questions about what we talk about when we talk about love between men... Nemerever’s novel does difficult, critical work in confronting the ritualized violence that so often characterizes male relationships.” — Mel Magazine “These Violent Delights is a captivating portrait of alienation and loneliness with the cool gaze of a Highsmith novel. Punctuated by arpeggios of violence and rage, Micah Nemerever has crafted a thrilling page-turner anchored in an examination of desire, love, and moral inquiry.” — Patrick Cottrell, author of Sorry to Disrupt the Peace "Intense and beautiful." — Crime Reads “Nemerever’s ability to precisely dissect… complex states of mind makes him an author worth watching.” — Passport Magazine

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Book SynopsisMarcovaldo is an enchanting collection of twenty stories that are both melancholy and funny, farce and fantasy. Calvino charts the struggles of an Italian peasant to reconcile country habits with urban life, combining comical disasters with a surrealistic view of city life through the eyes of an outsider. As always with Calvino, nothing is quite as it seems.''Delightful and rewarding as always'' Observer''The most magically ingenious of the contemporary Italian novelists'' The TimesTrade ReviewCalvino is surely among the handful of living writers that can be called, without hesitation, great. Each book by Calvino is a completely original conception. Marcovaldo is one of the best works of fiction published * Spectator *The greatest Italian writer of the twentieth century * Guardian *It is the refinement, the oddness and the humour of the thoughts he gets which make Calvino a rare pleasure to read; he is a match for Borges as he stealthily patrols the limits of the unthinkable * New Review *He will continue to glitter, this strange, lonely prospector in the universe of words, well into the next millennium and after, a master in the empire of the imagination * Independent *What is so much admired by the readers of Mr. Calvino's later Invisible Cities was already at work in Marcovaldo and with a more cogent narrative drive... Marcovaldo conveys the sensuous, tangible qualities of life * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisFyodor Dostoyevsky''s powerful meditation on faith, meaning and morality, The Brothers Karamazov is translated with an introduction and notes by David McDuff in Penguin Classics. When brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, the lives of his sons are changed irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, whose mental tortures drive him to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the family''s rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother Smerdyakov. As the ensuing investigation and trial reveal the true identity of the murderer, Dostoyevsky''s dark masterpiece evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur and everyone''s faith in humanity is tested. This powerful translation of The Brothers Karamazov features and introduction highlighting Dostoyevsky''s recurrent themes of guilt and salvation, with a new chronology and further reading. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) was born in Moscow. From 1849-54 he lived in a convict prison, and in later years his passion for gambling led him deeply into debt. His other works available in Penguin Classics include Crime & Punishment, The Idiot and Demons. If you enjoyed The Brothers Karamazov you might like Nikolai Gogol''s Dead Souls, also available in Penguin Classics. ''There is no writer who better demonstrates the contradictions and fluctuations of the creative mind than Dostoyevsky, and nowhere more astonishingly than in The Brothers Karamazov'' Joyce Carol Oates ''Dostoyevsky was the only psychologist from whom I had anything to learn: he belongs to the happiest windfalls of my life'' Friedrich Nietzsche ''The most magnificent novel ever written'' Sigmund FreudTable of ContentsThe Brothers KaramazovChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the TextThe Brothers KaramazovNotes

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Book SynopsisClarice Lispector''s sensational, prize-winning debut novel Near to the Wild Heart was published when she was just twenty-three and earned her the name ''Hurricane Clarice''. It tells the story of Joana, from her wild, creative childhood, as the ''little egg'' who writes poems for her father, through her marriage to the faithless Otávio and on to her decision to make her own way in the world. As Joana, endlessly mutable, moves through different emotional states, different inner lives and different truths, this impressionistic, dreamlike and fiercely intelligent novel asks if any of us ever really know who we are.Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her innovation in fiction brought her international renown. References to her literary work pervade the music and literature of Brazil and Latin America. She was born in the Ukraine in 1920, but in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Civil War, the family fled to Romania and eventually sailed to Brazil. In 1933, Clarice Lispector encountered Hermann Hesse''s Steppenwolf, which convinced her that she was meant to write. She published her first novel, Near to the Wildheart in 1943 when she was just twenty-three, and the next year was awarded the Graça Aranha Prize for the best first novel. Many felt she had given Brazillian literature a unique voice in the larger context of Portuguese literature. After living variously in Italy, the UK, Switzerland and the US, in 1959, Lispector with her children returned to Brazil where she wrote her most influential novels including The Passion According to G.H. She died in 1977, shortly after the publication of her final novel, The Hour of the Star.Trade ReviewBrilliant ... Lispector should be on the shelf with Kafka and Joyce * Los Angeles Times *The first fiery novel by the Brazilian national treasure -- Carlos Valladares * Gagosian Quarterly *A genius -- Colm Tóibín * Guardian *A truly remarkable writer -- Jonathan FranzenLispector's novels offer a stark counterpoint to much of modern life's focus on individual fame * The Boston Globe *One of the twentieth century's most mysterious writers -- Orhan PamukThe originality of Near to the Wild Heart lies in its technique and language: self conscious, bleakly humourous, but poetic ... We now finally have a translation worthy of Clarice Lispector's inimitable style. Go out and buy it. -- JS Tennant * Observer *

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Book SynopsisA key work in the German ''Sturm und Drang'' movement, Johann Goethe''s autobiographical epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther is a defining moment in early Romanticism, which has influenced writers from Mary Shelley to Thomas Mann. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from with an introduction by Michael Hulse.Visiting an idyllic German village, Werther, a sensitive young man, meets and falls in love with sweet-natured Charlotte. Although he realises that she is to marry Albert, he is unable to subdue his passion and his infatuation torments him to the point of despair. The first great ''confessional'' novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther draws both on Goethe''s own unrequited love for Charlotte Buff and on the death of his friend Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem. The book was an immediate success, and a cult rapidly grew up around it, resulting in numerous imitations as well as violent criticism and suppression on the grounds of its apparent support of suicide. Goethe''s sensitive exploration of the mind of an artist at odds with society and ill-equipped to cope with life is now considered the first great tragic novel of European literature.This edition includes notes and an introduction by Michael Hulse, who explores the origins of the novel in the author''s life and examines its impact on European culture.Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Although he directed the German State Theatre, dabbled in the occult and worked on scientific theories in evolutionary botany, Goethe is best remembered for his great works The Sorrows of Young Werther and Faust, and his part in the 18th century ''Sturm and Drang'' movement.If you enjoyed The Sorrows of Young Werther, you might like Stendhal''s Love, also published in Penguin Classics.

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Book SynopsisThe Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh is a moving story of hope and forgiveness, and an international bestseller.The Victorians used flowers to express emotions: honeysuckle for devotion, azaleas for passion, and red roses for love. For Victoria Jones, flowers and their meanings are her only connection to the world - although for her, they are most useful in expressing feelings such as grief, mistrust and solitude. After a childhood in the foster care system, Victoria - now eighteen - has nowhere to go, and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. When her talent is discovered by a local florist, she discovers her gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But it takes a meeting with a mysterious vendor at the flower market for her to realize what's been missing in her own life. As she starts to fall for him, though, she must confront a painful secret from her past - and decide whether itTrade ReviewMarvellous * Sunday Times *A unique and fascinating debut * Good Housekeeping *Captivating * Woman and Home *Moving and beautifully written * Sunday Telegraph *Instantly entrancing * Elle *

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Best of Friends comes a heart-stopping psychological thriller about the shades of truth and the power of lies in the wake of one mother’s unspeakable loss. Therapist turned stay-at-home mom Jules Hart’s idyllic suburban life shatters when she crashes her car into an icy lake. Her son and another teenage boy plunge into the water with her, but Jules can only manage to save one—the wrong one. Reeling from the death of her son, Jules spirals into a violent and unstable mental state. Ten months after the accident, she’s still trying to reckon with the fact that she rescued Isaac Greer, another woman’s child, when Isaac suddenly vanishes. Jules finds herself at the center of a massive police investigation. While she harbors her own dangerous secrets, Jules is adamant that she didn’t take Isaac. But then who did? Is Isaac the victim of a dangerous killer who’s been targeting boys in the Midwest? Or is someone else pulling the strings in this deadly game?Trade Review“As usual, Berry tightens the screws smartly in the opening pages and never lets up, and as usual, her ending is more intent on deepening the nightmare than providing a plausible explanation for it. Warning: the title applies as much to the audience as to the characters.” —Kirkus Reviews “As the suspense mounts, the action drives to a harrowing conclusion. Berry delivers the goods.” —Publishers Weekly “A well-done mystery with a plausible yet surprising ending.” —Library Journal UNDER HER CARE “The action never wavers, and the surprises are unending. Berry is writing at the top of her game.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “[It’s] a humdinger…Perfect for suspense fans.” —Kirkus Reviews “Lucinda delivers every time. Unputdownable.” —Tarryn Fisher, New York Times bestselling author “Lucinda Berry’s latest, Under Her Care, is her best thriller yet! A dark, riveting read that will keep you up late, racing to the chilling end.” —Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of The Next Wife and Somebody’s Home “Lucinda Berry’s Under Her Care is stunning, diabolical, and gripping, with one of the best and most gasp-worthy twists I have read in a very long time. Fast paced, fabulous, and enthralling, the pages practically turn themselves. Absolutely captivating.” —Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author “Creepy and chilling, Under Her Care is a tense page-turner that leaves you questioning everything you ever knew about motherhood and the family bond.” —Tara Laskowski, award-winning author of The Mother Next Door THE SECRETS OF US “Those looking for an emotional roller-coaster ride will be rewarded.” —Publishers Weekly “Combine Lucinda Berry’s deep understanding of the complexities of the human mind with her immense talent for storytelling and you have The Secrets of Us, an intense psychological thriller that kept my heart racing until the shocking, jaw-dropping conclusion. Bravo!” —T. R. Ragan, New York Times bestselling author “The Secrets of Us is an unputdownable page-turner with two compelling female protagonists that will keep readers on their toes. Fantastic!” —Cate Holahan, USA Today bestselling author of One Little Secret “Lucinda Berry’s The Secrets of Us is a tense psychological thriller that explores the dark corners of the mind and turns a mind can take when it harbors secret guilt. The interplay between sisters Krystal and Nichole and their hidden past is gradually revealed, and in the end, the plot twists keep coming. Right and wrong can be ambivalent, and this story explores all shades of gray, from their dysfunctional family to an old childhood friend to a husband who may or may not be too good to be true. Berry’s background as a clinical psychologist shines in this novel with a character so disturbed they spend time in seclusion lockdown at a psychiatric ward. Don’t miss this one!” —Debbie Herbert, USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author “The Secrets of Us is an utterly gripping, raw, and heartbreaking story of two sisters. Berry’s flawlessly placed clues and psychological expertise grab you from the first word, not letting go until the last. Compelling, intricate, and shocking, this inventive thriller cleverly weaves from past to present with stunning precision. I was absolutely enthralled.” —Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 national bestselling author of Woman on the Edge “The past and present collide with explosive consequences in this addictive, twisty thriller from an author at the top of her game. The Secrets of Us grips from the first page and doesn’t let go until the final shocking twist.” —Lisa Gray, bestselling author of Dark Highway THE BEST OF FRIENDS “A mother’s worst nightmare on the page. For those who dare.” —Kirkus Reviews “The Best of Friends gripped me from the stunning opening to the emotional, explosive ending. In this moving novel, Berry creates a beautifully crafted study of secrets and grief among a tight-knit group of friends and of how far a mother will go to discover the truth and protect her children.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and This Is How I Lied “In The Best of Friends, Berry starts with a heart-stopping bang—the dreaded middle-of-the-night phone call—and then delivers a dark and gritty tale that unfolds twist by devastating twist. Intense, terrifying, and at times utterly heartbreaking. Absolutely unputdownable.” —Kimberly Belle, international bestselling author of Dear Wife and Stranger in the Lake THE PERFECT CHILD “I am a compulsive reader of literary novels…but there was one book that kept me reading, the sort of novel I can’t put down…The Perfect Child, by Lucinda Berry. It speaks to the fear of every parent: What if your child was a psychopath? This novel takes it a step further. A couple, desperate for a child, has the chance to adopt a beautiful little girl who, they are told, has been abused. They’re told it might take a while for her to learn to behave and trust people. She can be sweet and loving, and in public she is adorable. But in private—well, I won’t give away what happens. But needless to say, it’s chilling.” —Gina Kolata, New York Times “A mesmerizing, unbearably tense thriller that will have you looking over your shoulder and sleeping with one eye open. This creepy, serpentine tale explores the darkest corners of parenthood and the profoundly unsettling lengths one will go to, to keep a family together—no matter the consequences. Electrifying and atmospheric, this dark gem of a novel is one I couldn’t put down.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author “A deep, dark, and dangerously addictive read. All-absorbing to the very end!” —Minka Kent, Washington Post bestselling author

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Book SynopsisA Breath of Life is Clarice Lispector''s final novel, ''written in agony'', which she did not live to see published. Sensual and mysterious, it is a mystical dialogue between a god-like author and the creation he breathes life into: the speaking, shifting, indefinable Angela Pralini. As he has created Angela, so, eventually, he must let her die, for life is merely ''a kind of madness that death makes.'' This is a unique, elegiac meditation on the creation of life, and of art.Trade ReviewA text that resonates endlessly ... her images dazzle * The Times Literary Supplement *Lispector had an ability to write as though no one had ever written before * Colm Tóibín *A thrilling book * Pedro Almodóvar *

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Book SynopsisThe Beating of his Wings by Paul Hoffman is the final instalment in his epic Cale and the Sanctuary of Redeemers series. The Beating of his Wings is the third and final instalment in the epic Paul Hoffman trilogy following Cale and the Sanctuary of the Redeemers. Following The Left Hand of God and The Last Four Things, this climatic ending will bring this sensational narrative to a close, and finally the fate of the angel of death will be revealed.Imagine if Phillip Pullman''s His Dark Materials met Umberto Eco''s Name of the Rose. Fans of epic heroic fiction will love this series.Praise for Paul Hoffman:''This book gripped me from the first chapter and then dropped me days later, dazed and grinning to myself'' Conn Iggulden''Tremendous momentum'' Daily Telegraph''A cult classic . . .'' Daily Express

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Book SynopsisA powerful domestic drama, Shelter reveals the secrets and troubles of two generations of a Korean-American family.You never know what goes on behind closed doors. Kyung Cho owns a house that he can't afford. Despite his promising career as a tenure-track professor, he and his wife, Gillian, have always lived beyond their means. Now their bad decisions are catching up with them, and Kyung is anxious for his family's future.A few miles away, his parents, Jin and Mae, live in the town's most exclusive neighbourhood. Growing up, they gave Kyung every possible advantage – expensive hobbies, private tutors – but they never showed him kindness. Kyung can hardly bear to see them now, much less ask for their help. Yet when an act of violence leaves Jin and Mae unable to live on their own, the dynamic suddenly changes, and he decides to take them in. For the first time in years, the Chos find themselves under the same roof where tensions quickly mount and old resentments rise to the surface.As Shelter veers swiftly towards its startling conclusion, Jung Yun leads us through dark and violent territory, where, unexpectedly, the Chos discover hope. In the tradition of House of Sand and Fog and The Ice Storm, Shelter is a masterfully crafted first novel that asks what it means to provide for one's family and, in answer, delivers a story as riveting as it is profound.Trade ReviewGripping . . . Yun shows how, although shelter doesn't guarantee safety and blood doesn't guarantee love, there's something inextricable about the relationship between a child and a parent . . . We may each respond in our own way, but I'll go ahead and assume that a good amount of folks, regardless of the pain they may have experienced from bad mothers and fathers, and regardless of cultural traditions, will feel the pull to help save their parents. "Shelter" is captivating in chronicling this story. * New York Times *Yun's debut may be a family drama, but it has all the tension of a thriller. It's a sharp knife of a novel - powerful and damaging, and so structurally elegant that it slides right in . . . Yun has written the rare novel that starts with a strong premise and gets better and richer with every page, each scene perfectly selected, building on the last. The language, at first blush plain and functional, reveals itself as the right medium for a story of unusual urgency - not simple but bony, spare and precise . . . Shelter is a marvel of skill and execution, tautly constructed and played without mercy. * Los Angeles Times *A fluidly written debut novel that explores violence and its effects on one immigrant family . . . [A] layered, sometimes surprising debut . . . A diverse and nuanced cast of characters seeks shelter from pain and loneliness in this valiant portrayal of contemporary American life. * Kirkus Reviews *The combination of grisly James Patterson thriller and melancholic suburban drama shouldn't work at all. Yet Ms. Yun pulls it off. Kyung is petulant and unlikeable, but he's also psychologically unstable. The proximity of his parents and the atmosphere of grief and panic launch him on a spiral of self-destruction that's impossible to turn away from. The novel grows darker and darker, until all its internal contradictions are eclipsed by an ending as disturbing and bereft as anything you'll read this year. * Wall Street Journal *This work should find itself on best-of lists, among major award nominations, and in eager readers' hands everywhere. * Library Journal, Starred Review *In her intense debut, Yun explores the powerful legacy of familial violence and the difficulty of finding the strength and grace to forgive . . . This family drama [is] rife with tension and unexpected ironies. * Publishers Weekly *Jung Yun keeps it together through pitch-perfect but flawed narrator Kyung and a high-tension storyline. Such a thoughtful, emotional literary work is an unexpected page-turner. * Globe and Mail *A powerful debut, full of thrills, secrets waiting to be discovered, and lies unwrapped * Los Angeles Review of Books *It seems as though every year a novel - and its author - appears out of nowhere and gets readers everywhere talking. This year that book is Shelter, by Korean American writer Jung Yun. * South China Morning Post *A history of violence lurks behind the walls of the Korean-American family in Jung Yun's Shelter. Kyung Cho is a biology professor who lives in the suburbs with his wife Gillian and young child. Haunted by spiralling debt, the family risks losing their house. Meanwhile his ageing parents are rich beyond anything their son could hope for, but they cared more about money than love, and Kyung grew up desperately unhappy. When Kyung's mother turns up naked and battered in the backyard, and his parents are no longer able to live on their own, he reluctantly takes them in. The reversal of fortune leads to dramatic and surprising revelations, dissecting questions of familial duty, betrayal and forgiveness. Jung Yun's Shelter weaves an intricately plotted intergenerational drama, delivered in cool spare prose. * Sydney Morning Herald *This stunning literary novel is a page turner about family, belonging and making commitments you can live by * Reader's Digest *

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Book Synopsis From the author of the Man Booker prize-winners Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies comes a story of suburban mayhem and merciless, hilarious revenge. Barricaded inside their house filled with festering rubbish, unhealthy smells and their secrets, the Axon family baffle Isabel Field, the latest in a long line of social workers. Isabel has other problems too: a randy, untrustworthy father and a slackly romantic lover, Colin Sidney, history teacher to unresponsive yobs and father of a parcel of horrible children. With all this to worry about, how can Isabel begin to understand what is going on in the Axon household?Trade Review‘Strange…rather mad…extremely funny…she reminded me of the early Muriel Spark’ Auberon Waugh ‘Abrasive and amusing…crisp and intelligent’ Barbara Trapido ‘What a terrific book’ Fay Weldon

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Book SynopsisA BBC Two Between the Covers Pick'A tragicomic masterpiece' Daily TelegraphAll that stands between one man and murder by the mafia is a penguin.Viktor is an aspiring writer in Ukraine with only Misha, his pet penguin, for company.Although Viktor would prefer to write short stories, he earns a living composing obituaries for a newspaper. He longs to see his work published, yet the subjects of his obituaries continue to cling to life.But when Viktor opens the newspaper to see his work in print for the first time, his pride swiftly turns to terror. Viktor and Misha have been drawn into a trap from which there appears to be no escape.'A striking portrait of post-Soviet isolation... In this bleak moral landscape Kurkov manages to find ample refuge for his dark humour' New York TimesTrade ReviewA tragicomic masterpiece * Daily Telegraph *The deadpan tone works perfectly and it will be a hard-hearted reader who is not touched by Viktor's relationship with his unusual pet * The Times *A black comedy of rare dinstinction and the penguin is an invention of genius * Spectator *A chilling black comedy * Guardian *A striking portrait of post-Soviet isolation... In this bleak moral landscape Kurkov manages to find ample refuge for his dark humour * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisLittle Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. 'The hour should be evening and the season winter, for in winter the champagne brightness of the air and the sociability of the streets are grateful'. In such conditions, Virginia Woolf takes to London's streets in search of a pencil. The account of her journey - the people, the places, the pleasure - soon becomes one of the great paeans to city life. This collection also includes other wonderful essays, such as 'How Should One Read a Book?' and 'The Sun and the Fish'. 'One of the great writers of the twentieth century' Guardian

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Book SynopsisLottie Hazell is a writer, contemporary literature scholar, and board game designer living in Warwickshire. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Loughborough University and her research considers food writing in twenty-first century fiction. Piglet is her first novel.Trade ReviewVery wise, and so wonderful on food and cooking it should probably come with a hunger trigger-warning. I loved it. * Daily Mail *A best debut novel of 2024 * Stylist *A cunning critique of the expectations that society continues to heap on young women. * Financial Times *A deliciously dark tour de force * Red *Some novels just get food right ... Hazell understands just how connected culinary and literary pleasures are ... [There is] much to devour in Piglet: set scenes of stomach-churning awkwardness, razor-sharp analysis of class, even an unforgettable description of food on the verge of rot. * Sunday Times *An insightful, stomach-churning debut novel about the corrosive power of secrets. * Mail on Sunday *Sublime descriptions of food... a quirky story of class, appetite and body image * Good Housekeeping *A debut that needs to be on your radar... A rich, vibrant, visceral book, that is brimming with acerbic wit and mouth-watering food, this is dark, witty and explores societal pressure and body image in an unforgettable way. * Glamour *A dark, weird, satisfying tale about greed and desire. * i News *Lottie Hazell has managed to create a style, and a character, instantly relatable and readable—while being stunningly original and fully-formed * Foyles, Top Ten Reads for January *Piglet is a darkly compelling exploration of what makes a delicious life, and the vitality of hungering for more. * Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure *This book! Visceral, brilliantly dark, and so smart. An object lesson in how our relentless pursuit of a tickbox life will never make us happy. Characters that pop, writing you could eat. * Fran Littlewood, author of Amazing Grace Adams *Intriguing, propulsive, delicious and ultimately satisfying: I devoured it in two days, and suffice to say, it’s a book you’ll want on your 2024 reading list. * Claire Daverley, author of Talking at Night *Piglet is luscious and disturbing and propulsive, and I completely devoured it. It's a book about hunger and secrecy and women made small by convention. And it's a book that tears at the surface of things to reveal the vast, messy truth of a body with a beating heart. * Catherine Newman, author of We All Want Impossible Things *It takes audacity and all kinds of courage to produce a novel as ferocious and weird as Piglet. The narrative accelerates like nothing else I've read, opening onto dead-end domestic conformity and then driving us all the way out into the wildernesses, where the possibility for liberation, the fulfilment of desires might be discovered. It made me so hungry. * Lamorna Ash, author of Dark, Salt, Clear *Piglet is a compelling, entertaining novel about wanting - and deserving, and learning to deserve - more. I was particularly taken with the way in which Hazell writes about food, which is described in luxurious and dynamic detail throughout the novel, as central to the story as Piglet herself, and its place in shaping women's inner lives and identities. * Cathy Thomas, author of Islanders *Appropriately, I inhaled it. Piglet is an engrossing novel about who and what we crave in life. Rich and tender, moving and rousing, hunger-inducing and inspired. A high-wire exploration of control, pleasure and desire that left me feeling well and truly satisfied. * Chloë Ashby, author of Wet Paint *I read this book in a single gulp, thrilling and horrifying at once. Lottie Hazell takes a butcher’s knife to the pleasure principle, and serves up a deliriously amusing, wanton portrait of self-destruction. A visceral insight into the damage a patriarchal class society can wreak on the stomach. A tale without redemption, but with many troubled pleasures. * Amber Husain, author of Meat Love *Ambitious prose Nora Ephron would be proud of. Hazell captures the subtle class divide in contemporary British life with precision—all while serving the reader a bacchanal of delicious food writing that will have you craving more * Marlowe Granados, author of Happy Hour *Such an interesting, clever read. * Belfast Telegraph *[A] sharp, dark, must-read story about appetite, ambition, secrecy and shame * Daily Mail *A food-filled debut of class and ambition * Guardian *Compulsively readable... Delicious, in every sense of the word. * Elle US *Dark and disturbing * Heat *Satirical and funny… Hazell has much to say about our food-obsessed snobbery and she plates up a deliciously-written narrative, generously peppered with lethal ground glass. * Irish Independent *Hazell’s deft characterisation has enough light and shade to bring Piglet into high definition. The same is true for the side characters, which are commendably vivid for a debut * Irish Times *This smart, unique debut about class and the hunger we all feel for a perfect life is so good. * Fabulous *One of the most hotly anticipated books of 2024... Delicious, dark and thought-provoking. * Hello! *This a doozy of a debut. It oozes dark humour, appetites, anger and read-it-through-your-fingers self destruction. -- Natasha Poliszczuk * Book(ish) *A dark story of insecurity and control * Best *

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