Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction

Book Synopsis'Through sharply drawn characters, Rossi achieves a clear-eyed and poignant view of a family in crisis' - Sydney Morning HeraldA fatal car crash. A young boy orphaned. Who should now become his parents?Nicholas and April are driving home from a party when their car crashes on an empty road high up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As they lay on the roadside slowly dying, their four-year-old son, Jack, waits for them at home. In the days after their deaths, their grieving relatives begin to descend on the family home. There, they are forced to decide who will care for the child Nicholas and April left behind. Nicholas’s brother Nathaniel and his wife Stefanie aren’t ready to be parents, but Nicholas’s mother and father have issues of their own. And April’s mother Tammy is driving across the country to claim her grandson. Spanning a few traumatic days in the minds of each family member, Mountain Road, Late at Night, is a masterly portrait of grief, the pain of sudden loss and a family in utter crisis. Gripping, affecting and extremely accomplished, Alan Rossi's unforgettable debut asks one crucial question: what do you do when the worst happens?Trade ReviewAn extraordinary debut for an extraordinary new talent -- Frederick Barthelme, author of There Must Be Some Mistake Compassionate and profound, this is the kind of novel that puts even difficult things into perspective -- Isabel Costello, The Literary SofaThrough sharply drawn characters, Rossi achieves a clear-eyed and poignant view of a family in crisis * Sydney Morning Herald *Gripping * Happy Mag *A minor miracle . . . a deeply compelling novel -- David Shields, author of Salinger

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Book Synopsis'The plot is ingenious, and the writing as clever and tantalising as ever' – Daily MailFrom Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, the authors of the top ten bestseller The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl, comes You Are Not Alone – a gripping novel about a group of women who appear to have the perfect lives, but all is not what it seems . . .You probably know someone like Shay Miller. She wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is becoming increasingly isolated.You probably don’t know anyone like the Moore sisters. They have an unbreakable circle of friends. They live a life of glamour and perfection. They always get what they desire.Shay thinks she wants their life.But what they really want is hers.Trade ReviewThis is the latest excellent offering from the classy double act that gave us the The Wife Between Us . . . Intelligent and disturbing * Daily Mail *A thriller not to be missed -- Candis on An Anonymous GirlTackling big issues of morality and ethics, the story explores what happens when boundaries are crossed and creepy obsessiveness takes over from cool professionalism -- Psychologies on An Anonymous GirlFans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will adore this classy domestic noir set in New York . . . It has a humdinger of a twist which I didn’t see coming . . . The result is a fast-paced and hugely enjoyable thriller -- Sunday Express on The Wife Between Us

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Book Synopsis'A chilling read’ Oyinkan Braithwaite, author of My Sister, The Serial Killer'Gripping . . . wonderfully written' Guardian'Beautifully written and frighteningly honest' Sunday ExpressA mother moves to Geneva with her husband and their two young children. In their newly rented apartment, she is surrounded by everything she could possibly need to create a perfect family home. Her husband’s job means he is almost never present, and her entire world is caring for her children – making sure they are happy and fed and comfortable.But things aren’t perfect. Rather, they are unravelling, because the loneliness, the lack of sleep and the demands of two little ones are getting to this mother. She has never been so isolated, and once the children are in bed, the apartment itself begins to feel like a threat . . .Kyra Wilder’s Little Bandaged Days is a beautifully written, painfully claustrophobic story about a woman’s descent into madness. Unpredictable, frighteningly compelling and brutally honest, it grapples with the harsh conditions of motherhood and this mother’s own identity, and as the novel continues, we begin to wonder just what exactly she might be driven to do.Trade ReviewGripping, composed, observant, wonderfully written and extravagantly cruel * Guardian *Wilder artfully cranks up the tension, so you don't quite know when you begin to hold your breath. A chilling read -- Oyinkan Braithwaite, author of My Sister, The Serial KillerBreathtaking . . . a compelling tale of a woman’s slide into madness, all while living what seems to be the perfect life. Part metaphor for modern life, part lament for the lost wildness of life, this novel demonstrates both writing chops and deeper themes. Wilder is a writer to watch -- Rene Denfeld, author of The Child FinderI found it horribly seductive and almost read it through my fingers with a level of recognition and dread. Any mother of young children will recognise the fringes of the feelings evoked by such clear pellucid prose and startling imagery. It's a fantastically visceral and vivid account of the onset of madness set against the backdrop of a polite, middle-class setting: the mundane refracted through the hallucinatory -- Lesley Glaister, author of Little EgyptBeautifully written and frighteningly honest, this feverish debut delivers a brave appraisal of a woman's spiral into madness * Sunday Express *

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Book Synopsis'An engrossing and evocative read. Jenny Quintana captures layered atmosphere and complex emotions beautifully, alongside writing a compulsive tale. I loved it' – Kate Hamer, author of CrushedSome houses have their secrets. But so do some people . . .From the bestselling author of The Missing Girl and Our Dark Secret, comes The Hiding Place: a story about identity, love, long-buried secrets and lies.Abandoned as a baby in the hallway of a shared house in London, Marina has never known her parents, and the circumstances of her birth still remain a mystery.Now an adult, Marina has returned to the house where it all started, determined to find out who she really is. But the walls of this house hold more than memories, and Marina’s reappearance hasn’t gone unnoticed by the other tenants.Someone is watching Marina. Someone who knows the truth . . .Trade ReviewAn engrossing and evocative read. Jenny Quintana captures layered atmosphere and complex emotions beautifully, alongside writing a compulsive tale. I loved it -- Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat and CrushedTense [and] skillful * Daily Mail *An emotionally taut, spellbinding, vivid mystery . . . This is definitely a book readers won’t be able to put down -- Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect Girlfriend and The Last WifeI loved The Hiding Place. Wonderful writing, mystery and intrigue, and a great story . . . I shed a tear at the end -- Emma Curtis, author of The Night You Left and Keep Her QuietAn emotional read for anyone who loves a good mystery * Woman's Weekly * The Hiding Place is a real gem of a book. Jenny Quintana's evocation of the 1960s bursts from the page and the human stories that unfold for the residents of 24 Harrington Gardens are breath-taking and compelling. A gripping plot with characters who will keep you guessing (and break your heart a little, too) -- Eleni Kyriacou, author of She Came to StayRead this if you like Lisa Jewell . . . An emotional drama, skilfully divided across two timelines -- Best magazineAnother beguiling Quintana mystery . . . The Hiding Place is about the hopes, fears and impossible choices of ordinary people. It is about the things that connect and separate us. It is a testament to the fragile nature of truth and a masterpiece of storytelling -- Claire Dyer, author of The Last DayA gripping suspense story that expertly interweaves the past and present . . . Beautifully written and extremely moving -- Nikki Smith, author of All In Her HeadAn absorbing and moving mystery which Quintana unpacks with her inimitable flair -- Rachel Edwards, author of Darling and LuckyFrom the first page of The Hiding Place I felt the delicious sense of security that comes from being in the hands of an expert storyteller . . . The Hiding Place is both a flawlessly-written mystery and a moving meditation on what it means to belong -- Carolyn Kirby, author of When We Fall and The Conviction of Cora BurnsEffortlessly engaging & full of secrets, I thoroughly enjoyed The Hiding Place, a credible mystery, intriguingly unravelled over two timelines, that kept me guessing to the very end -- Anita Frank, author of The Lost OnesThe Hiding Place is domestic suspense at its finest - tense, emotional and chock-full of secrets. Jenny Quintana's novels are always rich with atmosphere and social observation, but this is undoubtedly her best yet. Moving effortlessly between 1960s and 1990s London, Quintana keeps you guessing from the first page to the last -- Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little Lies and Shed No TearsThe Hiding Place is an emotionally-resonant and intriguing mystery, in which past and present, secrets and memories converge to unlock a vital truth, all woven together through Quintana's assured and sensitive prose -- Philippa East, author of Little White Lies and Safe And SoundMarina, a foundling, tries to discover who she really is. But the house she was found in is full of secrets and the truth becomes more and more dangerous. Gripping and full of goose bumps - I couldn’t put it down -- Frances Maynard, author of The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr and Maggsie McNaughton's Second ChanceAt a time when I was finding it very difficult to read or concentrate, The Hiding Place came to my rescue. What a gently captivating and beautifully told mystery – I loved it -- Nicola Rayner, author of You and Me and The Girl Before YouWith a cast of fascinating characters, a gripping, emotion-packed mystery rolling out across two timelines, and written with an insightful and languorous elegance, this absorbing, heartbreaking drama sees Quintana at her storytelling best * Lancashire Post *

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Book Synopsis'An engrossing and evocative read. Jenny Quintana captures layered atmosphere and complex emotions beautifully, alongside writing a compulsive tale. I loved it' – Kate Hamer, author of Crushed From the bestselling author of The Missing Girl and Our Dark Secret, comes The Hiding Place: a story about identity, love, long-buried secrets and lies.'A credible mystery, intriguingly unravelled over two timelines, that kept me guessing to the very end' – Anita Frank, author of The Lost Ones Some houses have their secrets. But so do some people . . .Abandoned as a baby in the hallway of a shared house in London, Marina has never known her parents, and the circumstances of her birth still remain a mystery.Now an adult, Marina has returned to the house where it all started, determined to find out who she really is. But the walls of this house hold more than memories, and Marina’s reappearance hasn’t gone unnoticed by the other tenants.Someone is watching Marina. Someone who knows the truth . . .Trade ReviewAn engrossing and evocative read. Jenny Quintana captures layered atmosphere and complex emotions beautifully, alongside writing a compulsive tale. I loved it -- Kate Hamer, author of The Girl in the Red Coat and CrushedTension comes from the skillful zeroing in and out of Connie’s sad story and Marina’s desperation for a happy ending . . . Clever * Daily Mail *An emotionally taut, spellbinding, vivid mystery . . . This is definitely a book readers won’t be able to put down -- Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect Girlfriend and The Last WifeI loved The Hiding Place. Wonderful writing, mystery and intrigue, and a great story . . . I shed a tear at the end -- Emma Curtis, author of The Night You Left and Keep Her Quiet The Hiding Place is a real gem of a book. Jenny Quintana's evocation of the 1960s bursts from the page and the human stories that unfold for the residents of 24 Harrington Gardens are breath-taking and compelling. A gripping plot with characters who will keep you guessing (and break your heart a little, too) -- Eleni Kyriacou, author of She Came to StayAnother beguiling Quintana mystery . . . The Hiding Place is about the hopes, fears and impossible choices of ordinary people. It is about the things that connect and separate us. It is a testament to the fragile nature of truth and a masterpiece of storytelling -- Claire Dyer, author of The Last DayA gripping suspense story that expertly interweaves the past and present . . . Beautifully written and extremely moving -- Nikki Smith, author of All In Her HeadAn absorbing and moving mystery which Quintana unpacks with her inimitable flair -- Rachel Edwards, author of Darling and LuckyEffortlessly engaging & full of secrets, I thoroughly enjoyed The Hiding Place, a credible mystery, intriguingly unravelled over two timelines, that kept me guessing to the very end -- Anita Frank, author of The Lost OnesAn intriguing plot line which delivers on sensitivity and suspense * Daily Mail *From the first page of The Hiding Place I felt the delicious sense of security that comes from being in the hands of an expert storyteller . . . The Hiding Place is both a flawlessly-written mystery and a moving meditation on what it means to belong -- Carolyn Kirby, author of When We Fall and The Conviction of Cora BurnsThe Hiding Place is domestic suspense at its finest - tense, emotional and chock-full of secrets. Jenny Quintana's novels are always rich with atmosphere and social observation, but this is undoubtedly her best yet. Moving effortlessly between 1960s and 1990s London, Quintana keeps you guessing from the first page to the last -- Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little Lies and Shed No TearsThe Hiding Place is an emotionally-resonant and intriguing mystery, in which past and present, secrets and memories converge to unlock a vital truth, all woven together through Quintana's assured and sensitive prose -- Philippa East, author of Little White Lies and Safe And SoundMarina, a foundling, tries to discover who she really is. But the house she was found in is full of secrets and the truth becomes more and more dangerous. Gripping and full of goose bumps - I couldn’t put it down -- Frances Maynard, author of The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr and Maggsie McNaughton's Second ChanceAt a time when I was finding it very difficult to read or concentrate, The Hiding Place came to my rescue. What a gently captivating and beautifully told mystery – I loved it -- Nicola Rayner, author of You and Me and The Girl Before YouWith a cast of fascinating characters, a gripping, emotion-packed mystery rolling out across two timelines, and written with an insightful and languorous elegance, this absorbing, heartbreaking drama sees Quintana at her storytelling best * Lancashire Post *

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Book SynopsisA stunning anthology of poetry to create calm and peacefulness. The poems are arranged around themes of meditation, friendship, gratitude, prayers and blessings, stillness and consolation. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features a preface by Ana Sampson. There are poems by Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, W. B. Yeats, Katherine Mansfield, George Herbert, William Wordsworth, Anne Brontë, Khalil Gibran, Rumi, Walt Whitman and many more. There are also uplifting prayers and blessings from around the world. Each inspiring verse flows effortlessly into the next in this anthology of classic poetry, Poems for Stillness.

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Book SynopsisTHE TIMES NOVEL OF THE YEARA GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2022A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BOOK OF THE YEAR'It takes the most ferocious intelligence, skill, and a deep reservoir of sadness to write a novel as funny as this. I adored it' - Meg Mason, author of Sorrow & Bliss'A devastating treat of a novel: funny, furious, dark and delicious' - Sarah Waters, author of FingersmithMeet the Hanrahan family, gathering for a momentous weekend as famous artist and notorious egoist Ray Hanrahan prepares for a new exhibition of his art – the first in many decades – and one he is sure will burnish his reputation for good.His three children will be there: beautiful Leah, always her father’s biggest champion; sensitive Patrick, who has finally decided to strike out on his own; and insecure Jess, the youngest, who has her own momentous decision to make . . .And what of Lucia, Ray’s steadfast and selfless wife? She is an artist, too, but has always had to put her roles as wife and mother first. What will happen if she decides to change? For Lucia is hiding secrets of her own, and as the weekend unfolds and the exhibition approaches, she must finally make a choice.The longer the marriage, the harder truth becomes . . .The Exhibitionist is the extraordinary fifth novel from Charlotte Mendelson, a dazzling exploration of art, sacrifice, toxic family politics, queer desire, and personal freedom. 'Delicious, heartbreaking . . . Fabulously written and utterly compelling' - Marian Keyes, author of Grown-UpsTrade ReviewIn The Exhibitionist Mendelson brings a forensic eye to family dynamics, laying bare the agonies of rage, frustration and longing that lie just beneath the surface of domestic life. The result is a devastating treat of a novel: funny, furious, dark and delicious -- Sarah Waters, bestselling author of FingersmithIt takes the most ferocious intelligence, skill, and a deep reservoir of sadness to write a novel as funny as this. I adored it -- Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow & BlissA delicious, heartbreaking family snapshot about thwarted ambition, misplaced loyalty and good and bad love. Secrets abound. Fabulously written and utterly compelling -- Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Grown-UpsMendelson is a master at family drama, and plots don’t get much more dramatic than this . . . Exhilarating * The Times *Soul-scouringly good -- Nigella LawsonSex, desire, deep-seated marital resentment, monstrous artists, determined wives: it's a delicious, piquant comedy of manners, and Mendelson's serrated prose will have you wincing at every word * Daily Mail *Like Katherine Heiny and Maria Semple, Mendelson is skilled at rendering the grotesque fascinating . . . It is also funny; so funny . . . Reading The Exhibitionist is like eating a rich, delicious and wildly elaborate cream cake. You know you'll regret devouring the whole thing at once, but it's very hard to stop * The i *One of the funniest writers in Britain . . . [The Exhibitionist] is so devoid of secondhand sentences that it’s quite possible [Mendelson] spent all nine years since its predecessor polishing her jokes and turning phrases round until they shine . . . A precision of observation that made me laugh frequently and smile when I wasn’t laughing * The Guardian *Electric . . . and has a hint of HBO's Succession . . . The Exhibitionist is both a roiling family drama and a chilling portrait of enmeshment, coercive control and enabled addiction -- Madeleine Feeney * The Sunday Telegraph *Unutterably brilliant -- Lucy WorsleyA deliciously evocative novel laced with sex and art -- Financial TimesA magnificent book, witty and furious and not a word out of place. I am obsessed -- Elizabeth Macneal, bestselling author of The Doll Factory and Circus of WondersExceptional * Woman & Home *A compulsive distillation of artistic ego, midlife passion and family dysfunction . . . Hilarious, sexy and thoughtful * Mail on Sunday *A devastating, blackly comic portrait of middle-class dysfunction . . . A fine and haunting book -- Sarah Moss * Guardian *A truly wonderful novel, and a funny and wise one, too; the individual components sparkle, the whole movement beguiles -- Sunjeev Sahota, author of 2021 Man Booker-longlisted The China RoomI don't think I've ever read anything that is simultaneously so elegant and so propulsive - every single sentence Charlotte Mendelson writes is arrestingly powerful. I think this book is beautiful, but it's also funny, furious, sexy, blissfully hot and cold and wild in its rage -- Daisy Buchanan, author of Insatiable The unhappy Hanrahans fall apart, their story playing out with devastating, exuberant glee . . . Honest and frenetically paced, this is a painfully funny look at art, ambition and damaging family dynamics * Sunday Express (S Magazine) *Mendelson's great success is to make the endless sacrifices, self-conscious denials and forbidden emotions of the Hanrahans heartbreakingly relatable . . . The Exhibitionist is an undeniable success * Literary Review *Sharp and sad, witty and hopeful, as with all Mendelson’s work, The Exhibitionist is both forensically aware of all the flaws of humanity but also able to be forgiving and compassionate -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Everyone Is Still AliveA welcome return for the chronicler of family secrets, with a tale of art, ego and marriage * Guardian *The blackly amusing story of how [Lucia] finds her voice and rediscovers her sexuality in midlife is hilariously traced here by one of my favourite waspish writers -- Mariella Frostrup * Sunday Times *A treat . . . Excoriating observation of the art world, crazy toxic family intrigues, wit, wisdom and brilliant writing -- Muriel GrayCharlotte Mendelson has created a magnificently monstrous character . . . It's finely observed, witty and incredibly tense * The Times (Summer Reads Picks) *Longlisted for the Women's Prize, this is a darkly funny portrait of a dysfunctional family bent out of shape over decades by its narcissistic artist patriarch -- and of what happens when his wife will no longer squahs her own creative energies. Wise, waspish and emotionally astute, it's addictive reading * Guardian (Summer Books) *Read it for the characters (some you’ll love, some you’ll want to shake!), who I missed when I finished this funny family drama * Good Housekeeping (Best Summer Reads) *A masterful observation of the privileged corners of the art world: power dynamics, narcissistic tendencies and ego-boosting exhibitions * The Big Issue *In this excoriating spin on the bourgeois Hampstead novel, a portrait of an artistic marriage in free fall doubles as a savagely funny take-down of male entitlement * Telegraph's 50 Best Books of 2022 *The Times Book of the Year . . . A superb and eccentric family comedy, set across a single weekend. But it’s also really, horribly dark in its depiction of cruelty and crushing love. -- Susie Goldsbrough * The Times *The Exhibitionist is the funniest novel I read this year. It is one of those rare books that could be driven purely on the strength of its witty, flexible sentences, even if there wasn't an emotional payload and (a bit of) a plot. It will delight anyone who takes pleasure in words, and what is reading but taking pleasure in words? -- John Self * The Critic (Fiction Books of the Year) *

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Book SynopsisAs heard on BBC Radio 4 Book at BedtimeA Times, Guardian, and Good Housekeeping Book of the Year for 2022Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction'It takes the most ferocious intelligence, skill, and a deep reservoir of sadness to write a novel as funny as this. I adored it' - Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow & BlissMeet the Hanrahan family.Ray, the father. Acclaimed artist and notorious narcissist, who is obsessed with his own reputation.Lucia, his long-suffering wife. A lauded sculptor yet terrified of what recognition could bring. And she has a secret of her own which could tear the family apart.Leah, the eldest daughter, devoted to her father and convinced of his genius.Patrick, Lucia’s sensitive son, who has finally decided to strike out by himself.Jess, the youngest daughter, insecure and facing a daunting decision.As they gather for a momentous weekend – the first exhibition of Ray’s artwork in many decades – each member of the family must finally make a choice. And when they do, once tensions have boiled over and the guests have departed, what will be left of the Hanrahans?Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022, The Exhibitionist is the extraordinary fifth novel from Charlotte Mendelson, a dazzling exploration of art, sacrifice, toxic family politics, queer desire and personal freedom.'A devastating treat of a novel: funny, furious, dark and delicious' - Sarah Waters, bestselling author of FingersmithTrade ReviewIn The Exhibitionist Mendelson brings a forensic eye to family dynamics, laying bare the agonies of rage, frustration and longing that lie just beneath the surface of domestic life. The result is a devastating treat of a novel: funny, furious, dark and delicious -- Sarah Waters, bestselling author of FingersmithIt takes the most ferocious intelligence, skill and a deep reservoir of sadness to write a novel as funny as this. I adored it -- Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow and BlissMendelson is a master at family drama, and plots don’t get much more dramatic than this . . . Exhilarating * The Times *A delicious, heartbreaking family snapshot about thwarted ambition, misplaced loyalty and good and bad love. Secrets abound. Fabulously written and utterly compelling -- Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Grown UpsSoul-scouringly good -- Nigella LawsonSex, desire, deep-seated marital resentment, monstrous artists, determined wives: it’s a delicious, piquant comedy of manners, and Mendelson’s serrated prose will have you wincing at every word * Daily Mail *Like Katherine Heiny and Maria Semple, Mendelson is skilled at rendering the grotesque fascinating . . . It is also funny; so funny . . . Reading The Exhibitionist is like eating a rich, delicious and wildly elaborate cream cake. You know you’ll regret devouring the whole thing at once, but it’s very hard to stop * The i *One of the funniest writers in Britain . . . [The Exhibitionist] is so devoid of second-hand sentences that it’s quite possible [Mendelson] spent all nine years since its predecessor polishing her jokes and turning phrases round until they shine . . . A precision of observation that made me laugh frequently and smile when I wasn’t laughing * The Guardian *Electric . . . The Exhibitionist is both a roiling family drama and a chilling portrait of enmeshment, coercive control and enabled addiction * The Sunday Telegraph *Unutterably brilliant -- Lucy WorsleyA deliciously evocative novel laced with sex and art -- Financial TimesA devastating, blackly comic portrait of middle-class dysfunction . . . A fine and haunting book -- Sarah Moss * The Guardian *A magnificent book, witty and furious and not a word out of place. I am obsessed -- Elizabeth Macneal, bestselling author of The Doll Factory and Circus of WondersExceptional * Woman & Home *A compulsive distillation of artistic ego, midlife passion and family dysfunction . . . Hilarious, sexy and thoughtful * Mail on Sunday *A truly wonderful novel, and a funny and wise one, too; the individual components sparkle, the whole movement beguiles -- Sunjeev Sahota, author of 2021 Man Booker-longlisted The China RoomI don’t think I’ve ever read anything that is simultaneously so elegant and so propulsive – every single sentence Charlotte Mendelson writes is arrestingly powerful. I think this book is beautiful, but it’s also funny, furious, sexy, blissfully hot and cold and wild in its rage -- Daisy Buchanan, author of Insatiable The unhappy Hanrahans fall apart, their story playing out with devastating, exuberant glee . . . Honest and frenetically paced, this is a painfully funny look at art, ambition and damaging family dynamics -- Sunday Express (S magazine)Mendelson’s great success is to make the endless sacrifices, self-conscious denials and forbidden emotions of the Hanrahans heartbreakingly relatable . . . The Exhibitionist is an undeniable success * Literary Review *Sharp and sad, witty and hopeful, as with all Mendelson’s work, The Exhibitionist is both forensically aware of all the flaws of humanity but also able to be forgiving and compassionate -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of Everyone Is Still AliveA welcome return for the chronicler of family secrets, with a tale of art, ego and marriage * The Guardian *A treat . . . Excoriating observation of the art world, crazy toxic family intrigues, wit, wisdom and brilliant writing -- Muriel GrayA superb dark family comedy. We crowned it our novel of 2022 * The Times *

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Book SynopsisFrom Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, the authors of the top ten bestseller The Wife Between Us, comes The Golden Couple – a compelling psychological thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end.Marissa and Mathew Bishop seem like the golden couple, until Marissa cheats. She wants to repair things – both because she loves her husband, and for the sake of their eight-year-old son. After a friend forwards an article about Avery, Marissa takes a chance on this maverick therapist, who lost her licence due to controversial methods.If Avery Chambers can’t fix you in ten sessions, she won’t take you on as a client. She helps people overcome everything, from anxiety to domineering parents. Her successes almost help her absorb the emptiness she feels since her husband’s death.When the Bishops glide through Avery’s door, all three are immediately set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.‘The Golden Couple is propulsive and thrilling. It grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go. A page-turner that will keep you guessing until the very end’ - Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

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Book SynopsisThe Golden Couple is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end - from Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, the authors of the top ten bestseller The Wife Between Us.Marissa and Mathew Bishop seem like the golden couple, until Marissa cheats. She wants to repair things – both because she loves her husband, and for the sake of their eight-year-old son. After a friend forwards an article about Avery, Marissa takes a chance on this maverick therapist, who lost her licence due to controversial methods.If Avery Chambers can’t fix you in ten sessions, she won’t take you on as a client. She helps people overcome everything, from anxiety to domineering parents. Her successes almost help her absorb the emptiness she feels since her husband’s death.When the Bishops glide through Avery’s door, all three are immediately set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.‘The Golden Couple is propulsive and thrilling. It grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go. A page-turner that will keep you guessing until the very end’ - Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn HugoTrade ReviewThe Golden Couple is propulsive and thrilling. It grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go. A page-turner that will keep you guessing until the very end -- Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and The Six and Malibu RisingThe Golden Couple is my favorite kind of thriller: a guessing game filled with characters you care about and twists you don't see coming . . . an utterly compelling, spellbinding read -- Lisa Jewell, bestselling author of The Family UpstairsA propulsive, twisty, unputdownable thriller – with two heroines you won't be able to get enough of . . . and a twist you'll never see coming -- Laura Dave, author of The Last Thing He Told MeA riveting cat-and-mouse game of a novel that explores the intricacies of marriage, and the many ways in which people lie to themselves . . . and others. This is a psychological thriller in every sense of the word -- Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk To Someone

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION 2022‘Remarkable' - Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn'Like Finnegans Wake, only readable' - The TimesIn A Shock, a clutch of more or less loosely connected characters appear, disappear and reappear. They are all of them on the fringes of London life, often clinging on – to sanity, solvency or a story – by their fingertips. With this deftly conjured high-wire act, Ridgway achieves a fine balance between drama and fidelity to his characters. The result is pin-sharp and breathtaking.Book of the Year Selection in the Guardian, New York Times, Spectator, Hot Press and The White ReviewShortlisted for The Goldsmiths Prize Trade ReviewKeith Ridgway offers his London a luminous glow, but his competing narratives are also rooted in a real place, with a remarkable sense of character and the shifting systems that make up his contemporary urban space -- Colm TóibínLike Finnegans Wake, only readable. * The Times *Ingeniously slippery . . . an expertly constructed house of mirrors -- Lucy Scholes * New York Times Book Review *A sultry, steamy shock of a novel . . . a provocative collection of nine interlinked stories, jostled together like neighbours on a London street or regulars in a pub, which is where most of his characters cross paths * The Spectator *Keith Ridgway's gifts as a writer are many: his complex, vivid characters, his ability to create a humane and tender cityscape in an unfeeling metropolis, and to dig into our fallibilities and desires with such humour and compassion -- Sinéad GleesonEndlessly interesting -- Anthony Cummins * The Observer *Keith Ridgway is an incredible writer and A Shock is a wonder . . . There were times, reading this book, that I never wanted it to end -- Chris Power, author of Mothers A Shock is a meticulously crafted diorama * Vanity Fair *A great and generous book, an incomparable achievement -- Richard BeardSimply imagine being as good at anything as Keith Ridgway is at writing -- Nicole Flattery on Keith RidgwayReaders are instantly involved in the action of Ridgway's worlds, the characters he writes with great compassion and clarity, and always with an awareness of the fuzziness of being alive -- Sarah Gilmartin * Irish Times *Flows over with invention and imagination -- John Self * The Irish Times *In this playful yet deeply sincere novel, Ridgway squeezes into the gaps of realism and makes something beautifully new * Guardian *A Shock is a perfect, living circle of beauty and mystery; clear-sighted and compassionate, and, at times, wonderfully funny. The radiance and vitality of the writing, and its, frankly amazing, control and precision, reminded me of Henry Green but with a warmth and reflective quality that deserves to reach many readers -- David HaydenLike Lewis Carroll or Muriel Spark, the author is not content with the normal measly amount of dimensions: he goes in for bewitchment as a narrative art -- Barbara Epler * TANK Magazine *A Shock is an experiment that pays off: deeply funny, in a morose sort of way, oblique but never frustrating; and with a realism in dialogue that lends its characters depth and reliability * Business Post *Superb . . . Elizabeth Strout meets Bret Easton Ellis * Sunday Times Ireland on Hawthorn & Child *A Shock, Keith Ridgway’s mesmerizing new novel-in-stories, portrays a London on the edge of the edge, precarious, strange and enthralling. Haunting each other and life itself, these characters and their stories will haunt you too! -- John KeeneA masterful polyphonous portrait of modern London * Literary Review *Profane, god-dappled, transcendent, even gently poetic and funny – all those things at once -- Rivka GalchenThis modern look at (dis)connection is stunning, in all its story parts, and as a whole, it's a brilliant mind fuck. Political, pertinent, spunky and funny, A Shock is a grand sweep of modern storytelling. Hold out for the mice . . . -- June CaldwellOften hilarious, sometimes scary, always fearlessly assured. Each chapter is an intimate snapshot, a peek through the window into the life of one of the loosely linked characters living in one area of London . . . these characters vibrate at a frequency that we can all hear, feel, taste and see . . . Ridgway provides a crystal clear shot of grief, loss and loneliness * Irish Independent *There is a canny empathy running through A Shock. This is a masterfully crafted, highly intriguing novel that delivers the shock of its title with the slow, steady build-up of anxiety and dread that often characterizes dreams * Books Ireland *A fascinating and marvellously accomplished piece of work from a great and hugely under-rated Irish author -- Pat Carty * Hot Press *Once this novel clicks into place, its blend of the heady and the visceral is immersive and compelling * Kirkus *This novel will leave the reader with lots to think about, laugh about, cry about * Sunday Independent *Sex, lies, and drugs shape the interlocking and recursive narratives in Irish writer Ridgway’s marvelous latest (after Hawthorn & Child), revolving around a set of neighbouring London houses * Publishers Weekly *A Shock is a provocative collection of nine interlinked stories, set in south London’s sultry streets. In writing about characters many would overlook, Ridgway reminds us that everyone has a story * The i *

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Book Synopsis'Sharp' - The Guardian'Excellent' - Glamour'Darkly funny' - Harper's BAZAAR'Chaotic' - The SkinnyAmelia is no stranger to sex and death.Her job as a cosmetic mortician at her family's funeral parlour might be unusual but she's good at it. When it comes to meeting people who are still breathing she uses dating apps. Combining with someone else's body at night Amelia can become something else, at least for a while.But when a sudden loss severs her ties with someone she loves, Amelia sets off on a seventy-two-hour mission to outrun her grief - skipping out on the funeral, running away to stay with her father in Tasmania and experimenting on the local BDSM scene. There, she learns even more about sex, death, grief and the different ways pain works its way through the body. It'll take a pair of fathers, a bruising encounter wiht a stranger and recognition of her own body's limits to bring Amelia back to herself.Wise and heartbreakingly funny, Ella Baxter’s New Animal is a stunning debut.'Self-destructive anti-heroines are in vogue, but what Amelia's story makes clear is how under-represented female sexuality still is.' – The Telegraph, The Four best Debut Novels to Read'There's a compelling quality to Amelia's honesty that recalls Raven Leilani's Luster or the sex-addicted eponymous narrator of Leïla Slimani's Adele.' - The Irish TimesTrade ReviewBaxter’s writing is so forthright, her protagonist so raw and unmediated in her feelings, thoughts and flailing at the “arrowhead of sorrow” that New Animal makes for compelling reading . . . an intense, viscerally affecting book, with the quotient of tenderness to violence in an equal scale. * Sydney Morning Herald *Baxter is fascinated with the female body, which “trots everywhere with you like an indebted lover”, and how it assimilates extreme emotions . . . Self-destructive anti-heroines are in vogue, but what Amelia’s story makes clear is how under-represented female sexuality still is. -- 'The four best debut novels to read in 2022' * Telegraph *There's a compelling quality to [Amelia's] honesty that recalls Raven Leilani's Luster or the sex-addicted eponymous narrator of Leila Slimani's Adele. As with these books, Baxter focuses on the ways in which pain works its way through the body. * Irish Times *There’s not one expected detail here . . . Excellent. * Glamour *This story is unique and compelling. New Animal is funny, sad, and illuminating about the nature of mourning. Turns out, there's a lot to be learned about grief from the kink community. Who knew? * Buzzfeed *Amelia is in her late 20s and working at her stepfather’s mortuary. But when her mother suddenly dies, rupturing her fragile family, Amelia flees to Tasmania, joins a BDSM community and embarks on a journey toward self-acceptance. * The New York Times *New Animal is a wonderfully tender book. Ella Baxter doesn't shy away from any of the messiness of humanity, choosing instead to lean in, hard, and unpack all the ways that grief breaks us down and ultimately reshapes us. It's feral and raw, laugh out loud funny in parts, and absolutely the kind of family mess I love best. Baxter is a delightful writer and New Animal is a hell of a read. * Kristen Arnett, New York Times-bestselling author of With Teeth and Mostly Dead Things *One of 2022's most exciting debuts, New Animal is a blistering, darkly funny account of its narrator's eventful attempt to outrun her grief, in a 72-hour exploration of sex, death and pain. * Harper's BAZAAR *I inhaled Ella Baxter's New Animal, which is the sort of animal that is all spine, all teeth. The deftness of her prose, which is so damn funny, along with such a poignant and true and entertaining story, make this a book that positively glitters. Ella Baxter's New Animal is an animal that is so animal it's human. * Lindsay Hunter, author of Eat Only When You're Hungry *[Main character Amelia] has outrageous sex to swallow her ineffable sadness, and though she's from Australia rather than Ireland, she could have stepped from the pages of a Sally Rooney novel... Baxter is a sharp observer, and seems to have the Didion knack of getting close to a subject without surrendering her scepticism. * The Guardian *I loved this macabre, mordant, and very moving book. New Animal surprised and comforted me with its deft investigations of grief, power, and self, and with its beautiful prose. This is an economical novel that packs a major emotional punch. * Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State *This is writing that is sharp and fearlessly chaotic, grappling with the depths humans go to for mere illusion of control. Luridly funny and always surprising, New Animal takes on the promise of catharsis--and upends it entirely. * The Skinny *

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Book SynopsisNumber one New York Times bestselling author W. Bruce Cameron once again captures the bravery and determination of a very good dog in the gripping sequel to A Dog’s Way Home, the acclaimed novel that inspired the hit movie.Bella was once a lost dog, but now she lives happily with her people, Lucas and Olivia, only occasionally recalling the hardships in her past. Then a weekend camping trip turns into a harrowing struggle for survival when the Rocky Mountains are engulfed by the biggest wildfire in American history. The raging inferno separates Bella from her people and she is lost once more.Alone in the wilderness, Bella unexpectedly finds herself responsible for the safety of two defenceless mountain lion cubs. Now she’s torn between two equally urgent goals. More than anything, she wants to find her way home to Lucas and Olivia – but not if it means abandoning her new family to danger. And danger abounds, from predators hunting them to the flames threatening at every turn.Can Bella ever get back to where she truly belongs?A Dog's Courage is a moving tale of loyalty and the constant heart of one devoted dog – brought vividly to life with a keen understanding of what makes all dogs so special.Trade ReviewAnother winning tale of an extraordinary human-canine companionship full of tug-at-the-heartstrings adventure -- Booklist on A Dog's Way Home

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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 and The People in the Trees, 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. -- Fiona Wilson * 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 *One of the pleasures of fiction is how suddenly a brilliant writer can alter the literary landscape . . . Ms. Yanagihara's immense new book . . . announces her, as decisively as a second work can, as a major American novelist. 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 *How often is a novel so deeply disturbing that you might find yourself weeping, and yet so revelatory about human kindness that you might also feel touched by grace? Yanagihara's astonishing and unsettling second novel . . . plumbs the rich inner lives of all of her characters... You don't just care deeply about all these lives. Thanks to the author's exquisite skill, you feel as if you are living them . . . A Little Life is about the unimaginable cruelty of human beings, the savage things done to a child and his lifelong struggle to overcome the damage. Its pages are soaked with grief, but it's also about the bottomless human capacity for love and endurance . . . It's not hyperbole to call this novel a masterwork - if anything that word is simply just too little for it * San Francisco Chronicle *Martin Amis once asked, "Who else but Tolstoy has made happiness really swing on the page?" And the surprising answer is that Hanya Yanagihara has: counterintuitively, the most moving parts of "A Little Life" are not its most brutal but its tenderest ones, moments when Jude receives kindness and support from his friends . . . "A Little Life" feels elemental, irreducible-and, dark and disturbing though it is, there is beauty in it -- Jon Michaud * New Yorker *Hanya Yanagihara's no-holds-barred second novel A Little Life has established her as a major new voice in US fiction. -- Tim Adams * Observer *Utterly compelling . . . quite an extraordinary novel. It is impossible to put down . . . And it is almost impossible to forget. -- Mernie Gilmore * Daily Express *[The] spring's must-read novel . . . Her debut . . . put her on the literary map, her massive new novel . . . signals the arrival of a major new voice in fiction . . . Her achievement has less to do with size than with her powerful evocation of the fragility of self . . . the pained beauty that suffuses this novel, an American epic that eloquently counters our culture's fixation with redemptive narratives. * Vogue US *[A] wholly immersive unforgettable read . . . You won't stop reading. And it's a novel that changes you. * Evening Standard *The triumph of A Little Life's many pages is significant: It wraps us so thoroughly in a character's life that his trauma, his struggles, his griefs come to seem as familiar and inescapable as our own. There's no one way to experience loss, abuse, or the effects of trauma, of course, but the vividness of Jude's character and experiences makes the pain almost tangible, the fall-out more comprehensible. It's a monument of empathy, and that alone makes this novel wondrous * Huffington Post *Often painful but thoroughly brilliant . . . Yanagihara's massive new novel . . . is hurtful. That's because, among other things, it is the enthralling and completely immersive story of one man's unyielding pain. It also asks a compelling question: Can friends save us? Even from ourselves? . . . Yanagihara's close study of [her characters'] lives and Jude's trauma makes for a stunning work of fiction * New York Daily News *This spellbinding, feverish novel sucks you in . . . One of the most compassionate, moving stories of our time . . . An exquisitely written, complex triumph * Oprah.com *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. I became so invested in the characters and their lives that I almost felt unqualified to review this book objectively . . . There are truths here that are almost too much to bear - that hope is a qualified thing, that even love, no matter how pure and freely given, is not always enough. This book made me realize how merciful most fiction really is, even at its darkest, and it's a testament to Yanagihara's ability that she can take such ugly material and make it beautiful * Los Angeles Times *Capacious and consuming . . . Boast[s] a scale and immersive power to rival the recent epics of Donna Tartt and Elizabeth Gilbert . . . Alternately devastating and draining, A Little Life floats all sorts of troubling questions about the responsibility of the individual to those nearest and dearest and the sometime futility of playing brother's keeper. Those questions, accompanied by Yanagihara's exquisitely imagined characters, will shadow your dreamscapes * Boston Globe *An extraordinary book . . . A Little Life is quite deliberately a fable, not social realism . . . and all the more powerful for it. The truths it tells are wrenching, permanent. -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *This is an impressive and moving novel. -- Hannah Rosefield * Literary Review *A Little Life is Jude's story and it's his sorrow that colours this devastating, exhausting, strangely exhilarating novel. It's not in any way consoling but it is vitally compelling. -- Eithne Farry * Daily Express *How many times a year are you blown away by a book? That feeling that you can't stop reading, that your life might be a little bit changed? . . . I felt in the presence of genius, and 14 sleepless hours later I inhaled the last few sentences knowing I had found a masterpiece . . . Objectively, parts of this are a gruelling read, but such is the author's skill that the pages do seem to turn themselves as we race towards finding out the terrible secrets of Jude's dark trauma... I will be heading to the barricades if this doesn't win prizes galore -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * The Bookseller *Has so much richness in it - great big passages of beautiful prose, unforgettable characters, and shrewd insights into art and ambition and friendship and forgiveness * Entertainment Weekly *Astonishing . . . tender, torturous and achingly alive to the undeniable pain that can scar a life. * Psychologies *The clarity of Yanagihara's prose is perfect for dissecting blind ambition, the consolations of work and money, and how these paper over the cracks of fragile, fractured individuals . . . A Little Life is unlike anything else out there . . . Quite simply unforgettable. -- James Kidd * Independent on Sunday *This new book is long, page-turny, deeply moving, sometimes excessive, but always packed with the weight of a genuine experience. As I was reading, I literally dreamed about it every night . . . The book's driven obsessiveness is inseparable from the emotional force that will leave countless readers weeping . . . A wrenching portrait of the enduring grace of friendship. With her sensitivity to everything from the emotional nuance to the play of light inside a subway car, Yanagihara is superb at capturing the radiant moments of beauty, warmth and kindness that help redeem the bad stuff. In A Little Life, it's life's evanescent blessings that maybe, but only maybe, can save you * National Public Radio *Once she has you, Yanagihara is not going to let you go . . . Yanagihara . . . contains multitudes. She seems able to imagine anything . . . A Little Life . . . is, in its own dark way, a miracle * Newsday *At its heart A Little Life is a fairy tale that pits good against evil, love against viciousness, hope against hopelessness. The cruelty of the life Ms Yanagihara describes is trumped only by the tenacity with which she searches for an answer. * The Economist *The reader is pulled along by its express-train pace . . . it's certainly a great book. -- John Harding * Daily Mail *The first must-read novel of the year . . . The way to describe a novel you like, maybe the quickest way, is to say that you can't put it down. People say that all the time. There are also novels that compel trickier, but no less passionate, emotions. They are books that confront you and make you wrestle with them. You might feel protective of the characters and their fates; maybe you feel like the writer is talking directly to, or about, you and you are delighted but spooked about what the writer might reveal. There is no shorthand phrase for a novel that seduces you even as it frightens, guts, exhausts, and disgusts you. A Little Life is the most devastating but satisfying novel published so far this year . . . Finishing its 720 pages is like finishing one of the doorstop novels of 19th-century Russia: you feel worn out but wide awake -- (Cover Story) * Kirkus *Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life is the thinking person's big book of the year so far, a long, complex and pretty dark look at the intertwined lives of four college friends. It reminds me of The Corrections, or a starker The Interestings, or a more linear work by David Foster Wallace. Really. It's that huge and important * Amazon.com *Set to become one of the year's most talked-about novels . . . The narrative is transporting. -- Alex Clarke * ES Magazine *A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, will be one of those books people ask you if you've read yet. Beat 'em to the punch * South Coast Today *Utterly enthralling . . . The phrase "tour de force" could have been invented for this audacious novel * Kirkus (Starred Review) *Emerging from horror, persistent and enduring, is a touching, eternal, unconventional love story. -- Maria Crawford * Financial Times *A Little Life asks serious questions about humanism and euthanasia and psychiatry and any number of the partis pris of modern western life. 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 *Transporting . . . A Little Life is not to be missed. -- Alex Clark * Evening Standard *Deeply moving . . . A Little Life interrogates notions of value and happiness as espoused by the 21st century American dream . . . Extraordinarily rich. * The National *A book that demands to be read. -- James Daunt * Wall Street Journal *A remarkable tale of love, friendship and the difficulties of embracing life when everything conspires against your right to happiness. * Sunday Herald *

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Book SynopsisAcclaimed author of Summerwater and Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss is back with a sharply observed and darkly funny novel for our times.'A tense page turner . . . I gulped The Fell down in one sitting' - Emma Donoghue'Gripping, thoughtful and revelatory' – Paula Hawkins'This slim, intense masterpiece is one of my best books of the year' - Rachel Joyce'Her work is as close to perfect as a novelist’s can be' The TimesAt dusk on a November evening in 2020 a woman slips out of her garden gate and turns up the hill. Kate is in the middle of a two-week quarantine period, but she just can’t take it any more – the closeness of the air in her small house, the confinement. And anyway, the moor will be deserted at this time. Nobody need ever know.But Kate’s neighbour Alice sees her leaving and Matt, Kate’s son, soon realizes she’s missing. And Kate, who planned only a quick solitary walk – a breath of open air – falls and badly injures herself. What began as a furtive walk has turned into a mountain rescue operation . . .Unbearably suspenseful, witty and wise, The Fell asks probing questions about the place the world has become since March 2020, and the place it was before. This novel is a story about compassion and kindness and what we must do to survive, and it will move you to tears.‘One of our very best contemporary novelists’ – IndependentTrade ReviewA slim, tense page turner that captures the weird melancholia of locked-down life but also the precious warmth of human connection. I gulped The Fell down in one sitting -- Emma DonoghueCarefully, affectingly and with emotional veracity, Moss opens out Alice’s secrets along with everyone else’s: the mortal fears, the losses, the mistakes. Moss writes so compassionately about human frailty while her own work is as close to perfect as a novelist’s can be * The Times *With The Fell, Sarah Moss seems to have achieved the impossible: she has written a gripping, thoughtful and revelatory book about lockdown -- Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the TrainA funny, savage novel * Guardian *Absorbing . . . ingeniously done . . there's an intoxicating flow to much of the writing . . . a humane, thoughtful reflection on the lockdown experience * Scotsman *The Fell reflects the lives we have been living for the last 18 months in a way no other writer has dared to do. There is wit, there is compassion, there is a tension that builds like a pressure cooker. This slim, intense masterpiece is one of my best books of the year -- Rachel JoyceA one-sitting read that's both thriller and stream of consciousness meditation on how Covid has changed our world . . . ambitious and immersive * Red *Moss is strong on pastoral lyricism, and her characteristic humour is as piercing here as in her previous novels . . . The Fell eloquently explores many of the big issues we have been facing since March 2020 * The Times *A masterfully tense, deeply empathetic novel about lives stilled and re-examined, and the uncertainty and danger of the world that surrounds them. I was completely riveted by the central questions of its narrative, and by its tender, insightful exploration of the times we are living through -- Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start FromAgain and again, and always with steely precision, Moss has mined both the circumstances and the consequences of isolation . . . one of the very best British novelists writing today about contemporary life - if anyone can justify writing a pandemic novel, she's the woman for the job * Daily Telegraph *She conjures the fretful confinement of the pandemic with colossal skill . . . deft and evocative . . . the operation to rescue Kate is nail-biting. There are also scenes of unbearable poignancy . . . shrewd and moving * i *The pandemic is spawning some fine writing, and this helter-skelter novel by Moss is one of the best yet. The book captures both the paranoia of the times and the kindness of strangers -- Mail on SundayThe novel's chief achievement is the way it calcifies a specific moment in recent history . . . Moss perfectly simulates the stifling psychological confinement and ennui of locked-down life . . . Moss writes evocatively of the stark beauty of the countryside . . . a neat, atmospheric novel * Literary Review *[The Fell] leaves the reader on tenterhooks as the story builds to its conclusion. Moss perfectly captures Kate and Alice’s self-isolation-induced claustrophobia . . . Some readers might not want to immerse themselves in the cabin fever of early lockdown so soon after living through it, but Moss makes a strong case for social connection being as important as our physical health for survival * Daily Mirror *Moss steps into other people’s shoes with impressive ease. Her prose is clear, low-key and compelling, its power incremental . . . The Fell is about the hazards that lurk at the edges of life. Feelingly, but without sentimentality, Moss explores what happens when you find yourself teetering on the precipice * Herald *The Fell is very much a novel of our time . . . it takes note of the moment, and captures what seemed unimaginable even a year before it was set. But it also offers hope . . . there may be a time when what is described here is, indeed, in the past, and a novel like The Fell will help us to remember * Church Times *It seems ever more important that fiction acknowledge the truths the pandemic has revealed to us: how connected we all are, and how much we fear one another * Guardian *Moss is brilliant at creating a feeling of mounting peril . . . Her humour is so black it's treacly She's also one of our best writers on the natural world . . . [The Fell] confirms that Sarah Moss is a writer of remarkable power, control and deftness. She's funny, observant and very much of the moment * Oldie *

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Book SynopsisIf you struggle to get out of bed in the morning, here’s a poetry collection that’s just right for you. Sunrise is an energizing and rousing collection of classic poetry all about purpose, hope and perseverance. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics with ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is edited and introduced by Susie Gibbs.Wise, reassuring words and magical verses conjure up the promise and possibilities of each new day. With contributions from poets such as William Wordsworth, G. K. Chesterton, Ian McMillan, Christina Rossetti, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson and Edward Lear, the wonderful poetry in Sunrise will inspire its readers to greet each day with optimism and confidence.

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Book SynopsisWinner of the PEN/Faulkner Award, Mao II is the work of an ingenious writer at the height of his powers.Bill Gray, a famous, reclusive novelist, emerges from his isolation when he becomes the key figure in an event staged to force the release of a poet hostage in Beirut.As Bill enters the world of political violence, a nightscape of Semtex explosives and hostages locked in basement rooms, Bill's dangerous passage leaves two people stranded: his brilliant, fixated assistant, Scott, and the strange young woman who is Scott's lover – and Bill's.An extraordinary novel from Don DeLillo about words and images, novelists and terrorists, the mass mind and the arch-individualist, Mao II explores a world in which the novelist's power to influence the inner life of a culture now belongs to bomb-makers and gunmen.Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.Trade ReviewA beauty. . . Delillo takes us on a breathtaking journey, beyond the official versions of our daily history, behind all easy assumptions about who we're supposed to be, with a vision as bold and a voice as eloquent and morally focused as any in American writing -- Thomas PynchonA work of fiction not merely astonishingly fitting for our times, but rich and rewarding for anyone wishing to understand them * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA major film from the makers of Normal People and Room, starring Florence Pugh and streaming on Netflix.'An old-school page turner with crackling intensity' Stephen King'Powerful, compulsively readable' Irish TimesEleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell stops eating, but remains miraculously alive and well. A nurse, sent to investigate whether she is a fraud, meets a journalist hungry for a story . . .Set in the Irish Midlands in the 1850s, Emma Donoghue's The Wonder – inspired by numerous European and North American cases of 'fasting girls' between the sixteenth century and the twentieth – is a psychological thriller about a child's murder threatening to happen in slow motion before our eyes.Trade ReviewEmma Donoghue's writing is superb alchemy, changing innocence into horror and horror into tenderness -- Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's WifeFascinating . . . Like The Turn of the Screw, the novel opens irresistibly, when a young woman with a troubled past gets an enigmatic posting in a remote place . . . Heartbreaking and transcendent and almost religious in itself -- Sarah Lyall * New York Times *A fine, fact-based historical novel, an old-school page turner . . . Donoghue has written, with crackling intensity, about [spirituality's] power to destroy -- Stephen King * New York Times Book Review *A riveting allegory about the trickle-down effect of trauma * Vogue *Donoghue mines material that on the face of it appears intractably bleak and surfaces with a powerful, compulsively readable work of fiction * Irish Times *Deliciously gothic * USA Today *Heartbreaking and transcendent * New York Times *Fans of Emma Donoghue's first novel Room will not be disappointed with The Wonder . . . a tale of claustrophobic suspense and the intense relationship between a woman and a child * Red Magazine *Like [Room], The Wonder explores a dark, insular, and rigidly controlled environment . . . there is more to this mystery than superstitions and local dialect. * The Oprah Magazine *Donoghue proves herself endlessly inventive . . . This is the kind of book that will keep you up at night and make you smarter -- Julie Buntin * Cosmopolitan *Ingenious * Wall Street Journal *Lib is a heroine the modern woman can admire * Time Magazine *

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Book SynopsisBucky Wunderlick is a rock and roll star. Dissatisfied with a life that has brought fame and fortune, he suddenly decides he no longer wants to be a commodity.He leaves his band mid-tour and holes up in a dingy, unfurnished apartment in Great Jones Street. Unfortunately, his disappearing act only succeeds in inflaming interest . . .Great Jones Street, Don DeLillo's third novel, is more than a musical satire: it probes the rights of the individual, foreshadows the struggle of the artist within a capitalist world and delivers a scathing portrait of our culture's obsession with the lives of the few.Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.Trade ReviewAmerica's greatest living writer. * Observer *Brilliant, deeply shocking. * New York Review of Books *DeLillo has the force and imagination of Thomas Pynchon or John Barth, with a sense of proportion and style which these would-be giants often lack. * Irish Times *

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Book Synopsis'An extraordinary novel... as beautiful and as wrenching as anything I've ever read' Emily St. John MandelA dark past. An impossible journey. The will to survive.Franny Stone is determined to go to the end of the earth, following the last of the Arctic terns on what may be their final migration to Antarctica.As animal populations plummet, Franny talks her way onto one of the few remaining boats heading south. But as she and the eccentric crew travel further from shore and safety, the dark secrets of Franny's life begin to unspool.Haunted by love and violence, Franny must confront what she is really running towards - and from.From the west coast of Ireland to Australia and remote Greenland, this is an ode to the wild places and creatures now threatened, and an epic, moving story of the possibility of hope against all odds.______________READERS LOVE MIGRATIONS:'Wrenchingly beautiful''Visceral, heart-breaking''Simply phenomenal''Raw and gripping''Riveting''Here's your next favourite''A story...about love, passion, wandering'*Previously published as The Last Migration*Trade ReviewCompulsive stuff, driven at a cracking pace by the power of the elements and the fierce will of its single-minded narrator * Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail *The Last Migration is as beautiful and as wrenching as anything I've ever read. This is an extraordinary novel by a wildly talented writer * Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven *There's a brooding lushness to this novel's prose that belies its stark premise... this keening lament of an adventure is compelling * Hephzibah Anderson, Observer *An adventure of a wilder sort * Vogue, US *A fascinating hybrid of nature writing and dystopian fiction... gripping... by merging cli-fi and nature writing, the novel powerfully demonstrates the spiritual and emotional costs of environmental destruction * Economist *

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Book Synopsis'Superbly written and fearlessly imagined fiction' Sarah HallTen women, all called Claire, are tangled up in complex power dynamics with their families, friends, and lovers. Though all are different ages, and leading different lives, each is haunted by the difficulty of living on her own terms. Claire is a teenaged babysitter left alone with a strange little girl and her imaginary friend. Claire is a woman trying to escape her elderly mother by employing an android carer. Claire is a young TV journalist wrecking her first big interview. Claire's boyfriend discovers more than he bargains for when he begins to read her diary.And whatever she does, Claire is always living in the shadow of a monstrous mother.'Leviston is a mistress of precision and emotional insight' Hilary Mantel, TLSTrade ReviewI loved it. I absolutely loved it. It felt like a choose your own adventure version of somebody’s life... I cannot say enough how much I enjoyed it. It’s a writer putting herself through her paces – it’s showing us what she can do and I’m really excited to see what she does next. -- Naomi Alderman * BBC Radio 4 Front Row *Brilliant, bracing... Dazzling... One of the many triumphs of this original, peculiarly truthful book is to leave us questioning what kindness is and what care is, no longer able to take the platitudes of daily life for granted also unwilling to leave them behind. -- Lara Feigel * Guardian *It's hard to explain how good this fiction debut by Frances Leviston is... So thrilling... Outstandingly well written. -- Claire Harman * Times Literary Supplement *Books of the Year* *Frances Leviston’s debut work of fiction positively knocked my socks off. Each of the 10 stories in The Voice in My Ear is about a different woman called Claire — an apt appellation for characters illuminating aspects of modern life… She has triumphantly succeeded in turning a poetic perceptivity to the [short story] form. -- Mia Levitin * Financial Times *[The Voice in My Ear has] a psychological and emotional coherence unusual for a story collection… You can feel the subtext pulse between the lines and occasionally, thrillingly, it surges onto the page… Extraordinary… Leviston is so skilled at noticing and cataloguing the emotional abrasion of being a daughter, the toll of motherhood and love’s ability to wound… But these responses are matched, and exceeded, by the admiration, excitement and exhilaration provoked by what she achieves on the page. -- Chris Power * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisThe dreamlike story of a young woman in contemporary Beijing forging a different life for herself, from one of our brightest new literary stars.One morning in autumn, just after breakfast, Jia Jia finds her husband dead in the bathtub of their Beijing apartment. Next to him is a piece of folded paper, a sketch of a strange creature from his dream. He has left her no other sign. Young, alone, and with many unanswered questions, Jia Jia sets out on a journey. It takes her deep into her past where, for the very first time, she begins to have a sense of her future.'Startlingly original... A portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free' Guardian'Rich and wild...it gets under your skin' Observer'An Yu writes with style and in a way that is hard to resist' Sunday Times'A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope' Daily MailTrade ReviewAn elegant, dreamlike tale of a woman’s self-realisation in contemporary Beijing. Yu’s writing has an arresting, unadorned lyricism * Daily Telegraph *A seductive, sharply observed tale of love, loss and hope that moves from high-rise Beijing to rural Tibet and the mysterious, magical ‘world of water’ -- Fanny Blake * Daily Mail *A startlingly original imagination... Braised Pork is a sensitive portrait of alienated young womanhood as it is set free * Guardian *Rich and strange … Braised Pork is a debut that gets under your skin -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *Braised Pork is mesmerising, incisive and utterly disarming. An Yu writes beautifully about loneliness, the experience of isolation — from others, from one’s own past — and the possibility of human connection, however fragile. * Rosie Price *So elegant and poised, so tuned to the great mysteries of love and loss. Like a breeze on a still day, An Yu’s is a voice I didn't know I needed until I felt it. Braised Pork is a major debut * John Freeman *Bold yet understated, Braised Pork is the debut of a supremely confident and gifted writer. * Katie Kitamura *What a singular, slippery, transfixing novel this is. An Yu achieves a hypnotizing emotional clarity as she takes her narrator ever further from a stifling life in Beijing into a watery realm unlike any I've read before. * Idra Novey *Yu’s novel has a cool, poised elegance that only adds to its enigmatic allure * Economist *A dizzying read… An Yu writes with style and in a way that is hard to resist -- Lucy Knight * Sunday Times *Richly associative, the book’s imagery insinuates itself into the reader’s consciousness long after it’s finished -- Jude Cook * Spectator *This exquisite novel is many things: a detective story in which the real object of pursuit is how one makes meaning of a sometimes ineffable existence; a meditation on the talismanic power of art and the indefatigability of the human spirit; and a many-faceted, perfectly cut gem of psychological portraiture set in well-wrought sentences burnished to a gorgeous luster. The emotions in this book keep pace with you, shadowing you with a quiet intensity, until in the last stretch they overtake you completely. * Matthew Thomas *What a singular, slippery, transfixing novel this is. An Yu achieves a hypnotizing emotional clarity as she takes her narrator ever further from a stifling life in Beijing into a watery realm unlike any I've read before. * Idra Novey *Bold yet understated, Braised Pork is the debut of a supremely confident and gifted writer.' * Katie Kitamura *

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Book SynopsisFor three years Song Yan has filled her Beijing apartment with the tentative notes of her young piano students.She finds herself adrift, but her husband seems reluctant for a child of their own. It takes the arrival of her mother-in-law, together with sudden strange parcels and stranger dreams, to shake Song Yan from her malaise. Summoned to an ancient house in the heart of the city, can she find the notes she needs to make sense of the pain and beauty in her life?'There's something here of early Murakami's graceful, open-ended approach to the uncanny... Ghost Music is an evocative exploration of what it means to live fully' New York Times Book Review'Knits together music and life to touch on something profound' GuardianTrade ReviewAn intriguing book that knits together music and life to touch on something profound * Guardian *Vivid descriptions of contemporary Beijing ... Yu writes in clear, unadorned prose and deftly threads the magic-realist elements through the main narrative * Financial Times *Transporting, searching and poetic * List *This playful, often surreal novel packs in plenty ... an elusive tale, steeped in atmosphere * Mail on Sunday *Ghost Music has beautiful prose and claustrophobic imagery that intensely evokes its protagonist's alienation * New Statesman *

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Book Synopsis'Utterly Gripping' Sunday TelegraphMeet Chloe. First-year student. Ordinary girl next door. Psychopath.Chloe Sevre can be whoever you want her to be. A cool girl, a best friend, someone to tell secrets to over midnight snacks. She has an impressive IQ, loves working out and frat parties.She's also a psychopath.In between her university classes and taking part in a secret clinical study of young psychopaths, Chloe is plotting to kill childhood friend Will Bachman.They say you should never trust a psychopath. But when you hear what Will Bachman did to Chloe Sevre, you might just change your mind...**Perfect for fans of How To Kill Your Family, You and Killing Eve*'I fell in love with self-confessed psychopath Chloe on page one' Erin Kelly, bestselling author of Watch Her Fall'Deliciously wicked and utterly addictive' Alice Hunter, author of The Serial Killer's WifeReaders love NEVER SAW ME COMING:'A fantastic read that absolutely kept me guessing.' *****'I was hooked... There's plenty of dark humour...but there's also suspense, a lot of twists' *****'A darkly comic, complicated tale.' *****'A profoundly disturbing and well written book with an ending I didn't see coming.' *****'This book was perfectly pitched and pure fun. Highly recommended.' ******Trade ReviewI devoured this riveting book through a day of travel - in a taxi, on the plane, in the next taxi - and into the night. My desire to rush to the end clashed with my desire to savor every word. Who would be the last psychopath standing? * New York Times *Kurian dazzles with a unique protagonist and tight plotting. This one will keep you awake at night and force you to question how well you know the people in your life. Not to be missed! * Christina Dalcher, author of Vox *Utterly gripping * Sunday Telegraph *An up-and-coming voice in fiction...a game of cat and mouse * Tatler *An audacious, break-the-mould thriller from a new voice -- Sarra Manning * Red *

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Book Synopsis'I loved this book for its depth and perception, for its beauty and eerie rhythms, but most of all for its wonderfully dream-like spell. It's breathtaking' Brandon TaylorA student moves to the city to research Gothic nudes, renting an apartment from a painter, Agnes, who lives in another town with her husband. One day, Agnes arrives in the city and settles into the upstairs studio.Agnes tells stories of her youth, her family, her marriage, and ideas for her art. As the months pass, it becomes clear that Agnes might not have a place to return to. Her stories are frenetic; her art scattered and unfinished, white paint on a white canvas.White on White is a sharp exploration of what it means to be truly vulnerable and laid bare.'Deeply humane, quietly devastating, mesmerisingly beautiful' Olivia Sudjic'Marvellous' Lauren Groff'Gentle, mysterious and profound' Marina Abramovic'Enthralling' Observer'An exceptionally elegant, intelligent, and original writer' Sigrid NunezTrade ReviewA deeply humane, quietly devastating, mesmerisingly beautiful masterpiece. -- Olivia SudjicWhite on White is an ambitious palette. * New York Times *[An] oddly enthralling tale about a postgrad student bearing witness to an artist's marital breakdown -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *Marvelous, as elegant as an opaque sheet of ice that belies the swift and turbulent waters beneath. -- Lauren GroffA haunting, irresistible novel. I loved this book for its depth and perception, for its beauty and eerie rhythms, but most of all for its wonderfully dream-like spell. It's breathtaking. -- Brandon Taylor

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK DISCOVER AWARD 2022Where were you when Keisha the Sket first broke the internet?Keisha is a girl from the ends, sharp, feisty and ambitious; she's been labelled 'top sket' but she's making it work. When childhood crush and long-time admirer, Ricardo, finally wins her over, Keisha has it all: power, a love life and the chance for stability. But trauma comes knocking and with it a whirlwind of choices that will define what kind of a woman she truly wants to be.Told with the heart and soul of the inner city, with an unforgettable heroine, Keisha the Sket is a revelation of the true, raw, arousing and tender core of British youth culture.Complete with essays from esteemed contemporary writers Candice Carty-Williams, Caleb Femi and Aniefiok Ekpoudom.Trade ReviewKeisha the Sket is truly a crucial part of not just Black Brit literature, but British literature as a whole. * Bolu Babalola *Our literary foremother. * Candice Carty-Williams *Keisha the Sket accidentally decolonised literature. * Black Ballad *'Reading Keisha the Sket as an adult makes me swoon at the richness of its nostalgia. * Caleb Femi *British answer to Gossip Girl. * Dazed *

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Book SynopsisA rapturous novel about a young chef whose discovery of pleasure alters her life and, indirectly, the world'A rich novel of ideas' GUARDIAN'A tasty treat' iNEWS'A genius balance of page-turning and lyrical prose' INDEPENDENT'A sharp, sensual piece of art. When I read I'm always searching for pleasure, for the want, and this book helped me feel something' RAVEN LEILANI'It's rare to read anything that feels this unique. A richly imagined, ambitious, and haunting novel' GABRIELLE ZEVIN'Truly exceptional' ROXANE GAYA smog has spread. Food crops are disappearing. A chef escapes her career in London to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world's troubles. There, her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch and her own body.In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and seductive violence, the chef's boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate.Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in alluring language, Land of Milk and Honey is a striking novel about food, sex and the intricacies of desire and longing.Praise for C Pam Zhang:'A blazing writer' Daisy Johnson'Truly gifted' Sebastian Barry'An arrestingly original writer' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewTruly superb -- Douglas StuartA brilliant, near-future fairytale, LAND OF MILK AND HONEY is the most sensuous novel about food I've ever read -- Emma DonoghueIt’s a captivating story that is alien without being too far-fetched. Zhang’s writing is laden with metaphors – particularly around food and sex – and while this could risk being overwritten, it fits the story perfectly. It’s a genius balance of page-turning storytelling and lyrical prose * Independent *Sensual . . . This is a rich novel of ideas, insisting on moral complexity in the end times. It’s also a startling prose hymn to food and sex, love and violence, power and resistance * Guardian *Zhang constructs an unsettling, vertiginous world. Her ornate style reflects the opulence her characters guard so closely, her command of sensory language is impressive, and it’s hard not be mesmerised by prose that is as rich and as startling as the food her protagonist prepares * Observer *It's rare to read anything that feels this unique. A richly imagined, ambitious, and haunting novel -- Gabrielle ZevinLand of Milk and Honey is truly exceptional -- Roxane GayZhang writes with the same fierce artistry, vivid detail and microscopic precision that would make even her own Michelin-star characters proud – an exceptionally and uniquely written tale of greed, optimism and the pursuit of perfection in the face of scarcity -- Sofia AkelLand of Milk and Honey is a sharp, sensual piece of art. Zhang writes about the appetites of the body, the uneasy coexistence of scarcity and plenty, and the pleasure and debasement of what is surrendered to survive. This is an incredible exploration of whether it is possible to preserve one's art when answering to a master that is not yourself. When I read I'm always searching for pleasure, for the want, and this book helped me feel something -- Raven LeilaniLand of Milk and Honey is as much a parable as a novel about the murky morals of the 0.1 per cent club. Required reading for them and a tasty treat for everyone else * iNews *No one writes like C. Pam Zhang. Ferocious, sensual, and all consuming, Land of Milk and Honey is both a heartsick elegy for a world we are on the verge of losing and vibrant homage to pleasure and appetite. This book swallowed me whole and spit me out changed in the best way: buzzing, astonished, and alive -- Rachel KhongThis is an astounding book -- Caleb Azumah NelsonA brilliant, all-too-prescient novel. Extraordinary in its prose, vision, and power, Land of Milk and Honey is a triumph of a book to devour now and to treasure through the ages -- R.O. KwonA twelve-course feast for the senses and intellect. C Pam Zhang is one of the most talented novelists writing today, and she has given us a novel that is original and painful and sensuous, a honey-and-acid tasting menu exploring pleasure, loss, sex, power, and resurrection -- Sarah Thankam MathewsA dazzling, virtuosic meditation on seeking joy amid tragedy, beauty amid ruin. As hypnotic as it is profound, Land of Milk and Honey showcases C Pam Zhang's singular talent -- Kirstin ChenGorgeous. What a delicious world Zhang has created-full of so much wonder. I'll be thinking for a long time about what this novel says about desire and morality; what it means to try to stave off extinction of oneself and world; what happens when we are forced to reckon with the lies we've spent years telling ourselves -- Kat ChowC Pam Zhang is an intoxicating and fearless prose stylist who seems to invent a new language with each book. . . the incantatory rhythms of desire that power [the novel] serve us horror and pleasure in each bite -- Meng JinIntoxicating, timely, and beautifully written. Pam Zhang's exquisite prose and prodigious talents are pushed to their brink in her new, dazzling novel -- Jamil Jan KochaiAn extremely atmospheric novel about the interplay of environmental destruction and class. The bittersweet aftertaste will leave you considering what you’d be willing to do — or resist doing — to experience the most essential pleasure * The Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisA rapturous novel about a young chef whose discovery of pleasure alters her life and, indirectly, the world'A rich novel of ideas' GUARDIAN'A tasty treat' iNEWS'A genius balance of page-turning and lyrical prose' INDEPENDENT'A sharp, sensual piece of art. When I read I'm always searching for pleasure, for the want, and this book helped me feel something' RAVEN LEILANI'It's rare to read anything that feels this unique. A richly imagined, ambitious, and haunting novel' GABRIELLE ZEVIN'Truly exceptional' ROXANE GAYA smog has spread. Food crops are disappearing. A chef escapes her career in London to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world's troubles. There, her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch and her own body.In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and seductive violence, the chef's boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate.Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in alluring language, Land of Milk and Honey is a striking novel about food, sex and the intricacies of desire and longing.Praise for C Pam Zhang:'A blazing writer' Daisy Johnson'Truly gifted' Sebastian Barry'An arrestingly original writer' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewTruly superb -- Douglas StuartA brilliant, near-future fairytale, LAND OF MILK AND HONEY is the most sensuous novel about food I've ever read -- Emma DonoghueIt’s a captivating story that is alien without being too far-fetched. Zhang’s writing is laden with metaphors – particularly around food and sex – and while this could risk being overwritten, it fits the story perfectly. It’s a genius balance of page-turning storytelling and lyrical prose * Independent *Sensual . . . This is a rich novel of ideas, insisting on moral complexity in the end times. It’s also a startling prose hymn to food and sex, love and violence, power and resistance * Guardian *Zhang constructs an unsettling, vertiginous world. Her ornate style reflects the opulence her characters guard so closely, her command of sensory language is impressive, and it’s hard not be mesmerised by prose that is as rich and as startling as the food her protagonist prepares * Observer *

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Book SynopsisCan you ever escape from the shadows of your past?'I couldn't put it down!' Sam Blake'The narrative is multi-layered and bound by emotional integrity.' Candis'A compelling story of love, relationships, and the grief of two families suffering traumatic losses.' Peterborough Evening Telegraph_________________Eighteen-year-old Emma has loving parents and a promising future ahead of her.So why, one morning, does she leave home without a trace?Her parents, Cath and Jim, are devastated. They have no idea why Emma left, where she is - or even whether she is still alive.A year later, Cath and Jim are still tormented by the unanswered questions Emma left behind, and clinging desperately to the hope of finding her.Meanwhile, tantalisingly close to home, Emma is also struggling with her new existence - and with the trauma that shattered her life.For all of them, reconciliation seems an impossible dream. Does the way forward lie in facing up to the secrets of the past - secrets that have been hidden for years?Secrets that have the power to heal them, or to destroy their family forever ..._________________Readers can't get enough of The Shadow Child ...'Make sure you have plenty of tissues nearby, you are going to need them.' Bunnys Pause'A touching and engaging read.' Sharon Beyond the Books'A compelling, complex book about the twisting paths of life, loss and hope.' Bookmarks and Stages'Beautifully written and I can't recommend it enough, it's just so brilliant!' Two Ladies and a Book'I loved this book.' Varietats'Overall I thought this was an excellent read, and one I couldn't put down!' Books Cats Etc 'It kept me turning the pages as I was drawn into all their lives.' LibcReads 'A book full of emotion, and a really great read.' Curling up with a coffee 'A truly lovely story that I would absolutely recommend.' Kim's Reading Adventure

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Book SynopsisGabrielle Levy's The Insomniac Society is the international phenomenon for those having sleepless night's everywhere . . . Five people. One thing in common: none of them can sleep.Claire, who sits awake beside a snoring husband and a little boy who is not hers. Jacques, a psychiatrist at the end of his career whose lonely nights are punctuated only by anonymous phone calls. Michèle, a retiree whose dark secret compels her out of bed and to church. Lena, a young goth who cannot brave the dawn, volunteering at a local café. Hervé, a shy accountant who sits in bed, panicking about his job while scrolling through emails into the early hours. As meetings led by sleep specialist Marie-Hélène draw them together, friendships will be formed and confessions made... but will they discover what's keeping them awake? And more importantly: will they be able to get to sleep?Trade ReviewGabrielle Levy does an admirable job characterising her hodgepodge collection of insomniacs and draws from a varied palette of types, demonstrating how anyone, from any strata of society, can lose their sleep * Buzz Magazine *

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Book SynopsisGabrielle Levy's The Insomniac Society is the international phenomenon for those having sleepless night's everywhere . . . Five people. One thing in common: none of them can sleep.Claire, who sits awake beside a snoring husband and a little boy who is not hers. Jacques, a psychiatrist at the end of his career whose lonely nights are punctuated only by anonymous phone calls. Michèle, a retiree whose dark secret compels her out of bed and to church. Lena, a young goth who cannot brave the dawn, volunteering at a local café. Hervé, a shy accountant who sits in bed, panicking about his job while scrolling through emails into the early hours. As meetings led by sleep specialist Marie-Hélène draw them together, friendships will be formed and confessions made... but will they discover what's keeping them awake? And more importantly: will they be able to get to sleep?Trade ReviewGabrielle Levy does an admirable job characterising her hodgepodge collection of insomniacs and draws from a varied palette of types, demonstrating how anyone, from any strata of society, can lose their sleep * Buzz Magazine *

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Book SynopsisNobody writes like Nell Dunn... always communally, with rare honesty, with love, and with calm and ground-breaking understanding... It's glorious. Ali Smith The Muse is all it could be; an act of sharing that goes beyond particular experience to take us to a happy realm of natural sisterhood. TLSNell Dunn has perfect pitch for the words we use and for the loves and mysteries of the human heart. Carmen Callil Defiant, funny and exhilarating. The Muse is so high-spirited and full of a sense of adventure. Margaret DrabbleThis slim volume is entertaining... You long to know more about Nell's lifeDaily MailThe Muse is the story of a life-changing friendship. It starts with Nell's account of a chance meeting with Josie at the age of 22.Josie teaches her how to live for moment, how to have adventures and find the sweetness of life even in hardship. This was the Sixties, a time of literary and sexual experimentation, of the breakdown of old barriers and inhibitions Even as she was hooking up with dodgy men, Josie always carried herself like a star, and as the inspiration for the ground-breaking novel of working class women Poor Cow and the play Steaming - both of which were made into movies - she became one, feted by producers on Broadway.Life is the thing, was Josie's motto. But where would her philosophy of taking no care for tomorrow lead her?In prose of unique clarity and simplicity that always gets straight to the heart of matter, The Muse follows this friendship over the decades.

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Book SynopsisNobody writes like Nell Dunn... always communally, with rare honesty, with love, and with calm and ground-breaking understanding... It's glorious. Ali Smith The Muse is all it could be; an act of sharing that goes beyond particular experience to take us to a happy realm of natural sisterhood. TLSNell Dunn has perfect pitch for the words we use and for the loves and mysteries of the human heart. Carmen Callil Defiant, funny and exhilarating. The Muse is so high-spirited and full of a sense of adventure. Margaret DrabbleThis slim volume is entertaining... You long to know more about Nell's lifeDaily MailThe Muse is the story of a life-changing friendship. It starts with Nell's account of a chance meeting with Josie at the age of 22.Josie teaches her how to live for moment, how to have adventures and find the sweetness of life even in hardship. This was the Sixties, a time of literary and sexual experimentation, of the breakdown of old barriers and inhibitions Even as she was hooking up with dodgy men, Josie always carried herself like a star, and as the inspiration for the ground-breaking novel of working class women Poor Cow and the play Steaming - both of which were made into movies - she became one, feted by producers on Broadway.Life is the thing, was Josie's motto. But where would her philosophy of taking no care for tomorrow lead her?In prose of unique clarity and simplicity that always gets straight to the heart of matter, The Muse follows this friendship over the decades.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WRITERS' GUILD BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE HOLYER AN GOF LITERARY FICTION AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD'This unsparing debut novel portrays the unromantic side of Cornwall few visitors see and which so many novelists choose to overlook. Charlie Carroll inhabits his damaged heroine completely' Patrick Gale'A moving and affecting novel about life on the edge, with a very special flavour of wild and rugged Cornwall.' Emma Stonex, author of THE LAMPLIGHTERSAway from the hotels and holiday lets, there is an unseen side of Cornwall, where the shifting uncertainties of the future breed resentment and mistrust.Melody Janie is hidden. She lives alone in a caravan in Bones Break: a small cliff-top on Cornwall's north coast. She spends her time roaming her territory, spying on passing tourists and ramblers, and remembering. She sees everything and yet remains unseen.However, when a stranger enters her life, she is forced to confront not only him but the terrible tragedies of her past.The Lip is a novel about childhood, isolation and mental health, told in the unique and unforgettable voice of Melody Janie.'All of this is Bones Break. All of this is mine. I know every inch of it; I know it as intimately as the seagulls. I stand at dead-centre, my feet teetering on the edge of the lip. Below, the thundering tattoo of waves on rock. Wind catches the tips of my hair, lifting them above my ribs: less force than it takes to knock me down; enough to make me right myself with a step to the left, and then another back again. Here on the lip, it is vital to know where my feet are.'Trade ReviewThis unsparing debut novel portrays the unromantic side of Cornwall few visitors see and which so many novelists choose to overlook. Charlie Carroll inhabits his damaged heroine so completely, and with so little trace of first-novel-ego that I can't wait to see what he writes next; I suspect his publishers have backed a winner. * Patrick Gale *Atmospheric, haunting writing, a heroine you instantly love. * Ilona Bannister, author of When I Ran Away *Viscerally described... I'm still thinking about it. * The Daily Mail *[Melody Janie's] life weaves intimately close to this place, vesting a lyrical magic over these weather-beaten landscapes. * The Telegraph *A novel as much about isolation as it is grief, mental health and enforced change, it builds to a moving conclusion with a mighty twist. With The Lip now added to his repertoire, Carroll is proving to be very much like a modern-day Orwell, with social awareness and humanity at the core of what he writes. * Buzz Magazine *A moving and affecting novel about life on the edge, with a very special flavour of wild and rugged Cornwall. * Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters *Beautiful. . . the last time I read a book that affected me as much as this one it was The Loney. * The Bookbag *Beautifully complex, heartbreaking and atmospheric. I was completely immersed in Melody Janie's world and really 'got' the possessive charge of her land and the past that she was trying so desperately to save. Fabulous read. * LV Matthews, author of The Prank *Redeeming and beautiful and full of brave characters and heart. . . I bloody loved it. The story grew roots that went far deeper than I expected. I found myself racing to the climax and it was executed perfectly. A triumph.' * Ericka Waller, author of Dog Days *Really enjoyed the story of Melody Janie, a young Cornish woman struggling to come to terms with a recent bereavement in an environment which, although wild and beautiful, only echoes her grief and isolation. . . I loved The Lip and particularly the mental health story line which is such an important one. Brilliantly written, too.' * Mary Karras, author of The Making of Mrs Petrakis * A moving meditation on making judgements, on place, home and independence. * Zoe Somerville, author of The Night of the Flood *I loved this story of Melody Janie, and her life lived on the very edge. The sense of connection after disconnection is so movingly and subtly evoked, as we see distrust and fear turning, eventually, to understanding and tenderness. The Lip is a stirring reminder that each of us has the capacity to make a big difference in small ways. Throughout, the Cornish coast is powerfully conjured, as beautiful as it is brutal, and perfectly in keeping with a story that manages to be both uplifting and uncompromising. * Emylia Hall, author of The Book of Summers *A powerful story, poignant, and beautifully told. Melody Janie's past and present come alive in a voice that moved me and will stay with me for a long time. * Matson Taylor, author of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth *

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Book Synopsis Set in the final days before a shocking tragedy forces an elite boarding school to shut its doors for good, Ellie Eaton's The Divines is a razor-sharp debut that asks the question: were you really as good as you remember?I am Divine. My mother was Divine and her mother before that, which isn't uncommon. Although that was at a time when being Divine meant something . . .The girls of elite English boarding school, St. John the Divine, were notorious for flipping their hair, harassing teachers, chasing boys and chain-smoking cigarettes. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cutting in the way that only teenage girls can be. But for Josephine, now in her thirties, her time at St. John feels like a lifetime ago. She hasn't spoken to another Divine in fifteen years, not since the day the school shut its doors in disgrace . . .But an impromptu visit reawakens blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community. With each memory that resurfaces, she circles closer to the ugly secret at the heart of the school's scandal. But the more Josephine recalls, the further her life unravels, derailing not just her marriage and career, but her entire sense of self.With the emotional power of My Dark Vanessa and the reflective haze of The Girls, The Divines is a compulsive debut exploring the intoxicating, destructive relationships between teenage girls. 'A cool, chilling and elegant novel' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent'Perfectly twisted . . . Impossible to put down' Refinery29'Captivating' Vulture'An explosive debut' StylistTrade ReviewA dark delight . . . The Divines is perfectly twisted in its reflection of an utterly toxic environment, making it impossible to put down till you get to its end. * Refinery29 *Chilling and twisty, this story will have you at once compelled, and cringing at the awfulness of teenage girls * Cosmopolitan *Exploring the destructive relationships of teenage girls and the echoes they have on our grown lives, this is an explosive debut * Stylist *This elegant tale of class privilege and bullying at an exclusive girl's boarding school in the 90s makes you feel as though you are trapped alongside conflicted protagonist Josephine * iNews, Best Books of 2021 *Remembering the girls of St. John the Divine, Josephine, in her 30s, ruminates on her bullying days at boarding school. In this captivating debut novel, Ellie Eaton traces adolescent female sexuality, class divides, and the weight of formative memories on adults * New York Magazine *Compelling and very atmospheric. Really interesting on how we remember the past and carry it with us * Kate Sawyer, author of THE STRANDING *THE DIVINES is a cool, chilling and elegant novel that intrigues and compels the reader, while filleting the absurdities of British class hierarchy with a very, very sharp knife. In Eaton's stylish and controlled prose, the oppressive atmosphere of a girls' boarding school becomes the site of a violent and mysterious act, but also a lens through which to examine the intoxicating and unnerving power of adolescent sexuality, the dangers and consolations of friendship, and the toxic nature of the class divide. It's a terrific, entertaining and astute work and one of considerable relevance to the way we live now. * Sarah Perry, author of THE ESSEX SERPENT *A potent novel about what it means to remember and how responsible we are for the actions of our youth. Seething with teenage sexuality, friendship and that peculiarly British obsession, class, this is an absorbing read * Araminta Hall *'Girls are vicious,' a character in The Divines says towards the end, and Ellie Eaton has given us every ounce of that viciousness, meticulously portioned and weighed, the pain of it held up to the light. Seductive and uncomfortable in equal measure, the real raw strange runs through this book, that indigestible part of the human experience we all choke on from time to time * Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen and The Girls from Corona Del Mar *The Divines is an absorbing, sharp exploration of the ways our adolescent secrets, relationships, and cruelties shape and haunt us into adulthood. Ellie Eaton's writing is thrilling and intoxicating, whether about the inexplicable power teenage girls have over one another or the challenges of defining a self outside of long-held traditions. A compulsively readable book; I couldn't put it down * Alexandra Chang, author of Days of Distraction *From the very first page, The Divines throws the reader headfirst into the crucible of adolescent girlhood, in all its insecurity and entitlement, brittle vulnerability and callous cruelty. Eaton turns a keen eye toward class, privilege, and trauma, but this novel is above all a ruthlessly compassionate exploration of the stories we tell ourselves about the past-our drive to assuage our regrets, even as we are reluctant to reckon with their repercussions. A confident, nuanced, impeccably paced debut * Micah Nemerever, author of These Violent Delights *The Divines is a scintillating coming-of-age story about the brutal bonds of female boarding school friendships, class prejudices, and the ways in which false memories can take the place of truth. Sephine is an unflinching and utterly convincing narrator. I lapped up every delicious detail * Susie Yang, author of White Ivy *A nostalgia filled story, full of the intensity of adolescent friendships * Best Magazine *

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Book Synopsis Set in the final days before a shocking tragedy forces an elite boarding school to shut its doors for good, Ellie Eaton's The Divines is a razor-sharp debut that asks the question: were you really as good as you remember?I am Divine. My mother was Divine and her mother before that, which isn't uncommon. Although that was at a time when being Divine meant something . . .The girls of elite English boarding school, St. John the Divine, were notorious for flipping their hair, harassing teachers, chasing boys and chain-smoking cigarettes. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cutting in the way that only teenage girls can be. But for Josephine, now in her thirties, her time at St. John feels like a lifetime ago. She hasn't spoken to another Divine in fifteen years, not since the day the school shut its doors in disgrace . . .But an impromptu visit reawakens blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community. With each memory that resurfaces, she circles closer to the ugly secret at the heart of the school's scandal. But the more Josephine recalls, the further her life unravels, derailing not just her marriage and career, but her entire sense of self.With the emotional power of My Dark Vanessa and the reflective haze of The Girls, The Divines is a compulsive debut exploring the intoxicating, destructive relationships between teenage girls. 'A cool, chilling and elegant novel' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent'Perfectly twisted . . . Impossible to put down' Refinery29'Captivating' Vulture'An explosive debut' StylistTrade ReviewA dark delight . . . The Divines is perfectly twisted in its reflection of an utterly toxic environment, making it impossible to put down till you get to its end. * Refinery29 *Chilling and twisty, this story will have you at once compelled, and cringing at the awfulness of teenage girls * Cosmopolitan *Exploring the destructive relationships of teenage girls and the echoes they have on our grown lives, this is an explosive debut * Stylist *This elegant tale of class privilege and bullying at an exclusive girl's boarding school in the 90s makes you feel as though you are trapped alongside conflicted protagonist Josephine * iNews, Best Books of 2021 *Remembering the girls of St. John the Divine, Josephine, in her 30s, ruminates on her bullying days at boarding school. In this captivating debut novel, Ellie Eaton traces adolescent female sexuality, class divides, and the weight of formative memories on adults * New York Magazine *Compelling and very atmospheric. Really interesting on how we remember the past and carry it with us * Kate Sawyer, author of THE STRANDING *THE DIVINES is a cool, chilling and elegant novel that intrigues and compels the reader, while filleting the absurdities of British class hierarchy with a very, very sharp knife. In Eaton's stylish and controlled prose, the oppressive atmosphere of a girls' boarding school becomes the site of a violent and mysterious act, but also a lens through which to examine the intoxicating and unnerving power of adolescent sexuality, the dangers and consolations of friendship, and the toxic nature of the class divide. It's a terrific, entertaining and astute work and one of considerable relevance to the way we live now. * Sarah Perry, author of THE ESSEX SERPENT *A potent novel about what it means to remember and how responsible we are for the actions of our youth. Seething with teenage sexuality, friendship and that peculiarly British obsession, class, this is an absorbing read * Araminta Hall *'Girls are vicious,' a character in The Divines says towards the end, and Ellie Eaton has given us every ounce of that viciousness, meticulously portioned and weighed, the pain of it held up to the light. Seductive and uncomfortable in equal measure, the real raw strange runs through this book, that indigestible part of the human experience we all choke on from time to time * Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen and The Girls from Corona Del Mar *The Divines is an absorbing, sharp exploration of the ways our adolescent secrets, relationships, and cruelties shape and haunt us into adulthood. Ellie Eaton's writing is thrilling and intoxicating, whether about the inexplicable power teenage girls have over one another or the challenges of defining a self outside of long-held traditions. A compulsively readable book; I couldn't put it down * Alexandra Chang, author of Days of Distraction *From the very first page, The Divines throws the reader headfirst into the crucible of adolescent girlhood, in all its insecurity and entitlement, brittle vulnerability and callous cruelty. Eaton turns a keen eye toward class, privilege, and trauma, but this novel is above all a ruthlessly compassionate exploration of the stories we tell ourselves about the past-our drive to assuage our regrets, even as we are reluctant to reckon with their repercussions. A confident, nuanced, impeccably paced debut * Micah Nemerever, author of These Violent Delights *The Divines is a scintillating coming-of-age story about the brutal bonds of female boarding school friendships, class prejudices, and the ways in which false memories can take the place of truth. Sephine is an unflinching and utterly convincing narrator. I lapped up every delicious detail * Susie Yang, author of White Ivy *A nostalgia filled story, full of the intensity of adolescent friendships * Best Magazine *

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Book Synopsis'A beautifully crafted book from a wonderful storyteller. It sings with humanity.' Sarah WinmanAUSTRALIAN INDIE BOOK AWARD WINNER 2020 BOOK OF THE YEAR & FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE 2020PRAGUE, 1938: Eva flies down the street. A man steps out suddenly.Eva runs into him, hits the pavement hard. His hat is in the gutter.His anger slaps Eva, but his hate will change everything,as war forces so many lives into small brown suitcases.PRAGUE, 1980: No one sees Ludek. A young boy can slip right underthe heavy blanket that covers this city - the fear cannot touch him.Ludek is free. And he sees everything. The world can do what it likes.The world can go to hell for all he cares because Babi is waitingfor him in the warm flat. She is his whole world.MELBOURNE, 1980: Mala Liska's grandma holds her hand as they climbthe stairs to their third floor flat. Inside, the smell of warm pipetobacco and homemade cakes. Here, Mana and Bill have made alife for themselves and their granddaughter. A life imbued withthe spirit of Prague and the loved ones left behind.Because there is still love. No matter what.Trade ReviewMeticulously observed and masterfully crafted * Books and Publishing *A beautifully crafted book from a wonderful storyteller. It sings with humanity. * Sarah Winman, author of Tin Man *Beautifully layered and complex * Canberra Times *Breathtaking, poignant, hauntingly beautiful * Rachel Joyce on When the Night Comes *If you only read one book this year, make sure it's this. * The Sunday Times on Past the Shallows *

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Book Synopsis'A beautifully crafted book from a wonderful storyteller. It sings with humanity.' Sarah WinmanAUSTRALIAN INDIE BOOK AWARD WINNER 2020 BOOK OF THE YEAR & FICTION BOOK OF THE YEARSHORTLISTED FOR THE STELLA PRIZE 2020PRAGUE, 1938: Eva flies down the street. A man steps out suddenly.Eva runs into him, hits the pavement hard. His hat is in the gutter.His anger slaps Eva, but his hate will change everything,as war forces so many lives into small brown suitcases.PRAGUE, 1980: No one sees Ludek. A young boy can slip right underthe heavy blanket that covers this city - the fear cannot touch him.Ludek is free. And he sees everything. The world can do what it likes.The world can go to hell for all he cares because Babi is waitingfor him in the warm flat. She is his whole world.MELBOURNE, 1980: Mala Liska's grandma holds her hand as they climbthe stairs to their third floor flat. Inside, the smell of warm pipetobacco and homemade cakes. Here, Mana and Bill have made alife for themselves and their granddaughter. A life imbued withthe spirit of Prague and the loved ones left behind.Because there is still love. No matter what.Trade ReviewMeticulously observed and masterfully crafted * Books and Publishing *A beautifully crafted book from a wonderful storyteller. It sings with humanity. * Sarah Winman, author of Tin Man *Beautifully layered and complex * Canberra Times *Breathtaking, poignant, hauntingly beautiful * Rachel Joyce on When the Night Comes *If you only read one book this year, make sure it's this. * The Sunday Times on Past the Shallows *

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Book Synopsis'ANDREW MILLER'S WRITING IS A SOURCE OF WONDER AND DELIGHT' Hilary Mantel 'ONE OF OUR MOST SKILFUL CHRONICLERS OF THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND' Sunday Times'Sublime' Independent 'Masterful' Sunday Times 'Beautiful' Spectator A profound and tender tale of guilt, the search for atonement and the hard, uncertain work of loving from the critically acclaimed author of PureAn ex-soldier and recovering alcoholic living quietly in Somerset, Stephen Rose has just begun to form a bond with Maggie, the daughter he barely knows, when he receives a summons - to an inquiry in Belfast about an incident during the Troubles, which he hoped he had long outdistanced. Now, to testify about it could wreck his fragile relationship with Maggie. And if he loses her, he loses everything. He decides instead to write her an account of his life - a confession, a defence, a love letter. Also a means of buying time. But as time runs out, the day comes when he must face again what happened in that distant summer of 1982. PRAISE FOR ANDREW MILLER 'Unique, visionary, a master at unmasking humanity' Sarah Hall 'A writer of very rare and outstanding gifts' Independent on Sunday 'A highly intelligent writer, both exciting and contemplative' The Times 'A wonderful storyteller' SpectatorTrade ReviewThe theme is handled in a way that is bolder and more exquisitely menacing than anything he's done before . . . It's all real, and all fictional, gorgeously so. You read what might have been a perfectly commonplace story of failure and redemption with your pulse racing, all your senses awake . . . restrained, beautifully written -- Elizabeth Lowry * Guardian *I spent the first half of The Slowworm's Song in a sort of ecstasy, marvelling at Miller's masterful characterisation; his confident evocation of army life and sensitive depiction of the Troubles; the nuanced exploration of alcoholism; the clean, well-made prose style studded with moments of descriptive beauty . . . Stephen is an unforgettable character, and Miller has pulled off the miraculous feat of sketching a full human life in a few hundred pages -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *A beautiful, lambent, timely novel that admits our worst capacities while insisting on accountability and our ability to improve. Andrew Miller is among those brave male writers steering a progressive course. Yet he remains, as ever, unique, visionary, a master at unmasking humanity * Sarah Hall *Gorgeously written . . . it approaches the Troubles from a unique angle . . . Since his debut, Ingenious Pain, Miller has shown a knack for historical immersion, and he continues to excel in it here -- Ethan Croft * Literary Review *The focused interiority of Stephen's narration, together with the slowburning fuse of a plot, make for a quiet intensity that stretches the nerves . . . this empathic and artful novel is about both the mysteries we are to ourselves, and the power of speech -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *A painful yet beautiful novel . . . Miller is a wonderful storyteller, as comfortable writing about the Napoleonic wars as the Troubles . . . In this novel, Stephen's reckoning may be extreme but his message is universal -- Susie Mesure * Spectator *The multiple award-winning author of Pure returns with a tender, compelling and exquisitely written novel of extraordinary power . . . Exploring a brutal chapter in the unhappy and sometimes shameful history of Northern Ireland, this wonderful novel is also a story of atonement and redemption -- Edward Argyle * Daily Express *Miller tackles big themes and weaves a profound and poignant tale about shame, trauma and the possibility of redemption -- Lucy Popescu, Summer Reading * Tablet *Andrew Miller's gentle, beautifully crafted sentences belie the often brutal truths behind the narrative. The image of the slowworm, silent and sinister, finding its way into the precious earth, is set against a song of light and life that won't be silenced -- Victoria Barry * Scotsman *Andrew Miller is one of our finest writers. Few can match his sensitivity of touch, eye for telling detail and acute feel for setting . . . The passages describing Rose's military duty are impeccably researched and viscerally real -- Peter Carty * i *The sections detailing Stephen's army life, and particularly those covering his tour of duty in Belfast, are excellent: immersive in their detail and atmosphere . . . [Miller] has sufficient decorum, talent and sensitivity to do justice to his delicate subject matter -- Rob Doyle * Observer *His evocation of squaddie life rings absolutely true . . . It's deeply moving to see how this self-torturing individual gradually learns that he's surrounded by helpers, often in the unlikeliest of guises, while tiny flowers of grace spring up in stony places -- Suzi Feay * Tablet *There is no easy resolution, and that is why The Slowworm's Song . . . is so affecting. It is about truth, objective or otherwise, and about the attempts of flawed human beings to live with it -- Nicholas Clee * Times Literary Supplement *A poignant and profound tale of a man seeking atonement -- Joanne Finney * Good Housekeeping *A stunning work of fiction, a beautifully written tale of conflict and family fracture . . . The Slowworm's Song is a sublime reminder of how a great novel can have such a deep impact -- Martin Chilton * Independent *Moving and compassionate * Reader's Digest *It's difficult not to be moved by Stephen's heartfelt words as he comes face to face with what happened in that 1982 summer * Belfast Telegraph *It reads truer than memoir . . . A state-of-the-nation novel, in elegiac prose * New York Times Book Review *Expertly paced . . . as taut as a thriller . . . Miller, with his acute eye for detail and his practiced sense of timing, describes these Belfast streets and this soldier's experience so plainly and yet so evocatively that both become new again * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisSet in 1940s Paris, this bittersweet international bestseller this is the perfect novel for fans of A Man Called Ove, My Name is Lucy Barton and The Guest CatA psychiatrist is counting down towards his upcoming retirement. He lives alone in his childhood home and has neither friends nor family.Often, he resorts to drawing bird caricatures of his patients instead of taking notes. His social life consists of brief conversations with his meticulous secretary Madame Surrugue, who has reigned over the clinic for more than thirty years. The two of them have no relationship outside the office, where everything runs smoothly and uneventfully.Until one day, that is, when a young German woman called Agatha arrives and demands to see the doctor and he soon realizes that underneath her fragile exterior is a strong and fascinating woman. The doctor and Agatha embark upon a course of therapy together, a process that forces the doctor to confront his fear of true intimacy outside the clinic. But is it too late to reconsider your existence as a 71-year-old?'A shrewd, skilful tale of loneliness, the search for meaning and a place in the world, and the problems of truly relating to another human being.' IndependentTrade ReviewA shrewd, skilful tale of loneliness, the search for meaning and a place in the world, and the problems of truly relating to another human being. The end is sorrowful and joyful. * Independent Books of the Month *Short but satisfying . . . uplifting. * Herald *Charming, funny and packed with insight. * Irish Times *Astounding * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *A touching, subtle and gently funny story of rediscovering one's purpose later in life. * Bookish Beck *

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