Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction

Book Synopsis'It was a strange time. He felt like he was happy. It was strange because it wasn't so long ago that he was convinced the only way out of the depression that had crippled him since he was a child, was death.' But now, he is on a high-speed train travelling from Rome to Modena, a failed novelist on the tail of a famous physicist whose memoir he is ghostwriting. The more of another man's life he writes, the more his debt to his publisher is paid off. But nothing would be possible, not the journey, not the writing, not his beautiful wife who is waiting for him at the hotel, had he not experienced the life-altering, life-saving treatment for the darkness which had been hovering since the chemical spill in West Virginia.As the narrator untangles the past in his bid to rewrite the future, he spirals across time, exploring memory, our sense of self and the ways we are connected. A devastating insight into depression, it's also a mind-expanding, exhilarating experience of the power of psychedelic therapy to transform a life.Trade ReviewThe Red Arrow feels like a book that's gently tapping on your brain from a different dimension. It's an astonishing portrait of a distressed mind searching for peace and hope and harmony, and finding it in the most sublime of places. Deeply insightful and often hilarious, it's a dazzling head-trip of a novel, and a profound delight -- Nathan Hill, author of THE NIXExceptional . . . deeply moving -- Fiona Mozley

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Book Synopsis'Insightful and often hilarious . . . a dazzling head-trip of a novel' Nathan Hill, author of The NixWhen a once-promising young writer agrees to ghostwrite a famous physicist's memoir, his livelihood is already in jeopardy: plagued by debt, he's grown distant from his wife - asuccessful AI designer - and is haunted by an overwhelming sense of dread he describes as 'The Mist'. Then, things get worse. The physicist vanishes, leaving everything in limbo, including our narrator's sanity.'Exquisite . . . Brewer's evocation of the Mist is among the most accurate and insightful depictions of depression I've ever read' Los Angeles TimesTrade ReviewThe Red Arrow feels like a book that's gently tapping on your brain from a different dimension. It's an astonishing portrait of a distressed mind searching for peace and hope and harmony, and finding it in the most sublime of places. Deeply insightful and often hilarious, it's a dazzling head-trip of a novel, and a profound delight -- Nathan Hill, author of THE NIXExceptional . . . deeply moving -- Fiona Mozley

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Book Synopsis'Kit Fielding's debut is a triumph. A story told with brutal honesty, underpinned by humour, love, hope and the inestimable power of friendship.' RUTH HOGAN, author of The Keeper of Lost Things In every pub in every town unspoken stories lie beneath the surface.Each week, six women meet at The Bluebell Inn. They form an unlikely and occasionally triumphant ladies darts team. They banter and jibe, they laugh. But their hidden stories of love and loss are what, in the end, will bind them. There is Mary, full of it but cradling her dark secret; Lena - young and bold, she has made her choice; the cat woman who must return to the place of her birth before it's too late. There's Maggie, still laying out the place for her husband; and Pegs, the dark-eyed girl from the travellers' site bringing her strangeness and first love. And Katy: unappreciated. Open to an offer. They know little of each other's lives. But here they gather and weave a delicate and sustaining connection that maybe they can rely on as the crossroads on their individual paths threaten to overwhelm.With humanity and insight, Kit Fielding reveals the great love that lies at the heart of female friendship.Raw, funny and devastating, all of life can be found at the Bluebell.Trade ReviewA story told with brutal honesty underpinned by humour, love, hope and the inestimable power of friendship. Kit Fielding's debut is a triumph. * Ruth Hogan, Author of bestselling The Keeper of Lost Things *

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Book Synopsis'Kit Fielding's debut is a triumph. A story told with brutal honesty, underpinned by humour, love, hope and the inestimable power of friendship.' RUTH HOGAN, author of The Keeper of Lost Things In every pub in every town unspoken stories lie beneath the surface.Each week, six women meet at The Bluebell Inn. They form an unlikely and occasionally triumphant ladies darts team. They banter and jibe, they laugh. But their hidden stories of love and loss are what, in the end, will bind them. There is Mary, full of it but cradling her dark secret; Lena - young and bold, she has made her choice; the cat woman who must return to the place of her birth before it's too late. There's Maggie, still laying out the place for her husband; and Pegs, the dark-eyed girl from the travellers' site bringing her strangeness and first love. And Katy: unappreciated. Open to an offer. They know little of each other's lives. But here they gather and weave a delicate and sustaining connection that maybe they can rely on as the crossroads on their individual paths threaten to overwhelm.With humanity and insight, Kit Fielding reveals the great love that lies at the heart of female friendship.Raw, funny and devastating, all of life can be found at the Bluebell.Trade ReviewA story told with brutal honesty underpinned by humour, love, hope and the inestimable power of friendship. Kit Fielding's debut is a triumph. * Ruth Hogan, Author of bestselling The Keeper of Lost Things *

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Book Synopsis'A complete rollercoaster romp of a story... Kit has a created cast of heroes and villains whose escapades leave the reader crying with laughter and gasping with horror... But the story also has an emotional depth and poignancy which resonates long after the final page has been turned.' - Ruth HoganNow if you were a poor Gypsy mush, who'd had a run of bad luck and whose ever-loving was done with managing on thin air, and someone was to offer you a lucrative run of work, what would you do? Okay, so it's not legit, but sometimes it's got to be worth the risk. You could buy your lovely Zilla all that her heart desires, you could stand your rounds at the kitchema without counting the money in your pocket, update your van, put a deposit on a bit of ground to call your own.So you do it, you take the work and you take the risk, but then it all blows up in your face and you've pulled your loved ones into danger. Well worse than danger. And now you're going to have to take yourself away, disappear from sight. Be the undead playing at being dead. By the author of Thursday Nights at the Bluebell Inn, this Own Voices novel reveals, with compassion and humour, the precarious lives of its characters in a story where, sometimes, the mystical and the everyday worlds converge.

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Book Synopsis'A complete rollercoaster romp of a story... Kit has a created cast of heroes and villains whose escapades leave the reader crying with laughter and gasping with horror... But the story also has an emotional depth and poignancy which resonates long after the final page has been turned.' - Ruth HoganNow if you were a poor Gypsy mush, who'd had a run of bad luck and whose ever-loving was done with managing on thin air, and someone was to offer you a lucrative run of work, what would you do? Okay, so it's not legit, but sometimes it's got to be worth the risk. You could buy your lovely Zilla all that her heart desires, you could stand your rounds at the kitchema without counting the money in your pocket, update your van, put a deposit on a bit of ground to call your own.So you do it, you take the work and you take the risk, but then it all blows up in your face and you've pulled your loved ones into danger. Well worse than danger. And now you're going to have to take yourself away, disappear from sight. Be the undead playing at being dead. By the author of Thursday Nights at the Bluebell Inn, this Own Voices novel reveals, with compassion and humour, the precarious lives of its characters in a story where, sometimes, the mystical and the everyday worlds converge.

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Book Synopsis'[An] evocative tale of identity, friendship and unexpected love' Mail on Sunday'Marks Okoh as an exciting new voice in contemporary fiction.' AnOther magazine'A brilliant read' CloserAfter a bad break up, 25-year-old Osayuki Isahosa leaves behind everything she holds dear in London to return to Lagos, Nigeria: a country she hasn't set foot in for many years. Drawn by the transformations happening in the fashion industry in the city, she accepts a job at House of Martha as their Head of PR. While waiting at Milan airport for her connecting flight to Lagos she meets Cynthia Okoye and Kian Bajo. Cynthia Okoye is a 21-year-old recent graduate whose laissez-faire attitude to life has become her undoing. Unsure of how else to help put her life back on track, her father banishes her to live with his brother in the capital city where she's required to attend the National Youth Service Corps. Kian Bajo is a wannabe Afrobeat star whose left everything he knows in London to make it big in Lagos., Enthralled by the international success of young artists from his motherland, he will go to any lengths to conquer the Lagos music scene. After the plane lands at the Lagos airport, they all go their separate ways but their lives will intertwine again and change the course of their lives forever.Trade Review[An] evocative tale of identity, friendship and unexpected love. * Mail on Sunday *An intoxicating tale of love, identity, and friendship. * Lunate.co.uk *Marks Okoh as an exciting new voice in contemporary fiction. * AnOther magazine *A brilliant read * Closer *

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Book Synopsis'[An] evocative tale of identity, friendship and unexpected love' Mail on Sunday'Marks Okoh as an exciting new voice in contemporary fiction.' AnOther magazine'A brilliant read' CloserAfter a bad break up, 25-year-old Osayuki Isahosa leaves behind everything she holds dear in London to return to Lagos, Nigeria: a country she hasn't set foot in for many years. Drawn by the transformations happening in the fashion industry in the city, she accepts a job at House of Martha as their Head of PR. While waiting at Milan airport for her connecting flight to Lagos she meets Cynthia Okoye and Kian Bajo. Cynthia Okoye is a 21-year-old recent graduate whose laissez-faire attitude to life has become her undoing. Unsure of how else to help put her life back on track, her father banishes her to live with his brother in the capital city where she's required to attend the National Youth Service Corps. Kian Bajo is a wannabe Afrobeat star whose left everything he knows in London to make it big in Lagos., Enthralled by the international success of young artists from his motherland, he will go to any lengths to conquer the Lagos music scene. After the plane lands at the Lagos airport, they all go their separate ways but their lives will intertwine again and change the course of their lives forever.Trade Review[An] evocative tale of identity, friendship and unexpected love. * Mail on Sunday *An intoxicating tale of love, identity, and friendship. * Lunate.co.uk *Marks Okoh as an exciting new voice in contemporary fiction. * AnOther magazine *A brilliant read * Closer *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times bestseller from Graham Norton'A magnificent novelist.' STUART HERITAGE for THE GUARDIAN'Blend[s] dark humour and emotional weight with ease.' RADIO TIMES'His best yet.' THE SUNDAY POST 'Full of Graham's trademark warmth and wit. It's also a complex mystery that ties its characters together in ways they'd least expect.' SUNDAY EXPRESS'Dark, funny, full of emotional intelligence and gripping from the start. ..beautifully written... Wonderful.' DAILY MAIL'Beautifully constructed with a twisty plot ... the perfect mix of levity and melancholy. A cracking read.' JO BRAND'A winning mix of family drama and comedy crime caper ... you may well find yourself reading it in one sitting.' HEAT'Oh my GOD Forever Home is FABULOUS... His skill at gimlet-eyed observation and nuanced characterisation is *chef's kiss* but this book is SO FUNNY... It's a DELIGHT.' MARIAN KEYESCarol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland, her only son now grown. A second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and belonging. The new relationship sparks local speculation: what does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned them all those years ago? But the gossip only serves to bring the couple closer.When Declan becomes ill, things start to fall apart. His children are untrusting and cruel, and Carol is forced to leave their beloved home with its worn oak floors and elegant features and move back in with her parents.Carol's mother is determined to get to the bottom of things, she won't see her daughter suffer in this way. It seems there are secrets in Declan's past, strange rumours that were never confronted and suddenly the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance. In his tense and darkly comic new novel Norton casts a light on the relationship between mothers and daughters, and truth and self-preservation with unnerving effect.'Effortlessly readable, possessed of a super twist and full of rounded characters to keep close to your heart.' THE OBSERVER'What a fabulous read... Forever Home is his best so far. It's a complex and compelling story - truly unputdownable - but most importantly for me, it has real heart.' MARY LAWSON'The latest comedy noir by Graham Norton features fractured families at their worst. I loved it!' LIZ NUGENT 'A tale of new beginnings and old secrets. Norton is the king of the Irish small town mystery.' ANNE GRIFFIN

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Book Synopsis'FABULOUS' MARIAN KEYES'Top-notch... full of warmth, comedy and dark secrets.' DAILY MIRROR'Beautifully constructed with a twisty plot. A cracking read.' JO BRAND'Effortlessly readable, possessed of a super twist .' THE OBSERVER'A winning mix of family drama and comedy crime caper... you may well find yourself reading it in one sitting.' HEAT'Dark, funny, full of emotional intelligence and gripping from the start. ..beautifully written... Wonderful.' DAILY MAIL'Blends dark humour and emotional weight with ease.' RADIO TIMES'His best yet.' THE SUNDAY POST 'Full of Graham's trademark warmth and wit. It's also a complex mystery that ties its characters together in ways they'd least expect.' SUNDAY EXPRESSThe new dark comedy from the Sunday Times bestselling author Graham NortonCarol is a divorced teacher living in a small town in Ireland, happy enough with the life she has. But a second chance at love brings her unexpected connection and joy. The new relationship with sparks local gossip: what does a woman like her see in a man like that? What happened to his wife who abandoned him all those years ago? When Declan becomes ill, things start to fall apart. His children are untrusting and greedy, and Carol is made to leave their beloved home with its worn oak floors and elegant features and move back in with her parents.Carol's mother is determined to get to the bottom of things, she won't see her daughter treated this way. It seems there are secrets in Declan's past, strange rumours that were never confronted and suddenly the house they shared takes on a more sinister significance. In his gripping and darkly comic new novel Norton casts a light on the relationship between mothers and daughters, and truth and self-preservation with unnerving effect.'What a fabulous read... Forever Home is his best so far. It's a complex and compelling story - truly unputdownable - but most importantly for me, it has real heart.' MARY LAWSON'The latest comedy noir by Graham Norton features fractured families at their worst. I loved it!' LIZ NUGENT 'A tale of new beginnings and old secrets. Norton is the king of the Irish small town mystery.' ANNE GRIFFIN

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Book Synopsis London, 1919: a city of ghosts and absences, haunted by the men who marched away but never came back. 'A poignant and readable mystery' THE TIMES Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her dazzling fiancé who was declared Missing in Action. But soon he starts to reappear both in her waking life and dreams. To make matters worse, a body, dragged from the Thames, is identified as Elizabeth Smith, who lodged with Grace and her family for the last eight years before suddenly disappearing. Elizabeth had been more than a lodger; she had become a close friend to Grace, who feels compelled to uncover the true circumstances of her death. In doing so, she is drawn reluctantly into the sordid and dangerous underbelly of London and a scandal that rocked Edwardian society. Will Grace find the answers she so desperately craves, or will she lose herself in the search?********************Praise for The Lodger'A deliciously Gothic page-turner' BEST'A gripping historical mystery' A. J. WEST '[Helen Scarlett] has a gift for pulling readers into the twists and turns of her story' SUNDAY TIMES'A devastating reveal and a tangled web I won't forget' AMANDA GEARDTrade ReviewA poignant and readable mystery * The Times *[Helen Scarlett] has a gift for pulling readers into the twists and turns of her story * Sunday Times *A gripping historical mystery that confounds the impossible. The Lodger takes the longing of wartime heartbreak and wraps it in a wickedly deadly conundrum * A. J. West, author of THE SPIRIT ENGINEER *I was gripped. A clever and richly imagined recreation of the Edwardian world with all its politesse and hypocrisies after the First World War * Elizabeth Buchan, author of TWO WOMEN IN ROME *An intriguing mystery layered with deeper themes of loss and regeneration after the Great War. London in 1919 is richly atmospheric, and Grace Armstrong is a sympathetic and spirited protagonist * V. B. Grey, author of SISTERHOOD *The atmosphere of post-WW1 London is beautifully evoked and richly detailed . . . I loved the character of Grace . . . It deserves to be a huge hit * Sarah Smith, author of HEAR NO EVIL *A ghostly, immersive mystery threaded with twists and turns as evocative as the 20th-century London in which it is set . . . A devastating reveal and a tangled web I won't forget * Amanda Geard, author of THE MIDNIGHT HOUSE *A deliciously Gothic page-turner * Best *An atmospheric, haunting tale * Woman's Own *An atmospheric and tense period piece that drips in gothic brilliance * Sun *

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Book Synopsis London, 1919: a city of ghosts and absences, haunted by the men who marched away but never came back. 'A poignant and readable mystery' THE TIMES Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her dazzling fiancé who was declared Missing in Action. But soon he starts to reappear both in her waking life and dreams. To make matters worse, a body, dragged from the Thames, is identified as Elizabeth Smith, who lodged with Grace and her family for the last eight years before suddenly disappearing. Elizabeth had been more than a lodger; she had become a close friend to Grace, who feels compelled to uncover the true circumstances of her death. In doing so, she is drawn reluctantly into the sordid and dangerous underbelly of London and a scandal that rocked Edwardian society. Will Grace find the answers she so desperately craves, or will she lose herself in the search?********************Praise for The Lodger'A deliciously Gothic page-turner' BEST'A gripping historical mystery' A. J. WEST '[Helen Scarlett] has a gift for pulling readers into the twists and turns of her story' SUNDAY TIMES'A devastating reveal and a tangled web I won't forget' AMANDA GEARDTrade ReviewA poignant and readable mystery * The Times *[Helen Scarlett] has a gift for pulling readers into the twists and turns of her story * Sunday Times *A gripping historical mystery that confounds the impossible. The Lodger takes the longing of wartime heartbreak and wraps it in a wickedly deadly conundrum * A. J. West, author of THE SPIRIT ENGINEER *I was gripped. A clever and richly imagined recreation of the Edwardian world with all its politesse and hypocrisies after the First World War * Elizabeth Buchan, author of TWO WOMEN IN ROME *An intriguing mystery layered with deeper themes of loss and regeneration after the Great War. London in 1919 is richly atmospheric, and Grace Armstrong is a sympathetic and spirited protagonist * V. B. Grey, author of SISTERHOOD *The atmosphere of post-WW1 London is beautifully evoked and richly detailed . . . I loved the character of Grace . . . It deserves to be a huge hit * Sarah Smith, author of HEAR NO EVIL *A ghostly, immersive mystery threaded with twists and turns as evocative as the 20th-century London in which it is set . . . A devastating reveal and a tangled web I won't forget * Amanda Geard, author of THE MIDNIGHT HOUSE *A deliciously Gothic page-turner * Best *An atmospheric, haunting tale * Woman's Own *An atmospheric and tense period piece that drips in gothic brilliance * Sun *

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Book SynopsisA gripping campus-set psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping ending. Perfect for fans of Erin Kelly, C. J. Tudor and Shari Lapena.SOMEONE'S GOT TO MAKE HIM PAY.Evie has just started her second year at University. She is young, beautiful and popular. She should be having the time of her life, except she has something to hide - a one-night-stand with her English Professor, Simon.Not wanting any of his other students to be used in the same way, Evie reports their relationship to University HR. But hours later, Village Vixen, the student gossip blogger, is baying for blood. She's found out about the accusation and is firmly on Simon's side. But how could Village Vixen possibly have known? Evie can't help but feel like she's being watched. As paranoia and fear set in, the one thing Evie knows for sure is someone has to teach Simon a lesson...

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Book Synopsis"A novel of exceptional emotional force" John Self, Guardian***A Financial Times Fiction in Translation Book of the Year 2023***It's not only grief and loneliness that have tormented Tara since her husband's death. In her, something rises and crests like a wave. As she sits in squalor in a house that once knew love, she hears the deafening cry of a past she thought was stifled and the resurgence of the person she had been before. A girl with another name, who loved to laugh and dance, who believed in the innocence of childhood until she was overtaken by her country's demons. With her characteristic lyricism and precision, Nathacha Appanah offers us total immersion into a world of lost futures and hidden pasts, in which the implacable hand of fate can only be resisted at a price.Translated from the French by Jeffrey ZuckermanTrade ReviewNothing Belongs to You is a physical novel - its sentences grab you by the throat, devour you, haunt you. The prose is magnificent because from its shadows and its ghosts, a light emerges, despite everything. A tour de force -- Mohammed Aïssaoui * Le Figaro *Nathacha Appanah has penned an unsettling novel, full of imaginative, dizzying and hypnotic prose -- Linda Pommereul * Page des Libraires *A wonderful return to Nathacha Appanah's sensual and committed writing on the condition of women and the state of the world * Le Point *Refusing to take the easy way out, the writer avoids the traps of pathos or of pity. Nathacha Appanah is one of our most singular novelists -- Hubert Artus * Le Parisien *A deeply moving book of rare literary power -- Clémence Roux * Marie France *A novel of exceptional emotional force -- John Self * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisFinalist for the 2021 National Book Award (Fiction)"It was Indiana, it was the dirt she had bloomed up out of, it was who she was, what she felt, how she thought, what she knew."As a girl, Zorrie Underwood's modest and hardscrabble home county was the only constant in her young life. After losing both her parents, Zorrie moved in with her aunt, whose own death orphaned Zorrie all over again, casting her off into the perilous realities and sublime landscapes of rural, Depression-era Indiana. Drifting west, Zorrie survived on odd jobs, sleeping in barns and under the stars, before finding a position at a radium processing plant. At the end of each day, the girls at her factory glowed from the radioactive material.But when Indiana calls Zorrie home, she finally finds the love and community that have eluded her in and around the small town of Hillisburg. And yet, even as she tries to build a new life, Zorrie discovers that her trials have only begun.Spanning an entire lifetime, a life convulsed and transformed by the events of the 20th century, Laird Hunt's extraordinary novel offers a profound and intimate portrait of the dreams that propel one tenacious woman onward and the losses that she cannot outrun. Set against a harsh, gorgeous, quintessentially American landscape, this is a deeply empathetic and poetic novel that belongs on a shelf with the classics of Willa Cather, Marilynne Robinson, and Elizabeth Strout.Trade ReviewA virtuosic portrait of midcentury America itself - physically stalwart, unerringly generous, hopeful that tragedy can be mitigated through faith in land and neighbor alike...This is not fiction as literary uproar. This is a refined realism of the sort Flaubert himself championed, storytelling that accrues detail by lean detail...Hunt's prose is galvanized by powerful questions. Who were those forebears who tilled the land for decades, seemingly without complaint? How did they fashion happiness, or manage soaring passions, in their conformist communities? He re-examines the pastoral with ardent precision...What Hunt ultimately gives us is a pure and shining book, an America where community becomes a 'symphony of souls, ' a sustenance greater than romance or material wealth for those wise enough to join in * New York Times *Zorrie is a quiet novel about an ordinary life. And when you're ordinary, you need resilience like Zorrie's to survive in an uncaring world. Laird Hunt's short and affecting novel follows Zorrie Underwood's life from childhood in Depression-era Indiana, when she's orphaned, to early adulthood, when she's left on her own, to an eventual marriage and working life * O Magazine's Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Novels of 2021 *Zorrie is Hunt at his best.Compelling from its first page.[A] tender, glowing novel that is just as beautiful as Marilynne Robinson's Gilead or Denis Johnson's Train Dreams. -- Anthony Doerr * Observer, Best Book of 2021 *Hunt's skill is in taking familiar themes such as grief, love, memory and the passage of time and making us think afresh about the hastening decades. * Spectator *Throughout these 160 pages, a life unfurls, passes and lingers. Laird Hunt's Zorrie is a magnificent character who truly feels like a friend - gentle, unsentimental and poetic. * Sunday Business Post Review *

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Book SynopsisThe Imposters is the first novel in stories that Tom Rachman has written since his international bestseller The Imperfectionists.'An astonishing achievement - brutally funny, humane, dizzying - will win Rachman the readership he deserves' Patrick Gale'Easily the best thing I have read in ages' Rebecca Wait'Clever and full of tricks from start to finish' SpectatorIt's set during a crisis in democracy, a society in lockdown linked digitally but convulsed by a social media frenzy, and is told by a little-known, little-read Dutch novelist named Dora Frenhofer who has decided that her life as an old woman in this post-truth pandemic world has become too much.But like a twenty-first century Scheherazade Dora spins stories to fend off the evil day, conjuring connections from her past to give meaning to the present. She imagines the fate of her missing brother, lost on the hippie trail in India in the sixties; the loneliness of her estranged daughter Beck, whose career writing stand-up shows for Netflix dramatizes the culture wars; Danny, an almost equally unfashionable writer she meets at a festival; the tortured history of the van driver who takes her unwanted books away; the nonchalant courier who nearly ran her over in the rain; her former lover, the sophisticated food critic; her last remaining friend. And finally, Dora's own last chapter.The Imposters is Rachman at his inimitable best, a writer whose formal ingenuity and flamboyant technique is matched by his humanity and generosity.Trade ReviewTom Rachman surpasses the already astonishing achievements of The Italian Teacher. His satire is often brutally funny, but always rooted in a humane acceptance that our flaws are what make us us. This is a dizzying switchback tale of our vanities and vain ambitions but also a deft illustration of the consolations (and condolatory revenges) of fiction. Dora Frenhofer, the relentless, failing novelist who powers the book along, is a spiky, courageous creation who will win Rachman the readership he deserves. Very sad the ride is over! -- Patrick GaleI absolutely loved The Imposters. It's terrifying, and yet made me laugh so hard. Tom Rachman is a wonderfully knowing writer, at home in half a dozen societies other than his own; and yet, The Imposters is a severe (at times hilarious) indictment of shallow cosmopolitanism, of the cruelty and disregard that can underlie the veneer of fluency in a global world, of failing to truly see the myriad peoples we find ourselves thrown amongst. -- Aatish TaseerIf like me you were a big fan of Tom Rachman's rollicking The Imperfectionists, you'll want to leap on his new novel, The Imposters. It's clever and funny and ingeniously constructed, also heartfelt: Rachman is a wizard at displaying jaundiced affection for his characters. And the dialogue zings along with an enviably Stoppardian zest. I couldn't have enjoyed myself more. -- Benjamin Dreyer, New York Times bestselling author of Dreyer's EnglishThe Imposters is Tom Rachman's fifth book in just over a decade. It is also his best - full of twists and surprises . . . Whether it's 1970s India, modern-day LA or Syria, Rachman has a good ear for place and time, and changes gear effortlessly. Each chapter is a short story in its own right, but when key characters turn up again elsewhere, the connection invariably is with Dora, until you start to wonder whether they might be the creations of this novelist, whose memory is perhaps not as bad as we thought . . . The Imposters is clever and full of tricks from start to finish. It is also very moving. * Spectator *Like a twisting kaleidoscope . . . sharp, witty and inventive * Daily Mail *A novel full of wit and observation . . . Rachman's vivid evocation of life and his literary compassion compel the reader to read on and admire. * Tablet *Rachman is observant and funny in his take on how parents and partners damage their loved ones. Yet, Dora - the failed mother, halfhearted romantic partner and unfulfilled author - remains an oddly likeable presence: "She specified herself to be Dutch, therefore allowed to be blunt." Ultimately, this is a beguiling book about the wear and tear of disappointments and the transformative value of storytelling. Failure and loss, Rachman notes, can also be material. As can a pandemic. * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisRyan Cloverhill, founder and CEO of the world's most popular social media platform, invites his six best friends from college to his home on his private island near Puget Sound. For Stephen, Emma, Perry, Will, Beau, and Lainie, day one is just what the doctor ordered: amazing food, many drinks, lots of laughter, and a sunset cruise around the island aboard their host's custom Van Dutch 55. Day Two, however, takes a bewildering turn when the six hungover guests wake up to find that their host has disappeared, along with all connection to the mainland. A touchscreen tablet of unknown make awaits them, blatantly defying the rules of the weekend with its on-screen challenge: Unlock Me! The passcode to the tablet is hidden somewhere in the group's shared history. But what seems at first like just another silly game turns deadly serious when the group discovers what unlocking the tablet really means. Is it the key to their futures, a Pandora's box none of them will ever be able to close, or both?Only one thing is clear: their old friend Ryan has something unthinkable planned. Now it's up to the six of them to stop him. And when this weekend is over, the world will never be the same.

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Book SynopsisSeven friends, one eccentric billionaire, and an all-expenses-paid reunion on a private island: with no technology allowed, it’ll be a weekend to remember—for those who make it out alive.  Ryan Cloverhill, founder and CEO of the world’s most popular social media platform, invites his six best friends from college to his home on his private island near Puget Sound. For Stephen, Emma, Perry, Will, Beau, and Lainie, day one is just what the doctor ordered: amazing food, many drinks, lots of laughter, and a sunset cruise around the island aboard their host’s custom Van Dutch 55.  Day Two, however, takes a bewildering turn when the six hungover guests wake up to find that their host has disappeared, along with all connection to the mainland. A touchscreen tablet of unknown make awaits them, blatantly defying the rules of the weekend with its on-screen challenge: Unlock Me! The passcode to the tablet is hidden somewhere in the group’s shared history. But what seems at first like just another silly game turns deadly serious when the group discovers what unlocking the tablet really means. Is it the key to their futures, a Pandora’s box none of them will ever be able to close, or both?   Only one thing is clear: their old friend Ryan has something unthinkable planned. Now it’s up to the six of them to stop him. And when this weekend is over, the world will never be the same.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisA young woman's carefully constructed fantasy world implodes in this brilliantly conceived novel that blurs distinctions between right and wrong, comedy and tragedy, imagination and reality: "Surreal . . . filled with technicolor lies and terrible truths" (Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling and Hugo-award winning author).Most Anticipated by CrimeReads · Good Housekeeping · BookRiot · Goodreads · Bookish · OverDrive An Aardvark Book Club pickKatrina Kim may be broke, the black sheep of her family, and slightly unhinged, but she isn't a stalker. Her obsession with her co-worker, Kurt, is just one of many coping mechanisms-like her constant shape and number rituals, or the way scenes from her favorite children's book bleed into her vision whenever she feels anxious or stressed.But when Katrina finds a cryptic message from Kurt that implies he's aware of her surveillance, her tenuous hold on a normal life crumbles. Driven by compulsion, she enacts the most powerful ritual she has to reclaim control-a midnight visit to the Cayatoga Bridge-and arrives just in time to witness Kurt's suicide. Before he jumps, he slams her with a devastating accusation: his death is all her fault.Horrified, Katrina combs through the clues she's collected about Kurt over the last three years, but each revelation uncovers a menacing truth: for every moment she was watching him, he was watching her. And the past she thought she'd left behind? It's been following her more closely than she ever could have imagined.A gripping page-turner, as well as a sensitive exploration of mental health, Liar, Dreamer, Thief is an intimate portrayal of life in all its complexities-and the dangers inherent in unveiling people's most closely guarded secrets.Includes a Reading Group Guide.

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Book SynopsisKatrina Kim may be broke, the black sheep of her family, and slightly unhinged, but she isn't a stalker. Her obsession with her co-worker, Kurt, is just one of many coping mechanisms-like her constant shape and number rituals, or the way scenes from her favorite children's book bleed into her vision whenever she feels anxious or stressed.But when Katrina finds a cryptic message from Kurt that implies he's aware of her surveillance, her tenuous hold on a normal life crumbles. Driven by compulsion, she enacts the most powerful ritual she has to reclaim control-a midnight visit to the Cayatoga Bridge-and arrives just in time to witness Kurt's suicide. Before he jumps, he slams her with a devastating accusation: his death is all her fault.Horrified, Katrina combs through the clues she's collected about Kurt over the last three years, but each revelation uncovers a menacing truth: for every moment she was watching him, he was watching her. And the past she thought she'd left behind? It's been following her more closely than she ever could have imagined.A gripping page-turner, as well as a sensitive exploration of mental health, Liar, Dreamer, Thief is an intimate portrayal of life in all its complexities-and the dangers inherent in unveiling people's most closely guarded secrets.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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