Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction

Book SynopsisTHE MUST-READ SUMMER 2020 RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK'If you wished Normal People had tackled female friendship, try Expectation' GRAZIA'Profoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist' GUARDIAN'A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition' PANDORA SYKES______________________What happened to the women we were supposed to become?Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry - and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends.Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life? The most razor-sharp and heartbreaking novel of the year, EXPECTATION is a novel about finding your way: as a mother, a daughter, a wife, a rebel. ___________________'Thoughtful, beautifully written, honest. A sensual book. I URGE YOU TO READ IT' MARIAN KEYES'Beautiful, sharp, moving. I urge you to read it'' ELIZABETH DAY'A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition' PANDORA SYKES'I loved it ... 10 out of 10' BRYONY GORDON'Will resonate with approximately 99% of women' RED MAGAZINE summer pick'One of the most intensely readable novels this year' METRO'One of our most gifted contemporary writers' WATERSTONES'SO GOOD. A 'What they did next' story of characters from a Sally Rooney novel' SARAH FRANKLIN'The story of 3 college friends, if you're a fan of Sally Rooney, you'll love EXPECTATION' IRISH EXAMINER'A must-read' FABULOUS MAGAZINE'A generation-defining book on motherhood, ambition and sex. Like NORMAL PEOPLE with female friendship under the microscope.' ERIN KELLY'Few novels leave me so genuinely breathless with their brilliance' HANNAH BECKERMAN'Sublime' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, Book of the Year'A marvellously tangy London novel' DAILY MAIL'A grown-up, honest take on female camaraderie. Packed with talking points' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Hugely absorbing, massively enjoyable' LISSA EVANS'Totally unputdownable, immersive, sharp, FAB' HARRIET EVANS'Beautifully observed study of female friendship and a moving account of the collision between aspiration and reality' DAILY MAIL MUST-READ'Fantastically well-realised portrait of female friendship's joys and pains from an exciting new voice in British fiction' DAILY TELEGRAPHTrade ReviewProfoundly intelligent and humane. Deserves to feature on many a prize shortlist * Guardian *A brilliant exploration of friendship, feminism and thwarted ambition * Pandora Sykes *One of the most intensely readable novels I've encountered this year * METRO *I loved it . . . 10 out of 10! * BRYONY GORDON *Will resonate with approximately 99 % of all women * RED magazine summer pick *Thoughtful, beautifully written, honest. A sensual book. I URGE YOU TO READ IT * MARIAN KEYES *Brilliant portrayal of long-term female friendships . . . I was gripped. * Prima *A Sally Rooney-esque evocative examination of female friendship * BEST SUMMER READS, i-newspaper *The real joy of this novel – while exploring just what second wave feminism has done for this generation of women (“you’ve had everything… we changed the world for you. For our daughters. And what have you done with it?”) – is in it’s writing; the dialogue and the honesty behind these characters who are doing their best, who are trying to live up to the fictional counterparts that they themselves have created… It’s the perfect summer reading * STYLIST MAGAZINE *Absolutely encapsulates what it means to be a young woman today, and beyond * Grazia Magazine *Hope’s writing is sublime and her characters so well fleshed out they will feel like friends at the end * Good Housekeeping Book of the Year *BEST BOOKS FOR JULY: Expectation has defied all my expectations and completely redefined the friendship novel. Each of the characters resonated with me and I’m in awe of the way Anna Hope captures what it means to be a woman, right here, right now, with all the precision of a surgeon’s knife. * Red Magazine Book of the Year *EDITOR'S CHOICE: I enjoyed this contemporary novel about the gulf between the expectation of how life will turn out and the reality... [it] taps into the current conversation about finding fulfilment and living a meaningful life. -- Alice O'Keeffe * The Bookseller *Jaw-droppingly good * SARRA MANNING *Anna Hope has a way of getting inside difficult and painful moments, turning them inside out. I felt I knew these women as my own friends. Taut, electric, complex, funny. * RACHEL JOYCE bestselling author of THE UNEXPECTED PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY *Few novels leave me genuinely breathless with their brilliance. EXPECTATION is one of them. This book is beautiful. I am in AWE * HANNAH BECKERMAN *Succulent, tender and honest, EXPECTATION is about the relationships between women: love, loss, triumph and betrayal. It was one of those books that knowingly flirted, then seduced me and then utterly ravished me * TOR UDALL *A generation-defining book, honest and relatable on motherhood, ambition and sex. Like NORMAL PEOPLE with female friendship under the microscope * ERIN KELLY, bestselling author of HE SAID/SHE SAID *I loved it. Raw, honest, unputdownable. * TAMMY COHEN *I tore through EXPECTATION at the weekend. Exceptional gorgeously written and reads like a love letter to London. I highly recommend it * STACEY HALLS, bestselling author of THE FAMILIARS *I absolutely loved this. What really appealed to me was the depiction of the parents, about legacy and about what the mother's generation leaves for the one that comes after * ANNE YOUNGSON *An intimate and touching portrayal of female friendship that shows it's okay to just be * NINA POTTELL *So fresh, human, kind and relatable * JENNY COLGAN *Such a dark, relatable, elegant take on how time alters female friendships: how we become THESE people and our friends become THOSE people. Anyway, I loved it. You probably will, too * LIZA KLAUSSMANN, author of Tigers in Red Weather *A must-read. Will make you want to hug the women in you life * FABULOUS MAGAZINE Book of the Year *A deftly crafted hymn to the comfort and frustration of female friendship from one of our most gifted contemporary writers * WATERSTONES *Sensual and evocative, deeply attuned to both the inner lives of the protagonists * CULTUREFLY *The prose is beautiful, the characters achingly real, their flawed decisions enraging and yet somehow still relatable. This wonderful book will resonate with every woman who reads it * LOUISE O'NEILL *A quietly political story that suggests historic battles have left women with new impossible burdens of expectation. A marvellously tangy London novel * DAILY MAIL *Hope beautifully examines how female friendship, its issues entirely relatable, ebbs and flows over time in this wise and engaging read * SUNDAY EXPRESS *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller, longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.From the acclaimed author of Ghost Wall, Sarah Moss' Summerwater is a devastating story told over twenty-four hours in the Scottish highlands . . . 'Superb' - The Times'Sharp, searching . . . utterly of the moment' - Hilary Mantel'So accomplished' - GuardianIt is the summer solstice, but in a faded Scottish cabin park the rain is unrelenting. Twelve people on holiday with their families look on as the skies remain resolutely grey. A woman goes running up the Ben as if fleeing; a teenage boy chances the dark waters of the loch in his kayak; a retired couple head out despite the downpour, driving too fast on the familiar bends.But there are newcomers too, and one particular family, a mother and daughter with the wrong clothes and the wrong manners, start to draw the attention of the others. Who are they? Where are they from? Should they be here at all? As darkness finally falls, something is unravelling . . .'A masterpiece' - Jessie Burton'One of her best' - Irish Times'Beautifully written, intense, powerful' - David NichollsTrade ReviewSharp, searching, thoroughly imagined, it is utterly of the moment, placing its anxious human dots against a vast indifferent landscape; with its wit and verve and beautiful organisation it throws much contemporary writing into the shade! -- Hilary Mantel, Man Booker winning author of Wolf HallNothing escapes her sly humour and brilliant touch. Deft and brimming with life, Summerwater is a novel of endless depth. A masterpiece. -- Jessie Burton, author of The MiniaturistMoss’s ability to conjure up the fleeting and sometimes agonised tenderness of family life is unmatched . . . there is an artfulness to her writing so accomplished as to conceal itself. -- Melissa Harrison, GuardianSummerwater is a triumph and confirms Sarah Moss as one of the best writers at work in Britain today. -- Fiona Mozley, author of ElmetMoss is a writer who can say more than most others in half the space. Her latest, a haunting story of alienation set on a Scottish campsite, is the summer’s most interesting read * Independent *Summerwater is a beautiful book, written with delicacy and grace, yet with an undertow as dark as the Scottish loch by which its characters are holidaying in ignorance of the tragedy to come. If you are a huge fan of Moss's work, as I am, you will find yourself parceling it out, to read a chapter a day, like a gift. -- Louise Doughty, author of Apple Tree YardSuffused with fascination . . . this latest display of Moss’s imaginative versatility shine[s] with intelligence * The Times *This novel - about crisis and isolation in its own ways - moved and encouraged me in difficult times. Another deft, sensitive, crystalline book by Sarah Moss; I loved it. -- Megan Hunter, author of The End We Start FromA masterful and immerse exercise in tension; here are the many conflicting voices of modern Britain in microcosm. Sarah Moss reminds us that society is only ever two short steps away from collapse. -- Benjamin Myers, author of The OffingFor more than a decade, Sarah Moss has been crafting quiet, complex novels that make an indelible impression on the reader. This is one of her best, and most accessible, and should bring her work to a wider audience. * Irish Times *I read this brilliant novel in one greedy gulp. Sarah Moss is an acute observer of modern life and puts humanity on the page with deep understanding and wit. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love With delicate precision, Summerwater takes the moral and emotional temperature of a whole society. It is matchless, too, in its blending of steely insight with humour and compassion. -- Pankaj Mishra, author of The Age of AngerMoss is the most brilliant writer. She deserves to win all the prizes. -- Joanna Trollope, author of City of FriendsMoss has quietly, and it must be said remarkably quickly, been putting out some of the most interesting and carefully sculpted novels of recent years. * Financial Times *One of our very best contemporary novelists. * Independent *Moss’s star is firmly in the ascendant * Guardian *One of the finest contemporary writers working in Britain today * Stylist *A brilliant, confounding writer * New Yorker *A brilliant story of dysfunctional families * The Times *

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Book SynopsisWelcome to the neighborhood. Watch your husband, watch your friends, and watch your back. Cat Winthorpe has worked hard to get what she has: a gorgeous home; social standing; and William, her successful, handsome husband. Then a friendly new couple moves into the estate next door. While cautious, a good neighbor like Cat greets them with open arms and warm hospitality. Neena Ryder isn’t a fellow lady of leisure. A life coach with off-the-rack dresses, personal issues, and a husband who hasn’t delivered, she’s anxious to move up in the world. This beautiful new town is a step in the right direction. It’s also making Neena aware of what she doesn’t have. Namely, William. When Neena’s infatuation escalates into obsession, it’s just a matter of eliminating a few obstacles to get the life she wants. The life next door. As Neena’s secret fixation grows, so does her friendship with Cat. But beneath their cordial interactions is a wealth of temptations, secrets, and toxic jealousy. For both women, the desire for a perfect life can turn perfectly dangerous.Trade ReviewAn Amazon Best Book of the Month: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense “Deliciously, sublimely nasty: Mean Girls for grown-ups.” —Kirkus Reviews “Torre keeps the suspense high…Readers will be riveted from page one.” —Publishers Weekly “A chilling domestic thriller about power and deception, A. R. Torre’s latest novel, Every Last Secret, has all the elements to keep the reader enthralled, with just enough darkness to provide needed twists for a complex plot.” —Mystery & Suspense Magazine “Well thought out and with a superb flow from start to finish, Every Last Secret is perfect for fans of domestic thrillers.” —Seattle Book Review “A glamorous and seductive novel that will suck you in and knock you sideways. I love this story, these characters, and the raw emotion they generated in me. I devoured every word. Exceptional.” —Tarryn Fisher, New York Times bestselling author “Raw and riveting. A clever ride that will make you question everyone and everything.” —Meredith Wild, #1 New York Times bestselling author

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING WORLDWIDE PHENOMENONREADERS' MOST LOVED BOOK OF 2021WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR FICTIONBetween life and death there is a library.When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?Trade ReviewA beguiling read, filled with warmth and humour, and a vibrant celebration of the power of books to change lives * * Sunday Times * *A beautiful fable, an It's a Wonderful Life for the modern age - impossibly timely when we are all stuck in a world we wish could be different -- JODI PICOULTA celebration of life's possibilities . . . A beautiful concept . . . Charming * * Guardian * *A rare and welcome light of hope and wisdom in the darkness -- JOANNE HARRISA wonderful story . . . Such a beautiful book to get lost in -- Zoe Ball, BBC Radio 2I can't describe how much his work means to me. So necessary . . . The king of empathy -- JAMEELA JAMILWarm and humorous * * The Times * *A brilliant premise and great fun to have so many stories within one book * * Daily Mail * *Amazing and utterly beautiful, The Midnight Library is everything you'd expect from the genius storyteller who is Matt Haig -- JOANNA CANNONAbsorbing . . . A vision of limitless possibility, of new roads taken, of new lives lived, of a whole different world available to us somehow, somewhere, might be exactly what's wanted in these troubled and troubling times * * New York Times * *

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Book Synopsis**Shortlisted for The Goldsmiths Prize 2021****Shortlisted for The Desmond Elliott Prize 2021****An Observer 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2021**'An extremely perceptive depiction of power and agency.' Guardian'Startlingly original.' VOGUE'Extraordinary.' New Yorkerlittle scratch tells the story of a day in the life of an unnamed woman, living in a lower-case world of demarcated fridge shelves and office politics; clock-watching and WhatsApp notifications. In a voice that is fiercely wry, touchingly delicate and increasingly neurotic, the protagonist relays what it takes to get through the quotidian detail of that single trajectory - from morning to night - while processing recent sexual violence.little scratch is about the coexistence of monotony with our waking, intelligent lives. It is a powerful evocation of how the external and internal aspectsTrade Review'Startlingly original.' - Vogue'Extraordinary.' - New Yorker'Wry, funny and heartbreaking.' - Sophie Mackintosh'little scratch is a story that is urgent. It is a story that needs to be told.' - Meena Kandasamy'Reads like the cinders settling in the air after an explosion... daring and completely readable.' - Colin Barrett'little scratch is a little miracle... impossible to read it and not wish there were more books like it.' - Alan Trotter'Confident and vital...little scratch is an absolute gift.' - Naoise Dolan

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Book Synopsis* PRE-ORDER LISA'S LATEST NOVEL - NONE OF THIS IS TRUE - NOW! *You're not the only one watching. . . The gripping psychological suspense from the number one bestselling author of Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs.'I inhaled it in one sitting' Sarah Pinborough 'I was totally gripped by this excellent psychological thriller' Marian Keyes'Page one intrigued me. Page three hooked me. By page five, I was consumed' A.J. Finn_______________You're back home after four years working abroad, new husband in tow.You're keen to find a place of your own. But for now you're crashing in your big brother's spare room.That's when you meet the man next door.He's the head teacher at the local school. Twice your age. Extraordinarily attractive. You find yourself watching him.All the time.But you never dreamed that your innocent crush might become a deadly obsession.Or that someone is watching you._______________Reader's can't get enough of Watching You . . .***** 'Intelligent, suspenseful, and shocking-my first experience reading the incredible Lisa Jewell blew my mind!!!'***** 'Entrancing, irresistible and compelling!'***** 'A creepy compulsive character driven thriller that will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up!'***** 'I really really enjoyed this book. Amazing.'***** 'Omg, Lisa Jewell has totally blown me away again.'Trade ReviewThen She Was Gone was my favourite thriller last year and this is even better. Brilliantly plotted and impossible to put down, it kept me guessing until the very end.A finely drawn domestic thriller * Sunday Times *Page one intrigued me. Page three hooked me. By page five, I was consumed. This compulsive, propulsive novel is both a seize-you-by-the-throat thriller and a genuinely moving family drama. Stellar. -- A J FinnI’ve always been jealous of her. I’ve always envied her ability to write a sentence. She’s written a couple of psychological thrillers and her plotting is really great but her characterisation is great as well. -- Marian Keyes

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Book SynopsisXuela Claudette Richardson is recalling the last seventy years of her life, and so she must begin with her birth, and the accompanying death of her mother.Xuela’s vivid, visceral recollections of the lonely, unsettled life that follows the trauma of her arrival include that of her distant father, who sends her away to another household at the earliest opportunity; of her passion for the stevedore Roland, who fulfils her sexually but not intellectually; and of her husband, who provides her with status and a wealthy lifestyle but whom she is incapable of loving.Poetic and disturbing, The Autobiography of My Mother is one of Kincaid’s most powerful statements of Afro-Caribbean women’s struggle for identity and independence, against a hostile backdrop of sexism and colonialism.Part of the Picador Collection, a new series showcasing the best of modern literature. Trade ReviewFierce, incantory. . . lyrical. . . powerful and disturbing -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Kincaid, always an elegant stylist, makes this story of a simple woman extraordinary...filling her prose with rich, poetic detail. . . An unforgettable account of singular survival * San Francisco Chronicle Book Review *A book that comes both to haunt and to dazzle us . . . [Kincaid] writes like an angel: with enviable lucidity and precision and a lyric touch that frequently aspires to the condition of poetry * Boston Sunday Globe *What a writer – elegant, uncompromising, simultaneously direct and layered and complex. * Ali Smith *

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Book SynopsisA literary psychological thriller about the 'perfect' marriage.Trade Review‘On the surface the book is a highly competent, creepy little chiller, but beneath, like a silent, bolted and half-dark room, there’s a much bigger, equally disconcerting story about the nature of feminine experience.' Hilary Mantel, Man Booker Prize winning author of Wolf Hall‘Taut, elegant and pitch-perfect. As soon as you've read it you'll want to talk about it’. Evie Wyld, author of After the Fire, A Still Small Voice‘Compelling, edgy and dark – I read How To Be a Good Wife in one sitting’. Jane Rusbridge, author of Rook and The Devil's Music‘An impressive debut novel. Here’s hoping there’ll be more from Emma Chapman’ M. J. Hyland, Man Booker prize shortlisted author of Carry Me Down and This is How‘A tense, unnerving debut, told with precision and control. As unsettling as any ghost story’ Simon Lelic, author of Rupture and The Child Who‘A compelling debut: tightly plotted, tensely written, and subtle in its explorations of motive. Emma Chapman is very accomplished and a bright hope for the future’. Sir Andrew Motion‘Claustrophobic, startling and hauntingly beautiful. It’s that amazing, awful kind of book that will stay with you long after you wish it would let you go’ Liza Klaussmann, author of Tigers in Red Weather ‘This taut debut will have you rooting for Marta as she rediscovers who she was before her marriage. A must-read for fans of S.J.Watson’. Easy Living‘The after-effects of the dark and uncomfortable story linger long after the last page . . . a gripping piece of writing where everything is not quite as it seems’. Psychologies‘An intensifying mood of menace pervades this mesmerising debut. Is the fragile Marta slipping into paranoia? Or glimpsing agonising insights into a devastating nightmare about herself and her “perfect” marriage…?’ David Hewson, author of The Killing‘A compelling, twisty tale of deception and distrust. Beautifully written, and very clever indeed’. Elizabeth Haynes, author of Into the Darkest Corner‘Fans of Before I Go To Sleep will love this chilling debut from Emma Chapman’. Grazia‘In her first novel, Emma Chapman has managed to walk a delicate, terrifying line. How To Be a Good Wife is at once claustrophobic, startling and hauntingly beautiful. It’s that amazing, awful kind of book that will stay with you long after you wish it would let you go’. Liza Klaussmann, author of Tigers in Red Weather‘A chilling study of paranoia and doubt… Chapman builds the tension, as Marta’s behaviour becomes more erratic and her seemingly benign husband begins to appear in a sinister light. An unnerving tale, where nothing is as it seems.’ Marie Claire‘Compelling and complex, this brave novel offers no safety nets… Not just a gripping read but an essential one. It will provoke questions long after the cover is closed’. Ruth Dugdall, author of The Woman Before Me, winner of the CWA debut dagger award.‘Chilling and original with plenty of tense moments to keep the pages turning'. Simple Things‘Mesmerising. A beautiful and disturbing novel. I loved it’. Susanna Jones, author of When Nights Were Cold‘There is something about the pared-down prose, the increasingly ominous isolation and the sense of unease that our narrator feels that saves the story from melodrama – instead the reader, trapped with a sympathetic yet unreliable narrator, begins to align themselves ever more closely to Marta’s position. This is a tremendous book’. The Huffington Post‘Chapman mines this vein of claustrophobic creepiness to great effect’. The Lady‘Wonderfully assured… This is a tale of the tricks repression, denial and memory can play on us… Set in an eerie, purposefully undefined part of Scandinavia, this is an unnerving, clever read. It’s one of those novels (think Gone Girl) with a big twist. Recommended for fans of S J Watson, Rosamund Lupton and Zoe Heller’. Viv Groskop, Red‘A powerful, original and haunting debut… hard to put down and impossible to forget.’Daily Examiner, Australia‘Something of the hit TV drama The Killing pervades this absorbing and multi-layered debut novel. On one level a chilling tale of suspense among the Norwegian fjords, it offers the reader so much more… You might like to set aside a long winter afternoon for this one. The chances are that one you open it, you’ll want to finish it all in one go.' Daily Mail‘Chapman’s debut can be read both as a taut thriller and an allegory of the female experience in an unhappy marriage, the waning sense of self felt by the woman who attends to the needs of her family before her own… Marta’s gradual slide into madness is brilliantly convincing. As with Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, the narrator’s psychological torment contrasts disconcertingly with the detached language in which it is described. It makes for a darkly fascinating debut’ Financial Times‘So tense. Brilliantly written and utterly gripping. I loved it.’ Hannah Richell, author of Secrets of the Tides‘It is, on the one hand, a taut, economically written and expertly woven thriller – deceptive in its simplicity and chilling in the claustrophobia that builds with each successive page. It is also a deeply unsettling exploration of a fragile mind unravelling, either through the weight of its own paranoid delusions or painful memories too-long suppressed… How To Be a Good Wife is a highly assured, powerful and thought-provoking offering from an author whose best work is surely yet to come. It will stay with you long after you turn the final page.’ Style etc magazine‘An impressive debut’ Sun-Herald, Sydney‘Chapman’s carefully constructed plot slowly but expertly builds the tension…Chapman’s writing is so assured it is difficult to believe this is her first novel… How To Be A Good Wife is not just enthralling fiction, but also social commentary, a combination that provokes the reader to reflect on the fraught and complicated nature of human existence. Chapman has written a book as chilling as a Scandinavian fjord in winter, but also as clear, clean and compelling’The Australian‘Replete with interesting topics and there are twists aplenty. Marta’s voice is compelling and convincing and the prose often Hemingway-esque in style… There’s a narrative bravery to this debut that is rare in contemporary fiction of any genre’ The Big Issue Australia ‘The unnamed Scandinavian setting has all the familiar elements of contemporary northern lights noir, yet its claustrophobic, interior-driven narrative harks back to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s disturbing feminist classic The Yellow Wallpaper, or even Ibsen's A Doll's House… The novel is Chapman's debut, and is eerily well-handled... Chapman shows real empathy for loneliness and the cruelty of ageing… A plausible tale of trauma, a ruthless examination of the many layers of marriage, and a woman's opaque role with it.’ Guardian

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.Sweeping between India and England, from childhood and the present day. Sunjeev Sahota's unforgettable novel about illegal immigrants is a story of dignity in the face of adversity. For fans of Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance.'The Grapes of Wrath for the 21st century' – Washington PostThe Year of the Runaways tells of the bold dreams and daily struggles of an unlikely family thrown together by circumstance.Thirteen young men live in a house in Sheffield, each in flight from India and in desperate search of a new life. Tarlochan, a former rickshaw driver, will say nothing about his past in Bihar. Avtar has a secret that binds him to protect the chaotic Randeep. Randeep, in turn, has a visa-wife in a flat on the other side of town: a clever, devout woman whose cupboards are full of her husband's clothes, in case the immigration men surprise hTrade ReviewSahota is a writer who knows how to turn a phrase, how to light up a scene, how to make you stay up late at night to learn what happens next. The Year of the Runaways is a brilliant and beautiful novel. -- Kamila Shamsie * Guardian *Writing with unsentimental candor, Mr. Sahota has created a cast of characters whose lives are so richly imagined that this deeply affecting novel calls out for a sequel or follow-up that might recount the next installment of their lives. * New York Times *An ideal antidote to a year of reductive discussions of immigration, Sunjeev Sahota's novel takes you deep into the lives of a group of Indian labourers thrown together in Sheffield . . . its lyrical prose and ability to immerse the reader in the experiences of a hidden community in Britain -- Emily Dugan * Independent on Sunday *The Grapes of Wrath for the 21st century . . . the great marvel of this book is its absolute refusal to grasp at anything larger than the hopes and humiliations of these few marginal people. * Washington Post *Wryly humorous . . . The Year of the Runaways needs no affectations to announce its timeliness. As the sheer number of displaced peoples in Europe threatens to overwhelm any capacity for empathy, Mr. Sahota's superb novel helps to make the reality of migrants a little less unimaginable and a little more human. * Wall Street Journal *Novels of such scope and invention are all too rare; unusual, too, are those of real heart, whose characters you grow to love and truly care for. The Year of the Runaways has it all. You cry because of the terribleness of it, but also because you just don't want this book to end. I doubt if I'll read a better novel this year. -- Cressida Connolly * Spectator *This massive book, stuffed with compelling stories, rich in characters and resoundingly authentic in its detailing of life in the harsh underbelly of this country, should be compulsory reading. A magnificent achievement. * Daily Mail *The Year of the Runaways takes place in a parallel England, a near-invisible world that rarely intersects with our own. It is familiar territory from news reports, but only in outline. Sahota has a lot to say and he says it calmly, with great moral intelligence . . . deeply impressive. * Sunday Times *A wonderfully evocative storyteller. * Independent *A sensitive and searing novel. -- Marian Ryan * Mail on Sunday *This is a rich, intricate, beautifully written novel, bursting and seething with energy. * The Times *Nothing short of an asteroid impact would have made me put the book down * Irish Times *The Year of the Runaways is never explicitly polemical, but is steered instead by humane morality. [. . .] Without flights of fancy, neither sensationalising nor preachy, its greatest asset is that it doesn't oversimplify. [. . .] Thoroughly believable, irresistibly humane and often funny. -- Lucy Daniel * Daily Telegraph *Sahota's funny, humane second novel is certainly a book for our times. * Sunday Telegraph *Richly authentic and teeming with incident . . . totally compelling. -- John Harding, 'The year's best novels', 2015 * Daily Mail *Tolstoy and Steinbeck are not exaggerated comparisons for the sweep and power of Sahota’s second novel about five immigrant men living in England illegally and what they went through to get there * Boston Globe *If you think literature is at its best when it combines the political with the personal, this is the perfect book for you. Sunjeev Sahota humanizes harrowing news headlines in the most intimate way; stories about migrant workers and so-called "Untouchables" are carefully captured with painterly details and empathy . . . an important story about duty and love, beautifully told * NPR *

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Book Synopsis Virginia Woolf''s masterpiece, now in a beautiful clothbound edition designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith''One of the most moving, revolutionary artworks of the twentieth century'' Michael CunninghamClarissa Dalloway, elegant and vivacious, is preparing for a party and remembering those she once loved. In another part of London, Septimus Warren Smith is suffering from shell-shock and on the brink of madness. Smith''s day interweaves with that of Clarissa and her friends, their lives converging as the party reaches its glittering climax. Virginia Woolf''s masterly novel, in which she perfected the interior monologue, brings past, present and future together on one momentous day in June 1923. Edited by Stella McNichol with an Introduction and Notes by Elaine ShowalterTrade ReviewOne of the few genuine innovations in the history of the novel—New YorkerOne of her greatest achievements, a book whose afterlife continues to inspire new generations of writers and readers—Guardian

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Book SynopsisTHE NO. 1 BESTSELLERHer husband has betrayed her. Can she forgive him - and should she? From the bestselling author of Three Weddings and a Proposal and The Missing WifeWhat readers are saying about Her Husband''s Mistake:''I loved this book. So many will be able to identify'' *****''A truly brilliant book'' *****''Could not put it down!'' *****''Just had to keep on reading to find out what''s was happening'' *****Dave''s made a BIG mistake. What''s Roxy going to do about it? The riveting new novel from No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O''Flanagan. Perfect for readers of Marian Keyes and Amanda Prowse. Roxy''s marriage has always been rock solid.After twenty years, and with two carefree kids, she and Dave are still the perfect couple.Until the day she comes home unexpectedly, and finds DaTrade ReviewPraise for HER HUSBAND'S MISTAKE: 'Another gem from O'Flanagan * Heat *A classic tale of the perfect wife and mother rediscovering her potential * Women's Weekly *An inspiring tale of strength, love and self-discovery from Roxy's dilemma. It's a novel that will resonate with many women, and you'll be cheering Roxy on throughout * S Magazine *Praise for Sheila O'Flanagan's irresistible novels: 'A hugely enjoyable romance, written with pace and heart. It will make you long to jump on a plane * Sunday Mirror *You'll race through this warm, heart-felt read * Best *This GONE GIRL-esque novel will have you gripped until the very end * Look *Escapist in every sense, this easy-to-read romance has a steely edge * Sunday Mirror *I read the book in one sitting as it was so enjoyable, full of romance and kept you riveted until the last page * Woman's Way *An exciting love story with a deliciously romantic denouement * Sunday Express *Make some space in your suitcase * Candis *The perfect holiday companion... O'Flanagan is one of our best-known, best-loved and most prolific women's fiction authors * Irish Independent *

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Book SynopsisA mother and son inhabit an isolated and increasingly dangerous private world.The third and final installment of Ariana Harwicz's "Involuntary Trilogy" finds us on familiar, disquieting ground. Under the spell of a mother’s madness, the French countryside transforms into a dreamscape of interconnected imagery: animals, desire, the functions of the body. Most troublingly: the comfort of a teenage son. Scorning the bourgeois mores and conventionality of their small town, she withdraws him from school and the two embark on ever more antisocial and dangerous behavior. Harwicz is at her best here, building an interior world so robust, and so grotesque, that it eclipses our shared reality. Savage, and savagely funny, she leaves us singed, if not scorched.Trade Review"As ever, Harwicz both impresses and repels with her blistering descriptions of the extremes of human behavior." —Publishers Weekly"It is hard to match this, or any of the books in this trilogy, for sheer searing memorability." —Irish Times"Disturbingly brilliant – and brilliantly disturbing – Tender is a satiating end to Harwicz’s unconventional collection." —The Wee Review**********Praise for Ariana HarwiczUncomfortable and fascinating, Harwicz drags us on a turbulent voyage of self-discovery via the characters’ analysis of their own past and present. VANITY FAIR (UK)Man Booker International Prize (Longlist)Society of Authors Valle-Inclán Prize (Shortlist)Best Translated Book Award (Finalist)Internationaler Literaturpreis (Shortlist)Republic of Consciousness Prize (Shortlist)"A touch of David Lynch." —The Guardian"Celebrating lust and bolshiness with an intensity worthy of Clarice Lispector." —The Times Literary Supplement"The over-all effect is exacting…. And yet “Die, My Love” isn’t truly beholden to plot. The thrill is in the human as animal, and even as parasite." —The New Yorker"Die, My Love is impressive for the force of the narrator’s insatiable rage, which fragments the boundaries of the self. [Anne Enright]" —New York Review of Books"Unrestrained and unadorned, Harwicz’s writing has a wild beauty.... A portrait of motherhood, passion, and mental illness that cuts to the bone." —Kirkus"We are used to female narrators who occupy one of several familiar niches: blandly ‘likeable’, ‘flawed’, or pathological; murderers or abusers who are profiled with just enough sympathy to make us feel humane as we judge them. Harwicz takes us somewhere more profound and forces us to confront the thought that these easy fictional ‘explanations’ are specious. Lurking inside all of us is the potential for horror."" —Hari Kunzru , author of THE IMPRESSIONIST and GODS WITHOUT MEN"The prose of Ariana Harwicz embarks on a vertiginous linguistic journey that joyfully shreds all vestiges of common sense."" —María Sonia Cristoff , author of FALSE CALM**********"Dangerously addictive." —The Guardian"A precise, intense, ruthless mosaic that demands we read carefully, never quickly." —Literary Hub"Celebrating lust and bolshiness with an intensity worthy of Clarice Lispector." —The Times Literary Supplement"Harwicz succeeds in luring the reader into the darker aspects of the human mind." —Publishers Weekly"Ariana Harwicz is the real deal, the very definition of an artist."" —Adam Biles , author of FEEDING TIME"Ariana Harwicz is wet respite from deathless, sexless, bloodless art. "" —Melissa Broder , author of THE PISCES and SO SAD TODAY"Ariana Harwicz is an intensely passionate and fearless writer whose irresistible prose deserves to be read far and wide."" —Claire-Louise Bennett , author of POND"A kick up the arse to the literary novel. Feebleminded disassembles form, sensibility, everything... at once a riot (a revolution!) and a headtrip."" —Joanna Walsh , author of VERTIGO and BREAK.UP"Harwicz achieves an asphyxiating writing, saturated with images of great beauty despite their disturbing character." —El País"The acoustic quality of her prose, the pulse of her voice, the intensity of her imagery make her subjects so daring, so relentless, so damned and unconventional - very hard to drop or ever to forget."" —Lina Meruane , author of FALSE CALM"Unrelenting and unforgettable, the Argentine author’s latest novel is a breathtaking, hectic ride, as well as a strangely exhilarating story that confirms her as one of the most formidable writers at work today." —Jeremy Garber, Powell's BookshopGlobetrotting: Your sneak preview of books in translation —New York Times"This is a novel whose characters’s conflicts spill out of the page and into the prose used to tell their story, making for a searing read." —Volume 1 Brooklyn"Feebleminded is a nuclear bomb of recent literature from Argentina, a book of exceptional power with febrile characters." —Pagina/12**********

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Book SynopsisThis FBI agent has come to expect almost anything—just not this… When Agent Mercedes Ramirez finds an abused young boy on her porch, covered in blood and clutching a teddy bear, she has no idea that this is just the beginning. He tells her a chilling tale: an angel killed his parents and then brought him here so Mercedes could keep him safe. His parents weren’t just murdered. It was a slaughter—a rage kill like no one on the Crimes Against Children team had seen before. But they’re going to see it again. An avenging angel is meting out savage justice, and she’s far from through. One by one, more children arrive at Mercedes’s door with the same horror story. Each one a traumatized survivor of an abusive home. Each one chafing at Mercedes’s own scars from the past. And each one taking its toll on her life and career. Now, as the investigation draws her deeper into the dark, Mercedes is beginning to fear that if this case doesn’t destroy her, her memories might.

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Book SynopsisTimothy Gandy has kept his lifetime''s ambition secret for forty years.Now, suddenly (if tragically) released from the hen-pecked tedium of his ordinary existence, he is unexpectedly free to realize his dreams.He will embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, following in the footsteps of the aristocrats of the eighteenth century.He anticipates high art, culture and pleasant weather. He never expected to encounter new friendships - and possibly even love - along the way. It seems that Mr Gandy has embarked on the journey of a lifetime . . .READERS ARE LOVING MR GANDY''S GRAND TOUR:''Another heartwarming story from Alan Titchmarsh'' - 5 STARS''Well worth reading'' - 5 STARS''What a sweet tale this was'' - 5 STARS''Loved it!'' - 5 STARS''Enchanting'' - 5 STARSTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR ALAN TITCHMARSH:A perfect love story * Katie Fforde on THE HAUNTING *It's just brilliant - full of poetry * Jilly Cooper on THE SCARLET NIGHTINGALE *A pleasurable read which fans will lap up * Daily Mail *The story brims with intrigue * Daily Express on THE HAUNTING *Art, antiques and romance are the ingredients: Titchmarsh boils the pot to a fine froth. * Saga Magazine on THE FOLLY *

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Book Synopsis''Lolita is comedy, subversive yet divine'' Martin Amis, ObserverPoet and pervert, Humbert Humbert becomes obsessed by twelve-year-old Lolita and seeks to possess her, first carnally and then artistically, ''to fix once for all the perilous magic of nymphets''. Is he in love or insane? A tortured soul or a monster? Humbert Humbert''s fixation is one of many dimensions in Nabokov''s dizzying masterpiece, which is suffused with a savage humour and rich, elaborate verbal textures. Filmed by Stanley Kubrick in 1962, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne, Lolita has lost none of its power to shock and awe.''There''s no funnier monster in literature than poor, doomed Humbert Humbert'' IndependentTrade ReviewHe did us all an honour by electing to use, and transform, our language. * Anthony Burgess *Nabokov can move you to laughter in the way that masters can - to laughter that is near to tears. * The Guardian *There's no funnier monster in modern literature than poor, doomed Humbert Humbert. * The Independent *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2011Snowdrops. That's what the Russians call them - the bodies that float up into the light in the thaw. Drunks, most of them, and homeless people who just give up and lie down into the whiteness, and murder victims hidden in the drifts by their killers.Nick has a confession. When he worked as a high-flying British lawyer in Moscow, he was seduced by Masha, an enigmatic woman who led him through her city: the electric nightclubs and intimate dachas, the human kindnesses and state-wide corruption. Yet as Nick fell for Masha, he found that he fell away from himself; he knew that she was dangerous, but life in Russia was addictive, and it was too easy to bury secrets - and corpses - in the winter snows...Trade Review"Snowdrops assaults all your senses with its power and poetry, and leaves you stunned and addicted" Independent, "A superlative portrait... Snowdrops displays a worldly confidence reminiscent of Robert Harris at his best" Financial Times, "Reads like Graham Greene on steroids... Miller's complex, gripping debut novel is undoubtedly the real thing" Daily Mail, "Miller brilliantly showcases Moscow as his novel's strutting, charismatic star... disturbing and dazzling" Sunday Telegraph, "Tight, compelling... A totally gripping first novel" The Times, "A tremendously assured, cool, complex, slow-burn of a novel and a bleak and superbly atmospheric portrait of modern Russia" William Boyd, "Superbly atmospheric...Elegantly written, and spot on its detail" Observer, "A chilling first novel about the slide from relative innocence into amorality. I love the honesty of the writing, and the way the furious cold of a bitter Moscow winter gradually emerges as a character in its own right" Julie Myerson, "Intoxicating... It will whirl you off your feet and set your moral compass spinning... A.D. Miller's sophisticated and many-layered debut novel skewers the relationship between victim and abuser, self-delusion and corruption, love and moral freefall" Spectator

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Perfect Child comes a shocking thriller about the disturbing complexities of a mother’s love and the deadly consequences of unravelling family secrets. On a humid summer day in Alabama, a mayor’s wife turns up brutally murdered under a railroad bridge. Standing next to her body is fourteen-year-old Mason Hill, the autistic son of former Miss USA Genevieve Hill. The locals are quick to level their verdict on young Mason: he did it. The town detective calls in local autism expert Casey Walker to consult on the case. At first, Casey tries to keep an open mind. But the more time she spends with Genevieve, the more her unease grows, and she suspects that Genevieve is doing more than just protecting her son. Casey’s misgivings surrounding Genevieve’s story only intensify when she meets Savannah, Genevieve’s nineteen-year-old daughter. Savannah, as it turns out, has some disturbing secrets of her own. But as Casey dives ever deeper into the Hill family dynamic, her search for the truth leads to another shocking murder—one that shatters her understanding of the human condition in ways she never imagined.Trade Review“The action never wavers, and the surprises are unending. Berry is writing at the top of her game.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “[It’s] a humdinger…Perfect for suspense fans.” —Kirkus Reviews “Lucinda delivers every time. Unputdownable.” —Tarryn Fisher, New York Times bestselling author “Lucinda Berry’s latest, Under Her Care, is her best thriller yet! A dark, riveting read that will keep you up late, racing to the chilling end.” —Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of The Next Wife and Somebody’s Home “Lucinda Berry’s Under Her Care is stunning, diabolical, and gripping with one of the best and most gasp-worthy twists I have read in a very long time. Fast-paced, fabulous, and enthralling, the pages practically turn themselves. Absolutely captivating.” —Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author “Creepy and chilling, Under Her Care is a tense page-turner that leaves you questioning everything you ever knew about motherhood and the family bond.” —Tara Laskowski, award-winning author of The Mother Next Door

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Book SynopsisSometimes, only a dog's love can heal a family. A Dog’s Promise is the heart-warming and uplifting story about a dog who helps a family that are on the verge of breaking apart. From W. Bruce Cameron the international number one bestselling author of A Dog's Purpose, this novel is perfect of fans of Garth Stein's Art of Racing in the Rain. Bailey knows one thing for sure: all dogs who offer unconditional love, just like him, are destined for heaven.But before Bailey can rest in peace, there’s one family in particular that needs his help. A family that is on the verge of breaking apart. Bailey knows that helping this family means he won’t remember his previous lives, and the other families that he’s met and loved, but sometimes making the sacrifice to help those in need is its own reward. Deeply emotional and beautifully told, A Dog’s Promise will speak to dog lovers all over the world who know that their pets are sent to them for a reason and that their love can heal all wounds.Trade ReviewMarley and Me combined with Tuesdays With Morrie -- Kirkus Reviews on A Dog's Purpose

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Book SynopsisA daring work of experimental, Modernist genius, James Joyce's Finnegans Wake is one of the greatest literary achievements of the twentieth century, and the crowning glory of Joyce's life. The Penguin Modern Classics edition of includes an introduction by Seamus Deane'riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs'Joyce's final work, Finnegan's Wake is his masterpiece of the night as Ulysses is of the day. Supreme linguistic virtuosity conjures up the dark underground worlds of sexuality and dream. Joyce undermines traditional storytelling and all official forms of English and confronts the different kinds of betrayal - cultural, political and sexual - that he saw at the heart of Irish history. Dazzlingly inventive, with passages of great lyrical beauty and humour, Finnegans Wake remains one of the most remarkable works of the twentieth cent

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Book SynopsisCharlotte Brontë's moving masterpiece – the novel that has been teaching true strength of character for generations (The Guardian). Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American ReadA novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman's quest for freedom. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved? This updated Penguin Classics edition features a new introduction by Brontë scholar and awarTrade Review"At the end we are steeped through and through with the genius, the vehemence, the indignation of Charlotte Brontë."--Virginia Woolf

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Book SynopsisFramed as the confession of a tormented outcast who has murdered the only woman capable of understanding him, Ernesto Sabato''s The Tunnel has been acclaimed as a masterpiece by writers such as Albert Camus and Graham Greene. This Penguin Classics edition is translated by Margaret Sayers Peden with an introduction by Colm Tóibín.Infamous for the murder of Maria Iribarne, the artist Juan Pablo Castel is now writing a detailed account of his relationship with the victim from his prison cell: obsessed from the first moment he saw her examining one of his paintings, Castel had become fixated on her over the next months and fantasized over how they might meet again. When he happened upon her one day, a relationship was formed which swiftly convinced him of their mutual love. But Castel''s growing paranoia would lead him to destroy the one thing he truly cared about...Ernesto Sabato (1911-2011) was born in Rojas, a small town in Buenos Aires Province. He read physicTrade Review'An existentialist classic ... Retains a chilling, memorable power' * The New York Times Book Review *'Sabato captures the intensity of passions run into uncharted passages where love promises not tranquillity, but danger' * Los Angeles Times *Heralded by Albert Camus and Thomas Mann and widely translated, ''The Tunnel'' is the brief, obsessive, sometimes delirious confession of a convicted murderer. -- Robert Coover * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisDISCOVER THE BOOKER PRIZE LONGLISTED NOVEL ABOUT ONE HEART''S LOVES AND LOSSES FROM ICONIC STORYTELLER WILLIAM BOYD''Superb, wonderful, enjoyable'' Guardian''Full of delights'' The Times_____________________________Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary, and Logan Mountstuart''s - stretching across the twentieth century - is a rich tapestry of both. As a writer who finds inspiration with Hemingway in Paris and Virginia Woolf in London, as a spy recruited by Ian Fleming and betrayed in the war, and as an art-dealer in ''60s New York, Logan mixes with the men and women who shape his times. But as a son, friend, lover and husband, he makes the same mistakes we all do in our search for happiness. Here, then, is the story of a life lived to the full - and a journey deep into a very human heart.''One of the things this book does so brilliantly, is it so authentically recreates historical characters'' Ben Miller, on BBC 2''s Between The Covers____________________________''Astonishing, touching, extremely funny. A brilliant evocation of a past era and an immensely readable story'' Sunday Telegraph''Superb, wonderful, enjoyable'' Guardian''Generous, witty, sneakily profound'' Evening StandardAny Human Heart was adapted for a Channel 4 drama starring Kim Cattrall, Gillian Anderson, Matthew Macfadyen and Jim Broadbent and is perfect for readers of Sebastian Faulks and Hilary Mantel.Trade Review'A terrific journey through the twentieth century. Thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable' - Jeremy Paxman 'Wise, profound and moving. Only the very best novels make you look at your own life and imagine your own future with fresh eyes' - William Sutcliffe, Independent on Sunday 'Superb, wonderful, enjoyable' Guardian 'Sheer, truly brilliant storytelling. He has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries' Daily Telegraph 'Astonishing, touching, extremely funny. A brilliant evocation of a past era and an immensely readable story' Sunday Telegraph 'Astounding. One of Boyd's greatest achievements' Mail on Sunday

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Book SynopsisThe House of Sleep - Jonathan Coe''s comic tale of love and obsessionSarah is a narcoleptic who has dreams so vivid she mistakes them for real events; Robert has his life changed for ever by the misunderstandings arising from her condition; Terry, the insomniac, spends his wakeful nights fuelling his obsession with movies; and the increasingly unstable Dr Gregory Dudden sees sleep as a life-shortening disease which must be eradicated. . .A group of students sharing a house. They fall in and out of love, they drift apart. Yet a decade later they are drawn back together by a series of coincidences involving their obsession with sleep - and each other. . . Winner of the 1998 Prix Médicis Étranger, The House of Sleep is an intensely moving and frequently hilarious novel about love, obsession and sleep.''Moving, clever, pleasurable, smart...one of the best books of the year'' Malcolm Bradbury, The Times''There are bits that mak

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Book SynopsisSteve Tesich wrote many plays and screenplays, including the Academy Award-winning Breaking Away and The World According to Garp. His first novel, Summer Crossing, was published in 1982. He died in 1996 at the age of fifty-three.Trade ReviewKaroo has all the ingredients of a truly great novel. Its plot has the pathos of a Greek tragedy and enough twists and turns to satisfy the most avid Raymond Chandler fan. The characters come alive as soon as they appear on the page. Fantastic * Literary Review *Utterly wonderful... This novel does supremely what novels were invented to do - it confronts the most unbearable sadness with a comic exhilaration that makes you almost pleased that life is tragic -- Howard JacobsonMordantly funny, unexpectedly moving and brutally honest about the business of making movies -- Richard E GrantFascinating. A real satiric invention, loaded with wise outrage -- Arthur MillerTerrific. Nakedly honest, a tour de force of self-destruction. As Saul spirals into free-fall we're with him all the way, because he's so furiously funny -- Deborah Moggach

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Book SynopsisPortrays two women with distinct backgrounds in two novels--Reading Turgenev and My house in Umbria--that describe how the imagination and the written word can comfort people in desperate hoursTrade ReviewAs rich and moving as anything I have read in years. When I reached the end of both of these marvellous novels, I wanted to start right again at the beginning * Guardian *These novels will endure. And in every beautiful sentence there is not a word out of place -- Anita Brookner * Spectator *Inquisitive and loving. Trevor's is among the most subtle and sophisticated fiction being written today * New York Review of Books *A writer at the peak of his powers; it reminds you what good reading is all about * Chicago Sun Times *Reading Turgenev is one of the most beautiful and memorable things he has written. It stays in your memory -like Turgenev * Independent on Sunday *He writes like an angel, but is determined to wring your heart. Trevor at his most evocative and haunting * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisDon DeLillo is the acclaimed author of bestselling novels and plays. His work includes White Noise, Libra, Point Omega and Underworld. He has won the National Book Award, the Jerusalem Prize and the Irish Times International Fiction Prize.Trade ReviewPoint Omega is a treat: the most satisfying and least cryptic of DeLillo's late novels. * Sunday Telegraph *Another formidable construction by a very distinctive writer. * Evening Standard *A pared, intense anti-parable . . . so rigorous and so precise. * Observer *Impossible to forget. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisSaul Bellow''s Herzog is part confessional, part exorcism, and a wholly unique achievement in postmodern fiction. Is Moses Herzog losing his mind? His formidable wife Madeleine has left him for his best friend, and Herzog is left alone with his whirling thoughts - yet he still sees himself as a survivor, raging against private disasters and the myriad catastrophes of the modern age. In a crumbling house which he shares with rats, his head buzzing with ideas, he writes frantic, unsent letters to friends and enemies, colleagues and famous people, the living and the dead, revealing the spectacular workings of his labyrinthine mind and the innermost secrets of his troubled heart.This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Malcolm Bradbury''Spectacular ... surely Bellow''s greatest novel''Malcolm Bradbury''A masterpiece ... Herzog''s voice, for all its wildness and strangeness and foolishness, is the voice of a civiliTrade ReviewThe character of Herzog is Bellow's grandest creation, and his mind is as rich as the mind of any character in American literature -- Philip RothSpectacular ... surely Bellow's greatest novel -- Malcolm BradburyA writer of genius * Sunday Times *Nobody else has ever sat down and wallowed to this extent in his own life, with full art -- John Berryman

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Book SynopsisA group of people have little in common except that they are all hopelessly lonely. A young girl, a drunken socialist and a black doctor are drawn to a gentle, sympathetic deaf mute, whose presence changes their lives.Trade ReviewThe greatest prose writer that the South produced ... She has examined the heart of man with an understanding that no other writer can hope to surpass -- Tennessee WilliamsA remarkable book ... [McCullers] writes with a sweep and certainty that are overwhelming * The New York Times *Of all the Southern writers, she is the most apt to endure -- Gore VidalAgain [McCullers] shows a sort of subterranean and ageless instinct for probing the hidden in men's hearts and minds * New York Herald-Tribune *

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Book Synopsis''He was haunted by a feeling of invisibility, as if he were a mere spectator of his own life, with no one to identify him in the barren circumstances of the here and now.''Paul Sturgis is a retired banker manager who lives alone in a dark little flat. He walks alone and dines alone, seeking out and taking pleasure in small exchanges with strangers: the cheerful Australian girl who cuts his hair, the lady at the drycleaners. His only relative, and only acquaintance, is a widowed cousin by marriage - herself a virtual stranger - to whom he pays ritualistic visits on a Sunday afternoon. Trying to make sense of his current solitary state, and fearing that his destiny may be to die among strangers, Sturgis trawls through memories of his failed relationships and finds himself longing for companionship, or at the very least a conversation. But then a chance encounter with a stranger - a recently divorced and demanding younger woman - shakes up his routine andTrade ReviewNothing less than brilliant, often highly amusing and, ultimately life affirming * Sunday Telegraph *Each book is a prayer bead on a string, and each prayer is a secular, circumspect prayer, a prayer and a protest and a charm against encroaching night -- Hilary Mantel * Guardian *The beauty and precision of Brookner's writing is rightly praised each time she publishes a novel, but what is less often remarked on is her daring...like Graham Greene, she draws the reader into a world that has a character and signature all of its own...Brookner's wry, dry lightness of touch creates a bloom on the darkness of her characters' sufferings...Strangers is a novel of sober brilliance, and the unerring, unflinching Brookner is still a much underestimated novelist -- Helen Dunmore * The Times *No one writes with more skill and honesty about the human condition and this book is possibly her finest -- Julie Myerson * Observer Books of the Year *A novel of great stylistic beauty and psychological truth...the pitiless depiction of the final stages of life - and the refusal to allow her characters any consolation - makes Strangers as great a reflection on fear and regret as Philip Larkin's poem Aubade or Beckett's Endgame -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *In the hands of a lesser novelist, her stories of human frailty would be depressing, but she manages to make them sparkle with life - and always with hope...consistently absorbing * Daily Telegraph *Strangers is, in its own way, definitive. A more frightening, demoralising account of how hard life can be, without work, and above all without family, would be difficult to conceive...Brookner has given classic expression to what she sees to be a central truth of the human condition, absolute loneliness at the last...nothing less than a great horror story -- David Sexton * Evening Standard *Anita Brookner is a distinguished and defiant writer whose books occupy a unique place in English literature. Her subject is the best one: the definition of human nature. Although her novels often convey the loneliness inherent in the human condition, they do so in such an acute and bold way that loneliness itself is shown to be a state as tempestuous and startling as any other sort of crisis. In Brookner's hands, in her descriptions so vivid and exact, it can be exhilarating...her books are unfailingly well written, they give voice and a sense of fierce entitlement to a sort of existence that might otherwise go unrecorded...Brookner's is a literature that may be harsh but it is absolutely necessary -- Susie Boyt * Independent *Paul Sturgis is a brilliant and affecting creation by a writer whose empathy runs deep, and whose pitch is perfect...a brisk and moving story * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisFOLLOW ME is a fabulously warm, witty and romantic novella from the No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O''Flanagan.Pippa Jones seems to have it all. The only thing that the high-flying career girl is missing is love. When she spots a gorgeous man who seems to be following her everywhere she goes, she wonders if fate is trying to throw them together. But with her job on the line can she afford to make time for this handsome, mysterious stranger?Trade Review'The Sheila O'Flanagan guarantee is a pretty powerful one' * Irish Independent *

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Book SynopsisThe phenomenal New York Times Number One bestseller about the unbreakable bond between a dog and their human. Now a major film starring Dennis Quaid.This is the remarkable story of one endearing dog's search for his purpose over the course of several lives. More than just another charming dog story, A Dog's Purpose touches on the universal quest for an answer to life's most basic question: Why are we here?Surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden-haired puppy after a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey's search for his new life's meaning leads him into the loving arms of eight-year-old Ethan. During their countless adventures, Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog.But this life as a family pet is not the end of Bailey's journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonders – will he ever find his purpose?Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, W. Bruce Cameron's A Dog's Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.

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Book Synopsis'An urgent story told beautifully' - Dolly Alderton'Gripping, unflinching and elegant' - Sophie MackintoshA powerful, unforgettable story about modern love, privilege and a young woman's journey after her life falls apart.******When Kate meets Max in the first week of university, a life-changing friendship begins. Over the next four years, the two become inseparable. But loving Max means knowing his family: the wealthy Rippons, all generosity, social ease and quiet repression.Theirs is not Kate's world, and yet she finds herself drawn quickly into their gilded lives, and the secrets that lie beneath. Until one summer evening at the Rippons' home, just after graduation, her life is shattered in a bedroom while a party goes on downstairs.******An Observer Hottest-Tipped Debut Novelist and Elle One To Watch'Unforgettable...subversive and sophisticated' Elle'Outstanding...brilliantly told' Observer'A writer with a voice as fresh as new paint... Beautiful' The Times'One of the most powerful debuts you'll ever read' Stylist'Scorching and original' Sunday Times, Style'Dazzling... Enthralling' Alexandra Kleeman'Unputdownable... A powerful and haunting tale' Independent'If you like David Nicholls, Elizabeth Day, Donna Tartt...it's exceptional' Pandora Sykes'Compelling... Price's prose glimmers' Mail on SundayTrade ReviewMoving, vivid, confronting and bold, What Red Was is an urgent story told beautifully * Dolly Alderton *Subversive and sophisticated… [Rosie Price’s] exploration of sexual violence and class makes for an unforgettable read * Elle, **Books to Look Out for in 2019** *Bringing together themes of survival, agency, complicity, self-denial and, ultimately, courage, this assured book is one of the most powerful debuts you’ll ever read. * Stylist *An incredibly nuanced exploration of the complexities of sexual violence, WHAT RED WAS heralds the arrival of a major new literary talent. This is an important book. * Louise O'Neill, author of ASKING FOR IT and ALMOST LOVE *WHAT RED WAS is a gripping novel that shines an unflinching light on trauma and its prismatic impact. A deeply necessary book, elegant and assured even as it burns at the centre with cool, clear-eyed rage. * Sophie Mackintosh, author of THE WATER CURE *

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Book SynopsisNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A young woman pretends to be someone she isn’t in this “spellbinding” (Vogue), “smoldering” (The Washington Post) novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls.   “Under Cline’s command, every sentence as sharp as a scalpel, a woman toeing the line between welcome and unwelcome guest becomes a fully destabilizing force.”—The New York TimesA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Vogue, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Slate, Chicago Public Library, Electric Lit“Alex drained her wineglass, then her water glass. The ocean looked calm, a black darker than the sky. A ripple of anxiety made her palms go damp. It seemed suddenly very tenuous to believe that anything would stay hidden, that she could suc

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Book SynopsisSweet Temptation is an incredibly funny and sharply observant novel, from bestselling author Lucy Diamond.Maddie's getting it from all sides. Her bitchy new boss at the radio station humiliates her live on air about her figure, her glamour-puss mum keeps dropping not-so-subtle hints that Maddie should lose weight and her kids are embarrassed to be seen with her after the disastrous Mums' race at their school sports day. Something's got to change . . .Maddie joins the local weight-watching group expecting more humiliation but instead finds two unlikely allies –bitter divorcee Lauren who, despite running a dating agency, has signed off romance for ever and shy Jess, the beautician, who's desperate to fit into a size ten wedding dress for her Big Day.

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Book SynopsisWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR'If you buy one literary novel this year, make sure it's this' THE TIMES'The Romantics looks to Flaubert's Sentimental Education, to E.M. Forster, to Turgenev. But it is the product of a distinctive and sharp intelligence' HILARY MANTEL 'Grips the reader as artfully and as compellingly as the first page of A Passage to India' THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKSWINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION1989. In the holy city of Varanasi, 19-year-old Samar rents a room to avoid a small-town job and lose himself in reading about worlds outside of India. But when he is thrust into local a circle of privileged European and American expats, led by the charismatic Miss West, Samar will soon face his own silent desires and crumbling beliefs.'A work of art' Financial Times'A supernova' The Washington Post'A charming debut' The Independent Trade ReviewThe Romantics looks to Flaubert's Sentimental Education, to E.M. Forster, to Turgenev. But it is the product of a distinctive and sharp intelligence -- Hilary MantelA sensitive and introspective novel . . . a meditation on hope and failure. Mishra's evocations of Indian landscape and customs are vivid and thoughtful; his prose clean and unhampered and his descriptive passages to be savoured * Guardian *Contemporary India is brought to vigorous, thrumming life in the pages of The Romantics * Sunday Times *If you buy one literary novel this year, make sure it's this -- Amanda Craig * The Times *This bright new star is the real thing -- David Robson * Sunday Telegraph *[A]n intriguing combination of casual grace and emotional intensity, peppered with discreet social comment on caste, class, sectarian strife, the state of the nation . . . a charming debut * The Independent *A work of art, a first novel of the highest achievement...a writer whose work will last. Read it and find yourself at the source of something great -- Candia McWilliam * Financial Times *A first novel of astonishing maturity * Daily Telegraph *[An] extraordinary debut novel . . . a supernova * The Washington Post *Mishra's lyrical descriptions . . . and the depth of culture the region offers, is a haunting reminder of India's power to bewitch * Time Out *Grip[s] the reader as artfully and as compellingly as the first page of A Passage to India * The New York Review of Books *If much of cosmopolitan Indian writing has valorized the immigrant and the foreign land, then The Romantics is a celebration of the home and its forgotten world -- Amitava Kumar * The Nation *A voice that fuses the lapidary precision of Flaubert with the meditative lyricism of Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, a voice that's alternately wry and ruminative, meticulous and expansive -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *Many treasures in this brilliant novel -- Elizabeth HardwickPankaj Mishra writes the most perfect prose of any Indian novelist of his generation -- William DalrympleMishra's eye is sharp, his prose flawless * Time *[A] surprisingly assured, provocatively balanced meditation on the familiar culture flash * Boston Globe *A truly ambitious attempt to compare the way people in the East and the West dream . . . Delicate and subtly tantalising in the way only a book can really be * Vogue *It is almost as if when everyone is flashing De Beers diamonds, Mishra traps the quiet luminescence of the moonstone in his theme and style * The Hindu *Mishra's writing has a lovely potency . . . subtly layered and compelling * Times Literary Supplement *Impressive . . . The Romantics turns its back on the exotic richness and the "teeming" panoramic quality which we readily assume to be expressive of Indianness itself * Sydney Morning Herald *A first novel whose achievement is something that most writers could be proud of at any stage in their careers * Vancouver Sun *

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Book SynopsisSamantha Harvey is the author of the novels Orbital, The Wilderness, All is Song, Dear Thief and The Western Wind and a work of non-fiction, The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping. Orbital was the winner of the Booker Prize 2024, and her other work has been shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award, the Women's Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and the Walter Scott Prize. The Wilderness was awarded the Betty Trask Prize. She is a tutor on the MA course in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.Trade ReviewBrave and intelligent...a mesmerising work * Independent *A stunning composition of human fragility and intensity * Guardian *An extraordinary dramatisation of a mind in the process of disintegration ... Brilliant - read it now, before it scoops up all the prizes * The Times *Touches a resounding chord of melancholy. The author, whose debut this is, is very talented * Evening Standard *This is a finely written ode to memory, identity and love * Financial Times *

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Book Synopsis''An emotional rollercoaster of a read... profoundly touching and moving''- Daily Express.Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes and Jodi Picoult. Abi has been given the second chance she never expected: she''s in remission. Now she''s trying to get her life - and her family - back on track after facing the worst. But it''s hard to trust in happiness again, and reconnecting with her husband John proves more challenging than she thought. Can you really go back to ''normal'' after thinking you''re going to lose one another? With Abi''s son Seb struggling with a secret of his own, the three of them are in danger of falling apart just when they need each other most. But how do you pick up the pieces of a family still suffering emotional shockwaves? And can Abi bring the people she loves most in the world back together again... before it''s too late? *****What readers are saying about This Beautiful Life**Trade ReviewBursting with warmth, honesty, poignancy, love and such wonderful depth, this book more than cements Marsh's bestseller status. 5*****' * Heat *A beautiful, warm and moving story... I hugged my family tightly when I finished it -- Amanda Jennings'This story of love, courage and survival will tug at your heartstrings' * The Mirror *Wonderfully joyous and funny... without a moment's hesitation, one of my books of the year -- Being AnneA beautiful, soaring story about love, survival, forgiveness and understanding... highly, highly recommended! -- On My BookshelfI loved every word of This Beautiful Life... Katie Marsh has that deftness of touch that enables her to make her readers smile as well as cry. It resonates through my days and dreams even now. A wonderful, wonderful book. Read it. -- Linda's Book BagAn insightful and heartfelt read that will stay on my mind for a long time to come. This author has really touched my heart and I can not wait to delve into another of her novels, even if it is to have my heart broken all over again! -- Rea's Book ReviewVery moving and real -- Kate Eberlen, bestselling author of Miss You'This heartfelt read will make you think about life' * Prima *Brilliantly written, this book is both raw and beautiful * Fabulous (Sun on Sunday) *The author deals with the realities of life after cancer in a truly poignant way -- SunKatie's extraordinary writing is full of warmth and honesty; she examines the power of love in great depth...an absolutely superb read. Highly recommended; an utter delight! -- Random Things Through My LetterboxA honest, emotional and quietly powerful book which will stay with me for a long time -- Cosy Books

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Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20Trade ReviewAmbitious and successful . . . Extremely perceptive. * The Times *The sweep of Naipaul’s imagination, the fictional frame that expresses it, are in my view without equal today. -- Elizabeth Hardwick * New York Times Book Review *A Tolstoyan spirit . . . The so-called Third World has produced no more brilliant literary artist. -- John Updike * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisOne of Elena Ferrante''s Top 40 Books by Women G.H., a well-to-do Rio sculptress, enters the room of her maid, which is as clear and white ''as in an insane asylum from which dangerous objects have been removed''. There she sees a cockroach - black, dusty, prehistoric - crawling out of the wardrobe and, panicking, slams the door on it. Her irresistible fascination with the dying insect provokes a spiritual crisis, in which she questions her place in the universe and her very identity, propelling her towards an act of shocking transgression. Clarice Lispector''s spare, deeply disturbing yet luminous novel transforms language into something otherworldly, and is one of her most unsettling and compelling works. Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her innovation in fiction brought her international renown. References to her literary work pervade the music and literature of Brazil and Latin America. She was born in the Ukraine in 1920, but in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Civil War, the family fled to Romania and eventually sailed to Brazil. She published her first novel, Near to the Wildheart in 1943 when she was just twenty-three, and the next year was awarded the Graça Aranha Prize for the best first novel. Many felt she had given Brazillian literature a unique voice in the larger context of Portuguese literature. After living variously in Italy, the UK, Switzerland and the US, in 1959, Lispector with her children returned to Brazil where she wrote her most influential novels including The Passion According to G.H. She died in 1977, shortly after the publication of her final novel, The Hour of the Star.Trade ReviewBrilliant ... Lispector should be on the shelf with Kafka and Joyce * Los Angeles Times *One of the twentieth century's most mysterious writers -- Orhan PamukThe premier Latin American woman prose writer of this century * The New York Times Book Review *

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