Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction
Sourcebooks, Inc Laws of Wrath
Book Synopsis"All thriller; no filler-a white-knuckled treat" -James PattersonThere are those who fight the devil within them. And those who worship it.The butchered body of a cross-dresser is found in a dumpster in Chinatown, New York. Nothing out of the ordinary for the NYPD, except the victim just so happens to be the brother of Detective Phee Freeman. At first the slaying looks like the random act of a vicious killer, but when it is discovered that there are similar ritualistic murders throughout the city, Phee and his partner Quincy Cavanaugh, along with FBI Agent Janet Maclin, have no choice but to join forces with Dr. Daria Zibik, a brilliant but deranged Satanic cult leader. Phee and his partners must do everything they can to stop the bloodshed and determine if the evil they are hunting and the psychopath they are trusting could actually be one and the same.Actor, director, producer and award-winning author Eriq La Salle does it again in the second novel of his gritty, tension-packed Martyr Maker series, which will have readers reflecting on the struggle of good versus evil and why it's not always so easy to do the right thing.Praise for Laws of Wrath:"Fast-paced... Characters are richly textured [and] none is without faults. Sets the hook for the captivating series." -Kirkus Reviews"Penetrating and incisive...Laws of Wrath is outstanding fiction, with its basis firmly planted in the nonfictional evil man is capable of committing." -Lee Ashford, Readers' Favorite
£15.54
Sourcebooks, Inc Laws of Annihilation
Book SynopsisWith grit, relentless action, and twists you'll never see coming, Laws of Annihilation is the third installment in the highly acclaimed Martyr Maker crime fiction series from actor, director, producer, and award-winning author Eriq La Salle.A war is brewing in New York City, and nobody can stop it.It's summer in New York City, and a sweltering heat wave stifles the area. The entire city is on edge.Tensions between the Hasidic and Black communities of New York have been steadily escalating since a tragic incident a few weeks ago left a Black teenager dead. Then, two rabbis are killed in a gruesome attack at their synagogue.Meanwhile, FBI agent Janet Maclin has dreams of finally being appointed the FBI's first female director, when she is diagnosed with stage IV cancer and given four months to live. While keeping her illness a secret, she is assigned to help NYPD detectives Quincy Cavanaugh and Phee Freeman solve the case of the murdered rabbis as more hate crimes threaten a city on the brink. As the body count mounts, time is running out for Maclin in more ways than one.Also in the Martyr Maker series:Laws of DepravityLaws of Wrath
£15.71
Sourcebooks Landmark Delicate Condition
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£22.39
Sourcebooks, Inc The Locked Door
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£15.29
Green Writers Press Crosshairs: A Justin McGee Mystery
Book SynopsisInspired by the author's own experiences and observations as a child and throughout adulthood, Crosshairs tells the story of the the implosion of the traditional Boston underworld that created a vacuum for the players left at the table. Justin McGee is a high-powered attorney who moonlights as the city's most successful and highly paid assassin. Former Irish crime family member, Darby McBride, is an aging mobster looking for a new life as a sole proprietor in the reinvented underworld. Captain Caleb Frost is a hardscrabble Gloucester fisherman who comes to a crossroads between his own sense of principles and ethics and the lure of the lucrative New England heroin trade. Crosshairs is the story of three desperate individuals grappling with a world that places money and hidden desires above all else. These players are seeking not only survival, but the ability to thrive. Their unique advantage—unlike the drones of the rest of the world—is that they are devoid of any pesky morals that could get in the way of achieving their desires. Everything comes to a head when Justin is called upon to accept the most challenging assignment of his life. Little do they know, but their worlds will all tragically collide, as readers will discover, because in Boston, politics, history, and crime are all one when caught in the crosshairs…Trade Review"There's no greater reading pleasure than to meet a new player in the field of Boston crime fiction. So allow me to introduce Matthew Fitzpatrick, and allow him to introduce you to his fictional gang of sharp-tongued, sardonic, hopeful, hopeless wise-guys and gals. His narration sings with the song of the streets, and their dialogue is so real it spits. A most promising debut. Enjoy." William Martin , New York Times Bestselling author of Back Bay and Bound For Gold" Crosshairs is a gritty story about gritty people in a city where only the strong and strategic survive." Capt. Linda Greenlaw , best-selling author of The Hungry Ocean and Bimini Twist
£19.76
Green Writers Press Today My Name Is Billie
Book SynopsisEvery Year thousands of educators are accused of physical abuse. Some are guilty and are prosecuted, but hundreds who are innocent are forced to surrender their licenses. This is what happened to Billie. Deceit and betrayal threatened her survival, extinguished her life’s dream, and erased her sense of self worth. She wondered if she could ever trust again. Rejected by family and friends, she was forced to reinvent every aspect of her entire life. When a catastrophic fire crippled her community, and individuals grappled with personal tragedy, she gained a deeper understanding of the gift of forgiveness and the power of hope. Her brave struggles saved not only her life but also the lives of others. At times brutally painful, at other times hugely positive, Today My Name Is Billie reveals how a single lie can spread like fire and destroy all that it touches.Trade Review"Neile Parisi's debut novel, Today My Name is Billie , explores the aftermath of teacher Billie Murray's life when one of her trusted students falsely accuses her of physical abuse. In the fallout from this boy's lie, Billie loses her job as well her relationship with her husband and two sons. Billie chooses to relocate from Connecticut to a small southern town where she begins to heal. After many years she experiences another horrifying experience. This time, however, she learns to love, forgive and become an empowered version of herself. Today My Name is Billie ignites hope in the tenacity of the human spirit." Charita Cole Brown, author of Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life
£13.46
Wicked Run Press Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror
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£10.99
Wicked Run Press Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror
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£20.99
Darklit Press Lessons in Demoralization
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£16.14
Red Dragon Publishing Ltd Goodnight, God Bless
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£14.07
Cherry Tree Publishing Nothing Left To Lose
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£15.99
Muswell Press Scent
Book SynopsisThe cracks in Clementine and Edouard's marriage are becoming impossible to ignore. Her work as a perfumer is no longer providing solace and her sense of self is withering. Then, decades after the disturbing end of a bisexual love triangle, Clementine's former lover Racha resurfaces and her world tilts. What does she want, if not revenge? Set in Paris and Provence, this is a beautifully written, intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.Trade Review'Very, very good, an intense and unflinching expose of desire and its legacy'. Elizabeth Buchan. 'Vividly passionate, Costello's prose is reminiscent of masters like Leila Slimani. Thrillingly stylish' Daisy Buchanan. 'A writer of enormous intelligence and sensitivity. she is also a skilled storyteller. Inventive, vivid and distinctive' Mary Loudon
£8.54
Drawn and Quarterly Paul At Home
Book SynopsisPaul at Home is Quebecois superstar Michel Rabagliati s most personal book yet, a riveting, emotional, and frequently amusing take on the losses and loneliness of being closer to retirement than to university. Paul is in his mid-50s, a successful cartoonist with an achy shoulder living in a house he once shared with his wife and daughter. The backyard is unkempt, full of weeds. A swing set sits idle, slowly rusting beside a half-dead tree Paul planted with his then-five-year old daughter. The room that belonged to his now-18-year-old daughter is mostly unused, especially once she decides to move overseas. Left unspoken but lingering in the background is Paul s divorce after a three decade relationship with his high school sweetheart. Amid all of this emotional turmoil, Paul visits his ailing mother in the final months of her life. Like Paul, she divorced in mid-life after a long marriage. She spent most of her remaining years alone or in unfulfilling relationships, which Paul implicitly fears might happen to him. Online dating only seems to make the world worse. Rabagliati doesn t shy away from these intimate issues, approaching them as much with self-deprecating humor as with sorrow or pain. Characterized by both a deep insight and a willingness to poke fun at life s shortcomings, Paul at Home is a playful and poetic rumination on loss and the sometimes unsettling changes that come with middle age.
£16.80
Cormorant Books Lost Dogs
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£9.49
Cormorant Books Some Unfinished Business
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£9.49
Cormorant Books Double Karma
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£9.49
House of Anansi Press Ltd ,Canada Walt
Book SynopsisFrom critically acclaimed author Russell Wangersky, comes a dark, psychological thriller about a man named Walt, a grocery store cleaner who collects the shopping lists people leave in the store and discard without thought. In his fifties, abandoned, he says, by his now-missing wife Mary, Walt is pursued by police detectives unsatisfied with the answers he’s given about her disappearance.Almost invisible to the people who pass him every day, the grocery lists he collects, written on everything from cancelled cheques to mortgage statements to office stationary, give him a personal hold over those who both ignore him and unwittingly disclose facets of their lives to him.When a new cold case squad is formed in St. John’s to look into Mary’s disappearance, the detectives begin to realize that Walt may be involved in more than just his wife’s disappearance.Set in modern-day Newfoundland, after reading Walt, you’ll be sure to never let your shopping list fall to the floor ever again.Trade ReviewWalt is a brilliant Chinese-finger-trap of a book. The plainspoken narration draws you in and makes you feel at home, yet all the while Wangersky is cranking the thumbscrews, the grip tightening and tightening until you're left utterly breathless. Think The Silent Wife, think Gone Girl — that same sense of mounting menace, a feeling that things ain't quite right beneath the surface calm. You can read this book in one sitting but I guarantee it'll stay with you for years. * Craig Davidson, author of Cataract City *Meet Walt. Obsessed with shopping lists he picks up in the supermarket where he works, and the women they lead him to. Possibly a stalker. Possibly a peeping Tom. Possibly a murderer. Russell Wangersky's fine novel takes you into the mind of a character you're not likely to forget in a hurry and to places beyond your comfort zone. It's all done with great style, economy, and dollops of dark humour that make it a joy to read and difficult to put down. * Peter Robinson, author of the Inspector Banks series *Read him: Cross of Ishmael Reed and Lou Reed. Here be expert experimentalism: The dictionary exploded and reloaded; the canon fired and melted down. * George Elliott Clark, author of I & I and Poet Laureate of Toronto, 2012-15 *One of the most unsettling crime novels I’ve read this year…Wangersky can write extraordinarily well in a number of disciplines, so it’s only reasonable to expect that, when turning his attention to psychological suspense, he’d excel at this, too. -- Sarah Weinman * National Post *a full-on psychological thriller in the vein of John Fowles’ 1963 classic The Collector....contains a number of chilling scenes....Wangersky does a good job keeping the reader guessing as to whether Walt is a bona fide killer, or just another garden-variety creep. -- Stacey Madden * Quill and Quire *a frank, penetrating thriller... the wordcraft here is crisp, tight and evocative -- J.M. Sullivan * St John's Telegram *[Russell] has a gift for astute observation, wisely chosen detail, and characterization that nods in certain directions without forcing or pushing. Just as vitally, he and Walt demonstrate the ways the rhythms and music of words can be used to build sensation — and serious unease — on the page. -- Joan Barfoot * London Free Press *a character-driven literary novel, with the suspense of a thriller…rich, evocative writing makes everything in the book feel remarkably real -- Chad Pelley * The Overcast *[Wangersky] follows in the footsteps of Mailer and Dostoevsky, delving into the psychology of a deeply disturbed character… * That Shakespearean Rag *a cracking good story -- David Pitt * Booklist *
£11.39
Book*hug Mama's Boy Game Over
Book SynopsisAt the end of this story I'm going to kill myself. And then die. That's the way it is. All good things must come to an end, including me.Mama's Boy Game Over is the third and final book in David Goudreault's bleakly comic bestselling Mama's Boy trilogy. Mama's Boy has been transferred from prison to a psychiatric hospital. He manages to escape, and goes on the run in Montreal, hiding in plain sight.In his short but eventful life, Mama's Boy has already managed to achieve most of his ambitions: fame, fatherhood and friendship, at least in his own rather skewed perspective. But one goal remains: tracking down and reuniting with his estranged mother. By turns poignant and deeply uncomfortable, Mama's Boy's final journey is a wild, desperate bid for freedom, love, and family.Trade Review"David Goudreault will captivate you from the first line!" -- Kim Thuy, author of Vi and Ru
£16.16
Biblioasis Dead Heat
Book SynopsisIn a nameless Hungarian town, teenagers on a competitive swim team occupy their after-training hours with hard drinking and fast cars, hash cigarettes and marathons of Grand Theft Auto, the meaningless sex and late-night exploits of a world defined by self-gratification and all its attendant recklessness. Invisible to their parents and subject to the whims of an abusive coach, the crucible of competition pushes them again and again into dangerous choices. When a deadly accident leaves them second-guessing one another, they’re driven even deeper into violence. Brilliantly translated into breakneck English by Ildikó Noémi Nagy, Dead Heat is a blistering debut and an unforgettable story about young men coming of age in an abandoned generation.Trade ReviewPraise for Dead Heat "Dead Heat is steeped in nihilism and intoxication, frequent violence and brutality, a casual acceptance (and frequent occurrence) of sexual assault. One wants to believe it's over the top, but the novel's accepting tone casts everything in the cold light of verisimilitude ... whereas history is said to be written by the winners, coming-of-age fiction tends to be written by, or of, the losers (to steal a label from Stephen King's IT), the outsiders, the underdogs. In Dead Heat, the focal characters are the local elite: members of a champion swim team, popular at school, with several members of the group coming from wealthy families. The disturbing levels of brutality, and their complete lack of consequences, may simply be a reflection of the way it has always been for the stars of the teen world, and the world at large ... However you analyze it, Dead Heat is a valuable read, and has the feel of an important book. Consider this an opportunity, then, to brace yourself for what you will find between the covers."—Toronto Star "This is a satire of the bleakest strain: there is scarcely a page that does not offend. And yet the result is utterly enthralling … As savage, reckless, and abhorrent as the world Totth delivers is, what's worse is how frighteningly real it all feels. Dead Heat is an undeniably uncomfortable novel, but so too is the truth it's trying to get at."—Quill and Quire, starred review "Totth's novel and its translation from the Hungarian by Nagy both excel … in conveying the banality and numbness as its narrator proceeds through this parade of horrors.The juxtaposition of transgressive behavior with competitive sports recalls nothing quite so much as Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries. Like that book, the way in which this narrative is told makes for compelling reading even as the acts it describes can inspire shudders.Totth's debut is a harrowing experience but also a frequently gripping one."—Kirkus "[Dead Heat's] internal tension never calcifies into numbness or cynicism — it never gets tiresome, but remains white-hot to the end ... The novel’s effect is cumulative rather than linear, and part of the story’s absorbing quality is how lurchingly unpredictable it is."—Michigan Daily “Let’s say it up front: reading Dead Heat, the Hungarian writer Benedek Totth’s first novel, is a shock . . . [like] the cry of love and desperation flung out by a generation that’s finished before it can begin, before it can even reach maturity.”—Yann Perreau, Les Inrockuptibles “A brilliant novel, but brilliant like a black diamond and cursed so that you don’t want to hold it, a tale that never lets you go, no matter how much repugnance you may feel.”—Encre Noire “Intense, brutal and relentless. As on a mad merry-go-round, you’re delighted not to be able to get off before it’s over. But watch out: the harsh form and subject matter will leave more modest readers shaken.”—TéléStar “Dead Heat is about an empty world . . . its language full of slang, its elocution prizing sexuality, violence and luxury goods. Its hallucinatory moments call to mind classics of 20th-century American literature like Bret Easton Ellis, Raymond Carver or Hunter S. Thompson, or the cult movie Trainspotting and the violence of youth at its centre reminds us of Golding’s Lord of the Flies.”—Magyar Narancs "A savage world where teenagers roam like zombies high on drugs . . . a whirling sequence of fast-paced movie scenes, sharp dialogues and luxuriant visions.”—Szépirodalmi Figyelo “Dead Heat is a no-holds-barred portrait of adolescents adrift . . . The blue waters of the Danube have never looked this troubled.”—Paris Match “Benedek Totth darkens his pages with a boundless talent. He writes like a man screaming, moved by furious desperation. Totth’s dialogues show that he understands the power of humour, and he also knows that the world moves too fast and leaves those who don’t know how to swim at the edge of the pool. A devastating, beautiful Noir novel.”—L’Express (Paris)
£11.39
Biblioasis White Shadow
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£12.34
Biblioasis Case Study
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£12.34
Anvil Press Publishers Inc The Loop
Book SynopsisWinner of the 41st International 3-Day Novel Writing Contest Alan is unsure if he is dead or dreaming, he only knows that he is stuck in a loop. He finds himself being forced to walk along a straight path through an unending pine forest where any deviation from the path causes him to black out and begin again. Dipping in and out of an endless purgatorial walk, Alan relives key moments in his life where he missed the opportunity to learn, escape, and change: The death of his mother, an abusive relationship with his father, and the opportunity to connect with his only real friend, a neighbour he never speaks to named Edgar. The Loop chronicles the life of an alcoholic who is unable to escape his past to explore the ways in which abuse can shape someone into their abuser and the ways trauma can transfer from one generation to the next. How much of who we are is who we are? How much of it is someone else? What if this has all happened before?
£12.59
Vagrant Press Some There Are Fearless
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£18.95
Lucky Dollar Media Immortal North
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£13.99
Pushkin Press Bad Kids
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA CRIME FICTION IN TRANSLATION DAGGER 2023 A dark Chinese suspense thriller about teenage accountability, where no one is innocent, for fans of Keigo Higashino and Un-Su Kim One beautiful morning, Zhang Dongsheng pushes his wealthy in-laws off a remote mountain. It's the perfect crime. Or so he thinks. For Zhang did not expect that teenager Chaoyang and his friends would catch him in the act. An opportunity for blackmail presents itself and the kids start down a dark path that will lead to the unravelling of all their lives. Dark, heart-stopping and violent, Bad Kids is the suspense thriller that has taken China by storm, proving that anyone has what it takes to become a killer.Trade Review“A perfect noir for modern China!” --Crime Reads“I really loved [this] book…every twist and turn had me well and truly hooked…genius…one of those books where I was desperate to know how it might end, yet didn’t want to reach the end!” --Jackie McLean, author of the DI Donna Davenport series
£9.49
Pushkin Press Another Person
Book Synopsis'A mesmerising debut. Dark, twisted and bracingly empathetic' Diana Reid, author of Love and Virtue Winner of the 2017 Hankyoreh Literary Award ---------------- Who is Jina? The stupid woman who ruined a young man's promising career? The weird loner whose university boyfriend thinks she has a victim complex? The naïve country girl who ignored a friend's cry for help? The survivor? To answer these questions, Jina will have to return to Anjin University and the toxic culture that destroyed the lives of many female students - including one, Ha Yuri, who died tragically and mysteriously not long before she left. ---------------- PRAISE FOR ANOTHER PERSON 'Immaculately crafted, shocking and moving' Sang Young Park, author of the International Booker-longlisted Love in the Big City 'Dark Academia the way I like it... smart and full of suspense' Hanna Bervoets, author of We Had to Remove This Post 'Sharp social commentary and amazing, complex female characters. An unusual, unpredictable thriller' Simone Campos, author of Nothing Can Hurt You NowTrade Review'Dark Academia the way I like it: Another Person is one of those novels where you're never sure who you should be rooting for, or if you should be rooting for anyone at all. Smart, and full of suspense, it will keep you guessing until the end.' - Hanna Bervoets, author of We Had to Remove This Post'Sharp societal commentary and amazing, complex female characters. An unusual, unpredictable thriller' - Simone Campos, author of Nothing Can Hurt You Now'This is not a remote-controlled weapon aiming at us from a distance. This is a novel standing right before us like a stone-age axe, hacking at our blunted hearts. A novel not like a drone, but like dynamite; more like a dagger than an arrow. In an ever-more misogynistic society, day after day feminism plots its self-transformation-Another Person is its latest weapon. I love Kang Hwagil's direct and primal writing style. I love her perseverance and courage, not to gracefully skirt around a topic, but instead to shout out, 'This is not okay' - Cheong Yeoul, writer'This novel exposes and interrogates. Another Person's protagonists Yuri, Jina and Sujin-as well as the countless women within the 'brackets' of the Korean context-are screaming out... This is a novel that will spark debate.' - Young-Sook Kang, author of Rina'A novel so immaculately-crafted, shocking, and moving, it's hard to believe it's the author's first; this is what Kang Hwagil's ANOTHER PERSON is to me' - Sang Young Park, author of the International Booker-longlisted Love in the Big City'A confronting and timely book about consent, toxic masculinity, sexual assault and how women are treated in South Korea, by one of the country's most prominent feminist writers' -Independent
£13.49
Atlantic Books You Sent Me a Letter: A fast paced, gripping
Book SynopsisAt 2 a.m. on the morning of her fortieth birthday, Sophie wakes to find an intruder in her bedroom. The stranger hands Sophie a letter and issues an threat: open the letter at her party that evening, in front of family and friends, at exactly 8 p.m., or those she loves will be in grave danger.What can the letter possibly contain? This will be no ordinary party; Sophie is not the only person keeping a secret about the evening ahead. When the clock strikes eight, the course of several people's lives will be altered for ever.Trade ReviewA gripping read with an intriguing and unsettling mystery at its heart. It kept me guessing all the way through. I found it impossible to put down. * C.L. Taylor *Kept me guessing until the very last page. * Erin Kelly *Gulped this down in a single sitting. Believable characters, intriguing central hook and a plot that hurtles along til the final page. * Tammy Cohen *You Sent Me A Letter grabs you by the throat in the first chapter and doesn't let go throughout. I didn't breathe the whole time I was reading! Lucy Dawson creates fantastically sympathetic and realistic characters and the reader is pulled along with them at breakneck speed. Compelling and wholly satisfying, I had chills by the end. This isn't my first Dawson read and it certainly won't be my last. Love love loved it. Recommended to simply everyone. -- Jenny Blackhurst, author of How I Lost YouI'm not exaggerating when I say that this book gave me palpitations. Make sure you don't have anything pressing to do, because once you pick it up there is absolutely no way you'll be able to put it back down. * SJI Holliday *A gripping, twisty novel that gets right under your skin. * Mel Sherratt, author of Written In The Scars *Gripping...surprises at every turn. * Daily Mail *Nail-biting. * Good Housekeeping *A real page-turner...it'll keep you guessing to the end. * Heat magazine *You Sent Me a Letter will have you gripped from the opening page. * Hello magazine *One chapter in and you'll be hooked. * Red Magazine *
£13.35
Atlantic Books Everything You Told Me
Book SynopsisImpossible to put down psychological suspense, perfect for fans of Louise Jensen, Tammy Cohen and Claire Douglas.You went to bed at home, just like every other night.You woke up in the back of a taxi, 300 miles away.You have no memory of the last ten hours.You have a suicide note in your coat pocket, in your own writing.You know you weren't planning to kill yourself.Your family and friends think you are lying.Someone knows exactly what happened to you.But they're not telling...Trade ReviewAnother scorcher from Lucy Dawson, Everything You Told Me had me looking at the people in my life with suspicion. If there's one thing I can say about Lucy's books it's do not trust anyone. Twisted, gripping and completely relatable you won't want to put this down until you know the truth. * Jenny Blackhurst, on Everything You Told Me *An intriguing premise, told in page-turning style. Lucy Dawson sucks you into the story, slowly building a creeping sense of dread. A truly enjoyable read. * Sophie McKenzie on Everything You Told Me *A gripping read that kept me guessing. * C.L. Taylor on Everything You Told Me *I was completely gripped by Everything You Told Me and couldn't put it down. The novel is packed with Lucy Dawson's trademark pitch perfect characters, dark comedy and terrifying twists. Kept me on the edge of my seat! * Sanjida Kay on Everything You Told Me *Kept me guessing until the very last page. * Erin Kelly on You Sent Me a Letter *Gulped this down in a single sitting. Believable characters, intriguing central hook and a plot that hurtles along til the final page. * Tammy Cohen on You Sent Me a Letter *I'm not exaggerating when I say that this book gave me palpitations. Make sure you don't have anything pressing to do, because once you pick it up there is absolutely no way you'll be able to put it back down. * SJI Holliday on You Sent Me A Letter *I couldn't put this down. A compulsive read. -- Sanjida Kay
£9.93
Atlantic Books Try Not to Breathe: Gripping psychological
Book SynopsisThe most talked about psychological suspense novel of the 2016, loved by Marian Keyes and Tess Gerritsen. Once you start reading TRY NOT TO BREATHE you will be hooked on this gripping, fast-paced thriller.You won't be able to put it down.Just remember to breathe. Alex is sinking. Slowly but surely, she's cut herself off from everything but her one true love - drink. Until she's forced to write a piece about a coma ward, where she meets Amy.Amy is lost. When she was fifteen, she was attacked and left for dead in a park. Her attacker was never found. Since then, she has drifted in a lonely, timeless place. She's as good as dead, but not even her doctors are sure how much she understands. Alex and Amy grew up in the same suburbs, played the same music, flirted with the same boys. And as Alex begins to investigate the attack, she opens the door to the same danger that has left Amy in a coma...Look out for Holly's new novel, DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, available to pre-order now!Trade ReviewA razor-sharp, fast-paced plot and wonderfully complex characters. Not since The Girl on the Train have I been so captivated by a work of suspense. -- Tess GerritsenSuch a grippy book. -- Marian KeyesTry not to breathe, try not to make plans, try not to commit to anything till you've finished Holly Seddon's debut novel, because we must warn you now - you'll be fully hooked from page one...a brilliant, gripping, must-read. * Glamour *Forget girls on trains and girls who are gone, you will not be able to put Try Not to Breathe down. It's that good. * Goodreads *A top-notch psycho-drama * Independent *A gripping psychological thriller * New *Seddon's storytelling skills are strong and the book engrossing... the world she's constructed is fascinating * Kirkus *A gripping debut novel...as addictive as the best box sets. * Independent *
£7.59
Unbound One Hundred and Fifty-Two Days
Book Synopsis'Superb, moving, beautiful' Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and SheepHe will be allowed to visit his mother soon. His mother who is terminally ill, his mother who he has been barred from seeing as he recovers from his own bout of pneumonia.Until then, with the help of his physiotherapist Freya, he must navigate his increasingly empty and isolated existence: his father, who finds solace in the bottom of a glass; his Nana Q, whose betting-slip confetti litters her handbag; his friends, who simply wouldn’t understand.Time passes with the promise of soon, but one hundred and fifty-two days later the boy will come face to face with his grief, and move beyond to a world full of possibility, hope and love.Trade Review 'Oh God, a novel made up of poems about a teenage boy whose mother is dying and it captures so much sorrow and confusion. It's BRILLIANT' Marian Keyes 'Giles Paley-Phillips has written a beautiful honest heartstopping bookpoem about grief. His enormous gorgeous heart is laid bare. Thoroughly recommend' Dawn French 'This book is superb, moving and beautiful' Nick Offerman 'It is superb. So moving. So beautiful. Giles writes with such elegance, he finds the very pinpoint of a scene and conveys it so precisely, it feels as though you are standing there alongside him. Just wonderful' Joanna Cannon, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep 'Will resonate with anyone who has suffered a loss' Julia Bradbury 'A soul-stirring exploration of loss, grief, and hope; its raw melody will stay with me for a long time' Susie Dent 'A beautiful, perfect book' Kate Mosse 'A moving, honest and thought-provoking account of losing someone you love' Natasha Harding, The Sun 'Utterly heart-rending but also healing. You cry but you feel uplifted, cleansed' Katie Fforde 'Superb ... moved to tears several times' John Simpson
£11.69
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Things We Thought We Knew
Ten years ago, two girls’ lives changed forever.Now one of them is ready to tell their story.***'A quirky lovable mystery and a brilliant, heartbreaking debut' Stylist'A new face of fiction [and] an original coming of age novel' Observer ***The first memory I have of you is all knickers and legs. You had flipped yourself into a handstand and couldn’t get back down. We became best friends, racing slugs, pretending to be spies – all the things that children do.Ten years later, eighteen-year-old Ravine Roy spends every day in her room. Completing crosswords and scribbling in her journal, she keeps the outside world exactly where she wants it; outside. But as the real world begins to invade her carefully controlled space, she is forced to finally confront the questions she’s been avoiding. Who is her mother meeting in secret? Who has moved in next door?And why, all those years ago, when two girls pulled on their raincoats and wellies and headed out into the woods did only one of them return?‘A breakout book from an incredibly talented debut writer. Read, weep and laugh’ Stylist ‘An original heartfelt read by a new British talent’ Independent‘A delightfully fresh voice’ Daily Mail
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Fire Starters
Book Synopsis**WINNER of the EU Prize for Literature**'One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation' SUNDAY TIMES'Gripping, affecting, surprising. I inhaled it' LISA MCINERNEY 'Captivating, intelligent and courageous' IRISH TIMES'Spectacular. At once grittily real, wildly magical and insanely alluring - a siren-song of a novel.' DONAL RYAN'Jan Carson seems to have invented a new Belfast in this gripping, surprising, exhilarating novel.' RODDY DOYLE'Blew me away with its power, anger and wit.' JOSEPH O'CONNOR Dr Jonathan Murray fears his new-born daughter is not as harmless as she seems. Sammy Agnew is wrestling with his dark past, and fears the violence in his blood lurks in his son, too.The city is in flames and the authorities are losing control. As matters fall into frenzy, and as the lines between fantasy and truth, right and wrong, begin to blur, who will these two fathers choose to protect?Dark, propulsive and thrillingly original, this tale of fierce familial love and sacrifice fizzes with magic and wonder.Trade ReviewGripping, affecting, surprising. I inhaled it. -- Lisa McInerneySpectacular . . . Dark, beautiful, at once grittily real and wildly magical. Insanely alluring. -- Donal RyanBlew me away with its power, anger and wit. * Joseph O'Connor, Books of the Year *A big and rambunctious novel that casts a cold satirical eye on themes such as language, culture, identity, sectarianism, and the terrifying proximity of the past * Sunday Times, 50 Greatest Irish Novels of the 21st Century *Shimmering with wit, simmering with an incandescent rage, shot through with a seam of wild magic, The Fire Starters is a powerful, disturbing portrait of East Belfast and its people and its hope for the future. I won’t be the only reader to proclaim that, in the best way possible, Jan Carson is on fire. * Lucy Caldwell *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd Shelf Life
Book Synopsis'Shelf Life is whip-smart, slyly heartbreaking, and I felt the truth of it in my bones.’ Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water CureRuth is thirty years old. She works as a nurse in a care home and her fiancé has just broken up with her. The only thing she has left of him is their shopping list for the upcoming week.Starting with six eggs, and working through spaghetti and strawberries, apples and tea bags, this inventive novel builds a picture of a woman defined by the people she serves; her patients, her friends, and, most of all, her partner of ten years. Without him, Ruth needs to find out – with conditioner and single cream and a lot of sugar – who she is when she stands alone.With her fresh unpredictable style, Franchini skewers modern relationships and toxic masculinity, moving effortlessly between humour and heartbreak to tell the story of a woman rebuilding herself on her own terms.Trade ReviewShelf Life is whip-smart, slyly heartbreaking, and I felt the truth of it in my bones. Franchini dissects ideas of love, dating and identity in a way that feels both ruthless and humane. I loved it. * Sophie Mackintosh, author of 'The Water Cure' *This is a beautiful novel. The scene with the mother and the chicken is one of the most rigorous, affecting, strange scenes I have read in a while and it's still haunting me. It was funny, and sad, and I devoured it. It reminded me of Convenience Store Woman. I absolutely loved it. * Susannah Dickey, author of 'Tennis Lessons' *Livia Franchini has delivered an impressive, Sally Rooney-esque debut novel. * New Statesman *Shelf Life is so intimate. It's like riding the bus home with a friend as she confides her secret hopes and fears. Each raw emotion is carefully delivered. Franchini has created a protagonist who feels achingly real. I wanted to cancel all my plans and just read this book. * Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of 'Harmless Like You' *Shelf Life feels like a Bridget Jones for cynical souls. Franchini captures perfectly the mundane devastation of heartbreak and the utter impossibility of knowing and being known. Sweet, funny, odd and achingly perceptive, this seemingly small tale asks some terrifyingly big questions about love, loss, identity and existence. I couldn’t put it down. * Natasha Bell, author of 'His Perfect Wife' *
£8.54
Salt Publishing Two Sketches of Disjointed Happiness
Book SynopsisA young man sits on a bench looking out at the harbour of a French-Spanish border town. Ahead of him, either a cash-strapped existence strolling the sun-baked avenues of Seville, where deep shadows conceal a sense of uncanny potential, or the cooler embrace of the daily grind back in the US. Granville, cut adrift in Europe by circumstance, has a choice to make. His solution is not to.This daring, experimental novel addresses the existential dilemma of location, how the regret of a choice not made may overpower the satisfaction of one taken. In his debut, Simon Kinch explores the nature of longing and unfulfilment, romance and rejection, freedom and opposition.Trade ReviewSuch a wonderful novel. -- Lee RourkeThe parallel stories provide a vehicle for portraying much that is difficult to express. There have been many classic stories written of men attempting to find their place in a world that rewards behaviour they rail against. This contemporary offering stands with the best. -- Jackie Law * Neverimitate *One of the best books I've read in recent times. -- Víctor Rosa * Goodreads *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Gustav Sonata
Book SynopsisWhat is the difference between friendship and love? Gustav grows up in a small town in Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem a distant echo. But Gustav's father has mysteriously died, and his adored mother Emilie is strangely cold and indifferent to him. Gustav's life is a lonely one until he meets Anton. An intense lifelong friendship develops but Anton fails to understand how deeply and irrevocably his life and Gustav's are entwined until it is almost too late...'A perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers...' Kate Kellaway, Observer'Heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain.' John Boyne, The Irish TimesTrade ReviewThis is a perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers... Remarkable and moving novel. -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain. -- John Boyne * The Irish Times *Beautifully tender and brilliantly written novel... A tale of the most powerful part of any friendship: love. ***** * Stylist *In The Gustav Sonata, Tremain once again proves herself to be a writer of exceptional talent ... Previous novels like The Road Home have already showcased her staggering sensitivity and capacity for empathy but they're here again, magnificently undiminished. Tremain is a writer who understands every emotion ... and it's ultimately this understanding that has produced another exquisite book -- Matt Cain * i *Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect... Glorious. -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Sense of an Ending: The classic Booker
Book SynopsisNow a major film starring Academy Award nominees Jim Broadbent (Iris) and Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)Winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2011 Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.Now Tony is retired. He's had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He's certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer's letter is about to prove.Trade ReviewA masterpiece... I would urge you to read - and re-read - The Sense of an Ending * Daily Telegraph *Mesmerising... the concluding scenes grip like a thriller - a whodunit of memory and morality * Independent *A very fine book, skilfully plotted, boldly conceived... Barnes has achieved...something of universal importance -- Justin Cartwright * Observer *A precise, poignant portrait of the costs and benefits of time passing, of friendship, of love. A small masterpiece -- Erica Wagner * The Times *A wonderful story that is all too human and all so real * Irish Times *An extremely moving, a precise book about the imprecision of memory and how it constructs people, stories and histories. -- Alasitair Bruce * Guardian *From the moment that we hear from the woodworm which snuck aboard Noah’s ark to the final pages of the novel, Barnes interrogates moral dilemmas and motivations. These tales could easily be read is isolation, but are much better when consumed as a whole. * WeAreTheCity *A masterpiece... I would urge you to read - and re-read - The Sense of an Ending * Daily Telegraph *Mesmerising... the concluding scenes grip like a thriller - a whodunit of memory and morality * Independent *A very fine book, skilfully plotted, boldly conceived... Barnes has achieved...something of universal importance -- Justin Cartwright * Observer *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Only Story
Book Synopsis**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.First love has lifelong consequences, but Paul doesn’t know anything about that at nineteen. At nineteen, he’s proud of the fact his relationship flies in the face of social convention.As he grows older, the demands placed on Paul by love become far greater than he could possibly have foreseen.Tender and wise, The Only Story is a deeply moving novel by one of Britain's greatest mappers of the human heart.Trade ReviewA novelist at the height of his powers ... Quietly devastating. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * The Times *Exquisite. -- Kate Clanchy * Guardian *Emotionally acute, profoundly beautiful, as droll as it is deep... this has to be one of the smartest novels that 2018 has to offer. -- Hephzibah Anderson * Mail on Sunday *A gentle, bleak, and brilliant novel. -- Jon Day * Financial Times *Immensely powerful. -- Alex Clark * New Statesman *This intense, taut, sad and often beautiful tale may well be Barnes’ best novel for years. -- Lara Feigel * Spectator *A tender and heartbreaking novel. -- Alex Preston * Observer *As quiet and aching and intimate as a James Blake ballad. -- Rupert GooldA sensitive look at what makes lovers tick. -- Robbie Millen * The Times *A vivid dramatization of the narcissism of obsessive love. * Economist *
£8.99
Vintage Publishing Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss
Book Synopsis'I loved this beautiful book. It's tender and compassionate, written with exquisite care and verve, and so so SO funny' MARIAN KEYESProfessor Chandra is about to embark on the trip of a lifetime. In the moments after the bicycle accident, Professor Chandra begins to reassess his life, his career and his relationship with his three children. He’s just missed out on the Nobel Prize (again). All this work. All this stress. It's killing him.Professor Chandra needs to take a break, and reluctantly agrees to visit a Californian retreat, to follow his bliss.And so he must try to crack the most complex problem of all: the secret to his own happinessTrade ReviewI loved this beautiful beautiful book. It's tender and compassionate, written with exquisite care and verve, and so so SO funny -- Marian KeyesChandra is a delightful creation: peevish, intolerant, intellectually exacting, unwittingly eccentric, nerdy, needy let lovable. The book, like its picaresque hero, is a one-off -- Patricia Nicol * Sunday Times *This brilliant and eloquent novel, which puts into words so many unutterable annoyances, is a sort of Zen satire in which tolerance and understanding mingle with hilarious criticism of contemporary mores. It’s a wonderful read -- Wendy Holden * Daily Mail *Rajeev Balasubramanyam gently pokes fun at the modern fondness for positivity, but tells a disarmingly positive story... The writing is elegant and witty and the comedy is always underpinned with humanity; a life without bliss is no life, and the gradual dawning of Chandra’s self-awareness is genuinely uplifting -- Kate Saunders * The Times *Balances satire and self-enlightenment... a surprisingly soulful family tale that echoes Jonathan Franzen’s Corrections in its witty exploration of three children trying to free themselves from the influence of their parents -- Ben East * Observer *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing Charlie Savage
Book SynopsisMeet Charlie Savage.Charlie is a middle-aged Dubliner with an indefatigable wife, an exasperated daughter, a drinking buddy who’s realised that he’s been a woman all along … Compiled here for the first time is a whole year’s worth of Roddy Doyle’s hilarious series for the Irish Independent. Giving a unique voice to the everyday, he draws a portrait of a man – funny, loyal, somewhat bewildered – trying to keep pace with the modern world (if his knees don’t give out first).SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC WRITING 2019'A delight from start to finish' Irish Mail on SundayTrade ReviewA delight from start to finish. -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday *A refreshingly positive take on middle age, it’s optimistic, warm-hearted, blokishly moving and written with a master’s pin-sharp command of humour… a book that’s sure to be picked up and revisited time and time again. * Herald Scotland *More than comedy or insight, this work has tenderness… It does more than tickle our bellies, it warms our hearts. -- Niamh Donnelly * Irish Times *Brilliantly funny. Heart-warmingly, vulnerably hilarious in fact. Doyle has crafted Charlie Savage with great care and has imbued him with such depth of character that I can’t imagine a reader finishing the book without loving him, just a little… savour every page because Charlie Savage will enrich your life as long as he is in it. -- Ceire Duggan * RTE Guide *This portrait of an ordinary man (and one clearly past his best) is by turns hilarious and heartfelt. -- Rachel Lloyd * Economist, 1843 *
£8.99
Vintage Publishing The Story of a Marriage
Book Synopsis'Brilliant and breathtaking...sexy and sad' A.M. HomesIn his struggle to understand what has happened to his family, how his wife could fall in love with another man after twenty happy years, Jon attempts to tell the story of the painful collapse of his marriage, but from her point of view. He tries to get inside her head, to see it all as she did, all the while knowing that he can never really achieve this, and that his efforts reveal more projection than insight. How can one truly know another person? How much of what we think is love, is just a construct? Is it possible to find – and maintain – the great love we long for? Gulliksen explores these questions, turning them over again and again till they crack, revealing hollowness – or possible new meanings.Intense, erotic, dramatic, raw – Story of a Marriage examines two people's inner lives with devastating and fearless honesty. It is a gripping but slippery narrative of obsession and deceit, of a couple striving for happiness and freedom and intimacy, but ultimately falling apart.Trade ReviewA brilliant and breathtaking novel that is for anyone who has ever loved… Story of a Marriage is the naked truth, sexy and sad, stunning for its clarity, the author’s ability to simultaneously render denial and knowing too much. It is a novel about all the things we know and don’t want to know about ourselves, our partners and our lives and the shocking reminder that the very same things that draw us together are the ones that pull us apart. -- A.M. HomesBristling with the urgency of lived experience, this is a short and beautifully written account of love’s autoimmunity. -- Andrew Anthony * Observer *Exquisitely lean prose -- Elisa Segrave * Literary Review *this philosophical domestic drama...is painfully persuasive in its view of relationships * The New Yorker *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Need
Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2019 A New York Times 2019 Notable Book2019 BOOK OF THE YEAR: Oprah Magazine, Time, Vulture, and Entertainment Weekly 'The Need is a profound meditation on the nature of reality, a fearless examination of parenthood, and also somehow a thriller. This is an extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers' Emily St. John MandelShe crouched in front of the mirror in the dark, clinging to them. The baby in her right arm, the child in her left. There were footsteps in the other room...Molly is exhausted, anxious, losing her grip on reality. Her husband is away and she is running between her children and her job, where things are unravelling. She’s a paleobotanist, working at a fossil quarry, and has recently unearthed artefacts that defy understanding; the coke bottle with the lettering that leans the wrong way, an alternate version of the Bible. Where do these things come from?At home, as dusk falls, she gets jumpy. Are those footsteps out in the hall? What was that noise? She holds her two small children close to her, and tries to pull herself together. But her worlds of work and home are about to collide. She discovers that the stranger in her sitting room knows everything about her life and, as their identity becomes chillingly clear, this intruder makes a demand of Molly that upends everything, forcing her to reckon with her most unspeakable fears. The Need is a gripping, unsettling and stunningly original story that probes deep truths about motherhood, and explores grief, loss and how we treat others. It's a compulsive, reality-warping novel that makes us rethink our world, and question how far we would go to protect the ones we love.'The atmosphere is as close and taut as a thriller, but this is, in fact, both a highly original examination of grief and an extraordinarily vivid evocation of motherhood -- the moments of terror and hilarity, the visceral burden of it, and the fleeting, but almost transcendent, joy' Daily Mail'A chilling novel from a blazing talent' Observer Trade ReviewA chilling novel from a blazing talent...in addition to being a cerebral meditation on motherhood at its most elemental – fierce, beatific, sanity-thieving – it’s an adroitly executed thriller with a quasi-sci-fi twist. Mercilessly tense throughout, its opening chapter is a belter... A bracingly singular achievement, it’s surreal, blackly comic and ultimately generous. -- Hephzibah Anderson * Observer *[A] frenzied fever dream of a novel. Read it as a sci-fi thriller, or understand it instead as metaphorical; either way, it’s a page-turner… magnificent... This is a smart, sharp book that cuts to the heart of what it’s like to be a mother -- Lucy Scholes * Financial Times *Phillips can conjure pure nightmare in a single sentence… Thrillingly disturbing, frighteningly insightful about motherhood and love, and spilling over with offhand invention, The Need is one of this year’s most necessary novels. -- Sarah Ditum * Guardian *The atmosphere is as close and taut as a thriller, but this is, in fact, both a highly original examination of grief and an extraordinarily vivid evocation of motherhood -- the moments of terror and hilarity, the visceral burden of it, and the fleeting, but almost transcendent, joy -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *Helen Phillips’s novel begins to reveal itself, veering away from what looks initially like conventional suspense into something more speculative and philosophical with nods to both sci-fi and horror...the what-ifs animate this novel, the narrative splitting and looping back on itself as it tries out parallel possibilities, various fantasies and nightmares... frightening and maddening and full of dark comedy.. Phillips, as careful with language as she is bold with structure, captures many small sharp truths * New York Times *The Need is a profound meditation on the nature of reality, a fearless examination of parenthood, and also somehow a thriller. This is an extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers -- Emily St. John MandelPhillips writes exceptionally well of the insatiable demands two young children can make on a mother... yet this is also a horror story about the vulnerability of motherhood that doubles up as a love letter to the miracle existence of children. At the same time, Phillips consistently plays tricks with the reader's perspective...and with the possibility of parallel realities, rooted in a mother's worst possible fears, playing out at the level of science fiction... One of the most heart-stopping motherhood novels you'll read all year * Metro *So smart and brave about motherhood... Molly's struggle to remain her full self while giving so much away is electrifying... Mothers will recognize so much in this fresh novel -- but they aren't the only ones who should read it. Phillips has found a way to make these experiences universal -- Bethanne Patrick * Washington Post *An enthralling book. With its short chapters, unsettling prose and riveting suspense, it feels designed for binge-reading. But keep an eye on the clock. Immersion in this novel before bedtime is a recipefor sleeplessness. * Economist *It’s a classic opening: a woman hears an intruder in her home while her husband is away, grabs her two young kids and hides in terror. But the true power of Helen Phillips’ brilliantly paced thriller emerges when Molly, a paleobotanist, comes face to face with the only person in the world who can shake her identity as a mother—a person who brings her to question her very reality. Phillips taps into the overwhelming anxiety that comes with love in its deepest, truest form, a sense of fierce protectiveness one need not be a parent to understand -- Lucy Feldman * Time's Best Fiction Books 2019 *An exciting, enjoyably eccentric novel that more than delivers as both a reality-warping thriller and a searching meditation on motherhood * Mail on Sunday *The weirdness of everyday life is beautifully explored… The Need's true subject is motherhood, rendered here as a painful, visceral, almost impossibly tender undertaking. In contrast to this extreme normality, the supernatural elements tingle like bugs against the skin. In all, a grand achievement. The novel exists on that narrow borderlinewhere strangeness merges with the mundane, and Phillips is both an explorer, and a brilliant chronicler of this murky realm. * Spectator *Sinister, existential and written in blazing prose * i *I love Helen Phillips's wild, brilliant, eccentric brain -- Lauren GroffHelen Phillips is one of the most exciting young writers working today, and I envy those who get to discover her work here for the first time -- Jenny OffillThis book held me hostage, invaded my dreams and my waking thoughts, and readjusted my brain; Phillips is, as always, doing something at once wildly her own and utterly primal. Maybe it doesn't surprise me that the strangest book I've read about motherhood is also the best, but it does thrill me -- Rebecca Makkai, author of THE GREAT BELIEVERSHelen Phillips has created an existential page-turner that captures, with perfect sharpness, the fierce delirium of motherhood, the longing to understand the workings of our universe, and the wondrous and terrifying mystery that is time. The Need is a brain-bending heartbreaker of a novel, and definitive proof that Helen Phillips is one of the most spellbindingly original writers working today -- Laura Van Den Berg, author of THE THIRD HOTELThis is a book about the biggest things you can imagine--the dreadful potentiality of life, the fierceness of love, and the terrifying and exhilarating mystery of motherhood. Helen Phillips writes at the nexus of science fiction and psychological realism, conjuring a narrative so mind-bending and immersive that it'll change what you see as real. She is an author at the height of her power, and we are so lucky to be living in her moment -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of YOU TOO CAN HAVE A BODY LIKE MINEThe Need is a spellbinding novel, both unsettling and irresistible. The best fiction finds the uncanny within the familiar; it makes us feel the fantastical undercurrent of our embodied lives. With exquisite economy and evocative prose, Phillips manifests the surreal, terrifying, and visceral experience of motherhood -- Dana Spiotta, author of INNOCENTS AND OTHERSA superbly engaging read – quirky, perceptive, and gently provocative... Suspenseful and mysterious, insightful and tender, Phillips' new thriller cements her standing as a deservedly celebrated author with a singular sense of story and style * Kirkus, starred review *
£15.29
Vintage Publishing The Young Visiters
Book SynopsisA romantic and comic gem from a precocious Victorian nine-year-old that has charmed readers for a centuryThe Young Visiters is a comic masterpiece that has delighted generations of readers since it was first published in 1919. A classic story of life and love in later Victorian England as seen from the nursery window, it was written in 1890 by nine-year-old Daisy Ashford.It all starts when Alfred Salteena, who is 'not quite the right side of the blanket', takes young Ethel Montacue to stay with his friend Bernard Clarke... Daisy Ashford has an exquisite eye for matchmaking and manners in English society, and her tale, with its hilarious observation and idiosyncratic spelling, is as irresistible today as it ever was.This edition of The Young Visiters is illustrated with drawings by Posy Simmonds which are as enchanting and witty as the story. The text has been transcribed from the original manuscript and includes J.M. Barrie's famous preface to the first edition.Trade ReviewI adore The Young Visiters, with its delightful voice and exuberant spellings... A blissful book -- Nina StibbeFunny and touching... one of my favourite comfort reads -- Ruth WareIf you haven’t read The Young Visiters before you’re in for a treat. Mr Salteena will make you laugh on even the grimmest of days -- Tracy ChevalierA total one off, a magic book that has been in the shelves almost all my life and which I go back to with a thrill every decade to so to remind myself why I love it so much -- Juliet NicolsonWonderful… A forgotten gem of a book but so influential in so many ways -- Joanne Harris
£10.44
Vintage Publishing To The Lighthouse (Vintage Classics Woolf Series)
Book SynopsisRediscover one of Virginia Woolf's greatest works in this beautiful new gift edition from Vintage Classics. 'My mind was warped into a new shape by her prose and it will never be the same again' Greta GerwigMr and Mrs Ramsay and their eight children have always holidayed at their summer house in Skye, surrounded by family friends. The novel's opening section teems with the noise, complications, bruised emotions, joys and quiet tragedies of everyday family life that might go on forever. But time passes, bringing with it war and death, and the summer home stands empty until one day, many years later, the family return to make the long-postponed visit to the lighthouse.One of the great literary achievements of the 20th century, To the Lighthouse, is at once an intensely autobiographical and universally moving masterpiece about changing relationships and attitudes amongst the early 20th-century middle class.'To The Lighthouse is one of the greatest elegies in the English language, a book which transcends time' Margaret Drabble 'Thrillingly introspective' The IndependentTrade ReviewIt is an elegy for lost times and family life * The Week *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing Stoner: A special edition of the literary classic
Book SynopsisA beautiful hardback edition of the iconic forgotten classic, the story of one man's ordinary, extraordinary life. William Stoner enters the University of Missouri at nineteen to study agriculture. A seminar on English literature changes his life, and he never returns to work on his father's farm. Stoner becomes a teacher. He marries the wrong woman. His life is quiet, and after his death, his colleagues remember him rarely.Yet with truthfulness, compassion and intense power, this novel uncovers a story of universal value - of the conflicts, defeats and victories of the human race that pass unrecorded by history - and in doing so reclaims the significance of an individual life.'A beautiful, sad, utterly convincing account of an entire life' Ian McEwan'A brilliant, beautiful, inexorably sad, wise and elegant novel' Nick Hornby'A terrific novel of echoing sadness' Julian BarnesVINTAGE QUARTERBOUND CLASSICS: Bound to be beautiful
£16.14
Legend Press Ltd The Teacher's Secret: all is not what it seems in
Book Synopsis''Packed with heart and suspense; I absolutely loved it'' Jenny AshcroftThings aren''t always as they seem... A small town can be a refuge, but while its secrets are held, it''s hard to know who to trust and what to believe.The Teacher''s Secret is a tender and compelling story of scandal, rumor and dislocation, and the search for grace and dignity in the midst of dishonor and humiliation. Suzanne Leal draws us into a public school in the intimate town of Brindle, Australia in which vice principal Terry comes to generational loggerheads with stand-in principal Laurie concerning teachers and their treatment of their pupils. Told over four semesters, this conflict will slowly change their lives.Perfect for fans of The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty and A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys BrayWhat Reviewers and Readers Say:''Delicately woven a big-hearted book,'' Joanne FedlerElegantly structured, unsettling, yet with moments of surprising wit,' Kathryn HeymanMasterfully constructed, this moving novel warns us of our capacity to make or break the lives of those around us Drawn with wit and clear-eyed affection, the inhabitants of this wonderful novel will remain with you long after you have put it down.' Mark LamprellA rich interweaving of beautifully drawn characters told so gently and in such exquisite detail that they grew on me until I was lost in their world.' Robin de Crespigny''The Teacher's Secret is a gutsy yet intricate examination of one of society's nightmares, filled with strong characters and relationships interwoven in a storyline that has the reader engrossed to the last page,' Robert WainwrightSuzanne Leal writes with her hand on her heart, writing according to its beat translating the ordinary into the extraordinary. An Australian talent, universally understood.' Charles WaterstreetSuspenseful, moving and full of heart. I couldn't put it down.' Richard GloverAn eloquent story of a life thrown into disarray; it drew me in and held me, page after page.' Rachel SeiffertSuzanne Leal is a writer of unusual sensitivity, with a rare ability to shed light on the dark tangle of emotional attachments which lies just below the surface of everyday life.' John Colle''What a great read! I could not put it down. I can imagine this book being talked about and passed around from teacher to teacher in the school staff room and from parent to parent in the school car park ...'' Schooldays Magazine
£13.49
Legend Press Ltd Me, Myself and Them
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2016 Luke Bitmead Bursary''I''ve never quite read anything like it... funny, moving and terrifying all at once'' Rick O''SheaStruggling to cope with a tragic loss, Denis Murphy has learned to live a bit differently. Both his friends are used to it - the only problem is his monstrous housemates.When his enigmatic ex-girlfriend comes back into his life, she threatens to shatter the finely crafted world around him.As Denis begins to re-emerge from his sheltered existence and rediscover the person he used to be, things turn nasty, and he is forced to confront the demons that share not only his house, but also his head.''One part The Rosie Project, one part personal Heart Of Darkness, one part Stephen King - I''ve never quite read anything like it...There are many novels around in recent years with characters struggling with their mental health but none that I''ve read as original as this. Me, Myself And Them incredibly manages to be funny, moving and terrifying all at once ...I started thinking it was a story of the absurd but welled up by the time I got to the end. Dan Mooney has something quite unique here in a story of one man''s journey through (literally) his own imprisoning demons of mental health. Give it a try. I hope it finds the audience it deserves.'' Rick O''Shea''As witty as it is unsettling ... I missed my train stop, twice, because of this book ... Dan Mooney has crafted a story of the strongest kind, that is, one that holds the power to prompt thought and dialogue. And this is a story much needed.'' The BookBag''Remarkable, fascinating and unnerving. Dan warmly invites us in and shows us to our comfy seat as he introduces us to a shocking post-trauma world where everything and nothing makes perfect sense.'' Annie West
£8.54
Atlantic Books Nocturnal Animals: Film tie-in originally
Book SynopsisThe novel that inspired the 2016 major motion picture Nocturnal Animals, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams, is a dazzling, eerie, riveting thriller of fear and regret, blood and revenge.Many years after their divorce, Susan Morrow receives a strange gift from her ex-husband. A manuscript that tells the story of a terrible crime: an ambush on the highway, a secluded cabin in the woods; a thrilling chiller of death and corruption. How could such a harrowing story be told by the man she once loved? And why, after so long, has he sent her such a disturbing and personal message...?Originally published as Tony and Susan.Trade ReviewAbsorbing, terrifying, beautiful and appalling. I loved it... Unforgettable -- Ruth RendellA superb and thrilling novel... Extraordinary -- Ian McEwanTony and Susan is unbeatable. I was bowled over by this disturbing, bold novel * Observer *A f***king masterpiece. I wish that Wright was still alive so that I could tell him so... It's going to become a living, breathing, knock-out classic. Astonishing -- MJ HylandAstute, cunning and thrilling in equal measure, this is one lost novel that deserves to be found by a whole new generation of readers * Independent on Sunday *I want to read it all over again... Not since Cormac McCarthy's The Road have I been so gripped and unsettled by a piece of fiction -- Sarah WatersMarvellously written - the last thing you would expect in a story of blood and revenge. Beautiful -- Saul BellowCompelling... Mesmerizing... Absolutely irresistible * New York Times *A nail-biter and a penetrating portrait of guilt and revenge * Sunday Times *
£8.54
Atlantic Books Nocturnal Animals: Film tie-in originally
Book SynopsisThe novel that inspired the 2016 major motion picture Nocturnal Animals, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams, is a dazzling, eerie, riveting thriller of fear and regret, blood and revenge.Many years after their divorce, Susan Morrow receives a strange gift from her ex-husband. A manuscript that tells the story of a terrible crime: an ambush on the highway, a secluded cabin in the woods; a thrilling chiller of death and corruption. How could such a harrowing story be told by the man she once loved? And why, after so long, has he sent her such a disturbing and personal message...?Originally published as Tony and Susan.Trade ReviewAbsorbing, terrifying, beautiful and appalling. I loved it... Unforgettable -- Ruth RendellA superb and thrilling novel... Extraordinary -- Ian McEwanTony and Susan is unbeatable. I was bowled over by this disturbing, bold novel * Observer *A f***king masterpiece. I wish that Wright was still alive so that I could tell him so... It's going to become a living, breathing, knock-out classic. Astonishing -- MJ HylandAstute, cunning and thrilling in equal measure, this is one lost novel that deserves to be found by a whole new generation of readers * Independent on Sunday *I want to read it all over again... Not since Cormac McCarthy's The Road have I been so gripped and unsettled by a piece of fiction -- Sarah WatersMarvellously written - the last thing you would expect in a story of blood and revenge. Beautiful -- Saul BellowCompelling... Mesmerizing... Absolutely irresistible * New York Times *A nail-biter and a penetrating portrait of guilt and revenge * Sunday Times *
£6.99
