Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction

Book Synopsis'A cyclone of a novel' GuardianAn absolute marvel' Max Porter, bestselling author of Lanny'Dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant' Lisa McInerney, bestselling author of The Rules of RevelationFIRST VOICE: Why are we listening? SECOND VOICE: I dunno, I mean, what else is there to do? Tony Cooney, a local-radio DJ, spends his days on air, talking to the listeners of Cork. They call in to tell him about overturned sewage trucks and nuisance graffiti artists, each story a small testimony to the bustle of life that goes on in the county. Off air, however, Tony is beginning to feel unsettled. His long marriage is strained, his teenage daughter is struggling with her mental health, and then out of the blue an old girlfriend gets in touch and suggests he come to visit. Lou Fitzpatrick, Tony's young radio-show producer, is having her own off-air problems. She wants children, but her girlfriend has other ideas; they've lost their beloved cat and her father's drinking is way past problematic. Which is why both Tony and Lou are relieved to leave Cork and drive across Ireland as part of a radio publicity stunt organized by a local car dealership. Their aim is to give away the Mazda 2 that they're driving, the catch being that it must go to one of the many emigrants who have recently returned home to escape a wave of escalating terror attacks in London. But as they navigate dual-carriageways and Travelodges, giving airtime and narrative to the great cacophony of voices calling into the show, the car competition transforms into a surreal quest: Tony to find his first love, Lou to find answers to impossible questions, and all the while two mysterious voices listen in, making their own estimations... A mighty tale of radios, road trips and of the noisy static of life, All Along the Echo asks us whether our lives ever add up to more than the stories we tell ourselves. Funny, warm and in the wilding spirit of George Saunders or Samuel Beckett, Danny Denton's novel is a bravura capturing of modern Ireland, one that shows us the possibilities of fiction, the nature of love and death, and what it is for each of us to be only the briefest signal in life's splendid broadcastttzchidhcmxc [static].Trade ReviewOne of the best novels of 2022 so far... Brilliant... A beautiful cacophony * The Telegraph *A cyclone of a novel... Best of all, amid the imaginative pyrotechnics, there are moments of real tenderness * Guardian *Denton has done something magical here, maybe even a little metaphysical... Wonderful * Irish Times *One of my favourite contemporary writers. One of my favourite writers full stop. Danny Denton's work always blasts my mind and heart wide open, he's an absolute marvel * Max Porter, author of Lanny *A boisterous chorus, brimming with humanity. All Along the Echo feels like a living thing, dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation *An unruly, provocative and stunning novel. Lovers of literature and radio: this is for you * Cillian Murphy *Wild, full-hearted, high-concept with real emotional heft * Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time *All Along the Echo has the energy of a rebounding pinball. Danny Denton takes you on a voice-switching, shape-shifting adventure * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch *Grabs the reader by both shoulders and spins... Intensely exhilarating, moving, and often hilarious, this book is a wonder * Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat *Glowing with warmth yet resolute of focus across its fascinatingly fractured form, All Along the Echo is a declaration of love and frailty in a glitchy age of crossed wires and cross purposes * Gavin Corbett, author of Green Glowing Skull *Danny Denon has written a beast of a novel, stretching both hands around the absurd, strange, awful beauty of modern Irish life and hugging it close to him, all of it * Cathy Sweeney, author of Modern Times *All Along the Echo is a very funny book with a sincerely bleak underbelly; a gritty, socially-engaged book with an antic exuberance that is so rare in contemporary writing. It's gorgeous and life-affirming. * Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young *

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Book Synopsis'A cyclone of a novel' GuardianAn absolute marvel' Max Porter, bestselling author of Lanny'Dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant' Lisa McInerney, bestselling author of The Rules of RevelationFIRST VOICE: Why are we listening? SECOND VOICE: I dunno, I mean, what else is there to do? Tony Cooney, a local-radio DJ, spends his days on air, talking to the listeners of Cork. They call in to tell him about overturned sewage trucks and nuisance graffiti artists, each story a small testimony to the bustle of life that goes on in the county. Off air, however, Tony is beginning to feel unsettled. His long marriage is strained, his teenage daughter is struggling with her mental health, and then out of the blue an old girlfriend gets in touch and suggests he come to visit. Lou Fitzpatrick, Tony's young radio-show producer, is having her own off-air problems. She wants children, but her girlfriend has other ideas; they've lost their beloved cat and her father's drinking is way past problematic. Which is why both Tony and Lou are relieved to leave Cork and drive across Ireland as part of a radio publicity stunt organized by a local car dealership. Their aim is to give away the Mazda 2 that they're driving, the catch being that it must go to one of the many emigrants who have recently returned home to escape a wave of escalating terror attacks in London. But as they navigate dual-carriageways and Travelodges, giving airtime and narrative to the great cacophony of voices calling into the show, the car competition transforms into a surreal quest: Tony to find his first love, Lou to find answers to impossible questions, and all the while two mysterious voices listen in, making their own estimations... A mighty tale of radios, road trips and of the noisy static of life, All Along the Echo asks us whether our lives ever add up to more than the stories we tell ourselves. Funny, warm and in the wilding spirit of George Saunders or Samuel Beckett, Danny Denton's novel is a bravura capturing of modern Ireland, one that shows us the possibilities of fiction, the nature of love and death, and what it is for each of us to be only the briefest signal in life's splendid broadcastttzchidhcmxc [static].Trade ReviewOne of the best novels of 2022 so far... Brilliant... A beautiful cacophony * The Telegraph *A cyclone of a novel... Best of all, amid the imaginative pyrotechnics, there are moments of real tenderness * Guardian *Denton has done something magical here, maybe even a little metaphysical... Wonderful * Irish Times *One of my favourite contemporary writers. One of my favourite writers full stop. Danny Denton's work always blasts my mind and heart wide open, he's an absolute marvel * Max Porter, author of Lanny *A boisterous chorus, brimming with humanity. All Along the Echo feels like a living thing, dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation *An unruly, provocative and stunning novel. Lovers of literature and radio: this is for you * Cillian Murphy *Wild, full-hearted, high-concept with real emotional heft * Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time *All Along the Echo has the energy of a rebounding pinball. Danny Denton takes you on a voice-switching, shape-shifting adventure * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch *Grabs the reader by both shoulders and spins... Intensely exhilarating, moving, and often hilarious, this book is a wonder * Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat *Glowing with warmth yet resolute of focus across its fascinatingly fractured form, All Along the Echo is a declaration of love and frailty in a glitchy age of crossed wires and cross purposes * Gavin Corbett, author of Green Glowing Skull *Danny Denon has written a beast of a novel, stretching both hands around the absurd, strange, awful beauty of modern Irish life and hugging it close to him, all of it * Cathy Sweeney, author of Modern Times *All Along the Echo is a very funny book with a sincerely bleak underbelly; a gritty, socially-engaged book with an antic exuberance that is so rare in contemporary writing. It's gorgeous and life-affirming. * Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young *

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Book Synopsis'A cyclone of a novel' Guardian'An absolute marvel' Max Porter, bestselling author of Lanny'Dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant' Lisa McInerney, bestselling author of The Rules of RevelationTony Cooney, a middle-aged radio talk-show host, takes a road trip across Ireland with his producer, Louise (Lou) Fitzpatrick, as part of a publicity stunt organized by a local car dealership. Their aim is to give away to one lucky winner the Mazda 2 that they're driving, the catch being that it must go to one of the many emigrants who have recently returned home to escape a wave of escalating terror attacks in London. But as they navigate dual-carriageways and Holiday Inns, giving airtime and narrative to the great cacophony of voices calling into the show, the car competition transforms into a surreal quest - Tony to find his first love, Lou to find answers to impossible questions, all of us to discover whether our lives ever add up to more than the stories we tell ourselves and each other.Trade ReviewOne of the best novels of 2022 so far... Brilliant... A beautiful cacophony * The Telegraph *A cyclone of a novel... Best of all, amid the imaginative pyrotechnics, there are moments of real tenderness * Guardian *Denton has done something magical here, maybe even a little metaphysical... Wonderful * Irish Times *One of my favourite contemporary writers. One of my favourite writers full stop. Danny Denton's work always blasts my mind and heart wide open, he's an absolute marvel * Max Porter, author of Lanny *A boisterous chorus, brimming with humanity. All Along the Echo feels like a living thing, dancing and dodging, surprising and poignant. * Lisa McInerney, author of The Rules of Revelation *An unruly, provocative and stunning novel. Lovers of literature and radio: this is for you * Cillian Murphy *Wild, full-hearted, high-concept with real emotional heft * Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them a Good Time *All Along the Echo has the energy of a rebounding pinball. Danny Denton takes you on a voice-switching, shape-shifting adventure * Rebecca Watson, author of little scratch *Grabs the reader by both shoulders and spins... Intensely exhilarating, moving, and often hilarious, this book is a wonder * Doireann Ní Ghríofa, author of A Ghost in the Throat *Glowing with warmth yet resolute of focus across its fascinatingly fractured form, All Along the Echo is a declaration of love and frailty in a glitchy age of crossed wires and cross purposes * Gavin Corbett, author of Green Glowing Skull *Danny Denon has written a beast of a novel, stretching both hands around the absurd, strange, awful beauty of modern Irish life and hugging it close to him, all of it * Cathy Sweeney, author of Modern Times *All Along the Echo is a very funny book with a sincerely bleak underbelly; a gritty, socially-engaged book with an antic exuberance that is so rare in contemporary writing. It's gorgeous and life-affirming. * Niamh Campbell, author of We Were Young *

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Book SynopsisA man arrives at a house on the coast to write a book. Separated from his lover and family and friends, he finds the solitude he craves in the pyrotechnic beauty of nature, just as the world he has shut out is experiencing a cataclysmic shift. The preoccupations that have galvanised him and his work fall away and he becomes lost in memory and beauty. He begins to tell us a story ... A retired porn star who is made an offer he can't refuse for the sake of his family and future. So he returns to the world he fled years before, all too aware of the danger of opening the door to past temptations and long-buried desires. Can he resist the oblivion and bliss they promise? A breathtakingly audacious novel by the acclaimed author of The Slap and Damascus about finding joy and beauty in a raging and punitive world, about the refractions of memory and time and, most subversive of all, the mystery of art and its creation.Trade ReviewA genuinely brave counter-cultural novel... It's terrific, like everything he writes. * Johann Hari, author of STOLEN FOCUS *Rejecting the rage of contemporary politics for a tender celebration of sensuality, nature, memory and love, 7½ makesa defiant claim: that even now, as the world burns, beauty is worth our attention. In this thrilling mashup of autobiography, homage, film and fiction, Tsiolkas presents a rebellious paean to joy and artistic freedom. I've admired the risk and power of all his novels, but this might be riskiest of all-so personal, so delicate and true-and I love it. * Charlotte Wood, Stella Prize-winning author of The Weekend *

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Book SynopsisA man arrives at a house on the coast to write a book. Separated from his lover and family and friends, he finds the solitude he craves in the pyrotechnic beauty of nature, just as the world he has shut out is experiencing a cataclysmic shift. The preoccupations that have galvanised him and his work fall away and he becomes lost in memory and beauty. He begins to tell us a story ... A retired porn star who is made an offer he can't refuse for the sake of his family and future. So he returns to the world he fled years before, all too aware of the danger of opening the door to past temptations and long-buried desires. Can he resist the oblivion and bliss they promise? A breathtakingly audacious novel by the acclaimed author of The Slap and Damascus about finding joy and beauty in a raging and punitive world, about the refractions of memory and time and, most subversive of all, the mystery of art and its creation.Trade ReviewA genuinely brave counter-cultural novel... It's terrific, like everything he writes. * Johann Hari, author of STOLEN FOCUS *Rejecting the rage of contemporary politics for a tender celebration of sensuality, nature, memory and love, 7½ makesa defiant claim: that even now, as the world burns, beauty is worth our attention. In this thrilling mashup of autobiography, homage, film and fiction, Tsiolkas presents a rebellious paean to joy and artistic freedom. I've admired the risk and power of all his novels, but this might be riskiest of all-so personal, so delicate and true-and I love it. * Charlotte Wood, Stella Prize-winning author of The Weekend *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE PROMISEShortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best BookA gripping, claustrophobic novel of guilty secrets, obsession and self-reinvention on the African Savannah from the twice Man Booker-shortlisted author.When Adam moves into an abandoned house on the dusty edge of town, he is hoping to recover from the loss of his job and his home in the city. But when he meets Canning - a shadowy figure from his childhood - and Canning's enigmatic and beautiful wife, a sinister new chapter in his life begins. Canning has inherited a vast fortune and built for himself a giant folly in the veld, a magical place of fantasy and dreams that seduces Adam and transforms him absolutely, violently - and perhaps forever. Damon Galgut's magnificent novel evokes a hot and cruel and claustrophobic world, in which sex and death are never far from the surface.

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Book SynopsisTeena Maguire should not have tried to shortcut her way home that Fourth of July. Not after midnight, not through Rocky Point Park. Not the way she was dressed in a tank top, denim cutoffs, and high-heeled sandals. Not with her twelve-year-old daughter Bethie. Not with packs of local guys running loose on hormones, rage and alcohol. A victim of gang rape, left for dead in the park boathouse, the once vivacious Teena can now only regret that she has survived. At a relentlessly compelling pace punctuated by lonely cries in the night and the whisper of terror in the afternoon, Joyce Carol Oates unfolds the story of Teena and Bethie, their assailants, and their unexpected, silent champion, a man who knows the meaning of justice. And love.Trade Review"'Remarkable... as powerful as anything Joyce Carol Oates has produced' Kate Kellaway, Observer * 'Troubling and remarkable' Lavinia Greenlaw, Daily Telegraph * 'Demonstrates not only the passion, pathos and psychological intensity of this most explosive of major US writers but also again showcases Oates's full-blooded, soaring prose' Irish Times * 'An important book... all men should read it' Literary Review"

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Book Synopsis'A deeply rewarding and beautiful novel' HILARY MANTEL, GUARDIAN ' Towards Another Summer is a joy to read' MAGGIE O'FARRELL'Frame has been compared with Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf' TELEGRAPHLife in England seems transitory for Grace Cleave as the pull of her native New Zealand grows stronger. She begins to feel increasingly like a migratory bird. Grace longs to find her own place in the world, if only she can decide where that is. But first she must learn to feel comfortable in her own skin, feathers and all. Towards Another Summer is a meditation on the themes of exile and return, homesickness and not knowing where home really is. It is suffused with beauty and tenderness and shot through with self-deprecating humour and frailty.Written in 1963, Janet Frame considered this novel too personal to be published in her lifetime.'In this deeply personal novel of exile and loneliness, Janet Frame proves the master of nostalgia, beauty and loss. Frame is, and will remain, divine' ALICE SEBOLD'Exceptional . . . comic, melancholy and piercingly observant' SUNDAY TELEGRAPHTrade ReviewThe idea of a new novel by Janet Frame is in itself a delight and Towards Another Summer is a joy to read, with all the poise, inventiveness and clarity of her other workNo literary curiosity but a deeply rewarding and beautiful novel * Guardian *Frame has been compared with Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf. I am more often reminded of Jean Rhys, similarly distanced from her homeland in the West Indies, with an artistic viewpoint that may seem skewed by its own sensitivity, but is, in fact, courageously clear-sighted * Telegraph *Like every writer worth remembering, Frame exploits-or creates on the page, to be absolutely puristic about it-her peculiar sensibility, her private window into the universal * New York Times Book Review *Maybe Frame took pleasure in the thought of a novel appearing after her death, one that touched so closely on her essential nature, and reminded the world of her remarkable artistry * Daily Telegraph *A piercing, poetic revelation * Observer *In this deeply personal novel of exile and loneliness, Janet Frame proves the master of nostalgia, beauty, and loss. Frame is, and will remain, divine

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Book SynopsisPublishing in English for the very first time, Japan's beloved coming-of-age classic on what really matters in life The streets of Tokyo swarm below fifteen year-old Copper as he gazes out into the city of his childhood. Struck by the thought of the infinite people whose lives play out alongside his own, he begins to wonder, how do you live? Considering life's biggest questions for the first time, Copper turns to his dear uncle for heart-warming wisdom. As the old man guides the boy on a journey of philosophical discovery, a timeless tale unfolds, offering a poignant reflection on what it means to be human.The favourite childhood book of anime master Hayao Miyazaki, How Do You Live? is the basis a highly anticipated film from Studio Ghibli. Trade ReviewAn important, worthwhile and surprisingly of-the-moment novel ... as timely now as it was in 1937 * Asian Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisThe inspiration for The Boy & The Heron, the major new Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film and Golden Globe Award winner 2024A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'In How Do You Live?, Copper, our hero, and his uncle are our guides in science, in ethics, in thinking. And on the way they take us, through a school story set in Japan in 1937, to the heart of the questions we need to ask ourselves about the way we live our lives. We will experience betrayal and learn about how to make tofu. We will examine fear, and how we cannot always live up to who we think we are, and we learn about shame, and how to deal with it. We will learn about gravity and about cities, and most of all, we will learn to think about things - to, as the writer Theodore Sturgeon put it, ask the next question' - from the foreword by Neil GaimanTrade ReviewAn important, worthwhile and surprisingly of-the-moment novel ... as timely now as it was in 1937 * Asian Review of Books *Heartwarming and empathetic. . . Like the best Miyazaki films, [the] lessons are often deceptively simple, but they have implications for every person who comes of age through adversity. * Vulture *Not easily forgotten. . . Some may feel inclined to affirm an unusual truth: 'I am wiser for having read this book.' * The New York Times Book Review *How Do You Live? is that rare thing . . . It asks its young readers to think about the person they want to be, and its adult readers to reflect on the person they've become. * Wired *A quiet, introspective look at life and how to be human. * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisAs Mrs Dalloway works on the preparations for a dinner party, her thoughts throughout the day wander from memories of the past to interrogations about the present and lead her to assess the choices she has made in life and love. Her monologue interweaves with the account of the distress, on that same day, of the shell-shocked veteran Septimus Warren Smith, whose trauma and hallucinations end in tragedy, as the links between the two characters unfold. One of Virginia Woolf's most famous novels, Mrs Dalloway is a triumph of experimentation, a cornerstone of Modernism and a subtle examination of love, freedom, mental illness and the female condition in society.Trade ReviewShe was doing with language something like what Jimi Hendrix does with a guitar. -- Michael CunninghamTable of ContentsIncludes pictures and a section on Virginia Woolf's life and works.

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Book SynopsisRobinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is considered by many to be the first novel in English, and its success was so enormous that by the end of the nineteenth century it had spawned more translations and versions than any other previous English book. An everyman character who has become part of our cultural heritage, Defoe's castaway - shipwrecked, imperilled and facing a host of elemental challenges - lives an archetypal life of survival, adventure and personal development. On one level a simple adventure story, while at the same time an allegory, a quest novel and a spiritual autoEdition Biography, Robinson Crusoe has captured the imagination of readers for nearly three centuries.

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Book SynopsisEbenezer Scrooge is a lonely, miserly old man who hates Christmas, which he dismisses as "humbug". One Christmas Eve, however, he is visited by a series of ghosts who reveal to him the innocence he has lost, the wretchedness of his future and the poverty of the present, which he has so far ignored. This experience teaches Scrooge the true meaning of the holiday and leaves him a transformed man. With its memorable cast of characters such as Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is the most heart-warming of seasonal tales, a timeless classic that continues to enchant readers around the world and a lesson in charity and hopefulness that is as powerful today as when it was first written in 1843.Trade ReviewThe power of [Dickens] is so amazing that the reader at once becomes his captive. -- William Makepeace Thackeray

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Book SynopsisWhen Mrs Ramsay tells her guests at her summer house on the Isle of Skye that they will be able to visit the nearby lighthouse the following day, little does she know that this trip will only be completed ten years later by her husband, and that a gulf of war, grief and loss will have opened in the meantime. As each character tries to readjust their memories and emotions with the shifts of time and reality, this long-delayed excursion will also prove to be a journey of self-discovery and fulfilment for them. Rich in symbolism, daring in style, elegiac in tone and encapsulating Virginia Woolf's ideas on life, art and human relationships, To the Lighthouse is a landmark of twentieth-century literature and one of the high points of early Modernism.

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Book SynopsisPoverty-stricken and cut off from society, former law student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov leads a desolate life in a dreary little room in St Petersburg. Having abandoned all hopes of sustaining himself through work, he now obsesses over the idea of changing his fortunes through an extreme act of violence: the killing of an elderly pawnbroker. His mind baulks at the horror of his plan, but when he hears that his sister Dunya is about to agree to a loveless marriage in order to escape the advances of her employer, his disgust for the world becomes unbounded, and his feelings of rebellion and revenge push him closer and closer to the edge of the precipice. A masterpiece of psychological insight, Dostoevsky's 1866 novel features some of its author's most memorable characters - from the temperamental protagonist Raskolnikov to the amoral sensualist Svidrigailov and the immoral lawyer Luzhin. Presented here in a sparkling new translation by Roger Cockerell, Crime and Punishment is a towering work in Russian nineteenth-century fiction and a landmark of world literature.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Bowling, a forty-five-year-old insurance salesman with a wife and two children, is overweight, depressed and haunted by ever-present portents of imminent global conflict. Dreaming of escaping the staid suburban rut in which he has become embedded, he reminisces about his home town in Oxfordshire, Lower Binfield. But as he seeks refuge in the rural idyll of his treasured childhood memories, the rapacious forces of “progress” continue their relentless march, eventually forcing George to reflect on the folly of nostalgia and the impossibility of reliving the past. By turns comic and melancholy, Orwell’s fourth novel – published in 1939 to critical and commercial acclaim by Victor Gollancz – is Wellsian in its exploration of the frustrations and helplessness of a lower-middle-class protagonist faced with the indifference of a rapidly changing world, and a vital record of a society on the verge of war.

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Book SynopsisAs Mabel Waring takes off her cloak and steps into the drawing room of Clarissa Dalloway, she immediately realizes that something is not right: her pale-yellow silk dress, which she has had specially made for the occasion, is clearly old-fashioned, dowdy and out of place. Everyone seems to be looking at her in dismay or mocking her appearance. Crushed at once by her insecurity, Mabel is pervaded by a sense of selfloathing, and feels utter revulsion for the social world she has tried so hard to impress. Written in 1924 and perhaps intended for inclusion in Mrs Dalloway, a book Woolf was working on at the time, The New Dress is here accompanied by most of the short stories she published in her lifetime, as well as six posthumously published pieces that share the milieu and some of the characters of her celebrated novel. Together, they reveal their author as one of the finest practitioners in the field of short fiction.

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Book SynopsisAs a doctoral student at Trinity College Dublin, Darren Walton is trying to decode an elaborate conspiracy he stumbled across as an undergraduate. To do so he must locate an alternate Ireland named Camland, the existence of which is proven when he discovers a literary journal whose contents mirror his own past. With proof of his wild theories, Darren is sure academic fame is imminent. But for this he is willing to sacrifice not just his sanity and physical safety, but also his relationships with the ones who love him most. In breathless prose, Declan Toohey weaves a contemporary yarn of academic intrigue and youthful irreverence, sexual fluidity and neurodiversity. Experimental, trippy, hilarious, compassionate, Perpetual Comedown is a riotous reckoning in the construction of the self.Trade Review'A novel so unique, so zany it is unlike anything I have read before ... It is bold. It is bonkers. It is brilliantly clever. It is also blackly funny — the prose skips along with irreverent glee, laced with puns and put-downs and perfect observations ... Where the novel really shines, however, is in its — somewhat surprising — emotional core [...] at its heart Perpetual Comedown is a story about a wayward son’s unwavering love for his mother; about a young man’s desire to make his family proud, even after he has chosen to pursue a path they don’t quite understand, no matter the toll it takes on him or his mental health.' -- Ruth Gilligan * Irish Independent *'Toohey plays with style and form throughout, never letting an impossibly convoluted situation get in the way of great character development ... a difficult novel to describe, Perpetual Comedown must be read to be believed ... It’s impossible to know if Perpetual Comedown documents Darren’s unravelling or the creation of his true identity. Either way, this experimental, thought-provoking and creative novel is probably the strangest thing you’ll read this year – in the best possible way.' -- Andrea Cleary * Sunday Business Post *'Perpetual Comedown is a college daze of highs, lows, and humanities in-jokes ... Toohey writes with energy and wit and undoubtedly the novel has benefited from his mentor. Toohey has worked with Anne Enright, so there are no flies on him.' -- Josephine Fenton * Irish Examiner *'Toohey’s explosive prose transports the reader into Darren’s complex, hallucinatory world ... reveals a profound, moving insight into mental illness.' -- Aisling Arundel * Totally Dublin *It is the wont of the fledgling writer to blow open convention and in Perpetual Comedown we get the sense of a young writer at play ... What’s the maddest thing that could happen next, we wonder, and then something madder happens. -- Niamh Donnelly * The Irish Times *‘The sharp satire of this stunning debut gives an authentic voice to university life in Ireland … Bizarre, bleak, and as blackly comic as I’ve come across, Maynooth alumnus Declan Toohey’s first novel tracks the mental breakdown of an English student as he strives for just one unique academic thought. A whole new interpretation of dark academia … it’s the novel’s emotional core that gives it resonance - the human element, the desire to be loved and to make people proud, is what stays with you.’ -- Éabha Puirséil * Silverhand Journal *'From its opening, with narrator Darren Walton entering a woodland hovel, Declan Toohey’s debut throws us into an unstable reality with only the witty and wholly unreliable voice of its protagonist to guide us. To untether the reader from the known world and to leave us, from beginning to end, unclear as to what is and isn’t real is courageous. But, in Toohey’s case, it’s courage born of rightful confidence in the strength of his writing ... It’s not a bleak treatise on mental illness or drug taking. It’s a funny and clever, touching and wild exploration of one particular mind. It poses interesting questions about possible realities, parallel lives, times and stories. In the middle, Darren finds time for an examination of narrative. Is a story without ending even possible? We are left with an impression of how fine the lines are between genius and insanity, between a mind that is truly free and a mind that is on fire. Be prepared, this book requires energy. But once you’re ready, it’s an invigorating and challenging ride.' -- Estelle Birdy * Sunday Independent *

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Book Synopsis?I sit on the stone that will mark the bed of my bones. You?ll find the used-to-be-me, soon, flat body, washed up, wrinkly skin. No silly grin. You?ll say, What a waste of a life. Tut-tut sounds jump out. Dangle like worms from your crow?s mouth ...?Meet Daft Matt, the Mayo man at the heart of this astonishing, form-bending story, as he wanders the streets of Castlebar in search of Devil?s feet ? the claw marks of the cága, or jackdaws, who have spoken to him since he was a boy.Yet Matt is anything but daft. In lyrical prose, Walsh Donnelly explores the complex workings of Matt?s inner life: how he deals with the loss of his twin brother as a child, navigates the carefree days of early manhood and copes with the aftermath of the horse-riding accident that would see him incarcerated in the care system for the next thirty years. Richly imagined and beautifully written, this is a story for anyone who chooses to look beyond the surface of things.?I used to think those claws were the only things that kept me above sea-level.?

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Book SynopsisIt is 1962. The first avocado pears are appearing at the greengrocers, people are thinking about carpeting their lavatories and boxing in their banisters, and Ronnie Glover, housepainter, husband and father, is feeling the first vague stirrings of discontent with his life. Then, out of the blue, the fabulous, sophisticated (and married) Jacqueline bursts into his life and teaches him to tango. She seems to offer everything he ever dreamt of. But is it all too good to be true? What can a woman who has traveled the world want with a man who carries a stub of pencil behind his ear? And are the Ten O'Clock horses of Ronnie's painful childhood awake and sniffing the wind?Trade Review'Turbo-charged by the palpable rage and desperation of its hero ... the narrative rips along on a tide of beautifully observed dialogue' TLS. * TLS *

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Book SynopsisThe modern Italian classic discovered and championed by James Joyce, ZENO'S CONSCIENCE is a marvel of psychological insight, published here in a fine new translation by William Weaver - the first in more than seventy years.Italo Svevo's masterpiece tells the story of a hapless, doubting, guilt-ridden man paralyzed by fits of ecstasy and despair and tickled by his own cleverness. His doctor advises him, as a form of therapy, to write his memoirs; in doing so, Zeno reconstructs and ultimately reshapes the events of his life into a palatable reality for himself - a reality, however, founded on compromise, delusion, and rationalization.With cigarette in hand, Zeno sets out in search of health and happiness, hoping along the way to free himself from countless vices, not least of which is his accursed "last cigarette!" (Zeno's famously ineffectual refrain is inevitably followed by a lapse in resolve.) His amorous wanderings win him the shrill affections of an aspiring coloratura, and his confidence in his financial savoir-faire involves him in a hopeless speculative enterprise. Meanwhile, his trusting wife reliably awaits his return at appointed mealtimes. Zeno's adventures rise to antic heights in this pioneering psychoanalytic novel, as his restlessly self-preserving commentary inevitably embroiders the truth. Absorbing and devilishly entertaining, ZENO'S CONSCIENCE is at once a comedy of errors, a sly testimonial to he joys of procrastination, and a surpassingly lucid vision of human nature by one of the most important Italian literary figures of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisA subtle and insightful story about boredom, passion, curiosity and memory from the Nobel Prize-winner José SaramagoSenhor José is a lonely civil servant who spends his days labouring in the labyrinthine stacks of Lisbon's central registry. Among the file-cards for the living and the dead, one – of an apparently ordinary woman – will transform his life. Breaking away from his strict routine, José resolves to track the woman down, obsessively following a thread of clues in a bid to rescue her from an oblivion deeper than the grave. 'When a very good book finds us at just the right moment in life, it can become stitched into our own identity. All the Names – a novel about identity and connection – has become stitched into mine' Samantha Harvey, IndependentTrade ReviewA novel that has soul, which Saramago offers to his readers with all his witty, intelligent, tender and magical generosity -- Samantha Harvey * Independent *Offers an unearthly, muted beauty; a freedom from the obvious, the ideological and trivial; an atmosphere of profound serenity, and a benevolent humor * Literary Review *Both delightful and unsettling which is perhaps the mark of true literature -- Anthony Daniels * Sunday Telegraph *A tantalizing novel...shifting and teasing, full of metaphorical labyrinths and false trails * Herald *It is the marriage of the living and the dying...that so strongly characterizes the writing of Jose Saramago * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when the facts of history are replaced by the mysteries of love?When Raimundo Silva, a lowly proofreader for a Lisbon publishing house, inserts a negative into a sentence of a historical text, he alters the whole course of the 1147 Siege of Lisbon. Fearing censure he is met instead with admiration: Dr Maria Sara, his voluptuous new editor, encourages him to pen his own alternative history. As his retelling draws on all his imaginative powers, Silva finds – to his nervous delight – that if the facts of the past can be rewritten as a romance then so can the details of his own dusty bachelor present.Trade ReviewMarvellous, seriously witty, erotic and edgily surreal -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Sunday Times *Saramago is one of Europe's most original and remarkable writers...his writing is imbued with the spirit of comic enquiry, meditative pessimism and a quietly transforming energy that turns the indefinite into the unforgettable -- Richard Eder * Los Angeles Times *This cryptic, ingenious novel...is never dull or humourless... No candidate for [the Nobel Prize] has a better claim to lasting recognition than this novelist who was born in 1922 but was in his mid-50s before he started to publish the fiction that has won him an international reputation -- Edmund White * New York Times *A book filled with lyrical and intellectual rewards -- Bill Marx * Boston Globe *This hypnotic tale is a great comic romp through history, language and the imagination * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisIt is the first day of term at a secondary school on Merseyside, 2001. The Towers are soon to fall. A boy cowers in an alleyway, surrounded by a group clad in black. They whip his bare legs with nettles. This is only the start. As term unfolds, their bullying campaign intensifies. Soon the boy finds solace hiding in marshland under the nearby motorway. Voices there urge council with Grannies Rock, a strange stone that sits on derelict land known as The Breck. There, the whispers in the breeze promise a terrible revenge. Twenty years later, the boy has grown. He is back home from London to pack away his childhood. Armed with a Polaroid camera, he aims to exorcise those painful memories through a series of photographs. But is his memory of what happened reliable? Nettles is a powerful exploration of memory and violence, excavating the stories we tell ourselves to escape our past.

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Book SynopsisI am Eve. Collector of words. I look them up. I write them down. I knead them into sentences. I am the story. When her mum rescues a book from a garbage can, Eve's life changes. She reads her way into the stories, into a place in the world, worlds she never knew existed. Eve becomes the story. Everything is possible. But with adulthood comes deception and betrayal; to survive Eve strips life bare. No stories, no people, no connection. But the stories are determined to win her back.

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Book Synopsis'A gripping tale of homecoming and loss... ruthlessly honest and startlingly beautiful... profound and unforgettable' Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King 'Daring, intellectually rich, and unsettlingly hilarious. We have a powerful new voice in Maya Binyam, one who knows how to make a story sing' Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun 'A subtle and peculiar novel about subtle and peculiar things - home, exile, injustice, family, return and life itself... a remarkable book' Keith Ridgway, author of A Shock 'A strikingly masterful debut... a clean, sharp, piercing - and deeply political novel' Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows __________ A man returns home to sub-Saharan Africa after twenty-six years living in exile in America. When he arrives, he finds that he doesn't recognize the country, or anyone in it. Thankfully, someone at the airport knows him - a man who calls him brother. As they travel to this man's house, the purpose of his visit comes into focus: he is here to find his real brother, who is dying. Hangman is his tragicomic journey through homecoming and loss. It is a hilarious and twisted odyssey, peopled by phantoms and tricksters, aid workers and taxi drivers, the relatives and riddles that lead this man along a circuitous path towards the truth. This is the strangley honest story of one man's search for refuge - in this world and the one that lies beyond it. An existential journey, a tragic farce, a slapstick tragedy: Hangman is the shockingly original debut novel about exile, diaspora and the search for Black refuge, from a thrilling new literary voiceTrade Review'Hangman is a subtle and peculiar novel about subtle and peculiar things - home, exile, injustice, family, return, and life itself. Binyam has written a remarkable book - one that builds, beautifully, a world that feels true, while dismantling the world that feels real' - Keith Ridgway, author of A Shock'A strikingly masterful debut. With a slow, sure hand, Hangman beckons you into a zone that at first seems as clear, as blank, and as eerily sunny as the pane of a window. Then it traps you there, until you notice the blots, bubbles, and fissures in the glass-and then the frame itself, then the shatter. A clean, sharp, piercing-and deeply political-novel' - Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows'Daring, intellectually rich, and unsettlingly hilarious, Hangman is the rare book agile enough to balance the surreality and painfully rigid actuality of life. We have a powerful new voice in Maya Binyam, one who knows how to make a story sing.' - Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun'Hangman is a gripping story of homecoming and loss, of recuperation and letting go, all of it told in a voice that is at turns ruthlessly honest and startlingly beautiful. Maya Binyam is an immensely gifted writer and every page of this deeply moving novel offers us compelling and hard-earned truths. But what remains by the end is something that resembles a loving gesture from a long-lost relative: necessary and seismic, profound and unforgettable' - Maaza Mengiste, author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted The Shadow King'Maya Binyam exquisitely captures unseen forces: the edges of consciousness, abstract political forces, and how they act on one another. Hangman is immersive and astonishing' - Tavi Gevinson'Maya Binyam's controlled blend of surreal whimsy and unsettling existential dread makes this a remarkably assured and distinctive debut' -TLS

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Book SynopsisSandor Esterhazy is descended from a long line of talented pianists, but has no desire to play. So, one snowy afternoon, he promises his soul to the devil in exchange for a life of his own choosing. Afterwards, he laughs it off as a joke, but that night the devil arrives dragging someone - or something - with him.Trade Review'Like a beautiful melody played on the very edge of hearing, The Piano Room demands your attention while remaining elusive. Utterly captivating' —Lynda Clark, author of 'Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories'; 'A dark and beautifully written tale, seeped in music, yearning and breathless intrigue' —Edward Vass, author of 'Milton in Purgatory'

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Book SynopsisA sly and playful novel about the many faces we all have. Fifteen-year-old Berta says that beautiful things aren’t made for her, she isn’t destined to have them, the only things she deserves are ugly. It’s why her main activity, when she’s not at school, is playing the ‘prosopagnosia game’ — standing in front of the mirror and holding her breath until she can no longer recognise her own face. Berta’s mother is in her forties. By her own estimation, she is at least twenty kilos overweight, and her husband has just left her. Her whole life, she has felt a keen sense of being very near to the end of things. She used to be a cultural critic for a regional newspaper. Now she feels it is her responsibility to make her and her daughter’s lives as happy as possible. A man who claims to be the famous Mexican artist Vicente Rojo becomes entangled in their lives when he sees Berta faint at school and offers her the gift of a painting. This sets in motion an uncanny game of assumed and ignored identities, where the limits of what one wants and what one can achieve become blurred.Trade Review‘Fascinating.’ -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times *‘With [Prosopagnosia], Sònia Hernández cements her place as one of the most individual voices of her generation.’ * La Vanguardia *‘In this warm, lively, and intellectual novel, Hernández’s greatest achievement is allowing the protagonist to release her trauma in a way that is both simple and true.’ -- Santos Sanz Villanueva * El Cultural *‘One of the best writers of her generation.’ -- Inés Martín Rodrigo * ABC *‘A novel of our times that explores the difficulty of constructing oneself as a person and the chaos of how things seem to happen to us.’ -- Lluís Satorras * Babelia *‘A tale of the conflict between reality and deception, and how the many forms of exile and solitude come together. A beautiful, enigmatic novel.’ -- Enrique Vila-Matas * El País *‘A reflection on false appearances, assumed identities, the need to invent other lives for ourselves, and the need for art itself.’ -- Ángel Ortín Pascual * Heraldo de Aragón *‘As structured and well-articulated as the paintings that inspired it.’ -- Isabel Gómez Melenchón * La Vanguardia *‘[D]elivers a serious reflection on the purpose and meaning of literary fiction.’ -- Domingo Ródenas * El Periódico *‘For Hernández, plot is just an excuse to articulate her own original ideas about beauty, identity, and exile, and this makes each of her books a declaration of ethical and aesthetic principles. This novel is not a means but an end in itself: the materialisation of her most important themes from life and literature.’ -- Liliana Muñoz * Criticismo *‘Sònia Hernández’ writing is unsettling and unconventional, marked by a complete independence from the dominant trends of contemporary novels in Spanish.’ -- Santos Sanz Villanueva * El Mundo *‘Hernández offers many insights into the value of experience, of travel as personal discovery, and the difficulty of explaining ourselves in our own words. A novel of reflection.’ -- Suárez Lafuente * La Nueva España *‘A narratively ambitious reflection on art, beauty, motherhood, and identity … A conceptually fascinating book.’ * Kirkus Reviews *‘Bewitching and intelligent.’ * Happy Magazine *‘This quirky coming-of-age novel by a celebrated young Spanish writer centres on a tender mother-daughter relationship.’ * New York Times ‘New & Noteworthy’ *‘[B]eguiling … the various characters’ deceptions are unveiled skillfully by Hernández as she distorts the reader’s sense of reality. This novel is more than it seems.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Hernández leads us on a reflection about truth and reality, about perception and beauty. The book is best read slowly, with time to absorb and contemplate our own reality and how we might be deceiving ourselves.’ * Asymptote ‘New in Translation’ *‘[A]n intellectual and unflinching novel that is not afraid to ask the big questions. What is art? What is beauty? What is truth? Does any of it matter? … Hernández’s economy of language is masterful as she delves into questions that define a culture. Prosopagnosia is an uncanny portrait of what it means to be a human in the world today grappling with beauty, and confronting the way the internet has changed our relationship to art.’ * Write or Die Tribe *

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Book SynopsisA Man Who Is Not A Man recounts the personal trauma of a young Xhosa initiate after a rite-of-passage circumcision goes wrong. With frankness and courage, this powerful novel details the pain and lifelong shame this protagonist experiences as a result not only of the physical trauma, but the social ostracism from being labeled 'a failed man.' He decodes the mysteries of this long-standing cultural tradition and calls to account the elders for the disintegrating support systems that allow such tragic outcomes. But it is also through this life-changing experience that the protagonist is forced to find his strength and humanity, and reassess what it really means to be a man.Trade Review"Highly original." - Nadine Gordimer "His straightforward no-frills prose tells an effective story of a botched circumcision and its consequences." - Zakes Mda, Sunday Independent "A brave book, triumphant and a testament to the indefatigable will to live." - Mail & Guardian

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when two revolutionaries are left with nothing to believe in, not even each other?Never Did the Fire unfolds in the humdrum of everyday working class existence, making the afterlife of an agitator that of anyone living next door. For one old couple, brought together years ago in an underground cell, the revolution has ended in a small apartment, a grinding job caring for the bodies of the unwell well-to-do, and all the aches and pains that go with a long life and a long marriage. Untethered from the political action that defined them, and mourning the loss of their child, their bonds dissolve, but the consequences of their former life, and their dependence on each other, won't let them go.A literary icon in Chile and a major figure in the anti-Pinochet resistance, Diamela Eltit is at the height of her powers in this novel of breakdowns. Never Did the Fire evokes the charged air of Chile's violent past, and the burdens it carries into the present-day, when the structures we built, and the ones we succumbed to, no longer offer us any comfort or prospect of salvation.Trade Review"Never Did the Fire will be a first-rate literary experience for any reader." —El País"One of the greatest merits of Diamela Eltit’s work is the way she narrates failure from the interior of her language." —Letras Libres************Praise for Diamela Eltit Guggenheim Fellowship, 1985 Prize José Nuez Martín, 1995 for Los vigilantes Nominated to Altazor Award 2001 in the category of literary essay with Emergencias. Escritos sobre literatura, arte y política Prize Iberoamericano de Letras José Donoso 2010 Nominated to Altazor Award 2011 with the novel with Impuesto a la carne Finalist in the Prize Rómulo Gallegos 2011 with Impuesto a la carne Finalist for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature 2012 Altazor Award 2014 in the fiction category for Fuerzas especiales Simón Bolívar Professor at University of Cambridge (2014) National Prize for Literature (Chile), 2018 "Her novels are radical projects that dispute the public space, the national interpretation and the role of genres under authoritarian conditions. (...) Her writing has an avant-gardist’s freedom of forms, a political reaffirmation of margins, and an exploratory and rebellious edge." Julio Ortega, BOMB magazine‘One of the most brilliant literary voices in the region (…). Eltit writes furiously.’BBC Mundo

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Book SynopsisMount Everest, and all it means to royalty, explorers, imperialists, and two sherpas, perched on a cliffside, waiting for a man on the ledge below to move.A British climber has fallen from a cliffside in Nepal, and lies inert on a ledge below. Two sherpas kneel at the edge, stand, exchange the odd word, waiting for him to move, to make a decision, to descend. In those minutes, the world opens up to Kathmandu, a sun-bleached beach town on another continent, and the pages of Julius Caesar. Mountaineering, colonialism, obligation—in Sebastián Martínez Daniell's effortless prose each breath is crystalline, and the whole world is visible from here.Trade Review"Daniell reveals a fascinating universe in scintillating prose, precisely translated by Croft….It’s a stunner." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"An ambitiously inventive, profoundly intelligent trek through highly personal experiences of lingering imperialism." —Kirkus, starred review"Brilliantly tangential...this book becomes a viewpoint from which we can see the whole world." —The Observer"Daniell uses a neat cast of characters, a sprinkling of sub-tales and a touch of comedy to create a story far broader than the reader might expect, an acerbic dissection of a tired world order and personal history of two very different individuals." —Lunate"Two Sherpas is sheer brilliance, a book that had me hooked in anticipation from its opening pages. It’s a wake up call." —Word by Word**********Praise for Sebastián Martínez Daniell"Daniell reveals a fascinating universe in scintillating prose, precisely translated by Croft….It’s a stunner." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"An ambitiously inventive, profoundly intelligent trek through highly personal experiences of lingering imperialism." —Kirkus, starred review"Brilliantly tangential...this book becomes a viewpoint from which we can see the whole world." —The Observer

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Book SynopsisEl Monte Everest, con toda su relevancia para la realeza, los exploradores, los imperialistas. Y dos sherpas, posados en un acantilado, esperando que el hombre de la cornisa de abajo se mueva.Un inglés cae de un acantilado en Nepal, y yace inerte en la cornisa. Dos sherpas se arrodillan en el borde del abismo, permanecen allí, intercambian algunas palabras a la espera de que el hombre tome la decisión de moverse, de descender. En esos minutos, el mundo se abre para Kathmandu: un pueblo soleado en otro continente, las páginas de Julio César. Montañismo, colonialismo, compromisos y obligaciones; en la fluida prosa de Sebastián Martínez Daniell, cada respiro es cristalino, y brinda una perspectiva desde la que se puede ver la inmensidad del mundo. An Englishman has fallen from a cliffside in Nepal, and lies inert on a ledge below. Two sherpas kneel at the edge, stand, exchange the odd word, waiting for him to move, to make a decision, to descend. In those minutes, the world opens up to Kathmandu, a sun-bleached beach town on another continent, and the pages of Julius Caesar. Mountaineering, colonialism, obligation—in Sebastián Martinez Daniell's effortless prose each breath is crystalline, and the whole world is visible from here.Mount Everest, and all it means to royalty, explorers, imperialists, and two sherpas, perched on a cliffside, waiting for a man on the ledge below to move.A British climber has fallen from a cliffside in Nepal, and lies inert on a ledge below. Two sherpas kneel at the edge, stand, exchange the odd word, waiting for him to move, to make a decision, to descend. In those minutes, the world opens up to Kathmandu, a sun-bleached beach town on another continent, and the pages of Julius Caesar. Mountaineering, colonialism, obligation—in Sebastián Martínez Daniell's effortless prose each breath is crystalline, and the whole world is visible from here.Trade Review"Daniell reveals a fascinating universe in scintillating prose, precisely translated by Croft….It’s a stunner." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"An ambitiously inventive, profoundly intelligent trek through highly personal experiences of lingering imperialism." —Kirkus, starred review"Brilliantly tangential...this book becomes a viewpoint from which we can see the whole world." —The Observer

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Book SynopsisAfter her ex-husband dies unexpectedly, Nora García travels to the funeral, back to a Mexican village from her past and the art and music of their life together.The way you hold a cello, the way light lands on a Caravaggio, the way the castrati hit notes like no one else could—a lifetime of conversations about art and music and history unfolds for Nora García as she and a crowd of friends and fans send off her recently deceased ex-husband, Juan. Like any good symphony, there are themes and repetitions and contrapuntal notes. We pingpong back and forth between Nora’s life with Juan (a renowned pianist and composer, and just as accomplished a raconteur) and the present day (the presentness of the past), where she sits among his familiar things, next to his coffin, breathing in the particular mix of mildew and lilies that overwhelm this day and her thoughts. In Glantz’s hands, music and art access our most intimate selves, illustrating and creating our identities, and offering us ways to express love and loss and bewilderment when words cannot suffice. As Nora says, “Life is an absurd wound: I think I deserve to be given condolences.”Trade Review"An erudite meditation on the link between mortality and the nature of art." —Publishers Weekly"An original and highly recommended masterstroke." —Library Journal"A fine novel, full of engaging curiosities." —Irish Times"Reading Margo Glantz's virtuoso novel is like letting oneself go while listening to Glenn Gould interpret Mozart."" —Ilan Stavans , author of ON BORROWED WORDS: A MEMOIR OF LANGUAGE and DICTIONARY DAYS: A DEFINING PASSION

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Book SynopsisFrom one of Brazil’s rising literary stars, an acclaimed novella about the violation of a woman and a city, based on true events. It is 2014. There is euphoria in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. The World Cup is about to take place and the Olympics are in sight. It is a time of hope and frenzied construction. Júlia is a partner with an architectural firm working on the future Olympic village. During a break from a meeting at the town hall, she goes for a run in the hillside neighbourhood of Alto da Boa Vista. There, a man puts a revolver to her head, takes her to a secluded spot, and rapes her. Left abandoned in the woods, she drags herself home, where her boyfriend and family members are waiting for her. Vista Chinesa brings light and shadow to a city whose stunning beauty cannot conceal the most serious human and political problems, and gives voice to a story that is tragically not uncommon.Trade Review‘Visceral, haunting … her fiction is original, startling and sits somewhere between the experimental novels of Eimear McBride and Leila Slimani’s more shocking output … This is not an easy subject to write about, but Levy has pulled it off. The result is an immediate, powerful novel that should gain her talent wider recognition.’ -- Francesca Angelini * The Sunday Times *‘The novel is a searing study of the lasting effects of sexual violence, of the inadequacies of memory, and of the failures of Brazil’s political and judicial systems.’ -- Ángel Gurría-Quintana * Financial Times *‘Beautifully paced … It is a reckoning and a rebirth; an unsparing look at the consequences of gendered violence, and of the complex history of a city, a land, and a people.’ -- Catherine Taylor * The Irish Times *‘An impressive power, which takes us by storm in the first pages … as if the book were the forest itself, to accompany with extreme distress, with half-closed eyes, the maximum harshness.’ -- Julián Fuks, Brazilian writer and literary critic‘And that is what Vista Chinesa does: surviving a rape is not a shame, but a victory.’ -- Antonia Pellegrino, award-winning writer and screenwriter‘The author’s focus on a corrupted body is interesting ... A body that in the eyes of the world is just another body, but which the person who inhabits it feels as the standard of the greatest shame. The victim is once again held responsible for the actions of the abuser, a harrowing experience that Salem Levy portrays to perfection.’ -- Paula Bonet * El País *‘That is the great thing and it is what literature can do — to put into words what is unbearable … Vista Chinesa is a slim book, a stunning piece of literature, and also an image of society. Intimacy becomes public and the personal becomes political.’ * Deutschlandfunk *‘A book full of beauty, depth, and space for reflection. The author does not exploit her story, but in a sense unfolds it to analyse it, and the way she does this, with prudence, economy, and veracity, makes this slim book unusual.’ * FAZ *‘Of impressive literary brilliance.’ * Expresso *‘A must-read.’ * Elle Brazil *‘A powerful story in which the voice of the victim is magnified, and where the focus is on recovery and moving on. Between the descriptions of unspeakable aggression, there are also moments of light, warmth and love.’ * Tony's Reading List *‘Full of bravery and insight.’ -- Eric Karl Anderson * Lonesome Reader *‘Vista Chinesa is based on the experiences of Levy’s friend, Joana Jabace. Levy built up the narrative through a series of interviews. Jabace would then read what she had written and comment and, if necessary, Levy would revise. This approach gives a sense of immediacy and the account of the rape and its aftermath is shocking in its intensity. Levy’s retelling, deftly translated by Alison Entrekin, is also a powerful act of female solidarity.’ -- Lucy Popescu * Financial Times *‘[A] work of genius. This is a bold daring book that will change your life.’ * The Bobosphere *‘[T]his powerful epistolary novel is narrated by Júlia, an architect reflecting on being “torn apart” by an intimate violation amid the tumult of the city, which is rife with violent fissures of its own.’ * The New York Times *‘[Levy] makes vital fiction out of a woman’s attempt to process trauma.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Capturing confusion, desperation, anger, and introspection, Vista Chinesa is a detailed, visceral novel in which a woman struggles to heal after surviving a sexual assault.’ * Foreword Reviews *‘A powerful and important book.’ -- Eric Karl Anderson * Lonesome Reader *Praise for The House in Smyrna: ‘Wonderful … deceptively simple prose carrying a great power of sorrow and, interestingly, hope.’ -- Ian McEwanPraise for The House in Smyrna: ‘Levy’s writing is a joy … Her prose is rich, filled with a sense of the vividness and generosity of an author’s available inspirations: the clamour of the senses, the restless truths of the body, the turns and consolations and perils of thought, the wonders of both beauty and ugliness and the meaning and architecture of words themselves.’ -- A.L. Kennedy * Granta *Praise for The House in Smyrna: ‘Teasing … Levy has crafted a puzzling, disturbing story that at times leaves the reader feeling blindfolded in a maze.’ -- Suzi Feay * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThe author of Girl: Broken returns with a terrifying new novel of a shadowy cult and the woman fighting to escape their murderous grasp . . . During the 1990s, Daisy grew up abused by the cult known as The Fishermen. The house she was imprisoned in was destroyed by an explosion and all the members killed—or at least that was what people assumed.   Jay, an ex-police officer, and Joseph, a professor specialising in cults and the effects of coercive control, discover that some members survived. Inspector Slane was a key member of The Fishermen and is still at large and she, along with her network of abusers, remains active and hunting for Daisy. Jay is determined to find the remnants of the cult before they can find Daisy and finish the evil they started when she was a child. But the trail seems cold—until the murders resume . . .

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Book Synopsis‘Astonishing’ Emily Perkins, author of Lioness ‘Beautifully lyrical’ Mat Osman, bassist of Suede and author of The Ghost Theatre A lyrical and ambitious exploration of madness and what it is like to experience the world differently, from the Booker Prize–longlisted author of The Chimes. In Ueno Park, Tokyo, as workers and tourists gather for lunch, the pollen blows, a fountain erupts, pigeons scatter, and two women meet, changing the course of one another’s lives. Dinah has come to Japan from New Zealand to teach English and grieve the death of her brother, Michael, a troubled genius who was able to channel his problems into music as a classical pianist — until he wasn’t. In the seemingly empty, eerie apartment block where Dinah has been housed, she sees Michael everywhere, even as she feels his absence sharply. Yasuko is polished, precise, and keenly observant — of her students and colleagues at the language school, and of the natural world. When she was thirteen, animals began to speak to her, to tell her things she did not always want to hear. She has suppressed these powers for many years, but sometimes she allows them to resurface, to the dismay of her adult son, Jun. One day, she returns home, and Jun has gone. Even her special gifts cannot bring him back. As these two women deal with their individual traumas, they form an unlikely friendship in which each will help the other to see a different possible world, as Smaill teases out the tension between our internal and external lives and asks what we lose by having to choose between them.Trade Review‘Bird Life is a deeply affecting novel, transcending cultural barriers while reaching through them to the essentially human.’ -- David Mills * The Times *‘A playful study of genius, grief, and special powers.’ -- Caleb Klaces * The Guardian *‘The two women at the centre of Anna Smaill’s lovely, disconcerting novel Bird Life feel certain something is about to happen — something that’s about to change everything. These kinds of proclamations in a novel can feel unfulfillable, but when Dinah and Yasuko finally do meet, the transformations each affects upon the other are surprising, consuming, and satisfying. Smaill’s crystalline prose brings us inside each of their minds as they manoeuvre through a thoroughly modern cityscape into which the natural world is forever making incursions. An unusual, empathetic, and compulsively readable tale.’ -- Dan Kois, author of Vintage Contemporaries‘A beautifully lyrical tale of loss, grief, and madness, whose central characters are so deftly drawn that you find yourself breathlessly following them down. Magically strange yet horribly real.’ -- Mat Osman, bassist of Suede and author of The Ghost Theatre‘Bird Life is an astonishing book about grief, beauty, and survival ... the writing enters your bloodstream like a strange and wonderful drug.’ -- Emily Perkins, author of Lioness‘[Bird Life is] as richly sensory and exquisite as Smaill’s previous novel, The Chimes. The world tilts and becomes strange and marvellous through her eyes.’ -- Lucy Treloar, author of Wolfe Island‘Smaill writes compellingly about the all-consuming nature of grief and the afterlife of those left behind. She also absorbingly evokes Yasuko’s mental illness, which sees her consulting beetles and birds for their counsel.’ -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *‘Magic, mental illness, and sorrow drive this powerful offering … Smaill excels equally at emotional drama, magical realism, and horror. Readers will find much to love.’ -- Publishers Weekly, starred review“[E]lliptical, poetic … [A]n evocative and sensitive depiction of mental distress and the importance of perseverance … The key message of this subtle book: Though it might be difficult to detect them during times of hardship, glimmers of hope are always visible if one knows where to look.” * Bookpage *‘Bird Life is immersive, beautifully constructed and fascinating in its portrayal of love and sorrow and the ways in which a mind constructs its world. It’s a fresh, beautifully written book, perfect for a reader looking for something out of the ordinary.’ -- Louise Ward * NZ Herald *Praise for The Chimes: ‘A totalitarian regime inflicts amnesia through music in this fresh and complex novel, which shows the social importance of an understanding of the past … fresh and original … cleverly orchestrated and poignantly conveyed throughout.’ -- Catherine Taylor * The Guardian *Praise for The Chimes: ‘To call The Chimes striking is I dare say to underplay what might be the most distinctive debut of the decade. Certainly, Smaill’s experience as a poet come through clearly in her perfectly poised prose. There’s a real richness to her images; a depth to her descriptions; her dialogue practically sparkles; and the structure of the whole thing sings.’ -- Niall Alexander * tor.com *Praise for The Chimes: ‘The novel is hypnotic, melancholic, and requires concentration, but it builds to an incredibly tense and emotionally satisfying climax that rewards all the effort.’ * Elle Magazine *

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Book Synopsis"His stories shimmer like revelations – the clarity, mystery, beauty, depth, and sheer, thrilling peculiarity of ordinary life when the veil lifts. They’re exhilarating to read, just as exhilarating to re-read." —Deborah EisenbergChildhood does not last long in the Argentine mountains of Córdoba, and adult lives fall apart quickly. In disarming, darkly humorous stories, Federico Falco explores themes of obsessive love, romantic attachment and the strategies we must find to cope with death and painful longing.In the middle of a blizzard a widow watches the ruin of her late-husband’s garden, until suddenly she sees a woman running naked in the falling snow. After telling her parents she is abandoning her Christian faith, a girl becomes infatuated with a Mormon missionary who reminds her of a boy killed in her village years before. When his family’s home is lost, a father desperately offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone who will take them in. And a town’s mayor tries to fulfill his father’s dying wish – to design the perfect cemetery.Trade Review"The quiet assurance with which Falco addresses rural environments represents a departure recalling the perspectives of writers from the northern hemisphere such as Denis Johnson, Knut Hamsun or Tobias Wolff." —The Times Literary Supplement"Expansive and ingeniously crafted—an unforgettable collection." —Kirkus, starred review"Falco proves himself as a fine storyteller." —Publishers Weekly"These rich and authentic portraits of Argentinian lives are well worth seeking out...You could imagine Alastair McLeod or John McGahern paying homage. (5 stars)" —RTÉ"Moving, morbid, and humorous at the same time." —LA Review of Books"Falco is a master of the short story."" —Martin MacInnes , author of INFINITE GROUND and GATHERING EVIDENCE"His stories shimmer like revelations – the clarity, mystery, beauty, depth, and sheer, thrilling peculiarity of ordinary life when the veil lifts. They’re exhilarating to read, just as exhilarating to re-read."" —Deborah Eisenberg , author of YOUR DUCK IS MY DUCK"Each powerful story captivates and I cannot recommend this collection enough." —Morning Star"When people praise Chekhov, stories like this are what they're thinking of." —James Crossley, Madison Books"Croft’s translations of the stories in A Perfect Cemetery are loyal to the profound beauty, rootedness, and longing they portray." —World Literature Today"At long last, Argentine author Federico Falco finally has a full-length work in translation. A Perfect Cemetery is a 2016 collection of five stories, several of which are much longer than traditional short stories (thankfully so). With confident prose, storytelling verve, and remarkable consideration for both character and landscape, Falco writes impressively well. Though plights of fancy embroil each of Falco’s characters, they are conveyed with a compassion and authenticity that make them seem utterly lifelike." —Jeremy Garber, Powell's Bookshop"Every word and sentence, including those of Croft’s sincere and illuminating note that concludes the volume, should be savored, consumed in a rush only during those moments when you’re flying down the summer streets with Silvi on her bicycle as she searches for the boy she believes she loves." —On the Seawall"As so often in this compelling collection, the stories only open out once you finish them." —David's Book World"The succinctness of the plotlines in these stories is inversely proportional to their vast narrative expanse, to everything the writing is able to carve out between the sharply curtailed dialogues and all that simmers underneath." —La Nación"Perfectly honed... [Falco’s] skill is apparent in the originality of these plots, the economy and naturalness of the characters’ conversations, and in the meticulous observation of a gesture that may encapsulate whole central motifs" —Ñ Magazine

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Book SynopsisWhen Clementine and Edouard's last child leaves home, the cracks in their marriage become impossible to ignore. Her work as a perfumer is no longer providing solace and her sense of self is withering. Then, her former lover resurfaces, decades after the end of their bisexual affair, and her world tilts irreversibly. Set in Paris and Provence, this is an intimate portrait of a woman navigating conflicting desires and a troubled past whilst dreaming of a fulfilling future.Trade Review'It is very, very good - an intense and unflinching expose of desire and its legacy'. Elizabeth Buchan. 'A skilled storyteller. Inventive, vivid and distinctive'. Mary Loudon. 'Vividly passionate, this is assured, addictive precision storytelling. Costello's prose is reminiscent of masters like Leila Slimane - but her voice is entirely unique. Thrillingly stylish.' Daisy Buchanan. 'Costello poses unwavering questions about choice and honesty, about submerging pain to orchestrate survival. Showing how sacrifice can impair an entire existence and that profound passion will return always.' Catherine McNamara.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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