Narrative theme: interior life / psychological fiction

Book SynopsisA portrait of an enduring friendship, from one of America’s most celebrated novelists.‘Quite simply a masterpiece’ Daily Telegraph Two priests are despatched from Rome to New Mexico to reinvigorate Catholicism among the locals, knowing little of the challenges that await them. Over almost four decades they encounter a rich variety of people, from rebellious Mexican priests to steadfast Native Americans uninterested in changing their longstanding customs. ‘Its whole effect works slowly and mysteriously ... a major, and rare, artistic achievement’ AS ByattTrade ReviewIts whole effect works slowly and mysteriously ... a major, and rare, artistic achievement -- A. S. ByattQuite simply a masterpiece . . . I am completely bowled over by it; by the power of its writing, by the vividness of its scene painting and by the stories it tells...This is a book which I go on rereading. -- A. N. Wilson * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisTwo young men, Pájaro Tamai and Marciano Miranda, are dying in a deserted amusement park. The story begins almost at its end, just after the two main characters have faced off in a knife fight: the culmination of a rivalry that has pitted them against one another since childhood. The present in Brickmakers is a state of impending death, at moments marked by dream-like visions: Marciano is visited by the ghost of his father, who was murdered when he was a teenager, a father he had sworn to avenge, in a promise he could not keep. Pájaro is also visited, in a recurring nightmare, by his abusive father who disappeared years earlier.Narrated with fury and passion, reminiscent of William Faulkner or Katherine Anne Porter, Brickmakers is a rural tragedy in the great American tradition, a story of love, honour and violence where everything is at stake. Reprising the powerful imagery and the filmic landscape of The Wind That Lays Waste, and the threatening atmosphere of Dead Girls, Brickmakers is yet another proof of Almada’s extraordinary talent.Trade Review"A successful riff on a classic Shakespearean tale." —Publishers Weekly"Such is Almada’s command of shape and pace, and the clean-edged vigour of the style McDermott voices with such skill, that we take Brickmakers on its own uncompromising terms – as pulp, tragedy and epic all at once." —The Arts Desk"Almada is forceful in her depictions of sex, violence, and rage. I feel her prose in my body: a punch in the gut, the sharpness of glass. McDermott’s translation captures the bite of Almada’s sentences, which render both tenderness and violence with devastating clarity." —Chicago Review of Books"Almada's breathtaking multigenerational tragedy is a haunting, unforgettable examination of the lasting consequences of careless inhumanity." —Shelf Awareness, starred review"Best books of 2021" —The Financial Times"There is a tremendous carnality to Almada’s writing, vividly captured in McDermott’s translation" —LA Review of Books"A rich, confident and urgent read." —Lunate"Brickmakers is one of the best books I've read this year ... It’s a brilliant, sizzling, unmissable treat" —Translating Women**********Praise for Selva Almada"Almada combines reportage, fiction, and autobiography to explore femicide in Argentina in her acute, unflinching latest." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"Almada’s prose is sparse, but the details count. Her ear for dialogue and especially gossip is pitch perfect. Her eye for detail is hawkish."** —LA Review of Books**"Part journalism, part history, part autobiography, part relentless nightmare."** —Shelf Awareness, starred review**"Not an easy book, but it feels like an important one – a work of investigative writing about how easily women’s lives are obscured."** —The Scotsman**"An unassuming yet intensely felt narrative. (4 stars)"** —The Arts Desk**"This is a powerful read...[Almada's] effective use of fiction ensures a deep empathy in her readers which strict reportage sometimes fails to evoke."** —The Big Issue**"Genre-defying, with beautifully crafted and reflective prose."** —The F Word**"You’ll walk away from this book with a vivid memory of where you were, how you were feeling, and what the weather was like on the day that you read Dead Girls."** —Books and Bao**"The literary quality of the text shines."** —Sound and Vision**"The prose strikes a perfect tone – clinical and punchy when necessary, angry and lyrical, brutal yet humanistic."** —TN2**"Exquisite prose that vibrates with a deep, melodious rage."** —The Monthly Booking**"It’s crisp, bracing, and beautiful."** —White Review**"It is a profound novel and call to action still relevant as activists continue to take to the streets throughout Latin America to decry, ‘ni una más’ (not one more)."** —The Skinny**"A tense, precise chronicle that treats seriously a still serious subject."** —El Cultural**"A powerful read, shedding a stark light on the horrors of gender violence."** —The Big Issue**"This is not a book that will make you feel at peace with the world, but that is precisely where its strength and persuasion lie."** —Translating Women**"Challenge[s] the true crime obsession in an indirect way. "** —Pendora Magazine**"What makes the book compelling is how the author explores issues of domestic violence, state complicity, machismo and family negligence, along with class and social inequalities, in a non-sentimental prose which is all the more effective as result."** —Morning Star**"Part coming-of-age, part detective work, partly a web of rumors, Almada’s story fuses a variety of genres to create a work that splits the seams of personal narrative, journalism, and fiction."** —NACLA**"The devastating conclusion of the narrator is that the women who survive are unlikely to have made it unscathed but they are lucky ones – lucky to be alive."** —NB Magazine**"Fate has in Dead Girls the perfume of a Greek tragedy: immutable, irreversible, lethal."** —El País**"Far from the detective story, this is an intimate tale, a certain negative of the autobiography of a young woman looking at other young women and how all of them are perceived by a society where misogyny and violence against them is still an everyday affair."** —Pagina/12**"Selva Almada reinvents the imaginative rural world of a country. She is an author gifted with a very uncommon power and sensitivity."** —Rolling Stone (Argentina)"Dead Girls is a brutal, necessary story in which Almada describes the crimes, states the facts and lays bare the horror of these femicides." —Tony's Reading List**"Gripping, shocking and sad."** —The Book Satchel**** Edinburgh International Book Festival First book Award (Winner)**** Book Cover of the Year (Saltire Awards) (Winner)"Like Flannery O’Connor and Juan Rulfo, Almada fills her taut, eerie novel with an understanding of rural life, loneliness, temptation and faith." —BBC Culture**"Billed as a ‘promising voice’ in Latin American literature, this tale delivers readily on that promise."** —Booklist**"The drama of this refreshingly unpredictable debut . . . smolders like a lit fuse waiting to touch off its well-orchestrated events. . . . A stimulating, heady story."** —Publishers Weekly**"The story packs a punch in its portraits of a man who exalts heaven and another who protests."** —Kirkus**"A dynamic introduction to a major Latin American literary force."** —Shelf Awareness, starred review**"[The Wind That Lays Waste] delivers exactly that compressed pressurised electricity of a gathering thunderstorm: it sparks and sputters with live-wire tension."** —TANK Magazine**"The Wind That Lays Waste is elegant and stark, a kind of emblem or vision fetched from the far edges of things, arrested and stripped to its essence, as beautiful as it is unnerving. ""** —Paul Harding**, author of TINKERS"The Wind That Lays Waste is a mesmerizing novel, at once strange and compelling.""** —Bonnie Jo Campbell**, author of MOTHERS, TELL YOUR DAUGHTERS"The quality and resolve of her prose produce a power of suggestion that is unique to Selva Almada."** —El País**"The best novel written in Argentina in the last few years? Don’t know, and don’t care, but you must read Selva Almada."** —El País**"Almada’s prose has a touch of the Faulkner of As I Lay Dying but passed through the filters of the dirty light of the cotton fields and the clean clothes worn by country people to Sunday mass.""** —Germán Machado**"A distinctive debut: atmospheric, tension-packed, and written in vivid, poetic language."** —Books from Scotland**"Perhaps most powerful in the book is Almada’s focus on detail―she skillfully renders the story of a day in brief chapters that reveal the thoughts and fleeting encounters of characters, who are largely living inside themselves."** —Ploughshares**"Almada’s nuanced approach leaves room to explore her characters’ pasts in some detail, but, crucially, these individuals . . . are not defined by their mistakes."** —ZYZZYVA**"What seems fantastical soon turns hyper-realistic, in a style that is reminiscent of Juan Rulfo or Sara Gallardo."** —La Nación************

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Book SynopsisBy the Costa Award-winning author of Pure, a profound and tender tale of guilt, a search for atonement and the hard, uncertain work of loving.'The writing is near perfect. But the novel's excellence goes far beyond this . . . You read [it] . . . with your pulse racing, all your senses awake' Guardian'A beautiful, lambent, timely novel' Sarah HallAn ex-soldier and recovering alcoholic living quietly in Somerset, Stephen Rose has just begun to form a bond with the daughter he barely knows when he receives a summons - to an inquiry into an incident during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It is the return of what Stephen hoped he had outdistanced. Above all, to testify would jeopardise the fragile relationship with his daughter. And if he loses her, he loses everything. Instead, he decides to write her an account of his life; a confession, a defence, a love letter. Also a means of buying time. But time is running out, and the day comes when he must face again what happened in that faraway summer of 1982.Trade ReviewThe theme is handled in a way that is bolder and more exquisitely menacing than anything he's done before . . . It's all real, and all fictional, gorgeously so. You read what might have been a perfectly commonplace story of failure and redemption with your pulse racing, all your senses awake . . . restrained, beautifully written -- Elizabeth Lowry * Guardian *I spent the first half of The Slowworm's Song in a sort of ecstasy, marvelling at Miller's masterful characterisation; his confident evocation of army life and sensitive depiction of the Troubles; the nuanced exploration of alcoholism; the clean, well-made prose style studded with moments of descriptive beauty . . . Stephen is an unforgettable character, and Miller has pulled off the miraculous feat of sketching a full human life in a few hundred pages -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *A beautiful, lambent, timely novel that admits our worst capacities while insisting on accountability and our ability to improve. Andrew Miller is among those brave male writers steering a progressive course. Yet he remains, as ever, unique, visionary, a master at unmasking humanity * Sarah Hall *Gorgeously written . . . it approaches the Troubles from a unique angle . . . Since his debut, Ingenious Pain, Miller has shown a knack for historical immersion, and he continues to excel in it here -- Ethan Croft * Literary Review *The focused interiority of Stephen's narration, together with the slowburning fuse of a plot, make for a quiet intensity that stretches the nerves . . . this empathic and artful novel is about both the mysteries we are to ourselves, and the power of speech -- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *A painful yet beautiful novel . . . Miller is a wonderful storyteller, as comfortable writing about the Napoleonic wars as the Troubles . . . In this novel, Stephen's reckoning may be extreme but his message is universal -- Susie Mesure * Spectator *The multiple award-winning author of Pure returns with a tender, compelling and exquisitely written novel of extraordinary power . . . Exploring a brutal chapter in the unhappy and sometimes shameful history of Northern Ireland, this wonderful novel is also a story of atonement and redemption -- Edward Argyle * Daily Express *Miller tackles big themes and weaves a profound and poignant tale about shame, trauma and the possibility of redemption -- Lucy Popescu, Summer Reading * Tablet *Andrew Miller's gentle, beautifully crafted sentences belie the often brutal truths behind the narrative. The image of the slowworm, silent and sinister, finding its way into the precious earth, is set against a song of light and life that won't be silenced -- Victoria Barry * Scotsman *Andrew Miller is one of our finest writers. Few can match his sensitivity of touch, eye for telling detail and acute feel for setting . . . The passages describing Rose's military duty are impeccably researched and viscerally real -- Peter Carty * i *The sections detailing Stephen's army life, and particularly those covering his tour of duty in Belfast, are excellent: immersive in their detail and atmosphere . . . [Miller] has sufficient decorum, talent and sensitivity to do justice to his delicate subject matter -- Rob Doyle * Observer *His evocation of squaddie life rings absolutely true . . . It's deeply moving to see how this self-torturing individual gradually learns that he's surrounded by helpers, often in the unlikeliest of guises, while tiny flowers of grace spring up in stony places -- Suzi Feay * Tablet *There is no easy resolution, and that is why The Slowworm's Song . . . is so affecting. It is about truth, objective or otherwise, and about the attempts of flawed human beings to live with it -- Nicholas Clee * Times Literary Supplement *A poignant and profound tale of a man seeking atonement -- Joanne Finney * Good Housekeeping *A stunning work of fiction, a beautifully written tale of conflict and family fracture . . . The Slowworm's Song is a sublime reminder of how a great novel can have such a deep impact -- Martin Chilton * Independent *Moving and compassionate * Reader's Digest *It's difficult not to be moved by Stephen's heartfelt words as he comes face to face with what happened in that 1982 summer * Belfast Telegraph *It reads truer than memoir . . . A state-of-the-nation novel, in elegiac prose * New York Times Book Review *Expertly paced . . . as taut as a thriller . . . Miller, with his acute eye for detail and his practiced sense of timing, describes these Belfast streets and this soldier's experience so plainly and yet so evocatively that both become new again * Wall Street Journal *A stunning work of fiction, a beautifully written tale of conflict and family fracture . . . The Slowworm's Song is a sublime reminder of how a great novel can have such a deep impact. -- Martin Chilton * Independent *[A] painful yet beautiful novel . . . Miller is a wonderful storyteller, as comfortable writing about the Napoleonic wars as the Troubles . . . Stephen's reckoning may be extreme but his message is universal. -- Susie Mesure * Spectator *Few novelists are as virtuosic and as varied as Andrew Miller . . . Meticulous research, reinforcing the narrative, never swamping it, is another Miller trademark, so it's no surprise that his evocation of squaddie life rings absolutely true . . . It's deeply moving to see how this self-torturing individual gradually learns that he's surrounded by helpers, often in the unlikeliest of guises, while tiny flowers of grace spring up in stony places. -- Suzi Feay * Tablet *Andrew Miller is one of our finest writers. Few can match his sensitivity of touch, eye for telling detail and acute feel for setting . . . The passages describing Rose's military duty are impeccably researched and viscerally real. -- Peter Carty * i *Miller - a much-awarded writer stepping out of his comfort zone of omnisciently narrated historical fiction - has sufficient decorum, talent and sensitivity to do justice to his delicate subject matter. -- Rob Doyle * Observer *A tender, compelling and exquisitely written novel of extraordinary power . . . Written with searing honesty, [Stephen's story] is a confession but, above all, it is a letter of love. -- Edward Argyle * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisSo essential is Crime and Punishment (1866) to global literature and to our understanding of Russia that it was one of the three books Edward Snowden, while confined to the Moscow airport, was given to help him absorb the culture. In a work that best embodies the existential dilemmas of man’s will to power, an impoverished student, sees himself as extraordinary and therefore free to commit crimes. English translators have struggled with excessive literalism and no translation is felicitous to the literary nuances of the original prose. Now, Michael Katz addresses these challenges with new insights into the linguistic richness, the subtle tones and the cunning humour in this sparkling rendition of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterpiece.Trade Review"... make Dostoevsky as readable and contemporary as Patricia Highsmith... superb…" -- Times Literary Supplement"...lucid and pleasurable... new translation..." -- New Statesman

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Book SynopsisINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility, an exhilarating novel set at the glittering intersection of two seemingly disparate events—the exposure of a massive criminal enterprise and the mysterious disappearance of a woman from a ship at sea.“The perfect novel ... Freshly mysterious.” —The Washington PostVincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star lodging on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. On the night she meets Jonathan Alkaitis, a hooded figure scrawls a message on the lobby's glass wall: Why don’t you swallow broken glass. High above Manhattan, a greater crime is committed: Alkaitis's billion-dollar business is really nothing more than a game of smoke and mirrors. When his scheme collapses, it obliterates countless fortunes and devastates lives. Vincent, who had been posing

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA portrait, in language, of female consciousness, truer than anything written since Sappho's Fragment 31. Once you're in, you're in ... You're racing along, deep in the rhythms of the narrator's thoughts, which are bone-true and demonically intelligent -- Rachel Kushner, author of THE MARS ROOMIf I was permitted to keep one book only it would be Malina. Malina has everything -- Claire-Louise Bennett, author of PONDA writer of genius * The New York Times *Rare and strong * Los Angeles Times *It seems in Malina there is nothing Bachmann cannot do with words * New York Review of Books *A passionate tour de force * Village Voice *

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Book SynopsisA bittersweet novel of family and self-discovery from the bestselling, award-winning author of French BraidWilla Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life: her mother's disappearance when she was just a child, being proposed to at an airport at the age of twenty-one, the accident that would leave her a widow in her forties. Each time, Willa ended up on a path laid out for her by others.So when she receives a phone call from a stranger informing her that her son's ex-girlfriend has been shot, she drops everything and flies across the country. The spur-of-the moment decision to look after this woman and her nine-year-old daughter leads Willa into uncharted territory and the eventual realisation that it's never too late to choose your own path.**ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 8 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE**'Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing' Rachel Joyce'She knows all the secrets of the human heart' Monica Ali 'A masterly author' Sebastian Faulks'I love Anne Tyler. I've read every single book she's written' Jacqueline WilsonTrade ReviewIf Anne Tyler isn't the best writer in the world, who is? * BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour *One of our greatest living fiction writers and if I was in charge, she'd have a Nobel by now * Observer *Brims with the qualities that have brought her legions of fans and high critical acclaim. Characters pulse with lifelikeness. The tone flickers between humorous relish and sardonic shrewdness. Dialogue crackles with authenticity. Beneath it all is an insistence that it's never too soon to recognise how quickly life can speed by and never too late to make vitalising changes * Sunday Times *How does she do it? Her style is deceptively simple. Even though she performs narrative cartwheels that would lead other novelists to be praised as experimental... she does it with such ease that it seems closer to life than to art. it is almost as though we are there to witness time passing, and people changing * Mail on Sunday *A writer sharp-eyed as a butcher-bird, skewering complacency... an immensely funny writer... a quiet writer, in that much of her skill goes toward the excision of anything that reminds the reader they are reading * Sunday Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisA stolen identity leads a woman down a dark and desperate path in a gripping novel of psychological suspense by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Minka Kent. After barely surviving a brutal attack, Brienne Dougray rarely leaves her house. Suffering from debilitating headaches and memory loss, she can rely only on her compassionate new tenant, Dr. Niall Emberlin, a welcome distraction from the discomfiting bubble that has become her existence. But Brienne’s growing confidence in her new routine is shaken when she stumbles across unsettling evidence that someone else is living as…her. Same name. Same car. Same hair. Same clothes. She’s even friended her family on social media. To find out why, Brienne must leave the safety of her home to hunt a familiar stranger. What she discovers is more disturbing than she could have ever imagined. With her fragile mind close to shattering, Brienne is prepared to do anything to reclaim her life. If it’s even hers to reclaim.

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Book Synopsis''A meticulously observed modern classic'' Independent During one glorious summer between the wars, the realities of life and the sexual ritual dance of the adult world creep into the life of young Margaret Marsh. Her father, preaching the doctrine of the unsavoury Primal Saints; her mother, bitterly nostalgic for what might have been; Charles and Binkie, anchored in the past and a game of words; dying Mrs Frayling and Lydia the maid, given to the vulgar enjoyment of life; all contribute to Margaret''s shattering moment of truth. And when the storm breaks, it is not only God who is on the rocks as the summer hurtles towards drama, tragedy, and a touch of farce.''Tantalising, funny, sharp'' Daily Telegraph''So charming a novel that you don''t want to give away a single one of the many twists of its plot'' New York Times''Jane Gardam has a spectacular gift'' Times Literary SupplementTrade ReviewA meticulously observed modern classic * Independent *Tantalising, funny, sharp * Daily Telegraph *Exact, piquant and comical * Observer *Marvellous... A wonder * Vogue *Jane Gardam has a spectacular gift for detail of the local and period kind, and for details which make characters so subtly unpredictable that they ring true * Times Literary Supplement *So charming a novel that you don't want to give away a single one of the many twists of its plot... We are in the hands of a master storyteller * New York Times *Gardam orchestrates the subtle evolution of character and plot with Olympian omniscience and wry humor * Boston Globe *Gardam is a unique and wonderful writer, mixing no-nonsense presentations of heartbreak, despair, and uncertainty, with equally dry but hilarious bouts of humor, desire, love, friendship, and even happiness, fleeting as that might be * Huffington Post *This treasure should send readers back for all of [Gardam's] books * Library Journal (starred review) *Gardam doesn't waste a word, and the story reads as fresh and relevant now as when it was originally published * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Booker Prize''The Hotel du Lac was a dignified building, a house of repute, a traditional establishment, used to welcoming the prudent, the well-to-do, the retired, the self-effacing, the respected patrons of an earlier era''Into the rarefied atmosphere of the Hotel du Lac timidly walks Edith Hope, romantic novelist and holder of modest dreams. Edith has been exiled from home after embarrassing herself and her friends. She has refused to sacrifice her ideals and remains stubbornly single. But among the pampered women and minor nobility Edith finds Mr Neville, and her chance to escape from a life of humiliating loneliness is renewed . . .''A classic . . . a book which will be read with pleasure a hundred years from now'' Spectator''A smashing love story. It is very romantic. It is also humorous, witty, touching and formidably clever'' The Times''Hotel du Lac is written with a beautiful Trade ReviewMiss Brookner's most absorbing novel . . . graceful and attractive * New York Times *Her technique as a novelist is so sure and so quietly commanding * Hilary Mantel, Guardian *Hotel du Lac is written with a beautiful grave formality, and it catches at the heart * Observer *The last great novelist of the 20th century * Daily Telegraph *A classic . . . a book which will be read with pleasure a hundred years from now * Spectator *A smashing love story. It is very romantic. It is also humorous, witty, touching and formidably clever * The Times *She is one of the great writers of contemporary fiction * Literary Review *A classic . . . a book which will be read with pleasure a hundred years from now * Spectator *A smashing love story. It is very romantic. It is also humorous, witty, touching and formidably clever * The Times *Hotel du Lac is written with a beautiful grave formality, and it catches at the heart * Observer *She is one of the great writers of contemporary fiction * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisThe nightmare begins before you sleep . . .By the Master of Horror, James Herbert's Moon follows Jonathan, who fled from the terrors of his past, finding refuge in the quietness of the island. And for a time he lived in peace. Until the 'sightings' began, visions of horror seeping into his mind like poisonous tendrils, violent acts that were hideously macabre, the thoughts becoming intense. He witnessed the grotesque acts of another thing, a thing that glorified in murder and mutilation, a monster that soon became aware of the observer within its own mind. And relished contact. A creature that would eventually come to the island to seek him out . . .Trade ReviewGuaranteed to give you nightmares. * Daily Mail *Building to a horrific climax, it's James Herbert's best book yet. But do not read it alone.... especially on a moonlight night. * Daily Mirror *

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Book Synopsis''One of Denmark''s most celebrated writers'' New StatesmanFrom the acclaimed author of the Copenhagen Trilogy, a searing, haunting novel of a woman on the edge, portrayed with all the vividness of lived experience. Copenhagen, 1968. Lise, a children''s book writer and married mother of three, is increasingly haunted by disembodied faces and voices. She is convinced that her husband, already extravagantly unfaithful, will leave her. Most of all, she is scared that she will never write again. Yet as she descends into a world of pills and hospitals, she begins to wonder, is insanity really something to be feared, or does it bring a kind of freedom?''Ditlevsen explores the surprising contours of Lise''s experience: from her point of view, madness can be funny, soft and secure, and far more enlightening than the reality it struggles to evade'' The New York TimesTranslated by Tiina NunnallyTrade ReviewThe fact that Ditlevsen was herself one of insanity's intimates does much to explain this book's harrowing authenticity. But The Faces - in Tiina Nunnally's very deliberate, close-to-the-nerve translation - rises above a case study because, working from the inside, Ditlevsen is able to explore the surprising contours of Lise's experience: from her point of view, madness can be funny, soft and secure, and far more enlightening than the "reality" it struggles to evade * The New York Times *A searing but never sensational account of a usually hyped theme - the struggle of the artist to do her work, without guilt about family or the outside world. Admirably without self-pity, and often ironic, Ditlevsen is a voice to heed * Kirkus *these are the best books I have read this year 'Praise for the Copenhagen Trilogy' -- John Self * New Statesman *Mordant, vibrantly confessional... A masterpiece 'Praise for the Copenhagen Trilogy' * Guardian *Wrenching sadness and pitch-black comedy ... Sharp, tough and tender 'Praise for the Copenhagen Trilogy' -- Boyd Tonkin * Spectator *An inspired pick, especially for those readers whose introduction to Ditlevsen's work has been the Copenhagen Trilogy * Paris Review *

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Book SynopsisDiscover the incredible power of intercessory prayer. Ronald Dunn demonstrates how anyone can pray with more purpose and power. Ronald Dunn is a gifted teacher who specializes in helping believers pray more effectively. Don''t Just Stand There, Pray Something is an inspiring look at how you can pray with greater purpose and power--for your own needs as well as the needs of others. Here is an eye-opening book that dispels the myth that only super saints can pray successfully, lends a fresh perspective on how God answers prayer, demonstrates why our position is more important than our petition, and reveals the secret weapon God has provided for praying believers. Prayer changes things--and us! As you delve into this exciting book, be prepared for a radical difference in your prayer life. With fascinating insights into prayer and spirituality and a fresh perspective on how God answers prayer, this guide presents practical Christianity at its best.Trade Review"This is not only the most encouraging book I have ever read on the subject of prayer. It is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read." Richard Bewes, Rector: All Souls, Langham Place "This is the most helpful book on intercessory prayer which I have read in years and I warmly recommend it. It has the ring of reality about it." Gilbert Kirby, Former Principal of the London Bible College

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Book SynopsisPublished for the very first time in its own volume, Tolkien's remarkable tale about a painter whose obsession with detail prevents him from finishing his great work.Niggle is a painter. Not a very successful one, partly because he has so many other things to do. For some time he has been obsessed with one particular canvas a curious picture of a tree with a vast landscape stretching out behind it. The painting keeps getting bigger and bigger, but Niggle has a journey to make.In 1939 Tolkien was despairing of ever bringing his great work The Lord of the Rings to a conclusion. One morning he woke up with the story Leaf by Niggle complete in his mind and wrote it down. This poignant story, about an artist on a curious journey, is often seen as an allegory of the writer's own creative process and life.Published to coincide with a new touring stage production of the story, this is the first time the story has been published in its own volume, enabling readers to savour one of Tolkien's most elegant, haunting and least-known short stories.Trade Review‘As with all good short stories, this one expands in the imagination. Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow, indeed.’ The Times ‘Brings a wistful charm to complex issues of truth, beauty, duty and creative aspiration.’ The Herald ‘A haunting and successful demonstration of the qualities of faerie’ New York Times

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Book SynopsisYou shall read this with unadulterated pleasure' Scotland on SundayA beautiful, funny, heartfelt analysis of what it means to be human' Simon Pegg Set in a 2054 where humans have locked themselves out of the internet and Elon Musk has incinerated the moon, Set My Heart To Five is the hilarious yet profoundly moving story of one android's emotional awakening.Unhappy with his programmed job of dentistry and inspired by a love of classic movies, Jared sets out on a bold mission: to use the power of his burgeoning feelings to forever change the world for him and all his kind. Unfortunately, Jared intends to do this by writing his own movie, and things do not proceed according to planUnlike anything you have ever read before, Set My Heart To Five is a book for anybody who has feelings, loves movies, and likes to laugh and cry and sometimes do both at the same time. It comes uniquely guaranteed to make its readers weep a minimum of 29mls of tears.**Book must be read in controlled laboratory Trade Review‘[A] laugh-out-loud funny debut novel … absurdist, outrageous, irreverent and satirical… by the end of Jared’s adventures, readers will find themselves left with … an appreciation for the mutuality of all sentient life, and for the universal desire to be acknowledged and appreciated, whether one is birthed from factory or hospital … In Stephenson, Vonnegut may have his first true protégé.’ Washington Post ‘I doubt I’ll encounter a more endearing, more joy-provoking character this year’ The Bookseller, Book of the Month ‘A truly hilarious, clever, and strangely affecting meditation on the absurdity of Homo sapiens….I cried 67ml of tears’ Saga Magazine ‘Funny, original and thought-provoking’ Daily Mail ‘It is the closest thing I’ve read in a long time to Terry Pratchett … You will read this with unadulterated pleasure’ Scotland On Sunday ‘This beguiling debut exposes our frailties with subversive humour’ Mail on Sunday ‘Genuinely funny … pacey and emotive’ Sunday Times ‘Only the truly heartless would deny the art at work here’ The Herald ‘This entertaining and surprisingly poignant story is a charmer’ Publisher’s Weekly

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Book SynopsisI devoured it.' Erin KellyAn exhilarating voice' Adele ParksUnbelievably tense and twisty.' Laura MarshallLuckyRachel EdwardsThe more she wins, the more she losesAbsorbing, unsettling, unflinching. I've been thinking about it for days and I'll be recommending it to everyone.' Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little LiesSomeone is watching Etta. Footsteps in the night, the security light coming on at strange hours is it all just her curtain-twitching neighbours, who seem to monitor her every move? Or is her little online problem making her paranoid?Because Etta needs to win big. She joined a gambling website to get a bit of cash, hoping to convince her boyfriend Ola that they can afford to get married. And she was so good at it until she wasn't. Luckily, she's made a friend who hit the jackpot and if she plays her cards right, he could lend her the money to win everything back. Easy. So why does she feel so afraid?Trade Review‘Betrayal, blackmail, a marriage on hold…all the ingredients of a page-turning thriller, in a post-Brexit world of debt and insecurity.’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch ‘Terrifying. Enough to make the reader break out in a cold sweat.’ Guardian ‘A fresh, exhilarating voice’ Adele Parks ‘Unbelievably tense and twisty’ Laura Marshall, author of Friend Request ‘This deep dive into gambling addiction packs a huge emotional punch. I devoured it’ Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She Said ‘A brilliant portrayal of one woman’s descent into the world of online gambling – I felt every spin of the wheel; the highs of adrenaline followed by stomach churning nausea’ Nikki Smith, author of All In Her Head ‘Tense beyond belief but impossible to put down. Dark, absorbing and brilliantly terrifying’ Louise Hare, author of This Lovely City ‘Love, chance and betrayal all take a seat at the table in Rachel Edward’s compelling novel, Lucky. Delivered in Rachel’s exciting and original style is a winning storyline, crafted with excellence, packed with suspense and walk-off-the-page characters you’ll think about long after turning the last page’ Olivia Kiernan, author of Play Dead for Me ‘Timely, absorbing, unsettling and unflinching, with a dark, knowing wit. I’ve been thinking about it for days and I’ll be recommending it to everyone’ Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little Lies

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Book SynopsisI devoured it.' Erin KellyAn exhilarating voice' Adele ParksUnbelievably tense and twisty.' Laura MarshallLuckyRachel EdwardsThe more she wins, the more she losesAbsorbing, unsettling, unflinching. I've been thinking about it for days and I'll be recommending it to everyone.' Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little LiesSomeone is watching Etta. Footsteps in the night, the security light coming on at strange hours is it all just her curtain-twitching neighbours, who seem to monitor her every move? Or is her little online problem making her paranoid?Because Etta needs to win big. She joined a gambling website to get a bit of cash, hoping to convince her boyfriend Ola that they can afford to get married. And she was so good at it until she wasn't. Luckily, she's made a friend who hit the jackpot and if she plays her cards right, he could lend her the money to win everything back. Easy. So why does she feel so afraid?Trade Review‘Betrayal, blackmail, a marriage on hold…all the ingredients of a page-turning thriller, in a post-Brexit world of debt and insecurity.’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch ‘Terrifying. Enough to make the reader break out in a cold sweat.’ Guardian ‘A fresh, exhilarating voice’ Adele Parks ‘Unbelievably tense and twisty’ Laura Marshall, author of Friend Request ‘This deep dive into gambling addiction packs a huge emotional punch. I devoured it’ Erin Kelly, author of He Said/She Said ‘A brilliant portrayal of one woman’s descent into the world of online gambling – I felt every spin of the wheel; the highs of adrenaline followed by stomach churning nausea’ Nikki Smith, author of All In Her Head ‘Tense beyond belief but impossible to put down. Dark, absorbing and brilliantly terrifying’ Louise Hare, author of This Lovely City ‘Love, chance and betrayal all take a seat at the table in Rachel Edward’s compelling novel, Lucky. Delivered in Rachel’s exciting and original style is a winning storyline, crafted with excellence, packed with suspense and walk-off-the-page characters you’ll think about long after turning the last page’ Olivia Kiernan, author of Play Dead for Me ‘Timely, absorbing, unsettling and unflinching, with a dark, knowing wit. I’ve been thinking about it for days and I’ll be recommending it to everyone’ Caz Frear, author of Sweet Little Lies

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZEDazzling' GUARDIANBlistering' THE TIMES''A delight'' DIANA EVANSFiction written at the highest level' ANN PATCHETT''Hilarious, revelatory'' MARLON JAMESAn electrifying, hilarious and deeply moving tragicomic debut novel following a Jamaican family grappling with a new life in the US.What are you?'This is the puzzled question that greets a young Trelawny growing up in a Miami where his racial ambiguity is regarded with confusion and suspicion. It's not just his neighbours, his Jamaican parents Topper and Sanya don't seem to understand him either. Then there's his stubborn older brother Delano, who is determined to secure a better future for his own children, no matter what it takes.As both brothers navigate the challenges littered in their path a woefully unreliable father, racism, recession and even a hurricane they find themselves increasingly at odds. Will they make it through together or must one brother's future come at the cost of the other?STrade Review‘Blistering … Escoffery writes stinging sentences’ The Times ‘All of life is here in unflinching detail: the fragility of existence, the American dream and the road not taken’ The Booker Prize Judges ‘Thrilling … With much tenderness in the gulf between father and son’ Observer ‘So brilliant it stopped me in my tracks … Astonishing’ iNews ‘Brilliantly energetic… his talent feels fully formed and raring to go’ Financial Times ‘Unmissable… rare in that it has the heft and heart of a novel, with the refined finesse of the short story’ Irish Times ‘Surges with the symphonic, imaginative, propulsive energy of Gabriel García Márquez’ Guardian ‘A compelling hurricane of a book’ Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House Profound, tender, and laugh-out-loud hilarious, If I Survive You will knock you off your feet and keep you spellbound to the very last page … A must-read. Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for The Booker Prize ‘Superb… a much-needed new voice’ Percival Everett, author of Erasure 'This I adore… Sumptuous and astute' Diana Evans, author of Ordinary People ‘An elegant meditation on belonging from a powerful new writer’ Nikesh Shukla, author of Brown Baby ‘A dazzling mirror held up to our identity-obsessed time’ Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde ‘A gifted, sure-footed storyteller’ New York Times ‘Like nothing you've read before’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings ‘So damn funny’ Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZEDazzling' GUARDIANBlistering' THE TIMES''A delight'' DIANA EVANSFiction written at the highest level' ANN PATCHETT''Hilarious, revelatory'' MARLON JAMESAn electrifying, hilarious and deeply moving tragicomic debut novel following a Jamaican family grappling with a new life in the US.What are you?'This is the puzzled question that greets a young Trelawny growing up in a Miami where his racial ambiguity is regarded with confusion and suspicion. It's not just his neighbours, his Jamaican parents Topper and Sanya don't seem to understand him either. Then there's his stubborn older brother Delano, who is determined to secure a better future for his own children, no matter what it takes.As both brothers navigate the challenges littered in their path a woefully unreliable father, racism, recession and even a hurricane they find themselves increasingly at odds. Will they make it through together or must one brother's future come at the cost of the other?STrade Review‘Blistering … Escoffery writes stinging sentences’ The Times ‘All of life is here in unflinching detail: the fragility of existence, the American dream and the road not taken’ The Booker Prize Judges ‘Thrilling … With much tenderness in the gulf between father and son’ Observer ‘So brilliant it stopped me in my tracks … Astonishing’ iNews ‘Brilliantly energetic… his talent feels fully formed and raring to go’ Financial Times ‘Unmissable… rare in that it has the heft and heart of a novel, with the refined finesse of the short story’ Irish Times ‘Surges with the symphonic, imaginative, propulsive energy of Gabriel García Márquez’ Guardian ‘A compelling hurricane of a book’ Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House Profound, tender, and laugh-out-loud hilarious, If I Survive You will knock you off your feet and keep you spellbound to the very last page … A must-read. Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for The Booker Prize ‘Superb… a much-needed new voice’ Percival Everett, author of Erasure 'This I adore… Sumptuous and astute' Diana Evans, author of Ordinary People ‘An elegant meditation on belonging from a powerful new writer’ Nikesh Shukla, author of Brown Baby ‘A dazzling mirror held up to our identity-obsessed time’ Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde ‘A gifted, sure-footed storyteller’ New York Times ‘Like nothing you've read before’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings ‘So damn funny’ Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind

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Book Synopsis''Electrifying, deeply unsettling and so, so satisfying'' Meg Mason, author ofSorrow and BlissI raced through this compelling tale about shame, single motherhood, and the lies we tell ourselves and other people' Daily MailHow can you write other people''s stories, when you won''t admit the truth of your own?Journalist and single mother Suzy Hamilton gets a shocking phone call one morning: the subject of one of her investigative exposés, 25-year-old wellness blogger Tracey Doran, has killed herself overnight.Horrified by this news, she copes in the only way she knows how throwing herself into work, looking after her young daughter and carrying on with two ill-advised affairs.But no one can make their own story disappear, and soon Suzy's life is spiralling into chaos: will it end in violence or redemption?Trade Review'Read the first sentence of Jacqueline Maley's debut novel, and you will be in it until the end. Electrifying, deeply unsettling and so, so satisfying. And, if you've ever tried to manage the sharp end of a career with the blunt demands of parenthood, fiercely recognisable’ Meg Mason, author of Sorrow and Bliss ‘I raced through this compelling tale about shame, single motherhood, and the lies we tell ourselves and other people’ Daily Mail 'I loved The Truth About Her. It's an intelligent, compelling, nuanced tale of guilt, culpability, pride, shame and atonement. But most of all, it's a love letter to daughters, from the mothers who raise them. An astoundingly good debut’ Annabel Crabb 'Heartfelt, funny and will resonate with many readers. This tender, witty and beautifully written novel is for fans of Georgia Blain, Charlotte Wood and Ann Patchett' Books+Publishing 'An intimate world filled with characters I could have lived with a great deal longer… rewarding, enjoyable and utterly addictive addictive' Readings 'A stunning novel, sharply observed, beautifully written, enthralling' Julia Baird, author of Phosphorescence 'I loved The Truth About Her. I could not put it down – whip-smart, sexy and with so much heart – and god, that ending packed a punch. The sort of book that all mothers need to read' Eliza Henry-Jones, author of In the Quiet and Ache

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Book SynopsisTrade Review‘A haunting evocation of the routine brutalities of slavery that is also a powerful celebration of friendship, community, resilience and rebellion. A hugely impressive debut’ SARAH WATERS ‘A haunting, moving story’SUNDAY TIMES ‘A powerful and inspired achievement… gives voice to the enslaved women of this nation’s past who have, for far too long, had their voices gone unheard in the annals of history. She does them justice and then some. This one is not to be missed’ NATHAN HARRIS, author of The Sweetness of Water ‘Extraordinary: a beautiful book about harrowing things, beautiful because of its understanding of humanity, its astonishing language, and the plain brilliance of its author. I'm not sure I've recovered from the experience of reading it, or ever will, or ever should’ ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN ‘A tale of epic survival, a song of collective resilience, an intimate exploration of love, friendship and sisterhood in the face of harrowing cruelty and injustice. In lyrical and precise prose, Peyton evokes an indelible portrait of each woman's complicated desires, hopes and fears. And in spite of the characters' difficult lives, this is a book about joy and transcendence as much as it is about trauma and loss. The complex and varied voices of the women that inhabit Night Wherever We Go make it a haunting, powerful and utterly unforgettable read’ RACHEL HENG, author of Suicide Club ‘Night Wherever We Go has the potential to change how Blacknesses, Texas and the nation are written about forever’ KIESE LAYMON, author of Long Division

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Book SynopsisEmma Healey follows the success of her #1 internationally bestselling debut novel Elizabeth Is Missing, winner of the Costa First Novel Award, with this beautiful, thought-provoking, and psychologically complex tale that affirms her status as one of the most inventive and original literary novelists today.Jen and Hugh Maddox have just survived every parent’s worst nightmare.Relieved, but still terrified, they sit by the hospital bedside of their fifteen-year-old daughter, Lana, who was found bloodied, bruised, and disoriented after going missing for four days during a mother-daughter vacation in the country. As Lana lies mute in the bed, unwilling or unable to articulate what happened to her during that period, the national media speculates wildly and Jen and Hugh try to answer many questions.Where was Lana? How did she get hurt? Was the teenage boy who befriended her involved? How did she survive outside for all those days? Even

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Book SynopsisFrom the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Heart-Shaped Box comes a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.The fireman is coming. Stay cool.No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic a

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Book SynopsisA Recommended Summer Read fromVanity Fair * New York Post * BBCThe riveting story of a woman convicted of a brutal crime, the prison psychologist who recognizes her as his high-school crush—and the charged reunion that sets off an astonishing chain of events with dangerous consequences for bothAs an inmate psychologist at a state prison, Frank Lundquist has had his fair share of surprises. But nothing could possibly prepare him for the day in which his high school object of desire, Miranda Greene, walks into his office for an appointment. Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his Manhattan private practice and landed him in his unglamorous job at Milford Basin Correctional Facility in the first place, Frank knows he has an ethical duty to reassign Miranda’s case. But Miranda is just as beguiling as ever, and he’s insatiably curious: how did a beautiful high school sprinter and the

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Best Thriller of 2020 * Shortlisted for the Strand Magazine Best Mystery Novel Award * Finalist for the Gotham Book Prize From Edgar Award nominee Debra Jo Immergut, a taut, twisting work of suspense about a woman haunted by her younger selfAbigail Willard first spots her from the back of a New York cab: the spitting image of Abby herself at age twenty-two—right down to the silver platforms and raspberry coat she wore as a young artist with a taste for wildness. But the real Abby is now forty-six and married, with a corporate job and two kids. As the girl vanishes into a rainy night, Abby is left shaken. Was this merely a hallucinatory side effect of working-mom stress? A message of sorts, sent to remind her of passions and dreams tossed aside? Or something more explosive and life-altering?As weeks go by, Abby continues to spot her double around her old New Yo

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A very strong collection. . . . Oates is a master of many different kinds of story.” — New York Times Book Review “In Beautiful Days, the prolific author once again delivers a selection of skillfully written stories as powerful as any she has produced in her long and distinguished career.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “Perceptive, unmissable work.” — Library Journal (starred review)

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