Narrative theme: love / relationships

Book SynopsisInvited to an extravagantly lavish party in a Long Island mansion, Nick Carraway, a young bachelor who has just settled in the neighbouring cottage, is intrigued by the mysterious host, Jay Gatsby, a flamboyant but reserved self-made man with murky business interests and a shadowy past. As the two men strike up an unlikely friendship, details of Gatsby's impossible love for a married woman emerge, until events spiral into tragedy. Regarded as Fitzgerald's masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of American literature, The Great Gatsby is a vivid chronicle of the excesses and decadence of the "Jazz Age", as well as a timeless cautionary critique of the American dream.Trade ReviewIt seems to me the first step that American fiction has taken since Henry James. -- TS Eliot He was better than he knew, for in fact and in the literary sense he invented a generation. * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING TIK TOK SENSATION AND START OF THE JACKSONVILLE RAYS SERIES!I can''t fall for a player, let alone three...My name is Rachel Price, and two months ago, I walked away from the perfect man. We shared one magical night. No names. No strings. I never thought I''d see him again. I was wrong.It turns out my perfect man is actually the playboy grinder for the Jacksonville Rays, the NHL''s hottest new hockey team...and I''m his new physical therapist.This fellowship is going to be the longest ten months of my life. Mr. Perfect will do anything to get back on my good side. Meanwhile, his best friend, the surly new equipment manager, is always riding my case. Worst of all, I''ve got an uncooperative goalie who thinks I can''t tell he''s hiding an injury!These man are ready to test my limits, but this is my chance to prove myself, and I''m not risking it for anything. I can''t fall for a player, let alone three. But if love is a game, these guys are playing to win.PUCKING AROUND is a spicy ''why choose'' hockey romance. PRAISE FOR PUCKING AROUND: ''On my list for best book of the year!'' Amazon Reviewer''This was such a fun read with plenty of spice'' Amazon Reviewer''The spice was absolutely next level'' Amazon Reviewer''This is unlike anything I have read before. Highly recommend!'' Amazon Reviewer ''This was SO MUCH FUN'' Amazon Reviewer

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Book SynopsisCan true love conquer all?Sisters Bette Tredinnick and Sara Marrack live quiet lives, content with the comings and goings of their small Cornish hometown. But when hundreds of US Marines arrive, everything changes.Bette, footloose and fancy free, embarks on a whirlwind romance and finds herself bound for America as a GI bride. Meanwhile, married woman Sara finds herself falling for officer Charles Denham, despite her better judgement and her husband’s jealous attempts to control her.As the GIs prepare to invade Normandy it becomes clear that this is a bigger operation than ever before – one that they might not come back from, one that will change the lives of both sisters forever…An emotional saga of sisterhood set in wartime Cornwall, perfect for fans of Betty Walker, Donna Douglas and Tracy Baines.

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Book Synopsis*A brand new companion to the Last Kingdom series, Uhtred's Feast, is available to pre-order now*The fourth book in the epic and bestselling series that has gripped millions.A hero will be forged from this broken land.As seen on Netflix and BBC around the world.To serve a king or become one? Uhtred warrior, pagan, scourge of the Vikings faces a hard choice.Despite being offered a crown of his own, Uhtred is a man of his word. And he gave it to King Alfred of Wessex, who dreams of an England free from Vikings. So when the king orders him to take London from the Danes and hand it to his foolish son-in-law Aethelred, Uhtred agrees despite his concerns.For Aethelred's wife is the king's spirited daughter Aethelflaed and her fate is entwined with Uhtred's. And fate will not be denied Uhtred of Bebbanburg's mind is as sharp as his sword. A thorn in the side of the priests and nobles who shape his fate, this Saxon raised by Vikings is torn between the life he loves and those he has sworn toTrade ReviewPraise for ‘The Lords of the North’: ‘Beautifully crafted story-telling, complete with splendid set-piece battles and relentless derring-do, so gripping that it rarely stops to catch a breath. It demonstrates once again Cornwell’s enormous skill as a historical narrator. He would have graced Alfred’s court entertaining the guests with his stories’Daily Mail ‘Cornwell takes the spectres of ninth century history and puts flesh back on their bones. Here is Alfred's world restored – impeccably researched and illuminated with the colour and passion of a master storyteller’Justin Pollard, author of ‘Alfred the Great’ Praise for Bernard Cornwell: 'Bernard Cornwell is a literary miracle. Year after year, hail, rain, snow, war and political upheavals fail to prevent him from producing the most entertaining and readable historical novels of his generation.'Daily Mail 'Cornwell's narration is quite masterly and supremely well-researched'Observer

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Book SynopsisA remarkably accomplished, polished debut. - Malorie Blackman.'You can't stop birds from flying, can you, Sameer? They go where they will...' 1960s UGANDA. Hasan is struggling to run his family business following the sudden death of his wife. Just as he begins to see a way forward, a new regime seizes power, and a wave of rising prejudice threatens to sweep away everything he has built.Present-day LONDON. Sameer, a young high-flying lawyer, senses an emptiness in what he thought was the life of his dreams. Called back to his family home by an unexpected tragedy, Sameer begins to find the missing pieces of himself not in his future plans, but in a past he never knew.Trade ReviewRightfully tipped for greatness. * Sunday Times *Unflinchingly honest but tempered by its humanity, this is a novel for our times... * iPaper *An extremely readable and fascinating dual narrative about the expulsion of East African Ugandans under Idi Amin in the 70s and the journey taken by Sameer, born in modern day Leicester, to understand his familial legacy. * Pandora Sykes *[A] sprawling and epic dual narrative, spoke of her lived experience, but that which she'd seldom seen in the books she read: a story of cross-generational divides, and being both Black and South Asian ... It's woven together with gentle urgency; sensitive and with a rare perspective on how our mixed race backgrounds can help form feelings of both internal power and conflict.' * i-D Magazine *The issues and subjects it takes on are big ... All are explored with great intelligence and sensitivity ... Zayyan's writing finds the lightness and fluency of a much more experienced novelist ... It is an epic novel in terms of historical, geographic, and cultural scope. It has much to recommend it: the tone, the structure, the ambition, and the clarity that enables the story to cover so much ground without ever becoming confused or lost during its 360-pages. * BBC News *

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Book SynopsisRECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD Treat yourself to this joyful, big-hearted read from Booker Prize-winning novelist Bernardine Evaristo, part of our Penguin Essentials series which spotlights the very best of our modern classics ''Bernardine Evaristo can take any story from any time and turn it into something vibrating with life'' Ali SmithBarrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he''s lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather - but he is also secretly homosexual, lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris.His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manage to break away?Mr Loverman is a ground-breaking exploration of Britain''s older Caribbean community, which explodes cultural myths and fallacies and shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves.''Sublime'' Telegraph''Rip-roaring . . . she says things about modern Britain that no one else does'' Guardian''Brilliant'' IndependentTrade ReviewBernardine Evaristo can take any story from any time and turn it into something vibrating with life -- Ali SmithThis riproaring, full-bodied riff on sex, secrecy and family is Bernardine Evaristo's seventh book. If you don't yet know her work, you should - she says things about modern Britain that no one else does * Guardian *Transforms our often narrow perceptions of gay men in England . . . Comical, agonising and, ultimately, moving * Independent *Evaristo has a lot going on in this unusual urban romance, but beneath her careful study of race and sexuality is a beautiful love story. Not many writers could have two old men having sexual intercourse in a bedsit to a soundtrack of Shabba Ranks's Mr Loverman and save it from bad taste, much less make it sublime. But the hero of this book, and his canny creator, make everything taste just fine * Daily Telegraph *An undeniably bold and energetic writer, whose world view is anything but one-dimensional * Sunday Times *Audacious genre-bending, in-yer-face wit and masterly retellings of underwritten corners of history are the hallmarks of Evaristo's wit * New Statesman *Heartbreaking yet witty, this is a story that needed to be told * Observer *I loved this novel. Barrington is flamboyant, complex and in love with his childhood friend Morris. It really makes you think of all the stories, forbidden and forgotten, from the elders who made England their home -- Luan Goldie * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis*Instant New York Times Bestseller**Instant USA Today Bestseller**Instant #1 Indie Bestseller*From Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue comes One Last Stop, a big-hearted romantic comedy that will stop you in your tracks. . .Moving to New York City is supposed to prove cynical twenty-three-year-old August right: magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist.But then, she meets this gorgeous girl on the train.Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile.August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane is displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help Jane. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things after all . . .'A dazzling romance, filled with plenty of humor and heart.' - Time Magazine, 'The 21 Most Anticipated Books of the year''Dreamy, other worldly, smart, swoony, thoughtful, hilarious - all in all, exactly what you'd expect from Casey McQuiston!' - Jasmine Guillory, author of The Proposal Trade ReviewDreamy, other worldly, smart, swoony, thoughtful, hilarious - all in all, exactly what you'd expect from Casey McQuiston! -- Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of The Proposal and Party for TwoA dazzling romance, filled with plenty of humor and heart. Time Magazine * Time Magazine, "The 21 Most Anticipated Books of 2021" *Absolutely brilliant * The New York Times *One Last Stop is an earnest reminder that home - whether that means a time, a place, or a person - is worth fighting for * New York Magazine *This delightful love story is everything you need for a feel-good day of beach reading * Elle *The story of August and Jane's chance meeting is swoony, thoughtful, and one of those big-hearted romances you'll gush about long after finishing * Hello Sunshine *[A] fireworks in the sky, glitter in your hair joyous royal romance that you’ll want to fall head over heels in love with again and again. A+ * Entertainment Weekly *[An] escapist masterpiece... It’s a truly glorious thing to live inside the world of this book and to imagine it becoming reality, too. * Vogue *

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Book SynopsisThe No.1 Sunday Times bestseller from the author of A Little Life.To Paradise is a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the elusive idea of utopia; driven by Hanya Yanagihara’s understanding of our desire to protect those we love – lovers, children, friends, family and even our fellow citizens – and the pain that ensues when we cannot.In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love as they please (or so it seems).In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father.In 2093, in a world torn apart by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him – and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearance.What unites these characters, and these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human – fear, love, shame, loneliness – and the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise.'I’m not sure I’ve ever missed the world of a book as much' - Observer‘Not only rare . . . revolutionary’ - Michael Cunningham‘Prepare to weep in public and be utterly transformed’ - StylistTrade ReviewAfter the painfully affecting A Little Life, To Paradise gives us three stories far apart in space and time but each unique in their power to summon the joy and complexity of love, the pain of loss. I’m not sure I’ve ever missed the world of a book as much as I miss To Paradise now I’ve left it. * Observer *To Paradise is a transcendent, visionary novel of stunning scope and depth. A novel so layered, so rich, so relevant, so full of the joys and terrors – the pure mystery – of human life, is not only rare, it’s revolutionary. -- Michael Cunningham, author of The HoursHanya Yanagihara's To Paradise is as good as War and Peace -- Edmund White, author of A Boy's Own Story One of the most anticipated books of 2022 – if not the decade . . . Prepare to weep in public and be utterly transformed. * Stylist *To Paradise becomes unputdownable . . . Amidst the worst travails and political pressures, the primacy of human bonds is irreducible, a truth that lies at the heart of this frightening and very beautiful novel.' * Literary Review *A future classic . . . For those captivated by Yanagihara’s A Little Life, her next is equally gripping . . . Ultimately, it asks the question: is love really all we need? * Telegraph *A bravura achievement . . . Behind this impressive, significant novel stands the question: what is a life, if it is not lived in freedom? * Guardian *A very unusual sensibility and a burning subject matter have come together here . . . Highly affecting. Read it and hope not to revisit it in your dreams. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisA complex and truly timeless emotion, love – whether passion or heartbreak, infatuation or flirtation – has provoked some of the greatest names in literature to write verses of outstanding beauty.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning pocket-sized classics. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition features an introduction by bestselling author, and Romantic Novelists’ Association prize-winner, Joanna Trollope.There has always been love, and we have been writing poetry about it for over 4,000 years. From John Donne and William Shakespeare to Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti, the very best classic love poetry is collected in this elegant anthology, Poems for Love. That we still read and enjoy these heartfelt poems today is a testament both to their individual genius and to the enduring power of love.Table of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction by Joanna Trollope Chapter - 1: What is Love? Chapter - 2: Madam, Will You Walk? - Longing and Courting Chapter - 3: If All the World and Love Were Young - It must be love Chapter - 4: Delight in Disorder - Kissing etc Chapter - 5: Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds - Love & marriage Chapter - 6: My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close - Lost love

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Book SynopsisDISCOVER THE DEEPLY ROMANTIC AND UNFORGETTABLE TIKTOK SENSATION THAT WILL GRIP YOU UNTIL THE VERY LAST PAGE''Wren and Crew stole my heart and neither of them will give it back. I cannot explain how much I adore this story . . . Full of angst, drama and steam'' 5* READER REVIEW''Addictive, angsty and unforgettable . . . their chemistry was explosive'' 5* READER REVIEW''Wren and Crew are perfection and the chemistry they have is sizzling! I was sweating it out with nerves at Chapter 4 and the rollercoaster never ended'' 5* READER REVIEW_________Wren Beaumont is a model student. Kind, clever and beautiful, she is loved by everyone at Lancaster Prep.Everyone but brooding campus bad boy Crew Lancaster.Son of the family who own the school, Crew''s life seems easy - but with an overbearing father and high expectations, it''s anything but.Which is why he has no time for people like Wren.But when their lives unexpectedly collide, Wren discovers there''s more to life than good grades - and Crew finally understands what it''s like to care about someone other than himself . . .Could they - should they - become the school''s most unlikely couple?_________Steamy, romantic and totally addictive, this is a story that proves that true love really does happen when you least expect it . . .''Crew . . . really had me wrapped around his finger by the end of the book'' 5* READER REVIEW ''I fell madly in love with Wren and Crew. A delightful balance of slow burn and enemies to friends to lovers, and will capture every romance reader''s heart'' 5* READER REVIEWTrade ReviewThe premise is edgy and dramatic; the romance is tender and seductive; the characters are animated and intense. * The Reading Cafe *

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Book Synopsis''Completely, terrifyingly BRILLIANT'Marian Keyes, author ofGrown UpsI didn't want it to end'Lisa Taddeo, author ofThree Women andAnimalMagnificent: I read it in one sitting'Kate Mosse, author of TheCity of TearsWhen Marisa meets Jake, everything falls into place. But then their new lodger Kate arrives.Something isn't right about her. It's the way she looks at Jake, keeps her toothbrush right next to theirs and constantly asks questions about the baby they are trying for. Or maybe it's all in Marisa's head. That's what Jake thinks. And she trusts him, doesn't she?But Marisa knows something is wrong, and she is determined to find out why, even if it costs her everything.''A very elegant, tense, literary thriller''Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a ScandalUtterly engrossing, a thick sense of dread unfurling from every page'Refinery29I literally couldn't put this down'Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie LangtonA compelling, twisting read'Matt Haig, author of The MidnightTrade Review'I raced through Magpie. A very elegant, tense, literary thriller full of misdirection, unreliable witnesses, motherhood, madness, rage, and the most heart-breaking account of infertility I've read'SARAH VAUGHAN, AUTHOR OF ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL ‘A dark, sleek, ever-tightening spiral …Completely, terrifyingly BRILLIANT’MARIAN KEYES, AUTHOR OF GROWN UPS ‘Elizabeth Day has written that rare book I always go hunting for, something that will keep me breathless with suspense but also buoyant with good energy. It is both sinister and comforting, outrageous but grounded, with a head-spinning plot twist…Magpie is a book that needed to exist in the world. It is the book that was missing’ LISA TADDEO, AUTHOR OF THREE WOMEN AND ANIMAL ‘Magpie is a clever, suspenseful read with a brilliant central pivot and a keen eye for relationships, including the toxic ones. A compelling, twisting read’MATT HAIG, author of The Midnight Library and The Comfort Book ‘Superbly taut and well-written, noirish with a big and beating heart’JESSIE BURTON, AUTHOR OF THE MINIATURIST AND THE CONFESSION ‘An absorbing exploration of infertility and mental illness combined with the pace and plot of a heart-racing thriller … I literally couldn’t put this down. Sublime’SARA COLLINS, AUTHOR OF THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON ‘The most mind-blowing book of the year’JOANNA CANNON, AUTHOR OF THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP AND THREE THINGS ABOUT ELSIE ‘Magpie is tightly plotted, crackling with an uneasy tension, and has an ingenious twist you won’t see coming. Stylish, sinister, and clever, this is a sublime thriller’LOUISE O’NEILL, AUTHOR OF AFTER THE SILENCE ‘Magnificent. Clever, beautifully-crafted, gripping, warm: I read it in one sitting’KATE MOSSE, AUTHOR OF THE CITY OF TEARS

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Book SynopsisTsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. One day they announced that they didn't want to see him or talk to him ever again. Since that day, Tsukuru has been unable to form intimate connections. Then he meets Sara, who insists that he must find out what happened all those years ago. From the internationally acclaimed author of NORWEGIAN WOOD comes a poignant mystery story about friendship.Trade ReviewA naturalistic coming-of-age story… sprinkled with strange images and written in a hauntingly mournful key * Guardian *[Murakmi’s] elegant, frugal prose creates a tale of courage and hope as Tsukuru tries to unlock the secrets of his past * Stylist *Critics have variously likened Murakami to Raymond Carver, Raymond Chandler, Arthur C Clarke, Don DeLillo, Philip K Dick, Bret Easton Ellis and Thomas Pynchon – a roster so ill-assorted to suggest he is in fact an original * New York Times *A rich and even brilliant piece of work… Genuinely resonant and satisfying -- James Walton * Spectator *This is a book for both the new and experienced reader....[it] reveals another side of Murakami, one not so easy to pin down. Incurably restive, ambiguous and valiantly struggling toward a new level of maturation -- Patti Smith * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisVladimir Nabakov''s shocking masterpiece, now in a beautifully designed clothbound edition''Lolita is comedy, subversive yet divine'' Martin AmisPoet and pervert, Humbert Humbert becomes obsessed by twelve-year-old Lolita and seeks to possess her, first carnally and then artistically, out of love, ''to fix once for all the perilous magic of nymphets''. Is he in love or insane? A tortured soul or a monster? Humbert Humbert''s seduction is one of many dimensions in Nabokov''s dizzying masterpiece, which is suffused with a savage humour and rich, elaborate verbal textures. Filmed by Stanley Kubrick in 1962 starring James Mason and Peter Sellers, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne starring Jeremy Irons and Melanie Griffith, Lolita has lost none of its power to shock and awe.

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Book Synopsis'Funny, merciless, brilliant... I loved it' CURTIS SITTENFELD, bestselling author of Romantic ComedySeamus, Fyodor, Ivan, Noah and Fatima are running out of time to decide on their futuresIn a university town in the American Midwest, this circle of lovers and friends ask themselves: what is the right thing to stake a life on? Work, love, money, dance, poetry? Is love possible without harm? And what does true connection look like in an age of precarity?The author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Real Life returns with a deeply involving new novel of young men and women trying to work out what they want, and who they are.***A DAILY TELEGRAPH AND FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023***'Taylor is a sharp chronicler' RAVEN LEILANI, author of Luster'Assures Taylor's position as one of the most important novelists of his generation' GUARDIANTrade ReviewAssures and deepens Taylor's position as one of the most accomplished, important novelists of his generation. He is undoubtedly on to something expansively new in his sense of what the contemporary novel can do * Guardian *I loved The Late Americans and its funny, merciless, brilliant portrayal of the beauty and pointlessness of art, and the absurdity and horror - and occasional transcendence - of being a person. Magnificent -- Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Romantic ComedyBrandon Taylor's third book is the most dazzling example of his sharp pen and keen observations of human nature... Taylor develops his characters so precisely, they feel like close friends: recognisable, sometimes infuriating, and always worth following to the book's last page * Harper's Bazaar *Taylor is a sharp chronicler of the body. In The Late Americans, the body is an instrument and an archive, vulnerable to the complicated violence of pleasure and work -- Raven Leilani, author of LusterTaylor's most accomplished book, a panorama of youth in the era of late capitalism * Guardian *Elegant... Taylor has a Chekhovian generosity that enables him to convey character with something like tenderness... The relationships move like an eighteenth-century quadrille, at once restrained and spritely... Taylor's vision is unsparing, but never bleak -- Claire Messud, author of The Emperor's ChildrenSensitive and unflinching… The Late Americans is thoroughly contemporary * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* *The Late Americans is remarkable. If you're going to write about art, the folly of pursuing it and the irrefutable power of it, you should probably do it well. Taylor does it truthfully and beautifully * Financial Times *Brandon Taylor has both a classic sensibility, expansive and elegant, and a razor-sharp ability to speak to the contemporary moment. The Late Americans is a full expression of his singular talent -- Emma Cline, author of The GirlsA dizzying plunge into the lives of young people making art in America in the era of survival capitalism, grappling over the big questions like they're fighting over a gun. Deep within their ambitions, their pettiness and lust, is the meaning and even grandeur they seek - and whether or not his characters ever find it, Brandon Taylor has. A bravura performance on the edge of a knife -- Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel

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Book SynopsisThe tender and moving novella from the author of A Man Called Ove and Anxious People''I read this beautifully imagined and moving novella in one sitting, utterly wowed, wanting to share it with everyone I know'' Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice_________Grandpa and Noah are sitting on a bench in a square that keeps getting smaller every day.As they wait together on the bench, they tell jokes and discuss their shared love of mathematics. Grandpa recalls what it was like to fall in love with his wife, what it was like to lose her. She''s as real to him now as the first day he met her, but he dreads the day when he won''t remember her.Sometimes Grandpa sits on the bench next to Ted, Noah''s father - Ted who never liked maths, prefers writing and playing guitar, and has waited his entire life for his father to have time for him, to accept him. But in their love of Noah, they have foTrade ReviewWinsome, bittersweet ... Wise and heartbreaking. Backman's slim novella celebrates the joy of connecting even in the midst of letting go * People Magazine *A novella to be savoured and reread about a boy, his dad and his grandpa as they learn to say goodbye. It's a little book with a big message * San Francisco Chronicle *I read this beautifully imagined and moving novella in one sitting, utterly wowed, wanting to share it with everyone I know -- Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author of Still AliceBeautiful, dreamlike, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. Bring tissues. Bring all the tissues * RealSimple.com *The saddest, sweetest book ever ... It is heartbreakingly sad, but also beautiful and uplifting in the end * LaSalle News Tribune *

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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 definitive collection of America's bestselling poet. Rumi's finest poems of love and lovers will open your heart and soul to the lover inside and out.Trade Review"Another perfect gem from the master translator of Rumi's poetry." -- Roger Housden, author of Ten Poems to Change Your Life and Chasing Rumi "It's a mystery how heart can come into apparently simple English." -- Robert Bly, National Book Award-winning poet and translator

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Booker Prize, the beautiful, romantic and gorgeously philosophical Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner is part of our Penguin Essential series which spotlights the very best of our modern classics''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''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''So sure and so quietly commanding'' Hilary Mantel, GuardianTrade 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 *

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Book Synopsis‘I love Sarah’s novels because they are a burst of pure happiness’ Cathy Kelly ‘A gorgeous Christmas gift of a book – big-hearted, cosy and joyful’ Lucy Diamond ‘Unputdownable and gorgeous, I adored Snowed in for Christmas. It’s the ultimate feel-good festive novel’ Phillipa Ashley ‘Sarah is so bloody good at creating worlds and characters you fall instantly and hopelessly in love with, and Snowed In For Christmas is no different. Heartfelt, evocative and romantic’ Laura Jane Williams * * * She’s snowed in with the family. The only problem? They’re not her family. A family gatheringThis Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal – to avoid their family’s well-meaning questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention. An uninvited guestLucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone, and the prospect of losing her job – unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller. She’ll deliver her proposal to his family home in the Scottish Highlands and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller’s perfect family Christmas. A Christmas to rememberWhen Lucy appears on the Miller’s snow-covered doorstep, she is mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. But by the time the confusion is cleared up, a storm has hit and Lucy is stuck. As everyone settles in for a snowed-in Christmas, tensions bubble to the surface and suddenly Lucy finds herself facing a big family fallout with a family that isn’t hers… * * * Readers have fallen head over heels for Sarah Morgan! ‘For me, Sarah Morgan really knows how to write the perfect Christmas book’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A book you can’t put down. Loved every minute of it’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A gorgeous, feel-good festive treat of a read’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A magical read that deserves at least a ten-star rating’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Trade Review Praise for Snowed in for Christmas ‘I love Sarah’s novels because they are a burst of pure happiness’ Cathy Kelly ‘Unputdownable and gorgeous, I adored Snowed in for Christmas. What a warm and wonderful novel for Christmas. It’s the ultimate feel-good festive novel’ Phillipa Ashley ‘A gorgeous Christmas gift of a book – big-hearted, cosy and joyful’ Lucy Diamond ‘I feel like I was actually in the Scottish Highlands with Lucy and the Miller family. Sarah is so bloody good at creating worlds and characters you fall instantly and hopelessly in love with, and Snowed In For Christmas is no different. Heartfelt, evocative and romantic, I felt like this was the perfect book at the perfect time. Gorgeous’ Laura Jane Williams ‘Can always count on Sarah Morgan to create a cosy Christmas book full of comfort and joy’ Alex Brown 'Heartwarming, uplifting, funny and sparkling!' Faith Hogan ‘Funny and often poignant . . . will thaw even the biggest Grinch’s heart’ The Independent ‘A mug of hot chocolate in book form’ Good Housekeeping ‘A feel-good pick-me-up you’ll love’ Fabulous magazine ‘A funny, warm and festive feel-good read’ The People’s Friend ‘The perfect cosy escape’ My Weekly ‘Full of drama to enjoy snuggled up in the warm’ Woman & Home ‘A warm and funny festive romance’ Daily Mirror ‘A heart-warming read packed with seasonal cheer’ Daily Express

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Book SynopsisNext, dive into TOM LAKE the breath-taking new novel from Ann Patchett''Dazzling life-affirming and compulsively readable'' Sunday Times''Patchett blends wisdom and humanity jointly with the icy forensic gaze of someone not afraid to expose the frailties of human behaviour ... Read it'' Jojo Moyes''An outstanding novel ... a master of her art'' ObserverIt is 1964: Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited and notices a heart stoppingly beautiful woman. When he kisses Beverly Keating, his host's wife, he sets in motion the joining of two families, whose shared fate will be defined on a day seven years later.In 1988, Franny Keating, now twenty-four, is working as a cocktail waitress in Chicago. When she meets the famous author Leon Posen one night at the bar, and tells him about her family, she unwittingly relinquishes control over their storyTrade ReviewPatchett blends wisdom and humanity jointly with the icy forensic gaze of someone not afraid to expose the frailties of human behaviour ... Read it -- Jojo MoyesPart of Patchett’s design is to curve every type, bend every cliché, adulterate every formula … Subtle, startling and painful ... Commonwealth is one of the most discerning novels about siblings I can recall … Alive with provocative insights that sum up entire relationships -- Sarah Churchwell * Guardian *Stunning -- India Knight * Sunday Times *Hugely entertaining and an unsettling joy to read -- Roddy Doyle * Irish Times *An outstanding novel ... The opening is a show stopper … Patchett is a pleasure to read: there is a no-fuss casualness to the prose that is only possible when a writer is in control of every word and she is master of her art * Observer *The opening scene …. is a faultless set piece ... Her prose is equally powerful when she’s evoking a 1970s summer in Virginia … Patchett deftly summons up a simmering childhood anger and dangerously ricocheting energy * The Times *Patchett writes excellently and seemingly artlessly * Daily Mail *Dazzling … sharply observed, ripe with humour, laden with significance … Her characters shimmer with life-likeness, and she pulls you into every one of her vibrantly drawn scenes with great ease … The combination of lightness, warmth and remarkable incisiveness creates a novel that is life-affirming and compulsively readable * Sunday Times *The book flows easily between narrators, constantly switching from past to present, and slowly revealing what happened that summer, allowing Patchett to play with memory and perspective to surprisingly moving effect ... Commonwealth is a book about relationships and the obligations they bring .. Poignant ... funny ... An engaging novel that draws you in with sharp observation, a gin-fuelled plot written in beautiful prose and convincing dialogue. You miss the characters once it’s over * Evening Standard *She achieves the great novel of American domestic life with a spare hand and a demotic prose that seems to come from the mouths of her characters, even when they aren’t speaking … Her unshowy account of public and private stories addresses the great puzzle of what our lives are really made of ... This novel convinces me she’s wiping the floor with her heftier competitors -- Linda Grant * Daily Telegraph *Commonwealth is full of heart, and is Patchett’s most complex and emotionally suspenseful novel. She never hits a wrong note although she conjures with many deftly drawn characters. The opening chapter is one of the best party-scene seductions ever written -- Louise Erdrich, author of The Beet QueenShe is one of those rare writers, like Anne Enright or Anne Tyler, who is able to convey poignancy and humour in the space of a single sentence -- Elizabeth Day * Irish Times *So clear and clean and at the top of her game ... It is just so masterfully done. The sweep of it and the subtlety of the ideas -- Esther FreudBeautiful -- Katie Roiphe * Observer *From the mesmerising first chapter to the final page, Ann Patchett’s new novel is utterly brilliant. This domestic drama deals in loyalties, sibling rivalries, jealously and heartbreak in an effortlessly graceful style that makes for unputdownable reading * Sunday Express *Gorgeously evocative writing and complex characters ... Patchett is a writer of exceptional talent, and this is one of her best yet * Good Housekeeping *A deft craftsman … Patchett ultimately wins the reader over with her perceptive qualities, alluring characters and undertone of humour … In Commonwealth, Patchett’s nimble storytelling floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee * Literary Review *This delicate exploration of the ties that bind us never seems to lose focus * Stylist *An absorbing, brilliantly observed novel * Women & Home *Rich and engrossing … her observations about people and life are insightful; and her underlying tone is one of compassion and amusement … Patchett also skilfully illustrates the way that seemingly minor, even arbitrary decisions can have long-lasting consequences and the way that we often fear the wrong things -- Curtis Sittenfeld * New York Times *Delicious. From the moment a kiss at a christening ends up sparking the divide and re-merging of two families, I was drawn into the minutiae of the drama ... Patchett makes you feel like you’ve lived among it and have been subsumed into the newly drawn clan * Grazia *Humourous and heartbreaking, this quietly brilliant collage of a novel also happens to be semi-autobiographical itself * Mail on Sunday *Life-affirming and compulsively readable * Sunday Times *Told with great sympathy and even greater wit – it should be said that Commonwealth is very funny indeed – this is a book to savour * The Lady *At the heart of a novel is a family story that is appropriated by another character – an author – the consequences of which ripple out to every family member * Guardian Readers' Books of the Year *I want to tell you how good Ann Patchett is. She’s classy. She reminds me of Anne Tyler – superb at domestic details and very ambitious * Evening Standard *Patchett moves through the gears very smoothly, from sexual attraction to disease and violent death. Exciting, and also poignant * Independent *When the tragic power of the story hits the reader, the effect is breathtaking. Patchett sucker-punches you, but leaves you feeling you had it coming – whether for underestimating her, her characters, or humanity, it is hard to say’ -- Sarah Churchwell * Guardian *An outstanding novel … The opening is a show stopper ... Patchett is light, incisive and all-seeing ... She lets readers reflect on what is involved in stealing from life: emotional copyright is, in this unpushy and brilliant novel, more powerful than anyone dared suppose * Observer *Ann Patchett's cleverly crafted Commonwealth is one of her best, which for this writer is saying a great deal -- Geraldine Brooks * Sydney Morning Herald, Books of the Year 2017 *

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Book SynopsisThe pride of high-ranking Mr Darcy and the prejudice of middle-class Elizabeth Bennet conduct an absorbing dance through the rigid social hierarchies of early-nineteenth-century England, with the passion of the two unlikely lovers growing as their union seems ever more improbable. One of the most cherished love stories in English literature, Jane Austen's 1813 masterpiece has a lasting effect on everyone who reads it.Trade ReviewThis is the flowering of the English novel. It is witty and wise; there is not a single flaw in this book, or a single moment that you do not relish. -- Colm Toibin I read all of Jane Austen's novels very early on and learnt to love her economy of style and precision. She still seems to me the finest writer in the English language. Pride and Prejudice always bears another reading, and I think in many ways it is a perfect rendition of the novel form. -- Philippa Gregory Jane Austen is one of my favourite writers... very acute, very perceptive, and writing in close and honest detail about the tiny preoccupations of women's lives - preoccupations which speak of much larger social and human issues. -- Helen Fielding

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Book SynopsisApproval follows would-be parents David and Cici through a series of forays into the past as they go through the motions of applying to adopt a child. Their story builds a picture of hope, vulnerability and fear as David is put under intense and intrusive scrutiny during their battle against faceless bureaucracy. From family background and early experiences to adult relationships, he is forced to revisit uncomfortable – sometimes painful – episodes, in the hope of meeting the authority’s requirements. Confronting a lonely, difficult and uncertain path to family life, Approval is a brave novel told from a perspective rarely explored in fiction: a man’s response to a couple’s infertility. Approval follows would-be parents David and Cici through a series of forays into the past as they go through the motions of applying to adopt a child.Trade Review“John Rutter's Approval is many things at once. A powerful meditation on judgement. A transfixing fable of a Kafka-esque application process. A complex tragedy about fatherhood. But it's also a simple, affecting and beautifully wrought story of one couple's journey towards what they most desire – a child – and the cost of reaching out for one. A hugely promising debut.” -- Rodge Glass"An authentic voice … the issues it raises are very real and have contemporary resonance." -- Lancashire Evening Post

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Book Synopsis“The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles.”—Joyce Carol Oates, bestselling author“He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.”—Leonard Cohen, songwriterBurning in Water, Drowning in Flame is poetry full of gambling, drinking and women. Charles Bukowski writes realistically about the seedy underbelly of life.

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Book Synopsis**NOW A MAJOR FILM - ALL OF US STRANGERS - STARRING PAUL MESCAL, CLAIRE FOY, ANDREW SCOTT AND JAMIE BELL** ''Deeply satisfying. . . a wonderful study of grief and isolation.'' Daily Mail''A sharp, chilling contemporary ghost story.' The Scotsman''Powerful.'' Guardian''Sexy, insightful and frequently funny.'' Irish ExaminerMiddle-aged, jaded and divorced, TV scriptwriter Harada returns one night to the dilapidated downtown district of Tokyo where he grew up. There, at the theatre, he meets a likable man who looks exactly like his long-dead father. And so begins Harada''s ordeal, as he''s thrust into a reality where his parents appear to be alive at the exact age they had been when they had died so many years before.Trade Review"'A cerebral and haunting ghost story... Highly recommended.' David Mitchell 'A memorably uncanny tapestry... The powerful mood of Strangers lingers long after its graceful, downbeat ending has passed.' Guardian 'A disconcerting, yet deeply satisfying novel: a wonderful study of grief and isolation, a moving expression of our longing for things we have lost and are unable to have again.' Daily Mail 'Quickly paced, intelligent and haunting.' Bret Easton Ellis"

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Book SynopsisOne of our finest living authors propulsively entertaining' New York Times''Sly, profound Electrifying'' ObserverWonderfully strange and alive' Jon McGregorA propulsive, seductive new novel about friendship, exploitation and intimacy from the prize-winning author of Where Reasons EndFabienne is dead. Her childhood best friend, Agnès, receives the news in America, far from the French countryside where the two girls were raised the place that Fabienne helped Agnès escape ten years ago. Now, Agnès is free to tell her story.As children in a backwater town, they'd built a private world, invisible to everyone but themselves until Fabienne hatched the plan that would change everything, launching Agnès on an epic trajectory through fame, fortune, and terrible loss.Beguiling A shimmering, unsettling tale of exploitation and manipulation' Daily MailHaunting and strange Li has made her style her own' Tessa Hadley, GuardianA dazzling, subtle, skilful knockout' Charlotte Mendelson, author of Trade Review‘Fans of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan trilogy won’t be disappointed, but the comparison undermines the skill with which Li tells her story, peeling back the layers to reveal the dark truths at the heart of Agnes and Fabienne’s friendship’ Marie Claire ‘[Li] has become … one of our finest living authors: Her elegant metaphysics never elide the blood and maggots … The most propulsively entertaining of Li’s novels… an existential fable that illuminates the tangle of motives behind our writing of stories’ New York Times ‘Beguiling … A shimmering, unsettling tale of exploitation and manipulation’ Daily Mail ‘These two perverse, dangerous, glorious girls are their own creation and their own destiny, captured in the high noon of their lives’ Observer New Review ‘Resonant with echoes of… My Brilliant Friend, as well as authors including Elizabeth Strout and William Trevor … For all its surface lushness, this is a novel of meticulous philosophical inquiry’ Observer ‘Brilliant … A novel of deceptions and cruelty’ Spectator 'Dazzling, subtle, skilful … I loved it' Charlotte Mendelson, author of The Exhibitionist ‘In a story about love and creation, Yiyun Li slips in a satire of the business of marketing authors… deft and delicious’ Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Starling Days ‘Yiyun Li has, again, done something new and gone somewhere wonderfully strange and alive. Beautiful, sad, funny and claustrophobic’ Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand ‘A haunting novel about loss, friendship and storytelling … Few writers match Yiyun Li’s ability to explore human desire and ambition’ Tash Aw, author of Strangers on a Pier ‘Meet Agnès and Fabienne…Come for the writerly scheming, stay for the exquisitely calibrated examination of how our most tender and important bonds involve the manipulation of power and devotion’ LA Times

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Book SynopsisEnter THE PINK HOUSE, the heartwarming new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors''Stepping into the world of The Pink House is like getting home and discovering someone has already run a hot, bubbly bath for you after a hard day''s work'' CELIA ANDERSONWhen Emma and Hugh move into The Pink House, it''s a welcome new start.Lazy summer afternoons in the sun, quiet Sunday mornings reading the paper.Or so Emma hoped. Unfortunately, life in the country is far from a peaceful idyll.There''s Hugh''s sister Sally, who lives in the garden cottage.Their son''s upcoming wedding, which they''ve promised to host.The old barn which Emma wants to transform into an art gallery and a new career.But Emma has it all under control. Until she runs into Rory McCloud -the one who got away so many years ago . . .Is The Pink House the only new beginning for Emma,or could Trade ReviewI've always been a Catherine Alliott fan, and this was an absolute joy.A delicious tangle of secrets and hidden desire. Alliott's heroines are always a delight - like Bridget Jones' posher cousin: a bit dizzy, but with a huge heart and a strong sense of what's right and what's important. And in this case, that's family. A complicated, messy, imperfect family and all the baggage that brings, all playing out in the most gorgeous setting. How I longed to live in the Pink House!It's a modern fairy tale of mistakes and the lengths we go to to pretend everything is perfect: wise, funny, glamorously chaotic and achingly romantic. -- VERONICA HENRYThis deeply satisfying read brings Emma's desirable world to life and will keep you guessing until the end * Daily Express *Another fantastic family drama with superb characterisation from this much-loved author * Woman's Weekly *A great family drama * Woman & Home *A joyful read about love and new starts * The Sun *Stepping into the world of The Pink House is like getting home and discovering someone has already run a hot, bubbly bath for you after a hard day's work. Emma and Hugh's story is intriguing and twisty. They've been married for what feels like forever and it's been mostly...well...okay. The children are great but they're independent now, and the chance to relocate to Hugh's idyllic family home in the country is too difficult for Emma to resist. What follows is a voyage of discovery for them all that turns Emma's largely contented life upside down. A kaleidoscope of family complications tends to threaten Emma's equilibrium but nothing daunted, she breezes forward and gets right on with socking it to them all. I adored every moment of this blissful book! -- CELIA ANDERSONPraise for Catherine Alliott * - *Warm, witty and wise * Daily Mail *A huge treat. Hilarious yet poignantHer writing is both intelligent and sparklingHilarious and full of surprises * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of Me Before You and the new 2023 novel Someone Else''s Shoes.Isabel Delancey has always taken her gifted life for granted. But when her husband dies suddenly, leaving her with a mountain of debt, she and her two children are forced to abandon their home and move to a crumbling pile in the country.With the house falling down around them, and the last of her savings fast disappearing, Isabel turns to her neighbours, not knowing that her mere presence there has stirred up long-standing obsessions.As she fights to make her house a home, passions and lives collide. Isabel will discover an instinct for survival she never knew she had - and that a heart can play a new song . . .Trade ReviewA skilful blend of emotional intensity and satisfyingly drawn characters. * Marie Claire *Warm, engaging and acutely observed. * Woman and Home *A wonderful read. * Sunday Express *

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Book Synopsis ***Out now: David Nicholls''s new novel YOU ARE HERE*** THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER, NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES ''A wonderful, wonderful book'' THE TIMES ''Perfect'' NEW YORK TIMES ''A modern classic'' DAILY MIRROR ''You''d be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy'' INDEPENDENT ''Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable'' NICK HORNBYTWENTY YEARS, TWO PEOPLE, ONE DAY 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?ONE OF BRITAIN''S MOST ACCLAIMED WRITERS ''One of the most astute chroniclers of England as it is now'' FINANCIAL TIMESTrade ReviewOne Day is destined to be a modern classic * Daily Mirror *Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable -- Nick HornbyA wonderful, wonderful book * The Times *I finished it last night and I'm still quite wobbly and affected by it. It was BRILLIANT . . . the jealousy nearly made me puke. I wish I'd written this book -- Marian KeyesA genuine tear-jerker as well as laugh-out-loud funny -- Books of the Year * Independent on Sunday *This perfectly executed novel is a reminder that reading can be the finest entertainment there is * Guardian *The book I go back to time and time again is One Day by David Nicholls. I read it every couple of years. It's perfect -- Dolly Alderton, author of GHOSTSA modern classic * Prime *One of the most tear-jerking novels ever written * YOU Magazine *I couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't love this book -- Simon Mayo Books Panel, BBC Radio Five LiveRe-reading One Day by David Nicholls is another version of putting on a Nora Ephron movie. It never gets old because the pleasure and comfort is in the language and the observations and the characters -- Maggie Shipstead, author of GREAT CIRCLEOne Day changed my life -- Pandora Sykes, author of HOW DO WE KNOW WE'RE DOING IT RIGHTCaptivating * Hello *You'd be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy * Independent *David Nicholls portrays the bittersweet experience of being a young man so brilliantly * iNews *A total treat . . . by turns bittersweet, funny, touching and sad, but always Nicholls's wonderfully observant and wry touch shines through. A way-we-live-now parable about relationships, disappointments, friendship and expectations; a novel utterly comfortable in its own skin -- Kate Mosse * The Times *An off-kilter romantic comedy with charm to spare * Harper's Bazaar *It's rare to find a novel which ranges over the recent past with such authority, and even rarer to find one in which the two leading characters are drawn with such solidity, such painful fidelity to real life that you really do put the book down with the hallucinatory feeling that they've become as well known to you as your closest friends -- Jonathan Coe, Books of the Year * Guardian *Nicholls has a gimlet eye for period detail . . . A beguiling read * Observer *A totally brilliant book about the heartbreaking gap between the way we were and the way we are . . . the best weird love story since The Time Traveller's Wife. Every reader will fall in love with it. And every writer will wish they had written it -- Tony Parsons, author of THE PEOPLE NEXT DOORWho doesn't relish a love story with the right amount of heart-melting romance, disappointment, regret, and huge doses of disenchantment about growing up and growing old between quarrelling meant-to-be lovers? -- Top 10 Summer Books * Elle *As a study of what we once were and what we can become, it's masterfully realised * Esquire *A brilliantly funny and moving will-they, won't-they romance tracing a relationship on the same day each day for two decades * Heat *With a nod to When Harry Met Sally, this funny, emotionally engaging third novel from David Nicholls traces the unlikely relationship between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew . . . Told with toe-curlingly accurate insight and touching observation * Daily Mail *Nicholls captures superbly the ennui of post graduation . . . The writing is almost faultless, there's a great feeling for the period and it's eminently readable * Herald *Nicholls has a gift for zeitgeist description and emotional empathy that's wholly his own . . . [A] light but surprisingly deep romance so thoroughly satisfying * Entertainment Weekly *David Nicholls's One Day needs a special mention for its perfect encapsulation of Edinburgh's university experience. The novel takes place mostly in London but its two main characters meet as students here and almost - but not quite - fall for each other. Therein lies the tale * New York Times *A pleasingly collaborative reading experience * Financial Times *The funniest, loveliest book I've read in ages. Most of all it is horribly, cringingly, absolutely 100% honest and true to life: I lived every page -- Jenny Colgan, author of DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME?The ultimate zeitgeist love story for anyone who ever wanted someone they couldn't have -- Adele Parks, author of ONE LAST SECRETWarm-hearted, funny, endearing * Sydney Morning Herald *Page by page, the funniest book of the year * Uncut *Perfect for the beach or summer in the city * In Style *A delicious love story * Sunday Herald *A smart comedy, packed with the mistakes, mismatches and meandering conversations that make up real life * Marie Claire *A modern fairy tale, slickly put together. A gifted story-teller with lots of technical savvy * Scottish Review of Books *A compulsive read you'll want to devour in one sitting * Woman *A cross between Jonathan Coe and Nick Hornby, this is romantic, sharp and very English * Scotsman *Nicholls' unmatchable gift for dialogue and romantic plotting * Evening Standard *An unputdownable romance for the 21st century * She *

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Book Synopsis‘A glorious and festive read’ Cathy Kelly, Sunday Times bestseller ‘Absolutely stunning, with gorgeous characters and even more gorgeous locations. You will fall head over heels! An exquisite escape – the perfect Christmas read to get you in the mood’ Veronica Henry, Sunday Times bestseller ‘This romantic, wintry read is perfect for a cosy night curled up by the fire’ Woman’s Own ‘This is Sarah's best Christmas novel yet. It's got it all: romance, escapism, heartache, redemption, secrets . . . I really enjoyed it. Sarah is as much a Christmas staple as mince pies!’ Laura Jane Williams, bestselling author of Our Stop ‘Utterly magical’ Alex Brown, bestselling author of A Postcard from Paris * * * It was supposed to be Christy Sullivan’s perfect Christmas escape – a dream trip to Lapland with her family and best friend, Alix. But facing a make-or-break marriage crisis, Christy desperately needs time alone with her husband, Seb. Her solution? Alix, along with Seb’s oldest friend, Zac, can take Christy’s daughter on the planned Lapland trip, and they will all reunite there for Christmas Day. After all, what are friends for? There’s nothing Alix won’t do for Christy, but Christy’s plan to save Christmas is testing their friendship. Especially as Alix and Zac have a difficult history of their own. As long-held secrets unravel, and unexpected romance shines under the Northern Lights, can Christy and Alix find the courage to fight for the relationships they really want? And could this Christmas escape save the precious gift of each other’s friendship? * * * Readers have fallen in love with The Christmas Escape ‘One of my favourite books this year, The Christmas Escape is the perfect festive read’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A must for any reader looking for some Christmas cheer and I can’t recommend it enough for the festive season!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This is storytelling at its very best. Put aside some quiet time and curl up and read this fantastic heartwarming and enjoyable book’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Sarah Morgan writes THE BEST Christmas books, full of winter warmth, charm and festive feels’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Trade Review Praise for The Christmas Escape ‘A glorious and festive read’ Cathy Kelly, Sunday Times bestseller ‘Absolutely stunning, with gorgeous characters and even more gorgeous locations. You will fall head over heels! An exquisite escape – the perfect Christmas read to get you in the mood’ Veronica Henry, Sunday Times bestseller ‘This is Sarah's best Christmas novel yet. It's got it all: romance, escapism, heartache, redemption, secrets . . . I really enjoyed it. Sarah is as much a Christmas staple as mince pies!’ Laura Jane Williams, bestselling author of Our Stop ‘Utterly magical’ Alex Brown, bestselling author of A Postcard from Paris ‘This romantic, wintry read is perfect for a cosy night curled up by the fire’ Woman’s Own ‘[A] warm book full of festive delights on every page’ The People’s Friend Praise for Sarah Morgan ‘I loved every sparkly, big-hearted, warm-hug moment of this gorgeous wintry tale’ Miranda Dickinson, author of Our Story This is escapist fiction at its absolute best, full of warmth, humour and heart . . . Irresistible, joyful and a celebration of family love’ Katie Marsh, author of A Life Without You ‘Sarah Morgan is back in style with a perfect snow-filled read’ Woman & Home ‘An emotional, uplifting and heart-warming winter novel that’s perfect for those chilly nights in’ OK! ‘As always, Sarah Morgan takes us to a glamorous setting and throws in a whole heap of drama. Such fun!’ Heat

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Book SynopsisWhen Helen offers her spare room to her old friend Nicola, she has little idea of what lies ahead. Nicola has cancer and, sceptical of the medical establishment, is in the city for a course of alternative treatment. She is determined to deal with her illness in her own way, regardless of the advice that Helen can offer.In the weeks that follow, Nicola's fight against cancer will turn not only her own life upside down but the lives of everyone around her. Told with humour and honesty, this unforgettable novel charts a friendship as it is tested in the face of death.Trade ReviewAt once artful, gripping and fiercely beautiful . . . even at the most painful moments Garner maintains a characteristic lightness of touch, a combination of wit and lyricism that is immensely alluring . . . [an] extraordinary, exhilarating novel [and] a burningly passionate account of the one experience we will all share -- OLIVIA LAING * * Observer * *A perfect novel, imbued with all Garner's usual clear-eyed grace but with some other magnificent dimension that hides between the lines of her simple conversational voice. How is it that she can enter this heartbreaking territory - the dying friend who comes to stay - and make it not only bearable, but glorious, and funny? There is no answer except: Helen Garner is a great writer; The Spare Room is a great book -- PETER CAREYOnly great fiction demands us to reset our moral compass and look at our value coordinates all over again. The Spare Room achieves this . . . And yet in a book this spare, written with such grace, Garner introduces in the interstices a calm, precise poetry * * The Times * *Exceptional . . . an unsettling and skilled work that raises important questions about the process of dying and what caring well for the dying requires . . . So powerful is The Spare Room's communication of the the triumphs and failures involved in dying . . . [that] the reader painfully ricochets between the various positions . . . Somehow as we read we actually become these characters . . . This extraordinary effect results in an uncomfortable read. Yet it is also an oddly exhilarating book - often funny, and grounded in a kind of ordinariness that is deeply restorative * * Financial Times * *A wise and affecting book * * Daily Mail * *In its bleak and highly comic storytelling, in spite, or perhaps, because of its subject matter, The Spare Room could be called a comedy of manners, in that its concern is how people behave towards each other and the repercussions of that behaviour. Its embattled characters are so real that by the last page you feel not just that you have read a magnificent novel but that you have experienced life itself -- PENNY PERRICK * * Sunday Times * *This is no mere cancer memoir. Rather, in Garner's brilliant retelling, it is a complex examination of the limits of friendship and of the problems of remaining a single woman into middle age . . . This is a superbly clever novel * * Guardian * *Swift, beautiful and relentless, The Spare Room is a brutal novel in the best sense -- ALICE SEBOLDCompulsively readable, searing . . . The best book I have read for years. Beautifully written, The Spare Room is terse and pacy. Every taut sentence rings with painful purity and attack -- STEVIE DAVIES * * Independent * *This novel's extraordinary feat is to be at once affecting, involving and sharply funny * * Sunday Times * *

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Book SynopsisCan a mother ever hand over her son to another woman?In this emotional and thought-provoking novel, multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope expertly weaves a study of familial relationships with a lightness of tone and real sense of compassion. Fans of Elizabeth Noble, Erica James and Amanda Prowse will love it!''Trollope writes about family life with wit, intelligence and verve'' - Guardian''Wonderfully observed and readable'' - THE TIMES''Infallibly elegant...Look more closely and something as grim as Greek tragedy is played out around the cosy family dining table'' - Daily Telegraph''I found it hard to put this book down'' -- ***** Reader review''A brilliant book'' -- ***** Reader review''Always an enjoyable read - Joanna Trollope is the mistress of family emotions'' -- ***** Reader review''I read it last week and have sTrade ReviewWe love Trollope's novels and await each new one with excitement * HEAT *Supremely sure of her material and purpose, compassionate but never sentimental * THE SUNDAY TIMES *Wonderfully observed and readable * THE TIMES *Infallibly elegant... All this lies beneath the sparkling, well groomed surface of a novel which could quite easily be read as a light diversion for an idle afternoon. But look more closely and something as grim as Greek tragedy is played out around the cosy family dinner table -- Jane Shilling * DAILY TELEGRAPH *As ever, Trollope writes about family life with wit, intelligence and verve * GUARDIAN *

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Book SynopsisMulti-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope expertly depicts how grief can tip the family balance head over heels in this beautifully written novel about change and hope through adversity. Perfect for readers of Elizabeth Noble, Erica James and Amanda Prowse.''Extraordinarily powerful'' -- Mail on Sunday''A devastatingly acute picture of a harsh rural world'' -- The Sunday Times''Certainly one of her best'' -- Daily Telegraph''A richly satisfying novel ... compulsively readable'' -- Sunday Express''Kept me interested - twists and turns - great character development - well written'' -- ***** Reader review''I couldn''t put it down and finished the book in just a couple of days'' -- ***** Reader review''Excellent'' -- ***** Reader review''A wonderful book, a wonderful story, wonderful characters - a must haTrade ReviewExtraordinarily powerful * Mail on Sunday *A devastatingly acute picture of a harsh rural world * The Sunday Times *Certainly one of her best * Daily Telegraph *A richly satisfying novel, sometimes dark, but compulsively readable, and imagined with a warmth that makes its determined realism oddly uplifting * Sunday Express *Her fine, gripping and unflinching novel * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe hockey star she never expected may be the one person to finally set her free . . .My name is Tess Owens and my soon to be ex-husband is trying to set fire to my entire life. Unwilling to face the heat, I do what I do best: run.I run to a new life in a new city and straight into the arms of Rachel and her team of NHL hockey players. They''re all charming, but one player stands apart from the rest, the star forward of the Jacksonville Rays, Ryan Langley.Now I have six weeks to launch a new business. Six weeks to fight for my freedom...all while fighting my growing attraction to this All-American sweetheart with a winning smile and a career on the rise. Did I mention he''s ten years younger than me?Ryan doesn''t need my drama. And we have nothing in common. But it''s getting harder to deny the way he makes me feel. Fun. Free. Wild.

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Book SynopsisFrom the number one bestselling author of Miss Austen, a powerful and moving novel featuring Jane Austen's closest friend and confidante . . .* Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month *'So envious of anyone yet to read this. A triumph!' Nigella Lawson'A masterly piece of storytelling.' Helena Kelly'The great writer is brought to life in this clever, well-researched piece of fiction' The Times'Thoroughly entertaining, Godmersham Park has some of the same understated wit and sharp observation as Austen's novels' Sunday Times'Displays a keen sense of wit and rich characterisation ... a thoroughly enjoyable book' Observer________________January 1804: Anne Sharpe arrives at Godmersham Park in Kent to take up the position of governess.At thirty-one years old, she has no previous experience of either teaching or fine country houses. But her mother has died and she desperately needs an independent income if she is to survive.For her new charge, twelve-year-old Fanny Austen, Anne's arrival is all novelty and excitement.But Anne is keenly aware that her new role is an awkward one: she is neither one of the servants nor one of the family, and to balance a position between the 'upstairs' and 'downstairs' members of the household is a diplomatic chess game. One wrong move may result in her instant dismissal.She has just begun to settle into her position when dashing Henry Austen and his younger sister Jane come to stay.Both take an immediate interest in the pretty, clever governess who quickly becomes drawn into the above stairs life of the Austen family.Despite her best endeavours, Anne finds that she is beginning to fall in love. But has her survival at Godmersham Park just become a good deal more precarious?________________More love for Godmersham Park . . .'If you love Jane Austen you're sure to enjoy Gill Hornby's stylish glimpse into the life of young governess Anne Sharp ... this elegantly written tale skilfully recreates a world where governesses are midway between the family upstairs and the servants downstairs.' The Independent 'Utterly absorbing and illuminating ... Gill Hornby's best book yet.' Esther Freud'I read it straight through without looking up.' Karen Joy Fowler'Meticulously researched, Hornby's absorbing novel revels in the joys and tensions of life above and below stairs.' Mail on Sunday'An invigorating riff on an author whose life and works keep on giving, and an ideal companion for your beach towel this summer.' Metro'Gill Hornby has created another winning tribute to the genius of Jane.' Woman________________Readers can't get enough of Godmersham Park . . .***** 'An utter joy - powerful, moving, clever and entirely delightful.'***** 'I enjoyed the pace of the story as well as learning about the family.'***** 'I was quite transported by Godmersham Park, which often feels as if from Austen's own pen.'***** 'I have never loved a book so much!'***** 'I thoroughly enjoyed the story.'Sunday Times bestseller, January 2023

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Book SynopsisTravelling to Italy on their honeymoon, Erszi and Mihaly are ready to take in all the beauties and pleasures of the country. But when they reach Venice, it is clear that Mihaly prefers to roam around the back alleys and the canals on his own, and as they continue their journey through the Bel Paese there is a growing sense of unrest between them, until Mihaly misses the train to Rome they were due to take together. Wandering alone from city to city, with his marriage rapidly falling apart, Mihaly must confront the ghosts of his past and try to find a sense of purpose. Originally written in 1937, and here presented in a brilliant new translation by Peter V. Czipott, Antal Szerb's gently humorous and psychologically subtle exploration into the workings of a budding bourgeois marriage has been hailed as one of the great rediscovered classics of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewA novel to love as well as admire, always playful and ironical, full of brilliant descriptions, bon mots and absurd situations... it's a book utterly in love with life. -- Kevin Crossley-Holland * The Guardian * A true classic beautifully translated by Peter V. Czipott, it will linger in my memory for a long time. -- Bill Spence * Yorkshire Gazette and Herald * One of the most engaging and moving novels I have read for a long time. * Nudge Books *

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize'Wildly seductive' Sarah Waters - 'Exquisite' New York Times - 'Deeply enjoyable' Daily TelegraphBlanca has been dead for a few centuries when she falls in love – instantly and devotedly – with celebrated novelist George Sand. George is unlike anyone Blanca has encountered in hundreds of years of haunting: a woman dressed in men’s clothes, a ferocious writer, a passionate lover of men and women alike and an ambivalent mother.It is 1838, and George has come to the island of Mallorca with her ailing lover, Frédéric Chopin. As the weather and the locals turn against this strange couple, can the love of a teenage ghost keep them from disaster?Briefly, A Delicious Life is a story about breaking convention, and about love – yearning, secret, forbidden, unrequited.'Dazzling' Melissa Broder, author of The Pisces and Milk Fed‘A luscious, multi-sensory bewitchment of a book’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies‘A shining work of art’ Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory'Electrifyingly beautiful, exhilaratingly clever . . . sensual, original, intelligent and brimming with love' Imogen Hermes Gowar, author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock‘Hugely accomplished’ The Guardian‘A playful, otherworldly debut’ StylistTrade ReviewA luscious, multi-sensory bewitchment of a book - Stevens’ writing rings with wit and surprise -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sunday Times bestselling author of The MerciesI found myself floored by the astonishing freshness of this historical novel . . . A shining work of art, but so deftfully, gracefully done, that it was a struggle to stop myself from turning the pages. Nell Stevens is an original, whose touch is as deft as it is masterful -- Elizabeth Macneal, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll FactoryStevens is brilliant at describing desire * Guardian *Deeply enjoyable, guileful * Telegraph *A voluptuous delight . . . Like the best historical fiction it is playfully disingenuous . . . the whole book is radiant with life * Financial Times *Truly original . . . brilliant * The Herald *Nell Stevens’s hugely accomplished debut novel evokes a sense both of place and time with a confidence that augurs well for her future career . . . The book is attuned to both contemporary and timeless concerns and grips throughout * Guardian *A teenage ghost falls in love with a writer who doesn’t know she exists in this playful, otherworldly debut novel * Stylist *Electrifyingly beautiful, exhilaratingly clever . . . categorically the most gorgeous first novel I've read in years. It's rare that I come across historical fiction so sensual, so original, so intelligent, and so brimming with love -- Imogen Hermes Gowar, author of The Mermaid and Mrs HancockA gorgeous, wildly seductive novel, shimmering with intelligence, humour and joy. I adored this book. -- Sarah Waters, author of Fingersmith and The Paying GuestsA haunting, dazzling tale of all the good stuff: love, sex, music, literature, death, and what happens after. Nell Stevens is a beautiful writer. -- Melissa Broder, author of The Pisces and Milk Fed A heady yet poignant story about a queer ghost who falls in love * Vogue *This deeply wild debut follows the unconventional love triangle that unfolds between real-life French novelist George Sand, her lover Frédéric Chopin, and the teenage ghost who died over 400 years earlier and pines after George from afar. * Cosmopolitan, Best Summer Reads 2022 *An interesting and absorbing read . . . Highly recommended * Times of Tunbridge Wells *Tantalising . . . Stevens is convincing in her portrayal of the haunting nature of desire past and present * Literary Review *There are biographies, and there are novels fictionalising real characters, imagining what might happen 'if'. This one is truly original, as it is a brilliant mix of both . . . Blanca may be a ghost, but her feelings are very real, as are the sights, sounds, smells, and dramas which envelop Sand, Chopin and their family, as they struggle for acceptance, creative freedom and, at times, survival * i *A novel of tremulous beauty, sly wit and deep understanding, Briefly, A Delicious Life is an addictive, sunlit delight -- Stuart Evers, author of The Blind LightA luminous, beguiling exploration of creativity and love -- Alice Albinia, author of CWENThis delightfully weird story of loss, longing and love just begs to fill a rainy afternoon. * Good Housekeeping (USA) *Stevens’ prose is by turns languid and visceral . . . An entrancing and singular exploration of a fascinating historical footnote and a queer life after death. -- Kirkus (starred review)We know we are curious about the dead but imagine a life lived so vibrantly as to make the dead curious about us. Nell Stevens brings a reader into the strange and brilliant artistic exile of George Sand, writing this tender story with tremendous heart and daring. Here, reader, are the low-lying truths of love, art and time -- Samantha Hunt, author of The Dark DarkStevens' writing is beautiful and evocative of the Majorcan landscape as she slowly develops the arc of Sand and Chopin's affair and elucidates Blanca's life spent in tantalizing anticipation . . . this is a winner with appeal beyond historical fiction readers * Booklist *A haunting (in all senses of the word) and evocative magical realist account of creativity and gender, sexuality and inspiration, a ghost story both gothic and beautiful * The Millions *

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Book SynopsisTHE UNMISSABLE NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF BESTSELLING PHENOMENON SUCH A FUN AGE * THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * * FEARNE COTTON'S HAPPY PLACE BOOK CLUB PICK FOR FEBRUARY * ‘I couldn’t put it down, and I didn't want to either’ EMILY HENRY ‘The drama is just too juicy – how could anyone resist a binge?’ GUARDIAN ‘Razor-sharp … Packs a huge emotional punch’ DAILY MAIL Everything comes at a price. But not everything can be paid for… Millie wants to graduate, get a job and buy a house. She’s slowly saving up from her job on campus, but when a visiting professor offers her an unusual opportunity to make some extra money, she jumps at the chance. Agatha is a writer, recovering from a break-up while researching attitudes towards weddings and money for her new book. She strikes gold when interviewing the girls in Millie’s dorm, but her plans take a turn when she realises that the best material is unfolding behind closed doors. As the two women form an unlikely relationship, they soon become embroiled in a world of roommate theatrics, vengeful pranks and illicit intrigue – and are forced to question just how much of themselves they are willing to trade to get what they want. Sharp, intimate and provocative, Come and Get It takes a lens to our money-obsessed society in a tension-filled story about desire, consumption and bad behaviour. ‘Smart, funny and perceptive’ i ‘A perfect read’ STYLIST ‘Wonderfully immersive, propulsive and beautifully paced’ PAUL HARDING ‘Quiet and intense … A joy to read’ JESSICA GEORGE ‘Witty and nuanced’ RED ‘[An] incisive novel everyone will be talking about’ TOWN AND COUNTRYTrade ReviewA brilliant book ... Really interesting, looks at the lengths we’ll go to get money, and how it informs our decision making and also our relationships. It’s a really good read -- Fearne Cotton, Happy Place Book ClubAn utter joy * Sunday Times *A deliciously chewy, politically charged novel ... The kind of book I want to debate with a room full of women drinking fishbowl-sized glasses of cheap Pinot Grigio with too much ice in it * Vogue *A zippy, laugh-out-loud campus novel ... Reid’s writing is so very funny, always rooted in the everyday * i *Reading Kiley Reid’s fiction feels a bit like watching a prestige TV series. There are expansive casts of characters ... The plots are pacy and compelling, motored by flashbacks and cliffhangers and twists, while also dealing with social issues – particularly race and class – that add intellectual heft. Dialogue is hyper-realistic ... so that you can hear it aloud in your head ... Reid is a talented comic writer. But it also raises deeper questions about how we view the lives of other people, as material for our own consumption. Are the attractions of books and TV so different from those of eavesdropping? * Guardian *A master storyteller ... As fun to read as it is thought-provoking ... In heart-breaking and deeply recognisable details ... we see Reid’s pen at its sharpest * Stylist *A master plotter who’s engineering a spectacular intersection of class, racism, academic politics and journalistic ethics. Reid spots all the grains of irritation and deceit that get caught in the machinery of social life until the whole contraption suddenly lurches to a calamitous halt. Come and get it, indeed! * Washington Post *A biting comedy of campus manners * Mail on Sunday *With her perceptive eye and ear, Reid imbues her novel with the stuff, literally and figuratively, of life ... As I read Come and Get It I found myself thinking of certain writers who have, over the years, elected themselves as “capital C” Chroniclers of contemporary America. With this book, Reid demonstrates that she deserves a place in the running * New York Times Book Review *At once highly readable and an important comment on the lose-lose decisions millennials face in a bleak economy, this is a book you'll devour in days * Harper's Bazaar *It gets to the heart of what Reid is: a consummate storyteller * Service 95 *Reid brings her sharp gaze to the classic campus novel, and university life provides her with similarly rich material when it comes to deconstructing privilege ... She also cleverly turns some of the genre’s dustier tropes on their heads ... Part of what has always made campus stories so captivating is that they show us character as a work in progress – because our university days have always been about working out our sense of self. But contemporary tales like Reid’s are a necessary reminder: this leisurely exploration is a luxury not everyone can afford * Independent *Reid has an excellent ear for speech: you get the impression that she, like Agatha, has put in the hours listening to 20-year-olds chatter, bitch and plot. She’s also a sharp observer of the way in which money confers power or withholds it, and how this can intersect with race ... The decision to foreground money is unusual, yet Reid pulls it off * Telegraph *A wonderfully written and intimate portrayal of entwined lives on campus. Quiet and intense all at the same time, it was a joy to read -- Jessica George, author of MY NAME IS MAAMEExploring hustle culture and capitalist attitudes, it weaves a compelling story that confronts the consequences of insatiable appetites for success * Elle *Kiley Reid is an expert at teasing apart the messy, complicated, nuanced layers of social dynamics, and has a rare gift for making the unknown feel intimately familiar and the familiar feel brand new. In Come and Get It, she's crafted a story that moves with the momentum and inevitability of a snowball rolling down a mountain. I couldn't put it down, and I didn’t want to either’ -- Emily Henry, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of HAPPY PLACEKiley Reid’s books make me feel lucky to be a reader. I’m in awe – Come and Get It is a page-turning pleasure – stylish, sharp and breathtakingly smart. I can’t believe that one book can be this clever, cool and this much fun to read -- Daisy Buchanan, author of INSATIABLEAnother razor-sharp, character-driven, coming-of-age story, which packs a huge emotional punch * Daily Mail *Smart, funny and perceptive * i news, Best Books to Read in January *Multi-layered and complex relationships between seriously flawed characters once again take centre stage as its narrative smartly delves into racism, social and economic status, and university campus politics in the 21st century. A perfect read for anyone who loved Netflix’s brilliant The Chair and Jean Hanff Korelitz’s Admission * Stylist *Wonderfully immersive, propulsive, and beautifully paced. On page one, there is a story that is already happening, and you’re plunged right into the novel’s world, already up and running, full of real people, and complicated – that is, substantive – as all hell. Just great -- Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THIS OTHER EDEN and TINKERSCome and Get It is an engrossing novel full of intimately portrayed characters and the seemingly innocuous choices that lead to life-altering mistakes -- Elizabeth Acevedo, author of FAMILY LORE and THE POET XThe book has a Netflix box-set breezy pace and knowing tone as it satirises staff and student attitudes towards money, hierarchy and status … An absorbingly twisty page-turner * i paper *The pleasure of Come and Get It lies in its plunge into the unfamiliar. This is a society in which poorer students work for richer ones — the Tyler types can call up Millie at all hours to settle dorm disputes or shift furniture — or save money by camping overnight outside a new branch of Chick-fil-A to win a year’s worth of free fried chicken. The tone is breezy and comic, but what’s really happening is shocking * The Times *Reid...masterfully captures the quiet misalignments that stem from a varying sense of what’s at stake…[A] novel of manners that acutely captures the modern moment * Vogue, The Best Books of 2024 So Far *A witty and nuanced exploration of race and female-occupied spaces – I loved the thread of menace running through it * Red *Kiley Reid's next must-read ... It's packed with those awkward moments Reid is so talented at creating, making your toes curl as you read * Grazia, Hot to Drop *A brilliant author who creates ultra-memorable characters * Glamour, Best New Books of January 2024 *If you loved the smash hit Such a Fun Age, don't sleep on Reid's newest ... This is a story of indiscretions and gray areas, power dynamics and privilege that's wound as tight as a violin string. Just don't forget to breathe while you're reading (go ahead and thank us later) * Good Housekeeping *A deft exploration of how microaggressions can lead to macro consequences, Reid’s second outing will appeal to readers who enjoy slow-burn, character-driven novels * Booklist *Kiley Reid returns with another incisive novel everyone will be talking about … A riveting and fascinating tale * Town & Country, Best Books of Winter *Kiley Reid's characters are always layered with ethical dilemmas … Subterfuge, sex and self-seeking make things compellingly messy * Sainsbury’s Magazine *A sardonic and no-holds-barred comedy of manners ... Reid is a keen observer­ – every page sparkles with sharp analysis of her characters. This blistering send-up of academia is interlaced with piercing moral clarity * Publishers Weekly, starred review *An illuminating study of power, responsibility, and the bad choices we sometimes make, written in the fresh, bright language for which she’s known * Library Journal *Reid’s fiction, which highlights the ordinary social interactions in which larger forces – of class and racial inequality, financial and cultural capital – make themselves known. There are few outright villains in her stories; her characters often blunder along with good intentions, to comic and disastrous effect * Guardian *Reading a Kiley Reid novel is like watching a docuseries designed exactly for you. She captures those exceedingly awkward and real human interactions with such precision and specificity that you’re fully invested by the first page. Come and Get It is genius. It’s perfect -- Liz Moore, author of LONG BRIGHT RIVER[A] sharp, edgy social novel … Reid is a genius of mimicry and social observation * Kirkus *Beautifully told through the eyes of multiple characters, this intimate and revealing story from the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age is not to be missed * BookBub, The 22 Best Books of Winter *An exciting new portrait of desire, consumption and recklessness, we have no doubt Reid’s new novel will be just as popular as the first * Luxury London, Best New Books *Come and Get It is a festival of micro-aggressions; it’s uneasy, and Reid doesn’t give any character a free ride. She skewers mean girls, mummy’s girls and freeloaders with both clarity and subtlety ... The dialogue and little details [are] so excruciatingly accurate * AnOther magazine, Best Fiction for 2024 *Come and Get It is a page-turning read filled with vengeful pranks and intrigue, but at its heart, it is a fascinating portrait of our obsession with material wealth * Chicago Review of Books, Must-Read Books of January 2024 *It’s a perfect recipe ... in a college setting, about discretion and desire, about money, want, and, most importantly, it’s by Kiley Reid * LitHub, Most Anticipated Books of 2024 *The result is heartbreak that money can’t fix, and a smart novel that says a lot about race, money and female friendships * Heat *A thrilling, delectable look at wealth, privilege and desire * People Magazine, Best Books To Read in January 2024 *The book is funny …The dialogue is particularly snappy … Most importantly, “Come and Get It” offers a deft examination of how young people negotiate their first brushes with independence and responsibility. Reid is particularly attuned to how her characters navigate matters of money and consumption… Reid’s novel carves its own path, capturing a sort of tragic malaise that itself suggests a state of young adulthood * Arkansas Times *

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Book Synopsis*A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOKER PRIZE GEM* A perfect love story for imperfect people.Micah Mortimer measures out his days running errands for work, maintaining an impeccable cleaning regime and going for runs (7:15, every morning). He is in a long-term relationship with his woman friend Cassia, but they live apart. His carefully calibrated life is regular, steady, balanced.But then the order of things starts to tilt. Cassia is threatened with eviction, and when a teenager shows up at Micah's door claiming to be his son, he is confronted with another surprise he seems poorly equipped to handle.Can Micah, a man to whom those around him always seem just out of reach, find a way back to his perfectly imperfect love story?**LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2020** '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 ReviewBursting with vitality and variety, it's a tour de force . . . characters almost leap off the page with authenticity, speech and body language wonderfully caught * Sunday Times *Tyler’s piercing omniscience is on full, enthralling display * Vanity Fair *A book this lovely feels practically heaven-sent…. Crisp and direct, yet full of subtle touches, it’s a big-hearted tale of roads not taken — a delight from start to finish * Daily Mail *Anne Tyler really is the best. This reads as if she wrote it in one flawless seamless sitting. The sheer brilliance of making it all seem so effortless -- Graham NortonAlmost unbearably poignant . . . a moving and perceptive story about one man’s inability to connect with others and his gradual move towards greater self-fulfilment * Sunday Express *

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Book SynopsisWhen Andrée joins her school, Sylvie is immediately fascinated. Andrée is small for her age but walks with the confidence of an adult.The girls become close. They talk for hours about equality, justice, war and religion; they lose respect for their teachers; they build a world of their own. But as the girls grow into young women, the pressures of society mount, threatening everything.This novel was never published in Simone de Beauvoir's lifetime. It tells the story of the real-life friendship that shaped one of the most important thinkers and feminists of the twentieth century.'Slim, elegant, achingly tragic and unaffectedly lovely in its evocation of the closeness between girls - and the pressures that sunder them' SpectatorTRANSLATED BY LAUREN ELKIN - INTRODUCED BY DEBORAH LEVYTrade ReviewThis 'lost' novel by a giant of 20th-century letters reads surprisingly like a French Elena Ferrante... Lauren Elkin's translation is undistractingly smooth * Daily Telegraph *Translated by Lauren Elkin with exquisite finesse, it utterly conveys both de Beauvoir's heady sensuality and its immediate opposite, observant restraint... The Inseparables is a ravishing work of art * Financial Times *A succulent taster for those who don't know de Beauvoir's work and, for everyone else, a treat * Daily Mail *A poignant and sensitive portrait of female friendship which acutely captures the agonizing mysteries of intimacy. The translation was gorgeous, and there were lines that absolutely punched me in the gut -- Anbara Salam author of BelladonnaSlim, elegant, achingly tragic and unaffectedly lovely in its evocation of the closeness between girls - and the pressures that sunder them * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThis collector’s edition of Jane Austen’s final novel, Persuasion, is a poignant story of love, loss, and redemption set in Regency-era Britain.

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Book Synopsis'The ultimate in comfort reading' Marian Keyes 'A grown-up book - but not that grown-up' Katy Guest_____________________________________'I expect I shall feel better after tea.'From the moment Jeeves cures Bertie Wooster of a raging hangover with his own concoction of Worcestershire sauce and tomato juice, they become steadfast partners.Whether it is fixing a plan-gone-wrong, or solving his friends' love lives, Jeeves is Bertie's unfaltering aide through a series of entirely self-imposed misadventures.Trade ReviewPure pleasure -- The TimesThe ultimate in comfort reading -- Marian KeyesA grown-up book - but not that grown-up -- Katy GuestI am a huge fan -- Jennifer SaundersIf we're talking about culture that makes people happy, we have to start with the works of P.G. Wodehouse -- BBC CultureTo have one of his books in your hand is to possess by way of a pill that can relieve anxiety, rageiness, or an afternoon-long tendency towards the sour. Paper has rarely been put to better use than printing Wodehouse.Not only the funniest English novelist who ever wrote but one of our finest stylists. His world is perfect, his writing is perfect. What more is there to be said?P. G. Wodehouse is the gold standard of English wit.An incomparable and timeless genius.P. G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression. Cheaper, more effective than valium and far, far more addictive.P.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply or with quite so much wit and affection.Wodehouse is a comic master.For as long as I'm immersed in a P. G. Wodehouse book, it's possible to keep the real world at bay and live in a far, far nicer, funnier one where happy endings are the order of the day.I'm a huge fan. Wodehouse writes proper jokes.To dive into a Wodehouse novel is to swim in some of the most elegantly turned phrases in the English language.

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Book SynopsisThree women. Three different stages of life. United by one thing: the chance to start again. An independent.ie '50 hottest summer reads of 2021' pick! 'Hogan presciently taps into the pursuit of these pandemic times' – RTÉ 'Charming... Full of pathos and humour. A heartwarming page-turner that would be perfect for staycation reading' – Irish Independent on Saturday 'Uplifting, emotional and brimming with warmth and humour' – Cathy Bramley When Elizabeth's husband dies, leaving her with crippling debt, the only person she can turn to is her friend, Jo. Soon Jo has called in her daughter, Lucy, to help save Elizabeth from bankruptcy. Leaving her old life behind, Lucy is determined to make the most of her fresh start. As life slowly begins to return to normal, these three women, thrown together by circumstance, become fast friends. But then Jo's world is turned upside down when she receives some shocking news. In search of solace, Jo and Elizabeth find themselves enjoying midnight dips in the freezing Irish Sea. Here they can laugh, cry and wash away all their fears. As well as conjure a fundraising plan for the local hospice that will bring the whole community together... From bestselling Irish writer Faith Hogan, The Ladies' Midnight Swimming Club is an emotional story about finding new friends and living life to the fullest, that will appeal to fans of Sheila O'Flanagan, Heidi Swain and Liz Fenwick. Praise for Faith Hogan: 'Joyful, life-affirming and inspirational' – Heidi Swain 'Heartwarming and emotional' – Liz Fenwick 'A heart-rending, uplifting and beautifully written journey of female friendship... I loved being transported to Ireland's wild Atlantic coast' – Phillipa Ashley 'Faith Hogan navigates beautifully between the community and the individual, forensically investigating moral issues and loyalties with an unflinching, yet humane eye. She is one of the most original and exciting writers to emerge from Ireland in recent times' – Afric McGlinchey 'An intricately woven story of love, jealousy and misunderstanding' – Diney Costeloe 'A cracking good story... An ideal beach read' – Connaught Telegraph 'A fantastic summer read' – Irish Daily Star 'A heart-warming story of love, loss, family and friendship' – The Bookseller 'Spanning several decades and generations, Secrets We Keep is a hugely ambitious novel... With its engaging storyline and sense of place this is an absorbing and entertaining read' – Sunday Independent (Dublin)Trade ReviewUplifting, emotional and brimming with warmth and humour -- Cathy BramleyJoyful, life-affirming and inspirational -- Heidi SwainA beautifully written, heart-rending but ultimately uplifting read set on Ireland's wild Atlantic coast. I loved it -- Phillipa AshleyHogan presciently taps into the pursuit of these pandemic times * RTÉ *Charming... Full of pathos and humour. A heartwarming page-turner that would be perfect for staycation reading' * Irish Independent on Saturday *A lovely and emotional read that revels in the importance of community, female friendship and the determination to never, ever give in * Woman's Own *Transporting readers to the beautiful Irish countryside, Faith Hogan's latest contemporary novel is a heart-warming story of friendship, living your best life and learning to take chances * CultureFly *An everyday life story with fantastic characters. I shed a few tears * Yours *

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Book SynopsisAn intoxicating international bestseller about a woman in the throes of a fever remembering the important people in her past, the memories laid bare in vivid detail as her body temperature races - for fans of Rachel Cusk and Lucia BerlinTrade ReviewTextured insights into human nature. * The New Yorker *This beautiful, moving book unfolds in four stand-alone portraits that, together, yield a sharp, poignant picture of the portraitist. The narrative blurs the boundaries that separate memoir from fiction, past from present, and self from other, which evokes the spell of fever during which it was written. The miraculous sort of novel that fuses with our personal memories and becomes part of us -- Hernan Diaz, author of TRUSTThe Details is about relationships, about love, about parents and children...about all of it. The little observations about being young, and about growing up, and about getting lost by accident, and getting lost on purpose, searching for yourself in everyone else...damn it, I've underlined half of the book. I wish I could write like this. -- Fredrik Backman, New York Times bestselling author of A MAN CALLED OVEBrief and penetrating . . . Genberg's marvellous prose is also a kind of fever, mesmerizing and hot to the touch -- Catherine Lacey * New York Times *The nonlinear narrative renders the protagonist both vivid and obscure - the perfect conduit for this compelling, uncannily precise meditation on transience. -- Hephzibah Anderson * Observer *Emotionally nuanced and formally innovative, Ia Genberg's beautiful novel The Details manages the remarkable feat of painting a whole picture of a single life, solely via the lives of the people who have touched it. This is a novel that, through its very bones, encapsulates one of the most important ideas of our current political moment - the necessity of connection, and our vulnerability to one other. -- Susannah Dickey, author of TENNIS LESSONSIn four succinct and arresting portraits, the narrator of The Details remembers the people who have shaped her life. At once humorous and heartbreaking, this book is an ode to the different kinds of love that form us. It asks how we hold onto the people who touch us, how we remember them, and whether we should ever let them go. I won't forget this beautiful book. -- Jenna Clake, author of DISTURBANCEIt's difficult to describe the experience of reading Ia Genberg's English language debut beyond saying that it resembles a fever dream . . . Genberg's prose is a feat of characterization, a triumph of lending language and profundity to observations of daily life. At a tight 150 pages, I didn't read it so much as subconsciously absorb it. -- Eliza Smith * Literary Hub *

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Book SynopsisWhat if one half of a pair of twins no longer wants to live? What if the other can’t live without them? This question lies at the heart of Jente Posthuma’s deceptively simple What I’d Rather Not Think About. The narrator is a twin whose brother has recently taken his own life. She looks back on their childhood, and tells of their adult lives: how her brother tried to find happiness, but lost himself in various men and the Bhagwan movement, though never completely. In brief, precise vignettes, full of gentle melancholy and surprising humour, Posthuma tells the story of a depressive brother, viewed from the perspective of the sister who both loves and resents her twin, struggles to understand him, and misses him terribly.Trade Review‘A unique story of a twin brother and sister, wryly funny and heartbreakingly sad. Her characters desperately try to make sense of our ever more complex world. This is a rare book. And Jente Posthuma is a treasure and a hell of a writer.’ -- Herman Koch, international bestselling author of The Dinner‘The strength here is truly in the minimalist prose — razor-sharp sentences that often slot together perfectly in a seemingly nonchalant way. The result is a powerful story about death, life, and survival.’ * Nederlands Dagblad *‘It is impossible to name everything that is beautiful about this novel. Posthuma needs few words to evoke a feeling or an atmosphere. She writes striking sentences that conjure up poignant images … this book deserves a large readership.’ * Literary Netherlands *‘What makes What I'd Rather Not Think About rise above the average mourning novel is its utter authenticity. Posthuma associates, philosophises, links memories to everyday actions, draws on films and television series and tries to interpret in a laconic, light-footed, and pointed way. “Less is more” with Jente Posthuma. And again, she seems to be saying: nothing is “whole” here, in the subhuman. Everything rumbles, frays, and creaks.’ * De Telegraaf *‘From the opening pages of this novel I had no idea where it was going, but I trusted Posthuma completely. Tender, offbeat, and deftly drawn — I loved it.’ -- Allee Richards, author of The Small Joys of Real Life‘In some ways it is tricky to recommend this book widely because of its difficult subject matter: it revolves around the grief of a twin who is trying to work out how to move forward in her own life after her brother, a long-term sufferer of depression, takes his own. To paraphrase the title, familial suicide and depression are certainly two of the key things many people would rather not think (or indeed read) about, but I want to tell you that this book is gorgeous. It is expertly crafted, moving, and at times startlingly funny, as the narrator tries to navigate the enormity of her loss … This short book contains a beautiful and compelling portrait of the grieving mind, as both storyteller and reader wander through the terrains of disbelief, regret, loneliness, and unending love.’ -- Alison Huber * Readings *‘Despite its melancholic theme, What I’d Rather Not Think About is infused with a similarly subtle, almost self-effacing humour that in this case expresses the narrator’s bewildered, tremulous path through life … This slim novel is packed with allusions to popular and high culture, history, science and current affairs, yet manages to feel simultaneously rich and uncluttered.’ -- Linda Jaivin * The Saturday Paper *‘[An] exquisitely vulnerable novel.’ -- Cameron Woodhead * The Sydney Morning Herald *‘[A] beautifully observed narration.’ -- Marcus Hobson * NZ Booklovers *‘Dutch novelist Posthuma returns with a sharp meditation on grief … The patchworked story of the twins’ bond and the brother’s fruitless search for meaning is woven with reflections … inventive and worthy.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘What I’d Rather Not Think About is a forthright novel in which mental health, sexual orientation, and suicide are subjects of frank, empathetic consideration.’ * Foreword Reviews *‘A beautiful and strangely life-affirming evocation of grief.’ * The New European *‘Tough to read but wonderfully rewarding.’ -- Willow Heath‘Through a delicately woven tale of memory, shared selfhood, and grief, the author takes us into the mind that struggles to understand a world shattered by loss, when one sibling dies and another is left to reconstitute the fragments. Poetic and surprising, Posthuma shows how even in the most intimate of connections, in another person lies the great unknown … Posthuma develops an affecting novel about grief by embracing its full complexity’ -- Daljinder Johal * Asymptote Journal *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and Pen Faulkner prize. Made into an Oscar-winning film, ‘The Hours’ is a daring and deeply affecting novel inspired by the life and work of Virginia Woolf. In 1920s London, Virginia Woolf is fighting against her rebellious spirit as she attempts to make a start on her new novel. A young wife and mother, broiling in a suburb of 1940s Los Angeles, yearns to escape and read her precious copy of ‘Mrs Dalloway’. And Clarissa Vaughan steps out of her smart Greenwich village apartment in 1990s New York to buy flowers for a party she is hosting for a dying friend. Moving effortlessly across the decades and between England and America, this exquisite novel intertwines the stories of three unforgettable women.Trade Review‘“The Hours” is a book which heightens the perception of the reader. Cunningham’s craftsmanship is overwhelming.’ Robert Farren, Independent on Sunday ‘An extremely moving, original and memorable novel.’ Hermione Lee, TLS ‘Engrossing, imaginative and humane.’ Richard Francis, Observer ‘“The Hours” refracts the lives of three women through the prism of a single day. Michael Cunningham evokes these three discrete characters with rare skill.’ Financial Times ‘The concept behind the novel is bold, the execution rich with feeling.’ Helen Dunmore, The Times ‘A sensitive marriage of intelligence, integrity and finely textured emotions.’ Sunday Times ‘Cunningham has found an American tone which is exhilaratingly modern – tense, tender and completely without strain.’ Guardian

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Book SynopsisCharles Bukowski examines cats and his childhood in You Get So Alone at Times, a book of poetry that reveals his tender side. The iconic tortured artist/everyman delves into his youth to analyze its repercussions.“The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles.”—Joyce Carol Oates“He brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.”—Leonard Cohen, songwriter

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Book SynopsisThis is James McBride's tribute to his remarkable, eccentric, determined mother, and an eloquent exploration of what family and the colour of your skin really meansTrade ReviewA triumph * New York Times Book Review *A startling, tender-hearted tribute to a woman for whom the expression tough love might have been invented * The Times *As lively as a novel, a well-written, thoughtful contribution to the literature on race * Washington Post *Inspiring * Glamour *Vibrant * Boston Globe *What is stunning here is the grace and compassion with which a young writer captures how shadows, once thrown, are cast across many generations, while celebrating at the same time a real melting-pot of cultures * Financial Times *A wonderfully evocative, moving book ... beautifully flowing prose, interlaced with compassion and humour * Literary Review *

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