Narrative theme: sense of place
Pan Macmillan The Strays of Paris
Book Synopsis'Sunshine in book form' – Daily Mail'A joyfully escapist celebration of friendship and freedom' – Mail on Sunday'Delightful, heartwarming . . . An especially welcome reminder of the bright spots even in dark times' – NPRParas is a spirited young racehorse living in a stable in the French countryside. That is until one afternoon when she pushes open the gate of her stall and, travelling through the night, arrives quite by chance in the dazzling streets of Paris.She soon meets a German shorthaired pointer named Frida, two irrepressible ducks and an opinionated crow, and life amongst the animals in the city’s lush green spaces is enjoyable for a time. But everything changes when Paras meets a human boy, Étienne, and discovers a new, otherworldly part of Paris: the secluded, ivy-walled house where the boy and his nearly one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother live quietly and keep to themselves. As the cold weather of Christmas nears, the unlikeliest of friendships blooms between human and animals.But how long can a runaway horse live undiscovered in Paris? And how long can one boy keep her all to himself? Charming and beguiling in equal measure, Jane Smiley’s novel celebrates the intrinsic need for friendship, love and freedom, whoever you may be . . .From Jane Smiley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres, The Strays of Paris is a captivating story of a group of extraordinary animals – and one little boy – whose lives cross paths in Paris.
£15.29
Pan Macmillan The Strays of Paris
Book Synopsis'Sunshine in book form' – Daily Mail'A joyfully escapist celebration of friendship and freedom' – Mail on Sunday'Delightful, heartwarming . . . An especially welcome reminder of the bright spots even in dark times' – NPRParas is a spirited young racehorse living in a stable in the French countryside. That is until one afternoon when she pushes open the gate of her stall and, travelling through the night, arrives quite by chance in the dazzling streets of Paris.She soon meets a German shorthaired pointer named Frida, two irrepressible ducks and an opinionated crow, and life amongst the animals in the city’s lush green spaces is enjoyable for a time. But everything changes when Paras meets a human boy, Étienne, and discovers a new, otherworldly part of Paris: the secluded, ivy-walled house where the boy and his nearly one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother live quietly and keep to themselves. As the cold weather of Christmas nears, the unlikeliest of friendships blooms between human and animals.But how long can a runaway horse live undiscovered in Paris? And how long can one boy keep her all to himself? Charming and beguiling in equal measure, Jane Smiley’s novel celebrates the intrinsic need for friendship, love and freedom, whoever you may be . . .From Jane Smiley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres, The Strays of Paris is a captivating story of a group of extraordinary animals – and one little boy – whose lives cross paths in Paris.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Untold Night and Day
Book Synopsis'As cryptic and compelling as a fever dream... Bae Suah is one of the most unique and adroit literary voices working today' Sharlene TeoFinishing her last shift at Seoul's only audio theatre for the blind, Kim Ayami heads into the night with her former boss, searching for a missing friend. The following day, she looks after a visiting poet, a man who is not as he seems. Unfolding over a night and a day in the sweltering summer heat, their world's order gives way to chaos, the edges of reality start to fray, and the past intrudes on the present in increasingly disorientating ways. Untold Night and Day is a hallucinatory feat of storytelling from one of the most radical voices in contemporary Korean literature.'Highly original... Once I finished it, much of it slipped into my subconscious' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewHypnotic… an uncannily affecting and dreamlike story of parallel lives and worlds. -- Chloe Ashby * Guardian *[A] highly original novel, full of unsolved mysteries, repeated motifs and startling prose… Remarkably fresh… Exhilarating… Once I finished it, much of it slipped into my unconscious. All that remains is a sense of Bae's boundless yet precise imagination. -- Luiza Sauma * Daily Telegraph *A metaphysical detective story, Untold Night and Day...draws on ideas from Korean shamanism...to venture in style and ambition far from the conventions of mystery narratives... Storylines echo one another and are braided into multilayered fictional universe with extraordinary skill… Bae’s novel complicates the boundaries between self and other reality and make-believe, night and day. -- Sarah Shin * Observer *Bae Suah is one of Korea’s most radical contemporary writers… Untold Night and Day is a hallucinatory novel propelled by the logic of dreams… Bae masterfully layers [her] themes into an almost hidden code beneath the novel’s meditative surface. -- Jay G Ying * Guardian *Bae Suah’s disturbing, beautifully controlled novel Untold Night and Day is a book of doubles, shadows and parallel worlds... a slim yet labyrinthine twist on a “choose your own adventure” story that disarms even as it disorients. -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Hame
Book SynopsisHame, n. Scottish form of ‘home’: a valued place regarded as a refuge or place of originAfter her relationship breaks down, Mhairi McPhail dismantles her life in New York and moves with her nine-year-old daughter, Agnes, to the remote Scottish island of Fascaray to write the biography of Grigor McWatt, the late Bard of Fascaray. But who was the cantankerous Grigor McWatt? Despite his international reputation, details of his past are elusive. As Mhairi struggles to adapt to her new life she begins to unearth the astonishing secret history of the poet regarded by many as the custodian of Fascaray’s – and Scotland’s – soul.Trade ReviewTransportive and immersive. -- Jonathan McAloon * Financial Times *This searching and eloquent novel muses on identity, love and belonging. -- Hepzibah Anderson * Mail on Sunday *Bristling with life and passion and wit. * The Herald *Hame treads a line between light-hearted satire and a discussion on notions of home and belonging… A hugely entertaining, roller-coaster of a ride through poetry and language -- Liam Carson * The Irish Times *Richly textured… The emotional complexity of the writing matches the landscape of the island and its surroundings. -- Philip Womack * Literary Review *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing This Bitter Earth: FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF
Book SynopsisThe sequel to Bernice L. McFadden's incredible classic debut and the Richard and Judy 2021 Book Club pick, SugarIn This Bitter Earth, Sugar Lacey is on her way out of Bigelow, Arkansas, where she'd come to break with the past. With her worn leopard-print suitcase and her head held high, she walks past the prying eyes of its small-minded, cruel-hearted townsfolk, praying for the strength to keep going. She doesn't stop until she arrives at her childhood home in Short Junction. Here she learns the truth about her parentage: a terrible tale of unrequited love, of one man's enduring hatred, and of the black magic that has cursed generations of Lacey women. A powerfully realised novel that brings back the unforgettable characters from Sugar, McFadden's bestselling debut, This Bitter Earth is a testament to the ultimate triumph of the human spirit.Reader reviews for Sugar'Such an enjoyable read... beautifully written, raw and impactful''Riveting, heart-breaking''Very powerful, poignant''Beautifully written... brutal and moving... a must read book''Well-written with rich characters and many twists and turns''So descriptive yet easy to read, and it made me fall in love with all the characters'Trade ReviewA moving story on loss and learning to heal, which will leave you rooting for Sugar as she uncovers each hardship the townsfolk around her are secretly battling * UK Press Syndication *
£9.49
Cornerstone When the Lights Go Out
'A powerful and truthful story about hope and how to find it' The Times 'A gem of a book' Emily MaitlisEmma's husband Chris is fretting about starvation and societal collapse. He's turned off the heating and is stockpiling off-label medicines and tins of baked beans.Chris, certain that society will soon spiral to its doom, finds Emma's optimism exasperating. Emma finds Chris's obsession with disaster relentless. She's beginning to wonder whether relationships, like mortgages, should be conducted in five-year increments. But when Chris's mother turns up for a visit, the cracks begin to show. Will Emma and Chris be able to find their way back to each other?
£8.54
Blackstone Audiobooks,U.S. Beyond the Horizon
Book SynopsisShe points the lens of the camera. The artist turns his head slightly. The light catches his brow and his silver-white hair. She snaps. He is lit like a Vermeer.Ireland. County Wexford, 1951. A father and son go swimming in the sea. The waves crash. The wind rises. Only one comes backColin, aged six. His mother, Eileen, runs to seek help, but this is a tragedy that will haunt them forever. Colin won't speak a word. He is mute and struggling to cope. But Eileen can see he has a talent for painting. She shows him his father's artwork and gives him a print of a Paul Henry landscape, and slowly, with her encouragement, he begins to follow his dream.Years later on Inishbofin island off the west coast of Ireland, out walking with his dog on the sand, Colin meets Laura, a young woman on holiday, and a tentative friendship starts to develop. Gradually his past comes to life in a story filled with love and frustration, loss and betrayal, but above all with the passion he has held through his life for the light in the sea and the sky and his search for that distant shore where the sky sweeps down to the water.One man. The sea. One painting.
£12.11
Cornerstone The Widow's Choice: The gripping new historical
Book Synopsis'An epic follow-up to the bestselling Shipyard Girls series' Peterborough Telegraph______________________1949, County Durham.From the Shipyards of Sunderland to Lady of the Manor . . .When Angie marries her sweetheart Quentin and moves into Cuthford Manor to begin their new life together, she feels like the luckiest woman in the world.But Quentin falls victim to a tragic accident and Angie's life is left devastated. Now, along with the prospect of rebuilding her life, she is faced with an impossible choice that will have far-reaching consequences for herself and those she loves most.Angie will need to draw on the help of her family, the community of Cuthford Manor and her old friends from the shipyards if she's to find happiness again._________________________Readers love The Widow's Choice:'This was so worth waiting for''An unforgettable story''Nancy is a fantastic storyteller''A great read and a superb writer''Everything I expected and more''This book held me from beginning to end''So looking forward to the next one''Wow. What an amazing read!''Just brilliant!'Praise for Nancy Revell:'Nancy Revell knows how to stir the passions and soothe the heart!' Northern Echo'Stirring and heartfelt storytelling' Peterborough Evening Telegraph‘A well-written story with vivid characters’ Anna Jacobs‘An uplifting read with a very satisfying conclusion’ Rosie Goodwin**Nancy Revell's next book, The Mother's Secret, is available to pre-order now!**
£8.54
Everyman Lucky Per
Book SynopsisSocial realism and fairy tale combine in Lucky Per, a bildungsroman about the ambitious son of a clergyman who rejects his faith and flees a restricted life in rural Jutland for Denmark's capital city. Per is a gifted young man who firmly believes that 'you had to hunt down luck as if it were a wild creature, a crooked-fanged beast ... and capture and bind it'. He falls in with Copenhagen's Jewish community, and falls for Jakobe Salomon, a wealthy heiress, who is not only the strongest character in the book but among the great Jewish heroines of European literature. Per becomes obsessed with a grand engineering scheme that he believes will both reshape Denmark's landscape and correct its minor position in the world. Eventually personal and his career ambitions alike come to grief. At the heart of Lucky Per lies the question of the relationship of 'luck' to 'happiness' (the Danish word in the title can have both meanings), a relationship which Per comes to view differently by the end of his life.Trade ReviewWhat startled its contemporaries about this strange novel was the sense of something new, one of those as yet unnamed and perhaps unnameable psychic discoveries for which the novelists of the period - from Dostoevsky to James – desperately searched... This turns out to have been the novel's project... to modify our sense of what luck or happiness means. -- Fredric Jameson, * London Review of Books *A full-blooded storyteller, a critic of life and society of the highest European order... Reasserts the grand style of narrative in a world short of breath. -- Thomas Mann
£11.69
Alma Books Ltd The Scarlet Letter
Book SynopsisHaving been found guilty of adultery, Hester Prynne is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet letter A as a punishment for her sin. While her vengeful husband embarks on a quest to discover the identity of her lover, she is left to face the consequences of her infidelity and find a place for herself and her illegitimate child in the hostile environment of seventeenth-century Puritan Boston. Nathaniel Hawthorne's tense narrative astonished readers with its unparalleled psychological depth when it first appeared, and the novel now stands as one of America's literary landmarks.Trade ReviewOne of the greatest allegories in all literature. -- D.H. Lawrence The books of Hawthorne... should be sold by the hundred thousand, and read by the million; and admired by everyone who is capable of admiration. -- Herman Melville We look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth. -- Edgar Allan Poe The finest piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country. -- Henry James
£7.44
Orenda Books The Fascination: The INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES
Book SynopsisThe estranged grandson of a wealthy collector of human curiosities becomes fascinated with teenaged twin sisters, leading them into a web of dark obsessions. A dazzlingly dark gothic novel from the bestselling author of The Somnambulist. 'Makes skilful use of the tropes of Victorian gothic fiction… a story of society’s outsiders seeking acceptance and redemption' Sunday Times Book of the Month ‘Mysterious, sometimes shocking, full of surprises and twists … brimming with Victorian wonders!’ Sean Lusk ‘A magical, macabre masterpiece’ A.J. West ‘Fascinating and immersive’ Anna Mazzola ________________________________Victorian England. A world of rural fairgrounds and glamorous London theatres. A world of dark secrets and deadly obsessions… Twin sisters Keziah and Tilly Lovell are identical in every way, except that Tilly hasn't grown a single inch since she was five. Coerced into promoting their father's quack elixir as they tour the country fairgrounds, at the age of fifteen the girls are sold to a mysterious Italian known as ‘Captain’. Theo is an orphan, raised by his grandfather, Lord Seabrook, a man who has a dark interest in anatomical freaks and other curiosities … particularly the human kind. Resenting his grandson for his mother’s death in childbirth, when Seabrook remarries and a new heir is produced, Theo is forced to leave home without a penny to his name. Theo finds employment in Dr Summerwell’s Museum of Anatomy in London, and here he meets Captain and his theatrical ‘family’ of performers, freaks and outcasts. But it is Theo’s fascination with Tilly and Keziah that will lead all of them into a web of deceits, exposing the darkest secrets and threatening everything they know… Exploring universal themes of love and loss, the power of redemption and what it means to be unique, The Fascination is an evocative, glittering and bewitching gothic novel that brings alive Victorian London – and darkness and deception that lies beneath… ________________________________ ‘Essie Fox follows in the footsteps of Angela Carter and AS Byatt with an adult fairy tale that delves into the darkest compulsions of human nature … an opium trance of a novel, a vivid fantasmagoria’ Noel O’Reilly ‘Deliciously dark, full of twists and surprises’ Liz Hyder ‘Filled with gothic darkness and glorious hope’ Liz Fenwick ‘Rich, dark and heady … a glorious gothic carnival’ Kate Griffin ‘Truly unexpected and original’ Kate Forsyth ‘Beautifully researched, full of horrors and delights … a chilling, thrilling slice of Victorian gothic’ Bridget Walsh ‘A cast of characters Dickens would be proud of’ Frances Quinn ‘A dizzying potion of a novel’ Polly Crosby ‘A twisty, gothic treat … wild and wonderful cast of characters’ Rebecca John ‘Rich in peril, tempered with strange, theatrical beauty’ Kate Mascarenhas ‘A wonderful, captivating carnival’ Elizabeth Fremantle ‘Haunting and emotive’ Gill Paul ‘A gorgeously gothic slice of Victoriana’ Katherine Clements ‘Beautifully controlled … exceptional storytelling, exquisitely told’ Nydia Hetherington ‘A beautiful, haunting tale peopled by a thrilling set of living, breathing characters … very fine historical fiction’ Emma Carroll ‘So inventive and surprising … beautiful writing, unforgettable characters’ Juliet West ‘A sumptuous, gothic treat that will reel you in and not let you go until the final page. Bravo!’ Caroline Green ‘Essie Fox is the mistress of gothic Victoriana … utterly beguiling and rendered in exquisite detail … a wonderful, captivating carnival of a novel’ Elizabeth Fremantle ‘Wonderfully vivid and touching … extraordinary’ Adele Geras ‘I loved this story of a group of wonderful “others” fighting to find their place and purpose in a glittering, but unforgiving, Victorian England’ Marika Cobbold ‘Atmospheric, gripping and ultimately uplifting’ Karen Coles ‘Richly detailed, beautifully written … a fascinating read’ Michael J Malone ‘The very best kind of gothic’ Lianne Dillsworth ‘Masterful’ Louise Swanson ‘A kaleidoscopic, twisting, devilish novel guaranteed to dazzle and delight. I was utterly beguiled’ Dan Bassett, Bookseller
£15.29
Pan Macmillan Innocent Graves: The 8th novel in the number one
Book Synopsis‘The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong.’ - Stephen King.Innocent Graves is the eighth novel in Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series, following on from Dry Bones That Dream.A murdered girl. Dark Secrets. Deadlier lies.One foggy night, Deborah Harrison is found lying in the churchyard behind St Mary’s, Eastvale. She has been strangled with the strap of her own school satchel.But Deborah was no typical sixteen-year-old. Her father was a powerful financier who moved in the highest echelons of industry, defence and classified information. And Deborah, it seemed, enjoyed keeping secrets of her own . . .With his colleague Detective Constable Susan Gay, Inspector Alan Banks encounters many suspects, guilty of crimes large and small, in his search for the killer. And as he does so, plenty of sordid secrets and some lethal lies begin to emerge . . .The Inspector Banks series became the British ITV drama DCI Banks. Innocent Graves is followed by the ninth book in this Yorkshire-based crime series, Dead Right.Trade ReviewAn expert plotter with an eye for telling detail * New York Times *If you haven't caught up with Peter Robinson already, now is the time to start * Independent on Sunday *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Dry Bones That Dream: The 7th novel in the number
Book Synopsis‘The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong’ – Stephen KingFrom the master of police procedural and bestselling author of Standing in the Shadows comes Dry Bones That Dream, book seven in Peter Robinson’s the Inspector Banks series.A contract killing. A secret past. Banks is pushed to his limit.2.47 a.m. Chief Inspector Alan Banks sees the body of Keith Rothwell for the first time. Only hours earlier two masked men had walked the mild-mannered accountant out of his farmhouse to the barn. They then clinically executed him with a shotgun.Clearly this is a professional hit – but Keith was hardly the sort of person to make deadly enemies. Or was he? The police investigation soon raises more questions than answers.The more Banks scratches the surface, the more he wonders what lies beneath the veneer of the apparently happy Rothwell family. And when his old sparring partner Detective Superintendent Richard Burgess arrives from Scotland Yard, the case takes yet another unexpected twist . . .Now a major British ITV drama DCI Banks, this novel is followed by the eighth book in this Yorkshire-based crime series, Innocent Graves.Trade ReviewRobinson excels in the depiction of character . . . He is steadily ascending toward the pinnacles of crime fiction * Publishers Weekly *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Conference at Cold Comfort Farm
Book SynopsisRobert Poste''s child is back at Cold Comfort Farm. But all is not well. Flora finds the farm transformed into a twee haven filled with Toby jugs and peasant pottery, and rooms labelled ''Quiete Retreate'' and ''Greate laundrie''. It is, Flora winces, ''exactly like being locked in the Victoria and Albert Museum after closing time''. Worse, the farm is hosting a conference of the pretentious International Thinkers Group - a group made up of the ''sadistic owl'' Mr Peccavi, loathsome Mr Mybug and the overpowering Mrs Ernestine Thump. And worst of all, there are no Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm. All the he-cousins have gone abroad to make their fortunes and the female cousins are having a pretty thin time of it. Once again the sensible Flora decides to take the situation in hand.Trade ReviewGibbons was an acute and witty observer, and her dissection of the British class system is spot-on. * Mail on Sunday *Stella Gibbons is the Jane Austen of the twentieth century * Lynne Truss *Most of us wish we knew a real Flora Poste who could put straight our pretzeled lives -- Julie Birchill * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Selected Poems
Book SynopsisJohn Keats is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Romantic movement. But when he died at the age of only twenty-five, his writing had been attacked by critics and his talent remained largely unrecognized. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is edited and introduced by Dr Andrew Hodgson.This volume, Selected Poems, reflects his extraordinary creativity and versatility, drawing on the collections published during his lifetime as well as posthumously. He wrote in many different forms – from his famous Odes to ballads such as ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, and the epic Hyperion. Together, they celebrate a poet who wrote with unsurpassed insight and emotion about art and beauty, love and loss, suffering and nature.Trade ReviewThe imaginative impact of Keats’s life – his “orphaned” childhood, his letters, his poetry, his friendships, his illness, his agonizing love affair – has continued unbroken for nearly two hundred years * New York Review of Books *Keats’s jazz-like improvisations, which give us, like no other writing in English, the actual rush of a man thinking, a mind hurtling forward unpredictably and sweeping us along -- Morris Dickstein * New York Times *He left behind him some of Britain’s best-loved poetry -- Alison Flood * Guardian *A truly radical poet -- Lesley McDowell * Independent *Table of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction Chapter - 1: ‘I am as brisk’ Chapter - 2: Song (‘Stay, ruby-breasted warbler, stay’) Chapter - 3: ‘Give me Women, Wine, and Snuff’ Chapter - 4: ‘To one who has been in long city pent’ Chapter - 5: ‘O! how I love, on a fair summer’s eve’ Chapter - 6: To my Brother George (‘Full many a dreary hour have I passed’) Chapter - 7: To Charles Cowden Clarke Chapter - 8: ‘How many bards gild the lapses of time!’ Chapter - 9: On First Looking in To Chapman’s Homer Chapter - 10: On Leaving Some Friends at an Early Hour Chapter - 11: ‘Keen, fitful gusts are whispering here and there’ Chapter - 12: ‘Great spirits now on earth are sojourning’ Chapter - 13: ‘I stood tip-toe upon a little hill’ Chapter - 14: from Sleep and Poetry Chapter - 15: Written in Disgust of Vulgar Superstition Chapter - 16: On the Grasshopper and the Cricket Chapter - 17: ‘After dark vapours have oppressed our plains’ Chapter - 18: Written on a Blank Space at the End of Chaucer’s Tale of ‘The Floure and the Leafe’ Chapter - 19: On Seeing the Elgin Marbles Chapter - 20: On the Sea Chapter - 21: from Endymion: A Poetic Romance Chapter - 22: ‘In drear-nighted December’ Chapter - 23: On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Again Chapter - 24: ‘Hence Burgundy, Claret, and Port’ Chapter - 25: Robin Hood Chapter - 26: ‘Lines on the Mermaid Tavern’ Chapter - 27: ‘When I have fears that I may cease to be’ Chapter - 28: The Human Seasons Chapter - 29: To J. H. Reynolds, Esq. Chapter - 30: Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil Chapter - 31: On Visiting the Tomb of Burns Chapter - 32: ‘Old Meg she was a gipsy’ Chapter - 33: Lines Written in the Highlands after a Visit to Burns’s Country Chapter - 34: ‘Where’s the poet? Show him, show him’ Chapter - 35: ‘And what is Love? It is a doll dressed up’ Chapter - 36: Hyperion. A Fragment Chapter - 37: Fancy Chapter - 38: Ode (‘Bards of passion and of mirth’) Chapter - 39: Song (‘I had a dove and the sweet dove died’) Chapter - 40: Song (‘Hush, hush! tread softly! hush, hush my dear!’) Chapter - 41: The Eve of St Agnes Chapter - 42: ‘Why did I laugh tonight? No voice will tell’ Chapter - 43: A Dream, After Reading Dante’s Episode of Paulo and Francesca Chapter - 44: La Belle Dame Sans Merci. A Ballad Chapter - 45: To Sleep Chapter - 46: ‘If by dull rhymes our English must be chained’ Chapter - 47: Ode to Psyche Chapter - 48: Ode on a Grecian Urn Chapter - 49: Ode to a Nightingale Chapter - 50: from Ode on Melancholy Chapter - 51: Lamia Chapter - 52: ‘Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes’ Chapter - 53: To Autumn Chapter - 54: The Fall of Hyperion. A Dream Chapter - 55: ‘The day is gone, and all its sweets are gone’ Chapter - 56: ‘What can I do to drive away’ Chapter - 57: ‘I cry your mercy, pity, love – ay, love!’ Chapter - 58: ‘Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art’ Chapter - 59: To Fanny Chapter - 60: ‘This living hand, now warm and capable’ Index - ii: Index of Poem Titles Index - iii: Index of First Lines
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Belle of Belgrave Square
Book SynopsisThe sizzling historical romance perfect for fans of Bridgerton and Jilly Cooper''A page-turner that swept me off fairytale-style and kept up the enchantment right through to the end'' 5* READER REVIEW''Swooningly romantic! From the moment I picked it up, I was hooked'' 5* READER REVIEW''No one writes historical romance like Mimi Mathews. I just can''t get enough'' 5* READER REVIEWA marriage of convenience. An unlikely couple. Sparks will fly in the English countryside . . .__________Captain Jasper Blunt requires a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.Julia finds navigating London''s high society torture. So she decides to swap the ballrooms for the countryside - she''ll marry the Captain. In exchange for her dowry and her hand, the Captain must promise to grant her freedom. This is to be no marriage of love, and Trade ReviewMimi Matthews never disappoints, with richly drawn characters and couples whose individual shortcomings become strengths, when paired together. In this Beauty and the Beast retelling, we get to root for two underdogs who get to rewrite their own stories * Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here *Shiveringly Gothic...Watching Julia blossom away from prying eyes is almost as satisfying as seeing Jasper Blunt pine for her from nearly the first page...For best effect, save this one for a windy night when trees scrape against the windowpanes * New York Times Book Review *The Belle of Belgrave Square is such tremendous good fun: a heroine with a big horse, an even bigger novel-reading habit, and a hidden anxiety; a hero with a crumbling estate, a trio of wary children, and a literary secret-what's not to love? Mimi Matthews paints Victorian England with vivid humor, and her Belles of London is set to go on for at least a few more much-anticipated installments. Julian Fellowes fans will rejoice! * Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye *Mimi Matthews just doesn't miss. The Belle of Belgrave Square is exquisite; a romance that delivers the perfect balance of passion, tension, and tender moments * Evie Dunmore, USA Today bestselling author *This story unfolds like a rose blooming, growing more and more beautiful as each delicate layer is revealed. A tender, luminous romance. I loved it more and more with every chapter! * Caroline Linden, USA Today bestselling author *Absolutely enthralling: an endearing, novel-reading heroine who's in dire danger; a swoon-worthy war hero with a scandalous past; and secrets, lots of secrets. Mimi Matthews's The Belle of Belgrave Square is a thrilling, emotion-packed read from start to finish. I loved it! * Syrie James, USA Today bestselling author *[C]ombines deception, risk, and a resourceful heroine to create an intoxicating, suspenseful romance. Highly recommended * Library Journal (starred review) *A grand cross-class romance, a twisty mystery, and emotional internal struggles combine to excellent effect...fans and new readers alike will root for this well-earned love story * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Hidden Palace the most spellbinding escapist
Book SynopsisAn island of secrets. A runaway. And a promiseA rebellious daughter1925. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer's job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets.A sister with a secret1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before.A rift over generationsBetrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters. A faded last letter from Rosalie is Florence's only clue, the war an immovable barrier and time is running outPraise for The Hidden PalaceCompletely swept me away to another place and time. Dinah is the queen of sumptuous settings, transporting the reader effortlessly from chocolate-box Devonshire to the cabaret clubs of 1920s Paris and war-torn Malta. A marvellous, multi-layered story,Trade ReviewPraise for Daughters of War ‘A wonderfully evocative and sensual writer’ SANTA MONTEFIORE ‘A warm and engrossing tale of passion and courage. I loved it’ RACHEL HORE ‘Love, grief, abandonment, betrayal and secrets … I adored it’ LIZ NUGENT ‘A stirring, richly-imagined novel about bravery and love and family loyalty tested to its limits’ RACHEL RHYS ‘As layers of long-hidden family secrets emerge, you are sure to be hooked to the very last page’ LIZ TRENOW ‘Rich in courage, love and sacrifice, but chilling and taut in its portrayal of the horrors of war’ KATE FURNIVALL ‘Lushly descriptive, exciting and vivid, this is a warm and exciting tale that will pull you in and refuse to let you go’ TRACY REES A tender, moving and at times heartbreaking story’ SINEAD MORIARTY
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Wild Fires
Book Synopsis*WINNER OF THE 2023 FRED KERNER BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION**LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 TORONTO BOOK AWARDS**FINALIST FOR THE 2023 RAKUTEN KOBO EMERGING WRITER PRIZE*Grief is like an inside joke: you have to have been there to really it.Trade Review‘A gem of a book: beautifully crafted, emotionally insightful, and full of sharply-drawn characters who linger long in the memory. Sophie is a literary star in the making’ LAURA BARNETT, #1 bestselling author of The Versions of Us ‘An incredibly intimate, tender story about grief, mourning, silences and secrets, loss, identity, love, sisters/mothers, and home… I'm hooked’ YVONNE BATTLE-FELTON, author of Remembered ‘I enjoyed it so much – one of my favourite things in literature is to be transported to a different place, ideally straight into the heart of a family whose history and characters are as alive while I’m reading as my own, and that was the experience that Wild Fires gave me. It reminded me of The God of Small Things, with the same intricate, confounding but completely relatable family relationships, secrets and darkness; I loved the rhythm of the language and the sharpness of the (often unexpectedly funny) observations … a beautiful book’ EMILY ITAMI, author of Fault Lines ‘A moving and compelling novel that explores a family's grief through both their shared stories and the words that should have stayed unspoken’ LOUISE HARE, author of This Lovely City ‘A dizzying, mesmerising puzzle of a novel… readers will find themselves so deeply invested and absorbed in this tale, and unable to forget it’ KERRY CLARE, author of Asking for a Friend There’s so much beauty in this book … I finished the last page with my eyes wet and my heart full’ DIANA FITZGERALD BRYDEN, author of No Place Strange
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The Weekend Escape The addictive and chilling new
Book SynopsisA deserted island, a vicious storm, a murderer amongst friendsIt was meant to be a fun reunion, a chance for six friends to reconnect and relive the adventures that brought them together in the first place. But from the moment they arrive on their island home for the weekend, Lyndsey, Sonia, Bobbie, Amanda, Juliet, and Val realise that their paradise is filled with peril, and there are consequences when you try to outrun the ghosts of your past.As everything starts to fall apart, and the friends begin to turn against one another, deep, dark secrets are revealed, and an unimaginable horror is unleashed. They came seeking adventure, but now they'll be lucky to leave with their livesReaders are loving The Weekend Escape:It starts off with a bang and doesn't stop till the bitter endI couldn't put it down and finished it in a few hours' SarahLike the Agatha Christie And Then There Were Nonea quick read with intriguing characters' BrendaWow. I loved this novelit's a different novel amongst tTrade ReviewWhat readers are saying about Little Girls Tell Tales: “A cracking story that had me totally engrossed. It's original, intriguing and well written, with a great cast of characters.”J.P. Carter, author of At Your Door “This was quite the page turner. Only took me a few hours to finish… Can't wait to read more from Rachel. She's a wonderful author.” “Great book, haven’t wanted to put it down! Definitely stayed up way too late reading this enthralling read.” “A wonderfully atmospheric read.” “Great crime novel with lots of twists and turns! Honestly did not predict what would happen next, which is rare since I read so many mysteries.” “I read it in one day! I’d recommend Little Girls Tell Tales to those who like slow-burning suspense novels rather than the high-octane, big-twist version” “This book is a slow burn full of subtle twists and social commentary… Bennett's prose is beautiful and descriptive, and the characters are realistic and likeable… anyone looking for complex family drama, well-thought out mystery, this is the book for you. A beautiful read with a satisfying conclusion.”
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd The White Rock From the bestselling author of The
Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BALLROOM AND EXPECTATIONThey are separating, she and her husband, after two decades together.This fact is new.There are many ways of telling the tale ...There are many different sides to every story ... A minibus journeys through rural Mexico. Inside it are twelve strangers on a pilgrimage to the White Rock, which stands, ancient and sacred, off the Pacific coast. Like many before them, over centuries and from across continents, they find themselves irresistibly drawn here, for answers, to give thanks, to seek protection.One of them is a writer. She is travelling with her husband and young daughter, as her faith in her marriage, and the future itself, is foundering. She has come to the White Rock in the hope of excavating a beginning from the rubble of many different endings.Here she will find the echoes of many stories: oTrade ReviewPrecise and perceptive ... Deeply satisfying ... We may struggle to find hope, Hope tells us, but it is there in the landscape, in faith and memory and ritual, in the ancient unchanging silences that persist' * Guardian *An eco-novel you actually want to read ... She's an assured author with a knack for an arresting image ... It leaves you with a gentle sense that things keep going * The Times *Its narrative sweep is capacious ... It has ambition to match, musing on freedom and reciprocity, on the redemptive power of storytelling and the sustaining force of ritual ... Demonstrating impressive stylistic verve * Observer *Mesmerising ... Imaginative ... Among its many impressive elements is Hope's handling of the past ... Her greatest talent is in getting under the skin of her characters ... There is a subtle plangency in this powerful portrait of human folly and ferocity * The Herald *Deeply moving ... I, for one, hope we hear plenty more from her * i news *Full of wisdom about the blink-and-you'll-miss-it nature of our lives * Good Housekeeping *Lyrical and timely * Stella *Mysterious and beautiful. It reminded me of Cloud Atlas, but it's very much itself: so bold and wild, but controlled and fierce. It's stunning writing and it has left me with hope, that we can tell stories like these even as the carbon builds, and that imagination and ideas remain powerful and valid * Russell T. Davies, writer of It's A Sin *Perfectly crafted, evocative prose which effortlessly transported me through two hundred and fifty years of history * Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground *Brilliant. A stunning book of extraordinary, audacious scale * Sadie Jones, author of The Snakes *Poetic, philosophical and wildly captivating... Anna Hope captures the human condition and feeds it treats while you watch it shimmer. Her characters dance, crawl and blast off the page, like mystical beings who are at the same time solidly human. I swam in this book and didn't want to come up for air * Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals and Adults *I loved it. I became invested in each of the different eras and was struck by the sense of unknowable forces outliving us all. It is full of wisdom, intricate and emotional, and it will linger in my head for a long time * Dave Haslam, author of Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor *Anna Hope is such a generous and sensitive writer, and The White Rock is full of extraordinary voices and ideas. Absolutely a story for our times, and a fiercely important one, too * Clover Stroud, author of The Red of my Blood *I loved the sparseness, the moments of poetry, the quiet brutality. The voice throughout is fierce and graceful and utterly compelling; each central character is rich and beautifully pinpointed. It is her strongest work yet * Melody Razak, author of Moth *The White Rock is a sublime, poetic, and visionary work of art * Ron Rash, author of In the Valley *
£9.49
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Queen Of The Tearling
Book SynopsisKelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret after her mother – a monarch as vain as she was foolish – was murdered for ruining her kingdom.Trade ReviewI couldn’t put the bloody thing down. It would be fair to say I became obsessed with the role and the book -- EMMA WATSONDid you love The Hunger Games? Partial to an episode of Game of Thrones? Then you’re going to want to dive straight in to this new fantasy . . . brilliantly imagined and captivatingly written * HEAT *An assured and confident debut . . . featuring a strong female lead and a well-realised far-future post-apocalyptic world * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *Like Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games meets Pulp Fiction * DAILY MAIL *Destined to be a fantasy classic. Johansen’s writing is assured, confident and thrilling. I can’t wait for the next book. * AMY McCULLOCH, author of The Oathbreaker’s Shadow *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Christmas With The Wartime Midwives
Book SynopsisThe heartwarming and uplifting new Wartime Midwives novel perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Nancy Revell''A rousing tale of integrity and heroism, and an endearing story of a group of women working together'' WOMAN__________Cumbria, 1944: as Christmas comes to Mary Vale, mothers and midwives alike seek a miracle . . .Newly trained midwife Libby is forced to work in the neighbouring villages as well as at the Mother and Baby Home, trying her best to help the many desperate new mums.Meanwhile, Margaret arrives at Mary Vale heartbroken after losing her man and facing having a child alone.Yet it isn''t long before Libby and Margaret discover someone with bigger problems. Beth, along with her young children and desperately ill husband, face eviction from their home just before Christmas.As time starts to run out, so does her hope.But can Libby and Margaret save Beth and her family with a quick-witted plan and some festive magic?After all, it''s Christmas . . . and a time for miracles.__________Praise for Daisy Styles''An absolute joy to read'' Kate Thompson''Will tug at the heart strings of readers everywhere!'' Fiona Ford ''Truly endearing characters'' Annie MurrayTrade ReviewA rousing tale of integrity and heroism, and an endearing story of a group of women working together * Woman *Praise for Daisy Styles * - *Well done Daisy for creating characters that are real women in the best sense. Funny, scheming, loyal and witty, but about all, hardworking and proud. An absolute joy to read * Kate Thompson, bestselling author of, Secrets of the Home Front Girls *A cracking story with truly endearing characters * Annie Murray, bestselling author of, Now The War Is Over *This is her best yet. I devoured it in one sitting - it's a real page turner that will delight and tug at the heart strings of readers everywhere. Wonderful! * Fiona Ford, author of, The Liberty Girls *
£7.59
Little, Brown Book Group The Good Ones
Book SynopsisWhat really happened to Lauren Ballard? A page-turning mystery simmering with secrets and suspense, perfect for fans of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave.Trade ReviewBold, beautiful, savage and stunning. The Good Ones is a taut thriller, an elegant exploration of loss and the haunt of past mistakes, and a true page-turning mystery. I adored it. -- Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of WE BEGIN AT THE ENDAn irresistible mystery, superbly crafted with all the stealth and intrigue of the best Southern Gothics -- Anna Bailey, author of Sunday Times bestseller TALL BONESPolly Stewart's haunting and menacing novel is an event of voice, and a compelling mystery that probes the dark places our minds go when a woman or girl is missing. The Good Ones pokes an exploring finger into old bruises, showing how the small decisions we make can change everything. I read it in a single sitting. -- Hayley Scrivenor, author of DIRT TOWNA fantastic achievement. A classic Southern Gothic tale told through the prism of modern-day sensibilities. Not to be missed -- S. A. Cosby, author of RAZORBLADE TEARSThe friendship at the heart of this gripping mystery is among the darkest and most complicated relationships I've read. The Good Ones had me suspecting everyone in Tyndall County, only to be proven wrong by an ending I never saw coming. Polly Stewart is an author to watch. -- Ana Reyes, author of Reese's Book Club pick THE HOUSE IN THE PINESA haunting, gorgeously rendered portrayal . . . A riveting, unflinching exploration of adolescent female friendships, small-town pressures to conform, and the true crime lover's tendency to conflate empathy and voyeurism, The Good Ones drew me in from the first lines and still hasn't released me, days after finishing. I envy readers opening Polly Stewart's beautiful, assured novel for the first time -- Katie Gutierrez, author of Radio 2 Book Club pick MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOWSmartly suspenseful and knife-sharp . . . In these pages, those who stay behind have as many secrets as those who go missing, and I couldn't stop reading until I'd untangled every mystery -- Sara Flannery Murphy, author of GIRL ONEA stunning achievement. With gorgeous writing, a compelling, flawed protagonist whose journey is so authentic, and an intricate mystery in which everyone is a suspect, this debut is captivating. The twists and turns are seamless and subtle . . . a mind-blowing ending -- Samantha M. Bailey, author of WOMAN ON THE EDGEReminiscent of Gone Girl with elements of Yellowjackets thrown in -- Eli Cranor, author of DON'T KNOW TOUGHStylish and totally compelling . . . as concerned with finding a missing woman as it is with challenging our assumptions about motherhood. I loved it! -- Darcey Bell, author of A SIMPLE FAVORSharp, smart and often sexy, The Good Ones is a knockout . . . the many raw secrets of Tyndall County that make this novel unique, clever, and compelling -- Ace Atkins, New York Times bestselling author of THE HEATHENSDark, suspenseful and thought-provoking . . . kept me turning pages late into the night -- Alison Buccola, author of CATCH HER WHEN SHE FALLSA riveting debut crime novel that's loaded with elements that readers will love - powerful characters, a fraught homecoming, and twists galore. I really enjoyed reading this - and I'm certain I won't be alone in that. -- Alex Segura, author of SECRET IDENTITY
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Last Summer: A wild, romantic tale of
Book SynopsisOpposites attract in this epic and spellbinding historical novel, which transports us from the untamed beauty of a remote Scottish island to the glamour and intrigues of high society in the 1930s. The Last Summer is the first book in The Wild Isle series by Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, inspired by the true history of St Kilda and its small island community.'The Last Summer is beautifully told . . . a wonderfully satisfying read.' - Santa MontefioreSummer on St Kilda – a wild, remote Scottish island.Two strangers from drastically different worlds meet . . .Wild-spirited Effie Gillies has lived all her life on the small island of St Kilda but when Lord Sholto, heir to the Earl of Dumfries, visits, the attraction between them is instant. For one glorious week she guides the handsome young visitor around the isle, falling in love for the first time – until a storm hits and her world falls apart.Three months later, St Kilda falls silent as the islanders are evacuated for a better life on the mainland. With her friends and family scattered, Effie is surprised to be offered a position working on the Earl’s estate. Sholto is back in her life but their differences now seem insurmountable, even as the simmering tension between them grows. And when a shocking discovery is made back on St Kilda, all her dreams for this bright new life are threatened by the dark secrets Effie and her friends thought they had left behind.'The most exciting, enchanting and evocative story of forbidden love I’ve ever read. I truly loved it and am waiting feverishly for the second instalment' - Cathy Bramley, author of The Summer That Changed Us'Powerful writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you’ll simultaneously want to savour and race through. I loved it and can’t wait for the next in the series!' - Jill Mansell, author of And Now You're Back'A delicious romantic tale of wild 1930s Scotland . . . perfect for everyone dreaming of summer' - Rachel Hore, author of A Beautiful SpyTrade ReviewThis sweeping love story gripped us from the start, so we can’t wait for the next in the series. Best historical romance of 2022 * Independent *I so enjoyed The Last Summer by Karen Swan, which provides fascinating details about life on St Kilda prior to the evacuation of its inhabitants from the island. Powerful writing and a wonderful premise make this a novel you’ll simultaneously want to savour and race through. I loved it and can’t wait for the next in the series! -- Jill MansellThe most exciting, enchanting and evocative story of forbidden love I’ve ever read. I truly loved it and am waiting feverishly for the second installment. -- Cathy BramleyA delicious romantic tale of wild 1930s Scotland . . . perfect for everyone dreaming of summer -- Rachel HoreA dramatic start to a gripping new series set on the Scottish island of St Kilda. The Last Summer is meticulously researched and beautifully told by one of our most prolific and talented writers. It contains all the ingredients of a wonderfully satisfying read: love, passion, drama, violence, menace and peril, and characters you fall in love with - and some you hate! Happily, this is the start of a series so your longing for more will be fulfilled. * Santa Montefiore *The queen of destination books...exciting...beguiling...The first in a new series, we're already looking forward to meeting these characters again . . . * Woman and Home *A sweeping page-turner with an engrossing love story at its heart, this is an absolute treat for historical fiction fans. Swan is a superb storyteller. I loved it. -- Eve Chase author of The Glass House Vividly drawn and beautifully atmospheric, this is a book to savour. * Heat Magazine *Wonderfully romantic and epic in feel, this beautiful historical novel is a fascinating and deliciously escapist read -- Tasmina Perry, author of Guilty Pleasures and Perfect StrangersWhat a great adventure! The perfect way to tell the tale of the St Kilda's population in fiction form. History fans will love the fascinating St Kilda detail woven throughout this thrilling romance. Wonderful! -- Jennifer Ryan, author of The Chilbury Ladies Choir and The Kitchen FrontA promising new series from Swan . . . The vivid beauty and danger of St. Kilda only enhances Swan’s effortlessly intricate plotting. Toeing the line between romance and historical fiction, this gorgeous story and its unconventional heroine are sure to win hearts. * Publishers Weekly *
£13.49
Pan Macmillan Good Bad Girl: The latest gripping, twisty
Book SynopsisThe Queen of Twists, bestselling author of Daisy Darker and Rock Paper Scissors, Alice Feeney returns with another gripping mystery filled with drama and her trademark surprises in Good Bad Girl.'One of the best psychological thriller writers' - The SunSometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things . . .Twenty years after a baby is stolen from her push-chair, a woman is murdered in a care home. The two crimes are somehow linked, and a good bad girl may be the key to discovering the truth.Edith may have been tricked into a nursing home, but at eighty-years-young, she’s planning her escape. Patience works there, cleaning up mess and bonding with Edith, a kindred spirit. But Patience is lying to Edith about almost everything.Edith’s own daughter, Clio, won’t speak to her. And someone new is about to knock on Clio’s door . . . and their intentions aren’t good.With every reason to distrust each other, the women must solve a mystery with three suspects, two murders, and one victim. If they do, they might just find out what happened to the baby who disappeared, the mother who lost her, and the connections that bind them . . .'An author you need to check out' - Harlan Coben***************PRAISE FOR ALICE FEENEY'I was totally hooked from the first sentence' – Peter James, author of the Roy Grace series.‘Compelling, confounding and absolutely delicious' – Lisa Jewell, bestselling author of The Family Upstairs'I was on the edge of my seat the whole time' – Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and the SixTrade ReviewDaisy Darker is clever, compelling, confounding and absolutely delicious. -- Lisa Jewell on Daisy DarkerWow! Echoes of Christie's And Then There Were None but turned into something wonderfully original and wrapped in a genuinely creepy dysfunctional family fairy tale of a novel, this takes Feeney to the next level. LOVED IT! -- Sarah Pinborough on Daisy DarkerWow, I absolutely loved it. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was an absolute thrill -- Taylor Jenkins Reid on Daisy DarkerThis book is all kinds of twisty, and it's SO much fun -- Praise for Daisy Darker * Cosmopolitan *
£15.29
Entangled: Amara Accidentally Famous
Book SynopsisJack Winston may be Hollywood's biggest action hero, but he's seriously burned out. He can't even save himself from his PR team's latest scheme: dating a starlet. But when his assistant accidentally tags Cassidy James from Blink, Maine (wherever that is) on social media, the paparazzi decide that she's Jack's latest fling. Now Jack needs to do some serious damage controlstarting with the adorable home reno pro in paint-splattered overalls.Cassidy is not prepared when the Jack Winston shows up in her quiet little townand whew, he is that gorgeous in person. Before she can pick her jaw up off the floor, his PR team is bombarding them with a whole new plan involving fake girlfriend, optics, and sign this NDA (whatever that is). But no one warned her that Mr. A-List Action Star is hot, funny as all get out, and loves old houses as much as she does.Now they have two weeks to convince everyone they're in a fake relationshiptwo weeks that will drive Cassidy's reno business through the roof and help Jack reclaim his spark. The plan is going fine, dare she say, perfectly...until she discovers something that will change everything.Each book in the Hideaway Harbor series is STANDALONE:* Accidentally Perfect* Accidentally Famous
£7.59
Vintage Publishing The Snow Ghost and Other Tales: Classic Japanese
Book SynopsisEnter the haunted world of Ancient Japan in this spine-tingling collection of ghostly tales told and retold across the centuries. From Goblin infested caves and haunted Tombs, to vengeful spirits and strange, sinister happenings, Ancient Japan was a country and culture that lived with between realms: the world of everyday and the world of supernatural.It was a time and place where men could be brought down by karmic forces or lured into deadly danger by ghostly apparitions, and where the land held sorrowful secrets or stories that long-awaited an opportunity to reveal them and seek reparation.The Snow Ghost and Other Tales brings together some of the best and scariest tales that endured across centuries of folk lore in one new beautiful hardback collection. Finally commited to writing during the turn of the twenieth cenutry by a unique set of folklorists, the ghost stories presented in this new anthology will transport readers to a time of magic and mystery, and let them relish in the spine-tingling traditions of Japanese culture largely lost now to modernity.For readers of Haruki Murakami, David Mitchell and Shirley Jackson
£15.29
Alma Books Ltd Robinson Crusoe
Book SynopsisRobinson Crusoe, published in 1719, is considered by many to be the first novel in English, and its success was so enormous that by the end of the nineteenth century it had spawned more translations and versions than any other previous English book. An everyman character who has become part of our cultural heritage, Defoe's castaway - shipwrecked, imperilled and facing a host of elemental challenges - lives an archetypal life of survival, adventure and personal development. On one level a simple adventure story, while at the same time an allegory, a quest novel and a spiritual autoEdition Biography, Robinson Crusoe has captured the imagination of readers for nearly three centuries.
£7.59
Alma Books Ltd Burmese Days
Book SynopsisIn the Burmese provincial town of Kyauktada, the world-weary John Flory - a thirty-something English teak dealer - leads a life of quiet disillusionment, hardly mixing with the natives or the expat community, and deriving some comfort only from his conversations with an Indian friend, Doctor Veraswami, and the attentions of his local mistress. His prospects seem to improve when he meets the orphaned niece of a timber merchant, Elizabeth Lackersteen, who appears to reciprocate his feelings of love - but the arrival on the scene of another suitor, the boorish police officer Verrall, and the scheming of a disgruntled local magistrate threaten to shatter Flory's dreams and put him on a path to tragedy. Based on the author's own experiences in Burma as a young officer in the Indian Imperial Police, Burmese Days - here presented in the version published in Britain in 1944, which follows the text of its first American edition - is George Orwell's debut novel, invaluable both as a faithful description of life in Burma during the twilight of the British Raj and as an expose of the failings of colonial rule.
£7.59
Saraband Cold Fish Soup
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2021 NORTHBOUND BOOK AWARD 'Adam Farrer is a bold new voice in nonfiction writing. His keen observations are as gentle as they are wry, as attentive to the bleak truths of loss and deprivation as they are to the eccentric humour of humans being entirely themselves ... Witty, charming, moving and real.' Jenn Ashworth Before Adam Farrer’s family relocated to Withernsea in 1992, he’d never heard of the Holderness coast. The move represented one thing to Adam: a chance to leave the insecurities of early adolescence behind. And he could do that anywhere. What he didn’t know was how much he’d grow to love the quirks and people of this faded Yorkshire resort, in spite of its dilapidated attractions and retreating clifftops. While Adam documents the minutiae of small-town life, he lays bare experiences that are universal. His insights on family, friendship, male mental health and suicide are revealed in stories of reinvention, rapacious seagulls, interdimensional werewolves, burlesque dancing pensioners, and his compulsion towards the sea. Cold Fish Soup is an affectionate look at a place and its inhabitants, and the ways in which they can shape and influence someone, especially of an impressionable age. Adam’s account explores what it means to love and be shaped by a place that is under threat, and the hope – and hilarity – that can be found in community.Trade Review'Vividly documents the minutiae of small-town life on the margins … captures it beautifully.' * The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice *‘In a book as laced with humanity as it is with the presence of the North Sea, Adam Farrer asks that you fall in love with the overlooked, with that which is crumbling and destined to be lost to the sea. I fell for it hard.’ * Wyl Menmuir, Booker-listed author of The Draw of the Sea *'Cold Fish Soup is such a wide-ranging and thought-provoking essay collection, covering masculinity, mental health, werewolves and alien sightings, sense of belonging, the difficulties of carving out a creative life in a geographically marginalised place, coastal erosion and burlesque, amongst other things. It drew me in, and kept me hooked, through all diversions and detours in time and narrative, and made me both cry and laugh heartily and fully. It is a love letter to Withernsea and all the people in it, its crumbling cliffs, its strange beauties and its losses, that made me love Withernsea too.' * Polly Atkin *'Cold Fish Soup understands the oddity, tenderness and brutal ordinariness of small town life. Adam Farrer is a bold new voice in nonfiction writing. His keen observations are as gentle as they are wry, as attentive to the bleak truths of loss and deprivation as they are to the eccentric humour of humans being entirely themselves ... Witty, charming, moving and real.' * Jenn Ashworth *'What a glorious book! Just beautiful. Adam dances down that line between happy and sad with such sure-footed grace. It underlines that there is no such thing as 'an ordinary life' or indeed an 'ordinary place'.' * Catherine Simpson *'Witty, moving, wry, insightful and caring in how it deals with its subject matter.' * The Bookseller, Category Highlight, annual preview *'Witty and introspective … moving … elegiac … vivid evocations of the landscape … Echoing the canny writing of David Sedaris, Farrer has a knack for wringing hilarity from life’s grim moments … this meditation on the beauty of impermanence charms.' * Publishers Weekly *'[Farrer] documents his own personal history with guile and candour, but it is the tenderness with which he introduces his family that enriches the reading experience … Farrer has an uncanny grasp of his chosen form’s mechanics … he writes with a suppleness that gifts his stories a winning momentum … [The book] emerges as a gnarly companion piece to Amy Liptrot’s delicate ode to Orkney The Outrun … and Adam Buxton’s Ramble Book … Cold Fish Soup is like nothing else you will read this year: a lyrical and courageous exercise in uncovering one’s own personal history.' -- Gary Kaill * Lunate magazine *
£9.49
Leapfrog Press Jack and Barry
Book Synopsis
£10.79
Orion Publishing Co The Darkest Season
Book Synopsis ''In the top flight of crime writing'' SUNDAY TELEGRAPHIn the dead of winter, even brothers become strangers... A CHILLING WINTER THRILLER PERFECT FOR FANS OF FARGO*FROM AN AWARD-WINNING INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*Running from a troubled childhood, Jack Devereaux left home as soon as he could and never looked back - until the day a stranger calls, begging him to return to his hometown of Jasperville, Quebec.Jack''s brother Calvis - the little boy he left behind more than twenty years ago - has viciously attacked a man and left him for dead. Nobody knows why he did it, though Jack suspects it has something to do with the Jasperville girls who were lost all those years ago.But as he begins the long journey home through the frozen, unforgiving landscape, Jack isn''t wondering why his little brother lost his mind. He''s wondering why it took so long . . .''The master of the genre'' CLIVE CUSSLERTrade ReviewA uniquely gifted, passionate, and powerful writer * ALAN FURST *The master of the genre * CLIVE CUSSLER *A powerful talent * INDEPENDENT *
£10.44
Zaffre Cruel Tides: The riveting new case in the
Book SynopsisThe eagerly awaited next case for DI Karen Eiken Hornby from the global bestselling author, Maria Adolfsson. Perfect for fans of Shetland, Broadchurch and Ann Cleeves.A secluded island. A missing woman. An impossible choice.Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby is not the only person to have returned to her native island nation, Doggerland, after years abroad. Following a ten-year hiatus, Luna has chosen to secretly record her comeback album where she was born and raised. Spirits are high among her team at the wrap party, though Karen is less than impressed with the simpering singer. The next morning, Luna is nowhere to be found.Nothing goes unnoticed in the tight-knit community - certainly not the arrival, or disappearance, of a world-famous singer. So, while the rest of the force is frantically searching for a suspect whose brutal attacks on women are increasing in intensity and frequency, a reluctant Karen is tasked with discreetly looking into Luna's whereabouts.As time ebbs away so does the possibility of finding Luna alive, while Karen faces seemingly impossible choices, ones that could spell life or death, both for herself and others.Trade ReviewThis first novel in a proposed trilogy has terrific characters as well as effectively inventing a new genre, Anglo-Nordic noir -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times on Fatal Isles *A cracking police procedural set in a richly described isolated island community * Irish Independent on Fatal Isles *An excellent police procedural - she does detail brilliantly - but also really thrilling. I love books that send me somewhere completely new and I really enjoyed Doggerland. She captured it perfectly, and held me there for the whole thing * Jo Spain on Fatal Isles *Karen Eiken reminds me a bit of Jane Tennison: a strong, feminine and dedicated woman confronted by sexism within the police force while doing her job. At the same time striving not to be eaten up by the pressure of duties, struggling to quit smoking and not drinking too much. The island is a cool setting too, a bit Shetland-like . . . a good debut * Kjell Ola Dahl on Fatal Isles *A suspenseful and intriguing story that combines the best of British crime writing tradition with Nordic noir. Doggerland is a unique and alluring universe that I can't wait to revisit * Camilla Grebe on Fatal Isles *Fatal Isles has everything I want from nordic noir - a spellbinding plot, atmospheric setting and a wonderfully flawed protagonist. I loved it * Sarah Ward on Fatal Isles *Fatal Isles is an impressive debut combining an empathetic main character tormented by her past, with a detailed, complex police procedural. Adolfsson's main achievement, however, is Doggerland, a believable island nation where everyone knows everyone else and the mistrust of outsiders runs deep * Canberra Times on Fatal Isles *
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers A Beautiful Rival
Book SynopsisThe world is at war, but on the gilded streets of Fifth Avenue, New York, a battle of a different kind is brewingNew York, 1915.Elizabeth Arden has been New York's golden girl since her beauty salon opened its famous red door five years prior. Against all odds, she's built an empire.Enter Helena Rubinstein: ruthless, revolutionary and the rival Elizabeth didn't bargain for.With both women determined to succeed no matter the personal cost a battle of beauty is born. And as the stakes increase, so do the methods: poaching employees, planting spies, copying products, hiring ex-husbands.But as each woman climbs higher, so too does what she stands to lose.Because the greater the height, the harder the fallIn this stunning new novel, internationally bestselling author Gill Paul reveals the unknown history of cosmetic titans Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein and their infamous rivalry that spanned not only decades, but also broken marriages, personal tragedies, and a world that was chaTrade Review Praise for Gill Paul: ‘A great historical read for fans of strong female characters who have something to prove.’ Booklist (US) 'TERRIFIC! Deadly one-liners and killer cocktails combine in this compelling portrait of three fascinating women. Unputdownable.' Veronica Henry, bestselling author of The Impulse Purchase ‘Completely stole me away… Paul slips inside her characters brilliantly, blending fact and fiction so seamlessly it’s impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. A total treat… I loved it.’ Eve Chase, author of The Birdcage ‘A stunning tour de force. A potent cocktail of brilliant characterisation, pacy elegant writing, and mesmerising drama as four wildly clever, talented women negotiate the perils of Jazz Age New York. LOVED it!’ Tracy Rees, author of The Rose Garden ‘The Manhattan Girls pulled me into the dazzling world of prohibition New York and didn’t let me go… an utterly brilliant, entirely compulsive read. A seductive, heady triumph.’ Jenny Ashcroft, author of Under the Golden Sun ‘If ever we needed escapism it is now, and The Manhattan Girls does that perfectly, whisking you instantly away to the glittering world of 1920s New York… A sparkling read in so many ways!’ Liz Trenow, author of Under a Wartime Sky ‘I loved this funny and moving novel about the bonds of friendship.’ Fiona Valpy, author of The Storyteller of Casablanca
£9.49
Orenda Books The Pain Tourist: The nerve-jangling, compulsive
Book SynopsisA young man wakes from a coma to find himself targeted by the men who killed his parents, while someone is impersonating a notorious New Zealand serial killer … the latest chilling, nerve-shredding, twisty thriller from the author of The Quiet People… ‘Paul Cleave is an automatic must-read for me’ Lee Child ‘Riveting from start to finish. Smart and twisty, this book will get under your skin’ Liz Nugent ‘Shocking and chilling. A literary ice plunge. I absolutely loved it’ Helen Fields ‘Almost three books in one! Multiple murders, dedicated detectives – past and present. Complex, detailed and oh, so clever’ Sam Holland _______________How do you catch a killer…When the only evidence is a dream? James Garrett was critically injured when he was shot following his parents’ execution, and no one expected him to waken from a deep, traumatic coma. When he does, nine years later, Detective Inspector Rebecca Kent is tasked with closing the case that her now retired colleague, Theodore Tate, failed to solve all those years ago. But between that, and hunting for Copy Joe – a murderer on a spree, who’s imitating Christchurch’s most notorious serial killer – she’s going to need Tate’s help. Especially when they learn that James has lived out another life in his nine-year coma, and there are things he couldn’t possibly know, including the fact that Copy Joe isn’t the only serial killer in town… _______________ ‘An absolute thrill ride. Precise and swift and a joy to read … storytelling at its best’ James Oswald ‘Such a unique concept, with wonderful, emotional writing ... I hooked on the story from the word go. BRILLIANT’ Lisa Hall ‘The most original and intense thriller ever!’ Michael Wood ‘I’d forgotten how good Paul Cleave is!’ Sarah Pinborough ‘You can’t be a true fan of crime fiction if you’re not reading Cleave’s books’ Tom Wood ‘Uses words as lethal weapons’ New York Times ‘Cleave writes the kind of dark, intense thrillers that I never want to end’ Simon Kernick What readers are saying… [FIVE STARS] ‘A masterpiece’ Café Thinking ‘A heart-pounding, jaw-dropping thrill ride’ Emma’s Bibliotreasures ‘A brilliantly executed thrilling, twisty, nerve-shredding serial-killer chiller’ Live & Deadly ‘A red-hot, sleep-stealing, pulse-pounding read’ Jen Med’s Book Reviews ‘An addictive trip!’ The First Eleven Minutes ‘I am absolutely lost for words’ PRDG Reads ‘Number-one TOP read of the year’ Ian Dixon ‘Cleave has made my heart pound, pulse race and jaw drop’ Little Miss Book LoverPraise for Paul Cleave ‘The sense of dread builds unstoppably in this gripping page-turner … an intense, chilling read’ Gilly Macmillan ‘You may think you know where it’s going, but you couldn’t be more wrong. A true page-turner filled with dread, rage, doubt and more twists than the Remutaka Pass’ Linwood Barclay ‘A true page-turner, with an intriguing premise, a rollercoaster plot and a cast of believably flawed characters’ Guardian ‘This merits comparison with the work of Patricia Highsmith’ Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW ‘Tense, thrilling, touching. Paul Cleave is very good indeed’ John Connolly ‘An intense adrenaline rush from start to finish’ S J Watson ‘A riveting and all too realistic thriller’ Tess Gerritsen ‘A gripping thriller …I couldn’t put it down’ Meg Gardiner ‘Did my head in time and again’ Michael Robotham ‘One to remember’ New York Journal of Book
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Graphic Arts Books Notes from Underground
Book Synopsis“It may seem paradoxical to speak of such insights as liberating, or to find in the Underground Man’s impassioned rejection of rational humanitarianism a call to arms. Yet each age we live through as individuals demands a certain kind of book- just as each era thieves the last with a magpie’s lust for the gewgaws of thought. Oddly enough, now I come to look at Notes again- and examine it in the round- I discover that my revised impression of it as a text at once jejune and cynical, callow as well as wise, is not, perhaps, too far from reality.” -Will Self ““(Dostoevsky)... is the man more than any other who has created modern prose, and intensified it to its present-day pitch.” -James Joyce Notes from the Underground is Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ninth novel, and considered to be one of the first examples of the existential novel. In this radically inventive work, an alienated former minor administrator in nineteenth-century Russia has broken away from society and withdrawn into an underground identity. With its piercing insight into political, social, and moral issues, this classic is one of the most provocative work of literature ever written. In the first half of the novel, the unnamed narrator, a cynical recluse in 1860’s St. Petersburg, attacks the ideologies of inherent laws of self-interest; he is crippled with self-loathing, and bound by his contempt of certain political attitudes of his day. He welcomes any psychic or physical pain in his life as he believe it rails against the complacency of modern society. The second half, entitled “Apropos of the Wet Snow”, the narrator relates his alienated relationships he experiences with others, including old school chums and a prostitute named Liza, who is only demeaned in his misanthropic mind. A singular document of the depravity of human consciousness, this is one of the most powerful pieces of literature ever written. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Notes from the Underground is both modern and readable.
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Pan Macmillan The Turning
Book SynopsisTim Winton has published over twenty books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian/Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). Active in the environmental movement, he is the Patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society. He lives in Western Australia.Trade Review‘Always a writer of crystalline prose, his lines of sinewy leanness achieve such clarity here that it seems one is reading line after line of perfect music . . . To read Winton is to be reminded not just of the possibilities of fiction but of the human heart’ The Times ‘The laureate of Western Australia is back . . . this is like Carver, happily with a very large dose of Winton’ Time Out 'These stories are threaded through with subtleties and oblique connections; to be fully appreciated, they need to be read more than once. But Winton's writing – vigorous, vivid, precise – is so good that you'd want to do that anyway’ Sunday Times‘Sublime. Winton is a great writer’ Daily Mail‘Vivid, elegiac and humorous . . . and told in a relaxed prose that frequently strikes sparks’ Daily Telegraph‘Winton is marvellous at locating the small moment of crisis. His prose is leavened throughout by a kind of poetry . . . so exquisitely written, so precise in its construction, that it is a joy to read’ Sunday Telegraph‘Winton is a poet of baffled souls . . . Always a writer of crystalline prose, his lines of sinewy leanness achieve such clarity here that it seems one is reading line after line of perfect music. His unbounded humanity and his sympathy for his characters descend on them like grace as they struggle to salvage their lives’ The Times
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Atlantic Books Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore
Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2014 DEBUT CATEGORY - KITCHIES PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE 2013 IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARDSA New York Times bestseller, Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore is an entirely charming and lovable first novel of mysterious books and dusty bookshops; it is a witty and delightful love-letter to both the old book world and the new.Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a Web-design drone and serendipity coupled with sheer curiosity has landed him a new job working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. And it doesn't take long for Clay to realize that the quiet, dusty book emporium is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few fanatically committed customers, but they never seem to actually buy anything, instead they simply borrow impossibly obscure volumes perched on dangerously high shelves, all according to some elaborate arrangement with the eccentric proprietor. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he has plugged in his laptop, roped in his friends (and a cute girl who works for Google) and embarked on a high-tech analysis of the customers' behaviour. What they discover is an ancient secret that can only be solved by modern means, and a global-conspiracy guarded by Mr. Penumbra himself... who has mysteriously disappeared.Trade ReviewThe story is gripping, the characters are terrific and the writing is clever and funny. As intelligent as it is enjoyable * Daily Mail *It's a proper novel. By which I mean, not that it has pages you actually turn - that is optional with novels nowadays - but pages that you actually want to turn, which is getting rarer and rarer.... Charming, gently comedic, sweetly nerdy and enthusiastic about media both old and new * Irish Times *Rollicking... an ode to the beauty of dead-tree books * New York Times *Delightful... Smart, hip and witty * Washington Post *The pages swell with Mr Sloan's nerdy affection and youthful enthusiasm for both tangible books and new media... A clever and whimsical tale with a big heart * The Economist *
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Penguin Books Ltd The Lily of Ludgate Hill
Book SynopsisA sizzling historical romance perfect for all fans of Bridgerton and Jilly CooperFortune favours the bold. But is Lady Anne daring enough to accept a favour from a wicked gentleman? Lady Anne Deveril has voluntarily renounced any fanciful notions of love and marriage. And yet, fate now puts Anne back into the entirely too enticing path of Mr. Felix Hartford. The youthful torch Hart once held for Anne has long since cooled. Or so he keeps telling himself. But now Anne needs a favour. Hart will play along with her little ruse - on the condition that Anne attends his grandfather''s country estate. Away from society, Anne makes the tantalising discovery that beneath the roguish exterior is a man with hidden depths, scorching passions - and a tender heart.A fun, romantic slow-burn love story that you won''t be able to put down, The Lily of Ludgate Hill is one of the Belles of London tales readers can''t help falling in love
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Vintage Publishing Highway Blue: the must-read modern-day Bonnie and
Book Synopsis'Holds you captive like a blues song' Olivia SudjicIn San Padua you can never get the ocean out of your brain. Anne Marie's husband Cal left her on their first anniversary. Two years later and she is still adrift, living a precarious life of shift work and shared apartments. When he shows up on the doorstep, clearly in trouble, she reluctantly agrees to a drink. But later that night a gun goes off in an alley near the shore and the young couple flee together, crammed into a beat-up car with their broken past, desperate to fill their lives on this long stretch of road under hot skies. ______________________PRAISE FOR HIGHWAY BLUE'Poignant, moving and cinematic' An Yu'Beautiful' Observer'Unforgettable' Elaine Feeney'Gripping' StylistTrade ReviewPoignant, moving, and cinematic, this is a story imbued with love and loss that feels at once distantly dreamlike and vividly recognisable. * An Yu, author of BRAISED PORK *Highway Blue is a beautiful, inspired rendering of the on-the-road journey. At its core is an unforgettable protagonist in Anne Marie. McFarlane has written an irresistible story of love and life's meanderings. A very gifted writer, I was entranced. * Elaine Feeney, author of AS YOU WERE *Ailsa McFarlane's prose combines the razor sharp truth telling of Ottessa Moshfegh with the troubled heart of Raymond Carver, using plain language to conjure a shockingly intense way of seeing. I've never read anything quite like it. * Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of THE THIRD RAINBOW GIRL *I loved Highway Blue - a dark, glimmering, journey deep into modern America on a knife edge between love and dependence. * Rosie Price, author of WHAT RED WAS *Hypnotic, stylish, cinematic: Highway Blue holds you captive like a blues song or incantation. * Olivia Sudjic, author of ASYLUM ROAD *
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Sourcebooks, Inc The Book Woman's Daughter: A Novel
Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!"A powerful portrait of the courageous women who fought against ignorance, misogyny, and racial prejudice." -William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land and Lightning StrikeThe new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek!Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.Picking up her mother's old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn't need anyone telling her how to survive. But the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren't as keen to let a woman pave her own way.If Honey wants to bring the freedom books provide to the families who need it most, she's going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.Praise for The Book Woman's Daughter:"In Kim Michele Richardson's beautifully and authentically rendered The Book Woman's Daughter she once again paints a stunning portrait of the raw, somber beauty of Appalachia, the strong resolve of remarkable women living in a world dominated by men, and the power of books and sisterhood to prevail in the harshest circumstances. A critical and profoundly important read for our time. Badassery womanhood at its best!"-Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants"Fierce, beautiful and inspirational, Kim Michele Richardson has created a powerful tale about brave extraordinary heroines who are downright haunting and unforgettable."-Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden ParkTrade Review"In Kim Michele Richardson's beautifully and authentically rendered The Book Woman's Daughter she once again paints a stunning portrait of the raw, somber beauty of Appalachia, the strong resolve of remarkable women living in a world dominated by men, and the power of books and sisterhood to prevail in the harshest circumstances. A critical and profoundly important read for our time. Badassery womanhood at its best!" - Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants"Fierce, beautiful and inspirational, Kim Michele Richardson has created a powerful tale about brave extraordinary heroines who are downright haunting and unforgettable." - Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park"A mesmerizing and beautifully rendered Appalachian tale of strong women, bravery, and resilience, told through the eyes of a new heroine reminiscent of Harper Lee's own Scout Finch." - Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of One Foot in Eden and Serena
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Bad Dirt
Book SynopsisA remarkable collection of short stories set in Wyoming from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ‘The Shipping News’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’.Trade Review‘Proulx writes in wonderful stews, everything thrown in together…the stories demand a second reading.’ Daily Telegraph ‘Her keen eye for idiosyncrasy ensures her continuing reputation as one of the shrewdest chroniclers of contemporary America.’ David Robson, Sunday Telegraph ‘Vivid and evocative…as [the stories] gather force, you find yourself being drawn in to their momentum.’ Financial Times ‘Proulx['s]…stories’ sour sometimes brutal folksiness gains a singular resonance from the fine, sinewy prose in which they are rendered.’ The Times ‘Packed with grittily persuasive detail, they feel both modern and as timeless as the Wyoming plains.’ Marie Claire ‘Performs inspired imaginative feats.’ Alex Clark, Sunday Times
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Hidden Secrets of Bumblebee Cottage
Book SynopsisLove Heart Lane where friends are there for you no matter what A new startWhen Jinny Birdwhistle is pushed over the edge one time too many times and quits her job as a tabloid journalist, an impromptu and rather unconventional job search leads her to a new house, car, and career making honey and chutney in the small Scottish village of Heartcross. And with handsome beekeeper Gabe Warner to help her learn the ropes, she's ready to embrace country girl life' and leave the past behind her.uncovers an old secretYet there's more to strong and silent Gabe than meets the eye and though Jinny planned to leave her journalistic instincts in London, she can't help doing a little digging. Now, as she uncovers a mystery that links to her own history, Jinny realises that you can't outrun the truth and the only way to move forward is to face the past. But now that she's at home in Heartcross, she won't have to do it aloneReaders can't get enough of the Loveheart Lane series:Christie Barlow has fasTrade Review‘Christie Barlow is one of the best writers in this genre’ Lorraine Rugman – The Book Review Café ‘Christie is an immensely talented author with the ability to spin words into heart-warming comedy gold’ Caroline Mitchell #1 bestselling author ‘Well-observed, highly-relatable and wickedly-funny’ Sunday Times bestseller Cathy Bramley ‘There’s always love, laughter and a happy-ever-after with Christie Barlow’s books!’ Mandy Baggot ‘What I absolutely love about the authors books is her attention to her characters, they are a joy to read about. they are so well developed by the end of the book you really do feel you are saying “goodbye” to old friends’ Lorraine Rugman – The Book Review Café
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HarperCollins Publishers Everything the Light Touches
Book SynopsisA novel like none other' AMITAV GHOSHA masterpiece' AVNI DOSHIWise, funny, touching' ROBERT MACFARLANEWinner, Sushila Devi 2023Winner, Atta Galatta 2023 for Best FictionWinner, AutHer Award 2023 for FictionFinalist, Tata Live Award for Fiction 2023Longlisted, 2023 JCB Prize for LiteratureShortlisted, Valley of Words Awards 2023 for English FictionABest Book of 2022 in The New YorkerFour lives, uniquely linked, in a story that journeys across continents and centuriesFor Shai, lost and drifting, a visit to her hometown in India's Northeast offers the possibility of new ways of living.For Evelyn, a Cambridge student, scientific inspiration guides her to the forests of the lower Himalayas and a world she has only read about.For Johann, a German writer, travelling through Italy inspires him to develop ground-breaking ideas that will cement his place in history.And for a young Swede, an unwavering curiosity for Earth's natural wonders takes him on an expedition that will forever alter the waTrade Review‘Wise, funny, touching, wide-ranging, deep-delving; whip-smart dialogue and graceful, paced sentences, thousands upon thousands of them. Written by a novelist with the eye of a poet, and a poet with the narrative powers of a novelist, this is a book that needed to be written, that tells true things, and is entirely its own being’ Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland ‘A novel like none other: Janice Pariat brings vividly to life a conception of plants as beings endowed with a powerful inner vitality’ Amitav Ghosh, author of The Glass Palace ‘Pariat traverses the inherent dignity of life in all its forms and the conflict between doing and being that is alive in all of us. Timely and timeless – a masterpiece and an absolute thrill to read’ Avni Doshi, Booker-shortlisted author of Burnt Dugar ‘A novel of great charm, curiosity and adventure – a passionate call for shaking up the certainties of science and history so as to heed the intuitions and instincts that perhaps only fiction can give voice to’ Anjum Hasan, author of A Day in the Life ‘Everything the Light Touches weaves the timelessness of nature and the urgency of human emotions into an elegiac tale that is evocative, intelligent and deeply thought-provoking. A seminal work by a novelist and a poet at the height of her powers’ Pranay Lal, author of Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent ‘As the reader journeys through this atmospheric and accomplished novel, they discover that the natural world around us is loud enough for those willing to listen, and Pariat has found the language for it’ The Guardian ‘A multi-generational epic’ Cosmopolitan ‘Pariat’s sonorous lyricism is beautiful’ The Daily Mail ‘A marvel of a novel – poignant and poetic’ Woman & Home ‘Lyrical and immersive’ Woman’s Weekly ‘Impressive’ Katherine Mezzacappa
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HarperCollins Publishers The Runaway Bride
Book SynopsisOnly the boldest of ladies risks her heart and her reputation . . .THE FIRST BOOK IN THE STATELY SCANDALS SERIES1826. At first sight, Ellen Turner does not seem the type to elope with a stranger. So when the young heriess vanishes from her boarding school in the arms of the rugged scoundrel Edward Wakefield, and the pair are sighted in a carriage racing from Gretna Green to the Port of Dover, her virtue becomes the subject of hot public debate.In the ensuing court case, Ellen keeps a cool head. Until she discovers who is judging the trial her mortifyingly handsome and charming neighbour, Thomas Legh of Lyme Park.Ellen faces a choice. To pursue the husband of her dreams would mean risking everything. But when a lady's reputation already lies in tatters, what has she to lose?Inspired by the incredible true story of romance, subterfuge and intrigue, The Runaway Bride will whisk you away on the escapade that was Lyme Park's greatest scandal.* * *The Stately Scandals series is a brand new Trade Review READERS ARE LOVING THE RUNAWAY BRIDE ‘A delightful story. The romance was beautiful’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Great cast of characters and a remarkable storyline. This was the perfect escape read’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The Waves Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.There was a star riding through clouds one night, and I said to the star, Consume me'Six friends traverse the uneven road of life together in Virginia Woolf's most unconventional classic. Bernard, Jinny, Louis, Neville, Rhoda and Susan first meet as children by the sea, and their lives are forever changed.A poetic novel written in a lyrical way only Woolf could master, these narrators face both triumph and tragedy that touches them all. Throughout their lives, they examine the relationship between past and present, and the meaning of life itself.A landmark of innovative fiction and the most experimental of Virginia Woolf's novels, The Waves is still regarded as one of the greatest works ever written in the English language.
£7.59
HarperCollins Publishers The Christmas Trip
Book SynopsisFall in love with the brand new Christmas romance from bestselling author, Sandy Barker????? I love Sandy Barker's stories. Modern romances with a bit of heat but a lot of love and plenty of hiccups along the way' NetGalley reviewerA great romantic escape 5 stars from me! Julie HoustonAnother year has passed and it's Christmas again. This year best friends Chloe, Jules and Lucy are all loved up but living worlds apart.Chloe is madly in love with her celebrity beau, Archer, but after a whirlwind year in Hollywood's limelight, she's desperate to get away and spend some quality time together.Jules loves her Melbourne life and gorgeous winemaker Matt but a crowded flat share has her longing for a place of her own.Meanwhile, Lucy is stuck in a long distance relationship, jetting back and forth between Colorado and London to see Will.When Archer's plan to whisk Chloe to Paris goes awry, he surprises her by bringing her friends together for a Christmas to rememberThe perfect feel-good holi
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HarperCollins Publishers The Lost Wife
Book SynopsisThe brand new edge-of-your-seat thriller from the bestselling author of The Girl UpstairsYou always underestimated me and I always overestimated you.Maybe that was our problem.A woman and a child arrive at a cottage in the Peak District in the dead of night.Alone. Desperate. Hunted.She knows they're coming for her. It's only a matter of time.Because her husband kept a secret from her. Until he was ready to destroy her.Now, it's her turn.Twisty and exciting, this taut thriller grabbed me from the first page and then it just kept getting better and better.The Lost Wife is the new jaw-dropping domestic suspense thriller from bestseller Georgina Lees, a scintillating story of a husband's secret and a wife's vengeance that will seep into your soul like a love song you'd rather forget.Readers love The Lost Wife:Twisty and exciting, this taut thriller grabbed me from the first page and then it just kept getting better and better.' ?????Fantastic book! Big praise to the author because I did not see that coming! Fantastic plot and well written. Could not put it down.' ?????Well this book blew my mind. I was reading it thinking what horrific event had led to this woman and her son running abused and bleeding from her own wedding and then what transpired was a story of obsession, lies and control and a twist that knocked me for six. I loved it.' ?????This is my first time reading a book by Georgina Lees and all I can say is WOW! From cover to cover, I was hooked.' ?????This story kept me guessing till the very end and intrigued me completely.' ????I thoroughly enjoyed piecing this thrilling mystery together. Nothing was as it seemed and the reveals became more shocking than the last. An addicting page turner.' ????What a twisty story! I genuinely had no idea how this was going to end! A dark domestic thriller, where nobody is who they seem. Easily Ms. Lees' best one yet.' ?????Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat.' ?????Trade Review‘Compelling, heartbreaking and beautifully written. This superb thriller will stay in my mind for a very long time’ B P Walter, Sunday Times-bestselling author of The Dinner Guest
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