Search results for ""fairlight books""

May of Teck, only daughter of a noble family fallen from grace, has been selected to marry the troublesome Prince Eddy, heir to the British throne. Submitting to the wishes of Queen Victoria and under pressure from her family, young May agrees. But just as a spark of love and devotion arises between the young couple, Prince Eddy dies of influenza. To her horror, May discovers she is to be married to the brother, Georgie, instead, a cold and domineering man. But what can she do? From the author of The Prince of Mirrors comes this gripping account of the life of Queen Mary, one of the most formidable queens of Britain.

Read more less

When Tito is a child, his grandmother teaches him how to weave magic around the ones you love in order to keep them close. She is the master and he is the pupil, exasperating Tito's put-upon mother who, although exhausted from working long hours, is usually the focus of their mischief. As Tito grows older and his grandmother's mind becomes less sound, their games take a dangerous turn. They both struggle with a particular spell, one that creates an illusion of illness to draw in love. But as the lines between magic and childish tales blur, so too do those between fantasy and reality. In this beautifully told drama of the bond between grandson and grandmother, JT Torres delicately explores the complexities of family bonds - in which love is need, and need becomes manipulation, along with the pain and difficulties of dementia and mental ill health.

Read more less

Helen Stancey's debut collection of short stories more than rivals her well-received novels, Words and Common Ground. The Madonna of the Pool is a fantastic collection of short stories which explore the triumphs, compromises and quiet disappointments of everyday life. Drawing on a wide array of characters, Helen Stancey shows how small events, insignificant to some, can resonate deeply in the lives of others. Richly poetic, deeply moving and entirely engaging, these short stories demonstrate an exquisite understanding of human adaptation, endurance and, most of all, optimism.

Read more less

Once there was a street in Paris and it was called the Street of Tailors. This was years back, in the blue mists of memory. Now it's the 1950s and Henri is the last tailor on the street. With meticulous precision he takes the measurements of men and notes them down in his leather-bound ledger. He draws on the cloth with a blue chalk, cuts the pieces and sews them together. When the suit is done, Henri adds a finishing touch: a blue Tekhelet thread hidden in the trousers somewhere, for luck. One day, the renowned French artist Yves Klein walks into the shop, and orders a suit. Set in Paris, this atmospheric tale delicately intertwines three connected narratives and timelines, interspersed with observations of the colour blue. It is a meditation on truth and lies, memory and time and thought. It is a leap of the imagination, a leap into the void.

Read more less

Longlisted for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2019, The Republic of Consciousness Prize 2019 and The People's Book Prize 2018. 'Enjoyable to read' - Dolly Alderton, The High Low. When Alina's brother-in-law defects to the West, she and her husband become persons of interest to the secret services, causing both of their careers to come grinding to a halt. As the strain takes its toll on their marriage, Alina turns to her aunt for help - the wife of a communist leader and a secret practitioner of the old folk ways. Set in 1970s communist Romania, this novella-in-flash draws upon magic realism to weave a tale of everyday troubles that can't be put down. 'A story to savour, to smile at, to rage against and to weep over.' - Zoe Gilbert, author of 'Folk'

Read more less

'You go too far, my friend. You are near dangerous ground.' Neil Fischer is travelling to a village in East Germany that he has unexpectedly inherited - his father's former hometown of Marschwald. Knowing it has been left to deteriorate for decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Neil is determined to restore the derelict village to its former glory, as his demanding late father would surely have wanted. But when he arrives, he is met with hostility, mistrust and underlying menace. His only friend in Marschwald is Silke, who is coming to terms with her traumatic experiences during the Cold War and has recently uncovered a shocking truth. As tensions rise, a series of surreal encounters force Neil to contend with his own troubled past - but in his present, all signs point to danger.

Read more less

Recently bereaved Jamie is staying at a rural steading in the heart of Scotland with his actor boyfriend Alex. The sudden loss of both of Jamie’s parents hangs like a shadow over the trip. In his grief, Jamie finds himself sifting through bittersweet memories, from his working-class upbringing in Edinburgh to his bohemian twenties in London, with a growing awareness of his sexuality threaded through these formative years. In the present, when Alex is called away to an audition, Jamie can no longer avoid the pull of the past: haunted by an inescapable failure to share his full self with his parents, he must confront his unresolved feelings towards them. In spare, evocative prose, Allan Radcliffe tells a wistful coming-of-age story and paints a tender portrait of grief in all its complexities.

Read more less

England, 1926. Lady Isobel Farrar, an ageing widow with a colourful past, has returned home after years of living abroad. As she moves back into Halcyon Hill, her beloved country house, she finds herself dwelling on a long-buried secret. In the wake of a terrible tragedy when she was young, Isobel gave up a child for adoption, and now she can't help but wonder what became of him. Life has not been kind to Frank Brodie. Cruelly mistreated by his adoptive parents, he spent his young adulthood struggling to survive on the harsh streets of London, before the Great War took him away to the trenches. Now he has found safety with Arthur, an older man who loves and protects him. But something is still missing from Frank's life. When mother and son are finally reunited, will they be able to lay the past to rest?

Read more less

North-east India, 1945. Tensions are rising, but fourteen-year-old Joya doesn't pay much attention to 'political business' - she is more concerned with doing well at school and having fun with her best friends. Yet when her father disappears without a trace, Joya's life falls apart. Forced to drop out of school and support her mother by working in a garment factory, she refuses to accept that her father is gone forever, spending her nights sewing him a suit from scraps of fine material. But as political unrest grows and rumours of corruption spread, Joya questions the true nature of her father's disappearance. And who is the sinister figure known only as the two-tailed snake?

Read more less

Photography led guide to plastic free gardening. Includes extensive guidance and tips on how to create and maintain a beautiful flower garden and productive vegetable plot whilst helping to combat plastic pollution.

Read more less

'There's a gap where my sense of place should be. It's quite a useful one sometimes. It allows me to sit on the cusp of an opinion.' Following a move to the Netherlands, a young woman dissects the developments of her new life: awkward exchanges with the people she meets, days spent alone freelancing in her apartment, her confrontation with boredom and unease. In her newfound isolation, she develops an unusual friendship with Colette, a woman she neither likes nor can keep away from. As her feelings of dislocation grow, larger anxieties about her purpose - or lack of it - begin to encroach. And underneath it all, a burgeoning frustration bubbles. Intimate, incisive and brilliantly observed, Temper explores loneliness, self-worth and disconnection with head-nodding accuracy.

Read more less

WHAT CAN SEE WATCHES, WHAT CAN HEAR LISTENS - the gripping first instalment of the Kanha and Colbey Thriller series. When Chief Whip Esme Kanha learns of the sudden death of the Minister for Personal Information, she bitterly regrets missing his desperate calls the previous evening. Unconvinced by the verdict of suicide, and suspicious that corrupt colleagues played some part in the man's death, she decides to investigate - but she must tread carefully in a near-future world dominated by technology, where 'what can see watches, what can hear listens, and what can be followed is tracked'. Meanwhile, Big Tech executive Henri Lauvaux arrives in London. His mission: to ensure the new minister, Harry Colbey, will not prove as problematic as the last. As the West inexorably slides towards an Orwellian 'Big Brother' future, Harry Colbey and Esme Kanha join forces in a deadly cat-and-mouse game against political corruption - at great cost to themselves.

Read more less

Recently bereaved Jamie is staying at a rural steading in the heart of Scotland with his actor boyfriend Alex. The sudden loss of both of Jamie's parents hangs like a shadow over the trip. In his grief, Jamie finds himself sifting through bittersweet memories, from his working-class upbringing in Edinburgh to his bohemian twenties in London, with a growing awareness of his sexuality threaded through these formative years. In the present, when Alex is called away to an audition, Jamie can no longer avoid the pull of the past: haunted by an inescapable failure to share his full self with his parents, he must confront his unresolved feelings towards them. In spare, evocative prose, Allan Radcliffe tells a wistful coming-of-age story and paints a tender portrait of grief in all its complexities.

Read more less

Britain is fast becoming one of the world's most exciting wine regions. In this guide, wine expert and photographer Ed Dallimore provides detailed notes on the best vineyards, wineries and wines of Britain, all accompanied by his gorgeous photography. Ed lets you into his secrets about where to go for cellar door sales, explores which wines are being produced in which regions, and shares insights into hidden gems to seek out and try. A comprehensive guide to the vineyards, wineries and wines of Britain, from award-winning producers creating world-class sparkling whites to up-and-coming winemakers surprising the world with the diversity and quality of their wines.

Read more less

Rural Cyprus, 1925. Despo is recently married, heavily pregnant and deeply afraid. The twelve days of Christmas are beginning - the time when, according to local folklore, creatures known as kalikantzari come up from Hell to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, her husband Loukas has troubles of his own. Struggling with dreams and desires he doesn't understand, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to an Englishman, a newcomer to the island. In a village wreathed in superstition, Despo and Loukas must protect themselves and their unborn child from ominous forces at play.

Read more less

In this bittersweet and hauntingly surreal tale, a couple finds the distance between them mirrored in a strange epidemic sweeping the globe. Little by little, each victim becomes transparent, their heart beating behind a visible rib cage, an intricate network of nerves left hanging in mid-air. Finally, the victims disappear entirely, never to be seen again.

Read more less

It's 1970s Canada. The small island community of Bear Lake is awash with rumours of layoffs and wildcat strikes at the mill. But for young Tom, nothing is more important than hanging out with his best friend, Cormic, except perhaps catching a glimpse of Sasha Dovonovitch, the foreman's daughter. When a tragic accident occurs at the mill, the whole community unites - but in a small town, pointed fingers and hushed gossip can only stir further trouble...

Read more less

Bookshop Tours of Britain is a slow-travel guide to Britain, navigating bookshop to bookshop. Across 18 bookshop tours, the reader journeys from the Jurassic Coast of southwest England, over the mountains of Wales, through England's industrial heartland, up to the Scottish Highlands and back via Whitby, the Norfolk Broads, central London, the South Downs and Hardy's Wessex. On their way, the tours visit beaches, castles, head down coal mines, go to whiskey distilleries, bird watching, hiking, canoeing, to stately homes and the houses of some of Britain's best-loved historic writers - and last but not least, a host of fantastic bookshops.

Read more less

In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, Sarah travels back to her home town with her young son. Delays and diversions take Sarah on an emotional journey as she's forced to return to well-known places echoing with painful memories from her youth. Set in the wild, beautiful and unreliable landscape of southern New Zealand, Emma Timpany's novella is an evocative story of a woman coming to terms with her past and forging a brighter future. 'A tour de force of imagery and emotion.' - Clio Gray, author of 'The Anatomist's Dream'

Read more less

Kit is waiting expectantly for life to begin. Orphaned as a young child, he recoils from his adoptive parents' mundane existence, drawn instead to the bohemian world of his Uncle Col and Col's charismatic wife Marianne. Amid the permissive atmosphere of Erringby, Marianne's rambling family mansion, Kit becomes increasingly obsessed with his aunt. One debauched summer, the eighteen-year-old Kit wakes to find himself in bed with Marianne. But what happened? And who is his sudden mysterious benefactor? As Kit grapples with the ramifications of that night, he, Marianne and Col find their lives spiralling out of control. Unfolding against the changing cultural landscape of the seventies, eighties and nineties, 'Erringby' is a captivating coming-of-age novel with echoes of 'Great Expectations'.

Read more less

Eight year old Pepper sees the world a little differently from most people. One day, during a school field trip, Pepper is kidnapped by a stranger and driven to rural Arkansas. The man, who calls himself 'Uncle Dan', claims that Pepper's mother has died and they are to live together from now on - but the boy isn't convinced. Pepper always found it hard to figure out when people are lying, but he's absolutely certain his mother is alive, and he's going to find her...

Read more less

Theoretically there has never been a better time to become a published writer. But for anyone looking to venture into today's publishing landscape, it can be a daunting prospect - self-publish? Look for an agent? Go direct to an indie publisher? And what exactly is digital-first publishing? 'How to Be Published' is the first book to offer an unbiased guide to the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing, along with all the myriad options in between - helping an author navigate the complex world of publishing and find the best path for them, their book and their writing aspirations.

Read more less

'Did you hear Amy has heartbreak?! What bad luck to catch it right at the end of winter.' When Ziella Bryars was in the midst of heartbreak, a conversation with her neuroscientist best friend changed everything. Frustrated by unhelpful advice from magazines and rom-coms, Ziella began diving deep into the latest scientific research to help her understand the pain of heartbreak and find a route to recovery. This warm and witty self-help book outlines the impact a relationship break-up has on our brains and bodies, and explores how a science-based approach can help us heal. Ziella passes on what she learned about how a broken heart can affect everything from our sleep to our digestion; how rejection is represented in the brain in the same way as physical pain; how the brain processes loss; and how a break-up can trigger addiction-like withdrawal symptoms - plus tips for counteracting heartbreak and moving on to acceptance.

Read more less

She bought a house where you can hear the sea, murmuring on the edge of consciousness... Bonnie, a traumatised concert pianist, finds refuge at the edge of England, in a cliff-top house haunted by memories and broken dreams. When Dominic, a road sweeper who is visited by neurological hauntings of his own, gives Bonnie a ring he finds on the street, elemental forces are unleashed that neither is able to control.

Read more less

WHAT IF YOU COULD BE SOMEBODY ELSE? Lou Gilmond's stunning debut literary mystery novel. It's 1960s Mallorca and Thomas Sebastian is an English conman on the run. Hoping to evade his creditors, he's taken an old Spanish finca as his hideout. He discovers the house untouched since the death of its last owner, the renowned and distinguished Senyor Rodriguez - with fine art on the walls, a library of books and cellar full of wine. Thomas slips easily into his new life - walking, reading and drinking; falling in love with his neighbour, the beautiful but impossibly young Isabella Ferretti. But when he puts on Rodriguez's white linen suit and heads into the city, things get a little out of hand... This literary mystery novel is a riotous tale of excess, desire and greed, set in a sultry Spanish island summer of 1964. Lou Gilmond's prose at times crackles with wit and at others is stomach-heavy with sensuality. Through it all, Thomas is thrilling if feverish company.

Read more less

'What were we, then, if 'English' was a prize out of our reach and 'Tunisian' was the mask we wore at home?' Growing up in London with Tunisian parents, wayward Nessie finds herself caught between cultures. Her parents don't want her becoming too English, while at school she doesn't feel 'white enough' or 'African enough' to fit in with any group. She even has multiple names: Nesrine officially, Susu to her family, Nessie to everyone else. And then there's Mrs Brown: a charismatic woman who befriends her parents and soon becomes the glue holding their dysfunctional family together. Yet after a catastrophic betrayal, Mrs Brown abruptly disappears from their lives. Years later, Nessie seeks independence but struggles to escape a pattern of self-sabotage. As unsolved family mysteries resurface, she begins to wonder: what really happened between her parents and Mrs Brown?

Read more less

'Who is to say dreams are insubstantial when whole lives can be lived in their pursuit?' When an office worker receives a mysterious device promising to transport her to a parallel universe, she assumes it is just another marketing stunt. That night, she visits a fantastical place in her dreams; on waking she returns to her normal life, only to return to the same dream the following night. At first she finds the ongoing dreams bizarre, but the more time she spends in the dream world, the less she wants to wake up. Yet as her fantasy begins to encroach on her waking life, dream and reality collide with drastic consequences. With sharp insight, wry humour and Black Mirror-esque themes, Red Dust, White Snow highlights the blurring of reality and fantasy in our increasingly virtual world.

Read more less