Search results for ""Loft""
Quercus Publishing Making Things Right: A Master Carpenter at Work
A celebration of good craftsmanship by a Norwegian master carpenter - the anatomy of a job well done."An enriching and poetic tribute to manual labour" Karl Ove Knausgård"In Thorstensen's skilled hands, the everyday story of a suburban loft conversion is turned into an urgent study on the value of doing good work. It should be widely read." Robert Penn - author of The Man Who Made Things Out of TreesThis is, quite simply, the story of a loft conversion. It is also a book about work and identity, about collaboration and pride in skilled craftsmanship, and about what it means to make things with your hands in a consumerism-driven world. A master carpenter and builder with thirty years' experience, Thorstensen gives a matter-of-fact, reflective voice to the workers who construct our living spaces and our urban environment. He looks upon his tools as an important part of himself and as a reflection of his respect for his trade, and he addresses the gulf in understanding and communication between skilled craftsmen and "academic" workers. From the moment of a client's phone call to their occupation of a newly constructed living space, Making Things Right tracks the project as it takes shape: the delicate negotiation to establish an optimum plan; the collaboration with a trusted team of specialist painters, plasterers, plumbers, electricians; the handling of materials; the blood, sweat and frustration involved in doing a job well. Why is it that manual skills are underestimated? After all, working with your hands gives you time to think. With all its practical detail, Making Things Right is the simple philosophy of a working life.Will interest readers of The Craftsman by Richard Sennett: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees by Robert Penn; Do No Harm by James Marsh and A Shepherd's Life by James RebanksTranslated from the Norwegian by Sean Kinsella
£9.99
Globe Pequot Press Dimes Square and Other Plays
The 2022 underground hit Dimes Square announced Matthew Gasda as the Chekhov of New York City's downtown scene, the theatrical chronicler of a self-chronicling generation, as well as a young dramatist of lasting power and impressive range. Self-produced, performed in loft apartments and other nontraditional spaces, Dimes enjoyed a month's long, sold-out run at a time when most larger, institutional theaters were still finding their footing post-pandemic. Matt's meteoric rise over the past two years has been greeted with profiles in The New York Times, reviews in New York magazine and Spike, publication in Air Mail, mentions in Vanity Fair, and a host of blogs and podcasts where he has become the subject of heated debate. Matthew's work has become synonymous with post-Covid literary culture, not merely in terms of coverage and the endlessly productive conversation around it but also in terms of creating a new social space populated by leading thinkers and writers. This collection contains the plays Dimes Square, Quartet, Berlin Story, and Minotaur.
£17.99
SPCK Publishing Less is More: Spirituality for Busy Lives
Brian Draper was tired of feeling tired; "life in its fullness" felt like a life crammed full of stuff, and no more. "I don't want to be the kind of father who turns up late and exhausted for his children's school concert and sits at the back fiddling with a Blackberry, distracted, vacant. I want to be THERE, in the front row, fully present." Drawing on the guidance of Christian wisdom, he began to notice opportunities, day to day, to reduce the quantity, and increase the quality of life - to make room for his soul. LESS IS MORE distils a wonderful spiritual principle which is especially significant at this point in history, when time is limited and money is in short supply. Chapters include: Clearing the loft - literally and spiritually; Using your senses to savour what is free; Finding rhythm; Giving freely; Expressing yourself.
£8.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Scent of Death: Harry Treadaway is Dr David Hunter: the darkly compelling new TV series ‘The Chemistry of Death’ – streaming now on Paramount+
* Don't miss 'THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH' TV SERIES - now streaming on Paramount+ * Adapted from The Chemistry of Death and Written in Bone - starring Harry Treadaway as Dr David Hunter'A superbly strong read' The Times What began as a straightforward case is about to become a twisted nightmare . . . Once a busy hospital, St Jude's now stands derelict, awaiting demolition.When a partially mummified corpse is found in the building's cavernous loft, forensics expert Dr David Hunter is called in to take a look. He can't say how long the body's been there, but he is certain it's that of a young woman. And that she was pregnant.Then part of the attic floor collapses, revealing another of the hospital's secrets: a bricked-up chamber with beds inside. And some of them are still occupied.And it soon becomes clear that St Jude's hasn't claimed its last victim . . .Chilling, visceral and masterfully paced, Simon Beckett's new crime thriller will leave you gasping.
£9.04
Bonnier Books Ltd Connection is a Song
'I love this book!' SARAH CRACKNELL, SAINT ETIENNE'Poignant and wonderfully warm' CATHY NEWMAN, CHANNEL 4 NEWS'Shows us how music has the power to change everything' JUDE ROGERSIt is 1994. In a loft bedroom in North Yorkshire, fifteen-year-old Anna sits on the carpet immersed in the pages of Smash Hits, listening to cassette tapes that she keeps in a shoebox. She is dreaming of living inside the songs. The very same year, British music is about to be transformed and will leap from pop to rave to Britpop. This new universe will change Anna's life.Connection is a Song is a journey through the sounds of the 1990s; the story of a life-defining love of music and the tracks that shaped this girl's adventures through the decade. It travels from the impossibly mournful 'Nothing Compares 2 U' by Sinead O'Connor to the delirium of the KLF's '3 a.m. Eternal' via the
£19.80
Duke University Press Bloodflowers: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Photography, and the 1980s
In Bloodflowers W. Ian Bourland examines the photography of Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955–1989), whose art is a touchstone for cultural debates surrounding questions of gender and queerness, race and diaspora, aesthetics and politics, and the enduring legacy of slavery and colonialism. Born in Nigeria, Fani-Kayode moved between artistic and cultural worlds in Washington, DC, New York, and London, where he produced the bulk of his provocative and often surrealist and homoerotic photographs of black men. Bourland situates Fani-Kayode's work in a time of global transition and traces how it exemplified and responded to profound social, cultural, and political change. In addition to his formal analyses of Fani-Kayode's portraiture, Bourland outlines the important influence that surrealism, neo-Romanticism, Yoruban religion, the AIDS crisis, experimental film, loft culture, and house and punk music had on Fani-Kayode's work. In so doing, Bourland offers new perspectives on a pivotal artist whose brief career continues to resonate with deep aesthetic and social meaning.
£87.30
Taschen GmbH Interiors Now! 40th Ed.
With an inspirational richness and diversity of styles, these homes, residences, hideaways, and studios will astound and astonish, no matter the taste; be it rustic country cottage, New York–style loft, or bohemian bungalow. This survey of contemporary interior design carefully curates homes from all over the world—from Auckland, New Zealand, to Avignon, France. Mapped out through hundreds of images by renowned interior photographers, these gorgeous houses offer inspiration and ideas for your next renovation. Many of the selected homes are owned by creatives—designers, filmmakers, and collectors—whose eye for the perfect synthesis of interior elements is impressive, to say the least. Bringing together wallpaper, furniture, textiles, and objet d’art while cautiously balancing color, texture, and form, the creators of these dynamic spaces practice an art form of their own. Eclectic or minimal, antique or extra-modern, this variety of decor locates contemporary style in all its manifestations, showcasing the endless possibilities and home-making magic of interior design.
£25.42
Rizzoli International Publications Roman And Williams Buildings and Interiors: Things We Made
For their tenth anniversary, the design studio Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors presents projects that blend the spirit of our collective history with a modernist edge. Roman and Williams’s style honors craftsmanship, the use of natural materials, and the overlooked in unexpected ways. Their understated, glamorous sensibility is imparted in Manhattan’s Ace Hotel interiors and restaurant The Breslin, The Standard Hotel, with its iconic Boom Boom Room, and the Royalton lobby. For such popular restaurants as The Dutch, the duo created environments with textured backdrops that reference a rich past with a contemporary sensibility. Their innovative work has captured the attention of firms such as Facebook—they recently completed its campus food hall—and their residences for celebrities such as Ben Stiller and Gwyneth Paltrow are equally imaginative. This book surveys the firm’s prestige projects, presented with Alesch’s architectural hand drawings and sketches and detailed views. Also included is their loft and Montauk home, which serve as design laboratories, and a collection of furnishings and fixtures.
£58.39
Profile Books Ltd The Resident
'Disturbing, blackly funny and completely compulsive' - ALEX NORTH 'a SERIOUSLY creepy thriller. I may never venture into the loft again' - MARK BILLINGHAM 'A brilliantly chilling story with tension on every page' - T.M. LOGAN ________________________________________ THERE'S A SERIAL KILLER ON THE RUN AND HE'S HIDING IN YOUR HOUSE Thomas Brogan is a serial killer. With a trail of bodies in his wake and the police hot on his heels, it seems like Thomas has nowhere left to hide. That is until he breaks into an abandoned house at the end of a terrace on a quiet street. And when he climbs up into the loft, he realises that he can drop down into all the other houses through the shared attic space. That's when the real fun begins. Because the one thing that Thomas enjoys even more than killing is playing games with his victims - the lonely old woman, the bickering couple, the tempting young newlyweds. And his new neighbours have more than enough dark secrets to make this game his best one yet... Do you fear The Resident? Soon you'll be dying to meet him. ________________________________________ 'Brilliant. So twisted, clever and funny. Highly recommended' - MARK EDWARDS 'Dark and disturbing yet so absorbing. Jackson knows how to reel you in' - MEL SHERRATT 'A brilliantly creepy, edge-of-your-seat, tense thriller' - WILL CARVER 'Superb. Creepy, pacy, and oh so witty' - CAZ FREAR 'A chilling psycho thriller with a very novel twist' - PAUL FINCH 'Utterly compelling and impossible to put down. Incredible' - LUCA VESTE 'Twisted as hell. I loved it!' - MANDASUE HELLER 'Clever, addictive and brazenly terrifying. I slept with the lights on after reading this one' - CHRIS WHITAKER 'Darkly thrilling and utterly compulsive. A tour de force!' - VICTORIA SELMAN 'A devilishly dark, wickedly funny crime novel' - PAUL BURSTON 'I highly recommend this book, had me terrified. I'm never going in the attic again. Ever' - LISA HALL 'Menacing, disturbing, compelling and unique' ALEX SHAW 'I devoured this skin-crawling tale of your worst fears come true' SJI HOLLIDAY 'Breathtaking, engrossing and deliciously dark, I dare you to read The Resident and think differently' - STEPHEN EDGER
£12.99
Coffee House Press Thousand Star Hotel
Bao Phi brings people to poetry who might not be interested or otherwise find it accessible. Though Phi?s poems are incredibly tender; they are colored with first-hand accounts of oppression, discrimination, and blatant, even violent, racism. These poems confront the privilege of white Americans, institutionalized racism, and the often unseen or unacknowledged violence toward minority groups, particularly Asian Americans. Phi is a child of the late 70s and 80s, and an unapologetic nerd?Star Wars movies, sci fi, comics, old-school hip hop?and those enthusiasms provide moments of lightness in the manuscript. How do you learn to be a father, you've been violently removed from your home and the context of your community? These poems are Phi's way of addressing that question. Phi has an extraordinary following in the spoken word community, and his work at the Loft has made him a hero to many, especially young poets of color. A new book should be greeted with real enthusiasm from his substantial audience.
£13.19
Indiana University Press The Artstars: Stories
Enticing, heart wrenching, and darkly funny, the interconnected stories in The Artstars are set in creative communities—an art school, an illegal loft studio, a guerrilla street performance troupe—where teamwork and professional jealousy mix, and the artists grapple with economic realities and evolving expectations. A middle-aged poet, reeling from 9-11, fights homesickness, writer's block, and ladybugs at an artist's colony. A new empty-nester finds a creative outlet in her community garden, but gets tangled up in garden politics. As the characters pass through each other's stories, making messes and helping mop them up, some find inspiration in accidents; others are ready to quit art completely. Together, they stumble through the creative process, struggling to make art and find the spark of something new and original within themselves. In a world where the odds of becoming a star are nearly impossible, The Artstars tells the stories of those who dare to dream.
£15.99
Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd Retro Revival: Living with Mid-Century Design
Now that the vibrant colours and bold shapes of mid-century design are more popular than ever, Retro Revival offers a privileged glimpse into fabulous retro-inspired homes around the world. Our passion for retro style shows no signs of fading. From the cerebral elegance of mid-century modern and the spare simplicity of Scandinavian retro design to the flamboyant opulence of the 1970s, retro interiors still exert enormous appeal. In this glorious book, Andrew Weaving visits 17 inspiring and varied homes around the globe that showcase the Retro Revival style. Furniture by Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen and Le Corbusier mingles with textiles by Lucienne Day, lighting by Isamu Noguchi and ceramics by Russel Wright and Constance Spry. Take a tour of a minimalist loft in London and enjoy the colourful, playful chic of Palm Beach in the 1960s as you explore the many facets of a look that ranges from sophisticated glamour to pared-down elegance.
£22.50
Little, Brown Book Group Dead Air
'A deeply satirical and thought-provoking thriller' Sunday ExpressA couple of ice cubes, first, then the apple that really started it all. A loft apartment in London's East End; cool but doomed, demolition and redevelopment slated for the following week. Ken Nott, devoutly contrarian leftish shock-jock attending a mid-week wedding lunch, starts dropping stuff off the roof towards the deserted car park a hundred feet below. Other guests join in and soon half the contents of the flat are following the fruit towards the pitted tarmac... just as mobiles start to ring, and the apartment's remaining TV is turned on, because apparently a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center... Praise for Iain Banks:'The most imaginative novelist of his generation' The Times'His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers' Ken MacLeod, Guardian'His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent' Neil Gaiman'An exceptional wordsmith' Scotsman
£9.99
Little, Brown Book Group Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary
Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary is the diary of Sarah Shaw for the year of 1971, which she recently uncovered whilst clearing out her loft. Working as a secretary for the BBC at the time, Sarah's diary describes the life of a suburban girl who certainly wasn't 'swinging' but who was, ironically, not only working on a cutting edge BBC survey on sex education but also in the throes of an unlikely affair with middle-aged, working-class, Irish lift attendant, Frank.Sarah talks humorously and frankly about what it was like to be a young, working woman at the time as well as life at the BBC during the 1970s and the difficulties of navigating her first romance. She is funny and self-effacing with a self-knowledge that only few attain. Her innocence and naivety are hugely charming and the diary forms a valuable snapshot of a time not so far away that is now lost to us.
£8.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Kyan Green and the Infinity Racers
The first book in a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat adventure series from exciting debut author Colm Field. Fans of Danny Wallace, Ben Miller and Rob Biddulph's Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City will race through this epic adventure! Welcome, infinity racers! Prepare for an adventure that’s out of this world … and all of the others! When Kyan finds a battered old racing-car game in the loft, he doesn't believe the big claims written on the box. I mean, what kind of 'Infinite Race' only has seven pieces of track? So it comes as a shock when the game really does take him on the journey of a lifetime – through multiple universes! Whether he’s a space pilot on the trail of underwater aliens or an unwitting robber in a stolen police car, every adventure is more thrilling than the last. When he lands in a universe as a stunt driver racing for a million-pound prize, he thinks he’s found the way to save his family and their home. But the life of an infinity racer is about to prove much more dangerous than Kyan has bargained for …
£7.70
Museum of Modern Art Yoko Ono: One Woman Show 1960 -1971
Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960–1971 examines the beginnings of Ono’s extensive career, demonstrating her pioneering role in visual art, performance and music during the 1960s and early 1970s. The exhibition begins in New York in December 1960, where Ono initiated a performance series with La Monte Young in her Chambers Street loft. Over the course of the decade, Ono earned international recognition, staging Cut Piece in Tokyo and Kyoto in 1964, exhibiting at the Indica Gallery in London in 1966, and launching her global War is Over! campaign in 1969. Ono returned to New York in the early 1970s and organized an unsanctioned ‘one woman show’ at The Museum of Modern Art. Over forty years after Ono’s unofficial MoMA debut, the Museum will present its first exhibition dedicated exclusively to the artist’s work. The publication evaluates the broader cultural context of Ono’s early work and features five sections reflecting her geographic locations during this period and the corresponding evolution of her artistic practice. Each chapter includes an introduction written by a guest scholar, artwork descriptions, new interviews with key figures from the time, and a selection of primary documents culled from newspapers, magazines and journals.
£34.20
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc The Song of the Machine: From Disco to DJs to Techno, a Graphic Novel of Electronic Music
Originally published in 2000 by Éditions Allia in France, The Song of the Machine is a richly detailed graphic novel based on the history of electronic music. From the disco of the 1970's to the rave culture of the 1990's, The Song of the Machine introduces readers to the stars and forgotten heroes of the genre: David Mancuso, the founder of "The Loft" in New York; Larry Levan, resident DJ at the Paradise Garage, the prototype of the modern dance club; Frankie Knuckles, the "Godfather of House Music"; and many more. Set in Studio 54 in New York, the Palace in Paris, the Hacienda in Manchester, and other legendary dance venues around the world, The Song of the Machine is told through exciting graphic novel style that evolves with the era of music it describes, from a black-and-white style reminiscent of Robert Crumb to full-colour with stripped-down lines. Pulsing through the roof with anecdotes, drugs, and unforgettable parties, The Song of the Machine recounts all the influences, inspirations, and fates of the people who created a revolutionary kind of music.
£20.00
Schiffer Publishing Ltd Decorator Show Houses: Tour 250 Designer Rooms
Welcome to the Ultimate Decorator Event! For the price of admission to one show house and a modest luncheon, you’ll get to tour 50 different show houses and over 250 spectacular rooms, where designers have pulled out all the stops to showcase their very best. Some of the most extraordinary work in interior design today is presented in 513 stunning color photographs. You'll see rooms saturated in glorious paint, windows dressed in the finest draperies, surfaces transformed with faux finishes, and furniture swathed in luxurious fabrics. Beginning the tour in foyers and hallways that leave lasting first impressions, you’ll continue through glorious living rooms and family rooms that you’ll never want to leave. Make your way through amazing libraries and home offices, dining rooms, kitchens, sunrooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms. You’ll also get a chance to see innovative design ideas for media rooms, wine cellars, loft spaces, and bonus rooms. In this book you will find breathtaking and exciting designs that will inspire and amaze you, in addition to a list of extraordinary interior designers and annual show house events.
£36.89
Rizzoli International Publications Creative Interior Solutions: Lessons Learned From a Life in Design
In this book, celebrated AD100 designer Vicente Wolf shares the expertise he has honed over forty successful years in the business for the first time. Wolf s work is characterized by a passion for integrity and simplicity; a sophisticated sense of space, color, and ease; masterful handling of furniture, fabrics, and art; and the use of rare antiques and exceptional handcrafted pieces (many acquired on annual globe-trotting voyages). This new volume distills his knowledge into wide-ranging and easily applicable recommendations. Organized topically and illustrated with Wolf s own photographs, the design principles are engaging, absorbing, and above all practical from coping with the challenges inherent in life transitions to overcoming space and budget limitations to working with art and other collections and remaking outdated spaces. The book also includes an in-depth look at Wolf s own loft in New York City and how he designs for himself. Unusual in its down-to-earth, sensible approach, filled with lessons and takeaways, this book is that rare volume that will be as beautiful as it is useful.
£40.50
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Apartment
They come together by chance in the heart of New York City, four young women at turning points in their lives. Claire finds the spacious loft apartment. But the aspiring shoe designer needs at least one roommate to manage the rent. She meets Abby, a writer trying to make it on her own, far from her successful family in L.A. Then Morgan joins them. She’s ambitious, with a serious finance job on Wall Street. Finally Sasha, a medical student. And so the sprawling space, with its exposed brick and rich natural light, becomes a home to friends about to embark on new exhilarating adventures.Their shared life in the apartment turns them into a family of beloved friends. But as unexpected opportunities and challenges alter the course of each of their lives, they face the bittersweet reality that in time, they will inevitably move away from the place where their dreams began . . .Danielle Steel is famous for her inspirational stories about family, love and life. Her novels will be enjoyed by readers of Penny Vincenzi, Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain.
£8.79
Rizzoli International Publications Interior Portraits: At Home With Cultural Pioneers and Creative Mavericks
Following her ultra-successful Handcrafted Modern and Modern Originals, Leslie Williamson is back with an original and compelling take on California s pioneering cultural and creative forces. Williamson s distinctive, warm photography of charming, often handcrafted interiors combined with personal, compelling texts create intimate, revealing portraits of the homes of design and lifestyle trailblazers. Featured homes include fashion designer Christina Kim s airy loft in downtown Los Angeles; chef Alice Waters s book-lined Craftsman bungalow in Berkeley; and artist Alma Allen s studio and home in the desert, filled with his finished and in-progress biomorphic wood and bronze sculptures. Powerfully personal and deeply authentic, this beautiful book will appeal not only to lovers of bohemian architecture but also to anyone who feels the pull of the West Coast lifestyle. Showcasing thirteen unique homes from the rugged coast of Big Sur to the sunlight-filled modernist structures of Los Angeles and San Diego, this book is a journey through the very best that California design has to offer.
£38.25
Profile Books Ltd Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code and the Uncovering of a Lost Civilisation
The decoding of Linear B is one of the world's greatest stories: from the discovery of a cache of ancient tablets recording a lost prehistoric language to the dramatic solution of the riddle nearly seventy years later, it exerts a mesmerising pull on the imagination. But this captivating story is missing a crucial piece. Two men have dominated Linear B in popular history: Arthur Evans, the intrepid Victorian archaeologist who unearthed Linear B at Knossos and Michael Ventris, the dashing young amateur who produced a solution. But there was a third figure: Alice Kober, without whose painstaking work, recorded on pieces of paper clipped from hymn-sheets and magazines and stored in cigarette boxes in her Brooklyn loft, Linear B might still remain a mystery. Drawing on Kober's own papers - only made available recently - Margalit Fox provides the final piece of the enigma, and along the way reveals how you decipher a language when you know neither its grammar nor its alphabet as well as the stories behind other ancient languages, like the dancing-man Rongorongo of Easter Island.
£11.09
Monacelli Press James Huniford: At Home
An in-depth look at the design process of James Huniford, who is renowned for his skill in juxtaposing opposites - contemporary with traditional, rustic with refined - to create a timeless whole. James Huniford, universally known as Ford, explores his design process thematically, with chapters on approaching a room, considering scale and proportion, selecting materials and art, using color effectively, and marrying form and function. His goal is to create "a modern sensibility of calm." Of special interest is his ability to create artworks out of found objects, compositions of tools, baskets, or metalwork that become compelling wall sculptures or freestanding pieces. Examples are drawn from a rich variety of projects - elegant Upper East Side apartments to raw lofts on the Lower East Side to contemporary condominiums in new "supertall" towers in Manhattan, country houses in Connecticut, Upstate New York, and Martha's Vineyard, and across the country in Nashville and Marin Country, California. Special insight into his process can be gleaned from his own homes, a loft in Tribeca and a historic house in Bridgehampton that he readily admits are laboratories for his ideas.
£31.46
Quercus Publishing At the Strangers' Gate
'A dazzling talent' Malcolm GladwellWhen Adam Gopnik and his soon-to-be-wife, Martha, left the comforts of home in Montreal for New York, the city then, much like today, was a pilgrimage site for the young, the arty, and the ambitious. But it was also becoming a city of greed, where both life's consolations and its necessities were increasingly going to the highest bidder. At the Strangers' Gate builds a portrait of this particular moment in New York through the story of this couple's journey--from their excited arrival as aspiring artists to their eventual growth into a New York family. Gopnik transports us to his tiny basement room on the Upper East Side, and later to SoHo, where he captures a unicorn: an affordable New York loft. He takes us through his professional meanderings, from graduate student-cum-library-clerk to the corridors of Conde Nast and the galleries of MoMA. Between tender and humorous reminiscences, including affectionate portraits of Richard Avedon, Robert Hughes, and Jeff Koons, among many others, Gopnik discusses the ethics of ambition, the economy of creative capital, and the peculiar anthropology of art and aspiration in New York, then and now.
£10.99
Pimpernel Press Ltd New York: Places to Write Home About
New York is a town of more quartiers and arondissements than Paris, more souks and bazaars than Cairo, a place of havens from overwhelming energy and of studios where that energy is generated. Above all else, it is where everyone wants to make a mark. And for a lot of residents the biggest mark of all is the place they live in – no matter where that is in the infinite diversity of the astonishing tumbling ziggurat that is New York. This book looks at a cross-section of these thrilling spaces for living created by New Yorkers. Ranging from the great mansions of the Upper East Side to the Tribeca loft that provides a live-work space for the high-flying architects of MPA, from the glamour of Kenneth Lane’s Murray Hill apartment to Susan Sheehan’s Arts and Crafts haven in Union Square, from Hamish Bowles’s 'tiny Atlantis' in Greenwich Village to James Fenton’s fantasy palace in Harlem, from the ivory tower that is the Modulightor Building in Midtown Manhattan to Miranda Brooks's 'garden in the city' in Brooklyn, this is a visual and literary feast of the marvellous houses and apartments of New York.
£36.00
Cornerstone The Life List
Perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern and Jojo Moyes, a beautiful and moving story about the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter Brett's Life List1. Go to Paris2. Perform live, on a super big stage3. Have a baby, maybe two4. Fall in loveBrett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she’d written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen. Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision—her childhood dreams don’t resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other goals (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future. As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear. Sometimes life’s sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.
£9.67
La vida que no esperas
Para amar de verdad, solo importa el aquí y el ahora.Una novela fascinante que se lee de un tirón.Marie Claire Cómo, dónde y con quién estarás dentro de cinco años?Te gustaría tener la posibilidad de echar un vistazo a ese momento?Y si resultara ser completamente distinto a lo que imaginas?Danielle Kohan es una joven y ambiciosa abogada que está consiguiendo todo lo que se ha propuesto en la vida y tiene muy claro dónde va a estar dentro de cinco años: casada con su novio David y socia de un importante bufete. Sin embargo, la misma noche en la que uno de los más prestigiosos despachos de abogados de Manhattan la contrata y en la que su novio le propone matrimonio, Dannie vive una experiencia de lo más extraña: se ve en un loft de Brooklyn besando a un tal Aaron, un hombre al que ni siquiera conoce. La visión se aleja tanto de la vida que ella espera, que Dannie se convence de que ha sido solo un mal sueño. Sin embargo, unos días más tarde,
£13.58
Schiffer Publishing Ltd Room by Room: Designing Your Timber Frame Home
This fabulous, step-by-step book is designed to walk you through the basic decisions that go into creating a custom-built home. Targeted toward timber frame design, the book is universal in its presentation of appealing barn style and country style homes. Any couple or family planning a custom designed home should start here. The book offers information about home essentials, such as windows, doors, and fireplaces, and illustrates the possibilities when it comes to the look and feel of a home and its living spaces. Pages and pages of photos offer gorgeous examples for couples making decisions on dimensions, configurations, and decor for everything from the powder rooms to the great room. Peruse dozens of kitchens for examples of cabinet and countertop colors, more than 30 images of fireplaces, and many more pictures of bedrooms, dining areas, loft spaces, home offices, formal living rooms, even recreational areas. Exterior shots help a homeowner choose the look that's right for them. Plus, twenty floor plans are presented to study, and there is advice for crafting your own living space.
£17.09
Rizzoli International Publications New York Splendor: Rooms to Remember
The selection of interiors is about the wow factor--New York residential spaces that elicit gasps of pleasure and surprise when first seen. Some are very grand, others sparingly modern or eclectic. All are exceptional and, Moonan promises, unforgettable. Groundbreaking rooms include Brooke Astor's elegant library by Albert Hadley; Gloria Vanderbilt's sublime patchwork bedroom; Donald Judd's dramatically spare art-filled loft; Adolfo's opulent and magnificently red entrance hall; a Peter Marino-designed penthouse with sweeping midtown views; Jamie Drake's stunning dining room for the mayor's residence, Gracie Mansion; and a magnificent library in the famous Dakota apartment house. Other illustrious interior designers and architects represented in the book include Mario Buatta, Robert Couturier, Albert Hadley, Denning and Fourcade, Mark Hampton, Philip Johnson, Charlotte Moss, Thomas O'Brien, Paul Rudolph, Bunny Williams, Paul Rudolph, and Steven Gambrel. New York is the epicentre of interior-design innovations. Residents embrace myriad styles--from pure period historicism to bracing modernity. Moonan investigates the city's best residential spaces and presents them here, a book for the libraries of design lovers and professionals in the field.
£58.50
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Apartment
They come together by chance in the heart of New York City, four young women at turning points in their lives. Claire finds the spacious loft apartment. But the aspiring shoe designer needs at least one roommate to manage the rent. She meets Abby, a writer trying to make it on her own, far from her successful family in L.A. Then Morgan joins them. She’s ambitious, with a serious finance job on Wall Street. Finally Sasha, a medical student. And so the sprawling space, with its exposed brick and rich natural light, becomes a home to friends about to embark on new exhilarating adventures.Their shared life in the apartment turns them into a family of beloved friends. But as unexpected opportunities and challenges alter the course of each of their lives, they face the bittersweet reality that in time, they will inevitably move away from the place where their dreams began . . .Danielle Steel is famous for her inspirational stories about family, love and life. Her novels will be enjoyed by readers of Penny Vincenzi, Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain.
£12.99
RIBA Publishing How to extend your Victorian terraced house
Brimming with design ideas, drawings and photographs of exemplary projects, this is a must-have, highly visual guide to extending a Victorian terraced house for designers, architects and homeowners. An essential resource for designing and delivering a wide variety of extensions, it features case studies from the full gamut of nineteenth-century terrace house types. Detailed plans reveal, floor by floor, a range of options for extending and/or reconfiguring space. Colour-coded, before-and-after plans show at a glance which walls have been removed or changed in each option. This is complemented by extensive colour photography of realised, built work. Ideas and inspiration are supplemented by practical guidance with ‘rules of thumb’ for design and key information on permitted development rights. All plans are drawn to scale, so that they may be measured from and used for planning any renovation project. Covering different types of briefs and design solutions, this indispensable guide to renovating Victorian terraces features extensions, loft conversions, basements and interior remodelling. It contains over 150 floor plans and 100 full-page colour images.Jacqueline Green is a London-based architect with over 20 years’ experience of residential projects. She is a founding director of Green & Teggin Architects. Featured architects include: Alma-nac Scenario Architecture Yard Architects
£45.00
Hachette Children's Group Where Do You Go, Birdy Jones?
From the author of JOE ALL ALONE - a BAFTA winning and Emmy nominated CBBC series.A story about finding yourself when everything changes and believing that love never runs out. Perfect for fans of A Boy called Hope and Jacqueline Wilson.Eleven-year-old Birdy Jones is all alone. She doesn't belong at school, at home, or even with her dad anymore. The only place she feels like herself is at her grandpa's pigeon loft, where the familiar warmth and birdsong block out the world. It's also where she meets Dogger - her only friend and the one person who really seems to know where she's coming from.Birdy used to be happy, when it was just her and Dad, but now she has a stepmum, a little sister, and another baby on the way. Worse, her growing family needs to move house, but Birdy doesn't believe there'll ever be enough room for her in Dad's busy life - and she can't leave Grandpa and the pigeons. She won't.Birdy dreams of a different family and future, and with Dogger's help she decides to find one - even if it means running away from everything she's ever known. But sometimes you need to fly away to find your way home again . . .
£7.78
Little, Brown & Company The Luckiest Cowboy of All: Two full books for the price of one
Two books for the price of one! Get USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Brown's new Western, cowboy romance PLUS the full-length novel Hometown Cowboy by Sara Richardson.Fate has brought Carla Williams home to Happy, Texas-and to Jace Dawson-but her secret will either bring them together or tear them apart.When Jace Dawson sees Carla Williams back in Happy, Texas, he can hardly believe his eyes. The memory of their high school graduation night ten years ago is forever branded in his memory. That was the night he and Carla wound up in a hay loft together. At the end of that summer, she moved away, but Jace could never forget the way Carla felt in his arms. Carla Williams hoped that coming back to Happy, Texas to take care of her grandmother would be a great opportunity to get over Jace Dawson once and for all. The wild cowboy was always way above her social standing. But closure isn't easy to come by with the small-town of Happy abuzz with talk of who fathered Carla's red-haired sassy daughter.
£8.71
Little, Brown Book Group Happy Now
From the author of the latest official James Bond novel'Charlie Higson's thrillers are major events' Mark Billingham'An off-beat, atmospheric novel' Mirror'Written with chilling perception' Time Out'I do not believe that a man can be truly happy unless he fully understands what he is and can act accordingly... how can it be wrong to be happy?' These lines are taken from Will's diary, a seemingly innocuous exercise book which details his house-breaking activities. Will carefully selects houses - forty-seven so far - ensuring their owners will be in. As they cook their supper or watch television, Will (wearing surgical gloves and leaving no trace behind) enters not only their houses, but their secret lives. A secret museum, housed in his loft, is 'held together by sex'. All his trophies are carefully catalogued and he keeps a very precise diary of his activities and his thoughts.All his life Tom Kendall had lived as quietly and normally as possible ... but he gave people the creeps ... 'kids didn't like him, or the cat'. When Tom discovers Will's diary he decides to adopt the same quest for happiness. Tom has problems of his own - a difficult temper, problems with his girlfriend, Maddie, and an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. Perhaps Will's diary holds the key?
£8.09
Images Publishing Group Pty Ltd Creative Spaces for Creative Ideas
How do artists produce exquisite art? Part of the answer is that each one must discover and create their own particular working space, harnessing inspiration from their surrounds, be it from the humble backyard shed, a beautifully refurbished industrial space, a room inside the home, a loft, or an architecturally designed house/studio set on a cliff, overlooking the natural beauty of the landscape. Some artistic souls thrive in seeming chaos while others must have an ordered studio space about them. In each instance, the role of the “studio” plays an important part in stimulating the artistic process. This book offers an intriguing and exhilarating peek into the often secretive and off-limits creative spaces of thirty artists and practitioners. Whether it be for photography, music, sculpting, painting, architecture, writing, film, or furniture making, this selection of highly illustrated case studies from around the world reveals how these artisans and practitioners have crafted and designed their unique working environment. This beautiful collection of works also provides practical advice and innovative ideas on the architecture, interior design, site, and setting of workspaces that help these artists flourish through their creative journey.
£25.40
Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd Hidden Homes of Tuscany and Umbria: Inspirational Interiors in Rural Italy
Featuring an array of beautiful homes, Hidden Homes of Tuscany and Umbria is a spectacular celebration of one of the best-loved and most alluring regions of Italy. Steeped in history, Tuscany has always exerted an irresistible hold on the romantic imagination. Its rich cultural legacy is reflected in the local interior style, which confidently borrows from other eras and places, resulting in a look that is chic, original and always easy to live with. This inspiring book is divided into four parts. Natural Charm features rustic houses, characterized by an earthy decorative palette, whose interior design is rooted in the ancient rural traditions of Tuscany. Stylish Simplicity looks at modern interpretations of Tuscan style – from a high-ceilinged barn, now a light and airy loft, to a converted village school. Classic Elegance focuses on country houses restored according to a grand decorative design, yet still warm and welcoming, while Idyllic Artistry is devoted to a more eclectic, colourful approach to Tuscan living. Combining inspiration with a wealth of practical suggestions, Hidden Homes of Tuscany and Umbria offers myriad ideas for interior design that can easily be transferred to any home.
£31.50
Orion Publishing Co Village Rumours
In Rebecca Shaw's latest scintillating tale of village life, hearts will be broken, families reunited and long-hidden secrets will finally come to light.You can't escape your past. At least that's what the residents of Turnham Malpas would say . . .While clearing out the rectory's loft, Reverend Peter Harris makes an unsettling discovery and a dark secret is exposed that soon sets tongues wagging in the village.Having received a letter from the sons she hasn't heard from in 15 years, local gossip Greta Jones is delighted at the prospect of seeing them after all this time - despite her husband's misgivings. And Craddock Fitch's unruly grandchildren, newly arrived in the village, are causing not a little trouble for the townsfolk.Meanwhile Fran Charter-Plackett has a difficult decision to make. Her parents would like to see her settled with kind and reliable Alex Harris. But when Chris Templeton, the man whom Fran once lost her heart to, returns to the village, it seems he is all set to steal her affections once more. Is Chris really a changed man? And will Fran finally go with her heart or her head?
£9.67
Transworld Publishers Ltd Remember Me?
The hilarious romantic comedy from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sophie KinsellaLexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking she's twenty-five with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life. But, to her disbelief, she learns it's actually three years later - she's a super-toned twenty-eight-year-old, her teeth are straight, she's the boss of her department - and she's married to a good-looking millionaire! She can't believe her luck - especially when she sees her stunning new loft apartment. And she'll definitely have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He's drawn up a 'marriage manual', which should help.But soon she realises her perfect life isn't all it seems. All her old friends hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up... and lands a new bombshell. What the **** happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does?***** EVERYBODY LOVES SOPHIE KINSELLA: *****'Funny, fast and farcical. I loved it' JOJO MOYES'I couldn’t put it down.' LOUISE PENTLAND (SprinkleofGlitter)'I almost cried with laughter' DAILY MAIL'Life doesn't get much better than a new Sophie Kinsella novel' RED'Hilarious . . . you'll laugh and gasp on every page' JENNY COLGAN
£9.99
Temple University Press,U.S. The Outsider: Albert M. Greenfield and the Fall of the Protestant Establishment
Albert M. Greenfield (1887-1967), an ambitious immigrant outsider, was courted for his business acumen by mayors, senators, governors, and presidents, including Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. As this feisty Russian Jew built a business empire that encompassed real estate, stores (including Bonwit Teller and Tiffany's), hotels (including the Ben Franklin and the Bellevue-Stratford), banks, newspapers, transportation companies, and even the Loft Candy Corporation, he challenged the entrenched business elite. Greenfield was also instrumental in bringing both major political conventions to Philadelphia in 1948. In The Outsider, veteran journalist and best-selling author Dan Rottenberg deftly chronicles the astonishing rises, falls, and countless reinventions of this savvy businessman. Greenfield's power allowed him to cross social, religious, and ethnic boundaries with impunity. He alarmed Philadelphia's conservative business and social leaders-Christians and Jews alike-some of whom plotted his downfall. In this engaging account of Greenfield's fascinating life, Rottenberg demonstrates the extent to which one uniquely brilliant and energetic man pushed the boundaries of society's limitations on individual potential. The Outsider provides a microcosmic look at three twentieth-century upheavals: the rise of Jews as a crucial American business force, the decline of America's Protestant establishment, and the transformation of American cities.
£21.99
Rizzoli International Publications Elements of Interior Design
Guided by her philosophy A room should awaken the senses, Galli s goal is to cast a spell with her interior designs. Galli s interiors are celebrated for expressing the deepest desires of her clients through storytelling layers of textiles, colors, and furnishings. In Magical Rooms, Galli shares her collaborative approach to show us how we can transform our inspirations into good design. Showcasing twelve very different interiors from a Brooklyn townhouse to a Tribeca loft to a Greenwich Village apartment to an Upper West Side penthouse Galli illustrates how she has achieved the finished look for each and breaks down her design principles into instructive teachings on scale, structure, balance, and color that readers can apply to their own interiors. Through the lens of her favorite rooms, Galli shares her own inspirations and tried-and-true tips, revealing how she distills her influences into five elements that she uses, in every project: Nature (bring the outside in); Clashing (a no-rules attitude); Surrealism (subverting the rules of scale and composition); Bohemian (worldly, chic, and eccentric); and Sparkle (the influence of disco sprinkled like fairy dust). Full of inspiration, ideas, and real-world design tips, Magical Rooms empowers us to dream and to create our own chic and personally meaningful interiors.
£18.89
Amazon Publishing Write My Name Across the Sky: A Novel
The USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids returns with a tale of two generations of women reconciling family secrets and past regrets. Life’s beautiful for seventysomething influencer Gloria Rose, in her Upper West Side loft with rooftop garden and scores of Instagram followers—until she gets word that her old flame has been arrested for art theft and forgery, and, knowing her own involvement in his misdeeds decades earlier, decides to flee. But that plan is complicated when the nieces she raised are thrown into crises of their own. Willow, overshadowed by her notorious singer-songwriter mother, has come home to lick her wounds on the heels of a failed album and yet another disastrous relationship. Sam, prickly and fiercely independent, is on the verge of losing not only her beloved video game company but the man she loves, thanks to her inability to keep her always-simmering anger in check. With the FBI closing in, Willow’s career in shambles, and Sam’s tribulations reaching a peak, each of the three woman will have to reckon with and reconcile their interwoven traumas, past loves, and the looming consequences that could either destroy their futures or bring them closer than ever.
£9.15
Park Books The Good Life: A Guided Visit to the Houses of Modernity
With his book The Good Life, Inaki Abalos takes the reader on a tour of seven iconic 20th-century houses. Some of them were actually built, others merely imagined or film sets: Mies van der Rohe's House with Three Patios, Martin Heidegger's cabin in the Black Forest, the houses from Jacques Tati's movie Mon Oncle, Picasso's house in Cannes, the New York loft of Andy Warhol and the Factory, the self-build house from Buster Keaton's movie One Week, the house in David Hockney's painting A Bigger Splash. Abalos's selection represents a variety of concepts for living. It is based on a clear archetypal assignment of a place to a particular modern way of living. He analyses each house from key philosophical points of view. He demonstrates relations between architectural concepts, philosophical schools, and various approaches to planning and designing, constructing, and inhabiting a space. Abalos offers an intellectual introduction to these icons, rather than a manual for the design of residential architecture. He focuses on the 20th-century's radical pluralism, rather than celebrating modernism as a triumph of positivism. This new and revised edition of this book, first published in 2001 by Gustavo Gili and out of print for many years now, makes the significant contribution to the perennial discourse on concepts of living available again.
£31.50
HarperCollins Publishers Antiques Roadshow: 40 Years of Great Finds
A collection of the timeless, the priceless and the unforgettable, this beautiful compendium accompanies the beloved BBC One TV series. Antiques Roadshow has graced our screens for forty years and has become one of the nation’s most beloved television programmes and a national institution. It has featured thousands of unique stories over the years, and introduced many incredible characters and unforgettable moments. In this anniversary celebration, Paul Atterbury and Marc Allum look back at the quintessential moments from the show’s illustrious history, providing a look at the history behind the very best and most intriguing objects that have appeared on the show. Antiques Roadshow: 40 Years of Great Finds reveals the astonishing stories behind findings such as the discovery of the Lalique vase which had been bought for a pound at a car boot sale and left in the loft, only to be valued and sold for £25,000; the twenty-three original Beatrix Potter drawings; a brooch designed by the great Victorian architect William Burges; a poignant letter written by a doomed passenger on the Titanic, and legendary 1970s glam rocker Marc Bolan’s distinctive Gibson Flying V guitar. Beautifully illustrated, and featuring a wealth of artifacts from the show, this is a truly revealing book, unearthing moments from history through each of the extraordinary objects discovered on the programme.
£22.50
Frederick Fell Against My Will
Danielle Landau knows she should feel lucky, but she can't feel anything but dread. Not only did she pass the New York Bar, but she married the man her father says is just right for her and lives in a fashionable new loft in Queens. But the man who seems like the perfect catch is a perfect nightmare at home. Jacob tries to control her career, her daily routine, and even when she eats. He ignores her desires and belittles her every chance he gets. Soon, Danielle doesn't recognize her husband or herself, and she struggles to find a way out. One night, Jacob pushes her too far, and now Danielle has to escape. With the help of her beloved Nana, Danielle moves across the country and starts to rebuild her life. But will she be able to escape her past? And when one of her clients finds herself in the same terrible situation, will Danielle have the strength to help her? As we follow Danielle on her journey of terror and recovery, we see her story intersect with the diary entries of a young girl from more than fifty years ago, and the full weight of the family's secrets becomes clear. This is a story of survival, self-discovery, justice, and ultimately about love.
£13.95
Glitterati Inc House Proud: Unique Home Design, Louisiana
A New Orleans interior designer, Valorie Hart presents us with today's Louisiana homes: the feel of southern hospitality married with a look of contemporary chic. Will appeal to those aspiring to restore and redecorate their living space to make it more personal and inviting, looking to combine traditional décor with modern flair. Experience the joy of décor and design, restoration and rebirth, colour and comfort - all in the enchanting locale of Louisiana. A New Orleans-based interior designer, Valorie Hart expertly leads a private tour of the most fashionable homes in the state. Sara Essex Bradley's photographs document the personality of Louisiana's homes, from the formal Greek revival house to the warm Creole cottage, the pre-Civil war beauty to the kitschy 50s-style ranch, the grand Victorian to the modern urban loft. This is not simply a design inspiration book, but rather a thoughtful compilation of homeowners' personal stories of restoring and redesigning their dream houses - the stories of the "house-proud." In addition to Debra Shriver's foreword, Hart gives her creative expertise on repurposing furniture, displaying art collections, creating extra rooms, and rethinking storage. Hart presents us with today's Louisiana homes: the feel of southern hospitality married with a look of contemporary chic.
£32.39
Taschen GmbH Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
Mert Alas, born in Turkey, and Marcus Piggott, born in Wales, met in 1994, at a party on a pier in Hastings, England. Piggott asked Alas for a light, the pair got talking, and rapidly discovered they had plenty in common, not least a love of fashion. Three years later, the duo now known as Mert and Marcus had moved into a derelict loft in East London, converted it into a studio, and had their first collaborative photographic work published in Dazed & Confused. These days, Mert and Marcus shape the global image of such renowned brands as Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Fendi, Miu Miu, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Givenchy, and Lancôme, and public figures including Lady Gaga, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Linda Evangelista, Gisele Bündchen, Björk, Angelina Jolie, and Rihanna. Their photographs encompass a wide range of styles and influences but are renowned particularly for their use of digitized augmentation of images, and a fascination for strong, sexually charged, confident female subjects: “powerful women, women with a meaning, a you-don’t-have-to-talk-or-move-too-much-to-tell-who-you-are kind of woman.” Bringing our best-selling Collector’s Edition to an affordable, compact format, this collection explores the unique vision of a creative partnership that has defined and redefined standards for glamour, fashion, and luxury. Approximately 300 images from the megawatt Mert and Marcus portfolio are accompanied by an introduction by Charlotte Cotton.
£72.00
Hodder & Stoughton The Unspeakable Skipton: The Modern Classic
'Witty, satirical and deftly malicious' Anthony Burgess Described by the New York Times upon her death as 'one of Britain's best-known novelists', delve into the sparkling and satirical world of Pamela Hansford Johnson with this wickedly funny tragicomedy about a destitute English author living in Bruges. 'A maliciously witty account of literary skulduggery and loft pretensions.' TLS ******************Daniel Skipton is a literary genius - at least, that's what he'll tell you. A tortured artist living in Bruges on money donated by others (a distant relative, the daughter of his landlady, his exasperated, long-suffering publishers), he dreams of the time his talent will once again be truly appreciated and spends days working on his masterpiece. Between charitable bequests, he preys on tourists, accepting hospitality and tricking them into parting with their money; and when an Italian aristocrat arrives, he recognises an opportunity to earn even more. But is it time for the conman to be conned?A wickedly funny novel, and one in which you will always find yourself on the side of the undeniably unspeakable Skipton.'Very funny' Independent'If this is not a great book, then I don't know what greatness is.' Edith Sitwell******************Praise for Pamela Hansford Johnson:'Witty, satirical and deftly malicious' Anthony Burgess'A remarkable craftswoman' A.S. Byatt'Hansford Johnson at her wittiest is Waugh mingled with Malcolm Bradbury Ruth Rendell'A writer whose memory fully deserves to be kept alive' Jonathan Coe
£9.04
Santa Monica Press One with the Waves
Can surfing change your life? For Ellie, it most certainly does. Vezna Andrews’ debut novel is set in 1980s Southern California, where sixteen-year-old Ellie discovers herself through her love of surfing. Born and raised in New York City, Ellie’s world is turned upside down when her father unexpectedly dies and her mother sends her to Manhattan Beach, California to live with her Aunt Jen and her Uncle Charlie—both avid surfers. Ellie’s new home is a sharp contrast to the loft in New York City’s garment district where she grew up. Heartbroken about her dad, and worried about her mom, who drinks too much, Ellie doesn’t fit in with the preppie girls at her new California high school, who eventually gang up on and bully her. Thankfully, with the encouragement of Aunt Jen and Uncle Charlie, Ellie discovers surfing, which becomes her passion and her refuge. While surfing California’s wild coast, Ellie experiences surfing's spiritual, healing qualities, including magical encounters with wild dolphins, whales, and sea lions. Eventually, Ellie finds a group of like-minded souls who show her what true friendship is—and she experiences first love. Though her relationship with her mom grows strained, Ellie becomes close to Aunt Jen, Uncle Charlie, and their community of surfers. Through surfing, Ellie develops the confidence and strength needed to navigate her own path in life—surfing literally saves her.
£9.99