Search results for ""canongate books""

Floorboard George Gastin is part of an insurance scam to wreck a pure white, mint condition '59 Cadillac originally intended for The Big Bopper as a token of an admirer's love. But Floorboard George has other ideas and when he disappears with the car, gangsters and cops are soon in hot pursuit.On the road, the crazy characters, hitch-hikers and demented preachers he meets provide the high-octane entertainment as George covers many miles - and states of mind - in his quest to find the true spirit of rock 'n' roll.

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In March 1985, Mal Duff led a new expedition to conquer Everest by the unclimbed north-east ridge.The last attempt by a Chris Bonington team had ended in failure and tragedy - with the deaths of two great climbers, Joe Tasker and Pete Boardman.Everyone knew the risks as well as the excitement of the challenge. In this extraordinary book, Greig chronicles not only the assault on the peak but also the complex inter-relationships of nineteen very different personalities living together.

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An unprecedented glimpse into the formation of the legendary talent of Leonard Cohen.Before the celebrated late-career world tours, before the Grammy awards, before the chart-topping albums, before 'Hallelujah' and 'So Long, Marianne' and 'Famous Blue Raincoat', the young Leonard Cohen wrote poetry and fiction and yearned for literary stardom. In A Ballet of Lepers, readers will discover that the magic that animated Cohen's unforgettable body of work was present from the very beginning.Written between 1956 in Montreal, just as Cohen was publishing his first poetry collection, and 1961, when he'd settled on Greece's Hydra island, the pieces in this collection offer startling insight into Cohen's imagination and creative process, and explore themes that would permeate his later work, from shame and unworthiness to sexual desire to longing, whether for love, family, freedom or transcendence.The titular novel, A Ballet of Lepers - one he later remarked was 'probably a better novel' than his celebrated book The Favourite Game - is a haunting examination of these elements, while the fifteen stories, as well as the playscript, probe the inner demons of his characters, many of whom could function as stand-ins for the author himself.Meditative, surprising, playful and provocative, A Ballet of Lepers is vivid in its detail, unsparing in its gaze, and reveals the great artist and visceral genius like never before.

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''Beautiful prose, even-handed magic and all the pains and triumphs of intergenerational bonds'' KILEY REID, author of Such A Fun Age and Come and Get It ''Undeniably beautiful'' Sunday Times Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides to throw her own living wake, her sisters are concerned. What has she foreseen?Planning the celebration brings further complications for the Marte family, because Flor isn''t the only person with secrets: her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own.Family Lore traces the intertwining stories of five women: sisters and cousins, mothers and daughters, aunts and nieces, to ask the ultimate question - what does it take to live a good life, for yourself and those you love?

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LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE'Alex Renton has done Britain a favour and written a brutally honest book about his family's involvement with slavery. Blood Legacy could change our frequently defensive national conversation about slavery/race' Sathnam Sanghera'Utterly gripped - An incredible book. Alex's work is my book in practice' Emma DabiriThrough the story of his own family's history as slave and plantation owners, Alex Renton looks at how we owe it to the present to understand the legacy of the past. When British Caribbean slavery was abolished across most of the British Empire in 1833, it was not the newly liberated who received compensation, but the tens of thousands of enslavers who were paid millions of pounds in government money. The descendants of some of those slave owners are among the wealthiest and most powerful people in Britain today.A group of Caribbean countries is calling on ten European nations to discuss the payment of trillions of dollars for the damage done by transatlantic slavery and its continuing legacy. Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter and other activist groups are causing increasing numbers of white people to reflect on how this history of abuse and exploitation has benefited them.Blood Legacy explores what inheritance - political, economic, moral and spiritual - has been passed to the descendants of the slave owners and the descendants of the enslaved. He also asks, crucially, how the former - himself among them - can begin to make reparations for the past.

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In this passionate and heartfelt book, Richard Holloway interrogates the traditional ways of understanding the Bible. In doing so he demonstrates the power of the great Christian stories as they apply today, away from their sometimes antiquated settings, providing a blueprint which takes the core teachings of the Christian past and invigorates them with renewed power for today's world.

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The debut novel - a time-travelling story of love and adventure - from the number one bestselling author of How Not To Be a Boy and star of Peep Show'Part adventure, part love story, part comedy' Sunday Times'Fabulously Nineties and enjoyable' Daily MailFirst Love. Second Time Lucky.All hell has broken loose in Kate Marsden's life. Her husband has died, she's lost her job and now she's pushed the last of her friends away. Then one day, she wakes up in the wrong body - and the wrong year. She's eighteen again and it's her first day of university. Which means today's the day she'll meet Luke, her future husband, for the first time.If they can fall in love again, Kate might just be able to save him second time around.

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SHORTLISTED FOR STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEARFrom a trip to The Lightning Field in New Mexico, to chasing Gauguin's ghost in French Polynesia, White Sands is a creative exploration of why we travel. Episodic, wide-ranging and funny, Geoff Dyer blends travel writing, essay, criticism and fiction with a smart and cantankerous wit that is unmatched. From one of the most original writers in Britain, this is a book for armchair travellers and procrastinating philosophers everywhere.

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Eddie Cameron is a salesman for Rocklight Ltd., an electrical equipment firm in Glasgow, where he has been fiddling the firm's expenses. Eddie's life is in tatters - his wife hates him, and his violent temper has left his mistress teetering on the edge of sanity.

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Francis Meadowes is soaking up the late summer sun in Italy, running a creative writing course at the beautiful Villa Giulia, deep in the remote Umbrian countryside. Recruited by the villa''s owners, Stephanie and Gerry, Francis''s students include snooty, irritating Poppy and her ex-ambassador husband Duncan, eccentric Northern Irishman Liam, quirky, self-styled ''Hampstead Jewess'' Zoe, bossy Scottish Diana, kooky young American Sasha, mysterious ''spy'' Tony and restless civil servant Roz.But what should be a magical week under the Italian sun turns into something far more sinister when one of the group is found dead, and the local police quickly turn to Francis for help. Uncovering betrayal, lies, secrets and old scores to be settled, Francis soon realizes something very dark is lurking beneath the genteel and civilized veneer . . .

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Lawyer Sandy Moss gets mixed up in a celebrity murder case in LA, in the first in a brand-new cosy legal mystery series.New Jersey prosecutor Sandy Moss is tired of petty criminals, and a new job at a glitzy Los Angeles law firm seems the perfect career move. Putting 3,000 miles between her and her ex-boyfriend is just an added bonus.But on Sandy''s first morning as a family attorney, she inadvertently kills her new career stone dead when she offends her boss during a meeting with the firm''s top celebrity client, charismatic TV star Patrick McNabb. But that''s not as dead as Patrick''s soon-to-be ex-wife, Patsy, is that evening, when she''s discovered shot by an arrow, her husband standing over her.Did Patrick really kill his wife in a dispute over a pair of shoes? All signs point to yes. But Patrick is determined to clear his name, using all the legal skills he''s learned from playing a lawyer on TV, and to Sandy''s deep dismay, she''s the onl

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Killer secrets. Killer crimes - the unmissable new DS McAvoy thriller from the Sunday Times best-selling, Kindle chart-topping authorMcAvoy is a true original Mick HerronDS Aector McAvoy is on a well-deserved family holiday when the news reaches him that he''s been attacked and left for dead on one of Hull''s most well-to-do streets.It comes as something of a shock. But not as much as the discovery of who''s really been attacked - and his growing realization it''s no coincidence he''s far from home, in an isolated, rural campsite, on today of all days.McAvoy''s superior officer - and best friend - DS Trish Pharaoh has been keeping secrets. Secrets that are catching up with her.Secrets that could kill them all . . .David Mark brings Hull to dark, brutal life in this gripping novel in the critically acclaimed DS McAvoy series - a perfect pick for fans of Denise Mina, Val McDermid and Peter Robinson.

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A suspicious drowning throws New York State senior investigator Shana Merchant''s life into turmoil in this taut, thrilling small-town mystery - perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Ruth Ware.Sixteen-year-old Henrietta used to be happy. But that was before her family hit the national news. Before she - and the whole world - knew she was related to one of New York''s most prolific serial killers.Senior Investigator Shana Merchant readily agrees when her brother asks her to take in his troubled, rebellious daughter for the fall semester. Doug''s convinced that spending a few months in Alexandria Bay with Shana will straighten Hen out.But when Hen arrives, Shana''s not so sure. She can''t help but distrust the strange and manipulative teen, who binge-watches bloody movies and roams the house at night, taking things that aren''t hers. Soon, though, Shana has more to worry about than missing heirlooms when she''s called to investigate the

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Think moving in with your mother-in-law is your worst nightmare? You have no idea . . . A jaw-dropping novel of domestic suspense from the author of the critically acclaimed Brigid Quinn seriesChilling, smart . . . and what a voice Gillian Flynn on Rage Against the DyingA thriller that must be read Lisa Gardner on Rage Against the DyingDon''t let them know what you''re thinking, Althea Deming tells herself. It''s your best defense. Althea didn''t want her good natured but thoughtless step-son Hal and manipulative daughter-in-law Grace to move in with her, relegating her to a corner of the house that was once just hers, but she doesn''t have much choice. She''s been powerless since her beloved husband Robert''s death. According to the will, everything that was hers now belongs to Hal - and to Grace. Grace Deming didn''t want to uproot her family to care for her difficult mother-in-law, but she''s dete

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A rowan tree with mysterious and unique powers is extending its grip over humanity, and investigative writer Valentina Garnier is caught up in a battle between supernatural forces and the federal government.Prize-winning investigative writer Valentina Garnier loves a good story, so when she learns that CIA director Agnes Pendalon wants her to travel to Kunashir Island in Russia''s easternmost province, she jumps at the chance. Top scientists, political aides, CIA agents and even the vice president''s daughter have made mysterious trips to the island in recent weeks, and all have come back changed . . . When Val arrives in Kunashir, she is mesmerized by a magical rowan tree and its leaves that turn to golden threads, encircling the visitors. Something incredible and transformational is happening in front of her . . . With the CIA determined to hunt down this unknown force and everyone affected by the rowan, is a new battle for the future o

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