Search results for ""scribe publications""
Scribe Publications The Happy Sleeper: the science-backed guide to helping your baby get a good night’s sleep — newborn to school age
£14.99
Scribe Publications Greenwood
A spellbinding eco fable for fans of David Mitchell, Richard Powers, and Margaret Atwood. Structured like the rings of a tree, this remarkable novel moves from a futuristic world in which only one forest remains to the start of the twentieth century, where two young boys survive a train crash, setting them on a path that will forever change their lives and the lives of those around them.
£10.99
Scribe Publications Berlin Syndrome
£9.04
Scribe Publications Guest House for Young Widows: among the women of ISIS
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON FICTION AND THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE. A GUARDIAN AND OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR. An intimate, deeply reported account of the women who made a shocking decision: to leave their comfortable lives behind and join the Islamic State. In early 2014, the Islamic State clinched its control of Raqqa in Syria. Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, urged Muslims around the world to come join the caliphate. Having witnessed the brutal oppression of the Assad regime in Syria, and moved to fight for justice, thousands of men and women heeded his call. At the heart of this story is a cast of unforgettable young women who responded. Emma, from Germany; Sharmeena, from Bethnal Green, London; Nour, from Tunis: these were women — some still in school — from urban families, some with university degrees and bookshelves filled with novels by Jane Austen and Dan Brown; many with cosmopolitan dreams of travel and adventure. But instead of finding a land of justice and piety, they found themselves trapped within the most brutal terrorist regime of the twenty-first century, a world of chaos and upheaval and violence. What is the line between victim and collaborator? How do we judge these women who both suffered and inflicted intense pain? What role is there for Muslim women in the West? In what is bound to be a modern classic of narrative nonfiction, Moaveni takes us into the school hallways of London, kitchen tables in Germany, the coffee shops in Tunis, the caliphate’s OB/GYN and its ‘Guest House for Young Widows’ — where wives of the fallen waited to be remarried — to demonstrate that the problem called terrorism is a far more complex, political, and deeply relatable one than we generally admit.
£17.77
Scribe Publications Says Who?: the struggle for authority in a market-based society
‘We live in an extremely controlling society in which authority has disappeared … traditional authority is lapsing into brute force … and we ourselves must take the first steps towards creating a new social order.’ This was the trenchant diagnosis by Paul Verhaeghe at the end of his acclaimed book about identity, What About Me? Now he returns to investigate another aspect of our lives under threat: authority. In Says Who?, Verhaeghe examines how authority functions and why we need it in order to develop healthy psyches and strong societies. Going against the laissez-faire ethics of a free-market age, he argues that rather than seeing authority as a source of oppression we should invest in developing it in the places that matter. Only by strengthening the power of horizontal groups within existing social structures, such as in education, the economy, and the political system, can we restore authority to its rightful place. Whether you are a parent or child, teacher or student, employer or employee, Says Who? provides the answers you need.
£12.99
Scribe Publications My Promised Land: the triumph and tragedy of Israel
£17.09
Scribe Publications Gut: the inside story of our body’s most under-rated organ
£9.99
Scribe Publications New Cold Wars
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA fast-paced account of America's plunge into simultaneous cold wars against two very different adversaries Xi Jinping's China and Valdimir Putin's Russia. New Cold Wars the latest from Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist and bestselling author of The Perfect Weapon David E. Sanger tells the riveting story of America at a crossroads. At the turn of the millennium, the United States was confident that a democratic Russia and a newly wealthy China could gradually be pulled into the Western-led order. That proved a fantasy. By the time Washington emerged from the age of terrorism, the three nuclear powers were engaged in a high-stakes struggle for military, economic, and technological supremacy with nations around the world forced to take sides. Interviewing a remarkable array of top officials in the United States, world leaders, and tech companies thrust onto the front lines, Sanger unfolds a riveting narrative spun around the era's critical ques
£17.09
Scribe Publications I Hear You’re Rich: stories
‘The writer who saved my life — or my soul.’ Merve Emre, The New Yorker ‘A true living hero of the American avant-garde.’ Jonathan Franzen ‘One of the very few contemporary prose writers who seem to be doing something independent, energetic, heartfelt.’ Lydia Davis A new collection of stories from the ‘godmother of flash fiction’ (The Paris Review). In Williams’ stories, life is newly alive and dangerous; whether she is writing about an affair, a request for money, an afternoon in a garden, or the simple act of carrying a cake from one room to the next, she offers us beautiful and unsettling new ways of seeing everyday life. In perfectly honed sentences, with a sly and occasionally wild wit, Williams shows us how any moment of any day can open onto disappointment, pleasure, and possibility.
£12.99
Scribe Publications When I Grow Up: conversations with adults in search of adulthood
When do we become adults? What does it mean to grow up? And what are the experiences that propel us forward — or keep us stuck? These are the questions that journalist Moya Sarner sets out to answer as she begins training as a psychotherapist. But as she delves further into her own mind and others’, she soon realises that growing up is far from the linear process we imagine it to be. So begins a journey of discovery into what growing up really involves, and how we do it again and again throughout our lives.
£10.99
Scribe Publications Death As Told by a Sapiens to a Neanderthal
A dazzling follow-up to Life as told by a Sapiens to a Neanderthal. We would love to discover that each species has a biological clock in its cells, because, if that clock existed and if we were able to find it, perhaps we could stop it and thus become eternal,' Arsuaga tells Millás in this book, in which science is intertwined with literature. The paleontologist reveals essential aspects of our existence to the writer, and debates the advisability of transmitting his random vision of life to a dieting Millás, who discovers that old age is a country in which he still feels like a foreigner. After the extraordinary international reception of Life as told by a Sapiens to a Neanderthal, the most brilliant double act in Spanish literature once again dazzle the reader by addressing topics such as death and eternity, longevity, disease, ageing, natural selection, programmed death, and survival. Here you will find humour, biology, nature, life, a lot of life ... and two fascinating charac
£15.29
Scribe Publications We’ve Got This: essays by disabled parents
The first major anthology by parents with disabilities. ‘Being a disabled parent is a rebellious act. Disabled people should have the same right to parent as anyone else, but often when we decide to start a family we are met with judgement and discrimination. We are questioned rather than supported. We have to push up against the medical system. And we have to confront society’s model of parenting. Yet, despite all this, we still choose to parent. And we are damn good at it too!’ When writer and musician Eliza Hull was pregnant with her first child, like most like most parents-to-be she felt a mix of nerves and excitement. But as a disabled person, she faced added complexities. She wondered: Will the pregnancy be too hard? Will people judge me? Will I cope with the demands of parenting? In We’ve Got This, thirty parents who identify as Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent, or chronically ill discuss the highs and lows of their parenting journeys and show that the greatest obstacles lie in other people’s attitudes. The result is a moving, revelatory, and empowering anthology that celebrates the richness of disabled parenting in the twenty-first century. ‘Such an important book. Joyous, eye-opening, and deeply moving, these powerful stories will challenge long-held assumptions and hopefully shift societal attitudes towards disabled parents. Everyone should read this.’ Francesca Martinez, author of What the **** Is Normal?!
£9.99
Scribe Publications Blueberries: essays concerning understanding
‘I mean who cares about opinions, gossip, whatever, when bodies are so vulnerable, in search only of love and breath.’ Brilliant young writer Ellena Savage explores Portuguese police stations and Portland college campuses, suburban Melbourne libraries and wintry Berlin apartments. She circles back to scenes of crimes or near-crimes, to lovers or near-lovers, to turn over the stones, re-read the paperwork, check the deeds, approach from another angle altogether. These essays traverse cities and spaces, bodies and histories, moving through forms and modes to find a closer kind of truth. Blueberries is ripe with acid, promise, and sweetness.
£10.99
Scribe Publications Never Enough: the neuroscience and experience of addiction
A former drug addict turned behavioural neuroscientist reveals how drugs work in the brain — and what we can do to fight addiction. Judith Grisel was a daily drug user when she began to consider that her addiction might have a cure, one that she herself could perhaps discover by studying the brain. Now, after twenty-five years as a neuroscientist, she shares what she and other scientists have learned about addiction, enriched by captivating glimpses of her personal journey. In Never Enough, Grisel reveals the unfortunate bottom line of all regular drug use: there is no such thing as a free lunch. All drugs act on the brain in a way that diminishes their enjoyable effects and creates unpleasant ones with repeated use. Delving into the science of one of the world’s most pressing health problems, she reveals what is different about the brains of addicts even before they first pick up a drink or drug, and highlights the changes that take place in the brain and behaviour as a result of chronic using. With compassion and clarity, Grisel describes what drove her to addiction, what helped her recover, and her belief that a ‘cure’ for addiction will not be found in our individual brains but in the way we interact with our communities.
£9.99
Scribe Publications The Way Through the Woods: overcoming grief through nature
One woman’s journey to overcome grief by delving into nature. After losing her husband of 32 years, Long Litt Woon is utterly bereft. For a time, she is disoriented, aimless, lost. It is only when she wanders deep into the woods and attunes herself to Nature’s chorus that she learns how the wild might restore us to hope, and to life after death.
£10.99
Scribe Publications Monsters: a memoir
‘I was born as part of a monstrous structure — the grotesque, hideous, ugly, ghastly, gruesome, horrible relations of power that constituted colonial Britain. A structure that shaped me, that shapes the very language that I speak and use and love. I am the daughter of an empire that declared itself the natural order of the world.’ From award-winning writer and critic Alison Croggon, Monsters takes as its point of departure the painful breakdown of a relationship between two sisters. It explores how our attitudes are shaped by the persisting myths that underpin colonialism and patriarchy, how the structures we are raised within splinter and distort the possibilities of our lives. Monsters asks how we maintain the fictions that we create about ourselves, what we will sacrifice to maintain these fictions — and what we have to gain by confronting them.
£13.49
Scribe Publications Elly a gripping tale of grief longing and doubt
LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA DAGGER AWARD FOR FICTION IN TRANSLATIONA missing child is a nightmare for any family. But what happens when they come back?Eleven-year-old Elly is missing. After an extensive police search she is presumed dead, and her family must learn to live with a gaping hole in their lives. Then, four years later, she reappears. But soon her parents and sister are plagued by doubts. Is this stranger really the same little girl who went missing? And if not, who is she?Elly is a gripping tale of grief, longing, and doubt, which takes every parentâs greatest fear and lets it play out to an emotionally powerful, memorable climax. It is a literary novel with all the best qualities of a thriller.
£12.99
Scribe Publications 1947: when now begins
A Metro book of the year Interweaving the social, political, and personal, in 1947 Elisabeth Åsbrink chronicles the year that ‘now’ began. In 1947, production begins of the Kalashnikov, Christian Dior creates the New Look, Simone de Beauvoir writes The Second Sex, the CIA is set up, a clockmaker’s son draws up the plan that remains the goal of jihadists to this day, and a UN Committee is given four months to find a solution to the problem of Palestine. In 1947, millions of refugees flee across Europe looking for new homes, among them Elisabeth Åsbrink’s father. In 1947, the forces that will go on to govern all our lives during the next 70 years first make themselves known.
£9.04
Scribe Publications The Family: the shocking true story of a notorious cult
£14.99
Scribe Publications Mater 210
SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE?International Bookernominated virtuoso Hwang Sok-yong is back with another powerful story an epic, multi-generational tale that threads together a century of Korean history. Centred on three generations of a family of rail workers and a laid-off factory worker staging a high-altitude sit-in, Mater 2-10 vividly portrays the lives of ordinary Koreans, starting from the Japanese colonial era, continuing through Liberation, and right up to the twenty-first century. It is at once a gripping account that captures a nation's longing to be free from oppression, a lyrical folktale that manages to reflect the realities of modern industrial work, and a culmination of Hwang's career a masterpiece thirty years in the making. A true voice of a generation, Hwang shows again why he is unmatched when it comes to depicting the struggles of a divided nation and bringing to life the trials and tribulations of the Korean people.
£12.99
Scribe Publications Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day
The follow-up to bestselling All the Ways to be Smart by Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys. Good or bad, the things you do are all a part of being you — of learning how to take your boat on stormy seas and stay afloat. From the creators of All the Ways To Be Smart comes a message of hope: hard days come and go, but love is with us always. A healing and uplifting tribute to learning and growing — to making mistakes and making amends.
£12.99
Scribe Publications The Boy in the Green Suit: a memoir
This is an unusual and beautifully written memoir — an Australian classic that captures the vulnerability and ardour of youth, and the fragility and strength of parental love. It is 1965. Robert Hillman, a mere 16 years old, is planning an extraordinary adventure. Deserted by his mother, disliked by his stepmother, and puzzled by his father, Bobby needs comforting. His life in rural Victoria has offered no solace; his job at Melbourne’s Myer Emporium, selling ladies’ slippers, offers no prospects. So, inspired by his father’s stories of a fabled island in the Indian Ocean, Bobby makes his escape; he boards a ship bound for Ceylon with no money, no return ticket, and, seemingly, no worries. What follows is an account — by turns heartbreakingly tender and side-splittingly funny — of an innocent abroad. Put ashore not in Ceylon but in Athens, Bobby barters his way to Istanbul, Tehran, and Kuwait, lurching from slums and brothels to an implausible job at a ritzy hotel in Shiraz. Finally, a long haul through the desert ends in a jail term on the Pakistan border where, ironically, Bobby finds the affection and acceptance that have always been the true objects of his quest. As it unfolds, Hillman’s odyssey proves to be part of a larger family drama. Woven through his story is his father’s tale of struggle and sorrow. As the mature writer now realises, ‘I booked a ticket on a ship to install myself in a story my father had begun in his imagination.’ The Boy in the Green Suit is an unforgettable, bittersweet tale of the artist as a bewildered young man.
£9.99
Scribe Publications The Just: how six unlikely heroes saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust
The remarkable story of how a consul and his allies helped save thousands of Jews from the Holocaust in one of the greatest rescue operations of the twentieth century. In May 1940, desperate Jewish refugees in Kaunas, the capital of Lithuania, faced annihilation in the Holocaust — until an ordinary Dutch man became their saviour. Over a period of ten feverish days, Jan Zwartendijk, the newly appointed Dutch consul, wrote thousands of visas that would ostensibly allow Jews to travel to the Dutch colony of Curaçao on the other side of the world. With the help of Chiune Sugihara, the consul for Japan, while taking great personal and professional risks, Zwartendijk enabled up to 10,000 men, women, and children to escape the country on the Trans-Siberian Express, through Soviet Russia to Japan and then on to China, saving them from the Nazis and the concentration camps. Most of the Jews whom Zwartendijk helped escape survived the war, and they and their descendants settled in America, Canada, Australia, and other countries. Zwartendijk and Sugihara were true heroes, and yet they were both shunned by their own countries after the war, and their courageous, unstinting actions have remained relatively unknown. In The Just, renowned Dutch author Jan Brokken wrests this heroic story from oblivion and traces the journeys of a number of the rescued Jews. This epic narrative shows how, even in life-threatening circumstances, some people make the just choice at the right time. It is a lesson in character and courage.
£22.50
Scribe Publications Illogical Stories: how to change minds in an unreasonable world
An entertaining guide to human nature that reveals how people really make big choices. What makes somebody change their world view completely? Why do some people refuse to alter their perceptions, despite prevailing evidence that says they should? And how can you persuade them to change their minds? Eleanor Gordon-Smith meets six ordinary people who made life-altering decisions. From the woman who realised her husband harboured a terrible secret, to the man who left the cult he had been raised in since birth, and the British reality TV contestant who, having impersonated someone else for a month, discovered he could no longer return to his former identity, all of the people interviewed radically altered their beliefs about the things that matter most. Their stories explore the limits of human reason and persuasion.
£9.99
Scribe Publications Pills, Powder, and Smoke: inside the bloody War on Drugs
Like the never-ending War on Terror, the drugs war is a multi-billion-dollar industry that won’t go down without a fight. Pills, Powder, and Smoke explains why. The War on Drugs has been official American policy since the 1970s, with the UK, Europe, and much of the world following suit. It is at best a failed policy, according to bestselling author Antony Loewenstein. Its direct results have included mass incarceration in the US, extreme violence in different parts of the world, the backing of dictatorships, and surging drug addiction globally. And now the Trump administration is unleashing diplomatic and military forces against any softening of the conflict. Pills, Powder, and Smoke investigates the individuals, officials, activists, victims, DEA agents, and traffickers caught up in this deadly war. Travelling through the UK, the US, Australia, Honduras, the Philippines, and Guinea-Bissau, Loewenstein uncovers the secrets of the drug war, why it’s so hard to end, and who is really profiting from it. In reporting on the frontlines across the globe — from the streets of London’s King’s Cross to the killing fields of Central America to major cocaine transit routes in West Africa — Loewenstein reveals how the War on Drugs has become the most deadly war in modern times.
£16.99
Scribe Publications Girl Waits With Gun
£9.04
Scribe Publications How to Find a Rainbow
Reena hates rainy days. She hates the way the dark clouds make everything look so dull.Rekha loves rainy days. She loves the way the rain makes the earth smell. When Rekha spots a rainbow, she rushes indoors to tell her sister about it. Reena will want to paint it, for sure! But when the sisters go outside to find it, the rainbow disappears. Where could it have gone? A vibrantly illustrated tale about finding light even in the gloomiest of times, How to Find a Rainbow will warm your heart — and give you a handy guide to making your own rainbow, too!
£12.99
Scribe Publications The Power of Discord: why the ups and downs of relationships are the secret to building intimacy, resilience, and trust
How can we create more meaningful and intimate connections with our loved-ones? By using moments of discord to strengthen our relationships, explains this original, deeply researched book. You might think that perfect harmony is the defining characteristic of a good relationship, but the truth is that human interactions are messy, complicated, and confusing. The good news, however, is that we are wired to deal with this from birth — and even to grow from it and use it to strengthen our relationships, according to renowned psychologist Ed Tronick and paediatrician Claudia Gold. Scientific research — including Dr Tronick’s famous ‘Still-Face Experiment’ — has shown that working through mismatch and repair in everyday life helps us form deep, lasting, trusting relationships; resilience in times of stress and trauma; and a solid sense of self in the world. This refreshing and original look at our ability to relate to others and to ourselves offers a new way for us to think about our relationships, and will reassure you that conflict is both normal and healthy, building the foundation for stronger connections.
£16.99
Scribe Publications Howl
When big feelings come, do you ever feel like howling at the moon? Maggie does. Howl is an empowering story of a young girl’s self-expression. Maggie has had a very bad day. First of all, the sun was the wrong shape, in a sky that was too blue. The spaghetti was too long, and her pyjamas were the wrong kind of pyjama. Then Maggie begins to have wolfish thoughts …
£11.99
Scribe Publications The Obesity Code Cookbook: recipes to help you manage your insulin, lose weight, and improve your health
By the 500,000-copy bestselling author of The Obesity Code. Recipes to revolutionalise the way you cook, eat, and live. In The Obesity Code, Dr Jason Fung introduced the idea that obesity is caused by our hormones, specifically insulin, and offered practical, easy-to-follow advice on how to lose weight for good. Now, The Obesity Code Cookbook makes it easier than ever to follow his methods. Over 90 mouth-watering recipes — from slow-roasted pork shoulder to chia pudding and almond cake — showcase healthy fats, nutrient-dense foods, and low or no carbs, with diet plans to help balance your nutrition and energy requirements with your long-term health objectives. The Obesity Code Cookbook is an indispensable tool for home cooks looking to lower insulin, lose weight, or simply lead a healthy, longer life.
£16.99
Scribe Publications The Come As You Are Workbook: a practical guide to the science of sex
A practical workbook from the New York Times-bestselling author of Come As You Are that will radically transform your sex life. In Come As You Are, sex educator Dr Emily Nagoski revealed the true story behind female sexuality, uncovering the little-known science of what makes us tick and, more importantly, how and why. Now, in The Come As You Are Workbook, she offers practical tips and techniques that will help women to have the mind-blowing sex that they deserve (and that men have been having all along). This collection of worksheets, journaling prompts, illustrations, and diagrams is an engaging companion for anyone who wants to further their understanding of their own bodies and sexuality.
£12.99
Scribe Publications Billion Dollar Whale: the bestselling investigation into the financial fraud of the century
A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND FORTUNE MAGAZINE. The epic story of how a young social climber from Malaysia pulled off one of the biggest financial heists in history. In 2015, rumours began circulating that billions of dollars had been stolen from a Malaysian investment fund. The mastermind of the heist was twenty-seven-year-old Jho Low, a serial fabulist from an upper-middle-class Malaysian family, who had carefully built his reputation as a member of the jet-setting elite by arranging and financing elaborate parties for Wall Street bankers, celebrities, and even royalty. With the aid of Goldman Sachs and others, Low stole billions of dollars, right under the nose of global financial industry watchdogs. He used the money to finance elections, purchase luxury real estate, throw champagne-drenched parties, and bankroll Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street. Billion Dollar Whale reveals how this silver-tongued con man, a ‘modern Gatsby’, emerged from obscurity to pull off one of the most audacious financial heists the world has ever seen, and how the financial industry let him. It is a classic harrowing parable of hubris and greed in the financial world.
£10.99
Scribe Publications Margaret the First
An inventive, spirited novel about a pioneering woman who was shamed for daring to challenge male dominance in the arts and sciences four centuries ago. Margaret Cavendish was the first woman to address the Royal Society and the first Englishwoman to write explicitly for publication. Wildly unconventional, she was championed by her forward-thinking husband and nicknamed ‘Mad Madge’ by her many detractors. Later, Virginia Woolf would write, ‘What a vision of loneliness and riot the thought of Margaret Cavendish brings to mind!’ Unjustly neglected by history, here Margaret is brought intimately and memorably to life, tumbling pell-mell across the pages of this exhilarating novel — a portrait of a woman whose ambitions were centuries ahead of her time.
£9.99
Scribe Publications The Summer That Melted Everything
Winner of The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize. Fielding Bliss has never forgotten the summer of 1984. The year a heatwave scorched the small town of Breathed, Ohio. The year he became friends with the devil. When a tattered and bruised thirteen-year-old boy turns up in Breathed claiming to be Satan himself, everybody assumes he is just a runaway. But when strange things start happening to the townsfolk, there are some who start to believe that Sal is exactly who he claims to be.
£10.04
Scribe Publications On Getting Off: sex and philosophy
The curious reader’s companion to sex. ‘Wit, you know, is the unexpected copulation of ideas.’ Samuel Johnson Why is screwing so funny? How should we think about our most shocking fantasies? What is so captivating about nudity? Inspired by philosophy, literature, and private life, Damon Young explores the paradoxes of the bedroom. On Getting Off will f**k with your mind.
£12.99
Scribe Publications Fallout: the Hiroshima cover-up and the reporter who revealed it to the world
A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES AND VANITY FAIR New York Times bestselling author Lesley Blume reveals how a courageous reporter uncovered one of the greatest and deadliest cover-ups of the 20th century — the true effects of the atom bomb — potentially saving millions of lives. In the days following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the US had begun a secret propaganda campaign to celebrate these weapons as the ultimate peacekeepers — hiding the true extent and nature of their devastation. The cover-up intensified as Americans closed the atomic cities to Allied reporters, preventing information from leaking about the horrific and lasting effects of radiation that would kill thousands of people during the months after the blast. For nearly a year, the cover-up worked — until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and reported the truth to the world. As Hersey and his editors prepared his article for publication, they kept the whistleblowing story secret — even from most of their New Yorker colleagues. When the magazine published ‘Hiroshima’ in August 1946, it became an instant global sensation, and inspired pervasive horror about the weapons that had been covertly waged in America’s name. Since 1945, no nuclear weapons have ever been deployed in war, partly because Hersey alerted the world to their true, devastating impact. This knowledge has remained among the greatest deterrents to using them since the end of World War II. Released on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Fallout is an engrossing detective story, as well as an important piece of hidden history, which shows how one heroic scoop saved — and can still save — the world.
£13.49
Scribe Publications Shame On Me: a memoir of race and belonging
NON-FICTION WINNER OF THE OCM BOCAS PRIZE FOR CARIBBEAN LITERATURE AND A FINALIST FOR THE HILARY WESTON WRITERS’ TRUST PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION What does it mean to belong? All her life, Tessa McWatt has been asked, ‘What are you?’ Born in Guyana to a family with Scottish, African, French, Chinese, Indian, Portuguese, and Native American heritage, she grew up in a white suburb, out of place, longing to fit in. As an adult, she moved to the UK, still pursued by questions about her identity. In this deeply personal reckoning with race and belonging, Tessa interweaves her own experiences as a mixed-race woman with a stark and unvarnished history of slavery and indenture, as well as observations on literature and popular culture. This powerful memoir of being mixed race in a predominantly white society is a necessary exploration of who and what we truly are.
£9.99
Scribe Publications The Walls Came Tumbling Down: A journey of bravery, heroism, and unbowed humanity
In this gripping memoir, originally published in 1957, the Dutch author, codename ‘Zip’, recounts her extraordinary journey. A young fighter for the resistance during World War II, Zip is captured and held prisoner as part of the ‘Night and Fog’ unit, political prisoners who wait out the war in a crowded, secret cell. During their long days and nights, each creates a secret embroidery telling the story of their war, including when they are moved from place to place, writing each other’s names in morse code out of contraband black thread. Upon liberation, Zip must find her way back to Holland with her three companions, scant belongings, and any food they can ‘liberate’ or are given by the goodwill of soldiers or villagers along the way. In cinematic, sweeping prose, Zip reveals all the details of the time, including the camaraderie of fellow political prisoners upon release: the Dutch prisoners of war who have kept their uniforms intact; the French p.o.w.s in threadbare yet debonair getups; the French women resistance fighters who break out in song (‘La Marseillaise’) to reunite a hungry mob; not to mention the Russian liberators, and the American soldiers. The world they enter has turned upside down. The jovial spirit and giddiness they share at being free is uplifting and unforgettable. An adroit, page-turning and heroic tale of humanity – after the darkness, there is so much light. The Walls Came Tumbling Down is a true World War II classic.
£12.99
Scribe Publications Rewilding the Urban Soul: searching for the wild in the city
How can we become more in tune with nature, even in the heart of the city? Once upon a time, a burnt-out Claire Dunn spent a year living off the grid in a wilderness survival experiment. Yet love and the possibilities of human connection drew her back to the city, where she soon found herself as overscheduled, addicted to her phone, and lost in IKEA as the rest of us. Given all the city offers — comfort, convenience, community, and opportunity — she wants to stay. But to do so, she’ll have to learn how to rewild her own urban soul. Claire swims in city rivers, forages in the suburbs, and explores many other practices to connect to the world around her. Rewilding the Urban Soul is a field guide to being at one with nature, wherever you are.
£15.29
Scribe Publications Lady Cop Makes Trouble
£9.04
Scribe Publications The Maths That Made Us: how numbers created civilisation
Quadratic equations, Pythagoras’ theorem, imaginary numbers, and pi — you may remember studying these at school, but did anyone ever explain why? Never fear — bestselling science writer, and your new favourite maths teacher, Michael Brooks, is here to help. In The Maths That Made Us, Brooks reminds us of the wonders of numbers: how they enabled explorers to travel far across the seas and astronomers to map the heavens; how they won wars and halted the HIV epidemic; how they are responsible for the design of your home and almost everything in it, down to the smartphone in your pocket. His clear explanations of the maths that built our world, along with stories about where it came from and how it shaped human history, will engage and delight. From ancient Egyptian priests to the Apollo astronauts, and Babylonian tax collectors to juggling robots, join Brooks and his extraordinarily eccentric cast of characters in discovering how maths made us who we are today.
£10.99
Scribe Publications The Case of George Pell: reckoning with child sexual abuse by clergy
Some people will have wanted me to give my opinion in this book about Pell’s guilt or innocence, and on whether the courts got it right or wrong. But that’s not what this book is about … I want to share what I have learned, including the facts as they unfolded. I want readers to have as much evidence as is possible before them as they consider the Pell trials. And I want any response to his conviction and appeals to be, at the very least, informed by the evidence. Guardian Australia’s Melbourne bureau chief, Melissa Davey covered Cardinal George Pell’s evidence at the royal commission into child sexual abuses, and attended each of his trials for his alleged historic sexual offences against children — his committal hearing, mistrial, retrial, and appeals. What she saw, heard, and read made her determined to produce a dispassionate and thorough rendition of what occurred. The Case of George Pell is the result — an authoritative account of those trials, of the basis for the verdicts, and of the backlash to the verdicts. It is inevitably not only about Cardinal Pell, but about justice in the age of conservative media, about culture wars, and about the broader context of clergy abuse. Despite a five-year-long sexual-abuse inquiry, the trials of one of the most senior Catholics in the world, and saturation coverage of the issue, it became evident to Ms Davey that many myths about the nature of child sexual abuse persist — and that, for some people, the evidence of victims can never be allowed to tarnish the reputation of the church and its practitioners. The Case of George Pell is not just about one alleged offender, and one complainant. It is also about how the sexual abuse of children occurs — and has been allowed to continue.
£17.77
Scribe Publications The Snow Line
Old and young. White and brown. Male and female. British. Indian. Other. Four strangers from around the world arrive in India for a wedding. Together, they climb a mountain â but will they see the same thing from the top?Londoner Reema, who left India before she could speak, is searching for a sign that will help her make a life-changing decision. In pensioner Jacksonâs suitcase is something he must let go of, but is he strong enough?Together with two unlikely companions, they take a road trip up a mountain deep in the Himalayas, heading for the snow line â the place where the ice begins. But even standing in the same place, surrounded by magnificent views, they see things differently. As they ascend higher and higher, they must learn to cross the lines that divide them.
£16.07
Scribe Publications Sex After Sixty: a French guide to loving intimacy
£12.99
Scribe Publications Good Morning, My Deer!
Next, I brushed my hare and put on my new pear of shoes. Mum painted her nails before we set out for the day. Join Banjo and his mum on what starts as a straightforward day out, only to have it upended by homophones (two words with the same pronunciation but with different meanings), turning the narrative into the delightfully absurd. Kids and adults alike will love this joyful new wordplay extravaganza from debut author Mel Amon with illustrations by international superstar Sophie Beer. The hilarious wordplay combined with delightful illustrations have kids ‘in on the joke’ from the very beginning.
£8.23
Scribe Publications Chokepoint Capitalism: how big tech and big content captured creative labour markets, and how we’ll win them back
A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A call to action for the creative class and labour movement to rally against the power of Big Tech and Big Media. Corporate concentration has breached the stratosphere, as have corporate profits. An ever-expanding constellation of industries are now monopolies (where sellers have excessive power over buyers) or monopsonies (where buyers hold the whip hand over sellers) — or both. Scholar Rebecca Giblin and writer and activist Cory Doctorow argue we’re in a new era of ‘chokepoint capitalism’, with exploitative businesses creating insurmountable barriers to competition that enable them to capture value that should rightfully go to others. All workers are weakened by this, but the problem is especially well illustrated by the plight of creative workers. From Amazon’s use of digital rights management and bundling to radically change the economics of book publishing, to Google and Facebook’s siphoning away of ad revenues from news media, and the Big Three record labels’ use of inordinately long contracts to up their own margins at the cost of artists, chokepoints are everywhere. By analysing book publishing and news, live music and music streaming, screenwriting, radio, and more, Giblin and Doctorow deftly show how powerful corporations construct ‘anti-competitive flywheels’ designed to lock in users and suppliers, make their markets hostile to new entrants, and then force workers and suppliers to accept unfairly low prices. Chokepoint Capitalism is a call to workers of all sectors to unite to help smash these chokepoints and take back the power and profit that’s being heisted away — before it’s too late.
£10.99
Scribe Publications The Extinction of Irena Rey
From the International Booker Prizewinning translator and Women's Prize finalist, a propulsive, beguiling novel about eight translators and their search for a world-renowned author who goes missing. Eight translators arrive at a house in a forest on the border of Belarus. It belongs to the writer Irena Rey, and they are there to translate her magnum opus, Grey Eminence. But within days of their arrival, Irena disappears without a trace. The translators, who hail from eight different countries but share the same reverence for their beloved author, begin to investigate where she may have gone while proceeding with work on her masterpiece. They explore this ancient, wooded refuge with its intoxicating slime moulds and lichens and study her exotic belongings and layered texts for clues. But doing so reveals secrets and deceptions of Irena Rey's that they are utterly unprepared for. Forced to face their differences as they grow increasingly paranoid in this fever dream of isolation and
£16.99
Scribe Publications Bad Cree
In this gripping debut, a young Cree woman’s dreams lead her on a perilous journey of self-discovery that ultimately forces her to confront the toll of a legacy of violence on her family, her community, and the land they call home. When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow’s head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears. Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too — crows stalk her every move around the city; she gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina — Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone. Travelling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams — and make them more dangerous. What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside her?
£14.99