THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER ''Bernhard Schlink speaks straight to the heart'' New York Times Olga is an orphan raised by her grandmother in a Prussian village around the turn of the 20th century. Smart and precocious, she fights against the prejudices of the time to find her place in a world that sees her as second-best. When she falls in love with Herbert, a local aristocrat obsessed with the era''s dreams of power, glory and greatness, her life is irremediably changed. Theirs is a love against all odds, entwined with the twisting paths of German history, leading us from the late 19th to the early 21st century, from Germany to Africa and the Arctic, from the Baltic Sea to the German south-west. This is the story of that love, of Olga''s devotion to a restless man - told in thought, letters and in a fateful moment of great rebellion.
Arcade and Daffodil are bright things, twins born one minute apart who swore to always protect each other. Together, Arc and Daffy forge a world shot through with colour and wonder: a patch of grass becomes an archaeologist''s dig; the toxic fumes emerging from the local paper mill are the dust rising from wild horses gallopping in the factory''s basement; an abandoned 1950s convertible is a time machine that can take them and their friends anywhere. Their bond is an escape from their struggling family, their imaginations a reprieve from the failing, lusterless streets of Chillicothe, Ohio. As the legacy of addiction that has long plagued their mother tightens its grip, Arc and Daffy try to build a new life for themselves. But when a local prostitute is found tangled in the banks of the river, Arc is drawn to the mystery, determined to find the truth and protect the only family she''s ever known. But as more familiar bodies are found and with the killer circling closer and closer, Arc''s mission to keep herself and her sister safe becomes increasingly desperate - and the powerful riptides of the savage side ever more difficult to resist. Drawing from the true story of six women killed in her native state, acclaimed novelist and poet Tiffany McDaniel has written a haunting, singular portrait of small town America and an elegy for missing women everywhere.
THE NEW NOVEL BY THE AUTHOR OF THE TIGER'S WIFE 'A tremendously talented writer' Ann Patchett A MAN SEARCHING FOR A HOME HE CAN'T FIND. A WOMAN BOUND TO A HOME SHE CAN'T LEAVE. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life - her husband who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home, and her husband's seventeen-year-old cousin, who communes with spirits. Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Tea Obreht's talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely - and unforgettably - her own. A VANITY FAIR, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY AND LIT HUB 'MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2019' PRAISE FOR THE TIGER'S WIFE 'The most thrilling discovery in years' Colum McCann 'Assured, eloquent and not easily forgotten' Independent on Sunday 'A poignant, seductive novel' Observer 'One of the most extraordinary debuts of recent memory' Vogue
' WHAT A TREAT. GLAMOROUS AND NOSTALGIC AND VERY SEXY, CAPE MAY IS A NOVEL ABOUT MARRIAGE, LUST, SHABBY SEASIDE TOWNS AND LOTS OF GIN. BRILLIANTLY UNSETTLING - ONE OF THOSE BOOKS THAT STAYS WITH YOU' Paula Hawkins Cape May, New Jersey. September 1957. Newlyweds Henry and Effie arrive from Georgia for their honeymoon. It's the end of the summer season, and as they tentatively discover each other - walking on the deserted beach overlooking the vast, darkening Atlantic, clumsily making love in the dusty rooms of a distant relative's house - they begin to realize that everyday married life might be disappointingly different from their happy-ever-after fantasy. Just as they get ready to cut the trip short and leave Cape May, a light goes on in one of the houses on their street. In that one moment their destiny is altered forever. A glamorous set suddenly disrupt their newly-formed married life and sweep them up into their drama: there's Clara, a beautiful socialite who feels her youth slipping away; Max, a wealthy playboy and Clara's lover; and Alma, Max's aloof and mysterious half-sister, to whom Henry is irresistibly drawn. The empty town becomes their playground, and as they sneak into abandoned summer homes, go sailing, walk naked under the stars, marvel at the power and beauty of their bodies, experiment with love and sex, and drink massive amounts of gin, Henry and Effie slip from innocence into betrayal, with consequences that reverberate through the rest of their lives.
A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers. 'A wonderful novel, full of energy and art, at once funny and heartbreaking...terrific' WASHINGTON POST Anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author. A worldwide bestseller since its publication, Irving's classic is filled with stories inside stories about the life and times of T. S. Garp, struggling writer and illegitimate son of Jenny Fields - an unlikely feminist heroine ahead of her time. Beautifully written, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP is a powerfully compelling and compassionate coming-of-age novel that established John Irving as one of the most imaginative writers of his generation. 'A diamond sleeping in the dark, chipped out at last for our enrichment and delight...As approachable as it is brilliant' COSMOPOLITAN
The classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that made Alice Walker a household name. Set in the deep American South between the wars, The Color Purple is the classic tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.
Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his 5th wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, and kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. But as the police dig deeper, just what really has happened to Nick's beautiful wife?
WINNER OF THE FRANCO-BRITISH SOCIETY BOOK PRIZE 2016 June, 1940. German troops enter Paris and hoist the swastika over the Arc de Triomphe. The dark days of Occupation begin. How would you have survived? By collaborating with the Nazis, or risking the lives of you and your loved ones to resist? The women of Paris faced this dilemma every day - whether choosing between rations and the black market, or travelling on the Metro, where a German soldier had priority for a seat. Between the extremes of defiance and collusion was a vast moral grey area which all Parisiennes had to navigate in order to survive. Anne Sebba has sought out and interviewed scores of women, and brings us their unforgettable testimonies. Her fascinating cast includes both native Parisiennes and temporary residents: American women and Nazi wives; spies, mothers, mistresses, artists, fashion designers and aristocrats. The result is an enthralling account of life during the Second World War and in the years of recovery and recrimination that followed the Liberation of Paris in 1944. It is a story of fear, deprivation and secrets - and, as ever in the French capital, glamour and determination.
A brilliant sci-fi novel from one of the last century's most influential pop culture figures Substance D - otherwise known as Death - is the most dangerous drug ever to find its way on to the black market. It destroys the links between the brain's two hemispheres, leading first to disorentation and then to complete and irreversible brain damage. Bob Arctor, undercover narcotics agent, is trying to find a lead to the source of supply, but to pass as an addict he must become a user, and soon, without knowing what is happening to him, he is as dependent as any of the addicts he is monitoring.
The international bestseller and modern classic - over 20 million copies sold worldwide 'Shadow is the real deal, a novel full of cheesy splendour and creaking trapdoors, a novel where even the subplots have subplots. One gorgeous read' STEPHEN KING 'An instant classic' DAILY TELEGRAPH The Shadow of the Wind is a stunning literary thriller in which the discovery of a forgotten book leads to a hunt for an elusive author who may or may not still be alive... Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'Cemetery of Lost Books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from the book, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind... A SUNDAY TIMES bestseller and chosen for the Richard & Judy book club. 'Part gothic mystery, past ribald comedy, part political thriller, part Borgesian parable, and all marvellous' SUNDAY TIMES 'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' INDEPENDENT 'A magical tale' CECILIA AHERN 'One of those rare novels that combine brilliant plotting with sublime writing' SUNDAY TIMES 'Gripping and instantly atmospheric' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'A book lover's dream' THE TIMES 'Irresistibly readable...Walk down any street in Zafon's Barcelona and you'll glimpse the shades of the past and the secrets of the present' GUARDIAN 'Diabolically good' ELLE 'This gripping novel has the feel of a gothic ghost story complete with crumbling, ivy-covered mansions, gargoyles and dank prison cells...this is just the sort of literary mystery that would have found favour with Wilkie Collins' DAILY MAIL 'A deeply satisfying, rich, full read' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'An astounding critical success. There's an intricate plot, a gothic atmosphere and an elusive quest, as well as murders, intrigue and star-crossed lovers' GUARDIAN
'A powerhouse of a first story collection notable for its temerity and its skilled combination of humour and insight' New York Times Book Review The unknowable wisdom of a baby; two teenagers with plans to build a time machine;the unnerving relationship between a man and his dangerous dog; a bumpy reunion between two childhood friends . . . These are stories about how people grow together and pull apart, the strangeness of lives lived at close quarters. Envy, distrust, confidence, collusion, hope - in this remarkable collection, Emily Fridlund delves into the small lies and large truths that make up our lives. Selected by Ben Marcus as winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction
Jason Taverner has a glittering TV career, millions of fans, great wealth and something close to eternal youth. He is one of a handful of brilliant, beautiful people, the product of top-secret government experiments forty years earlier. But suddenly, all records of him vanish. He becomes a man with no identity, in a police state where everyone us closely monitored. Can he ever be rich and famous again? Or was that life just an illusion?
@2@Damian Baxter is very, very rich - and he's dying. He lives alone in a big house in Surrey, looked after by a chauffeur, butler, cook and housemaid. He has but one concern: who should inherit his fortune...@3@@2@PAST IMPERFECT is the story of a quest. Damian Barker wishes to know if he has a living heir. By the time he married in his late thirties he was sterile (the result of adult mumps), but what about before that unfortunate illness? He was not a virgin. Had he sired a child? A letter from a girlfriend from these times suggests he did. But the letter is anonymous.@3@@2@Damian contacts someone he knew from their days at university. He gives him a list of girls he slept with and sets him a task: find his heir...@3@
Modern fictionAn intense and absorbing psychological thriller which received great reviews and was nominated for an Edgar Best First Novel Award. Camille Preaker is sent back to her hometown in Missouri to investigate the abduction and murder of two young girls. 'To say this is a terrific debut novel is really too mild...after the lights were out, the story just stayed there in my head, coiled and hissing like a snake in a cave' Stephen King.
As a child, Daniel Sempere discovered among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books an extraordinary novel that would change the course of his life. Now a young man in the Barcelona of the late 1950s, Daniel runs the Sempere & Sons bookshop and enjoys a seemingly fulfilling life with his loving wife and son. Yet the mystery surrounding the death of his mother continues to plague his soul despite the moving efforts of his wife Bea and his faithful friend Fermin to save him. Just when Daniel believes he is close to solving this enigma, a conspiracy more sinister than he could have imagined spreads its tentacles from the hellish regime. That is when Alicia Gris appears, a soul born out of the nightmare of the war. She is the one who will lead Daniel to the edge of the abyss and reveal the secret history of his family, although at a terrifying price. The Labyrinth of the Spirits is an electrifying tale of passion, intrigue and adventure. Within its haunting pages Carlos Ruiz Zafon masterfully weaves together plots and subplots in an intricate and intensely imagined homage to books, the art of storytelling and that magical bridge between literature and our lives.
The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world's surface. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world's greatest empire? And how did they lose it all? This is the intimate story of twenty tsars and tsarinas, some touched by genius, some by madness, but all inspired by holy autocracy and imperial ambition. Montefiore's gripping chronicle reveals their secret world of unlimited power and ruthless empire-building, overshadowed by palace conspiracy, family rivalries, sexual decadence and wild extravagance, and peopled by a cast of adventurers, courtesans, revolutionaries and poets. Written with dazzling literary flair, drawing on new archival research, THE ROMANOVS is at once an enthralling chronicle of triumph and tragedy, love and death, a universal study of power, and an essential portrait of the empire that still defines Russia today.
The SUNDAY TIMES bestselling novel from the award-winning creator of DOWNTON ABBEY and Oscar-winning writer of GOSFORD PARK. Edith Lavery is a woman on the make. The attractive only child of a middle-class accountant, she leaves behind her dull job in a Chelsea estate agents and manages to bag one of the most eligible bachelors of the day - Charles Broughton, heir to the Marquess of Uckfield. But is life amongst the upper echelons of 'good' society all that it seems? Edith soon discovers there's much more to the aristocracy than dancing in Anabel's, shooting small birds and understanding which fork to use at dinner. And then there is Charles's mother, the indomitable Lady Uckfield, or 'Googie' to her friends, who is none too pleased with her son's choice of breeding partner. With twists and turns aplenty, this is a comical tale worthy of a contemporary Jane Austen.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 MAN BOOKER PRIZE 'A writer with a great future ahead of her...her prose isexquisite' LOUISE DOUGHTY, author of APPLE TREE YARD How far would you go to belong? Fourteen-year-old Lindalives with her parents in an ex-commune beside a lake in the beautiful, austerebackwoods of northern Minnesota. The other girls at school call Linda 'Freak',or 'Commie'. Her parents mostly leave her to her own devices, whilst the otherinhabitants have grown up and moved on. So when the perfect family - mother, father and their littleboy, Paul - move into the cabin across the lake, Linda insinuates her way intotheir orbit. She begins to babysit Paul and feels welcome, that she finally hasa place to belong. Yet something isn't right. Drawn into secrets she doesn'tunderstand, Linda must make a choice. But how can a girl with no real knowledgeof the world understand what the consequences will be? 'One of the most intelligent and poetic novels of the year'New Statesman
WINNER OF THE OCM BOCAS PRIZE FOR CARIBBEAN LITERATURE SHORTLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE, THE GREEN CARNATION PRIZE, and the HISTORICAL WRITERS AWARD 'Miller's storytelling is superb' SUNDAY TIMES One April day in Augustown, Jamaica. Ma Taffy, old and blind, sits in her usual spot on the veranda. No matter how the world tilts around her, come hurricane or riot, she knows everything that goes on in this small community. Which is why, when her six-year-old nephew returns home from school with his dreadlocks shorn, she realises that trouble won't be far behind. And so she tells him the story of Alexander Bedward, the flying preacherman. She remembers what happened to the Rastaman and his helper, Bongo Moody; she thinks of Soft-Paw, the leader of the Angola gang, and what lies beneath her house. For trouble is brewing once more among the ramshackle lanes of Augustown, and as Ma Taffy knows, each day contains much more than its own hours, or minutes, or seconds. In fact, each day contains all of history...
There is nothing like the love of a parent for a child. But what happens when that love falters? Deprived of his parents' love as a child, Antoine is determined to give his son and daughter the perfect childhood he never had. He is a dreamer, an optimist, a man who fell in love at first sight and who believes that he has found the secret to living a happy life. But when tragedy strikes he becomes someone even he does not recognise. Taken to his lowest point, he performs an act of desperation. But can he find a way back? And what does happiness actually mean? Provocative, unpredictable, heartbreaking and heartwarming, We Only Saw Happiness is a story about families, the choices we make, and the people we become.
In 1934, eleven-year-old Shimon Peres emigrated to the land of Israel from his native Poland, leaving behind an extended family who would later be murdered in the Holocaust. Few back then would have predicted that this young man would eventually become one of the towering figures of the twentieth century. Peres would indeed go on to serve the new state as prime minister, president, foreign minister, and the head of several other ministries. In this, his final work, finished only weeks before his passing, Peres offers a long-awaited examination of the crucial turning-points in Israeli history through the prism of having been a decision-maker and eyewitness. Told with the frankness of someone aware this would likely be his final statement, No Room for Small Dreams spans decades and events, examining pivotal moments in Israel's rise. Peres explores what makes for a great leader, how to make hard choices in a climate of uncertainty and distress, the challenges of balancing principles with policies, and the liberating nature of imagination and unpredicted innovation. In doing so, he not only charts a better path forward for his beloved country but provides deep and universal wisdom for younger generations who seek to lead - be it in politics, business or the broader service of making our planet a safer, more peaceful and just place.
Starting with her own story of displacement as an Internally Displaced Person, Malala will introduce readers to what it means to lose your home, your community, and the only world you've ever known. She will share the personal stories of some of the incredible girls she has met on her various journeys to refugee camps and the cities where refugee girls and their families have settled. The anecdotes will focus on different parts of each girl's story - from what it was like the day she left her home to what daily life is like in a refugee camp. In a time of immigration crises, war, and border conflicts, WE ARE DISPLACED is an important reminder from one of the most famous people to experience displacement that everyone deserves universal human rights and a home.
