{"title":"Latest releases","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe newest titles from Salt – fiction, poetry, and non-fiction from some of the most compelling voices in contemporary literature. Updated regularly as new books arrive.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"finders-keepers-9781784633417","title":"Finders, Keepers: The Secret Life of Second-hand Books","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSeason Highlight, Spring\/Summer 2026 — The Bookseller\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eFinders, Keepers\u003c\/cite\u003e tells the stories that hide between the lines of the second-hand books that fill the shelves of charity shops and second-hand bookshops up and down the country. The author collects books. He collects books that contain bookmarks in the form of maps – he will read the book while walking the streets depicted on the map, provided he doesn't have to get on a plane to get there. He collects books given as Christmas presents. He collects books that have the same title as other books – he'll read both books and compare them. He might wonder – he might even ask – which one has the greater claim on the title. He collects books that he finds with business cards in them – instead of reading the book, he sends it to the individual named on the business card and asks them to read it instead. He collects ex-library books. He collects free books. Well, he looks at the books that people leave out on their garden wall in the rain and photographs then and mostly leaves them where they are.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eA small-scale journey through literary afterlives unveils a world of wonders\u003c\/strong\u003e Browsing second-hand books is one of life’s reliable gentle pleasures. Nicholas Royle, though, in \u003ccite\u003eFinders, Keepers: The Secret Life of Second-Hand Books\u003c\/cite\u003e, takes it to the next level. And this is his third book relating the many small adventures he has devised to augment the basic activity of accumulating more and more books.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJon Turney\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Arts Desk\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Nicholas Royle collects secondhand books in a very idiosyncratic way. If a map has been left as a bookmark, he will walk the streets while reading; if a train ticket, he will take that ride; if a business card, he will return the book to its former owner and asks them to read it. What results is an ineffably readable sort-of-autobiography.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe i Paper\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This book\/art project is a lovely meander through his thoughts and opinions on what he’s reading and hears as he strolls the streets, returns lost books and ponders the ephemera left behind by previous readers.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Simple Things\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Avid readers and book-collecting enthusiasts will find much to enjoy in Nicholas Royle’s \u003ccite\u003eFinders, Keepers: The Secret Life of Second-Hand Books\u003c\/cite\u003e.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMartin Chilton\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A genuinely unique, and witty, commentator on the world of books.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlex Johnson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eFine Books \u0026amp; Collections\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Reading \u003ccite\u003eFinders, Keepers\u003c\/cite\u003e is a treat; Royle’s chatty, friendly style makes the experience feel like you’re having a wonderfully bookish conversation with a friend.’ —\u003ccite\u003eKaggsy's Bookish Ramblings\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The way it reads like a good pub conversation or chat with an interesting stranger on the train, makes its whole construction and flow seem easy … [It is] a form of autobiography that evades the obvious … an engaging, peculiar, original and at times hilarious read. I commend it to you.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRupert Loydell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eInternational Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Conveying the universal from specific tastes … something so wonderfully bibliophilic.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSimon Thomas\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eStuck in a Book\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘★★★★ If you're a book sort of person, you're going to enjoy this book, which is a book about books, by a book sort of person, and for book sort of people. Nicholas Royle is fast becoming the bibliophile's bibliophile.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eIan Sansom\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Royle invests more passion into his subject than EL James did in whips, and it’s all incredibly infectious. He leavens any perceived pedantry with droll self-deprecation and, personally, I haven’t laughed harder with a book for a long time.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNick Duerden\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This is a book about books and bookshops that will bring joy to every reader and collector, but it is also about the strangeness and sublimity of individuals, and our tender contacts with each other.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Valentine\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eWormwoodiana\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eShadow Lines\u003c\/cite\u003e is all about the connections between humans and language and books and covers and art and walking and reading and collecting; the joy of tracking down titles and of lucky finds and random inclusions. It appears to be all about Nicholas Royle but actually it is about all of us who read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRupert Loydell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eInternational Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nicholas Royle","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49508665033004,"sku":"9781784633417","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633417_00e93253-6530-4f77-80ae-80ce823b3617.jpg?v=1767348868"},{"product_id":"the-tribe-9781784633646","title":"The Tribe","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThe Tribe\u003c\/cite\u003e is the epic tale of a family and its history and a family in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Carraches are a powerful Sephardic dynasty in the cosmopolitan city of Salonica during the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. After the Greek annexation of the city, they settle in France until, in 1940, the Nazi Occupation sends some into hiding, some into flight and others into camps. In the early 1960s, the survivors and their children confront the family’s past, with long hidden secrets uncovered and deep-seated conflicts exposed, even as the Eichmann trial forces the world at large to confront the full enormity of the Holocaust.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThe Tribe\u003c\/cite\u003e crosses cultures and continents in its exploration of family, race, nation and empire. As the central characters journey from adolescence through early adulthood to late middle age, they experience first loves, political and sexual awakenings, artistic triumphs, religious pressures, marital struggles, dynastic rivalries, brutal persecution, resilience and liberation, before, helped by their children, they finally achieve a degree of reconciliation both with one another and the city of their birth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A tremendous, ambitious novel, richly peopled and adroitly covering a great sweep of 20th century history. An enthralling epic.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eWilliam Boyd\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘How can such a grown-up novel be so readable and seductive? \u003ccite\u003eThe Tribe\u003c\/cite\u003e is several kinds of admirable book.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAdam Mars-Jones\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This is a marvellous book. What a story! It feels so effervescent despite the tragic end of some of its characters. I knew the story of the Jews of Salonica, but Arditti gives it flesh and blood and life. \u003cem\u003eThe Tribe\u003c\/em\u003e entranced me.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLinda Grant\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A story of war, exile, emigration, secrets and marriage (happy and bad) unfolds. Michael Arditti is brilliant on the dynamic and traps of family life. The conversations, often fractious and occasionally affectionate, will be instantly recognisable to anyone with siblings. A fat, epic family saga that amply rewards the investment it will take to read it.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAntonia Senior\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Michael Arditti’s impressive and immersive family saga begins in Salonica (now Thessaloniki) in 1911 and follows the fortunes of the wealthy, powerful Carrache family, who are part of the Sephardic Jewish community … Arditti proves himself to be a brilliant and sure-footed storyteller. He is able to establish place, character, politics and conflict in a few short pages.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlice Jolly\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I would also wholeheartedly recommend Michael Arditti’s \u003ccite\u003eThe Tribe\u003c\/cite\u003e, the enthralling tale of a Sephardic dynasty in Salonica.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMartin Chilton\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An epic reading experience … ambitious … fascinating.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSusie Mesure\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eProspect\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Tribe\u003c\/cite\u003e succeeds, and indeed triumphs, because its people feel real … No major character is a cipher, placed merely to convey an idea or detail – although it is a book full of ideas, and most marvellously rich in detail.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Bennun\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Jewish Chronicle\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Arditti’s most ambitious work in years.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePatrick Maxwell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Big Issue\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The three-generational family saga is a well-known genre, as is the Holocaust novel; here, Michael Arditti combines the two, and the effect is to produce a masterpiece of storytelling, and a novel of immense compassion … This wonderful book contains transcendent truths.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlexander Lucie-Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Church Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Arditti is a master storyteller.’ —\u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Arditti succeeds in creating fiction that is morally serious, moving and intense.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Anyone who is afraid that the English novel is sliding into a backwater of domestic anecdote should find their anxieties assuaged by the writing of Michael Arditti.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Thank God (maybe literally) for writers like Michael Arditti, whose invigorating novels dare to shake us out of our complacency.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks.  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He demands participation from the reader in an era of detachment.’ —\u003ccite\u003eScotland on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Michael Arditti has long been one of our bravest novelists.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Tablet\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michael Arditti","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55365485068667,"sku":"9781784633646","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633646.jpg?v=1766530465"},{"product_id":"collected-poems-9781784633752","title":"Collected Poems","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the first time, this volume gathers together all Tobias Hill’s poems from his four full-length collections in one beautiful and collectable paperback edition, introduced by Maura Dooley.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccite\u003eCollected Poems\u003c\/cite\u003e marks an important moment in British poetry, drawing together Hill’s work from his Eric Gregory Award-winning debut, \u003ccite\u003eYear of the Dog\u003c\/cite\u003e (1995), to the bestselling \u003ccite\u003eNocturne in Chrome \u0026amp; Sunset Yellow\u003c\/cite\u003e (2006). Hill’s celebrated ‘urban pastoral’ was decadent yet austere, driven through radical visual desire. Here in one volume we can see the extent of his imaginative journey, travelling through towns and cityscapes, presenting a simmering world of captured lives, haunting, but filled with charm and wit. The early work is dominated by Japan, where Hill lived for two years, yet it is his beloved London that becomes the imaginative centre of his work, filled with the sensuous intensity of that great city.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTobias Hill was selected as one of the country’s Next Generation poets in 2004, shortlisted for the 2004 \u003ccite\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/cite\u003e Young Writer of the Year and named by the \u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e as one of the best young writers in the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Tobias Hill published his first book of poetry in 1995, aged just 25; best-selling novels, a book for children, and short stories followed. London – which in his hands, became a landscape – was his great subject and inspiration: its light and its shadows, its street life and its lonely nights. To their great credit, Hill’s publishers, Salt, have stood by him for two decades, first publishing \u003ccite\u003eNocturne in Chrome \u0026amp; Sunset Yellow\u003c\/cite\u003e in 2006, then acquiring the rights to and reproducing his earlier collections, and now producing this collected edition after his death. The leap in quality in the later poems only makes clearer how much we lost when his voice went silent.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJeremy Wikeley\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Daily Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘What Hill reveals to us in this vital, luminous collection is that 200 years later, collision is still the city's essential state. In a book-length love song to the fabulousness and ragged beauty of his native London, he considers the city through the lattice of physical and metaphorical dialectics – nature and manufacture, wealth and poverty, glamour and grime – that bring it to life. [...] It is rare to come across a collection of poetry that you know with certainty you will still be reading years from now, but for me, this is such a book.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Crown\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Tobias Hill’s new collection announces its arrival as one such London-loving book from the first poem, written in a historical fiction genre. You can't help cheering the lust for life. [...] in one striking poem, ‘Repossession’, there's a marrying of storytelling (or backstory telling) with Hill’s engaging conversational style. Surprisingly I think of Edward Thomas here. Like several of Thomas’s poems, this is a text about depopulation and the casual, almost intimate rhythm, is especially effective.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Price\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Scotsman\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Salt has a real winner in Tobias Hill’s \u003cem\u003eNocturne in Chrome \u0026amp; Sunset Yellow\u003c\/em\u003e . . . of your preference is for a poetry you share in, enter into imaginatively, then Hill is your man . . . bringing London to life sensuously, giving it a real cosmopolitan lived-in feel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMatt Simpson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eStride Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘In careful rhythms, the 21 poems of this British poet's fourth collection describe the “collision” of opposites that Londoners and other city dwellers live with daily: e.g., the city’s smell of “Peking duck and piss.” Repo-men and aging chess players, pigeons and Chinese supermarkets, sidewalk preachers and railway station bars all populate these neat stanzas.’ —\u003ccite\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘There is no other voice today quite like this.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eA. 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Elizabeth Gaskell, newly famous author of \u003ccite\u003eMary Barton\u003c\/cite\u003e, visits a young Irish prostitute in Manchester’s New Bailey prison. The girl is about to be discharged onto the Manchester streets, where her old life of poverty and violence await her. Elizabeth is determined to help her, but few people will employ an ex-prostitute from prison. In desperation, Elizabeth writes to Charles Dickens for advice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspired by the real correspondence between Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens, Elizabeth and Ruth tells the unforgettable story of two very different women whose lives become inextricably intertwined.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The best historical fiction brings the past in so close that it feels like a parallel present. Livi Michael's \u003ccite\u003eElizabeth and Ruth\u003c\/cite\u003e is a gripping upstairs-downstairs social-realist horror tale of sorts. Michael brilliantly evokes a 19th-century Manchester hopelessly strung between the church and the sweatshop, conjuring a lost industrial world which is so tactile and vivid that you can smell it and taste it and feel its cold breath on your neck.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eXan Brooks\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Michael’s novel ends with Gaskell alone in the darkness of her home, struggling with the ending of \u003ccite\u003eRuth\u003c\/cite\u003e, a novel about sexual seduction and the stigma of illegitimacy. \u003ccite\u003eRuth\u003c\/cite\u003e was greeted with a storm of outrage when it was published in 1853. The real Gaskell stood her ground, though, just as the fictional Gaskell in Michael’s novel boldly stands up to the closed ranks of masculine privilege who turn a blind eye to the women they have ruined.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnnette Federico\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Livi Michael is superb at forcing the reader to confront uncomfortable questions about poverty and the well-meaning outsiders who seek to end it. Recreating the genesis of Gaskell’s most controversial novel, Michael explores the massive strain of a woman juggling the demands of motherhood, writing, and social campaigning in industrial Manchester. This is a powerful look at the ‘fallen’ and the ‘good’ – and the complicated, often heartbreaking reality of those trying to bridge the gap between the two.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAntonia Senior\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe Best New Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e Manchester, 1849, and a newly famous Elizabeth Gaskell has taken an interest in the case of a 16-year-old Irish seamstress, incarcerated for prostitution. Finding herself unable to offer the girl practical assistance, Gaskell turns to Charles Dickens for advice. From their real correspondence, Michael plucks a pungent tale of hypocrisy and prejudice that nimbly probes the limits of activism in Victorian England.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnthony Cummins\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Michael’s prose has a vividness one can smell and touch... 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The first part, which swoops and stutters between Emma Hoffman and her husband, Dr Nicholas Sawyer, is about a woman at the edge of herself and is also an account of a marriage, embodying two consciousnesses in a mutual misunderstanding and disappointment and hope and sometimes magic. The second part is limited to just one point of view, of their son Nicky, the living in aftermath, exploring Manhattan on his own on the occasion of his eleventh birthday.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Precise, sophisticated and shattering – and proof that seriously great writing has never been about length – this is Flusfeder’s masterpiece. As a writer, I envied every word. 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Flusfeder’s sinuous prose miraculously crams all the emotional drama of a multivolume family saga into just 80 pages.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnthony Cum­mins\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This novel is divided into two halves. The first is an insightful study of the marriage of Emma Hoffman, a successful writer who “sees it all … ” and her Park Avenue doctor husband. It’s 1970 and on the surface they are a perfect, successful couple but all’s not well: “ … he pretends not to notice the glittery bright darkness that surrounds them.” It’s a morality tale in living a lie. The beginning employs an enjoyable, concise prose that condenses information. The second part follows their son as he wanders on his 11th birthday, grappling with the difficult relationship with his dad. Also … but let’s not spoil it. The second half perks up with the introduction of a homeless guy. This short book is sporadically moving and insightful.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKevin Gildea\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The novella is set in two separate years, 1970 and 1974. In New York in 1970 … we meet Emma Hoffman, a discontented married writer who lives on the Upper West Side of the city, and has spent most of her marriage hosting upscale parties. Invitations to such parties are supposedly the social cachet of the in-crowd …’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJenni Frazer\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Jewish Chronicle\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With a grace and sophistication that leaves one marvelling … In an even more subtle way, the book is a work of genius.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNadya Chishty-Mujahid\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDawn\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eSomething Might Fall\u003c\/cite\u003e is, by turns, profoundly dark and fearlessly beautiful.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTaha Kehar\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTribune Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eJohn the Pupil\u003c\/cite\u003e) Flusfeder just keeps getting better and better.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eJohn the Pupil\u003c\/cite\u003e) Plunges the 21st-century reader into a world where very little is recognisable. 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In beautiful, hypnotic prose she powerfully evokes the scars that toxic relationships can leave while satirising the empty promises of wellness culture. It is engrossing, dark and deeply atmospheric.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNicolas Padamsee, author of ‘England is Mine’\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘An enigmatic study of submission, \u003ccite\u003eThe Colony\u003c\/cite\u003e traces the corrosive patterns of power that can ripple from one romantic relationship to the next. 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Its story of resistance is told in smooth, reflective prose: the tumult of Lena’s inner life is presented in beautifully-shaped sentences, lulling the reader into acceptance of its increasingly disturbing scenarios.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTimothy C. 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It’s a drama that galvanises not just the local community but people from all around London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA superbly written debut novel with a big heart, that will make you laugh, cry and remind you of the power of community spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eDazzling Debuts to kickstart 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e People who know Wilf are kind but teenagers taunt him. Kensal Green is normally a quiet area – that is, until a violent assault takes place and suspicion takes over. Original and compelling.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSara Lawrence\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe Best New Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e: Wilf is a solitary man with learning disabilities, who is on a mission to tame an urban fox. He’s loved, tolerated and abused by his north-west London neighbours, but when he is accused of a crime he did not commit, they rally unanimously behind him … it’s warm-hearted and observant, wonderfully capturing the thought processes of its unlikely hero.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSimon Humphreys\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Mail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eBooks to Curl Up With This Month\u003c\/strong\u003e Couched in gentleness, this is the story of Wilf Kelly as he navigates his small world and dodges the unkind remarks about his supposed strangeness. Supported in his small London community by his friend Felicia, he decides to acquire a fox, tame it and keep it as a pet. But all comfort is destroyed when Will is accused of a violent crime.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKerry Fowler\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eSainsbury’s Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Fox of Kensal Green\u003c\/cite\u003e — Wonderful!!’ —\u003cstrong\u003eWilliam Walsh, author ‘Haircuts for the Dead’\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Enter the World of Wilf Kelly – moving, heartbreaking and full of love – highly recommended.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eStephen the Bookworm\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eWaterstones\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Beautifully written and utterly memorable, \u003ccite\u003eThe Fox of Kensal Green\u003c\/cite\u003e will stay with me for a long time.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJaffareadstoo\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘An engaging and original read … There is an abundance of heart and humour within these pages … I highly recommend.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJackie Law\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eneverimitate\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richard Tyrrell","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55484976824699,"sku":"9781784633660","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633660_36d9b5d1-fbac-41ae-97f1-a9b88fa7bab8.jpg?v=1748979843"},{"product_id":"theres-no-f-in-wonderful-9781784633806","title":"There’s No ‘F’ In Wonderful","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eCinzano, furs, and the lost glamour of seventies Leeds clubland\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp class=\"drop-cap\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"drop-cap-opener\"\u003eA disillusioned, drug-soaked\u003c\/span\u003e intellectual is escaping ‘The Heat’ – both literal and metaphorical – by relocating to a new town in the North. 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With \u003ccite\u003eThere’s No ‘F’ in Wonderful\u003c\/cite\u003e, he delivers a strange, glorious celebration of resilience, joy, and defiant living. Or as the book itself insists: \u003cem\u003eLive! Live! Live!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Bill Broady's voice is unique in British fiction. His new novel, \u003ccite\u003eThere's No ‘F’ In Wonderful\u003c\/cite\u003e, continues a high-serious comic tradition that is now otherwise close to extinction.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Rose\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Here the human drama in the uncertain days just after Punk is brought to life in an X-rated screwball comedy set in a Northern casino – told with Broady’s unique gift for extravagant but just-right simile, for twisted romance, and for unexpected pathos.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Price\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Bill Broady’s \u003ccite\u003eThere’s No ‘F’ in Wonderful\u003c\/cite\u003e vividly resurrects an all but vanished world of smoky casinos and Northern Soul discos, bringing to life a ribald, unique suite of oddball characters who stay in one’s mind long after the novel is finished. Shot through with tenderness and humour, Broady’s ability to evoke time and place – 1970s Yorkshire – with sublime melancholia and brio at once is unparalleled.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJean McNeil\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A novel of rhythm and hope, set in a Leeds instantly recognisable to anyone who experienced it, Broady works with broad Northern humour, neatly shot through with brains, all held together with writing that’s subtle, sometimes beautiful, sometimes raw, to create an unforgettable story.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChris Nickson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThere’s No ‘F’ in Wonderful\u003c\/cite\u003e is a pulsating and dreamlike literary romp. Viscerally hilarious and riven with electric prose, Bill Broady has written another truly memorable novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Owain Roberts\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A rambunctious, laugh-out-loud royal flush of a novel. The rocking, cheap suits, Cinzano and furs world of 70s Leeds clubland that Bill Broady depicts with such characterful detail and cinematic relish may no longer exist, but it will live on forever through the pages of this hilarious, joint-jumping, rug-cutting read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePiers Torday\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘For Yorkshire novelist Bill Broady, the nightclubs and casinos of 1970s northern England were more than places to drink, dance and disappear for the weekend. They were theatres of longing, ritual and escape – memories that now echo through his latest novel, There’s No ‘F’ In Wonderful.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGrace Hammond\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eYorkshire Post\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Few writers are able to nail the retrospective surreality of a place and time in history with the elegant efficiency of Bill Broady.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSteve Whitaker\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eYorkshire Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This conflict, our dissatisfaction and constant desire for changing who we are and what we do, is one of authenticity, so, perhaps, after all \u003ccite\u003eThere’s No “F” in Wonderful\u003c\/cite\u003e is in essence an existential novel, a raucous existential novel, Bill Broady’s antidote to the self under siege in 2026.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChris Vaughan\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eNo 1. Brooklyn\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Broady’s version of Leeds yields something closer to autobiographical authenticity.’ —\u003ccite\u003eChimeo: a celebration of the arts\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Broady choreographs his imagery and themes with dexterity and verve … and infuses this book with an unusual kind of grace.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTime Out\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Broady writes with rude, comic dynamism.’ —\u003ccite\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Echoing the aspirations of its heroine, Broady’s stunning narrative seems to hover in its own distinctive element and, at times, to soar and fly. 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But there are always others left behind to grieve, to cheer, to feel guilt, relief or laughter, because we are human, whether we like it or not. In these stories, a dozen characters find at least a dozen ways to live by facing death – their own or that of those they love – in familiar worlds shot through with a strange absurdity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA man with cancer is employed to smoke by a character from a novel who may never have existed; an historian finds a love he hopes will last beyond the grave, even if it isn’t his; a former judge dispenses justice in a prison camp; a randomly-selected Prime Minister confronts the biggest life-or-death decision she – or anyone – will ever have to take.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eA Day Like Any Other\u003c\/cite\u003e explores death – natural, assisted, promised and unexpected – with compassion, wit, a steady gaze and a desire to confront the challenge we mostly prefer to avoid: why live at all? It is the perfect collection for anyone who’s going to die one day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Peckham Experiment\u003c\/cite\u003e) ★★★★ For all its topical resonance – amid a national housing crisis and the long aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire – the novel’s fatalistic register and taut, controlled narrative voice, by turns doleful and sardonic, set it apart from the preachier political allegories that are currently in such oversupply. Ware’s narrator has kept the faith, but he is under no illusions: “the universe is not moral and history has no arc. Its trajectory is an irregular spiral, turning constantly in upon itself ... If there is an end, a destination beyond mere annihilation, it is lost to sight.”’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHouman Barekat\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Fat of Fed Beasts\u003c\/cite\u003e) Fleshing out the shadowy metaphysical hints of Beckett’s novels, this intellectual romp is the best debut I have read in years.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNicholas Lezard\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eOur Island Story\u003c\/cite\u003e) Denis’ story is an example of the comedy Ware injects into the novel, yet it also adds to the atmosphere of hopelessness – a futile effort, as futile as the debate over whether the Island is real or a simulation as, either way, no one is intending to take any action that might improve the lives of the Islanders (sound familiar?). Ware satirises contemporary Britain in numerous ways without overloading the novel as the island setting ensures each aspect of comparison is concrete, and the small cast of characters keeps its interactions credible. And so, we have a small group of people, often related, passing power around; debates and even referenda designed simply to create conflict and hinder action; and carefully a curated mythology used to make elevation to power seem inevitable. Ware even manages to throw in an inquiry into police brutality that is constantly delayed, and a spad who is also a poet.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eGrant Rintoul\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003e1st Reading\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Faculty of Indifference\u003c\/cite\u003e) Ordinary life is a terrifying prospect in this existential satire about a London spook … \u003cem\u003eThe Faculty of Indifference\u003c\/em\u003e is a book of dark shadows and dry humour. 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Buy now!’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePeter Benson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eMy Bags Are Big\u003c\/cite\u003e is Tibor Fischer’s best yet: every page as dazzling as it is inimitable. This may be \u003cem\u003ethe\u003c\/em\u003e crypto novel, but its prose is never cryptic. With Fischer, you know exactly where you are: caught up in the infernal comedy of unrequited desire and bereft of all that you thought you knew about the meaning of life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDaniel Johnson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Sardonic and hilarious. This is the first great Bitcoin novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAndrew M. Bailey\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘In an ever-changing world, some people can be relied upon to remain fully themselves. Fischer, who is just a few years older than his narrator, made a literary splash in the 90s with novels including \u003ccite\u003eThe Thought Gang\u003c\/cite\u003e, a surreal caper about a philosopher turned bank robber. Thirty years on, he has conceived another renegade chancer; the storytelling is zippier here, and the absurdism slightly dialled down, but the jaunty voice and cynical, compulsively wisecracking comic sensibility are unchanged.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHouman Barekat\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘If you long for that far-off time when novels were prepared to be hilariously funny, vulgar, caustic, wildly politically incorrect and highly improbable you are going to love \u003ccite\u003eMy Bags Are Big\u003c\/cite\u003e. Tibor Fischer has always been happy to write against the pieties of the age, whatever they might be.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eIan Sansom\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eMy Bags Are Big\u003c\/cite\u003e, a scorchingly funny tale set in the world of cryptocurrency.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChris Harvey\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Dan is a sixty-year-old British expat, living comfortably in Dubai thanks to his crypto windfall but unable to let go of his native Catford. Despite his bags being full of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, despite nattering with royals and aristocrats, he wears twenty-year-old T-shirts and drives a used Citroën – none of it ironically. It is not false modesty or simple nostalgia that guides Dan. It is an unsettling self-deprecation, underpinned by mourning. … Fischer is “a master of the bitter laugh”, but this latest narrator, however worn down, doesn’t smack of bitterness. At his core, we are led to understand, he is a decent guy who believes in making “others happy when you can”. … Dan is an enigma – and a truly enjoyable one to try to solve.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKyle Wyatt\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eTHE BEST NEW FICTION\u003c\/strong\u003e Crackling with quips, [Tibor Fischer’s] new novel follows a widowed Bitcoin trader in Dubai, recalling the sexual shenanigans and dodgy deals of his rackety salad days in south London. A knockabout satire with a nice line in wry self-deflation.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnthony Cummins\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003e10 new fiction books to kickstart your 2026 reading list\u003c\/strong\u003e The novel clips along … in large part down to Dan’s hustle-propelled, crime-adjacent life story and a cast of eccentric characters with delicious names.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSophie Charara\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eShortlist\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The book’s underlying point is timeless: Money never fixes meaning. It just strips away the excuses.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCory Klippsten\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eX.com\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Vulgar and irreverent ... part life biography, part perverted fantasy. He has me bent over in laughter more than once.’ —\u003ccite\u003eStacker News\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eUnder the Frog\u003c\/cite\u003e) I began \u003ccite\u003eUnder the Frog\u003c\/cite\u003e on a crowded double decker in a London traffic jam … and soon found myself laughing like an idiot … It is a triumph … painfully moving, it is also uproariously funny.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eUnder the Frog\u003c\/cite\u003e) A quite wonderful book … He takes a serious subject … and is seriously funny about it … the result is plausible, insolent, sophisticated and hungry … Glorious!’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Hofmann\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Thought Gang\u003c\/cite\u003e) Acerbic, dashingly inventive, very funny indeed.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Hitchens\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Thought Gang\u003c\/cite\u003e) An erudite web of digressions and ruminations intended to provide a portrait of the narrator's soul.’ —\u003ccite\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Thought Gang\u003c\/cite\u003e) Fischer has a unique ability to hinge the most unlikely concepts together... charcoaling ideas to gem-hardened, irresistibly funny insights.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTime Out\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Thought Gang\u003c\/cite\u003e) There are a lot of funny lines … \u003ccite\u003eGood to be God\u003c\/cite\u003e dramatises the neuroses of a man mired in middle age who is dismally disappointed with the way things have panned out.’ —\u003ccite\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Thought Gang\u003c\/cite\u003e) Deciding that identity fraud lacks ambition, Tyndale Corbett attempts to convince the people of Miami that he is God. His inadvertent success has unholy and darkly comic consequences.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Thought Gang\u003c\/cite\u003e) Fischer's fecund imagination keeps the satire constantly engaging.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Daily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tibor Fischer","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55542180053371,"sku":"9781784633851","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633851_e80aaf1c-4be8-4bcb-9a42-980ab998f633.jpg?v=1767802199"},{"product_id":"time-being-9781784633875","title":"Time Being","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch3\u003eA gripping existential thriller from the author of \u003ccite\u003eByron Easy\u003c\/cite\u003e.\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Laura Cameron, a philosophy professor at a London university, is found dead in a bizarre echo of the Reeva Steenkamp case, the questions are myriad. Her friend and colleague, Esther Luck, is as shocked as everyone else.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Esther knows more than she’s letting on. After two years battling illness, her notions of what makes life worth living, of what her future holds, have changed utterly. Held in a tense web of intrigue between Laura’s widower Jack, her ex Michel, and her conventional family, Esther is given the chance of new life on borrowed time as the mystery of Laura’s death deepens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat follows is an exploration of guilt, mortality, freedom, time and the brilliant and beautiful puzzle of being alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eTime Being\u003c\/cite\u003e is a deftly plotted and hugely satisfying contemporary thriller, one which captures the reader from page one. Jude Cook writes like a dream, his central premise, that of a ‘mercy killing gone wrong’, is held taut till the final pages. \u003ccite\u003eTime Being\u003c\/cite\u003e isn’t a whodunnit, more a why dunnit, revealed in exquisite and lyrical prose. It’s a pleasure to read a spicy thriller which also boasts literary measure, language and full-blooded characters. This is a hybrid novel which yolks fine writing and fine plotting together – utterly rare. Read \u003ccite\u003eTime Being\u003c\/cite\u003e for both style and substance. A page turner.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMonique Roffey\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘What happens when suicide turns into murder? Jude Cook offers a richly compelling and incisive account of a moral philosopher who dares not speak the truth.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Arditti, author of The Tribe\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With \u003ccite\u003eTime Being\u003c\/cite\u003e, Jude Cook has pulled off that rare thing – a literary novel that has the push and pull of genre fiction. The novel opens grippingly with the shocking news that a lecturer has been shot at close range in a university toilet cubicle. The dead lecturer is a colleague of Dr Esther Luck, our main protagonist. Immediately after this news, we learn that the shooting was actually an act of euthanasia gone horribly wrong. Esther has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has asked an ex-boyfriend to put her out of her misery. But he got the wrong woman. After this twisty opening, Cook has Esther look back over her life and reassess her standing in it. She is a philosopher, specialising in Kantian ethics and moral responsibility, and her thoughts question all sorts things – sexuality, family ties, friendship, white lies, professional envy. The aforementioned ex-boyfriend is a Frenchman named Michel (the spit of Vincent Cassel, apparently) who brings with him a touch of Camus’s \u003ccite\u003eThe Outsider\u003c\/cite\u003e. \u003ccite\u003eTime Being\u003c\/cite\u003e is indeed an existentialist novel but it wears its learning very lightly. It is a beautifully written exploration of what it means to live and take a life, a book about choices and second chances, and the inevitable, relentless march of time.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Skinner, author of The Velvet Gentleman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This elegantly written thriller reaches beyond its nightmare premise to wrestle with serious ideas.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eToby Lloyd, author of Fervour\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘In this gripping work of literary crime fiction, Jude Cook presents the unravelling of a woman’s life with sensitive precision. His eye for detail brilliantly captures a particular side of London life, making it vividly immediate to today’s readers, and, no doubt, equally potent to audiences of tomorrow.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEmily Midorikawa, author of A Tiny Speck of Black and Then Nothing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eTime Being\u003c\/cite\u003e is a brilliant and engaging disquisition about moral choice ratcheted through a novel of suspense. Jude Cook’s taut, confident style tackles not only crime and punishment but the underbelly of some female friendships and professional rivalries with an admirable agility and perspicacity. A thoroughly entertaining read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAmanda Craig, author of High and Low\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Combines the propulsion of a thriller with a stark examination of the consequences of personal and societal instability.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlice Jolly, author of The Matchbox Girl\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Throughout, it’s the details and feelings that power Time Being: the heavy silence of the clinic’s waiting room, the happy buzz of an unexpected date, the practised rhythm of a lecture. Esther is a fine and acutely observed creation, at times thoroughly sympathetic, at others grimly evasive, and all the more credible for it: you don’t have to like her to share her dread at the trauma she endures and the brutal decisions she faces. The result is a fine portrait of a wounded midlife, as seasons shift and hope and happiness roll by, glorious but fleeting, like clouds in a turbulent sky.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJames Smart\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eTime Being\u003c\/cite\u003e, which unfolds over the course of one year, offers much to admire, from lucid prose and a crash course in philosophical dictums (Esther’s ‘decision to end her life was symptomatic of her mauvaise foi, a Sartrean concept’) to a neat concluding twist. It is good to see a writer getting granular about a disease, such as ovarian cancer, which is frequently misdiagnosed.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSusie Mesure\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A twisty thriller [that] certainly delivers … Cook raises several arresting questions.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJennifer Lipman\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Jewish Chronicle\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eJacob’s Advice\u003c\/cite\u003e) Intriguing … The narrative moves slowly and magnificently towards a series of crises.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eJacob’s Advice\u003c\/cite\u003e) Set against a backdrop of rising antisemitism and full of intellectual discourse, Cook’s second novel is a thoughtful paean to Paris.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eJacob’s Advice\u003c\/cite\u003e) portrait of the middle-class, liberal man in 2015 as a kind of prelapsarian naif.’ —\u003ccite\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘There’s an addictive charm … that gives a potency to this ambitious tale.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Sunyer\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Daring, moving, imaginative and, above all, funny, this is a great debut from a promising novelist.’ —\u003ccite\u003eSunday Mirror\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘An exuberant, stealthily shocking debut … razor sharp.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘From the start of his journey to the amazing ending of his saga we follow with awe and trepidation his moral life as all around him (almost) everyone else shows the human condition at its worst. If there is any literary justice this should sell by the bucket load. Hope it does and we hear again from this terrific first time novelist!’ —\u003ccite\u003eGuardian Online\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jude Cook","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55542987587963,"sku":"9781784633875","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633875_5589e350-ee85-4965-bbb9-129d404d6038.jpg?v=1775552622"},{"product_id":"what-the-fog-conceals-9781784633905","title":"What the Fog Conceals","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eA small town. A heavy weather. Something out there that won’t stay hidden.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ccite\u003eWhat the Fog Conceals\u003c\/cite\u003e, R. A. Marno delivers a taut, quietly devastating debut that lingers in the mind long after the final page. Set in a remote Irish estate shadowed by silence and omission, the novel unearths the emotional archaeology of a family haunted less by ghosts than by what they refuse to name.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlending literary precision with Gothic unease, Marno explores the weight of memory, the corrosive nature of secrecy, and the quiet violence of complicity. This is a story where atmosphere presses in like weather, where grief hides in architecture, and where the past is never quite buried – only waiting to return.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect for readers drawn to elegant psychological fiction and the slow unravel of long-held truths, \u003ccite\u003eWhat the Fog Conceals\u003c\/cite\u003e marks the arrival of a striking new voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘In \u003ccite\u003eWhat the Fog Conceals\u003c\/cite\u003e, R. A. Marno creates a deeply moving and quietly assured narrative of unstoppable resurfacing memory, the unexorcisable haunting of history, and the ultimate, unsuppressable power of a landscape – a heritage both natural and constructed — that is as inescapable as mortality. This debut is not only a wonderful addition to Northern Irish Gothic fiction, but a must-read for all those who love slow burn Gothic Horror.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eC. M. Rosens\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Marno’s debut novel imagines the land itself forcing Harriet and her son Edward – who is unaware of his mother’s actions – to confront the atrocities committed there. The result is a haunting and atmospheric story, deeply moving and eloquently written. The novel excels in its sense of place, with the fog becoming an especially powerful symbol: at once concealing and revealing the truth, embodying the slow, creeping realisation of the past before finally lifting as buried horrors come to light.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSamantha Ward-Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eHistorical Novel Society\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"R. A. Marno","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55569835950459,"sku":"9781784633905","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633905_b1e1ae7e-af87-46bd-9e8d-4d0d228a5e56.jpg?v=1764405685"},{"product_id":"skinship-9781784633929","title":"Skinship","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/forward-prizes.png?v=1791360798\" alt=\"\" style=\"float: right; width: 150px;\" id=\"no-shadow\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA compelling and formally innovative collection that showcases beautiful Japanese poetical forms.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eSkinship\u003c\/cite\u003e (スキンシップ) is Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana’s thrilling second collection and is the sequel to Salt bestseller, \u003ccite\u003eSing me down from the dark\u003c\/cite\u003e (2022), featuring the same feisty protagonist, dark humour, and moments that will make you cry. ‘Skinship’ derives from the Japanese ‘loan word’ fusing ‘skin’ and ‘kinship’. The word can refer to intimate situations, such as bathing naked with friends or lovers in Japanese hot springs, and this bold and sensuous collection does not hold back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEmbedded in the word skinship is the word ‘kin’ and the poet explores motherhood, relationships between women, and relationships with partners (including controlling partners, narcissistic abuse and cross-cultural relationships). However, as always in Corrin-Tachibana’s writing, there is a balance of light and dark. There are many hilarious moments, such as in her imaginative zuihitsu titled ‘Madam Gout’ which provide a lovely contrast with darker pieces and more tender moments when writing about her son.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe collection is set against the Japanese cultural landscape and is strongly influenced by Japanese women writers including Sei Shōnagon, Yoko Ono, Machiko Tawara and Kimiko Hahn. Threaded through the collection is a witty and surreal sequence after Yoko Ono, including Artemesia prize shortlisted poem, ‘How to Enjoy Kyoto’.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis compelling and formally innovative narrative showcases beautiful Japanese poetical forms, such as her Winchester-prize shortlisted zuihitsu, ‘Skinship’, as well as haiku and tanka, which Corrin-Tachibana completely makes her own. Her collection is rooted in her lived experience of Japan and her love of Japanese literature, and the poems also explore her reconnection with the country when she returned after a 15 year hiatus. The use of Japanese language and script in some poems, as well as the collage-like layout of her zuihitsu, make ‘Skinship’ visually appealing, as well as a compelling read.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMeet the Author\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe title=\"Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana on Kimiko Hahn's poem 'Compass' and her own poem \u0026quot;Madam Gout'\" height=\"300\" width=\"100%\" style=\"border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px); height: 300px;\" data-name=\"pb-iframe-player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podbean.com\/player-v2\/?from=embed\u0026amp;i=k6vwg-19f639d-pb\u0026amp;square=1\u0026amp;share=1\u0026amp;download=1\u0026amp;fonts=Arial\u0026amp;skin=1\u0026amp;font-color=auto\u0026amp;rtl=0\u0026amp;logo_link=episode_page\u0026amp;btn-skin=7\u0026amp;size=300\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana’s second collection more than fulfils the promise of her first. Raw, honest, but always richly layered and well-crafted, Corrin-Tachibana’s skilful and innovative use of Japanese forms adds a further dimension to these narratives of loss, alienation, and the complexity of cross-cultural relationships. A wholly original and beguiling body of work.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSue Burge\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003e‘Pillow Book Talk’ Winner of Verve Poem of the Month, February 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex has formed a poem that questions, praises, learns from, and speaks to Sei Shònagon, and from here, lets herself ‘follow the brush’ in response to the original \u003ccite\u003eThe Pillow Book\u003c\/cite\u003e. The poem is full of observations; sleep deprivation, aggressive intimacies, lists of ‘things’, and, ingeniously, contains even a poem on Tornados within the poem. The more we read this, the more immersed in it we are. It’s like a film.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHayley Frances and Stuart Bartholomew\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003e‘Pillow Book Talk’ Winner of Verve Poem of the Month, February 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e Congratulations Alexandra, it’s a beautiful poem. I love the way you have used the form, like a whisper between sisters, or friends at a sleepover. Such a gorgeously direct and honest communication with Sei Shōnagan across oceans and centuries that contains such present truths.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCheryl Moskowitz \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003e‘Haibun for The One that Got Away’ Commended in the Buzzwords competition, 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e This is a novel in a page. I admire the way the three poetic interludes each do very different things, how imagistic they are, and how the last of them leaves us with the tension of longing, of loss-in-presence. This is gutsy writing.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRory Waterman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana’s new collection moves between Japan and Britain, intimacy and estrangement, motherhood and memory.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJames Hartley\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Madrid Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The inclusion of the Japanese language, its phrases and characters, adds an extra visual and aural dimension. The different layouts of the poems are a visual treat too as is their attention to the nuances of social behaviour. I admired the shifts in tone, the balancing of heartbreak with resilience and sardonic humour and the narrator’s no-holds-barred approach to her material. There are so many more threads and features to be explored (e.g. music, literature, art – for instance the sharply poignant poems written in response to Yoko Ono’s \u003ccite\u003eMusic of the Mind\u003c\/cite\u003e exhibition at Tate Modern) in this rich and inventive collection.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePam Thompson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eEverybody’s Reviewing\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘These are fascinating, deeply honest poems that engage with Japanese forms and culture as they build towards and fresh and compelling narrative. The poems are frequently beautiful in their intimacy and observation, pulling you so close you can almost breathe them.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eWill Mackie\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eNew Writing North\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A collection which chronicles many brave moves toward world-proofing the self.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSuzanna Fitzpatrick\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Deeper Read\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSing Me Down from the Dark\u003c\/cite\u003e) Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana's poetry explores the nature of Japanese culture through sensual, well crafted, multilingual poems. Her beguiling poetry is thoroughly lived and utterly contemporary.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Caddy\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eTears in the Fence\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSing Me Down from the Dark\u003c\/cite\u003e) ‘Kotoshi mo Yoroshiku’, which I came across judging an anonymous poetry competition, is a formally innovative and exciting poem, which still maintains a sense of heart and intimacy.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAndrew McMillan\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSing Me Down from the Dark\u003c\/cite\u003e) East and the West clash and merge in Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana’s debut collection. Japanese and European cultures criss-cross and interweave in family relationships, love, sex and food. Identity is in flux in a reality that is often blurred and uncertain. Rituals rule but are often ambiguous and confusing. The protagonist retraces ten years of her life in Japan, her marriage and the birth of her son. The memories are experienced at the threshold of two languages, moving from English to Japanese with the aid of translations. It is a cultural and physical movement from one place to the other that conveys a sense of displacement.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCarla Scarano D’Antonio\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe High Window\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSing Me Down from the Dark\u003c\/cite\u003e) Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana’s debut collection Sing Me Down from the Dark recounts her personal story over a period of time that included two international marriages. The poetic style throughout the book’s six untitled sections is strongly confessional, a style that is blended successfully with strong narrative threads and plenty of formal diversity, including innovative prose poetry, a ghazal (‘Ghazal for my husband, on International Women’s Day’), and a pantoum (‘ダーリンは外国人 “My Darling is a Foreigner”’).’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTim Murphy\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Friday Poem\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSing Me Down from the Dark\u003c\/cite\u003e) Family life in Japan, the unravelling of two marriages, being an outsider: Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana draws on her own life and (spoiler alert!) a new relationship as inspiration for this collection. Energetic, richly detailed and varied in form, they make an absorbing debut. Holding the poems together is the theme of ‘home’: what and where it might be.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eD. A. Prince\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eOrbis\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSing Me Down from the Dark\u003c\/cite\u003e) One key point is Corrin-Tachibana’s acute awareness of the poem as artistic artefact rather than as an object that exists purely at the service of the poet’s own self-expression and sense of self-worth. This quality lifts \u003ccite\u003eSing Me Down From the Dark\u003c\/cite\u003e out from the melee of contemporary poetry. It’s written with a reader in mind – something which might be assumed, but which is often relegated by numerous contemporary poets to an afterthought.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMatthew Stewart\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eWild Court\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55600747544955,"sku":"9781784633929","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633929-fwds.jpg?v=1791360790"},{"product_id":"making-the-wedding-dress-9781784633844","title":"Making the Wedding Dress","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWills gives readers the exceptional at the heart of daily life, invites us to suspend disbelief, enable the surreal.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe begins \u003cem\u003eMaking the Wedding Dress\u003c\/em\u003e with a quote from a handbook on sewing and asks what can be fixed, what does it mean to make a daughter’s wedding dress. The collection fans out to explore bullying, money, trade, rats and sinkholes. A third section questions how humans relate to other species, speculates on a worm's opinion of people, the communal life of starlings. The book ends on ideas of exits and entrances, home, absences within a family and the fragility of care.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMaking the Wedding Dress\u003c\/em\u003e makes many unexpected connections, moving from sauna to plum tree, to a luxury yacht cruising off Brighton beach. It asks what crows think of humans, it urges its readers to question what is normal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJackie Wills’ six previous collections have taken on big issues but her poems are always grounded. Her poems have been described as warm and witty, satirical, feminist and unputdownable. She starts with the mundane, then exaggerates – a list of the many words used to describe a woman, a sequence of short, impressionist poems on the surreality of menopause.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiz Lochhead described her 1995 debut, \u003ccite\u003ePowder Tower\u003c\/cite\u003e (Arc 1995), as “full of fabulous and exact fictions about ordinary family life”. Writer Robert Macfarlane described her second book \u003ccite\u003eParty\u003c\/cite\u003e (Leviathan 2000) as “a very fine collection indeed”.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eMaking the Wedding Dress\u003c\/cite\u003e is a collection that holds ‘in tension’ Jackie Wills’s many interests and concerns. From the disturbing intimacy of needlework to the discoveries of aging and the consolations and concerns of the natural world, here are poems that say what needs to be said. Terrifically readable, full of thought and reflection, this is a book born of clear-eyed observation and beautifully shaped language.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJonathan Davidson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The poems in \u003ccite\u003eMaking the Wedding Dress\u003c\/cite\u003e are sewn with a lyrical needle connecting family and community to womanhood and ageing to nature and sinkholes to commitments, personal and political. Their compelling voice enacts a restless energy, in form and authoritative approach. Jackie Wills’s keen eye notices ‘the purest yellow opening in the sun like full skirts.’ One poem ends ‘look, look, look, look!’ and Wills obeys her own music in this rich, fierce, searching collection.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRobert Hamberger\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘In \u003ccite\u003eMaking the Wedding Dress\u003c\/cite\u003e, Jackie Wills shows us what it means to care for others, the planet and ourselves. There is a beautiful capability in Wills’ poems to take us deep inside a richness of worlds – familial, natural, corporeal – where we can meditate the tenuousness and meaning that is found within them.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRebecca Goss\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘There is such implicit skill in this collection that the reader could begin to believe it is effortless – that all poets can do this, that of course this is how it’s meant to be. We start to feel entitled – all poetry must be this right, this fitting, this real. It’s not.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSonya Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eParty\u003c\/cite\u003e Her poems are brief, allusive, inconsequential and often very strange tales which juxtapose vivid details of childhood, unanswered questions and red herrings, dream images and natural details which spark memories of anecdotes.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAndrew Stibbs\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe North\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Gagarin’s Moon … is a magnificent group of poems set mostly in South Africa. They demonstrate an exactness of both looking and feeling (e.g. Wills likening of the visa stamps in her passport to “pressed flowers\/ in an inherited book”) and suggest a scrupulous intelligence which, while it wants to situate itself within a strange culture, wants also to understand that culture on its own terms. The third section, Flight Paths, is devoted to the countryside of southern England and concludes what becomes over its length a very fine collection indeed.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRobert Macfarlane\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eLeviathan Quarterly\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘On \u003ccite\u003eWoman’s Head as Jug\u003c\/cite\u003e) I would trust the power of her account of the menopause, “When the blowtorch is on inside her”, not least for the wry suggestion that her subject could “supply the city’s tumble dryers”. Wills is unflinchingly witty about age “the M1, with twisting A roads, \/ has appeared on her shins”.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlison Brackenbury\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eUnder the Radar\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘On \u003ccite\u003eWoman’s Head as Jug\u003c\/cite\u003e) Brilliant and unputdownable. Wills imbues the minutiae of life with magic and other-worldliness. Her topics are wide ranging but rooted in the everyday.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJulia Webb\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eA Friable Earth\u003c\/cite\u003e) The legendary British poet Jackie Wills relays ageing womanhood in beautiful style, smashing its taboo in western society along the way.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJack Mckeever\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eA Friable Earth\u003c\/cite\u003e) Jackie Wills’ wonderful new collection \u003ccite\u003eA Friable Earth\u003c\/cite\u003e offers an unflinching look at ageing. It exposes and explores the vulnerable underbelly of grief and fear and loss. There are sudden endings, exits and departures and the sadnesses these things leave behind them. A Friable Earth is many other things too, including funny and sometimes angry. It’s also bursting with the life and energy of the natural world – and us within it … It is an honest, life-affirming and loving collection of skilfully turned poems.”’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMichaela Ridgway\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003ePigHog poetry\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jackie Wills","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55602512298363,"sku":"9781784633844","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633844_7e2bf949-fb16-4b5f-add9-c64ccccd0592.jpg?v=1752253929"},{"product_id":"clinging-to-the-crags-9781784633899","title":"Clinging to the Crags","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eA story of high places, hard choices, and the long way down\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I know you and this place. You’re like a hefted sheep. If you come in, you’ll never leave.’ At heart, this memoir is about not leaving home. Except when a father believes in male primogeniture and you’re a daughter, the threat of expulsion hangs like the sword of Damocles. Funny, poignant, sharp and sweet, this memoir is what the author has salvaged after the sword dropped. You'll sometimes wish you'd been there, and sometimes be pretty glad you weren’t.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Wry, witty, direct, with a continual sense of surprise and a miraculous freshness, this memoir, really a deep-rooted love story about place, family and an old world drawing to an end, beats any fiction.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Schmidt, author of ‘The Novel: a Biography’\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A wonderful portrayal of an eccentric, rambunctious family who inhabit the world of the Not-So-Grand house. I firmly believe that Katharine Grant had as much fun writing about her colourful clan as I had reading about them all.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKirsty Wark, BAFTA Fellow\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Much of our lives is spent trying to understand our own families. Here is the tale of a family that defies understanding, not just because of the vivid personalities involved, but also because of our Society’s (continuing and) obsessive concern for male primogeniture. A fascinating read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJulian Fellowes\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With an underwrought style and a novelist’s eye, Katharine Grant has given us a classic of childhood memories from a world it would be hard to credit had it not been so vividly recorded from the inside.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Howse\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Tablet\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) Grant at times writes like Jane Austen on crack cocaine ... but entirely, refreshingly modern, entirely herself.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTom Adair\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eScotland on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSediton\u003c\/cite\u003e) [Grant] writes with wit, verve and not a little mischief.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAntonia Senior\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSediton\u003c\/cite\u003e) The novel’s epigrammatic voice ... is another of its delights, detached in tone but delivering what are often dark ironies with memorable brevity and cleverness.’ —\u003ccite\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) A properly subversive and quite unforgettable novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLucy Scholes\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian \u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) Grant has rambunctious fun ... there is phrase making here of high order, wise and funny arrangements of words that linger in the imagination.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJonathan Barnes\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) A subversive and thrilling gothic tale, it will keep you up all night.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAndrea Wulf\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) This is an original, winningly imagined tale.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) A sly, witty, deliciously knowing treat.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMetro\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) Funny, witty, melancholy, rowdy, elegant and kick-ass.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMarie Claire\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSedition\u003c\/cite\u003e) This is a wonderful read from a born storyteller.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChris Cleave, chair of the Desmond Elliott prize 2014\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katharine Grant","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55629787038075,"sku":"9781784633899","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633899_5d6073b2-e352-441f-983a-97ad37a958df.jpg?v=1764244058"},{"product_id":"not-even-october-9781784633981","title":"Not Even October","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eNot Even October\u003c\/em\u003e is a powerful and accessible collection from a poet who speaks directly to the reader – and whose words linger long after the page is turned.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eNot Even October\u003c\/cite\u003e is a collection about the easy-to-miss moments that shape lives. Moments in classrooms, petrol stations, cafes and vets. In suburban gardens and city parks. In small-town streets and country lanes. Evoking love lost and found, nights of excess, threads of friendship, the rip of grief and the flickering, beautiful absurdities of life in a digital, distracted age, the poems trace how we make sense of memory, mortality, place and home. \u003ccite\u003eNot Even October\u003c\/cite\u003e vaults from humour to heartache – then back again – in a breath, attuned both to the anxiety-inducing barrage of turbulent times and the calming comforts offered by the natural world. In this tender, relatable debut, Relf navigates contemporary Britain, finding everyday magic in everyday places, while asking readers: How do we hold on to what matters – and let go of what doesn’t?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Relf has a real eye, and an original voice: frank, immediate, humorous. Most admirable of all, his poems find the surreal, the profound, in the fray of the everyday.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRachel Long\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A bold, fresh voice.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLuke Wright\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Lovely, lively and utterly unique. It’s always a treat to read a Tim Relf poem.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHelen Mort\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘These poems invite us into a shared space and produce a sense of cultural intimacy – a feeling of: \u003cem\u003eYes, I have been here too and felt like this\u003c\/em\u003e.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eIan McMillan\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tim Relf","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55662838448507,"sku":"9781784633981","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633981_2d1658e2-87c8-4ba2-a850-7b3ddf0a1993.jpg?v=1775806201"},{"product_id":"the-maternal-element-9781784633998","title":"The Maternal Element","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eHer son changed the world. History almost forgot her. Now meet Maria Mendeleeva.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSiberia 1833.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp class=\"drop-cap\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"drop-cap-opener\"\u003eForty-one-year-old Maria Mendeleeva\u003c\/span\u003e is enduring her seventeenth pregnancy. Her husband Ivan has lost his sight, and her brother Vasily has left their grandfather’s glass factory in ruins. The factory Maria hungered for as a child. On the brink of poverty and her family’s only remaining hope, Maria must find a way to make the factory viable. She must find the power to bring her grandfather's dreams back to life. She must make the glass sing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eThe Maternal Element\u003c\/cite\u003e is a sweeping, gripping epic with an extraordinary woman at its heart. Maria Mendeleeva – mother of Dmitri Mendeleev, who devised the Periodic Table of the Elements – is a heroine like no other. A woman who refuses to be quashed by circumstance, Maria fights against the strictures of her time to gain an education for herself and for her children as she traverses the Urals of Russia seeking opportunity and safety for her family. A vivid and visceral portrait of a woman history has long since forgotten, \u003ccite\u003eThe Maternal Element\u003c\/cite\u003e is a manifesto for truth, female empowerment and defying societal expectations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eMeet the Author\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe title=\"vimeo-player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1161538202?h=819a64699b\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Maternal Element\u003c\/cite\u003e is a sweeping, gripping epic with an extraordinary woman at its heart. Maria Mendeleeva – mother of Dmitri Mendeleev, who devised the Periodic Table of the Elements – is a heroine like no other. The novel is true to history but has the vivid life of fiction, and we meet a Maria who is passionate, courageous and brilliant, who fights against the strictures of her time to gain an education for herself – and for her children. Her adventures in 19th-century Russia sweep the reader into a wholly immersive world. Simply put: this is a brilliant and entrancing novel. I could not put it down.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eErica Wagner\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The great virtue of the book is the mastery of language, and the wonderful prose-poetic imagery, and the vivid picture we gain of everyday life in Russia \/ Siberia.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRichard Dawkins\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘At the heart of Kate Nicholls’ vivid realisation of 19th-century Russia is a remarkable woman. A born writer with a finely tuned ear for dialogue and a graphic sense of the historical moment, Kate is as comfortable rendering the household of Maria Mendeleeva – the maternal element – as in articulating the crucible of ideas that helped create one of the greatest scientists in history.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlan Samson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I lapped it up over three days. The story of an extraordinary mother of a large family in Russia living before the Revolutions, told with love and flair by another mother of a large family. A wonderfully researched and heart-felt read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJeremy Irons\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I was transported to a Russia in better times, when despite the poverty and contrasting opulence of the court there was freethinking, high culture and peasant nobility. Cleverly imagined, beautifully voiced and written.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAllan Mallinson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eThe Maternal Element\u003c\/cite\u003e is a masterclass in detective research. The result is a history rich in personalities, full of drama, and alive to the smallest details that reveal the greatest truths. In Nicholls’s hands, Maria Mendeleeva is revealed for the first time as a force in her own right – the invisible element in her son Dmitri Mendeleev’s periodic table.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAmanda Foreman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eFour great historical novels to read in June\u003c\/strong\u003e Rich in detail and drama, \u003ccite\u003eThe Maternal Element\u003c\/cite\u003e resurrects in colourful prose the life of a remarkable, undeservedly forgotten woman.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNick Rennison\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Maria is a wonderful character, and the other principals, Dimitri, Nyanya, Ivan and the children, are brought vividly to life. The Russian landscape, weather and the enormous size of the country are beautifully portrayed. 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Her grandmother’s voice, also named ‘Nadja’, accompanies her story through diary entries recalling her return to Ukraine in the 1960s. Once a lively hamlet, the area is now a haunting ruin, reflecting the devastation of political upheaval, famine, and Stalinist rule. Memories from a bygone era intertwine, showing how experiences of loss and displacement transcend generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe two narratives, of grandmother and granddaughter, reveal how history and trauma are passed down, with both women facing cycles of uprootedness and alienation. While grandmother’s story reflects constant displacement, Nadezda’s own journey mirrors the same struggle, as she searches to reconcile the past with the present and find a sense of belonging.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nadezda Bobyleva","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55692510265723,"sku":"9781784633950","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633950_70d373a3-5375-4c8b-885d-489a9500fe3c.jpg?v=1755642603"},{"product_id":"the-puffin-9781784633936","title":"The Puffin","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA dazzling tale of passion and resistance – told with heart, wit and feathers.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/puffin_240x240.jpg?v=1791452630\" style=\"margin-bottom: 16px; float: right;\" id=\"no-shadow\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Great Historical Novels to Read This October’ —\u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVenice, 1817. A disfigured traitor. A revolutionary milliner. A sadistic assassin. A poet. And a puffin. When a fingerless nobleman seizes a puffin that arrives mysteriously at the Rialto Market, he triggers a cascade of events that will embroil all the central characters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe puffin’s fervid character and his matrimonial tragedies put the bird on a collision course with the worst and best of humanity. Alva the milliner fights for freedom from Venice’s Habsburg occupiers. Her brother Favaloro smuggles cod and sedition from the Lofoten Islands. Brother and sister join the revolutionary sect of the Carbonari, plotting to ransom a Habsburg princess. And both fall in love with Tommaso, who walks with a crutch but whose poetry overthrows hearts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetrayals shatter all their plans and desires. Tommaso falls prey to a ruthless seducer. Alva must sacrifice herself to save Favaloro. As the Habsburgs send the poet to the scaffold, the puffin’s fate hangs in the balance and the assassin’s identity is shockingly revealed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichelle Lovric is a novelist, poet and environmentalist who lives in London and Venice. Her work explores the history of medicine, trauma and art, with Venice as both protagonist and setting. Her adult fiction includes \u003ccite\u003eThe Remedy\u003c\/cite\u003e, longlisted for the Women’s Prize. Although it stands completely alone, \u003ccite\u003eThe Puffin\u003c\/cite\u003e takes off where the author’s acclaimed novel \u003ccite\u003eThe Book of Human Skin\u003c\/cite\u003e ends and welcomes back its most memorable character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA genre-defying literary epic fusing the politics of coercion and surrender with the fire of resistance – set in a vividly imagined 19th-century Venice. Featuring a cast of unforgettable characters – not all of them human – this novel explores love, faith, language and consciousness with lyricism and midnight-black humour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eEight Great Historical Novels to Read This October\u003c\/strong\u003e If the plot sounds bonkers in précis, that is because it is entirely mad. But Lovric is a wildly inventive writer, who commits to her melodramatic premise and carries the reader along with sizzling prose. Hugely enjoyable.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAntonia Senior\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘As with the author’s previous novels the going soon gets spicy and faint hearts are advised to have a glass of milk to hand. Venice is presented fragrantly too, especially as there are a lot of fish around – our heroine lives near the fish market. Much violence and many victims ensue before a broadly happy ending. Along the way relatable relationships and inevitable evil keep us reading and, as is not unusual with this author, we finish the book breathless and sated. \u003cem\u003eWe are all puffins now\u003c\/em\u003e.’ —\u003ccite\u003eFictional Cities\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Marvellous milliner Alva has revolution on her mind. Grieved by the Austrian influence on her native Venice, she’s joined the secretive Carbonari, smuggling maps and bullets in her wondrous hats in the hope of fomenting insurrection. It’s an audacious concept, but then this is a deliciously audacious novel. There’s a plot to kidnap a princess, the walls of the city are covered in graffiti, there’s heartbreak and betrayal.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Book of Human Skin\u003c\/cite\u003e) If it doesn’t scoop all the prizes, we live in an unjust world. It’s an absolute corker … It’s years since I enjoyed a novel this much – or felt such strong envy of an author for having the breadth and richness of imagination to create such a world’ —\u003cstrong\u003eA.N. Wilson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Book of Human Skin\u003c\/cite\u003e) A witty, exciting, over-the-top page-turner which becomes increasingly addictive … Quite unlike anything else around – and all the better for that.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Book of Human Skin\u003c\/cite\u003e) Rich, involving and brilliantly imagined.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eFanny Blake\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eWomen and Home Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Book of Human Skin\u003c\/cite\u003e) This is, essentially, a love story told by a delightfully riotous collection of characters and voices … Fantastically gripping.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eMarie Claire\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Book of Human Skin\u003c\/cite\u003e) Colourful, intoxicating and brutal.’ —\u003ccite\u003eShe\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Michelle Lovric is devilishly clever, fiendishly comic and generally just an irresistible novelist.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eElizabeth Gilbert\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Michelle Lovric","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55693682803067,"sku":"9781784633936","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633936_f63d931c-8fb0-4759-b3fd-62c53f0426b4.jpg?v=1786620787"},{"product_id":"wash-9781784634018","title":"Wash","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003ccite\u003eWash\u003c\/cite\u003e is a richly imagined and intimate book about a singular life – built from as many intricately linked elements as the iconic Brooklyn Bridge that is its hero’s lasting legacy\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp class=\"drop-cap\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"drop-cap-opener\"\u003eHe is a boy\u003c\/span\u003e growing up in rural Pennsylvania under the eye of a brutal, brilliant father. 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Here is another.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eForged in a brutal age, duty-bound to execute his domineering father’s vision of the life he must live, he joins forces with his brilliant wife Emily to overcome myriad obstacles to fulfilling his obligation, chief among them his own yearning to shed the burden of achieving a dream that was never his own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a book of growth, yearning, about the price of achievement, about the road not taken. Beads on the necklace of a life are strung together to create a composite portrait not only of Washington but of those who loved him: Emily of course, but Max too – a young man whose spirit will haunt him for the rest of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere duty and desire, love and obligation, intersect and contradict each other. 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As moving as it is consummately researched, \u003ccite\u003eWash\u003c\/cite\u003e brings a world full of marvelous visions, terrible conflict, heroic labors, unbearable loss and complex love to indelible life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLaird Hunt\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Few writers conduct the spirits of the past with as much care and skill as can be found in \u003ccite\u003eWash\u003c\/cite\u003e. A vivid exploration of one of history’s most fascinating characters.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePaddy Crewe, author of ‘My Name Is Yip’ and ‘True Love’\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Erica Wagner’s \u003ccite\u003eWash\u003c\/cite\u003e is a universal story of depth, wisdom and heart. She shows how one person's struggle can stand for all of our struggles, and how what we build, and who we love, make the world we all live in.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eElif Shafak\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003eWash\u003c\/cite\u003e is an astonishing resurrection of the life of the Brooklyn Bridge’s engineering marvel Washington Roebling. In Erica Wagner’s breathtaking and stereoscopic narrative, we witness Roebling’s admirable marriage with his brilliant wife Emily, the pain of filial duty, and how friendships transformed an American genius so powerfully. \u003ccite\u003eWash\u003c\/cite\u003e is a gorgeous and moving novel of resilience, ingenuity, and love.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMin Jin Lee — author of ‘Free Food for Millionaires’ and ‘Pachinko’, a National Book Award Finalist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wagner’s immersion in the historical period is everywhere evident: in the confidence and economy of the dialogue, and in the attention to detail, from the fixtures of the bridge cables to the furnishings of a brothel. So too is her affection for this man.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eStephanie Merritt\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Closely observed, achingly felt, moment by moment, like still lives that aren’t still … Readers enter her fiction almost physically, as it is so solid and majestic, rather like the great bridge itself.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Sedgwick\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eFT\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Jumping back and forward through time, Wagner builds on these bald facts to create a vision of his life … a beautifully written illustration of the power of novels to tread where biographies cannot.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAntonia Senior\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe Best New Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e A famous American life is reimagined in this masterly historical novel. Washington Roebling is best known for building the Brooklyn Bridge, but first had to survive a traumatic childhood, under the thumb of a strict German father, then the horrors of the American Civil War. Wagner brings emotional insight to every chapter of his life. Her portrait of Wash’s wife Emily is particularly good.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMax Davidson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Wagner clearly has a deep personal connection to Brooklyn Bridge and to Wash himself (in her afterword she admits that as a young woman “I thought I was in love with him”). The happy result is a richly detailed and multifaceted portrait of a monumental American life. While the reader may not develop an all-consuming crush on Washington Augustus Roebling, this nuanced and idiosyncratic novel shows that his was a life worth revisiting.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Shrimpton\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘On \u003ccite\u003eSeizure\u003c\/cite\u003e: The language is brazen and burnished, hard, precise, poetic and mutable, incubating contradictions, giving off heat and chill and simultaneous passion, giving off dazzle, a cry from the heart that is ruled by intelligence and shaped from first to last by a need to be spoken, a need to be heard – like the stories it hoards.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTom Adair\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Scotsman\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘On \u003ccite\u003eChief Engineer\u003c\/cite\u003e: Washington’s dry wit and even tone give life and personality to Wagner’s already enjoyable prose. 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A well-nigh perfect short novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eBill Broady\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘There is not a superfluous word, a slipshod phrase or a forced or obtrusive simile in the book … laconic Poundian description … the most involving novel I have read since Véronique Olmi’s \u003ccite\u003eBeside the Sea\u003c\/cite\u003e.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Rose\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eWarwick Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richard Price","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55800960483707,"sku":"9781784634032","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784634032_a048f244-a33f-48c6-8ffe-bd9c2e4cd104.jpg?v=1759233027"},{"product_id":"smelling-of-rooks-9781784634056","title":"Smelling of Rooks","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom the author of \u003ccite\u003eCaptain Corelli’s Mandolin\u003c\/cite\u003e comes a candid and irresistibly companionable portrait of a writer’s life in rural Norfolk.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/TPBP_2027_NON-FICTION_finalist_badge-sticker.png?v=1791319896\" style=\"width: 150px; float: right;\" id=\"no-shadow\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrawn from Louis de Bernières’s hugely popular Facebook posts written between 2015 and 2024, \u003ccite\u003eSmelling of Rooks\u003c\/cite\u003e gathers a decade of reflections, anecdotes and observations on everything from music, cats and motorcycles to politics, parenting and the perils of social media. It is a book about the texture of ordinary days, told with the warmth, eccentricity and mischief that have made de Bernières one of Britain’s most beloved storytellers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet against the rolling fields and modest peaks of what he calls the ‘Norfolk Alps’, this accidental memoir captures a writer at ease with his life, his readers and his absurdities. There are riffs on the pleasures of cooking and DIY, portraits of friends and neighbours, the escapades of his children, and the unpredictable joys of country living.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt once funny, tender and defiantly unfiltered, \u003ccite\u003eSmelling of Rooks\u003c\/cite\u003e shows Louis de Bernières as he really is – reflective, unpretentious and gloriously human. A celebration of family, friendship and the small wonders of daily life, it is a book to dip into, laugh with, and treasure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘It really is a delightful, funny, warm-hearted read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Hart\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘De Bernières’s pick’n’mix is dense with domestic insights, motorbike journeys, cats, health challenges, music and quite a lot of bumping into famous people … \u003ccite\u003eSmelling of Rooks\u003c\/cite\u003e is a classic wood-burner page-turner.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTamasin Doe\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Standard\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The book radiates love for his children.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eClaire Allfree\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Sunday Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eLight Over Liskeard\u003c\/cite\u003e) Marked by de Bernières’ customary light touch and wry humour … This quirky novel is timely … a feelgood story about friendship and love – vintage de Bernières.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mirror\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eLight Over Liskeard\u003c\/cite\u003e) Beguiling … Set in a jollier dystopia than the norm, it tells the tale of “Q”, a cryptographer who takes refuge from the madding crowd in Cornwall.’ —\u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eLight Over Liskeard\u003c\/cite\u003e) A knockabout satire with twists aplenty.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Autumn of the Ace\u003c\/cite\u003e) Penned with de Bernières’s quiet, deprecating humour and sharp observation.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eVanessa Berridge\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eSunday Express\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Autumn of the Ace\u003c\/cite\u003e) Louis de Bernières is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh … he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste.’ —\u003ccite\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSo Much Left Over\u003c\/cite\u003e) A wonderful … vividly peopled novel … de Bernières is a generous storyteller.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eViolet Hudson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSo Much Left Over\u003c\/cite\u003e) This tragicomic romp has a winning glint in its eye, delivering oodles of Downton-esque entertainment as it portrays a changing Britain poised uneasily on the brink of modernity.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSo Much Left Over\u003c\/cite\u003e) Richly enjoyable  it is written with such vitality … I would guess that many readers, once they have launched themselves into it, will read it straight through.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAllan Massie\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Scotsman\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Louis de Bernières","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55894216769915,"sku":"9781784634056","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784634056-tpbp.jpg?v=1791319851"},{"product_id":"sidewinder-9781784634070","title":"Sidewinder","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eShortlisted for the 2023 Forward Prize, Elisabeth Sennitt Clough returns with a fierce, luminous exploration of power, desire and survival.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ccite\u003eSidewinder\u003c\/cite\u003e is a poetic memoir that traces a relationship which begins as fascination and descends into coercion. 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