{"title":"Popular titles","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-book-collector-9781784630430","title":"The Book Collector","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlice Thompson’s new novel is a Gothic story of book collecting, mutilation and madness. Violet is obsessed with the books of fairy tales her husband acquires, but her growing delusions see her confined in an asylum. As she recovers and is released a terrifying series of events is unleashed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘★★★★ With a nod to Angela Carter, Thompson takes the myth of Bluebeard, the murdering husband who keeps a tally of his dead wives, sets it down in that Edwardian summer just before the guns of the First World War go off. It’s a superb settling for betrayal and revenge.’ —Lesley McDowell, The Independent on Sunday\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘★★★★ revel in the gothic darkness and inexorable drama’ —John Lloyd, The Bookbag\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The precise Edwardian vocabulary began to assume a more contemporary feel in the wake of Violet’s treatment at the asylum, and this proved an interesting divergence from the general feel of the book. With flayed corpses, books covered with human skin, and raging madness, this is definitely worth checking out…’ —Raven Crime Reads\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Book Collector\u003c\/em\u003e shows a wry and sly mind at work throughout. Scottish literature would be thinner without this kind of challenging and cleverly-wrought writing.’ —Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Alice Thompson, one-time keyboard player for Eighties band The Woodentops, is now an established novelist, who has won praise from Ian Rankin and Stephen King. The horror master would no doubt approve of this slim Edwardian-era gothic, too, recalling as it does both \u003cem\u003eRebecca\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Silence Of The Lambs\u003c\/em\u003e.’ —Stephanie Cross, The Daily Mail\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A brief, but substantial, horror story.’ —Lynsy Spence, The Lady\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Book Collector\u003c\/em\u003e throws the essential elements of the gothic chiller into a blender and what emerges is something between pastiche and critique, in which its author never loses sight of the need to give her readers, first and foremost, an unputdownable yarn.’ —Alastair Mabbott, The Herald\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With its gothic motifs, this dark portrait of a ‘fairytale’ marriage is full of mystery and suspense … an elegant and bloodily shocking entertainment.’ —Suzi Feay, The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Angela Carter crossed with the Scottish diffidence of Muriel Spark.’ —Ali Smith\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A high-wire act of a novel. Try to resist it and you can’t.’ —Fay Weldon\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Expertly combining compelling storytelling with a cleverly constructed, elegant and metaphor-ridden style.’ —Camilla Pia\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Haunting, strange, Kafkaesque, poetic mystery.’ —Ian Rankin\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A gothic music video of a novel that whirls with weirdness... madly energetic ... genuinely scary.’ —Stephen King\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Fractured and lucid as a dream. Creepy and brilliant.’ —Ian Rankin\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Thompson’s gripping narrative invites the reader to solve the mystery of \u003cem\u003eBurnt Island\u003c\/em\u003e and the true purpose of Max Long’s fellowship. A dark, compelling novel with strong themes of paranoia and strange eroticism throughout.’ —Lizzie Greenhalgh, The Lady\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eBurnt Island\u003c\/em\u003e is steeped in self-awareness, as a book about the process and effect of writing might be. It seems connected by literary electricity to other tales of isolation: \u003cem\u003eThe Shining\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePincher Martin\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Sea, The Sea\u003c\/em\u003e.’ —John Self, The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alice Thompson","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":3892791233,"sku":"9781784630430","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781784630430.jpeg?v=1571258724"},{"product_id":"the-lighthouse-9781907773174","title":"The Lighthouse","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2013 McKitterick Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2013 East Midlands Book Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for New Writer of the Year in the 2012 Specsavers National Book Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObserver Book of the Year 2012\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e begins on a North Sea ferry, on whose blustery outer deck stands Futh, a middle-aged, recently separated man heading to Germany for a restorative walking holiday.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpending his first night in Hellhaus at a small, family-run hotel, he finds the landlady hospitable but is troubled by an encounter with an inexplicably hostile barman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the morning, Futh puts the episode behind him and sets out on his week-long circular walk along the Rhine. As he travels, he contemplates his childhood; a complicated friendship with the son of a lonely neighbour; his parents’ broken marriage and his own. But the story he keeps coming back to, the person and the event affecting all others, is his mother and her abandonment of him as a boy, which left him with a void to fill, a substitute to find.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe recalls his first trip to Germany with his newly single father. He is mindful of something he neglected to do there, an omission which threatens to have devastating repercussions for him this time around.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the end of the week, Futh, sunburnt and blistered, comes to the end of his circular walk, returning to what he sees as the sanctuary of the Hellhaus hotel, unaware of the events which have been unfolding there in his absence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Melancholy and haunting. The sense of loneliness and discomfort and rejection is compelling, the low key prose carefully handled. It’s a serious novel with a distinctive and unsettling atmosphere.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMargaret Drabble\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A haunting and accomplished novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKaty Guest\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Independent on Sunday\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘It is this accumulation of the quotidian, in prose as tight as Magnus Mills’s, which lends Moore’s book its standout nature, and brings the novel to its ambiguous, thrilling end.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePhilip Womack\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘No surprise that this quietly startling novel won column inches when it landed on the Man Booker Prize longlist. After all, it’s a slender debut released by a tiny independent publisher. Don’t mistake \u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e for an underdog, though. For starters, it’s far too assured ... Though sparely told, the novel’s simple-seeming narrative has the density of far longer work. People and places are intricately evoked with a forensic feel for mood. It’s title becomes a recurring motif, from the Morse code torch flashes of Futh’s boyhood to the lighthouse-shaped silver perfume case that he carries in his pocket, history filling the void left by its missing vial of scent. Warnings are emitted, too – by Futh’s anxious aunt and an intense man he meets on the ferry. It all stokes a sense of ominousness that makes the denouement not a bit less shocking.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHephzibah Anderson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Daily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This is powerful writing likely to shine in your memory for a long time.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEmily Cleaver\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLITRO Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Alison Moore's writing is exquisite, the prose simple and powerful, but it's the use of imagery which really marks it out as something special.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSue Magee\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Bookbag\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘In \u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e Alison Moore has created an unsettling, seemingly becalmed but oddly sensual, and entirely excellent novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlan Bowden\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWords of Mercury\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Alison Moore's debut novel has all the assurance of a veteran, a strong contender for the prize, its sense of despair will either be its making or its undoing: 9\/10.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRoz Davison\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDon't Read That Read This\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Ultimately, what drew me into this bleak tale of sorrow and abandonment was the quality of the writing – so taut and economical it even looked different on the page somehow – and so effective in creating a mounting sense of menace and unease. It never flinches.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eIsabel Costello\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eOn the literary sofa\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Moore’s writing has a superb sense of the weight of memory.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKate Saunders\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e is a spare, slim novel that explores grief and loss, the patterns in the way we are hurt and hurt others, and the childlike helplessness we feel as we suffer rejection and abandonment. It explores the central question about leaving and being left: even when it feels inevitable, why does it hurt so much, and why is this particular kind of numbness so repellent to others? The brutal ending continues to shock after several re-readings.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJenn Ashworth\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e looks simple but isn't, refusing to unscramble what seems a bleak moral about the hazards of reproduction, in the widest sense. Small wonder that it stood up to the crash-testing of a prize jury's reading and rereading. One of the year's 12 best novels? I can believe it.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnthony Cummins\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This is a book that might have vanished had it not been picked up by the Booker judges. It deserves to be read, and reread. No laughs, no levity, just a beautiful, sad, overripe tale that lingers in the mind.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eIsabel Berwick\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘What must have gone some way to earning \u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e a place on the longlist, though, is the admirable simplicity of Moore’s prose. Like Futh, its without flourishes, yet beneath its outward straightforwardness lies a hauntingly complex exploration of the recurring patterns that life inevitably follows, often as a consequence of one’s past.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eFrancesca Angelini\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e, Alison Moore’s melancholic debut, would eventually have found admiring readers through the great network of word of mouth. That it has been shortlisted, deservedly, for the Man Booker Prize will quicken the process. This is a beautiful short novel sustained by muted urgency, nuance and the exactness with which Moore conveys the paralysing levels of depression that Futh battles. In order to deal with the present he attempts to make sense of his past, which refuses to fade away. His thoughts throb with humiliating episodes from his boyhood, cut short when his bored, dissatisfied mother left, leaving his father to voice his anger at his only audience, the bewildered boy.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEileen Battersby\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A debut novel from a high-achieving independent publisher, \u003cem\u003eThe Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e has surprised some observers with its place on the Man Booker Prize shortlist. Disquieting, deceptive, crafted with a sly and measured expertise, Alison Moore's story could certainly deliver a masterclass in slow-burn storytelling to those splashier literary celebs who take more pains over a pyrotechnic paragraph than a watertight plot.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eBoyd Tonkin\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The originality, structure and neat prose of this first novel justify its shortlisting, but it doesn't do much to lift the soul.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKate Green\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCountry Life\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The menacing atmosphere Moore builds up is masterful, in that Futh only partly perceives it, through his own preoccupations. A pair of silky knickers he finds under his bed only makes him think squeamishly that the dust on them is ‘strangers’ dead skin’. Rarely is dullness so dangerous.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLaura Marsh\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Highly recommended.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHarriet Harman\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alison Moore","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":3892792193,"sku":"9781907773174","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781907773174.jpeg?v=1571258775"},{"product_id":"the-redemption-of-galen-pike-9781907773716","title":"The Redemption of Galen Pike","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2015 International Frank O’Connor Short Story Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2015 Wales Book of the Year: Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2015 Edge Hill Short Story Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Globe 100: The Best International Fiction of 2017\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a remote Australian settlement a young wife with an untellable secret reluctantly invites her neighbour into her home. A Quaker spinster offers companionship to a condemned man in a Colorado jail. In the ice and snows of Siberia an office employee from Birmingham witnesses a scene that will change her life. At a jubilee celebration in a northern English town a middle-aged alderman opens his heart to Queen Victoria. A teenage daughter leaves home in search of adventure. High in the Cumbrian fells a woman seeks help from her father’s enemy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpare, precise, charged with a prickly wit, the stories in Carys Davies’s sparkling second collection remind us how little we know of the lives of others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A true original. Her magical yet weirdly believable stories transport you in a breath into other lives and worlds, without a word wasted. Full of surprises.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMaggie Gee\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A writer willing to tackle the hardest of all fictional forms – the short story. This is a region in which so many fail … Carys understands the attention and respect that must be paid to the form … she can keep her literary powder dry, so to speak, until the end of a story, and she can do what it is essential to do in this form, create a micro-world, which has reverberations beyond its size and scope, which is metaphysical.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Hall\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘on \u003cem\u003eSome New Ambush\u003c\/em\u003e: Darkly funny and unsettling.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eBoyd Tonkin\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Like Chekhov’s great stories Davies’ stories are deceptively simple. They reward re-reading not by resolving the core mystery, but by revealing layers of meaning and complexity’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLadette Randolph, editor-in-chief of Ploughshares and 2015 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award judge\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Extraordinarily powerful’ —\u003cstrong\u003eVS Pritchett Prize judges Jane Gardam, Penelope Lively and Jacob Ross on The Redemption of Galen Pike\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This story of brutal murder and rough justice in the American Wild West carried a real punch. As if Mark Twain and Annie Proulx had sat down at a desk together. But an original voice too. I shall be looking out for more.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePiers Plowright\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Karen E Bender, Carys Davies, Tony Earley, Kirsty Gunn and Alejandro Zambra on shortlist for world’s richest short story prize … Jennifer Hamilton-Emery of Salt Publishing said: “We were completely bowled over when we heard the news that Carys Davies’ book, The Redemption of Galen Pike, had been shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor prize. It is, without doubt, the world’s most prestigious prize for short stories and to have a book placed up there with the best collections internationally is something we’ve dreamt of for many years. We are delighted for Carys, it is a fantastic achievement, and delighted too that her book has received such recognition.”’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMartin Doyle\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Outstanding…perfectly distilled, intense…exquisite.’ —\u003cem\u003eThe Yorkshire Post\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Confirms beyond doubt her position among the finest British exponents of a particularly challenging form.’ —\u003cem\u003eThe Irish Examiner\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This delicate, magical collection won the Frank O’Connor Award for Short Stories and the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize and it’s easy to see why. They are precise but full of beautifully observed details that fill compact vignettes with incident and emotion.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCharlotte Heathcote\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDaily Express\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This book is so wonderful! It’s fantastic.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Jessica Parker\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRead It Forward!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Her collection, \u003cem\u003eThe Redemption of Galen Pike\u003c\/em\u003e, is published by the small UK independent press Salt. Its subjects span the world, with stories set everywhere from a remote Australian settlement, where a young wife has a secret, to a Colorado jail, where a Quaker woman meets a condemned man in his final hours in the title story.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlison Flood\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘One of the things that I loved so much about \u003cem\u003eThe Redemption of Galen Pike\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the things that makes it incredibly difficult to write about – the scope of these stories in both time and place are epic… It is simply a stunning collection of stories.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSimon Savidge\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSavidge Reads\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This sophisticated collection observes that everyone contains multitudes, and people’s darkest corners are what make them interesting. The book never falters in its delicate touch and confident, nuanced observations about the human condition.’ —\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘It’s little wonder that Davies was winner of the 2015 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, a prize previously given to the likes of Yiyun Li, Jhumpa Lahiri, Haruki Murakami and Edna O’Brien. The Redemption of Galen Pike is a stunning achievement, and Carys Davies a writer to celebrate.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eStephen Finucan\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Star\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Carys Davies","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":3892798017,"sku":"9781907773716","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781844719945_f33b531a-fc0c-4bcd-bca5-bfa82c0a678c.jpg?v=1661341658"},{"product_id":"the-rental-heart-and-other-fairytales-9781907773754","title":"The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Scott Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2015 Polari First Book Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Herald: Book of the Year 2014\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2014 Green Carnation Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwenty tales of lust and loss. These stories feature clockwork hearts, lascivious queens, paper men, island circuses, and a flooded world. On the island of Skye, an antlered girl and a tiger-tailed boy resolve never to be friends – but can they resist their unique connection? In an alternative 19th-century Paris, a love triangle emerges between a man, a woman, and a coin-operated boy. A teenager deals with his sister’s death by escaping from their tiny Scottish island – but will she let him leave? In 1920s New Orleans, a young girl comes of age in her mother’s brothel. Some of these stories are radical retellings of classic tales, some are modern-day fables, but all explore substitutions for love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A thrilling walk through a brilliant mind, full of unexpected connections and utterly original leaps across voice, structure, genre. Truly anarchic artistically but always true emotionally, and delivered with the skill of a virtuoso. Read it in one sitting for the thrill then read it again for the smarts.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eBidisha\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Kirsty Logan is an exquisite writer who possesses the uncanny ability to make even the most mundane detail beautifully compelling. If you want to be captivated, if you want to be utterly taken, reach for this book and don’t let go.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRoxane Gay\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(With the Rental Heart Kirsty Logan has formed) a hybrid of steam punk, retro romanticism and queer fiction – a Frankensteinian form that has a life of its own.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEwan Morrison\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Kirsty Logan has been slated as a writer to watch, and alongside winning the Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection, The Rental Heart has been longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. The stories within are inventive, beautiful, and shocking by turn, and the collection is one worthy of praise and awards.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRebecca Burns\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSabotage Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Many, many people told me how much I would love The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales and they were all completely right. It is one of those collections that I will return to and simply pick a tale at random and know I will be lost with a whole world after a few sentences. It is also a collection that has grown on me more and more since I read it.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSimon Savidge\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSavidge Reads\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Open Kirsty Logan’s debut collection, and you’ll be met first with the title story, which broadly sets the tone for what is to come. The Rental Heart takes us to a version of reality in which people fit themselves with mechanical hearts each time they fall in love – hearts that fail when that love ends. Logan’s narrator talks us through a string of relationships in abstract, evocative language:’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Hebblethwaite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eShiny New Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Your body is the story of you—its yearnings, fulfilled and otherwise, what you allow it, what others do to it, what you yourself inflict upon it. The stories in The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales, Kirsty Logan’s first book, dwell in the territory of the body. Though the book’s themes are moving and serious, a lively and frank voice lifts the stories from potentially grim territory. The variety in form, from flash fiction and multiple point of view story-sequences, to fairy tale retellings and longer stories clocking in around 15 pages, helps to keep the collection dynamic and delightfully readable. Many of the stories have been published previously and some are award-winners, including the stunning “Witch,” noted in Best Lesbian Erotica 2011.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMargaret Luongo\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFiction Southeast\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The eerie, strange tales in Kirsty Logan’s debut short story collection, The Rental Heart, are love stories of a sort. Some are fairy tales reworked with Logan’s own twist of magic realism, and some are her own invention, but they all linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page is turned. A married man binges on words in secret; a spoiled princess finds herself caught in a fairy tale that isn’t hers; a teenage girl enters the woods for a dare and falls in love with Baba Yaga. In luscious, vivid prose, Logan – already a rising star on the Scottish literary scene – brings to mind Angela Carter, or Atwood or Winterson at their best.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKaite Welsh\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This book has everything you could want from a short story collection: creativity, imagination, beautifully descriptive phrasing, honest exploration of a variety of themes, and time in the company of a multitude of intriguing and well-crafted characters. I would highly recommend it. ’ —\u003cem\u003eDrifting Pages\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘There are few things in this world better than a carefully crafted short story. They never outstay their welcome; simply make their mark and leave you wanting more. They also allow a writer to show a range of styles and touch upon many different themes. Kirsty Logan’s recent collection, The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales, is packed with prime examples of the form; memorable snapshots of lives less ordinary.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlistair Braidwood\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Bottle Imp\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘As you can tell from my enthusiastic attempt to untangle the meaning of these stories, despite their relative brevity they contain a wealth of ideas. Kirsty Logan is very clever in the way she uses a range of writer’s tools to create the most effect style of storytelling to fit the diverse subject matters she covers. Having been a teenage lover of absurdist drama, I’m thrilled by the way she warps reality in her prose to stimulate the imagination. She crafts disarming images that are imbued with unusual meaning. “The Rental Heart and Other Stories” is a fantastically refreshing read and leaves you thinking about things in a new way. These stories have picked up awards and been included on prize lists both individually and as a collection itself which is a testament to their good quality. ’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEric Karl Anderson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLonesome Reader\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kirsty Logan","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":3892828481,"sku":"9781907773754","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781844719990.jpg?v=1571258809"},{"product_id":"the-good-son-9781784630232","title":"The Good Son","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of The Polari First Book Prize 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist for The People’s Book Prize 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChosen for City Reads 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eELLE Best Books of 2015\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Reading Agency: Books of 2015\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMickey Donnelly is smart, which isn’t a good thing in his part of town. Despite having a dog called Killer and being in love with the girl next door, everyone calls him ‘gay’. It doesn’t help that his best friend is his little sister, Wee Maggie, and that everyone knows he loves his Ma more than anything in the world. He doesn’t think much of his older brother Paddy and really doesn’t like his Da. He dreams of going to America, taking Wee Maggie and Ma with him, to get them away from Belfast and Da. Mickey realises it’s all down to him. He has to protect Ma from herself. And sometimes, you have to be a bad boy to be a good son.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ciframe width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IFVA5VzU5ng?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I was knocked out by this stunningly intelligent, compassionate, and mordantly funny debut novel. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e is a brilliant portrait of both political and familial unrest, and Paul McVeigh is a wildly important new talent.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLaura van den Berg\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Paul McVeigh has created a strong, unique, and funny protagonist, able to reveal the everyday intricacies and the broader politics of the Troubles in a fresh, engaging way. I fell in love with Mickey Donnelly.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Butler\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With his debut \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e, Paul McVeigh, long a champion of writers, proves himself a writer to be championed. There are flashes of both Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke and Patrick McCabe’s Francie Brady in the character of Mickey Donnelly, who cartwheels fully-formed from the very first page, a spirited, exuberant and utterly engaging young narrator. The circumscribed world he inhabits – a few streets in North Belfast at the start of the Troubles – is vivid and fresh, brought fully to life, and McVeigh’s ear for the rhythms of his characters’ speech is second to none. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son \u003c\/em\u003eis a coming-of-age story written with a sharp eye and a big heart, and will establish Paul McVeigh as an important new Irish voice with stories to tell.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLucy Caldwell\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A real page-turner. Mickey Donnelly is a brilliant creation – a captivating, complex boy on the cusp of young adulthood. A poignant, devastating, funny, unforgettable read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eVanessa Gebbie\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I meant to dip into \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e and ended up reading it all the way through in a matter of days. I love it. It’s brilliantly sparky and original, the story trips along effortlessly, the characters are all wonderfully alive and Paul McVeigh has a real ear for the music of dialogue and prose. The Good Son fairly ripples with wicked humour, warmth and coming-of-age wonder.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Hilary\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I opened Paul McVeigh’s novel just to get a flavour of it and was then unable to put it down until I’d finished. It was like falling down a rabbit hole. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e reminded me in many ways of Pigeon English – the extraordinary way the voice of the young narrator immediately pulls you into his world, as though that world, dangerous and unforgiving as it is, is the most natural place on earth. From the very first page I knew I was in the hands of an accomplished storyteller, McVeigh’s vibrant and irreverent prose carrying along a novel that is both hopeful and big hearted at its core. It deserves to be widely acclaimed and widely read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eClaire King\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Paul McVeigh brilliantly achieves a very difficult thing: he turns a coming of age novel into high art, with complex yearnings. His young Mickey Donnelly navigates the Troubles like Huck Finn navigates the Mississippi River, prematurely becoming a fully-flighted adult and thereby letting us see the human condition through penetratingly fresh eyes. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e is a work of genius from a splendid writer.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRobert Olen Butler\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Paul McVeigh has created a strong, unique, and funny protagonist, able to reveal the everyday intricacies and the broader politics of the Troubles in a fresh, engaging way. I fell in love with Mickey Donnelly.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Butler\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Mickey Donnelly is one of those characters you believe in with all your heart. He is a boy who is both confused and astute, both sensitive and brave, and after I’d finished reading, I found I really missed his voice. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e is a robust, funny, and truly charming first novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlison Moore\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘An intensely moving, often riotously funny coming-of-age story that merges the personal and political to create a novel that resonates long after the final page is turned.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlex Preston\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A vivid, poignant and thrilling tale of troubled boyhood, \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e is a lot better than good – it’s outstanding.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eToby Litt\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A highly commendable debut, convincing in its realism’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLesley McDowell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Mickey is the funniest, most endearing human being for whom we feel huge compassion as he faces each adversity. This novel envelops the reader with its humanity and its down-to-earth humour leaves you laughing.’ —\u003cem\u003eBookTrust\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘It’s about a boy called Mickey who lives in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It’s set in the summer holidays in between him leaving primary school and him starting secondary school. He’s wise beyond his years. He doesn’t fit in at all in this brutal society. He likes acting and dancing and he’s creative. You will completely fall in love with Mickey.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnna James\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWe Love This Book\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘It’s easy to have on the commute. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e is about a 10-year-old boy called Mickey and it’s set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. I can’t overstate how much I fell for Mickey as a voice, he’s one of the most engaging, captivating voices that I’ve read in a novel this year. So it’s set in the period between primary school and secondary school, so it’s during his summer holidays, and Mickey is this clever, compassionate, smart boy who likes dancing, whose best friend is his little sister, which means he doesn’t really fit in very well in quite a brutal, violent society that he lives in ... His voice is so warm and the book is so funny, quite dark humour. You will completely fall in love with this voice.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnna James\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDavid Prever at Drivetime, BBC Radio Oxford\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e is bursting with action, love, loss, betrayal and so much more – it is the sort of book you pick up and hours later emerge from, wondering where the time went. Like a fine point of light, the desire to be loved and accepted drives \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e toward an ending that leaves the reader satisfied, if somewhat unsettled.’ —\u003cem\u003eCulture Northern Ireland\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Paul McVeigh has written a terrific book that uses Northern Ireland's troubles to give the story tension and backbone.  It is honest, raw, emotional and hilarious.  He has filled the novel with great characters ranging from relatively good to relatively evil and his use of Mickey as the lynchpin is a triumph. It is impossible not to love this kid and how he thinks about and copes with his struggles. To repeat myself, the book crackles with comedy and drama, excellent dialogue and a conclusion that, as the blurb rightly says, underlines the notion – sometimes you have to be a bad boy to be a good son.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJoe Cushnan\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDropped the Moon Blog\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘His depiction of the time and place – collecting for the black babies, roller discos up the Falls – and the peculiarities of NI vernacular – gazing at girls’ diddies, hoping for a lumber – is transportingly vivid. The effect is often very funny and then touching; the injustice of a line spent half in fear, the pleasure of a life lived half in laughter.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Graham\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Big Issue\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e delivers a real sense of a damaged child within a broken family constrained by his society, while also presenting a refreshing portrait of the troubles through the eyes of one of the most beguiling and endearing narrators I have encountered in a long time. McVeigh and \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e are destined for prizes.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePhil Clement\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eStructo Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The summer holidays are a time of dread for Mickey Donnelly. Secondary education is looming, but the prohibitive cost of the grammar school uniform has deprived him of his best chance to escape from Belfast’s turbulent Ardoyne neighbourhood. This isn’t the only cloud hanging over the delightful narrator of Paul McVeigh’s debut novel, however: \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e’s early-80s backdrop is one of poverty, paranoia and violence, both sectarian and domestic, a terrifying world for a boy whose best friend is his little sister and whose favourite film is \u003cem\u003eThe Wizard of Oz.\u003c\/em\u003e’ —\u003cstrong\u003eVictoria Segal\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘McVeigh’s debut novel \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e (Salt publishing, April 2015) is a triumph of vivid recall, a wrenching-off of the protective scabs that I, and many like me, have allowed to grow over the wounds of an upbringing in the sectarian streets of Northern Ireland during the Troubles. With a good dose of survivor guilt, and a shame-faced glance in the direction of IS and Boko Haram, we mutter to ourselves, “It wasn’t really that bad.” The Good Son is a swift and savage reminder that for so many of my countrymen and women, it really was that bad and there is little need for exaggeration.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eOrla McAllinden\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWriting.ie\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Books of the Month: \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e is a truly affecting and absorbing novel. It not only explores the personal journey Mickey goes on during the summer months before he starts secondary school but it also offers a eye opening social commentary on the Troubles. It is quite horrific to see how apathetic and numb Mickey and his community have become to the house raids, bombs and murders they witness on a frequent basis, especially now that we have garnered some distance from this tense period in Northern Irish history. Although only his debut novel, The Good Son perfectly illustrates what a masterful storyteller Paul McVeigh is and I personally can’t wait to see what he does next.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKellie Chambers\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eUlster Tatler\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Considering the strong emotional attachment that McVeigh forces us to feel towards his hero, it would be tempting to allow him a fairy tale ending similar to the films and TV shows he obsesses over. However the story to the very end remains true to the complex characters and messy realities of Mickey's life, and while some small happiness seems to prevail he is no less conflicted than he was in the beginning. While there are a few reasons for celebration Mickey doesn't escape the story unscathed, and his youthful innocence is replaced by a sad and adult realisation that “no miracles are coming out of the sky.” The story of a young boy and his family's negotiation of the Troubles would be a satisfying enough experience for a reader, yet McVeigh successfully manages to carry this already weighted subject further. \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e goes beyond surface politics and stereotypes of Northern Ireland, and is instead an impressive and insightful novel about the inextricable nature of guilt and innocence.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJoanne O’Sullivan\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Incubator\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With this first novel, McVeigh has set himself a high standard. Despite its horrors, The Good Son has a warm heart, and had this reader hoping against hope that somehow Mickey will survive and will carry his integrity and love through his teenage years and into adulthood.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eClariss Burden\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Tablet\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Mickey Donnelly’s voice still rings loud and shrill in my ears, weeks after reading \u003cem\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/em\u003e. His painful negotiation of the physical and psychic battlefields of late childhood and 1980s Belfast; his whip-crack analyses of the vagaries and vicissitudes of the explosive adult world; his disappointments and heartbreaks and adventures, form a vibrant yet strangely gentle chorus in my memory. It’s one of those books that’s written in such an accomplished and natural way that it seems not like a book at all, but a perfect, fully-formed rendering of reality through another’s eyes. It’s a triumph of storytelling, an absolute gem.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDonal Ryan\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The book is a fantastic and moving journey into the mind of a young boy who knows he is different and is trying to make sense of himself and the difficult world around him. Through Mickey’s first person narration, we gain a vivid insight into the atmosphere of the Troubles and their impact on everyday family and community life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMatt Beavers, Literature Programme Manager\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBritish Council Literature Blog\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Beautiful and very moving.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlison Moore\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘How moving and stunning that story is. It's so raw and incredibly human.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJess Richards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Funny, moving, poignant. Brilliant.’ —\u003cem\u003eMetro\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A pearl of quality … highly original … haunting … superior’ —\u003cem\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paul McVeigh","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":3892851649,"sku":"9781784630232","price":8.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781784630232_64c6e3aa-38c1-42af-a76d-6f2ae8b47ce0.jpg?v=1571258762"},{"product_id":"the-many-9781784630485","title":"The Many","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/Bookmuse_Award_Badge.png?8633882025232820883\" alt=\"Bookmuse Recommended Read\" align=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e Best Fiction of 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDen of Geek Top Books of 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJoe Haddow, \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eProducer Radio 2 Book Club,\u003c\/span\u003e Top 10 Books of 2016\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTimothy Buchannan buys an abandoned house on the edge of an isolated village on the coast, sight unseen. When he sees the state of it he questions the wisdom of his move, but starts to renovate the house for his wife, Lauren to join him there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the villagers see smoke rising from the chimney of the neglected house they are disturbed and intrigued by the presence of the incomer, intrigue that begins to verge on obsession. And the longer Timothy stays, the more deeply he becomes entangled in the unsettling experience of life in the small village.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthan, a fisherman, is particularly perturbed by Timothy’s arrival, but accedes to Timothy’s request to take him out to sea. They set out along the polluted coastline, hauling in weird fish from the contaminated sea, catches that are bought in whole and removed from the village. Timothy starts to ask questions about the previous resident of his house, Perran, questions to which he receives only oblique answers and increasing hostility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Timothy forges on despite the villagers’ animosity and the code of silence around Perran, he starts to question what has brought him to this place and is forced to confront a painful truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e is an unsettling tale that explores the impact of loss and the devastation that hits when the foundations on which we rely are swept away.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Ominous, subtle and beautiful – an intensely resonant trawling of suffering’s deep currents.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Marshall Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘In this beautiful and frightening novel, Wyl Menmuir understands that loss is an enormous anchor from which everyone swings on the tide. His characters know they can never hoist this anchor, they only know they must try; otherwise the lifting lines become heavy chains dragging them to the bottom. \u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e then captures the ecstasy observed on the faces of the drowning in the moment they surrender themselves to the sea.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Richard, author of Fishboy\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e unfolds like an unsettling dream, shifting illogically, asking the reader to accept leaps from reality to what seems like it may be fantasy (or may be a matter of perception). But it's not just a strange fable, there is humanity in it too: Ethan's palpable grief for Perran; the locals' struggle to adapt to a world in which their former livelihoods have become obsolete; the touches of tenderness in Timothy and Lauren's scenes together. Its portrayal of a community left behind by technology and bureaucracy, suspicious of the threat represented by 'outsiders', is recognisable and timely – perhaps even more so now than the author may have intended.’ —\u003cem\u003eLearn This Phrase\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Though it was perhaps not written with this in mind, reading the novel during the nightmarish toxicity of the EU Referendum gives it an interesting prescience in its exploration of a failing, unwelcoming community's reaction to an outsider, the decaying environment that surrounds them both and the looming warnings of a distant bureaucracy. That fishing quotas, ecology and environmental regulations are also part of the ongoing debate feeds into that sense of a discussion in microcosm. The sense of loss that permeates here is not just related to the personal, but to the social and communal as well.’ —\u003cem\u003eFilm and Other Assorted Buffery\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The sparse prose is dark and intense, strikingly written with a haunting quality that sends shivers through the soul.’ —\u003cem\u003eneverimitate\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This book is powerfully written and haunting. Always teetering on the edge of the gothic, Menmuir describes a coastal community that is dreamlike, slightly out of focus, with its own rules that Timothy never grasps. At the same time, it is rooted in the real world: remote bureaucracy, plummeting fish stocks and maritime pollution have blighted the lives of the fishermen.’ —\u003cem\u003eBlue Book Balloon\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Menmuir’s homespun horror has flashes of Daphne du Maurier’s ghost-gothic and John Wyndham’s dystopia while displaying its own individuality and flair … Menmuir steers a steady course; the result is profound and discomfiting, and deserving of multiple readings.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCatherine Taylor\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘At about the two-thirds point, I started to realize that I was not reading a conventional, if slightly off-kilter and moody, story about a man having a hard time getting his life back together in a semi-hostile village. No, \u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e is a horrific, beautifully horrific, tale that I cannot shake, as much as I may like to.’ —\u003cem\u003eThe Mookse and the Gripes\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘It creates an effective sense of tension and psychological suspense along the lines of Henry James’ \u003cem\u003eThe Turn of the Screw\u003c\/em\u003e but passages where the men are out fishing in the gloom also invoke a feelings of intense meditation and a primal self-sufficiency similar to Hemingway’s \u003cem\u003eThe Old Man and the Sea\u003c\/em\u003e. I was slowly drawn into the novel’s bizarre climate of secrecy and impending doom. \u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e is a brisk, impactful novel which poignantly portrays grief, solitude and an inhibited state of consciousness.’ —\u003cem\u003eLonesome Reader\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘an intriguing first novel’ —\u003cstrong\u003eFiona Wilson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This is a novel that has to be read at one go but one of those rare stories that once you have reached the end you start reading it all over again. There are moments one has to pause and wonder if it is reminiscent of similar writing in the past and then realise it would be unfair to compare \u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e to any other writing. Wyl Menmuir’s style is wholly original, it grips one with its exquisitely chiselled style to create a stunningly beautiful and memorable novel much like the Cornish coast is.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJaya Bhattacharji Rose\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eConfessions of an avid bibliophile\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I found myself totally gripped. The kind of book where you end it still wanting answers and yet are unsure of the questions. It’s a wonderful book and the first book I’ve finished this year that I immediately wanted to read again.’ —\u003cem\u003eInformation Overlord\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A parable on ecological destruction, a commentary on monotony and parochialness, an obscure examination of sorrow, an investigation into the mysterious workings of the psyche – \u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e is weird and disorienting, yes, but original and wonderful too.’ —\u003cem\u003eOn Art and Aesthetics\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback of the Week\u003c\/strong\u003e It would be wrong to give away the precise reasons for his protagonist’s state, but as Menmuir’s allegory becomes decipherable, it is increasingly affecting, and the moment when we understand how the bay and its darkly looming ships might be the warped echo of an earlier, shattering scene is one of great power.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eStephanie Cross\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘He deserves 10 out of 10 when it comes to the creation of atmosphere, and Menmuir can certainly write… A writer to watch.’ —\u003cem\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘If it is possible to describe a book as being rich on spare detail then \u003cem\u003eThe Many\u003c\/em\u003e is it, like a stock reduced to its very essence, and I suspect it was this lack of extraneous waffle and digression in the company of Wyl Menmuir's beguiling writing style that grabbed my attention and kept me wedded to this novel in the days immediately after Port Eliot festival.’ —\u003cem\u003eDovegreyreader\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘An intriguing, evocative and formally ambitious debut.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLuke Brown\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wyl Menmuir","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":8126392193,"sku":"9781784630485","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784630485_75c66a4d-f73f-401d-bd6f-3bf7faf85c02.jpg?v=1695200067"},{"product_id":"the-clocks-in-this-house-all-tell-different-times-9781784630935","title":"The Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award 2018\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2017 Costa First Novel Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2018\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(255, 42, 0);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2018  \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA dark social-realist fairytale, spotlighting the shadowy underside of 1920s England\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSummer 1923: the modern world. Orphaned Lucy Marsh climbs into the back of an old army truck and is whisked off to the woods north of London – a land haunted by the past, where lost souls and monsters conceal themselves in the trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a sunlit clearing she meets the ‘funny men’, a quartet of disfigured ex-soldiers named after Dorothy’s companions in \u003cem\u003eThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz\u003c\/em\u003e. Here are the loved and the damaged, dark forests and darker histories, and the ever-present risk of discovery and violent retribution. Xan Brooks’ stunning debut is heartbreaking, disturbing and redemptive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The assurance and skill with which Xan Brooks tells his tale in \u003cem\u003eThe Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times\u003c\/em\u003e makes it difficult to believe that this is a first novel. By turns funny and tragic, awful and lovely, terrifying and warming, it’s a book told with rare elegance and narrative zest. The post-Great War England the novel depicts is a land of exhausted decay and weird encounters, filled with fake spiritualists, war heroes turned into monsters, and repulsive aristocrats. Its twisted humour and dark satire reminded me above all of Graham Greene, and that is not a comparison one makes lightly. I absolutely loved it.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLloyd Shepherd, author of The English Monster\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e Fiction to look out for in 2017\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times\u003c\/em\u003e (Salt) by Xan Brooks – a fairytale wrapped within a historical novel, it’s as quixotic and dreamlike as Ishiguro’s \u003cem\u003eThe Buried Giant\u003c\/em\u003e.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAlex Preston, author of In Love and War\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Thrilling, disturbing and somehow very funny … a bold, ambitious, weird novel with a lot of foliage to get lost in’ —\u003cstrong\u003eHannah Jane Parkinson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A book with heart and soul that is original, penetrative and engaging. It should be relished by every discerning reader.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJackie Law\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNever Imitate\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Philly Malicka enjoys a strange fable about drugs. jazz and the scars of the Great War ... The year is 1923 and the trauma of the First World War has left Britain misshapen. Part of society hopes for social change, while others, ossified, look backward. This dark, magical tale explores the chasm between the two, and how a nation ravaged by “the storms of the things they once did, the people they once were” seeks redemption.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePhilly Malicka\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Genuinely amazing: quirky, thought-provoking, a wonderful read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAnne Goodwin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The Pink Earl’s stately home, where the clocks all tell different times, may be a relic from a vanished past, but the future is massively present there – and it’s the one we recognise, in which everyone is “embarked on their own adventure” and in which the rhetoric of constant change at one level disguises the perpetuation of entrenched power at another.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eM. John Harrison\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘This will be familiar to fans of \u003cem\u003eDecline And Fall\u003c\/em\u003e. But what Evelyn Waugh treated satirically isn’t so funny any more, and this well-written novel is more tender and sad than bitingly hilarious.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eFanny Blake\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘With its finely judged atmosphere of tainted innocence, Brooks’s novel frames the real horrors of post-conflict trauma as episodes of near-fairytale jeopardy: the grown-up terrors in the dark wood and the poisonous intoxications of the great house are trials in which his heroine’s strength of character is forged. As in fairy stories, the happy-ever-after consists of the simplest of fulfilled desires: a home, work, a family: love as ordinary and essential as bread.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Shilling\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The novel is a rich tapestry that interweaves the social fabric of interwar England with fairy tale touches. Lucy comes to feel that “the world is confusing, but the forest is not”, poignantly conveying the strangeness of the period. The author has a fabulously visual style, and I loved the ensemble of characters - some haunted, some scarred, all of them nimbly conjured by a debut author with considerable talent.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJoanne Owen\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLovereading\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The opening section and the overall premise of Xan Brooks’s debut novel is fascinating. Taken away from the pub she lives in with her grandfather for the afternoon, orphaned Lucy Marsh goes into the woods to meet ‘the funny men’. Alongside four other young people whose life circumstances have left them equally vulnerable, Lucy goes for a picnic with these funny men who she will soon know as The Tin Man, Toto, the Scarecrow, and The Lion. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that there is something sinister about five pre-teen children being taken to the woods to meet with four men who disguise themselves as characters from a children’s classic, but Brooks does a fantastic job of drip-feeding us the necessary information until we come to see the true nature of these interactions and realise that the ‘funny men’ are actually traumatised war veterans no longer comfortable in the real world.’ —\u003cem\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘I don’t know what I was expecting going in to this book, but honestly what I got wasn’t anything like I imagined. Trying to explain what this book was is difficult – because honestly it’s very unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It was absolutely mesmerising, but also quite an uncomfortable read in places, and I really enjoyed it.’ —\u003cem\u003eAshleigh’s Bookshelf\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Brooks writes stunningly and paints a dark, imaginative picture so vivid I could see it made into a film.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eCaz Roberts\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eGrazia\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Set after the first world war, is a macabre and unsettling tale of a young girl who is made a plaything of the “funny men”, a group of damaged soldiers, so badly injured they have removed themselves from the world completely. The novel has a woozy, tainted fairytale quality – Brooks calls these molten men of his the Tin Man and the Scarecrow – and a heightened aspect, like looking at the world through a cracked magnifying glass. It’s a bizarre, horror-flecked novel, pleasingly distinctive in its oddness.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNatasha Tripney\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eObserver\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Whilst this is essentially about an alternate coming of age, set at a time when people are trying to adjust and cope post war, there is focus on living to excess, without care for the consequences and how for some, non-conformity is embraced. There is rising tension and dense escalating drama running through the story. There is offset by some limited and subtle dark humour. But in all, people are trying to make sense of the world and deal with the fall out of war. The perspectives of the soldiers with life changing injuries is unforgettable. The characters are strong, bold and intriguing. But ultimately we are all vulnerable, and perhaps there is a deeper thread about how we choose to live despite such vulnerability whilst also being true to ourselves.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSara Garland\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNudge Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A stunning, beautifully written debut by Xan Brooks … A masterful first novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSophie Raworth\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eRead by Raworth\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Xan Brooks","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":32732615690,"sku":"9781784630935","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784630935_bd40982b-ff42-4d15-a37e-d7e40f98936d.jpg?v=1739612825"},{"product_id":"the-peckham-experiment-9781784632632","title":"The Peckham Experiment","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGuy Ware's new novel charts a course from the 1930s onwards through the fragmentary memories of the 85 year-old Charlie, whose identical twin brother JJ has recently died. Sons of a working-class Communist family, growing up in the radical Peckham Experiment and orphaned by the Blitz, the twins emerge from the war keen to build the New Jerusalem. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1968, JJ’s ideals are rocked by the fatal collapse of a tower block his council and Charlie’s development company have built. When the entire estate is demolished in 1986 JJ retires, apparently defeated. Now he is dead and Charlie, preparing for the funeral, relives their history, their family and their politics. It’s a story of how we got to where we are today told in a voice – opinionated, witty, garrulous, indignant, guilty, deluded and, as the night wears on, increasingly drunken – that sucks us in to both the idealism and the corruption it depicts, leaving us wondering just where we stand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eMeet the author\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h5xRpG7Mmno\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘If Harold Pinter had written a London Our Friends in the North it would read a lot like \u003cem\u003eThe Peckham Experiment\u003c\/em\u003e. Charlie has one of the most memorable voices in recent fiction; defiant, yearning, sometimes sozzled, with every sentence steeped in the city and the turbulent times that shaped it.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRob Palk\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Dear, queer, Charlie is a wonderful creation. 85, his twin brother has died, and over a single night, while he tries to write the eulogy for the funeral the following day, he thinks back over his life, his loves, his career in housing. And in the tower block that collapses resides his family’s idealism, regarding council housing, its long slow fall to market forces. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWare has written a brilliant, ultimately moving book, about families about those things which keep them together, drive them apart.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDrew Gummerson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eThe Peckham Experiment\u003c\/em\u003e is a glowing slice through London's official and unofficial 20th century, told in a vivid and memorable voice.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eWill Wiles\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Charlie Jellicoe, 85, erudite, gay, leftist, former property developer, sits in his flat in Peckham’s famous modernist Pioneer Centre, penning a eulogy on the eve of his twin’s funeral. Throughout one drunken night, he rehashes a lifetime of love and war, of corruption and compromise, idealism and betrayal, with magnificent acid wit, because old age should burn and rage at close of day.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRose Shepherd\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSaga Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A new novel featuring Peckham’s famous Pioneer Health Centre – the striking modernist building on St Mary’s Road that was created to promote the wellbeing of the working-class familites and is now flat – will be published next month … The action unfolds through the fragmentary memories of a now 85-year-old Charlie, whose twin brother JJ has recently died. As he prepared for the funeral, he relives their history, family and politics.’ —\u003cem\u003eThe Peckham Peculiar\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\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, \u003cem\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘London itself is a central character here, as seen through the eyes of now 80-something queer quantity surveyor Charlie. We join him on the night of his twin brother's funeral and as he tries to write a eulogy (while getting increasingly sloshed), Charlie recalls the city's journey from the idealism of the actual 1930s Peckham Experiment – which encouraged working-class families to actively participate in their own well-being – to institutional corruption; the power cuts of the three-day week, the rise of Enoch Powell and, above all, the devastating collapse of the tower block that his brother built … there are shades of the great Gordon Burn in Ware's portrait of period, place and class.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eStephanie Cross\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘‘Housing is at the heart of everything’: the shadow of Grenfell looms over an engaging, deeply impressive novel about utopian aims in London’s building history.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKeiran Goddard\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Although the majority of the novel is told via reminiscence, its nominal present is the day of the 2017 election, which saw the Conservative party lose its majority and Corbyn’s Labour party deliver the biggest increase in vote share since the second world war. And setting the novel at that precise moment in history is what makes it one of the most moving books I have read in some time: not because of the party politics, but because of the horrific events that occurred in the days that followed. Less than a week after the polls closed, 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire. This is the image that haunts the pages of The Peckham Experiment, the logical and tragic result of shifting from multiple models of social provision to a single model that prioritises profit, no matter the ultimate cost. The novel leaves the reader in no doubt that we are living in the perpetual aftermath of what Charlie terms progressive collapse: “It’s what we call it when a structural failing spreads through a building, like dominoes knocking down their neighbours.”’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKeiran Goddard\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The novel begins on the eve of JJ’s funeral, with Charlie struggling to write a eulogy for his 85-year-old brother. Confined to a mobility scooter (‘like Dennis Hopper on Medicare’) and drunk on brandy, Charlie is a seductively irreverent narrator. Witty, wise, queer and possessed of a fierce social conscience, he revisits their parallel lives in a fluid monologue that’s as Beckettian as it is Steptoe and Son. Ware is refreshingly sharp on twin psychology: ‘I never believed I’d bury him. I’m older. Surely it should fall to you to bury me… No one wants to be last. We should have gone together… A plane crash.’’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJude Cook\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘When the tale opens, eighty-five year old Charlie is trying to put together a eulogy for JJ whose funeral is the next day. The writing style captures the voice of an elderly man whose body may be failing him but who is not yet ready to join his dead brother. They may have been identical twins but were also individuals. In telling their story the reader is reminded that socialism in Britain has always been multifaceted. The interweaving of countrywide and family politics is masterfully done.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJackie Law\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eNeverimitate\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Charlie’s narrative voice is dense and discursive, his recollections haphazard at times, but still sharp. It’s a voice that can weave together the personal, political and historical. As a result, the twins’ experiences reflect undercurrents that play out across broader society in the novel. It’s fascinating to read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Hebblethwaite\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDavid’s Book World\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘If you’d told me I would have been riveted by a novel about mid-twentieth century housing before I’d read it, I might have been sceptical but then I’m someone who can’t seem to get enough of the minutiae of Danish politics portrayed in ‘Borgen’. Although it’s not mentioned in his novel, Ware chose to set it just days before the Grenfell Tower disaster. Five years later, its grim aftermath is still grinding on. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eSusan Osborne\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eA Life in Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\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, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Absent, slippery or suspect ‘facts’ are central to this unapologetically knotty novel.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eStephanie Cross\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This ingenious novel succeeds in being both a highly readable story of second world war derring-do and its aftermath and a clever Celtic knot of a puzzle about writing itself… Just who is telling this story? There are different narrators, but verbal tripwires indicate that all is not as it seems: impossible echoes from one person’s account to the next alert us to the, yes, fictional nature of what we are being drawn into and pull us up short. The complexity of who saw what and wrote what is maddening but also exhilarating, and very funny in places.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Housham\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Whatever your tastes, Guy Ware is a writer whose name should be part of the contemporary literary discussion. His is a post-modernism that pushes the past into our increasingly confusing world.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eRebekah Lattin-Rawstrone\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eByte the Book\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cem\u003eReconciliation\u003c\/em\u003e opens with an intriguing apology by the author ‘for the extent to which my characters fail to resemble their real-life models’. This indicates a central concern of Guy Ware’s novel: namely, how the fiction writer appropriates ‘facts’ to create a story. It’s a preoccupation that informs the book’s highly original narrative structure … a memorable and inventive meditation on reconciliation, in the sense of both settling differences and squaring the facts.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTom Williams\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Guy Ware","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":39730223808574,"sku":"9781784632632","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781784632632_bc140878-4879-4bad-a05e-2aa359843f2f.jpg?v=1666784137"},{"product_id":"the-anechoic-chamber-9781784633288","title":"The Anechoic Chamber","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSeries\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eName:\u003c\/strong\u003e Salt Modern Stories   \u003cstrong\u003eNumber:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Funny, chilling, intriguing: each tale offers something different from the last, and the overall result is like listening to a perfectly made album.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn anechoic chamber is a soundproofed room with no echo. The profound silence it produces is disturbing enough. But listen carefully and you’ll hear something worse … In this new collection of uncanny short stories, award-winning author Will Wiles finds sinister creatures and subtle nightmares in mundane modern environments and bureaucracy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA cursed NHS file brings doom to whoever handles it. A memory-foam mattress breaks down the walls of sleep. A marketing executive for a property developer turns to the occult. And horror seeps from the most unexpected places: eBay purchases, boxes of holiday photographs, and the hidden corners of the smart TV menu. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile mostly modern in setting, this is a collection steeped in the tradition of the weird tale and the ghost story, and includes homages to the greats of the previous century: a doomed Edwardian antiquarian is drawn into a murderous plot involving a Roman mosaic, and river boatmen uncover eldritch terror in a deserted mining town. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou’ll never look at some things the same way again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘There aren't many writers out there as entertaining as Will Wiles. He has a real gift for manoeuvring between the quotidian and the truly sinister, often within a single page. These brilliantly executed stories offer delicious bite-size portions of his unsettling wit and eye for the killer detail (sometimes literally). Funny, chilling, intriguing: each tale offers something different from the last, and the overall result is like listening to a perfectly made album.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eReviews of this Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘‘A Private Square of Sky’ made the most impact on me and I thought it was worthy of the vintage ‘weird stories’ writers. It’s set in Barcelona where the sky above a particular apartment block appears to be completely different, looking into a far corner of the universe. I would recommend this book, just for the story alone!’ —\u003ccite\u003eNS Ford Writer\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles is smart and his stories are smart. ‘A Private Square of Sky’ feels like an intellectual reboot of Mark Danielewski’s \u003ccite\u003eHouse of Leaves\u003c\/cite\u003e. ‘Notes on London’s Housing Crisis’ could have come from the hand of William Gibson. ‘Moths’ (which concerns a sort of photographic ailment spreading from image to image) feels like the kind of thing \u003ccite\u003eSapphire \u0026amp; Steel\u003c\/cite\u003e would have investigated once upon a time. There are other stories here every bit as good as the ones we’ve mentioned here. \u003ccite\u003eThe Anechoic Chamber\u003c\/cite\u003e is very much an all-killer no filler read.’ —\u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Welcome to the off-kilter neighbourhoods in Will Wiles’ weird world, where warnings are ignored and sage advice goes unheeded, with dire consequences for his increasingly frightened characters in these nimble, shivery stories.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eEithne Farry\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003cstrong\u003eThe five funniest books of all time, according to Mark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e I’m nominating this recently published collection of short stories for one in particular, called ‘The Meat Stream’, which is among the funniest things I’ve read in my life. But Wiles is consistently one of the most entertaining writers around at the moment.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMark Watson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe i Paper\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles is basically Kafka, if Kafka had spent more time in British hotels and pubs.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eDavid Baddiel\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Will Wiles both re-invents and murders the London novel, in a spectacular act of evil, surgical intensity.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eWarren Ellis\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A very funny novel combining schadenfreude and belly laughs. Just don’t let Wiles flat-sit for you.’ —\u003ccite\u003eIndependent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Funny, beguiling and quietly profound; a wonderfully well-crafted debut.’ —\u003ccite\u003eTLS\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Dark and funny in equal measures … a debut as crisp, slick and polished as a well-cared-for wooden floor.’ —\u003ccite\u003eScotland on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A nicely turned satire on the notion that the path to spiritual contentment lies in a pristine set of polished wooden floorboards … Wiles has an eye for beauty, but an even more impressive eye for ugliness … a novel full of impeccably stylish writing.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles is a talent to watch.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The book is joy unconfined: the reader is sucked along unstoppably, but glorying too with uncomfortable recognition. Fabulous in every sense.’ —\u003ccite\u003eSpectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Wiles takes us deep into a subtly altered London at the mercy of the malign forces of gentrification, and seemingly in the hands of a mysterious tech maven whose new app can track every user at all times … an eerie and sometimes pretty sharp satire on the more sinister commodifications of modern life.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘\u003ccite\u003ePlume\u003c\/cite\u003e’s cast of semi-sinister clowns aren’t the most sympathetic, but it’s the suffocating, Ballardian sense of place and mental and physical deterioration that Wiles, a design and architecture writer when not a novelist, does so horribly well. \u003ccite\u003ePlume\u003c\/cite\u003e is about a man trapped in a prison of his own making who endlessly gets nowhere at all.’ —\u003ccite\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Will Wiles","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47102145364268,"sku":"9781784633288","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/products\/9781784633288.jpg?v=1696087085"},{"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.  His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique.’ —\u003cstrong\u003ePatricia Duncker\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Arditti writes exactly like Dickens.  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":"my-bags-are-big-9781784633851","title":"My Bags Are Big","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe best fiction to read this year —\u003ccite\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOur 25 most anticipated fiction books for 2026 —\u003ccite\u003eShortlist Magazine\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ccite\u003eMy Bags Are Big\u003c\/cite\u003e, a darkly comic satire of wealth, reinvention, and regret – set against the surreal backdrop of Dubai.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e‘Is it merely a long con? Is Bitcoin just a mighty payday, or have I gatecrashed one of the great moments of history? Up there with the enslavement of fire, the invention of writing, the power of flight. A moment everyone will be pointing to for thousands of years, as long as there are people to point. And Dan was there. Bitcoin rulz okay?’\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith Fischer’s trademark wit, philosophical flair, and scathing insight into the absurdities of modern life, \u003ccite\u003eMy Bags Are Big\u003c\/cite\u003e is a brilliant satire of masculinity, memory, and the costs of pretending you’ve moved on.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Brisk criminality. Lovable roguishness. Bags of cleverness and world-weary wisdom.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Hofmann\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A triumph. Fischer more valuable than Bitcoin! 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":"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\u003eHe is a boy growing up in rural Pennsylvania under the eye of a brutal, brilliant father. He is a young man at college, enduring the choices that have been made for him and finding brightness and beauty all the same. He is a soldier in a dreadful war who – despite that awful conflict – finds the extraordinary woman who was the love of his life, and her tale inextricably twines with his. He is an engineer who builds one of the great wonders of the modern world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis name is Washington Roebling. His life holds the possible and the impossible, what could be grasped and what could only be longed for. History holds one truth. 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. With subtle narrative and powerful, vivid prose it offers an invitation to enter a complex world, so that readers may see their own histories, their own choices, their own possibilities, mirrored in this compelling text.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\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\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Immersive, moving, intensely romantic, \u003ccite\u003eWash\u003c\/cite\u003e tells the hypnotic story of a man and a moment in history with intimate, engrossing precision.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTahmima Anam\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Not only does Erica Wagner’s brilliant new novel offer an extraordinary portrait of its eponymous hero, it lets us deep into the haunting dimensionality of those closest to him too. 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\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. The book is also peppered with cheerfully informative footnotes. Perhaps best of all are the quotations from Washington’s letters (including crossed-out lines), which offer unfiltered insight into the mind of a long-dead luminary of American innovation.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘On \u003ccite\u003eGravity\u003c\/cite\u003e: Wagner’s great gift proves to be her ability to transform bleak situations through the careful geometry of her prose, which resonates with the redeeming mysteries of life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eFrank Egerton\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘On \u003ccite\u003eGravity\u003c\/cite\u003e: Beautifully imagined and controlled.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKate Hubbard\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Erica Wagner","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55693720584571,"sku":"9781784634018","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784634018_d97e3709-8aab-4a00-81b2-c51c50b818c6.jpg?v=1765372904"},{"product_id":"smelling-of-rooks-9781784634056","title":"Smelling of Rooks","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the author of \u003ccite\u003eCaptain Corelli’s Mandolin\u003c\/cite\u003e comes a candid, comic and irresistibly companionable portrait of a writer’s life in rural Norfolk.\u003c\/p\u003e\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\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\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\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\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\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\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\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\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":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784634056_aa85eabc-fbd3-4b40-88a1-33bcd2d86611.jpg?v=1762437335"},{"product_id":"immortal-diamond-9781784634087","title":"Immortal Diamond","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ch4\u003eThe jewel was a fake. The Empire was the lie.\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003e1909: in a villa in South Ascot, an extraordinary secret is about to be shared. Princess Sophia Duleep Singh – suffragette, firebrand, daughter of the last Maharajah of the Punjab – arrives with a burden that could threaten the foundations of the British Monarchy. At the heart of her visit is the Koh-i-Noor: the ‘Mountain of Light’, the ultimate symbol of Imperial seizure. Tracing a trail of colonial plunder from the Treasury at Lahore to the drawing rooms of the Edwardian elite, \u003ccite\u003eImmortal Diamond\u003c\/cite\u003e is part high-stakes mystery, part tragic exposure of Imperial hypocrisy. A novel about loyalty, illusion, and the enduring sparkle of resistance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e(on previous work) (On previous \u003ccite\u003eThe Potter’s Hand\u003c\/cite\u003e) A novel of epic scope, rich in warmth, intellect and humanity … Wilson has a light touch with his research.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(on previous work) (On \u003ccite\u003eResolution\u003c\/cite\u003e) Wilson is a great biographer and a fine novelist, and his book is as much a factual account … as a piece of historical fiction. His achievement is to impart a restrained imaginative power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(on previous work) (On \u003ccite\u003eWinnie and Wolf\u003c\/cite\u003e) An extraordinary relationship … Wilson reveals the unusual kinship between Winifred Wagner and Adolf Hitler through a shared love of opera.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(on previous work) (On \u003ccite\u003eThe Potter’s Hand\u003c\/cite\u003e) Erudite, often engaging and elegantly written … a magnificent canvas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e(on previous work) (On \u003ccite\u003eResolution\u003c\/cite\u003e) Wilson’s description as a “perennial wanderer” carries the readers along … he conveys the intellectual atmosphere of the eighteenth century with vivid imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"A. N. Wilson","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":56127432720763,"sku":"9781784634087","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784634087.jpg?v=1772717207"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.saltpublishing.com\/collections\/popular-titles.oembed","provider":"Salt","version":"1.0","type":"link"}