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Apple of Sodom
By Mary Hoffman. 2015
Emily Crawford, a young American wife and mother, seeks a long-overdue self-respect in this absorbing and dramatic portrait of an…
expatriate family experi-encing life in an exotic Arab culture at the start of the 1960s. Revelatory episodes unfold against the enter¬tainments of the well-to-do and influential, among the lives of ordinary citizens, and during explorations of ancient cities in the Holy Land and beyond.Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth
By Drew Hayden Taylor. 1998
This is the emotional story of a woman's struggle to acknowledge her origins. Grace, a Native girl adopted by a…
White family, is asked by her birth sister to return to the Reserve for their mother's funeral. Afraid of opening old wounds, Grace must find a place where the culture of her past can feed the truth of her present.And After Many Days
By Jowhor Ile. 2016
An unforgettable debut novel about a boy who goes missing, a family that is torn apart, and a nation on…
the brink During the rainy season of 1995, in the bustling town of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, one family's life is disrupted by the sudden disappearance of seventeen-year-old Paul Utu, beloved brother and son. As they grapple with the sudden loss of their darling boy, they embark on a painful and moving journey of immense power which changes their lives forever and shatters the fragile ecosystem of their once ordered family. Ajie, the youngest sibling, is burdened with the guilt of having seen Paul last and convinced that his vanished brother was betrayed long ago. But his search for the truth uncovers hidden family secrets and reawakens old, long forgotten ghosts as rumours of police brutality, oil shortages, and frenzied student protests serve as a backdrop to his pursuit. In a tale that moves seamlessly back and forth through time, Ajie relives a trip to the family's ancestral village where, together, he and his family listen to the myths of how their people settled there, while the villagers argue over the mysterious Company, who found oil on their land and will do anything to guarantee support. As the story builds towards its stunning conclusion, it becomes clear that only once past and present come to a crossroads will Ajie and his family finally find the answers they have been searching for. And After Many Days introduces Ile's spellbinding ability to tightly weave together personal and political loss until, inevitably, the two threads become nearly indistinguishable. It is a masterful story of childhood, of the delicate, complex balance between the powerful and the powerless, and a searing portrait of a community as the old order gives way to the new.From the Hardcover edition.Demons in the Spring
By Joe Meno. 2010
"An inspired collection of 20 stories, brilliant in its command of tone and narrative perspective...Creativity and empathy mark the collection…
. . . Illustrations enhance the already vivid storytelling."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Spanning worlds, generations, cultures and environments, each of Meno's short stories in this stellar collection explores depression, loneliness and insanity in the world . . ."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Eclectic, funny, constantly surprising-these are the things a short story collection should be allowed to be, and Joe Meno's Demons in the Spring absolutely is . . . a rich, unforgettable stew of a book."--Dave EggersThe limited-edition hardcover of Demons in the Spring was a finalist for the 2009 Story Prize, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2008, a Time Out Chicago Best Book of 2008, and it drew starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. It is a collection of twenty short stories with illustrations by twenty artists from the fine art, graphic art, and comic book worlds.Joe Meno is the best-selling author of five novels, including the smash hits Hairstyles of the Damned and The Boy Detective Fails (both published by Akashic Books), and two story collections. He was the winner of the 2003 Nelson Algren Award for short fiction and is a professor of creative writing at Columbia College in Chicago.The Mothers
By Jennifer Gilmore. 2006
Poignant, raw, and insightful, Jennifer Gilmore's third novel is an unforgettable story of love, family, and motherhood. With a "voice…
[that is] at turns wise and barbed with sharp humor" (Vanity Fair), Gilmore lays bare the story of one couple's ardent desire for a child and their emotional journey through adoption. Jesse and Ramon are a loving couple, but after years spent unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant, they turn to adoption, relieved to think that once they navigate the bureaucratic path to parent-hood they will have a happy ending. But nothing has prepared them for the labyrinthine process--for the many training sessions and approvals; for the constant advice from friends, strangers, and "experts"; for the birthmothers who contact them but don't ultimately choose them; or even, most shockingly, for the women who call claiming they've chosen Jesse and Ramon but who turn out never to have been pregnant in the first place. Jennifer Gilmore's eloquence about the human heart--its frailties and complexities--and her razor-sharp observations about race, class, culture, and changing family dynamics are spectacularly combined in this powerful novel. Suffused with passion and fury, The Mothers is a taut, gripping, and satisfying book that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.My Angel: A Story of Salvation and Love In Two Parts
By Tetiana Brooks. 2014
If you read My Angel, you will be transformed. My Angel and two other titles were first published in Ukraine…
in Russian and Ukrainian. Tetiana says, "We are all people living on the Earth with the same feelings, the same problems, and the same joys."Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
By William Shakespeare, Arthur Rackham. 2003
Shakespeare's incomparable romantic comedy takes on a new and vivid life in these brilliant images by one of the 20th…
century's leading illustrators. The fairy world of A Midsummer Night's Dream is the perfect milieu for the artistry of Arthur Rackham, a popular illustrator of fairy tales who possessed a striking gift for depicting fanciful creatures. His dreamlike visions provide a series of unique portraits from the enchanted wood outside ancient Athena, where Oberon and Titania rule a kingdom of diminutive sprites. Rackham's career coincided with the era known as the Golden Age of Illustration, an age that witnessed the rise of increasingly sophisticated color printing techniques. His interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which first appeared in 1908, received the full benefit of the improved technology, and this faithful reprint offers a quality of printing and sharpness of reproduction that rivals the limited and first editions. The complete text of the play appears here, along with 40 full-color and numerous black-and-white illustrations — a splendid tribute by a master of fantasy art to an immortal play.The Secrets of Roscarbury Hall: A Novel
By Ann O'Loughlin. 2015
A bestseller in the UK, this moving debut novel is a modern Philomena story of love, both lost and found.Secrets…
can’t last forever. . . . In a crumbling mansion in a small Irish village in County Wicklow, two elderly sisters, Ella and Roberta O’Callaghan, live alone in Roscarbury Hall with their secrets, memories, and mutual hatred. Long estranged, the two communicate only by terse notes. But when the sisters are threatened with bankruptcy, Ella defies Roberta’s wishes and converts the mansion's old ballroom into a café. Much to Roberta’s displeasure, the café is a hit and the sisters are reluctantly drawn back into the village life they abandoned decades ago. But gossip has a long life. As the local convent comes under scrutiny, the O’Callaghan sisters find themselves caught up in an adoption scandal that dates back to the 1960s and spreads all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. Only by overcoming their enmity and facing up to the past can they face the future together—but can they finally put their differences behind them?Among the Lesser Gods: A Novel
By Margo Catts. 2017
For fans of authors like Barbara Kingsolver and Leif Enger, a stunning new voice in contemporary literary fiction."Tragedy and blessing.…
Leave them alone long enough, and it gets real hard to tell them apart." Elena Alvarez is living a cursed life. From the deadly fire she accidentally set as a child, to her mother's abandonment, and now to an unwanted pregnancy, she knows better than most that small actions can have terrible consequences. Driven to the high mountains surrounding Leadville, Colorado by her latest bad decision, she's intent on putting off the future. Perhaps there she can just hide in her grandmother's isolated cabin and wait for something–anything–to make her next choice for her. But instead of escape, she finds reminders of her own troubles reflected from every side–the recent widower and his two children adrift in a changed world, Elena's own mysterious family history, and the interwoven lives within the town itself. Bit by bit, Elena begins to reconsider her role in the tragedies she's held on to and the wounds she's refused to let heal. But then, in a single afternoon, when threads of cause and effect tangle, Elena's fragile new peace is torn apart. It's only at the prospect of fresh loss and blame that she will discover the truth of the terrible burdens we take upon ourselves, the way tragedy and redemption are inevitably bound together–and how curses can sometimes lead to blessings, however disguised.A Man in Love: A Novel
By Martin Walser. 2018
For readers of Colm Toibin’s The Master and Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, a witty, moving, tender novel of impossible love…
and the mysterious ways of art. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is so famous his servant auctions off snippets of his hair and children and adults recite from his many works by memory. When he was a young poet, his first novel, a story of love and romantic fervor ending in suicide, was an international blockbuster that set off a wave of self-inflicted deaths across Europe. Now seventy-three, sought after and busy with scientific pursuits and responsibilities to the Grand Duke, he has fallen in love with a nineteen-year-old, Ulrike von Levetzov. Infatuated, at the spa in Marienbad, he seeks her out. They exchange glances, witty words. In the social swirl, they find each other. On the promenade, they parade together arm in arm. Time spent away from her is sleepless, and when they kiss, it is in the “Goethian” way, from his books: a matter of souls, not mouths or lips. And yet, his years fail him. At an afternoon tea party, a younger man tries to seduce her. At a costume ball, he collapses. When he proposes nonetheless, Ulrike and her mother are already preparing to leave. Caught in a storm of emotion and torn between despair and unwillingness to give up hope, he begins an elegy in his coach as he pursues her: “The Marienbad Elegy,” one of his last great works.You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here
By Frances Macken. 2020
AN IRISH TIMES, IRISH INDEPENDENT and SUNDAY INDEPENDENT 'TITLE TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2020' Katie, Maeve and Evelyn –…
friends forever, united by their childhood games and their dreams of escaping the tiny Irish town of Glenbruff. Outspoken, unpredictable and intoxicating, Evelyn is the undisputed leader of the trio. That is, until the beautiful, bold Pamela Cooney arrives from Dublin and changes Glenbruff forever... Told from Katie's witty, quirky perspective, Frances Macken's debut beautifully captures life in a small town and the power of yearning for something bigger. Filled with unforgettable characters and crackling dialogue, You Have to Make Your Own Fun Around Here takes a keen-eyed look at the complexities of female friendship, the corrosive power of jealousy and guilt, and the way that life can quietly erode our dreams unless we're willing to fight for them.The boy who would not weep. The true face of bullying
By José Antonio Jiménez-Barbero. 2018
To Santiago, everyday life has become an unbearable punishment and the idea of suicide, fascinating and terrible, comes up to…
his tortured mind frequently... Everything changes when he meets Lucía, the new girl. Friendly, intelligent and gifted of great sensibility, she’s the only one capable of discovering the entreasured inner self of the strange and lonely boy. Something extraordinary starts to happen to Santiago. He hides, under his apparent shy surface, an unexpected strong, indomitable and sometimes dark personality. But the cruel chasing continues, each time more obsessive and violent; but Santiago has decided to not let himself to be defeated, he endures it in silence, without complaining... without crying. Until that this nightmare also reaches his only friend and the fragile sanity of the boy ends up breaking in a devastating and terrible way. The boy who would not weep: the true face of bullying constitutes one of the first novels that present the cruel and true face of bullying. With a straight forward and austere language, Jiménez-Barbero brings a shocking story, with no cracks, straight to the point, whose mission, being read and understood by all audiences, is perfectly fulfilled since the narrative rhythm allows a complete immersion, without flourishes, in a story that sometimes can be read as a documentary. Ultimately, that’s what the novel is about, a cry of alarm issued by someone who has lived in the first line of fire. The author has worked as a police officer in a problematic that’s neglected by a culture obsessed by violence in all its forms. That being said, The boy who would not weep: the true face of bullying is a must read to all parents whose children are teenagers, but also to those that think that this problem keeps them at borders and comprehend up to which point a boy’s darkness can reach up, making him even deny the tears.How to be Nowhere
By Tim MacGabhann. 2020
Life is finally on the right track for reporter and recovering addict Andrew: he is slowly coming to terms with…
the murder of his photographer boyfriend Carlos, pursuing sobriety and building a new home with a new partner. Andrew has almost forgotten about the story that ruined his life - but that story hasn't forgotten about him, and a series of deadly threats forces him into helping the very man whose gang murdered his boyfriend and left him homeless.A literary take on the classic chase movie, HOW TO BE NOWHERE is the sequel to Tim MacGabhann's genre-busting and critically-acclaimed debut CALL HIM MINE, and a blistering thrill-ride deep into the fog of Central America's murky present and tragic future.Kokoschka's Doll
By Afonso Cruz. 2010
"A novel par excellence that is destined to become a classic' of almost byzantine splendour . . . At its…
best worthy of comparison with Gabriel García Márquez" Catherine Taylor, Irish Times"Afonso Cruz is one of the strongest voices in contemporary Portuguese literature" Antonio Saez Delgado, El PaisAt the age of forty-two, Bonifaz Vogel begins to hear a voice.But it doesn't belong to the mice or the woodworm, as he first imagines. Nor is it the voice of God, as he comes to believe. It belongs to young Isaac Dresner, who takes refuge in the cellar of Vogel's bird shop on the run from the soldier who shot his best friend. Soon Vogel comes to rely on it for advice: he cannot make a sale without first bending down to confer with the floorboards. Thus begins the story of two Dresden families, fractured and displaced by the devastating bombing of the city 1945, their fates not only intertwined, but bound also to that of a life-sized doll commissioned by the artist Oskar Kokoschka in the image of his lost lover.Based on a curious true story, Kokoschka's Doll is an imaginative and playful novel that transports the reader to Dresden, Paris, Lagos and Marrakesh, introducing them to an unforgettable cast of characters along the way.Translated from the Portuguese by Rahul BeryKokoschka's Doll
By Afonso Cruz. 2010
"A novel par excellence that is destined to become a classic' of almost byzantine splendour . . . At its…
best worthy of comparison with Gabriel García Márquez" Catherine Taylor, Irish Times"Afonso Cruz is one of the strongest voices in contemporary Portuguese literature" Antonio Saez Delgado, El PaisAt the age of forty-two, Bonifaz Vogel begins to hear a voice.But it doesn't belong to the mice or the woodworm, as he first imagines. Nor is it the voice of God, as he comes to believe. It belongs to young Isaac Dresner, who takes refuge in the cellar of Vogel's bird shop on the run from the soldier who shot his best friend. Soon Vogel comes to rely on it for advice: he cannot make a sale without first bending down to confer with the floorboards. Thus begins the story of two Dresden families, fractured and displaced by the devastating bombing of the city 1945, their fates not only intertwined, but bound also to that of a life-sized doll commissioned by the artist Oskar Kokoschka in the image of his lost lover.Based on a curious true story, Kokoschka's Doll is an imaginative and playful novel that transports the reader to Dresden, Paris, Lagos and Marrakesh, introducing them to an unforgettable cast of characters along the way.Translated from the Portuguese by Rahul BeryBetty: The International Bestseller
By Tiffany McDaniel. 2020
'Breahtaking'Vogue'So engrossing! Betty is a page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story steeped in Cherokee history, told in undulating prose that settles right…
into you'Naoise Dolan, Sunday Times bestselling author of Exciting Times 'I felt consumed by this book. I loved it, you will love it' Daisy Johnson, Booker Prize shortlisted author of Everthing Under'I loved Betty: I fell for its strong characters and was moved by the story it portrayed' Fiona Mozley, Booker Prize shortlisted author of Elmet 'A girl comes of age against the knife.' So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination, and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.A heartbreaking yet magical story, Betty is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel - full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words. 'Not a story you will soon forget' Karen Joy Fowler, Booker Prize shortlisted author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves 'Shot through with moonshine, Bible verses, and folklore, Betty is about the cruelty we inflict on one another, the beauty we still manage to find, and the stories we tell in order to survive' Eowyn Ivey, author of The Snow ChildThe Art of the Body: A beautiful, unflinching debut about love, loss and intimacy
By Alex Allison. 2019
'A bold, unflinching debut' GUARDIAN'Brutal, tender, philosophical, visceral, complex and so well written' EMMA JANE UNSWORTHMaintaining one person's dignity comes…
nearly always at the expense of someone else's. I have learned this for you.Janet is caught between care work and caring for herself. Her life revolves around Sean, a talented fine art student, living and working with cerebral palsy. Both Janet and Sean are new to London and far from their families. Both are finding a means of escape through pushing their bodies to the limit.When Sean is faced with an unexpected and deeply personal tragedy, Janet must let her guard down at last and discover what she's prepared to fight for. The Art of the Body is a novel about dignity and intimacy, tenderness and brutality, unafraid to explore uncommon bodies in unusual ways.'Raw and powerful' IMAGEFear: A brilliantly gripping and twisty psychological thriller
By Dirk Kurbjuweit. 2017
The Guardian, Daily Telegraph and Irish Times Book of the Year.'Something we've not seen before in contemporary crime fiction' GUARDIAN'[An]…
uncomfortably close-to-home thriller' SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB'As intellectually stimulating as it is gripping' DAILY TELEGRAPH, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2018'Takes you right into the heart of darkness' MAIL ON SUNDAY'A must-have new read' DAILY EXPRESS'Wonderfully sinister' THE OBSERVER'Frightening' THE TIMES'Addictive' INDEPENDENT'Terrific' JOANNE HARRIS'Brilliantly done' FIONA BARTON'A great achievement' HERMAN KOCH'Claustrophobic and unsettling' BBC NEWS'[A] creepy tale of obsession' SUNDAY MIRROR'An unsettling tale of merciless self-scrutiny' RENEE KNIGHT'A terrifying study of a family threatened by the tenant living downstairs' WOMAN & HOME*********How far would you go to protect your family?Family is everything. So what if yours was being terrorised by a neighbour - a man who doesn't listen to reason, whose actions become more erratic and sinister with each passing day?You go to the police, but they can't help you. You become afraid to leave your family at home alone. But there's nothing more you can do to protect them.Or is there...?FEAR is a brilliantly grippling, original psychological thriller - for fans of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL and THE DINNER.-------------------------FEAR is translated from the German by Imogen TaylorI Did a Bad Thing: Now It’s Back to Haunt Me
By Linda Green. 2010
'A funny, dark read' Closer 'Smart, witty writing' ElleA heartbreaking and poignant novel of love and loss, from the no…
1 bestselling author of WHILE MY EYES WERE CLOSED.Sarah Roberts used to be good. Then she did something bad. Now, years later, she's living a good life. She works as a local newspaper reporter and lives with her saintly boyfriend Jonathan. She has no reason to think her guilty past will ever catch up with her.Until Nick, the man she was prepared to risk everything for, walks back into her life. And suddenly, what's good and bad aren't so clear to Sarah any more . . .****Readers are LOVING I Did a Bad Thing...'What an inspiring novel' *****'A great read. dark and funny and will pull at the heart strings' *****'I absolutely loved this book!' *****'Another triumph for Linda Green' *****Anne-Marie the Beauty
By Yasmina Reza. 2019
Another thought-provoking master class in how we perform life by the award-winning novelist and playwright Yasmina Reza."I was bored with…
my husband," says Anne-Marie, the irrepressible voice of Anne-Marie la Beauté, "but you know, boredom is part of love." Mostly she is speaking here of her more famous friend and colleague, the French actress Giselle Fayolle, in whose shadow she has spent her career. "My life was a near miss," she adds, before explaining that she enunciated well because "I loved to say the words." A very short novel with the power and resonance of a much longer one, Anne-Marie la Beauté is a profound and moving act of remembrance, a clear-eyed assessment of the hard-edged nature of fame, a meditation on aging--and a wonderfully observant and comic exploration of human foibles. In short, another thought-provoking master class in how we perform life by the peerless Yasmina Reza.