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Small Pleasures: Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
By Clare Chambers. 2020
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021'A WORD-OF-MOUTH HIT' Evening Standard 'A very fine book... It's witty and sharp…
and reads like something by Barbara Pym or Anita Brookner, without ever feeling like a pastiche'David Nicholls'Perfect'India Knight 'Beautiful' Jessie Burton'Wonderful'Richard Osman 'Miraculous'Tracy Chevalier 'A wonderful novel. I loved it'Nina Stibbe 'Effortless to read, but every sentence lingers in the mind' Lissa Evans 'This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I honestly don't want you to be without it'Lucy Mangan'Gorgeous... If you're looking for something escapist and bittersweet, I could not recommend more' Pandora Sykes'Remarkable... Small Pleasures is no small pleasure'The Times'An irresistible novel - wry, perceptive and quietly devastating'Mail on Sunday'Chambers' eye for undemonstrative details achieves a Larkin-esque lucidity' Guardian'An almost flawlessly written tale of genuine, grown-up romantic anguish' The Sunday Times 1957, the suburbs of South East London. Jean Swinney is a journalist on a local paper, trapped in a life of duty and disappointment from which there is no likelihood of escape. When a young woman, Gretchen Tilbury, contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud. As the investigation turns her quiet life inside out, Jean is suddenly given an unexpected chance at friendship, love and - possibly - happiness. But there will, inevitably, be a price to pay.Book of the Year for: The Times, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Daily Express, Metro, Spectator, Red Magazine and Good HousekeepingThe sun will come out
By Joanne Levy. 2021
"Twelve-year-old Bea Gelman and her best friend Frankie are planning the BEST SUMMER EVER at Camp Shalom-a sleep-away camp. But…
at the last minute, Frankie bows out, leaving painfully shy Bea on her own. Just talking to strangers causes Bea to break out into ugly, blotchy hives. As if the hives weren't bad enough, Bea gets pranked by a couple of girls in her cabin and is betrayed by someone she thought was a new friend. Bea has had enough! She decides to spend her summer in the infirmary far away from everything that's stressing her out. No more boys (including her crush, Jeremy), no more horrible mean girls, and no more fake friends! At the infirmary, Bea meets Harry, a boy facing challenges way more intense than stress breakouts. Inspired by Harry's strength and positive outlook, Bea decides to face her fears-in a big way." -- Provided by publisherThe day of the pelican
By Katherine Paterson. 2009
When the hostilities between Albanians and Serbs escalate in Kosovo, Meli's older brother Mehmet is temporarily captured. Fleeing to refugee…
camps, the Lleshi family then immigrates to Vermont, where, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, they face mistreatment for being Muslim. For grades 5-8. 2009Life Without Me
By Anna Legat. 2015
A darkly and brilliantly funny look at what being a fly on the wall is really like, Life Without Me is Anna…
Legat’s debut novel.Georgie Ibsen is a successful, cynical, fortysomething hotshot lawyer. She runs her life, professional and personal, with precision and clear purpose. She’s just made a breakthrough in a crucial case, her family is growing more independent … things couldn’t be better.Until it all comes to a screeching halt when she’s involved in a hit-and-run and ends up in a coma.Somehow, in her comatose state, Georgie is given unique glimpses into the lives of her nearest and dearest, their most intimate secrets: her boring husband’s intense involvement with a colleague; her son’s lovelorn yearning for his mother’s nurse; her fifteen-year-old daughter’s bad boy boyfriend, who just might be linked to the criminal mastermind involved in her last big case…Throw in a neurotic actress sister, a senile mother with a traumatic past, and a smug subordinate barrister who’s out to ruin her case in her absence…oh, and a sex-god lawyer extraordinaire who’s a deeply troubled soul with a penchant for some unsavoury practices…although Georgie is out of action, life certainly isn’t boring without her!When I Come Home Again: A beautiful and heartbreaking WWI novel, based on true events
By Caroline Scott. 2020
**From the highly acclaimed author of The Photographer of the Lost, a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick** &‘A superb…
and quietly devastating novel about grief, hope and the horrific aftershocks of war&’ The Times, Book of the MonthThey need him to remember. He wants to forget. 1918. In the last week of the First World War, a uniformed soldier is arrested in Durham Cathedral. When questioned, it becomes clear he has no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. The soldier is given the name Adam and transferred to a rehabilitation home. His doctor James is determined to recover who this man once was. But Adam doesn&’t want to remember. Unwilling to relive the trauma of war, Adam has locked his memory away, seemingly for good. When a newspaper publishes a feature about Adam, three women come forward, each claiming that he is someone she lost in the war. But does he believe any of these women? Or is there another family out there waiting for him to come home?Based on true events, When I Come Home Again is a deeply moving and powerful story of a nation&’s outpouring of grief, and the search for hope in the aftermath of war. Praise for When I Come Home Again: &‘A heartbreaking read which reveals the far-reaching tragedies of war… I highly recommend it&’ Anita Frank &‘Caroline Scott&’s quietly devastating second novel insightfully explores the impact of the Great War on returning soldiers and their families' S Magazine &‘A powerful story that&’s achingly moving and most beautifully written. Readers of Maggie O&’Farrell and Helen Dunmore are likely to enjoy&’ Rachel Hore &‘Powerful… A carefully, nuanced, complex story&’ Woman & Home 'Page turning, mysterious, engrossing and compelling' Lorna Cook 'A compulsive, heart-wrenching read' Liz Trenow &‘Caroline Scott evokes the damage and desolation of the Great War with aching authenticity' Iona Grey 'This beautiful and moving book drew me in from the first line and held me enthralled until the very end' Fiona Falpy 'Wonderful and evocative' Suzanne Goldring &‘A beautifully written novel – immersive, poignant, intricately woven&’ Judith Kinghorn &‘Scott litters her tale with clues and red herrings in the best mystery-writer way so we are kept guessing as to where the truth really lies&’ The BookBagI'm Just a Teenage Punchbag: POIGNANT AND FUNNY: A NOVEL FOR A GENERATION OF WOMEN
By Jackie Clune. 2020
Warning!! This novel may lead you to make rash and life-changing decisions!**Probably don't read if you fear you may be…
ripe for liberation. Or if you sometimes wee when you laugh...First there was Having It All, then there was Bridget Jones' s Diary and I Don't Know How She Does It. Now there is Teenage Punchbag.I'm Just A Teenage Punchbag is a laugh-out-loud, sob-on-the bus journey through the so-called life of a middle-aged woman.Ciara is mother to three ungrateful, entitled teenagers, is married to steady Martin, a man with hairy udders, and is grieving for her mum who now lives in the wardrobe in a cardboard box from the crematorium. She finds solace in her anonymous blog, and in the daily chats she has with her mum's ashes (often the best conversations she has all day.)Despite the menopause, the invisibility of middle age and the daily self-esteem bashings, courtesy of her kids, Ciara manages to navigate the stormy waters of grief and family life - until her mask slips and she is cast out from the family bosom. She embarks on a mission to fulfil her mum's dying wishes to have her remains sprinkled from the top of the Empire State Building, finding company, distraction and - ultimately - herself in the process.If motherhood is a job - who says you can't resign?(P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton LtdLike A House On Fire: ‘Brilliantly funny - I loved it' Beth O'Leary, author of The Flatshare
By Caroline Hulse. 2019
'Joyously wicked... I loved it' RUTH JONES'Warm, witty & brilliantly realised' DAILY MAIL'Part Fleabag, part Agatha Christie' JOSIE SILVERALL STELLA…
AND GEORGE HAVE TO DO IS...Hide their breakupAfter a series of blazing rows about everything from Jurassic Park to installing car seats for their (hypothetical) children, Stella and George are getting divorced.Catch a murderer*But first, Stella's mum is throwing a murder mystery party - and with her dad losing his job and her mum's recent diagnosis, now is hardly the time to tell everyone.Make it through one last family partyStella and George just have to get through the day without their breakup being discovered - though it will soon turn out that keeping secrets runs in the family...*pretend murderer* * * * *Praise for LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE:'When it comes to personal relationships, Caroline Hulse dares to show us what we humans are really like. Her sparkling dialogue, astute observations and gloriously irreverent humour make Like A House On Fire a joyously wicked read that will cheer you up no end. A genuine tonic. So clever, so funny and so refreshingly different. I loved it' RUTH JONES'Part Fleabag, part Agatha Christie, Like A House On Fire is everything I love in a book' JOSIE SILVER'Painfully astute and brilliantly funny' BETH O'LEARY'A deliciously dark comedy of manners' DAILY EXPRESS'Acutely observed... Very Nina Stibbe' CLARE MACKINTOSH'Funny and sad and relatable and deeply human' HARRIET TYCEHeart and Soul
By Maeve Binchy. 2008
Clara Casey has more than enough on her plate. Her daughters are a handful and Clara, a senior cardiac specialist,…
has a new job to cope with... For Ania, meeting Clara Casey is a miracle: she had never intended to leave her beloved Poland, but after the love of her life has turned sour, her world seems rather empty. Perhaps a new job in a new country will mend her broken heart? Declan is looking forward to joining the clinic - but what should have been a straightforward six-month posting brings him far more than he expected. Then there's Father Brian Flynn, whose life is turned upside down when his reputation is threatened; and the beautiful, cheerful nurse, Fiona, who can't leave her troubled past behind...Read by Maureen O'Brien(p) 2008 Audible LtdMy brother Charlie: a sister's story of autism
By Holly Robinson Peete, Ryan Elizabeth Peete, Shane Evans. 2010
A girl tells what it is like living with her twin brother who has autism and sometimes finds it hard…
to communicate with words, but who, in most ways, is just like any other boy. Includes authors' note about autism. For preschool-grade 2Devotion: Soon a Netflix limited series
By Marco Missiroli. 2021
NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES, COMING VALENTINE'S DAY 2022 'An absolute scorcher' Evening Standard'The book about infidelity that has shaken…
up Italy'The Times'Intimate and ultimately moving... completely absorbing'Daily Mail'A gripping novel exploring the tensions in an apparently idyllic marriage' Financial Times 'A must-read'Sydney Morning Herald'Devotion thrilled me, made me think and moved me deeply... Irresistible'Jonathan Safran FoerCarlo, a part-time professor of creative writing, and Margherita, an architect-turned-real estate-agent: a happily married couple in their mid-thirties, perfectly attuned to each other's restlessness. They are in love, but they also harbour desires that stray beyond the confines of their bedroom: Carlo longs for the quiet beauty of one of his students, Sofia; Margherita fantasises about the strong hands of her physiotherapist, Andrea.But it is love, with its unassuming power, which ultimately pulls them from the brink, aided by Margherita's mother Anna, the couple's anchor and lighthouse - a wise, proud seamstress hiding her own disappointments.But after eight years of repressed desires and the birth of a son, when the past resurfaces in the form of books sent anonymously, will love be enough to save them? A no. 1 international bestsellerWinner of the Premio Strega GiovaniShortlisted for the Premio Strega'Powerful, delicate, exquisite' Claudio Magris 'Masterful... The ending is just as good as that of Joyce's The Dead' Corriere della Sera'You'll feel like taking refuge in this book and never leaving its confines' La Stampa'With all-encompassing writing, Marco Missiroli opens the rooms of his characters and the streets of Milan, the thoughts and the concealed desires, makes dialogue and silences reverberate with the spontaneity of great narrators' Il FoglioSOON TO BE A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES 'An absolute scorcher' Evening Standard'Fidelity thrilled me, made me think and moved me…
deeply. As deep as any literature and as irresistible as any gossip' Jonathan Safran Foer'Intimate and ultimately moving... completely absorbing'Daily Mail'Cuts right through to the darkness of our inner lives'Roberto Saviano'A gripping novel exploring the tensions in an apparently idyllic marriage' Financial Times 'A must-read'Sydney Morning HeraldCarlo, a part-time professor of creative writing, and Margherita, an architect-turned-real estate-agent: a happily married couple in their mid-thirties, perfectly attuned to each other's restlessness. They are in love, but they also harbour desires that stray beyond the confines of their bedroom: Carlo longs for the quiet beauty of one of his students, Sofia; Margherita fantasises about the strong hands of her physiotherapist, Andrea.But it is love, with its unassuming power, which ultimately pulls them from the brink, aided by Margherita's mother Anna, the couple's anchor and lighthouse - a wise, proud seamstress hiding her own disappointments.But after eight years of repressed desires and the birth of a son, when the past resurfaces in the form of books sent anonymously, will love be enough to save them? A no. 1 international bestsellerSoon to be a Netflix show directed by Andrea Molaioli, director of the Netflix hit series SuburraWinner of the Premio Strega GiovaniShortlisted for the Premio Strega'Powerful, delicate, exquisite' Claudio Magris 'Masterful... The ending is just as good as that of Joyce's The Dead' Corriere della Sera'You'll feel like taking refuge in this book and never leaving its confines' La Stampa'With all-encompassing writing, Marco Missiroli opens the rooms of his characters and the streets of Milan, the thoughts and the concealed desires, makes dialogue and silences reverberate with the spontaneity of great narrators' Il FoglioWhere Women are Kings: From the author of The Courage to Care and The Language of Kindness
By Christie Watson. 2013
A story of family, adoption, belonging and love from the Costa-winning author of Tiny Sunbirds Far Away and the bestselling…
nursing memoirs, The Language of Kindness and The Courage to CareElijah, seven years old, is covered in scars and has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties - and that being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son. Elijah's birth mother Deborah loves her son like the world has never known. Elijah thinks it's his fault they can't be together. Each of them faces more challenges than they could have dreamed, but just as Elijah starts to settle in, a shocking event rocks their fragile peace and the result is devastating.'Kept us gripped throughout . . stayed with us long after we'd finished the final page' StylistWhere Women are Kings: From the author of The Courage to Care and The Language of Kindness
By Christie Watson. 2013
A story of family, adoption, belonging and love from the Costa-winning author of Tiny Sunbirds Far Away and the bestselling…
nursing memoirs, The Language of Kindness and The Courage to CareElijah, seven years old, is covered in scars and has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties - and that being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son. Elijah's birth mother Deborah loves her son like the world has never known. Elijah thinks it's his fault they can't be together. Each of them faces more challenges than they could have dreamed, but just as Elijah starts to settle in, a shocking event rocks their fragile peace and the result is devastating.'Kept us gripped throughout . . stayed with us long after we'd finished the final page' StylistCharade: The Games Trilogy 1 (The Games Trilogy)
By Nyrae Dawn. 2012
BOOK 1 in THE GAMES trilogy. Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her…
past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman in her freshman year in college threatens that picture of perfection. Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it's what he wants too. Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne's past isn't what she thought? Soon they're trading one charade for another - losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain. The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they have that feels real. Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their charade and rip them apart for ever.That Scandalous Summer: Rules for the Reckless 1 (Rules for the Reckless #2)
By Meredith Duran. 2013
Meredith Duran returns with, That Scandalous Summer, a witty, humorous and smart romance beginning her Rules for the Reckless series.…
Fans of Julia Quinn, Jane Feather and Eloisa James will delight in Meredith's trademark headstrong heroine, cunning hero and tale of deep emotional intensity!One daring widow meets one reluctant suitor ...In the social whirl of Victorian England, Elizabeth Chudderley is at the top of every guest list, the life of every party, and the belle of every ball. But her friends and admirers would be stunned to know the truth: that the merriest widow in London is also the loneliest. Behind the gaiety and smiles lies a secret longing - for something, or someone, to whisk her away . . . Raised in scandal, Lord Michael de Grey is convinced that love is a losing gamble - and seduction the only game worth playing. But when duty threatens to trump everything he desires, the only way out is marriage to a woman of his brother's choosing. Elizabeth Chudderley is delightful, delicious - and distressingly attractive. With such a captivating opponent, Michael isn't quite sure who is winning the game. How can such passionate players negotiate a marriage of necessity - when their hearts have needs of their own?Want more Rules for the Reckless? Don't miss Your Wicked Heart, Fool Me Twice, Lady Be Good and Luck Be A Lady.Charade: The Games Trilogy 1 (The Games Trilogy)
By Nyrae Dawn. 2012
BOOK 1 in THE GAMES trilogy. Nineteen-year-old Cheyenne tries to portray the perfect life to mask the memories of her…
past. Walking in on her boyfriend with another woman in her freshman year in college threatens that picture of perfection. Twenty-one-year-old Colt never wanted college and never expected to amount to anything, but when his mom's dying wish is for him to get his degree, he has no choice but to pretend it's what he wants too. Cheyenne needs a fake boyfriend to get back at her ex and Colt needs cash to take care of his mom, so they strike a deal that helps them both. But what if Cheyenne's past isn't what she thought? Soon they're trading one charade for another - losing themselves in each other to forget about their pain. The more they play their game, the more it becomes the only thing they have that feels real. Both Cheyenne and Colt know life is never easy, but neither of them expect the tragedy that threatens to end their charade and rip them apart for ever.Fidelity: The Number One International Bestseller
By Marco Missiroli. 2021
SOON TO BE A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES 'Fidelity thrilled me, made me think and moved me deeply. It manages to…
be as deep as any literature and as irresistible as any gossip. A brilliant work by a brilliant writer' Jonathan Safran Foer'A gripping novel exploring the tensions in an apparently idyllic marriage, where a couple in their thirties is tested by their attraction to others, and by their own accumulation of desires and disappointments' Financial Times'A writer of pure excellence' Emmanuel Carrère'Cuts right through to the darkness of our inner lives' Roberto SavianoCarlo, a part-time professor of creative writing, and Margherita, an architect-turned-real estate-agent: a happily married couple in their mid-thirties, perfectly attuned to each other's restlessness. They are in love, but they also harbour desires that stray beyond the confines of their bedroom: Carlo longs for the quiet beauty of one of his students, Sofia; Margherita fantasises about the strong hands of her physiotherapist, Andrea.But it is love, with its unassuming power, which ultimately pulls them from the brink, aided by Margherita's mother Anna, the couple's anchor and lighthouse - a wise, proud seamstress hiding her own disappointments.But after eight years of repressed desires and the birth of a son, when the past resurfaces in the form of books sent anonymously, will love be enough to save them? A #1 International BestsellerWinner of the Premio Strega GiovaniShortlisted for the Premio Strega'Powerful, delicate, exquisite' Claudio Magris'Masterful... The ending is just as good as that of Joyce's The Dead' Corriere della Sera'You'll feel like taking refuge in this book and never leaving its confines' La Stampa'With all-encompassing writing, Marco Missiroli opens the rooms of his characters and the streets of Milan, the thoughts and the concealed desires, makes dialogue and silences reverberate with the spontaneity of great narrators' Il FoglioDoctor in the Andes
By Dana James. 2013
When Dr Kara Noreno's husband dies, she is left on her own to run the clinic they have established in…
the foothills of the Andes. But pressure from her late husband's family and antagonism from local trouble-makers are undermining her efforts. Assistance arrives in the form of Dr Ross Hallam, who soon proves indispensible, both to the clinic and to Kara's lonely heart. But how can she tell him she loves him when she knows that Ross, like everyone else, will leave?Like A House On Fire: ‘Brilliantly funny - I loved it' Beth O'Leary, author of The Flatshare
By Caroline Hulse. 2019
'A joyously wicked read that will cheer you up no end. A genuine tonic. So clever, so funny and so…
refreshingly different. I loved it' RUTH JONES'Warm, witty & brilliantly realised' DAILY MAIL'Part Fleabag, part Agatha Christie' JOSIE SILVERTwo people trying to break up.One last family party.And no way out of it...* * * * *Things Stella and George have had blazing rows about:- Misquoting Jurassic Park.- Leaving a Coke can on the side of the bath.- Fitting car seats for their hypothetical kids.In other news, they're getting divorced.But first, Stella's mum is throwing a murder mystery party and - with her dad losing his job, her mum's recent diagnosis, and some very odd behaviour from her sister - now is not the time to tell everyone.All Stella and George have to do is make it through the day without their break-up being discovered - though it will soon turn out that having secrets runs in the family...* * * * *Praise for LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE:'When it comes to personal relationships, Caroline Hulse dares to show us what we humans are really like. Her sparkling dialogue, astute observations and gloriously irreverent humour make Like A House On Fire a joyously wicked read that will cheer you up no end. A genuine tonic. So clever, so funny and so refreshingly different. I loved it' RUTH JONES'Acutely observed and brilliantly funny' CLARE MACKINTOSH'Funny and sad and relatable and deeply human' HARRIET TYCE'Part Fleabag, part Agatha Christie, Like A House On Fire is everything I love in a book...I was hooked from page one. Bravo, what a triumph!' JOSIE SILVER'Sheer delight from start to finish' LESLEY KARA'Painfully astute and brilliantly funny' BETH O'LEARY'Witty, whip-smart and wincingly observant, pure entertainment from start to finish. A Caroline Hulse book is a reading highlight of my year' CATHY BRAMLEY'Absolutely loved Like A House On Fire. A proper delight' RICHARD ROPER'Hilarious and brilliant and clever in that way only Caroline knows how to be. So compelling, I couldn't put it down' LUCY VINE'Caroline Hulse is a very funny writer and a wonderfully compassionate observer of human frailty' KATE EBERLEN'Funny, moving and astute. A triumph!' NICOLA MOSTYNI'm Just a Teenage Punchbag: POIGNANT AND FUNNY: A NOVEL FOR A GENERATION OF WOMEN
By Jackie Clune. 2020
'Obligatory reading for all parents of teenagers!' NIGELLA LAWSON'Bloody marvellous. Horribly familiar, funny, touching, sad, brutally honest...clutch this book to…
your stained T-shirt and never let it go.' JO BRAND'Terrific. A remarkable blend of hilarity and heartbreak with a really satisfying plot. Being childless never felt so good.' GRAHAM NORTON'Warm and witty... The competitive mothering, the hell that is other people's children, the fights and accusations of Homeland inquisition all rang deliciously true... a most entertaining read.' KATHY LETTE'Very poignant... A moving read as well as a funny one.' JANE GARVEY 'Honest, hilarious and painful' WOMAN & HOMEWarning!! This novel may lead you to make rash and life-changing decisions!**Probably don't read if you fear you may be ripe for liberation. Or if you sometimes wee when you laugh...First there was Having It All, then there was Bridget Jones' s Diary and I Don't Know How She Does It. Now there is Teenage Punchbag.I'm Just A Teenage Punchbag is a laugh-out-loud, sob-on-the bus journey through the so-called life of a middle-aged woman.Ciara is mother to three ungrateful, entitled teenagers, is married to steady Martin, a man with hairy udders, and is grieving for her mum who now lives in the wardrobe in a cardboard box from the crematorium. She finds solace in her anonymous blog, and in the daily chats she has with her mum's ashes (often the best conversations she has all day.)Despite the menopause, the invisibility of middle age and the daily self-esteem bashings, courtesy of her kids, Ciara manages to navigate the stormy waters of grief and family life - until her mask slips and she is cast out from the family bosom. She embarks on a mission to fulfil her mum's dying wishes to have her remains sprinkled from the top of the Empire State Building, finding company, distraction and - ultimately - herself in the process.If motherhood is a job - who says you can't resign?