Amid the harsh landscape of the Ozark Hills, sixteen-year-old Ree is taking care of her mother and two brothers. Her father has put their house up as bail and if he doesn't show up at court it'll be sold from under them. To save her family she needs to track him down but in a community riven with long-running feuds getting answers isn't easy.
The spectacular new novel from the bestselling author of CLOUD ATLAS and THE BONE CLOCKS, 'one of the most brilliantly inventive writers of this, or any country' ( Independent ). Utopia Avenue might be the most curious British band you've never heard of. Emerging from London's psychedelic scene in 1967, folksinger Elf Holloway , blues bassist Dean Moss , guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet and jazz drummer Griff Griffin together created a unique sound, with lyrics that captured their turbulent times. The band produced only two albums in two years, yet their musical legacy lives on. This is the story of Utopia Avenue's brief, blazing journey from Soho clubs and draughty ballrooms to the promised land of America, just when the Summer of Love was receding into something much darker - a multi-faceted tale of dreams, drugs, love, sexuality, madness and grief; of stardom's wobbly ladder and fame's Faustian pact; and of the collision between youthful idealism and jaded reality as the Sixties drew to a close. Above all, this bewitching novel celebrates the power of music to connect across divides, define an era and thrill the soul.
@2@Turn down Slade Alley - narrow, dank and easy to miss, even when you're looking for it. Find the small black iron door set into the right-hand wall. No handle, no keyhole, but at your touch it swings open. Enter the sunlit garden of an old house that doesn't quite make sense; too grand for the shabby neighbourhood, too large for the space it occupies. @3@@2@A stranger greets you and invites you inside. At first, you won't want to leave. Later, you'll find that you can't.@3@@2@This unnerving, taut and intricately woven tale by one of our most original and bewitching writers begins in 1979 and comes to its turbulent conclusion around Hallowe'en, 2015. Because every nine years, on the last Saturday of October, a 'guest' is summoned to Slade House. But why has that person been chosen, by whom and for what purpose? The answers lie waiting in the long attic, at the top of the stairs . . .@3@
Marnie is stuck.
Stuck working alone in her flat - a half-eaten packet of feta and a half-dead cactus her only company - and stuck in a life that increasingly feels like it''s passing her by.
Michael is coming undone.
Separated from his wife (just temporarily?), increasingly reclusive (a momentary phase), taking himself on long, punishing walks (the perfect opportunity for some good, old-fashioned, solitary brooding).
Surely there must be more to life . . . but how to get there?
When a persistent mutual friend and some very English weather conspire to bring them together, Marnie and Michael suddenly find themselves alone on the most epic of walks - from the Lake District to the Yorkshire Dales, across the North York Moors and all the way to the North Sea.
And as the miles go by and their lives become unexpectedly entwined, what had begun as a fun little weekend away becomes the journey of a lifetime . . .
The voice of a generation: an immersive, nostalgic novel recalling the long, sultry summers of the 1990s from a hot new talent and the winner of the Goncourt Prize
The complete Fleabag. Every Word. Every Side-eye. Every Fox. Fleabag: The Scriptures includes new writing from Phoebe Waller-Bridge alongside the filming scripts and the never-before-seen stage directions from the Golden Globe, Emmy and BAFTA winning series. ''Perfect'' Guardian ''Perfect'' Daily Telegraph ''Perfect'' Stylist ''Perfect'' Independent ''Perfect'' Evening Standard ''Perfect'' Metro ''Perfect'' Irish Times ''Perfect'' RTE ''Perfect'' Spectator ''Perfect'' Refinery29 ''Perfect'' Catholic Herald ''Perfection'' Financial Times *** HAIRDRESSER NO. (pointing to Claire) That is EXACTLY what she asked for. FLEABAG No it''s not. We want compensation. HAIRDRESSER Claire? CLAIRE I''ve got two important meetings and I look like a pencil. HAIRDRESSER NO. Don''t blame me for your bad choices. Hair isn''t everything. FLEABAG Wow. HAIRDRESSER What? FLEABAG Hair. Is. Everything. We wish it wasn''t so we could actually think about something else occasionally. But it is. It''s the difference between a good day and a bad day. We''re meant to think that it is a symbol of power, a symbol of fertility, some people are exploited for it and it pays your fucking bills. Hair is everything, Anthony .
A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan`s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified `dinery server` on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation - the narrators of CLOUD ATLAS hear each other`s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.
A SMART, SEXY AND SPIKY MODERN LOVE STORY, FROM DEBUT NOVELIST JENNY MUSTARD
''Tender and spell-binding, Okay Days breaks you all the way open''
Annie Lord, author of Notes on Heartbreak
''A perfect Millennial love story . . . with its acidic dialogue and languid sex scenes. A charming and clever romance, a perfect summer read''
Irish Times
''Reminiscent of Sally Rooney . . . a complex and joyous ode to being in love, messing up and finding your way'' Stylist
''Razor sharp . . . nothing short of brilliant''
Glamour
''A fresh, sexy love story that''s set to become a classic'' Daisy Buchanan, author of Insatiable
''Fresh and sharply observant . . . One of the most intriguing books I''ve read in some time'' Elaine Feeney, author of As You Were
''A beautifully-observed portrait of self-discovery and uncertain love. Jenny''s sharp and evocative prose gave me a feeling of immense nostalgia for London''s long summer days'' Natasha Brown, author of Assembly
Sam is 28, Swedish, carefree and chaotic. Doing a work placement in London over the course of three sticky summer months, she falls hard for Lucas, a man she first met as a teenager.
Lucas, 27, sensitive and calm, is trying to get a foothold in the adult world while struggling to hold the pieces of his life together. Sam is a gorgeous distraction.
But you can only avoid reality for so long, and both Sam and Lucas know their relationship can''t last. Nobody can be this happy forever, surely?
Okay Days tells the story of the rise and fall of Sam and Lucas''s affection for each other, while looking unflinchingly at male body dysmorphia, women''s reproductive rights, and the pitfalls of modern love.
When is okay good enough? And what are we willing to lose in the search for a life that is much better than just okay?
''Reading Okay Days is like drinking the ideal lime cordial, sweetness clarified by sharpness'' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Harmless Like You
''A beautiful, bruising novel about love, sex and finding your place in the world. Okay Days is tender and humorous and ultimately uplifting. Sam and Lucas are unforgettable. Simply brilliant'' Molly Aitken, author of The Island Child
''Witty, observant, stylish, tender, sharp, and delightful'' Will Dean, author of First Born
''Okay Days is charming and clever and somehow manages to be both warm and affectionate and coolly detached'' Chloe Ashby, author of Wet Paint
Following his hugely celebrated debut novel, The Yellow Birds , Kevin Powers returns to the battlefield and its aftermath, this time in his native Virginia, just before and during the Civil War and ninety years later. The novel pinpoints with unerring emotional depth the nature of random violence, the necessity of love and compassion, and the fragility and preciousness of life. It will endure as a stunning novel about what we leave behind, what a life is worth, what is said and unsaid, and the fact that ultimately what will survive of us is love.
'a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases'. BARACK OBAMA 'One of the most important books I've ever read - an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.' BILL GATES 'Hans Rosling tells the story of "the secret silent miracle of human progress" as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.' MELINDA GATES Factfulnes s: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends - why the world's population is increasing; how many young women go to school; how many of us live in poverty - we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness , Professor of International Health and a man who can make data sing, Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens, and reveals the ten instincts that distort our perspective. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world.
''Both profound and addictively entertaining. I loved it'' CLARE CHAMBERS, bestselling author of Small Pleasures ''Beautiful, strange and otherworldly'' PAULA HAWKINS, bestselling author of A Slow Fire Burning ''Subtly powerful and utterly engrossing'' CLAIRE FULLER, bestselling author of Unsettled Ground Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, finding solace in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of the Australian outback. She doesn''t believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.
As she gradually adjusts to the rhythms of her new life, she ruminates on her childhood in the nearby town, turning again and again to thoughts of her mother, whose early death she can''t forget.
But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signalling a new battle against the rising infestation. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past.
Internationally acclaimed as a novelist, Siri Hustvedt is also highly regarded as a writer of non-fiction whose insights are drawn from her broad knowledge in the arts, humanities, and sciences. In this trilogy of works collected in a single volume, Hustvedt brings a feminist, interdisciplinary perspective to a range of subjects. Louise Bourgeois, Pablo Picasso, Susan Sontag and Knut Ove Knausgaard are among those who come under her scrutiny. In the book's central essay, she explores the intractable mind-body problem and in the third section, reflects on the mysteries of hysteria, synesthesia, memory, perception, and the philosophy of Soren Kierkegaard. With clarity, wit, and passion, she exposes gender bias, upends received ideas, and challenges her reader to think again.
''How rare and nourishing this sort of roaming thought is and what a joy to read'' MEGAN NOLAN, Sunday Times
''An exhilarating, shape-shifting exploration of the perilous boundaries between art and life'' JENNY OFFILL
Pablo Picasso beat his partners. Richard Wagner was deeply antisemitic. David Bowie slept with an underage fan. But many of us still love Guernica and the Ring cycle and Ziggy Stardust.
And what are we to do with that love? How are we, as fans, to reckon with the biographical choices of the artists whose work sustains us?
Wildly smart and insightful, Monsters is an exhilarating attempt to understand our relationship with art and the artist in the twenty-first century.
''An incredible book, the best work of criticism I have read in a very long time'' NICK HORNBY
''Part memoir, part treatise, and all treat'' New York Times
''An outrageously brilliant debut... This is already the best new book I will have read next year'' ELEANOR CATTON, SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BIRNAM WOOD ''Hugely enjoyable: ingeniously constructed, beautifully written, and unexpectedly sexy. It is the rarest of creations: a boldly entertaining page-tuner that is also deeply, thoughtfully engaged with our past, present and future'' JOANNA QUINN, SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE WHALEBONE THEATRE ''Kaliane Bradley writes with the maximalist confidence of P. G. Wodehouse, but also with the page-turning pining of Sally Rooney. It''s thought-provoking and horribly clever - but it also made me laugh out loud'' ALICE WINN, SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF IN MEMORIAM ''A fantastic debut: conceptually brilliant, really funny, genuinely moving, written in the most exquisite language and with a wonderful articulation of the knotty complexities of a mixed-race heritage'' MARK HADDON, AUTHOR OF THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME ''Sly and illusionless in its use of history, lovely in its sentences, warm - no, hotter than that - in its characterisation, devastating in its denouement. A weird, kind, clever, heartsick little time bomb of a book'' FRANCIS SPUFFORD, AUTHOR OF GOLDEN HILL A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER; ENGLAND MUST FALL.
There are several ways to tell a story.
A civil servant starts working as a ''bridge'' - a liaison, helpmeet and housemate - in an experimental project that brings expatriates from the past into the twenty-first century. This is a science-fiction story.
In a London safehouse in the 2020s, a disorientated Victorian polar explorer chain smokes while listening to Spotify and learning about political correctness. This is a comedy.
During a long, sultry summer - as the shadows around them grow long and dangerous - two people fall in love, against all odds. This is a romance.
The Ministry of Time is a novel about Commander Graham Gore (R.N. c.1809-c.1847) and a woman known only as the bridge. As their relationship turns from the strictly professional into something more and uneasy truths begin to emerge, they are forced to face the reality of the project that brought them together.
Can love triumph over the structures and histories that shape them?
In 1975 art historian Leo Hertzberg discovers an extraordinary painting by an unknown artist in a New York gallery. He buys the work, tracks down its creator, Bill Weschler, and the two men embark on a life-long friendship.
@2@@20@LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2014@21@@3@@2@The artist Harriet Burden, furious at the lack of attention paid her by the New York art world, conducts an experiment: she hides her identity behind three male fronts in a series of exhibitions. Their success seems to prove her point, but there's a sting in the tail - when she unmasks herself, not everyone believes her. Then her last collaborator meets a bizarre end. @3@@2@In this mesmerising tour de force, Burden's story emerges after her death through a variety of sources, including her (not entirely reliable) journals and the testimonies of her children, lover and a dear friend. Each account is different, however, and the mysteries multiply.@3@
Feminist philosophy meets family memoir in a fresh essay collection by Siri Hustvedt, author of the bestselling What I Loved and Booker Prize-longlisted The Blazing World. ''A wonderful essayist . . . Her new collection is replete with personal history and recollection, and sparkles with small descriptive gems.'' Martin Chilton, Independent Siri Hustvedt''s relentlessly curious mind and expansive intellect are on full display in this stunning new collection of essays, whose subjects range from the nature of memory and time to what we inherit from our parents, the power of art during tragedy, misogyny, motherhood, neuroscience, and the books we turn to during a pandemic. Drawing on family history as well as her own life and experiences, she examines the porousness of borders of all kinds in a masterful intellectual journey that is at once personal and universal. Ultimately, Mothers, Fathers, and Others reminds us that the boundaries we take for granted-between ourselves and others, between art and viewer-are far less stable than we imagine.
The Berlin Wall is toppled, the Iron Curtain swept aside. The Secret Pilgrim is Ned, a decent, loyal soldier of the Cold War, who has been in British Intelligence all his adult life. Now, approaching the end of his career, he is forced by the explosions of change to revisit his secret years.
After their father's funeral, Erik and Inga Davidsen find a cryptic letter from an unknown woman among his papers, dating from his adolescence in rural Minnesota during the Depression. Returning to his psychiatric practice in New York, Erik sets about reading his father's memoir, hoping to discover the man he never fully understood.At the same time, another woman enters Erik's lonely, divorced life - a beautiful Jamaican who moves into his garden flat with her small daughter. As Erik gets drawn into the cat-and-mouse tactics of someone who appears to be stalking her, he finds out that his sister Inga is also being threatened, by a journalist in possession of a wounding secret from her past.A multi-layered novel that probes the mysteries of the heart and mind, THE SORROWS OF AN AMERICAN is compulsive, thought-provoking and profoundly affecting.
When Tia accidentally overhears a whispered conversation between her mother - terminally ill and lying in a hospital bed in Port Harcourt, Nigeria - and her aunt, the repercussions will send her on a desperate quest to uncover a secret her mother has been hiding for nearly two decades.
Back home in Lagos a few days later, Adunni, a plucky fourteen-year-old runaway, is lying awake in Tia''s guest room. Having escaped from her rural village in a desperate bid to seek a better future, she''s finally found refuge with Tia, who has helped her enroll in school. It''s always been Adunni''s dream to get an education, and she''s bursting with excitement.
Suddenly, there''s a horrible knocking at the front gate. . . .
It''s only the beginning of a harrowing ordeal that will see Tia forced to make a terrible choice between protecting Adunni or finally learning the truth. And Adunni will learn that her ''louding voice'' is more important than ever, as she must advocate to save not only herself but all the young women of her home village, Ikati.
If she succeeds, she may transform Ikati into a place where girls are allowed to claim the bright futures they deserve - and shout their stories to the world.
Andrew Osnard is an old Etonian and spy. His secret mission in Panama is two-pronged: to keep an eye on the political manoeuvrings leading up to the American handover of the Panama Canal on 31st December 1999, and to secure for himself the immense private fortune that has thus far eluded him.
