Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020 Longlisted for the (US) National Book Award for Fiction 2020 ''We were bowled over by this first novel, which creates an amazingly intimate, compassionate, gripping portrait of addiction, courage and love.'' The judges of the Booker Prize ''Douglas Stuart has written a first novel of rare and lasting beauty.'' Observer It is 1981. Glasgow is dying and good families must grift to survive. Agnes Bain has always expected more from life. She dreams of greater things: a house with its own front door and a life bought and paid for outright (like her perfect, but false, teeth). But Agnes is abandoned by her philandering husband, and soon she and her three children find themselves trapped in a decimated mining town. As she descends deeper into drink, the children try their best to save her, yet one by one they must abandon her to save themselves. It is her son Shuggie who holds out hope the longest. Shuggie is different. Fastidious and fussy, he shares his mother''s sense of snobbish propriety. The miners'' children pick on him and adults condemn him as no'' right . But Shuggie believes that if he tries his hardest, he can be normal like the other boys and help his mother escape this hopeless place. Douglas Stuart''s Shuggie Bain lays bare the ruthlessness of poverty, the limits of love, and the hollowness of pride. A counterpart to the privileged Thatcher-era London of Alan Hollinghurst''s The Line of Beauty , it also recalls the work of edouard Louis, Frank McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, a blistering debut by a brilliant writer with a powerful and important story to tell.
B>The controversial Sunday Times bestseller./b>br>b>/b>br>b>Candid, fearless and provocative /b>b>-/b>b> the author of American Psycho on who he is and what he thinks is wrong with the world today. /b> Bret Easton Ellis is most famous for his era-defining novel American Psycho and its terrifying anti-hero, Patrick Bateman. With that book, and many times since, Ellis proved himself to be one of the world's most fearless and clear-sighted observers of society - the glittering surface and the darkness beneath.In White, his first work of non-fiction, Ellis offers a wide-ranging exploration of what the hell is going on right now. He tells personal stories from his own life. He writes with razor-sharp precision about the music, movies, books and TV he loves and hates. He examines the ways our culture, politics and relationships have changed over the last four decades. He talks about social media, Hollywood celebrities and Donald Trump. Ellis considers conflicting positions without flinching and adheres to no status quo. His forthright views are powered by a fervent belief in artistic freedom and freedom of speech. Candid, funny, entertaining and blisteringly honest, he offers opinions that are impossible to ignore and certain to provoke. What he values above all is the truth. 'The culture at large seemed to encourage discourse,' he writes, 'but what it really wanted to do was shut down the individual.' Bret Easton Ellis will not be shut down.
Jane Austen's final novel is her most mature and wickedly satirical. It follows the story of Anne Elliott, who as a teenager, was engaged to a seemingly ideal man, Frederick Wentworth. But after being persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that he is too poor to be a suitable match, Anne ends their engagement. When they are reacquainted eight years later, their circumstances are transformed: Frederick is returning triumphantly from the Napoleonic War, while Anne's fortunes are floundering. Will their past regrets prevent them from finding future happiness?Gorgeously illustrated by Hugh Thomson, this Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Persuasion also includes an afterword by author and critic Henry Hitchings.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.
Jeffrey Lockhart has been summoned to The Convergence: a remote and secret compound where death is exquisitely, cryogenically controlled.He is there to say goodbye to his stepmother, Artis, who has chosen to surrender her dying body; preserving it until a future time when biomedical advances and new technologies can return her to a life of transcendent promise. And his healthy father, Ross, might join her.br>Hypnotic and seductive, Zero K is a visionary novel about the legacies we leave, the nobility of death, and the ultimate worth of 'the mingled astonishments of our time, here, on earth.
Aged ten, Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthier relations, the Bertrams, at Mansfield Park. However, life there is not as she imagined. Treated with disdain by three of her cousins, she finds her only comfort in the kindness of the fourth, Edmund. As they grow, their friendship develops into romantic love - until the arrival of Henry Crawford and his charming sister Mary causes an emotional upheaval that no one in the family expects. With psychological insight and sparkling wit, Jane Austen paints an irresistibly lifelike portrait of shifting values and split loyalties.This gorgeous edition of Mansfield Park is delightfully illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson and includes an afterword by historian and author Nigel Cliff.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.
From the bestselling author Ken Follett, The Evening and the Morning is a historical epic that will end where The Pillars of the Earth begins. A TIME OF CONFLICT It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages, and England faces attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Life is hard, and those with power wield it harshly, bending justice according to their will - often in conflict with the king. With his grip on the country fragile and with no clear rule of law, chaos and bloodshed reign. THREE LIVES INTERTWINED Into this uncertain world three people come to the fore: a young boatbuilder, who dreams of a better future when a devastating Viking raid shatters the life that he and the woman he loves hoped for; a Norman noblewoman, who follows her beloved husband across the sea to a new land only to find her life there shockingly different; and a capable monk at Shiring Abbey, who dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a centre of learning admired throughout Europe. THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE Now, with England at the dawn of the Middle Ages, these three people will each come into dangerous conflict with a ruthless bishop, who will do anything to increase his wealth and power, in an epic tale of ambition and rivalry, death and birth, and love and hate. Thirty years ago we were introduced to Kingsbridge in The Pillars of the Earth , and now in this masterful prequel international bestseller Ken Follett will take us on a journey into a rich past, which will end where his masterpiece begins.
The Sunday Times Thriller of the Month ''Stunning . . . one of the most compelling reads of the year'' - Daily Express Expertly researched and visionary in scale, international number one bestseller Ken Follett''s Never is more than a thriller. It imagines a scenario we all hope never comes true, one which will keep you transfixed until the final page . . . A stolen US army drone. A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert. A secret stash of deadly chemicals. Each is a threat to global stability. Each can be overcome with only the highest levels of diplomacy. But when those in charge disagree and refuse to back down, an international chain reaction kicks off with potentially catastrophic consequences: a world edging closer to war . . . Now three people must work with the utmost skill to stop that from happening: A spy working undercover with jihadis. A brilliant Chinese spymaster. A US president beleaguered by a populist rival for the next election. The only question is - in a game of brinksmanship, can the inevitable ever be stopped? ''Bold in scale and meticulously researched'' - Sunday Times ''Probably his best yet'' - Stephen King Urgent and fiercely compelling'' - The Washington Post More than 175 million copies sold worldwide. Published in over 80 territories and 37 languages. The international no.1 bestselling phenomenon returns.
From the Sunday Times number one best-selling author Lucinda Riley, The Missing Sister is the seventh instalment in the multimillion copy epic series They''ll search the world to find her. The six D''Apliese sisters have each been on their own incredible journey to discover their heritage, but they still have one question left unanswered: who and where is the seventh sister? They only have one clue - an image of a star-shaped emerald ring. The search to find the missing sister will take them across the globe; from New Zealand to Canada, England, France and Ireland, uniting them all in their mission to at last complete their family. In doing so, they will slowly unearth a story of love, strength and sacrifice that began almost one hundred years ago, as other brave young women risk everything to change the world around them. PRAISE FOR THE SEVEN SISTERS SERIES ''The Seven Sisters series is heart-wrenching, uplifting and utterly enthralling'' Lucy Foley ''Well researched and compelling ... on an epic scale'' Sunday Express ''There''s something magical about these stories'' Prima ''Addictive storytelling'' Woman & Home '' A masterclass in beautiful writing'' The Sun
B>'As unexpectedly beguiling as it is affecting.' Daily Mail/b>Since his award-winning debut collection of stories, Last Days of the Dog-Men, Brad Watson's work has been as melancholy, witty, strange, and lovely as any in America. Inspired by the true story of his own great-aunt, he explores the life of Miss Jane Chisolm, born in rural, early-twentieth-century Mississippi with a genital birth defect that would stand in the way of the central "uses" for a woman in that time and place - namely, sex and marriage.From the country doctor who adopts Jane to the hard tactile labor of farm life, from the sensual and erotic world of nature around her to the boy who loved but was forced to leave her, the world of Miss Jane Chisolm is anything but barren. Free to satisfy only herself, she mesmerizes those around her, exerting an unearthly fascination that lives beyond her still.
Witty, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is a gift for troubled times. TJ Klune brings us a warm hug of a story about a man who spent his life at the office - and his afterlife building a home. From the author of joyous New York Times bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea . Welcome to Charon '' s Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh and the dead are just passing through. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely-attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. But he begins to suspect she''s right, and he is in fact dead. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth. Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life - even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. He''d had no time for frivolities like fun and friends. But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something. The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So when he''s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days. Fans of A Man Called Ove and The Good Place will fall for this queer love story by TJ Klune. Praise for TJ Klune''s The House in the Cerulean Sea: ''I loved it. It is like being wrapped up in a big gay blanket. Simply perfect.'' - V. E. Schwab, no.1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue ''A modern fairy tale about learning your true nature and what you love and will protect. It''s a beautiful book.'' - Charlaine Harris, no.1 New York Times bestselling author '' 1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in. Touching, tender, and truly delightful.'' - Gail Carriger, New York Times bestselling author of Soulless ''A witty, wholesome fantasy that''s likely to cause heart-swelling.'' - The Washington Post
A breathtaking historical novel of revenge, persecution and loss, The City of Tears by Kate Mosse follows on from her Sunday Times number one bestseller, The Burning Chambers . May 1572: for ten violent years the Wars of Religion have raged across France. Neighbours have become enemies, countless lives have been lost, and the country has been torn apart over matters of religion, citizenship and sovereignty. But now a precarious peace is in the balance and a royal wedding has been negotiated. It is a marriage that could see France reunited at last. An invitation has arrived for Minou Joubert and her family to attend this historic wedding in Paris in August. But what Minou does not know is that the Joubert family''s oldest enemy, Vidal, will also be there. Nor that, within days of the marriage, on the eve of the Feast Day of St Bartholomew, her family will be scattered to the four winds and one of her beloved children will have disappeared without trace . . . Sweeping from Paris and Chartres to the City of Tears itself - the great refugee city of Amsterdam - this is a story of one family''s fight to stay together and survive against the devastating tides of history . . . ''A gorgeously written, utterly absorbing epic . . . I absolutely loved it'' - Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party ''A novel with vast scope and ambition, brilliantly achieved . . . I was utterly immersed in this spell-binding story'' - Rosamund Lupton, author of Three Hours ''This is historical fiction to devour. Nobody does it like Kate Mosse'' - Anthony Horowitz on The Burning Chambers
The third novel in the international bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, following four new customers in a cafe where customers can travel back in time. In northern Japan, overlooking the spectacular view Hakodate Port has to offer, Cafe Donna Donna has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time. From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Cafe comes another story of four new customers, each of whom is hoping to take advantage of the cafe''s time-travelling offer. Among some familiar faces from Toshikazu Kawaguchi''s previous novels, readers will also be introduced to: A daughter who couldn''t say ''You''re an idiot.'' A comedian who couldn''t ask ''Are you happy?'' A younger sister who couldn''t say ''Sorry.'' A young man who couldn''t say ''I like you.'' With his signature heart-warming characters and immersive storytelling, in Before Your Memory Fades , Toshikazu Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?
THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ''Prepare your hearts, for Douglas Stuart is back. After the extraordinary success of Shuggie Bain , his second novel, Young Mungo , is another beautiful and moving book, a gay Romeo and Juliet set in the brutal world of Glasgow''s housing estates.'' The Observer The extraordinary, powerful second novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain , Young Mungo is both a vivid portrayal of working-class life and the deeply moving story of the dangerous first love of two young men: Mungo and James. Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow''s housing estates, where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they''re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo must work hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo''s mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in western Scotland with two strange men behind whose drunken banter lie murky pasts, he needs to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future. Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism, Douglas Stuart''s Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the meaning of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.
The House of Fortune is the sequel to Jessie Burton''s million-copy bestseller The Miniaturist . Set in the golden city of Amsterdam in 1705, it is a story of fate and ambition, secrets and dreams, and one young woman''s determination to rule her own destiny. Thea Brandt is turning eighteen, and is ready to welcome adulthood with open arms. At the theatre, Walter, the love of her life, awaits her, but at home in the house on the Herengracht, winter has set in - her father Otto and Aunt Nella argue endlessly, and the Brandt family are selling their furniture in order to eat. On Thea''s birthday, also the day that her mother Marin died, the secrets from the past begin to overwhelm the present. Nella is desperate to save the family and maintain appearances, to find Thea a husband who will guarantee her future, and when they receive an invitation to Amsterdam''s most exclusive ball, she is overjoyed - perhaps this will set their fortunes straight. And indeed, the ball does set things spinning: new figures enter their life, promising new futures. But their fates are still unclear, and when Nella feels a strange prickling sensation on the back of her neck, she wonders if the miniaturist has returned for her . . .
B>Adapted by the Coen Brothers into an Academy Award winning film, No Country For Old Men is a dark and suspenseful novel from Cormac McCarthy, author of The Road./b>Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice - leave the scene as he found it, or cut the money and run. Choosing the latter, he knows, will change everything. And so begins a terrifying chain of events, in which each participant seems determined to answer the question that one asks another: how does a man decide in what order to abandon his life?
In Carry On, Simon Snow and his friends realized that everything they thought they understood about the world might be wrong. And in Wayward Son , they wondered whether everything they understood about themselves might be wrong. In Any Way the Wind Blows , Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha have to decide how to move forward. For Simon, that means deciding whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages -- and if he doesn''t, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she''s smuggled a cursed American Normal into London, and now she isn''t sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough. Any Way the Wind Blows takes the gang back to England, back to Watford, and back to their families for their longest and most emotionally wrenching adventure yet. This book is a finale . It tells secrets and answers questions and lays ghosts to rest. Carry On was conceived as a book about Chosen One stories; Any Way the Wind Blows is an ending about endings. About catharsis and closure, and how we choose to move on from the traumas and triumphs that try to define us.
B>Charlatans is an explosive thriller from New York Times bestselling author and master of the medical thriller Robin Cook./b>Noah Rothauser is the new super chief resident at the state-of-the-art Boston Memorial Hospital. Taking on such a prestigious job is a dream come true, but the pressures of the role become all too clear when a seemingly routine operation ends in disaster. With potential foul play suspected it falls to Noah to investigate what happened.Questioning those involved uncovers bitter feuds within the team when the egotistical Dr. William Mason is quick to blame staff anesthesiologist Dr. Ava London for the tragic outcome. However Dr. London, along with the nursing staff, point the finger at the surgeon.When two more unexpected deaths occur, Noah is forced to look closer at the impressively competent, charming, yet mysterious Dr. London. With his own job and integrity coming into jeopardy, Noah must decide which doctor is at fault and who he can believe - before any more lives are lost . . .
