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God On The Rocks: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize (Abacus Books)
by Jane Gardam'A meticulously observed modern classic' IndependentDuring one glorious summer between the wars, the realities of life and the sexual ritual dance of the adult world creep into the life of young Margaret Marsh. Her father, preaching the doctrine of the unsavoury Primal Saints; her mother, bitterly nostalgic for what might have been; Charles and Binkie, anchored in the past and a game of words; dying Mrs Frayling and Lydia the maid, given to the vulgar enjoyment of life; all contribute to Margaret's shattering moment of truth. And when the storm breaks, it is not only God who is on the rocks as the summer hurtles towards drama, tragedy, and a touch of farce.'Tantalising, funny, sharp' Daily Telegraph'So charming a novel that you don't want to give away a single one of the many twists of its plot' New York Times'Jane Gardam has a spectacular gift' Times Literary Supplement'Exact, piquant and comical' Observer
God On The Rocks (Abacus Books)
by Jane Gardam'A meticulously observed modern classic' IndependentDuring one glorious summer between the wars, the realities of life and the sexual ritual dance of the adult world creep into the life of young Margaret Marsh. Her father, preaching the doctrine of the unsavoury Primal Saints; her mother, bitterly nostalgic for what might have been; Charles and Binkie, anchored in the past and a game of words; dying Mrs Frayling and Lydia the maid, given to the vulgar enjoyment of life; all contribute to Margaret's shattering moment of truth. And when the storm breaks, it is not only God who is on the rocks as the summer hurtles towards drama, tragedy, and a touch of farce.'Tantalising, funny, sharp' Daily Telegraph'So charming a novel that you don't want to give away a single one of the many twists of its plot' New York Times'Jane Gardam has a spectacular gift' Times Literary Supplement'Exact, piquant and comical' Observer
A Cage Went in Search of a Bird: Ten Kafkaesque Stories
by Keith Ridgway Helen Oyeyemi Joshua Cohen Ali Smith Yiyun Li Naomi Alderman Elif Batuman Tommy Orange Charlie Kaufman Leone RossA collection of brand-new short stories written by prize-winning, bestselling writers and inspired by Kafka - published to commemorate the centenary of his death*Chosen as a 2024 highlight in the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Daily Mail, New Statesman, Esquire and the New European*Franz Kafka is widely regarded as one of the great geniuses of twentieth-century literature. What happens when some of the most original literary minds of today take an idea, a mood or a line from his work and use it to spark something new?From a future society who ask their AI servants to construct a giant tower to reach God; to a flat hunt that descends into a comically absurd bureaucratic nightmare; to a population experiencing a wave of unbearable, contagious panic attacks, these ten specially commissioned stories are by turns mind-bending, funny, unsettling and haunting. Inspired by the visionary imagination of a writer working one hundred years ago, they speak powerfully to the strangeness of being alive today.
A Cage Went in Search of a Bird: Ten Kafkaesque Stories
by Keith Ridgway Helen Oyeyemi Joshua Cohen Ali Smith Yiyun Li Naomi Alderman Elif Batuman Tommy Orange Charlie Kaufman Leone RossA collection of brand-new short stories written by prize-winning, bestselling writers and inspired by Kafka - published to commemorate the centenary of his death*Chosen as a 2024 highlight in the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Daily Mail, New Statesman, Esquire and the New European*Franz Kafka is widely regarded as one of the great geniuses of twentieth-century literature. What happens when some of the most original literary minds of today take an idea, a mood or a line from his work and use it to spark something new?From a future society who ask their AI servants to construct a giant tower to reach God; to a flat hunt that descends into a comically absurd bureaucratic nightmare; to a population experiencing a wave of unbearable, contagious panic attacks, these ten specially commissioned stories are by turns mind-bending, funny, unsettling and haunting. Inspired by the visionary imagination of a writer working one hundred years ago, they speak powerfully to the strangeness of being alive today.
Captain de Havilland's Moth: Tales of High Adventure from the Golden Age of Aviation
by Alexander NormanA nostalgic celebration of the golden age of aviation - and the iconic DH60 Moth in its centenary year'Vivid and entertaining' TLS'A wonderfully affecting, highly entertaining, at times elegiac account of a legendary aircraft' JOHN NICHOL'A joy... Alexander Norman brings to life a golden era in aviation history in such a vivid and entertaining way' ROWLAND WHITEThe most iconic of all light aircraft, the DH60 Moth was the brain-child of Geoffrey de Havilland, visionary son of an angry and disappointed Victorian clergyman. A successful designer of military aircraft, Geoffrey dreamed of doing for aircraft what Ford had done for cars. The emergence of his Moth in February 1925 marked the beginning of an important but neglected episode in British social history - the craze for flying which gripped a war-weary world for more than a decade. The most successful aircraft of its era, the Moth was the one in which people had the greatest adventures. And it was the Moth which showed that flying was safe, practical and, potentially, open to all. True, many early Mothists were uber-privileged. The Prince of Wales had one, as did his brother, the Duke of Gloucester. Beryl Markham, who had affairs with both, learned to fly in a Moth. But Laura Ingalls, who did 980 successive loops in hers, Aspy Engineer, the Indian schoolboy who won the Aga Khan Trophy in his and Amy Johnson, the typist from Hull who flew hers to Australia showed that, to be a pilot, you didn't need to be a superhero or super wealthy. Just a little mad, perhaps. Captain de Havilland's Moth brings to life a golden age in aviation and an astonishing cast of characters whose courage, determination and epic eccentricity is shown in the light of what it is actually like to fly these remarkable aeroplanes.
Captain de Havilland's Moth: Tales of High Adventure from the Golden Age of Aviation
by Alexander NormanA nostalgic celebration of the golden age of aviation - and the iconic DH60 Moth in its centenary year'Vivid and entertaining' TLS'A wonderfully affecting, highly entertaining, at times elegiac account of a legendary aircraft' JOHN NICHOL'A joy... Alexander Norman brings to life a golden era in aviation history in such a vivid and entertaining way' ROWLAND WHITEThe most iconic of all light aircraft, the DH60 Moth was the brain-child of Geoffrey de Havilland, visionary son of an angry and disappointed Victorian clergyman. A successful designer of military aircraft, Geoffrey dreamed of doing for aircraft what Ford had done for cars. The emergence of his Moth in February 1925 marked the beginning of an important but neglected episode in British social history - the craze for flying which gripped a war-weary world for more than a decade. The most successful aircraft of its era, the Moth was the one in which people had the greatest adventures. And it was the Moth which showed that flying was safe, practical and, potentially, open to all. True, many early Mothists were uber-privileged. The Prince of Wales had one, as did his brother, the Duke of Gloucester. Beryl Markham, who had affairs with both, learned to fly in a Moth. But Laura Ingalls, who did 980 successive loops in hers, Aspy Engineer, the Indian schoolboy who won the Aga Khan Trophy in his and Amy Johnson, the typist from Hull who flew hers to Australia showed that, to be a pilot, you didn't need to be a superhero or super wealthy. Just a little mad, perhaps. Captain de Havilland's Moth brings to life a golden age in aviation and an astonishing cast of characters whose courage, determination and epic eccentricity is shown in the light of what it is actually like to fly these remarkable aeroplanes.
House of Huawei: Inside the Secret World of China's Most Powerful Company
by Eva DouThe untold story of the mysterious company that shook the world'Authoritative... a tale that sits at the heart of the most significant geopolitical relationship today' Financial Times'Explosive' Sunday Times'Groundbreaking' Dan Wang'Riveting, robustly researched' TLS 'Essential reading' Chris Miller, author of Chip WarOn the coast of southern China, an eccentric entrepreneur spent three decades steadily building an obscure telecom company into one of the world's most powerful technological empires with hardly anyone noticing. This all changed in December 2018, when the detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies' female scion, sparked an international hostage standoff, poured fuel on the U.S.-China trade war, and suddenly thrust the mysterious company into the international spotlight.In House of Huawei, Washington Post technology reporter Eva Dou pieces together a remarkable portrait of Huawei's reclusive founder Ren Zhengfei and how he built a sprawling corporate empire - one whose rise Western policymakers have become increasingly obsessed with halting. The book dissects the global web of power, money, influence, surveillance, bloodshed and national glory that Huawei helped to build - and that has also ensnared it.Based on wide-ranging interviews and painstaking archival research, House of Huawei tells an epic story of familial and political intrigue that presents a fresh window on China's rise from third-world country to U.S. rival, and shines a clarifying light on the security considerations that keep world leaders up at night.House of Huawei holds a mirror up to one of the world's most mysterious companies as never before.
Freedom In Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet
by His Holiness The Dalai LamaThe autobiography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet, a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the greatest contemporary spiritual leaders'An extraordinary story' Daily Mail'Compelling, fascinating, eye-opening' Washington Post'A vital historical witness, not only to inhumanity but to compassion' Los Angeles Times'Forthright... often amusing' New York TimesIn 1938 a two-year-old boy was recognised through a traditional process of discovery as being the reincarnation of all previous Dalai Lamas, the spiritual rulers of Tibet. Taken away from his parents, he was brought up in Lhasa according to a monastic regimen of rigorous austerity and in almost total isolation. Aged seven he was enthroned in the 1000-room Potala palace as the supreme spiritual leader of a nation the size of Western Europe, with population of six million. And at fifteen, he became head of state.With Tibet under threat from the newly Communist Chinese, there followed a traumatic decade during which he became the confidant of both Chairman Mao and Jawaharal Nehru as he tried to maintain autonomy for his people. Then in 1959, he was finally forced into exile - followed by over 100,000 destitute refugees. Here, in his own words, he describes what it was like to grow up revered as a deity among his people, reveals his innermost feelings about his role, and discusses the mysteries of Tibetan Buddhism.
Animal Dreams
by Barbara KingsolverFrom Barbara Kingsolver, the acclaimed author of Flight Behavior, The Lacuna, The Bean Trees, and other modern classics, Animal Dreams is a passionate and complex novel about love, forgiveness, and one woman's struggle to find her place in the world.At the end of her rope, Codi Noline returns to her Arizona home to face her ailing father, with whom she has a difficult, distant relationship. There she meets handsome Apache trainman Loyd Peregrina, who tells her, 'If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life'.Filled with lyrical writing, Native American legends, a tender love story, and Codi's quest for identity, Animal Dreams is literary fiction at its very best.
Screams: Shrieks of Horror and Yelps of Pleasure from Modern Life
by Ysenda Maxtone GrahamA gently humorous take on the modern world - from the pitfalls of knicker-envy to the weaponising of email sign-offsScreams is Ysenda Maxtone Graham's idiosyncratic and gently funny take on the modern world. She pinpoints all those small things that irritate, but which have a disproportionate effect on our wellbeing (for example, agonising waits for HMRC while stuck in a loop playing the Four Seasons; deep-seated recycling fears; friends that gaslight you with too many xxxs) and also takes pleasure in the small victories that bring surprising joy (lunch from leftovers and finding a miraculous parking space against all odds).
The Conditions of Unconditional Love (Isabel Dalhousie Novels #27)
by Alexander McCall SmithBOOK 15 IN THE MUCH-LOVED ISABEL DALHOUSIE SERIES'You can't go out of the house without tripping over a philosophical question.' That is a remark made by Isabel Dalhousie to Jamie, the bassoonist who is her handsome younger husband. Isabel's own life, of course, points to the truth of this observation: she seems to attract philosophical problems in much the same way as a magnet attracts iron filings.In this latest movement in the symphony of her life, Isabel is faced with novel challenges, each of which tests her resolution to do the right thing. Dawn, a nurse in an infectious diseases ward, is let down by her lover and needs a place to live. Not surprisingly, Isabel offers her a roof over her head. What do you do, though if your house-guest locks herself away and avoids all contact?And then there is the pompous and slippery Professor Robert Lettuce. He is planning a prestigious conference, and involves Isabel in it. But look at the budget: why is there such a large payment for Lettuce himself and for a young female assistant? Isabel is suspicious.Other intriguing problems abound, including Isabel's involvement in a book group threatened by discord and bickering. Isabel remains calm. Of course she does. She knows the power of love, reason, and a clear head to resolve all of these issues, and more.PRAISE FOR THE ISABEL DALHOUSIE NOVELS:'Isabel Dalhousie's charm is undeniable' Sunday Times'The No. 2 Lady Detective . . . anyone who loves Precious cannot fail to be charmed' Mail on Sunday'Delightful . . . McCall Smith is a writer who celebrates kindness, in short supply in the world today' Sunday Telegraph'McCall Smith's greatest gift as a writer - and God knows this is just one of many - is that he can write likeable characters' New Statesman
The Stellar Debut of Galactica MacFee (44 Scotland Street #17)
by Alexander McCall Smith Alexander McCall SmithBook 17 in the hugely popular 44 Scotland Street series by worldwide bestselling author Alexander McCall SmithGlasgow for Bertie is the promised land. The city of pies and Irn Bru, far from his controlling mother, Irene - his place of escape. But how will he respond to the news of the proposed merging of Edinburgh and Glasgow? A new member of Bertie's class at school is causing ripples in his social circle. She is called Galactica MacFee and is going to be a match for Olive and her lieutenant, Pansy. And, an incredible new discovery: a Pictish stone, that is said to have the first-know written poem carved into it is the talk of the town. But, when the poem is eventually translated, it is thought it is best to keep it under wraps. In this new instalment in the perennially popular 44 Scotland Street series, we are back in the world of Angus and Domenico, Bruce, Matthew and Elspeth, and, of course, Bertie and his friend Ranald Braveheart Macpherson.
You Can't Say That Any More
by Bruno VincentIs The Sound of Music insensitive to deaf people, or The Barber of Seville cruel to the follicly challenged? In this age of gender fluidity, is the title Guys and Dolls acceptable when the more tasteful People of Unspecified Gender would do?Protecting delicate sensibilities from the harmful values of yesteryear, You Can't Say That Any More reveals the shocking danger around us in the books, films and TV shows we used to cherish. From Bambi to Bleak House, from the lack of balcony safeguarding in Romeo and Juliet to the troubling depiction of body dysmorphia in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we are surrounded on all sides by danger, depravity and profoundly harmful messaging. Titles taken to task and put on the naughty step (at long last!) include: Postman Pat, Middlemarch, Happy Days, My Fair Lady, the Bible, Pride and Prejudice, Peanuts, Dante's Divine Comedy, The Wombles, Star Wars, the weather forecast, Bagpuss, Casablanca, Homer's Iliad and many, many more!Each entry includes trigger warnings, suggested edits, alternative plots and helpful rewritings of deeply problematic books, films, plays, television series and musicals.Over 100 all-time favourites disapproved of at length and in detail.
The Broom Of The System
by David Foster WallaceA visionary, a craftsman, a comedian and as serious as it is possible to be without accidentally writing a religious text. He can do anything with a piece of prose, and it is a humbling experience to see him go to work on what has passed up till now as "modern fiction". He's so modern he's in a different time-space continuum from the rest of us. Goddamn him' Zadie SmithThe mysterious disappearance of her great- grandmother and twenty-five other elderly inmates from a Shaker Heights nursing home has left Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman emotionally stranded on the edge of the Great Ohio Desert. But that is simply one problem of many for the hapless switchboard operator, seriously compounded by her ongoing affair with boss Rick Vigorous; the TV stardom of her talking cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler; and other minor catastrophes that threaten to elevate Lenore's search for love and self-detemination to new heights of spasmodic weirdness.
Girl With Curious Hair
by David Foster Wallace'A visionary, a craftsman, a comedian... he's in a different time-space continuum from the rest of us. Goddam him' Zadie Smith, Guardian'David Foster Wallace turns the short story upside down and inside out, making the adjectives ''inventive'', ''unique'' and ''original'' seem blasé' T. Coraghessan Boyle'Truly funny surreal humour' San Francisco ChronicleGirl With Curious Hair is replete with the prodigious talent of David Foster Wallace and his remarkable and unsettling re-imaginations of reality. From an eerily 'real', almost holographic evocation of Lyndon B. Johnson, to over-televised game-show hosts and late-night comedians, to the title story, where terminal punk nihilism meets Young Republicanism, Wallace renders the incredible comprehensible, the bizarre normal, the absurd hilarious, the familiar strange.
Chasing the Dark: Encounters with the supernatural
by Ben Machell'One of the best books about the paranormal I have read... Uncannily good' DANNY ROBINS'A fascinating testimony to our nervous hunger to map the hazy, haunted territory at the edges of the rational... engrossing, entertaining and distinctly unsettling' SARAH WATERS 'Shiversomely eerie... so impressive in its research and remarkable in all it uncovers' TOM HOLLANDLate one evening the telephone rings, and on the line is a stranger. They tell you that your nine-year-old son gave them your number. Your heart stops. You tell them that your son has been dead for almost 20 years. They know this, they say. He wants you to come and see him.Ghosts. Poltergeists. Psychic powers.What do you do when reality begins to fray around you? Where do you go when science cannot explain your experiences? The Society for Psychical Research was founded to tackle these very questions and to shine light on the shadowy world of the supernatural. Distinguished members have included prime ministers and Nobel Prize-winning scientists.But the most prolific of all the SPR's paranormal investigators was a young British naval officer named Tony Cornell. A rationalist and a sceptic he became haunted by a wartime encounter in India that changed everything . Between 1950 and 2010 he became perhaps the world's most prolific investigator of psychic phenomena and paranormal events. Alongside his colleague, the psychologist Alan Gauld, they combined the roles of detectives, exorcists and psychiatrists, returning time and again to the unsettling spaces that exist on the very periphery of our tidy, rational lives: Ghosts. Poltergeists. Psychic powers.Drawing on a previously untapped archive of Cornell's case files, which survive as a unique repository of encounters reported by ordinary people, Chasing the Dark is the compelling story of our relationship with the supernatural. What do these atmospheric and often chilling cases teach us about who we are, and the anxieties that consume us? And why do the dead still find ways to make themselves known?
Ordinary Love: 'This summer's smart beach read' (Grazia)
by Marie Rutkoski'An immersive, glamorous, sexy and gripping modern love story to gulp down hungrily and quickly' SUNDAY TIMES'This sexy, summer romance slips down as easily as oysters and champagne' DAILY MAIL'An exquisitely tender portrayal of enduring love' OBSERVER'This book will break you then put you back together again' STYLIST, Book of the Month_________________________________________________________________________There's no such thing as an ordinary love storyWhen Emily catches sight of Gennifer Hall at a party, she is transported back to the moment they fell in love as teenagers. Their connection was electric, and they thought it was forever.Twenty years later, Gen is an Olympic runner, the career she strived for, while Emily is living a picture-perfect life: Manhattan townhouse, two young children and a wealthy husband, Jack. But Jack's controlling behaviour is spiralling, and Emily has lost sight of who she once was.Now, despite Emily's fracturing marriage and the pressures of Gen's career, they are drawn back together by a magnetic attraction. After years of heartbreak, missed chances and misunderstandings, will they finally get a second chance at first love?A sweeping love story about desire, friendship, mistakes and the possibility of second chances, for fans of The Paper Palace and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow_________________________________________________________________________'A sweeping, decades-spanning tale of queer desire' MARIE CLAIRE'A page-turning romance' GUARDIAN'Profoundly moving' EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL, bestselling author of STATION ELEVEN'Almost unbearably beautiful' EMILIA HART, bestselling author of WEYWARD and SIRENS'Had me hooked from the first page' JENNIE GODFREY, bestselling author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS'I'm obsessed with this novel. It demands obsession' HOLLY BRICKLEY, author of DEEP CUTS'Funny and moving and sexy' J. COURTNEY SULLIVAN, bestselling author of THE CLIFFS'A gorgeously written love story' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING'I loved this moving, tender story about lost love and second chances' RED'Immersive and insightful' LISA OWENS, author of NOT WORKING'[A] raw, gorgeous debut' THE i PAPER'A tender romance' WOMAN & HOME'Shining with rare clarity' SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINEREADERS ARE RAVING:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'So raw and so real . . . If there's one book you read this year, it should be this one' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I absolutely devoured this . . . Clear your afternoon to read this one straight through' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'The characters were so real that I miss them now the book's over. This novel is one for the ages' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Boy did this pack a punch, have a box of tissues by your side - you will need these' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Sexy and sensual . . . I found myself not wanting to stop reading' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'So emotionally wrecked by this book [that I'm] still thinking about it obsessively months later' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I fell in love with this story and these characters right from the beginning'
The Mouthless Dead
by Anthony Quinn'A dark, unsettling, completely addictive mystery' Jonathan Coe'Absorbing.. The Mouthless Dead is as engrossing as it is unsettling' Emma Flint'A beguiling real-life crime thriller' Chris BrookmyreA powerful and gripping crime novel based on the Wallace Murder, a national cause célèbre of the 1930s and still unsolved today, by the author of Curtain Call and Our Friends in BerlinOne night in 1931 William Wallace was handed a phone message at his chess club from a Mr Qualtrough, asking him to meet at an address to discuss some work. Wallace caught a tram from the home he shared with his wife, Julia, to the address which turned out, after Wallace had consulted passers-by and even a policeman, to not exist. On returning home two hours later he found his wife beaten to death in the parlour. The elaborate nature of his alibi pointed to Wallace as the culprit. He was arrested and tried, found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang, but the next month the Court of Criminal Appeal sensationally overturned the verdict and he walked free. The killer was never found.Fifteen years on, the inspector who worked the case is considering it once more. Speculation continues to be rife over the true killer's identity. James Agate in his diary called it 'the perfect murder', Raymond Chandler said 'The case is unbeatable. It will always be unbeatable'. And on a cruise in 1947, new information is about to come to light.
Far from Eutopia: How Europe is failing – and Britain could do better
by Ross ClarkIn 2020, after three and a half years of bitter negotiations, Britain left the European Union. For some it was a day of freedom, for others a tragedy which would leave Britain isolated and poorer. Vote Brexit, the Remain campaign warned us, and it would be an act of self-harm. The economy would collapse, sending prices and unemployment soaring. Meanwhile, in contrast to xenophobic, inward-looking Britain, the EU would soar ahead without us.But is that really what has happened? Ross Clark reveals just how badly the EU is doing - and how in many ways Britain is doing better. Since Brexit, for example, the UK economy has grown faster than Germany's. In spite of inflation which followed the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, Britain has the lowest food prices in Europe. The air is cleaner than in many countries. Despite recent events surveys suggest there is less racism and xenophobia in Britain than in almost any other European country.For years, European economies have been far more sluggish than those of other developed countries. In the absence of economic growth and with high migration, European societies are strained. The far right is advancing and public disillusionment with the EU growing quickly. While Britain shares many of Europe's problems to a greater or less extent, this hard-hitting polemic argues that it now has the means to disentangle itself from the EU's draw strings set off on a more prosperous path.
Far from Eutopia: How Europe is failing – and Britain could do better
by Ross ClarkIn 2020, after three and a half years of bitter negotiations, Britain left the European Union. For some it was a day of freedom, for others a tragedy which would leave Britain isolated and poorer. Vote Brexit, the Remain campaign warned us, and it would be an act of self-harm. The economy would collapse, sending prices and unemployment soaring. Meanwhile, in contrast to xenophobic, inward-looking Britain, the EU would soar ahead without us.But is that really what has happened? Ross Clark reveals just how badly the EU is doing - and how in many ways Britain is doing better. Since Brexit, for example, the UK economy has grown faster than Germany's. In spite of inflation which followed the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine, Britain has the lowest food prices in Europe. The air is cleaner than in many countries. Despite recent events surveys suggest there is less racism and xenophobia in Britain than in almost any other European country.For years, European economies have been far more sluggish than those of other developed countries. In the absence of economic growth and with high migration, European societies are strained. The far right is advancing and public disillusionment with the EU growing quickly. While Britain shares many of Europe's problems to a greater or less extent, this hard-hitting polemic argues that it now has the means to disentangle itself from the EU's draw strings set off on a more prosperous path.
Sweet Vidalia
by Lisa SandlinFor readers of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler, a life-affirming novel about marriage, friendship and the powerful dignity of a woman forced to rebuild her life - unexpectedly and alone - in 1960s Texas.She made herself see Robert with the kids, telling stories of crafty, talking rabbits and determined turtles, his face bright with meanings, with silliness. Made herself see the two of them laughing together in bed, they had done that. That was true. Through the years, they'd had happiness and closeness. They had.As Eliza sits at her husband's funeral, still stunned by the suddenness of his death, she discovers a lie that turns her life upside down. Almost overwhelmed by the dawning understanding that she has known nothing true about her life, Eliza can't see a way forward at first. How should she come to terms with all that has been a lie? How can she live with herself?But Eliza has a core of resourceful steel that does not let her down and an innate emotional generosity that she clings to, faced with an almost overwhelming sense of bitterness. Signing up to business classes so she can make a living, she moves into a hotel, The Sweet Vidalia, filled with people facing their own challenges. As she gathers new friends and new possibilities open up before her, Eliza finds it isn't so simple to leave the past behind....
Familiaris: ‘Wroblewski has set a story-telling bonfire as enthralling in its pages as it is illuminating of our fragile and complicated humanity’ Tom Hanks
by David Wroblewski'A story-telling bonfire as enthralling in its pages as it is illuminating of our fragile and complicated humanity. Familiaris is as expansive and enlightening a saga as has ever been written' Tom Hanks'Impossibly wise, impossibly ambitious, impossibly beautiful' Richard Russo'An American tour de force' Colum McCannSpring 1919, and John Sawtelle's imagination has got him into trouble...again. Now John and his newlywed wife, Mary, along with their two best friends and their three dogs, are setting off for Wisconsin's north woods, where they hope to make a fresh start - and to live a life of meaning, purpose, and adventure. But the place they are headed for is far stranger and more perilous than they realize, and it will take all their ingenuity, along with a few new friends - human, animal, and otherworldly - to realise their dreams.By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, mysterious and enchanting, Familiaris takes readers on an unforgettable journey from the halls of a small-town automobile factory, through an epic midwestern firestorm and an ambitious WWII dog training program, examining the dynamics of love and friendship, the vexing nature of families, the universal desire to create something lasting and beautiful, and of course, the species-long partnership between Homo sapiens and Canis familiaris.
A Piece of Work: Playing Shakespeare and Other Stories
by Simon Russell BealeSimon Russell Beale is one of Britain's most recognisable and well-loved actors. He has played many roles on stage, film, television and radio - ranging from Winston Churchill to Stalin, George Smiley to King Arthur. But ever since his appearance at school as a glamorous Desdemona, complete with false eyelashes that rendered him half-blind, he has been captivated by Shakespeare. In A Piece of Work, Russell Beale tries to get under the skin of the playwright and find out what interested him. Was Shakespeare an instinctive 'conservative' or, rather, gently subversive? How collaborative was he? Did he add a line to Hamlet in order to accommodate his ageing and increasingly chubby principal actor, Richard Burbage? Did he suffer from insomnia and experience sexual jealousy? Russell Beale describes what it is to approach and live with some of Shakespeare's most famous characters. Some of the actor's inspiration comes from surprising sources. Watching Coronation Street gave him an idea for how Richard III might react on hearing of the death of the two Princes in the Tower; a visit to elderly patients in a local hospital gave him insights into King Lear's descent into madness; and the memory of childhood family holidays led him to a spectacular plunge into an ornamental pool in Much Ado About Nothing.Funny and touching about his family, Russell Beale also writes fascinatingly about some of the supremely creative people he counts as his friends - including Sam Mendes, Nick Hytner, Stephen Sondheim and Lauren Bacall. A Piece of Work is a brilliant account of an actor's life and work - and his relationship with our foremost dramatist.
A Piece of Work: Playing Shakespeare and Other Stories
by Simon Russell BealeSimon Russell Beale is one of Britain's most recognisable and well-loved actors. He has played many roles on stage, film, television and radio - ranging from Winston Churchill to Stalin, George Smiley to King Arthur. But ever since his appearance at school as a glamorous Desdemona, complete with false eyelashes that rendered him half-blind, he has been captivated by Shakespeare. In A Piece of Work, Russell Beale tries to get under the skin of the playwright and find out what interested him. Was Shakespeare an instinctive 'conservative' or, rather, gently subversive? How collaborative was he? Did he add a line to Hamlet in order to accommodate his ageing and increasingly chubby principal actor, Richard Burbage? Did he suffer from insomnia and experience sexual jealousy? Russell Beale describes what it is to approach and live with some of Shakespeare's most famous characters. Some of the actor's inspiration comes from surprising sources. Watching Coronation Street gave him an idea for how Richard III might react on hearing of the death of the two Princes in the Tower; a visit to elderly patients in a local hospital gave him insights into King Lear's descent into madness; and the memory of childhood family holidays led him to a spectacular plunge into an ornamental pool in Much Ado About Nothing.Funny and touching about his family, Russell Beale also writes fascinatingly about some of the supremely creative people he counts as his friends - including Sam Mendes, Nick Hytner, Stephen Sondheim and Lauren Bacall. A Piece of Work is a brilliant account of an actor's life and work - and his relationship with our foremost dramatist.
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders and the Rise of Social Engineering
by Malcolm GladwellTwenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing lightWhat does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do elite universities care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena. Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world's most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell's most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of the modern world. It's time we took tipping points seriously.