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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Wonderful...completely transporting' Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe One September evening in 1785, the merchant Jonah Hancock finds one of his captains waiting eagerly on his doorstep. He has sold Jonah's ship for what appears to be a mermaid. As gossip spreads through the docks, coffee shops, parlours and brothels, everyone wants to see Mr Hancock's marvel. Its arrival spins him out of his ordinary existence and through the doors of high society, where he meets Angelica Neal, the most desirable woman he has ever laid eyes on... What will be the cost of their ambitions? And will they be able to escape the legendary destructive power a mermaid is said to possess? ________________ PRAISE FOR THE MERMAID AND MRS HANCOCK: 'Full of rich detail' Stylist 'A gloriously assured debut, set in a beautifully drawn London' Red Magazine 'A deliciously salty slab of historical fiction' Daily Telegraph 'A wonderful read' Nina Stibbe 'A dizzyingly good debut' The Times 'Imogen Hermes Gowar delights in the feminine fakery of mermaids, but as a writer she is the real deal' Hermione Eyre, author of Viper Wine
'Engaging, modern fables with a feminist tang' Sunday Times DARK, POTENT AND UNCANNY, HAG BURSTS WITH THE UNTOLD STORIES OF OUR ISLES, CAPTURED IN VOICES AS VARIED AS THEY ARE VIVID. Here are sisters fighting for the love of the same woman, a pregnant archaeologist unearthing impossible bones and lost children following you home. A panther runs through the forests of England and pixies prey upon violent men. From the islands of Scotland to the coast of Cornwall, the mountains of Galway to the depths of the Fens, these forgotten folktales howl, cackle and sing their way into the 21st century, wildly reimagined by some of the most exciting women writing in Britain and Ireland today. 'A thoroughly original package that has a hint of Angela Carter' The Times 'Sharp writing and cleverly done' Spectator
Nominated for the Folio Prize Famed beauty Venetia Stanley is so extravagantly dazzling she has inspired Ben Jonson to poetry and Van Dyck to painting, provoking adoration and emulation from the masses. Stampedes follow her arrival in town. But as she approaches middle age, the attention turns to scrutiny. Her adoring husband Sir Kenelm Digby âe" philosopher, alchemist and time-traveller âe" wishes she would age naturally, but Venetia discovers a potent and addictive elixir of youth, Viper Wine. Set on the eve of the English Civil War, and based on a true story, this brilliant novel asks a very contemporary question: what is the cost of beauty? 'Dazzling' Observer 'Intoxicating' Independent on Sunday 'Wickedly funny' The Times
"The beautiful new book from Salon bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud ... explores how reading mindfully enhances our lives and asks, if reading is our daily nourishment, how best should it be consumed?" - Damian Barr The healing power of reading has been renowned since Aristotle; focus, flow and enlightenment can all be discovered through this universal act. The Art of Mindful Reading embraces the joy of absorbing words on a page, encouraging a state of mind as deeply therapeutic and vital to our wellbeing as breathing. Bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud asks if reading is our daily nourishment how best should it be consumed? How should you read mindfully? And why will reading mindfully help you to read better? She explores how reading mindfully can shape the person you are, give you your moral backbone, and teaches empathy with others. Through meditative exercises, engaging anecdote, and expert insight, she reveals the enriching potential of reading for mindfulness.
A Lit Hub Best Book of 2016 • One of Electric Literature's Best Novels of 2016 • An Entropy Best Book of 2016 “The duchess herself would be delighted at her resurrection in Margaret the First...Dutton expertly captures the pathos of a woman whose happiness is furrowed with the anxiety of underacknowledgment.” —Katharine Grant, The New York Times Book Review Margaret the First dramatizes the life of Margaret Cavendish, the shy, gifted, and wildly unconventional 17th–century Duchess. The eccentric Margaret wrote and published volumes of poems, philosophy, feminist plays, and utopian science fiction at a time when "being a writer" was not an option open to women. As one of the Queen...
‘A page-turner of a crime thriller . . . This is a world conveyed with convincing, terrible clarity’ – C. J. Sansom, author of Dissolution. Winner of the HWA Debut Crown Winner of the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award Blood & Sugar is the thrilling debut historical crime novel from Laura Shepherd-Robinson for fans of C. J. Sansom and Andrew Taylor. June, 1781. An unidentified body hangs upon a hook at Deptford Dock, London – horribly tortured and branded with a slaver’s mark. Some days later, Captain Harry Corsham – a war hero embarking upon a promising parliamentary career – is visited by the sister of an old friend. Her brother, passionate abolitionist Tad Archer, had been a...
A TIME and NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK of the YEAR * New York Times Notable Book and Times Critic’s Top Book of 2018 NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2018 BY * Elle * Bustle * Kirkus Reviews * Lit Hub* NPR * O, The Oprah Magazine * Shelf Awareness The bestselling and critically acclaimed debut novel by Lisa Halliday, hailed as “extraordinary” by The New York Times, “a brilliant and complex examination of power dynamics in love and war” by The Wall Street Journal, and “a literary phenomenon” by The New Yorker. Told in three distinct and uniquely compelling sections, Asymmetry explores the imbalances that spark and sustain many of our most dramatic human relations: inequities in age...
'Freeman's pleasure in the food of literature ... is infectious. The Reading Cure will speak to anyone who has ever felt pain and found solace in a book' Bee Wilson At the age of fourteen, Laura Freeman was diagnosed with anorexia. But even when recovery seemed impossible, the one appetite she never lost was her love of reading. Slowly, book by book, Laura re-discovered how to enjoy food - and life - through literature.
“Masterton turns in another top-notch performance. . . . This is an excellent horror story, with an added dimension, an extra layer of suspense.” —Booklist, starred review Michael Spencer is involved in a car crash that kills his girlfriend. He wakes to find himself in the hospital of a small town in Montana. There he convalesces and gradually becomes acquainted with the local community, most of whom seem to be clever and charming, although some are arrogant and difficult to get on with. In particular he forms a relationship with a smart and pretty local girl. He learns that he has been in a coma for weeks and that his friend’s remains have already been sent back to California for cr...
The perfect gift for expectant mothers and new mums, whether it's her first baby or her fifth. 'I read every single poem and wished that I'd had this book when I was pregnant, and feeding a baby, and watching her grow.' Sophie Heawood, author of The Hungover Games A collection of honest, fierce and beautiful poems about being a mother, from pregnancy and birth to growing up and leaving home. Curated by acclaimed anthologist Ana Sampson, Night Feeds and Morning Songs examines motherhood from all angles, capturing the mess and the madness, to the joy and the wonder. Immerse yourself in classic verse from Carol Ann Duffy, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jackie Kay and Sylvia Path, to poems from bold new voices Kate Baer, Liz Berry, Nikita Gill and Imogen Russell Williams to name but a few.