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Longlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize, this poignant, lyrical novel is set in 1970s Romania during Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime—and depicts childhood, marriage, family, and identity in the face of extreme obstacles. Alina yearns for freedom. She and her husband Liviu are teachers in their twenties, living under the repressive regime of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in the Socialist Republic of Romania in the 1970s. But after her brother-in-law defects, Alina and Liviu fall under suspicion and surveillance, and their lives are suddenly turned upside down—just like the glasses in her superstitious Aunt Theresa's house that are used to ward off evil spirits. But ...
A strange epidemic is sweeping the globe. Little by little, each victim becomes transparent, their heart beating behind a visible rib cage, an intricate network of nerves left hanging in mid-air. Finally, the victims disappear entirely, never to be seen again. In this bittersweet and hauntingly surreal tale, a couple struggle to connect while the epidemic creeps nearer. ‘I dreamt we were at sea,’ she says.
Welcome to Broadwater Farm, one of the most well-known housing estates in Britain. A place where post-war dreams of concrete utopia ended in riots, violence and sub-standard housing. In this collection, Tottenham-born Jac Shreeves-Lee gives voice to the people of Broadwater Farm. With evocative language and raw storytelling, she compassionately portrays their shared sense of community. A community with a rich cultural heritage, comprising over forty nationalities, generations old.
'A tour de force of imagery and emotion.' - Clio Gray, author of 'The Anatomist's Dream' In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake Sarah travels back to her home town with her young son. Delays and diversions take Sarah on an emotional journey as she's forced to return to well-known places echoing with painful memories from her youth. Set in the wild, beautiful and unreliable landscape of southern New Zealand, Emma Timpany's novella is an evocative story of a woman coming to terms with her past and forging a brighter future.
Nicholas Anderton is a highly respected neurosurgeon at the top of his field. But behind the successful façade all is not well. Tormented by a toxic marriage, and haunted by past mistakes, Anderton has been eating to forget. His wife, meanwhile, has turned to drink. There are sniggers behind closed doors - how can a surgeon be fat, they whisper; when mistakes are made and his old adversary Nash steps in to take advantage Anderton knows things are coming to a head...
Eight-year-old Pepper has always found it hard to figure out when people are lying, but he's certain his mother's alive, and he's going to find her... One day during a school field trip, Pepper is picked up by a strange man and driven off to rural Arkansas. His kidnapper, 'Uncle Dan', claims that Pepper's mother has died and they are to live together from now on - but the boy isn't convinced. A charming and thrilling tale of one special little boy's path back home. 'Pepper proves a tenacious, resourceful hero in his own drama. Immensely readable and sweetly told.' - Marti Leimbach, author of 'Daniel Isn't Talking'
Enter Anonymous, a middle-ranking artist rolling between minor shows in New York, London and Istanbul. With his career sliding into obscurity, shamefully forced to consider advertising work to make ends meet, he knows he must break new ground if he is to survive. With his mother's encouragement, he decides upon his next work of art: an act of self-violation so outrageous, so horrific, the art world will be forced to take notice. But will it be enough to raise him to the ranks of the elite? Conception is the journey of a sociopath who will do whatever it takes to get ahead; a dark comedy exploring who and what determines the value of art.
"From the limitless imagination of Nod Ghosh, we readers are gifted with three novellas of impressive scope and depth. These narratives, deftly distilled and interwoven, speak to the vagaries of love and loss, of betrayal and intrigue. Brilliant, dark, and riveting, 'Filthy Sucre' is a collection by one of our best writers at the height of her powers." Kathy Fish, author of 'Wild Life: Collected Works from 2003-2018' "Nod Ghosh knows how to unspool a tale that keeps us turning pages, missing train stops, and binge-reading way into the night. The three flash novellas of 'Filthy Sucre' entice us into complex liaisons both acrid and sweet; to read her work is to become complicit in her clever webs of dysfunction, where guilt and innocence lose their boundaries and human nature is laid bare." Nancy Stohlman, author of 'Madam Velvet's Cabaret of Oddities' and 'The Vixen Scream and other Bible Stories'
Sometimes it takes a little searching to find ‘the one’. On an East Coast island, full of tall pine moaning with sea gusts, Delilah moves into a cottage by the shore. The neighbours gossip as they watch her cleaning, black hair tied back in a white rubber band. They don’t like it when she plants a garden out front – orange-red Carpinus caroliniana and silvery-blue hosta. Very unusual, they whisper. Across the driveway lives a man who never goes out. Delilah knows he’s watching her too and she likes the look of him, but perhaps life is too complicated already…
What if you could be somebody else? It’s 1960s Mallorca. Thomas Sebastian, an English conman on the run, has taken a Spanish finca as his hideout. He finds the house untouched since the death of its last owner, the renowned and distinguished Senyor Rodriguez – with fine art on the walls, a library of books and cellar full of wine... Thomas slips easily into his new life – walking, reading and drinking; falling in love with his neighbour, the beautiful but impossibly young Isabella Ferretti. But when he puts on Rodriguez’s white linen suit and heads into the city, things get a little out of hand. ''Sophisticated, literate fun that disguises itself as a romantic/caper beach read, and then takes the reader for a stroll along the cliff's edge. What a nice find.' – Pop Bop