Will & Tom is a glimpse into the life of the infamous artist JMW Turner as a young man during a week spent at Harewood House fighting for a commission against his childhood friend and rival Tom Girtin.1797, West Yorkshire.When rising artist Will Turner arrives at Harewood House in high summer, his intention is to sketch the house and grounds, receive his commission and return to London, where he has started attracting serious attention at the Royal Academy.But things at the grand house are not quite as he expects. The atmosphere is strange, both above and below stairs, and Will’s treatment by his hosts is surprisingly offhand. Most perplexing of all, however, is the appearance of another painter – his childhood friend and now rival, Tom Girtin. While Tom is welcomed into the aristocratic circle, Will finds few allies. As it becomes harder to ignore the whispers of scandal , Will witnesses something that will threaten both his commission and his friendship.Alive with intrigue, artistic rivalry, Will & Tom offers a glimpse into the early life of Britain’s greatest painter, J M W Turner, through the story of a complicated, vibrant friendship, and how it is tested by the dark dynamic of art and power.
The second novel from Lee Rourke, author of the cult hit ‘The Canal’.Jon Michaels – a divorced, disaffected and fatigued editor living a nondescript life in North London – wakes one morning to a phone call informing him that his uncle has been found dead in his caravan on Canvey Island. Dismissed from his job only the day before and hung-over, Jon reluctantly agrees to sort through his uncle’s belongings and clear out the caravan. What follows is a quixotic week on Canvey as Jon, led on by desire and delusion, purposeful but increasingly disorientated, unfolds a disturbing secret, ever more enchanted by the island – its landscape and its atmosphere.Haunted and haunting, ‘Vulgar Things’ is part mystery, part romance, part odyssey: a novel in which the menial entrances and the banal compels.
From the bestselling author of THE FIRST WIVES CLUB comes a sparkling romantic comedy. Perfect for fans of Candace Bushnell.There's something about Billy Nolan. It's not just that he's wickedly attractive, it's that any woman he dates and dumps (and he dates and dumps them all) immediately goes on to marry someone else.Sassy, uptown New Yorker Kate, is immune to Billy's charms but perhaps the 'Billy effect' will work for Kate's friend, Bina, who has fallen apart because her almost-fiancé, Jack, is going away to 'explore his singleness'.All Kate has to do is get Billy to date Bina and dump her – and then await Jack's return and watch the magic happen. It's a great plan and at first it seems to be working. But the one thing Kate hasn't considered is how Billy feels about it all…
A stunning novel of death and destiny.Bereft of the three people she has held most dear – her mother, her husband and her daughter – Celia is on the verge of suicide. Then one night on an exotic island she meets Larraby, a successful portrait painter, and through a long night of talk reveals how she is afraid to commit herself to a second chance of happiness with another person, yet is not brave enough to face life alone. Can Larraby help Celia come to terms with the past or will they part, her outcome still uncertain?Famous for her ingenious crime books and plays, Agatha Christie also wrote about crimes of the heart, six bittersweet and very personal novels, as compelling and memorable as the best of her work.
An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house…What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player?To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head.It’s all part of a carefully paid plan – for murder…
WINNER SWEDISH CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR.The adrenaline-charged and suspenseful thriller set in a ruthless world where all means are permitted in the fight for power.When a savaged body is found in the waters outside the governing party’s conference centre, the case lands on detective Julia Gabrielsson’s desk. Who is the deceased and why has somebody gone to such trouble to make sure the body is unidentifiable?Officer David Sarac is a man haunted by demons. After a violent showdown that almost cost him his life, the policeman is being treated at a closed ward far from the capital. Soon he will permanently silence the accusing voices in his head. But a mysterious offer has David changing his mind.
‘Simply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going’ Gillian FlynnBest-selling author Joyce Carol Oates blends sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power in her latest incendiary novel.Best-selling author Joyce Carol Oates returns with an incendiary novel that illuminates the tragic impact of sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power on innocent lives and probes the persistence of stereotypes, the nature of revenge, the complexities of truth, and our insatiable hunger for sensationalism.When a fourteen-year-old girl is the alleged victim of a terrible act of racial violence, the incident shocks and galvanises her community, exacerbating the racial tension that has been simmering in this New Jersey town for decades. In this magisterial work of fiction, Joyce Carol Oates explores the uneasy fault lines in a racially troubled society. In such a tense, charged atmosphere, Oates reveals that there must always be a sacrifice – of innocence, truth, trust, and, ultimately, of lives. Unfolding in a succession of multiracial voices, in a community transfixed by this alleged crime and the spectacle unfolding around it, this profound novel exposes what – and who – the “sacrifice” actually is, and what consequences these kind of events hold for us all.Working at the height of her powers, Oates offers a sympathetic portrait of the young girl and her mother, and challenges our expectations and beliefs about our society, our biases, and ourselves. As the chorus of its voices – from the police to the media to the victim and her family – reaches a crescendo, “The Sacrifice” offers a shocking new understanding of power and oppression, innocence and guilt, truth and sensationalism, justice and retribution.A chilling exploration of complex social, political, and moral themes – the enduring trauma of the past, modern racial and class tensions, the power of secrets, and the primal decisions we all make to protect those we love – “The Sacrifice” is a major work of fiction from one of our most revered literary masters.
Preorder the heartwarming new novel from Sunday Times bestseller Fern Britton for a wonderful Cornish escape.It’s springtime in the Cornish coastal village of Pendruggan, and a newcomer is causing quite a stir…
A glorious companion volume to Robinson’s world-wide bestselling trilogy.All Colours MarsRed Mars. Green Mars. Blue Mars.The Mars trilogy has rapidly assumed the status of modern science fiction classic, capturing the imagination of hundreds of thousands of readers around the world. Now, with The Martians, comes Kim Stanley Robinson’s essential companion to the Mars series. New novellas and short stories head the collection, along with texts on the Martian constitution, maps and Martian inspired poetry.In short, The Martians is a unique collection of previously unpublished fiction, a fascinating addition to Robinson’s oeuvre, and a must for all lovers of the red planet.
LONGLISTED FOR THE DSC PRIZE FOR SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURE 2017In this tender, lyrical, and often funny novel, Anjali Joseph, author of Saraswati Park, shines a light on everyday life, illuminating its humour, beauty, and truth.There is a certain number of breaths each of us have to take, and no amount of care or carelessness can alter that.This is the story of two lives. Claire is a young single mother working in one of England’s last remaining shoe factories, her adult life formed by a teenage relationship. Is she ready to move on from memory and the routine of her days? Arun makes hand-sewn chappals at his home in Kolhapur. A recovered alcoholic, now a grandfather, he negotiates the newfound indignities of old age while returning in thought to the extramarital affair he had years earlier.These are lives woven through with the ongoing discipline of work and the responsibility and tedium of family life. Lives laced with the joys of friendship, the pleasure of sex, and the redemptive kindness of one’s own children. This is the story of the living.In this tender, lyrical and often funny novel, Anajli Joseph, author of Saraswati Park, shines a light on everyday life, illuminating its humour, beauty, and truth.