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Julie
Favourite Genre: Literary Fiction
Get to know more about Julie and her taste in books.
More about me
A book you didn't think you were going to like as much as you did?
The Woman in The Library by Sulari Gentill. I'm not usually drawn to crime thrillers but I loved the twisty, turny, tongue-in-cheek adventure Sulari took me on.
A favourite book of 2022:
Spring Cannot Be Cancelled by David Hockney and Martin Gayford
Your favourite book of all time:
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
A book that changed your life:
The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
A book that ruined you:
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; the rats!!
A book with the best first line or quote:
Burnt Coat by Sarah Hall has the best first AND last lines!
"Those who tell stories survive."
"A life is a bead of water on the black surface, so frail, so strong, it's world incredibly held."
Currently Reading:
Dusk
By Robbie Arnott
In the distant highlands, a puma named Dusk is killing shepherds. Down in the lowlands, twins Iris and Floyd are out of work, money, and friends.
When they hear that a bounty has been placed on Dusk, they reluctantly join the hunt. As they journey up into this wild, haunted country, they discover there's far more to the land and people of the highlands than they imagined. And as they close in on their prey, they're forced to reckon with ancient and deeply personal conflicts.
Favourites of 2024:
Cold Enough For Snow, Jessica Au
The inaugural winner of The Novel Prize, an international biennial award established by Giramondo (Australia), Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) and New Directions (USA). Cold Enough for Snow was unanimously chosen from over 1500 entries.
A novel about the relationship between life and art, and between language and the inner world – how difficult it is to speak truly, to know and be known by another, and how much power and friction lies in the unsaid, especially between a mother and daughter.
A young woman has arranged a holiday with her mother in Japan. They travel by train, visit galleries and churches chosen for their art and architecture, eat together in small cafés and restaurants and walk along the canals at night, on guard against the autumn rain and the prospect of snow. All the while, they talk, or seem to talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes and objects; about the mother’s family in Hong Kong, and the daughter’s own formative experiences. But uncertainties abound. How much is spoken between them, how much is thought but unspoken?
Cold Enough for Snow is a reckoning and an elegy: with extraordinary skill, Au creates an enveloping atmosphere that expresses both the tenderness between mother and daughter, and the distance between them.
'So calm and clear and deep, I wished it would flow on forever.' — Helen Garner
'Rarely have I been so moved, reading a book: I love the quiet beauty of Cold Enough for Snow and how, within its calm simplicity, Jessica Au camouflages incredible power.' — Edouard Louis
'The quiet intimacy of Jessica Au’s novella is beautifully affecting, the unnamed narrator’s precise travelogue triggering reflections on home, childhood and relationships...It is melancholic and wistful, but Au finds grace and succour in the small act of observing people, places and art.' — The Guardian
'Au’s prose is elegant and measured. In descriptions of bracing clarity she evokes ‘shaking delicate impressions’ of worlds within worlds that are symbolic of the parts of ourselves we keep hidden and those we choose to lay bare. Put simply, this novel is an intricate and multi-layered work of art — a complex and profound meditation on identity, familial bonds and our inability to fully understand ourselves, those we love and the world around us.' — Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing
'Cold Enough for Snow is a sensory contemplation of knowledge, performativity, and the integral role of the present in shaping one’s past. This book will resonate with solitary bonsai, daughters of mothers, and humans floating backwards through the stories of their lives.' — ArtsHub
A novel about the relationship between life and art, and between language and the inner world – how difficult it is to speak truly, to know and be known by another, and how much power and friction lies in the unsaid, especially between a mother and daughter.
A young woman has arranged a holiday with her mother in Japan. They travel by train, visit galleries and churches chosen for their art and architecture, eat together in small cafés and restaurants and walk along the canals at night, on guard against the autumn rain and the prospect of snow. All the while, they talk, or seem to talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes and objects; about the mother’s family in Hong Kong, and the daughter’s own formative experiences. But uncertainties abound. How much is spoken between them, how much is thought but unspoken?
Cold Enough for Snow is a reckoning and an elegy: with extraordinary skill, Au creates an enveloping atmosphere that expresses both the tenderness between mother and daughter, and the distance between them.
'So calm and clear and deep, I wished it would flow on forever.' — Helen Garner
'Rarely have I been so moved, reading a book: I love the quiet beauty of Cold Enough for Snow and how, within its calm simplicity, Jessica Au camouflages incredible power.' — Edouard Louis
'The quiet intimacy of Jessica Au’s novella is beautifully affecting, the unnamed narrator’s precise travelogue triggering reflections on home, childhood and relationships...It is melancholic and wistful, but Au finds grace and succour in the small act of observing people, places and art.' — The Guardian
'Au’s prose is elegant and measured. In descriptions of bracing clarity she evokes ‘shaking delicate impressions’ of worlds within worlds that are symbolic of the parts of ourselves we keep hidden and those we choose to lay bare. Put simply, this novel is an intricate and multi-layered work of art — a complex and profound meditation on identity, familial bonds and our inability to fully understand ourselves, those we love and the world around us.' — Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing
'Cold Enough for Snow is a sensory contemplation of knowledge, performativity, and the integral role of the present in shaping one’s past. This book will resonate with solitary bonsai, daughters of mothers, and humans floating backwards through the stories of their lives.' — ArtsHub
Lola In The Mirror, Trent Dalton
Bighearted, gritty, magical and moving, Lola in the Mirror is the irresistible new novel from international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe and All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton.
SHORTLISTED FOR 2023 DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024 AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS BEST DESIGNED COMMERCIAL FICTION COVER AND THE 2024 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Unpredictable, fantastic ... It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain - writing that is able to carry both stories, the individual and the political/personal ... To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'
A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror.
From international bestselling author Trent Dalton, Lola in the Mirror is a big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror: all our past, all our present, and all our possible futures.
'Trent Dalton's third novel reminds me of the 1980s advertising slogan for the author's home state of Queensland: Beautiful one day, perfect the next ... Lola in the Mirror is a bold, big-hearted, hopeful, humorous, dark, reflective, truthful, superbly written novel that confirms Dalton's place in all the shimmering skies (to borrow the title of his second novel) of Australian literature. He is not a rising star but a star full stop.' The Australian
'Wonderful ... An original, heart-thumping novel ... you are right there with the protagonists, feeling and believing every word and every raindrop. It is the type of novel you read filled with pure hope and sorrow for the characters. You want to believe that everything is going to work out just fine, and that there will be dancing, and art, and delight. You won't know until the end, and by that time you, too, are running through the streets, turning the pages, and trusting that love wins.' Readings
SHORTLISTED FOR 2023 DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024 AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS BEST DESIGNED COMMERCIAL FICTION COVER AND THE 2024 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Unpredictable, fantastic ... It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain - writing that is able to carry both stories, the individual and the political/personal ... To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'
A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror.
From international bestselling author Trent Dalton, Lola in the Mirror is a big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror: all our past, all our present, and all our possible futures.
'Trent Dalton's third novel reminds me of the 1980s advertising slogan for the author's home state of Queensland: Beautiful one day, perfect the next ... Lola in the Mirror is a bold, big-hearted, hopeful, humorous, dark, reflective, truthful, superbly written novel that confirms Dalton's place in all the shimmering skies (to borrow the title of his second novel) of Australian literature. He is not a rising star but a star full stop.' The Australian
'Wonderful ... An original, heart-thumping novel ... you are right there with the protagonists, feeling and believing every word and every raindrop. It is the type of novel you read filled with pure hope and sorrow for the characters. You want to believe that everything is going to work out just fine, and that there will be dancing, and art, and delight. You won't know until the end, and by that time you, too, are running through the streets, turning the pages, and trusting that love wins.' Readings
North Woods, Daniel Mason
'Truly outstanding' Mail on Sunday
'This is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . The only constants are the land and Mason's genius' Washington Post
'Daniel Mason's latest novel is one of those rare books that truly deserves the description "spellbinding" ' Observer
'A tapestry at once intimate and epic' TLS
'Utterly beguiling' Scotsman
'Extraordinary characters . . . a tour de force' Independent, Best Books for Autumn
'Epic . . . weaves a Cloud Atlas-style narrative of humanity under pressure and nature under threat' Guardian, 2023's Biggest Books
FOUR CENTURIES. A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND.
A young Puritan couple on the run. An English soldier with a fantastic vision. Inseparable twin sisters. A lovelorn painter and a lusty beetle. A desperate mother and her haunted son. A ruthless con man and a stalking panther. Buried secrets. Madness, dreams and hope.
All are connected. The dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Exhilarating, daring and playful, NORTH WOODS will change the way you see the world.
'A monumental achievement . . . I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell
'Ambitious, alive, and lush with generosity . . . an immersive sprint through time' Tess Gunty
'This is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . The only constants are the land and Mason's genius' Washington Post
'Daniel Mason's latest novel is one of those rare books that truly deserves the description "spellbinding" ' Observer
'A tapestry at once intimate and epic' TLS
'Utterly beguiling' Scotsman
'Extraordinary characters . . . a tour de force' Independent, Best Books for Autumn
'Epic . . . weaves a Cloud Atlas-style narrative of humanity under pressure and nature under threat' Guardian, 2023's Biggest Books
FOUR CENTURIES. A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND.
A young Puritan couple on the run. An English soldier with a fantastic vision. Inseparable twin sisters. A lovelorn painter and a lusty beetle. A desperate mother and her haunted son. A ruthless con man and a stalking panther. Buried secrets. Madness, dreams and hope.
All are connected. The dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Exhilarating, daring and playful, NORTH WOODS will change the way you see the world.
'A monumental achievement . . . I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell
'Ambitious, alive, and lush with generosity . . . an immersive sprint through time' Tess Gunty
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
'Exquisite.' Damon Galgut
'Masterly.' The Times
'Miraculous.' Herald
'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin
'Stunning.' Sunday Independent
'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart
A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up toChristmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.
'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times
'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times
'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel
'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson
'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph
'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer
'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss
'Masterly.' The Times
'Miraculous.' Herald
'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin
'Stunning.' Sunday Independent
'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart
A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up toChristmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.
'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times
'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times
'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel
'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson
'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph
'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer
'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss
The Librarianist, Patrick deWitt
From bestselling and award-winning author Patrick deWitt comes a novel about an ordinary man who thought life’s surprises were behind him – until a chance encounter changes everything
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.
Behind Bob Comet’s straight man facade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.
With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.
Behind Bob Comet’s straight man facade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.
With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.
The Satsuma Complex, Bob Mortimer
My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff
Set in the 1600s, beginning with a voyage across the Atlantic, this is Lauren Groff's inventive novel The Vaster Wilds
FROM THE THREE-TIME NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX
Part of a loose trilogy based on the end of empire, The Vaster Wilds is the story of a young girl who is servant to a minister and his young mistress, and in charge of their young daughter Bess. On an epic voyage across the Atlantic, ship-wrecked, far from home and fighting for survival, the protagonist of Lauren Groff's extraordinary new novel must endure but also find meaning in the journey.
PRAISE FOR MATRIX-
'Lush, gripping and ferocious' MADELINE MILLER
'An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS
'A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read' SARA COLLINS
FROM THE THREE-TIME NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX
Part of a loose trilogy based on the end of empire, The Vaster Wilds is the story of a young girl who is servant to a minister and his young mistress, and in charge of their young daughter Bess. On an epic voyage across the Atlantic, ship-wrecked, far from home and fighting for survival, the protagonist of Lauren Groff's extraordinary new novel must endure but also find meaning in the journey.
PRAISE FOR MATRIX-
'Lush, gripping and ferocious' MADELINE MILLER
'An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS
'A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read' SARA COLLINS
All Fours, Miranda July
The New York Times bestselling author of The First Bad Man returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and literary novel about a woman upending her life
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
Hagstone, Sinead Gleeson
THE INSTANT TOP 5 IRISH BESTSELLER
‘Wild, singular…gripped me from the start’ DOUGLAS STUART
'Passionate, wild, hugely atmospheric' DAVID NICHOLLS
‘Intelligent, probing’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL
‘A gorgeous, mysterious read’ AISLING BEA
‘I adored it’ LOUISE KENNEDY
*A most anticipated 2024 debut in BBC, Daily Mail, Stylist, New Statesman, Sunday Independent, Irish Times and Irish Examiner*
The haunting debut novel from acclaimed, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.
The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?
On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.
All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Beautifully written and gripping, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. Perfect for readers of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.
'Sublime' OBSERVER
‘Original and captivating’ BBC
'A gripping punch to the gut' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
‘Startling, engrossing, darkly playful’ RODDY DOYLE
‘Magnificent…a literary page-turner’ JENNIFER HIGGIE
'Constellations: Reflections from Life' by Sinéad Gleeson won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards.
‘Wild, singular…gripped me from the start’ DOUGLAS STUART
'Passionate, wild, hugely atmospheric' DAVID NICHOLLS
‘Intelligent, probing’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL
‘A gorgeous, mysterious read’ AISLING BEA
‘I adored it’ LOUISE KENNEDY
*A most anticipated 2024 debut in BBC, Daily Mail, Stylist, New Statesman, Sunday Independent, Irish Times and Irish Examiner*
The haunting debut novel from acclaimed, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.
The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?
On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.
All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Beautifully written and gripping, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. Perfect for readers of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.
'Sublime' OBSERVER
‘Original and captivating’ BBC
'A gripping punch to the gut' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
‘Startling, engrossing, darkly playful’ RODDY DOYLE
‘Magnificent…a literary page-turner’ JENNIFER HIGGIE
'Constellations: Reflections from Life' by Sinéad Gleeson won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards.
The Ministry Of Time, Kaliane Bradley
The Instant New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON
'Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic' MAX PORTER
'Thought-provoking and horribly clever' ALICE WINN
'Funny, moving, original, intelligent, beautifully written' NATHAN FILER
'Electric, charming, whimsical and strange' EMILY HENRY
'Within the first couple of pages I was gripped' KATE MOSSE
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as '1847' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as 'washing machine', 'Spotify' and 'the collapse of the British Empire'. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON
'Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic' MAX PORTER
'Thought-provoking and horribly clever' ALICE WINN
'Funny, moving, original, intelligent, beautifully written' NATHAN FILER
'Electric, charming, whimsical and strange' EMILY HENRY
'Within the first couple of pages I was gripped' KATE MOSSE
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as '1847' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as 'washing machine', 'Spotify' and 'the collapse of the British Empire'. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
Cold Enough For Snow, Jessica Au
The inaugural winner of The Novel Prize, an international biennial award established by Giramondo (Australia), Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) and New Directions (USA). Cold Enough for Snow was unanimously chosen from over 1500 entries.
A novel about the relationship between life and art, and between language and the inner world – how difficult it is to speak truly, to know and be known by another, and how much power and friction lies in the unsaid, especially between a mother and daughter.
A young woman has arranged a holiday with her mother in Japan. They travel by train, visit galleries and churches chosen for their art and architecture, eat together in small cafés and restaurants and walk along the canals at night, on guard against the autumn rain and the prospect of snow. All the while, they talk, or seem to talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes and objects; about the mother’s family in Hong Kong, and the daughter’s own formative experiences. But uncertainties abound. How much is spoken between them, how much is thought but unspoken?
Cold Enough for Snow is a reckoning and an elegy: with extraordinary skill, Au creates an enveloping atmosphere that expresses both the tenderness between mother and daughter, and the distance between them.
'So calm and clear and deep, I wished it would flow on forever.' — Helen Garner
'Rarely have I been so moved, reading a book: I love the quiet beauty of Cold Enough for Snow and how, within its calm simplicity, Jessica Au camouflages incredible power.' — Edouard Louis
'The quiet intimacy of Jessica Au’s novella is beautifully affecting, the unnamed narrator’s precise travelogue triggering reflections on home, childhood and relationships...It is melancholic and wistful, but Au finds grace and succour in the small act of observing people, places and art.' — The Guardian
'Au’s prose is elegant and measured. In descriptions of bracing clarity she evokes ‘shaking delicate impressions’ of worlds within worlds that are symbolic of the parts of ourselves we keep hidden and those we choose to lay bare. Put simply, this novel is an intricate and multi-layered work of art — a complex and profound meditation on identity, familial bonds and our inability to fully understand ourselves, those we love and the world around us.' — Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing
'Cold Enough for Snow is a sensory contemplation of knowledge, performativity, and the integral role of the present in shaping one’s past. This book will resonate with solitary bonsai, daughters of mothers, and humans floating backwards through the stories of their lives.' — ArtsHub
A novel about the relationship between life and art, and between language and the inner world – how difficult it is to speak truly, to know and be known by another, and how much power and friction lies in the unsaid, especially between a mother and daughter.
A young woman has arranged a holiday with her mother in Japan. They travel by train, visit galleries and churches chosen for their art and architecture, eat together in small cafés and restaurants and walk along the canals at night, on guard against the autumn rain and the prospect of snow. All the while, they talk, or seem to talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes and objects; about the mother’s family in Hong Kong, and the daughter’s own formative experiences. But uncertainties abound. How much is spoken between them, how much is thought but unspoken?
Cold Enough for Snow is a reckoning and an elegy: with extraordinary skill, Au creates an enveloping atmosphere that expresses both the tenderness between mother and daughter, and the distance between them.
'So calm and clear and deep, I wished it would flow on forever.' — Helen Garner
'Rarely have I been so moved, reading a book: I love the quiet beauty of Cold Enough for Snow and how, within its calm simplicity, Jessica Au camouflages incredible power.' — Edouard Louis
'The quiet intimacy of Jessica Au’s novella is beautifully affecting, the unnamed narrator’s precise travelogue triggering reflections on home, childhood and relationships...It is melancholic and wistful, but Au finds grace and succour in the small act of observing people, places and art.' — The Guardian
'Au’s prose is elegant and measured. In descriptions of bracing clarity she evokes ‘shaking delicate impressions’ of worlds within worlds that are symbolic of the parts of ourselves we keep hidden and those we choose to lay bare. Put simply, this novel is an intricate and multi-layered work of art — a complex and profound meditation on identity, familial bonds and our inability to fully understand ourselves, those we love and the world around us.' — Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing
'Cold Enough for Snow is a sensory contemplation of knowledge, performativity, and the integral role of the present in shaping one’s past. This book will resonate with solitary bonsai, daughters of mothers, and humans floating backwards through the stories of their lives.' — ArtsHub
Lola In The Mirror, Trent Dalton
Bighearted, gritty, magical and moving, Lola in the Mirror is the irresistible new novel from international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe and All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton.
SHORTLISTED FOR 2023 DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024 AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS BEST DESIGNED COMMERCIAL FICTION COVER AND THE 2024 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Unpredictable, fantastic ... It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain - writing that is able to carry both stories, the individual and the political/personal ... To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'
A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror.
From international bestselling author Trent Dalton, Lola in the Mirror is a big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror: all our past, all our present, and all our possible futures.
'Trent Dalton's third novel reminds me of the 1980s advertising slogan for the author's home state of Queensland: Beautiful one day, perfect the next ... Lola in the Mirror is a bold, big-hearted, hopeful, humorous, dark, reflective, truthful, superbly written novel that confirms Dalton's place in all the shimmering skies (to borrow the title of his second novel) of Australian literature. He is not a rising star but a star full stop.' The Australian
'Wonderful ... An original, heart-thumping novel ... you are right there with the protagonists, feeling and believing every word and every raindrop. It is the type of novel you read filled with pure hope and sorrow for the characters. You want to believe that everything is going to work out just fine, and that there will be dancing, and art, and delight. You won't know until the end, and by that time you, too, are running through the streets, turning the pages, and trusting that love wins.' Readings
SHORTLISTED FOR 2023 DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024 AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS BEST DESIGNED COMMERCIAL FICTION COVER AND THE 2024 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Unpredictable, fantastic ... It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain - writing that is able to carry both stories, the individual and the political/personal ... To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'
A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror.
From international bestselling author Trent Dalton, Lola in the Mirror is a big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror: all our past, all our present, and all our possible futures.
'Trent Dalton's third novel reminds me of the 1980s advertising slogan for the author's home state of Queensland: Beautiful one day, perfect the next ... Lola in the Mirror is a bold, big-hearted, hopeful, humorous, dark, reflective, truthful, superbly written novel that confirms Dalton's place in all the shimmering skies (to borrow the title of his second novel) of Australian literature. He is not a rising star but a star full stop.' The Australian
'Wonderful ... An original, heart-thumping novel ... you are right there with the protagonists, feeling and believing every word and every raindrop. It is the type of novel you read filled with pure hope and sorrow for the characters. You want to believe that everything is going to work out just fine, and that there will be dancing, and art, and delight. You won't know until the end, and by that time you, too, are running through the streets, turning the pages, and trusting that love wins.' Readings
North Woods, Daniel Mason
'Truly outstanding' Mail on Sunday
'This is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . The only constants are the land and Mason's genius' Washington Post
'Daniel Mason's latest novel is one of those rare books that truly deserves the description "spellbinding" ' Observer
'A tapestry at once intimate and epic' TLS
'Utterly beguiling' Scotsman
'Extraordinary characters . . . a tour de force' Independent, Best Books for Autumn
'Epic . . . weaves a Cloud Atlas-style narrative of humanity under pressure and nature under threat' Guardian, 2023's Biggest Books
FOUR CENTURIES. A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND.
A young Puritan couple on the run. An English soldier with a fantastic vision. Inseparable twin sisters. A lovelorn painter and a lusty beetle. A desperate mother and her haunted son. A ruthless con man and a stalking panther. Buried secrets. Madness, dreams and hope.
All are connected. The dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Exhilarating, daring and playful, NORTH WOODS will change the way you see the world.
'A monumental achievement . . . I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell
'Ambitious, alive, and lush with generosity . . . an immersive sprint through time' Tess Gunty
'This is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . The only constants are the land and Mason's genius' Washington Post
'Daniel Mason's latest novel is one of those rare books that truly deserves the description "spellbinding" ' Observer
'A tapestry at once intimate and epic' TLS
'Utterly beguiling' Scotsman
'Extraordinary characters . . . a tour de force' Independent, Best Books for Autumn
'Epic . . . weaves a Cloud Atlas-style narrative of humanity under pressure and nature under threat' Guardian, 2023's Biggest Books
FOUR CENTURIES. A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND.
A young Puritan couple on the run. An English soldier with a fantastic vision. Inseparable twin sisters. A lovelorn painter and a lusty beetle. A desperate mother and her haunted son. A ruthless con man and a stalking panther. Buried secrets. Madness, dreams and hope.
All are connected. The dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Exhilarating, daring and playful, NORTH WOODS will change the way you see the world.
'A monumental achievement . . . I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell
'Ambitious, alive, and lush with generosity . . . an immersive sprint through time' Tess Gunty
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
'Exquisite.' Damon Galgut
'Masterly.' The Times
'Miraculous.' Herald
'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin
'Stunning.' Sunday Independent
'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart
A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up toChristmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.
'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times
'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times
'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel
'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson
'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph
'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer
'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss
'Masterly.' The Times
'Miraculous.' Herald
'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin
'Stunning.' Sunday Independent
'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart
A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up toChristmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.
'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times
'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times
'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel
'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson
'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph
'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer
'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss
The Librarianist, Patrick deWitt
From bestselling and award-winning author Patrick deWitt comes a novel about an ordinary man who thought life’s surprises were behind him – until a chance encounter changes everything
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.
Behind Bob Comet’s straight man facade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.
With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.
Behind Bob Comet’s straight man facade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.
With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.
The Satsuma Complex, Bob Mortimer
My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff
Set in the 1600s, beginning with a voyage across the Atlantic, this is Lauren Groff's inventive novel The Vaster Wilds
FROM THE THREE-TIME NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX
Part of a loose trilogy based on the end of empire, The Vaster Wilds is the story of a young girl who is servant to a minister and his young mistress, and in charge of their young daughter Bess. On an epic voyage across the Atlantic, ship-wrecked, far from home and fighting for survival, the protagonist of Lauren Groff's extraordinary new novel must endure but also find meaning in the journey.
PRAISE FOR MATRIX-
'Lush, gripping and ferocious' MADELINE MILLER
'An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS
'A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read' SARA COLLINS
FROM THE THREE-TIME NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX
Part of a loose trilogy based on the end of empire, The Vaster Wilds is the story of a young girl who is servant to a minister and his young mistress, and in charge of their young daughter Bess. On an epic voyage across the Atlantic, ship-wrecked, far from home and fighting for survival, the protagonist of Lauren Groff's extraordinary new novel must endure but also find meaning in the journey.
PRAISE FOR MATRIX-
'Lush, gripping and ferocious' MADELINE MILLER
'An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS
'A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read' SARA COLLINS
All Fours, Miranda July
The New York Times bestselling author of The First Bad Man returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and literary novel about a woman upending her life
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
Hagstone, Sinead Gleeson
THE INSTANT TOP 5 IRISH BESTSELLER
‘Wild, singular…gripped me from the start’ DOUGLAS STUART
'Passionate, wild, hugely atmospheric' DAVID NICHOLLS
‘Intelligent, probing’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL
‘A gorgeous, mysterious read’ AISLING BEA
‘I adored it’ LOUISE KENNEDY
*A most anticipated 2024 debut in BBC, Daily Mail, Stylist, New Statesman, Sunday Independent, Irish Times and Irish Examiner*
The haunting debut novel from acclaimed, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.
The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?
On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.
All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Beautifully written and gripping, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. Perfect for readers of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.
'Sublime' OBSERVER
‘Original and captivating’ BBC
'A gripping punch to the gut' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
‘Startling, engrossing, darkly playful’ RODDY DOYLE
‘Magnificent…a literary page-turner’ JENNIFER HIGGIE
'Constellations: Reflections from Life' by Sinéad Gleeson won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards.
‘Wild, singular…gripped me from the start’ DOUGLAS STUART
'Passionate, wild, hugely atmospheric' DAVID NICHOLLS
‘Intelligent, probing’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL
‘A gorgeous, mysterious read’ AISLING BEA
‘I adored it’ LOUISE KENNEDY
*A most anticipated 2024 debut in BBC, Daily Mail, Stylist, New Statesman, Sunday Independent, Irish Times and Irish Examiner*
The haunting debut novel from acclaimed, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.
The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?
On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.
All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Beautifully written and gripping, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. Perfect for readers of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.
'Sublime' OBSERVER
‘Original and captivating’ BBC
'A gripping punch to the gut' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
‘Startling, engrossing, darkly playful’ RODDY DOYLE
‘Magnificent…a literary page-turner’ JENNIFER HIGGIE
'Constellations: Reflections from Life' by Sinéad Gleeson won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards.
The Ministry Of Time, Kaliane Bradley
The Instant New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON
'Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic' MAX PORTER
'Thought-provoking and horribly clever' ALICE WINN
'Funny, moving, original, intelligent, beautifully written' NATHAN FILER
'Electric, charming, whimsical and strange' EMILY HENRY
'Within the first couple of pages I was gripped' KATE MOSSE
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as '1847' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as 'washing machine', 'Spotify' and 'the collapse of the British Empire'. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON
'Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic' MAX PORTER
'Thought-provoking and horribly clever' ALICE WINN
'Funny, moving, original, intelligent, beautifully written' NATHAN FILER
'Electric, charming, whimsical and strange' EMILY HENRY
'Within the first couple of pages I was gripped' KATE MOSSE
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as '1847' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as 'washing machine', 'Spotify' and 'the collapse of the British Empire'. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
Cold Enough For Snow, Jessica Au
The inaugural winner of The Novel Prize, an international biennial award established by Giramondo (Australia), Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) and New Directions (USA). Cold Enough for Snow was unanimously chosen from over 1500 entries.
A novel about the relationship between life and art, and between language and the inner world – how difficult it is to speak truly, to know and be known by another, and how much power and friction lies in the unsaid, especially between a mother and daughter.
A young woman has arranged a holiday with her mother in Japan. They travel by train, visit galleries and churches chosen for their art and architecture, eat together in small cafés and restaurants and walk along the canals at night, on guard against the autumn rain and the prospect of snow. All the while, they talk, or seem to talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes and objects; about the mother’s family in Hong Kong, and the daughter’s own formative experiences. But uncertainties abound. How much is spoken between them, how much is thought but unspoken?
Cold Enough for Snow is a reckoning and an elegy: with extraordinary skill, Au creates an enveloping atmosphere that expresses both the tenderness between mother and daughter, and the distance between them.
'So calm and clear and deep, I wished it would flow on forever.' — Helen Garner
'Rarely have I been so moved, reading a book: I love the quiet beauty of Cold Enough for Snow and how, within its calm simplicity, Jessica Au camouflages incredible power.' — Edouard Louis
'The quiet intimacy of Jessica Au’s novella is beautifully affecting, the unnamed narrator’s precise travelogue triggering reflections on home, childhood and relationships...It is melancholic and wistful, but Au finds grace and succour in the small act of observing people, places and art.' — The Guardian
'Au’s prose is elegant and measured. In descriptions of bracing clarity she evokes ‘shaking delicate impressions’ of worlds within worlds that are symbolic of the parts of ourselves we keep hidden and those we choose to lay bare. Put simply, this novel is an intricate and multi-layered work of art — a complex and profound meditation on identity, familial bonds and our inability to fully understand ourselves, those we love and the world around us.' — Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing
'Cold Enough for Snow is a sensory contemplation of knowledge, performativity, and the integral role of the present in shaping one’s past. This book will resonate with solitary bonsai, daughters of mothers, and humans floating backwards through the stories of their lives.' — ArtsHub
A novel about the relationship between life and art, and between language and the inner world – how difficult it is to speak truly, to know and be known by another, and how much power and friction lies in the unsaid, especially between a mother and daughter.
A young woman has arranged a holiday with her mother in Japan. They travel by train, visit galleries and churches chosen for their art and architecture, eat together in small cafés and restaurants and walk along the canals at night, on guard against the autumn rain and the prospect of snow. All the while, they talk, or seem to talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes and objects; about the mother’s family in Hong Kong, and the daughter’s own formative experiences. But uncertainties abound. How much is spoken between them, how much is thought but unspoken?
Cold Enough for Snow is a reckoning and an elegy: with extraordinary skill, Au creates an enveloping atmosphere that expresses both the tenderness between mother and daughter, and the distance between them.
'So calm and clear and deep, I wished it would flow on forever.' — Helen Garner
'Rarely have I been so moved, reading a book: I love the quiet beauty of Cold Enough for Snow and how, within its calm simplicity, Jessica Au camouflages incredible power.' — Edouard Louis
'The quiet intimacy of Jessica Au’s novella is beautifully affecting, the unnamed narrator’s precise travelogue triggering reflections on home, childhood and relationships...It is melancholic and wistful, but Au finds grace and succour in the small act of observing people, places and art.' — The Guardian
'Au’s prose is elegant and measured. In descriptions of bracing clarity she evokes ‘shaking delicate impressions’ of worlds within worlds that are symbolic of the parts of ourselves we keep hidden and those we choose to lay bare. Put simply, this novel is an intricate and multi-layered work of art — a complex and profound meditation on identity, familial bonds and our inability to fully understand ourselves, those we love and the world around us.' — Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing
'Cold Enough for Snow is a sensory contemplation of knowledge, performativity, and the integral role of the present in shaping one’s past. This book will resonate with solitary bonsai, daughters of mothers, and humans floating backwards through the stories of their lives.' — ArtsHub
Lola In The Mirror, Trent Dalton
Bighearted, gritty, magical and moving, Lola in the Mirror is the irresistible new novel from international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe and All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton.
SHORTLISTED FOR 2023 DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024 AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS BEST DESIGNED COMMERCIAL FICTION COVER AND THE 2024 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Unpredictable, fantastic ... It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain - writing that is able to carry both stories, the individual and the political/personal ... To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'
A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror.
From international bestselling author Trent Dalton, Lola in the Mirror is a big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror: all our past, all our present, and all our possible futures.
'Trent Dalton's third novel reminds me of the 1980s advertising slogan for the author's home state of Queensland: Beautiful one day, perfect the next ... Lola in the Mirror is a bold, big-hearted, hopeful, humorous, dark, reflective, truthful, superbly written novel that confirms Dalton's place in all the shimmering skies (to borrow the title of his second novel) of Australian literature. He is not a rising star but a star full stop.' The Australian
'Wonderful ... An original, heart-thumping novel ... you are right there with the protagonists, feeling and believing every word and every raindrop. It is the type of novel you read filled with pure hope and sorrow for the characters. You want to believe that everything is going to work out just fine, and that there will be dancing, and art, and delight. You won't know until the end, and by that time you, too, are running through the streets, turning the pages, and trusting that love wins.' Readings
SHORTLISTED FOR 2023 DYMOCKS BOOK OF THE YEAR, 2024 INDIE BOOK AWARDS, 2024 AUSTRALIAN BOOK DESIGN AWARDS BEST DESIGNED COMMERCIAL FICTION COVER AND THE 2024 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKPEOPLE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Unpredictable, fantastic ... It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain - writing that is able to carry both stories, the individual and the political/personal ... To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what's my future? What's my past?'
A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat. They've found themselves a home inside a van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.
The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But the girl has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen 'Lady' Flora Box. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge that stretches across a flooding, deadly river. A life beyond the bullet that has her name on it. And now that the storm clouds are rising, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can ever do. She must look in the mirror.
From international bestselling author Trent Dalton, Lola in the Mirror is a big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror: all our past, all our present, and all our possible futures.
'Trent Dalton's third novel reminds me of the 1980s advertising slogan for the author's home state of Queensland: Beautiful one day, perfect the next ... Lola in the Mirror is a bold, big-hearted, hopeful, humorous, dark, reflective, truthful, superbly written novel that confirms Dalton's place in all the shimmering skies (to borrow the title of his second novel) of Australian literature. He is not a rising star but a star full stop.' The Australian
'Wonderful ... An original, heart-thumping novel ... you are right there with the protagonists, feeling and believing every word and every raindrop. It is the type of novel you read filled with pure hope and sorrow for the characters. You want to believe that everything is going to work out just fine, and that there will be dancing, and art, and delight. You won't know until the end, and by that time you, too, are running through the streets, turning the pages, and trusting that love wins.' Readings
North Woods, Daniel Mason
'Truly outstanding' Mail on Sunday
'This is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . The only constants are the land and Mason's genius' Washington Post
'Daniel Mason's latest novel is one of those rare books that truly deserves the description "spellbinding" ' Observer
'A tapestry at once intimate and epic' TLS
'Utterly beguiling' Scotsman
'Extraordinary characters . . . a tour de force' Independent, Best Books for Autumn
'Epic . . . weaves a Cloud Atlas-style narrative of humanity under pressure and nature under threat' Guardian, 2023's Biggest Books
FOUR CENTURIES. A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND.
A young Puritan couple on the run. An English soldier with a fantastic vision. Inseparable twin sisters. A lovelorn painter and a lusty beetle. A desperate mother and her haunted son. A ruthless con man and a stalking panther. Buried secrets. Madness, dreams and hope.
All are connected. The dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Exhilarating, daring and playful, NORTH WOODS will change the way you see the world.
'A monumental achievement . . . I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell
'Ambitious, alive, and lush with generosity . . . an immersive sprint through time' Tess Gunty
'This is a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic . . . The only constants are the land and Mason's genius' Washington Post
'Daniel Mason's latest novel is one of those rare books that truly deserves the description "spellbinding" ' Observer
'A tapestry at once intimate and epic' TLS
'Utterly beguiling' Scotsman
'Extraordinary characters . . . a tour de force' Independent, Best Books for Autumn
'Epic . . . weaves a Cloud Atlas-style narrative of humanity under pressure and nature under threat' Guardian, 2023's Biggest Books
FOUR CENTURIES. A SINGLE HOUSE DEEP IN THE WOODS OF NEW ENGLAND.
A young Puritan couple on the run. An English soldier with a fantastic vision. Inseparable twin sisters. A lovelorn painter and a lusty beetle. A desperate mother and her haunted son. A ruthless con man and a stalking panther. Buried secrets. Madness, dreams and hope.
All are connected. The dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.
Exhilarating, daring and playful, NORTH WOODS will change the way you see the world.
'A monumental achievement . . . I loved it' Maggie O'Farrell
'Ambitious, alive, and lush with generosity . . . an immersive sprint through time' Tess Gunty
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
'Exquisite.' Damon Galgut
'Masterly.' The Times
'Miraculous.' Herald
'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin
'Stunning.' Sunday Independent
'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart
A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up toChristmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.
'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times
'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times
'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel
'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson
'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph
'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer
'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss
'Masterly.' The Times
'Miraculous.' Herald
'Astonishing.' Colm Toibin
'Stunning.' Sunday Independent
'Absolutely beautiful.' Douglas Stuart
A Book of the Year in The Times and The New Statesman
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up toChristmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.
'A genuine once-in-a-generation writer.' The Times
'[A] snowglobe of a story that fits a whole bustling, striving, yearning world into 114 finely wrought pages.' Sunday Times
'Powerful and affecting and very timely . . . deeply moving.' Hilary Mantel
'Stunning . . . A haunting, hopeful masterpiece.' Sinead Gleeson
'Remarkable . . . Truly exquisite.' Daily Telegraph
'A restrained and intensely moral book, full of hope and love.' Observer
'Marvellous - exact and icy and loving all at once.' Sarah Moss
The Librarianist, Patrick deWitt
From bestselling and award-winning author Patrick deWitt comes a novel about an ordinary man who thought life’s surprises were behind him – until a chance encounter changes everything
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.
Behind Bob Comet’s straight man facade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.
With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.
Bob Comet is a retired librarian passing his solitary days surrounded by books in a mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon. One morning on his daily walk he encounters a confused elderly woman lost in a market and returns her to the senior center that is her home. Hoping to fill the void he’s known since retiring, he begins volunteering at the center. Here, as a community of strange peers gathers around Bob, and following a happenstance brush with a painful complication from his past, the events of his life and the details of his character are revealed.
Behind Bob Comet’s straight man facade is the story of an unhappy child’s runaway adventure during the last days of the Second World War, of true love won and stolen away, of the purpose and pride found in the librarian’s vocation, and the pleasures of a life lived to the side of the masses. Comet’s experiences are imbued with melancholy but also a bright, sustained comedy; he has a talent for locating bizarre and outsized players to welcome onto the stage of his life.
With his inimitable verve, skewed humor, and compassion for the outcast, Patrick deWitt has written a wide-ranging and ambitious document of the introvert’s condition. The Librarianist celebrates the extraordinary in the so-called ordinary life, and depicts beautifully the turbulence that sometimes exists beneath a surface of serenity.
The Satsuma Complex, Bob Mortimer
My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
The Vaster Wilds, Lauren Groff
Set in the 1600s, beginning with a voyage across the Atlantic, this is Lauren Groff's inventive novel The Vaster Wilds
FROM THE THREE-TIME NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX
Part of a loose trilogy based on the end of empire, The Vaster Wilds is the story of a young girl who is servant to a minister and his young mistress, and in charge of their young daughter Bess. On an epic voyage across the Atlantic, ship-wrecked, far from home and fighting for survival, the protagonist of Lauren Groff's extraordinary new novel must endure but also find meaning in the journey.
PRAISE FOR MATRIX-
'Lush, gripping and ferocious' MADELINE MILLER
'An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS
'A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read' SARA COLLINS
FROM THE THREE-TIME NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FATES AND FURIES AND MATRIX
Part of a loose trilogy based on the end of empire, The Vaster Wilds is the story of a young girl who is servant to a minister and his young mistress, and in charge of their young daughter Bess. On an epic voyage across the Atlantic, ship-wrecked, far from home and fighting for survival, the protagonist of Lauren Groff's extraordinary new novel must endure but also find meaning in the journey.
PRAISE FOR MATRIX-
'Lush, gripping and ferocious' MADELINE MILLER
'An audacious piece of storytelling, full of passion, wisdom and magic' SARAH WATERS
'A gorgeous, sensual, addictive read' SARA COLLINS
All Fours, Miranda July
The New York Times bestselling author of The First Bad Man returns with an irreverently sexy, tender, hilarious and literary novel about a woman upending her life
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
A semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.Miranda July's second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July's wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman's quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.
Hagstone, Sinead Gleeson
THE INSTANT TOP 5 IRISH BESTSELLER
‘Wild, singular…gripped me from the start’ DOUGLAS STUART
'Passionate, wild, hugely atmospheric' DAVID NICHOLLS
‘Intelligent, probing’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL
‘A gorgeous, mysterious read’ AISLING BEA
‘I adored it’ LOUISE KENNEDY
*A most anticipated 2024 debut in BBC, Daily Mail, Stylist, New Statesman, Sunday Independent, Irish Times and Irish Examiner*
The haunting debut novel from acclaimed, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.
The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?
On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.
All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Beautifully written and gripping, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. Perfect for readers of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.
'Sublime' OBSERVER
‘Original and captivating’ BBC
'A gripping punch to the gut' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
‘Startling, engrossing, darkly playful’ RODDY DOYLE
‘Magnificent…a literary page-turner’ JENNIFER HIGGIE
'Constellations: Reflections from Life' by Sinéad Gleeson won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards.
‘Wild, singular…gripped me from the start’ DOUGLAS STUART
'Passionate, wild, hugely atmospheric' DAVID NICHOLLS
‘Intelligent, probing’ MAGGIE O'FARRELL
‘A gorgeous, mysterious read’ AISLING BEA
‘I adored it’ LOUISE KENNEDY
*A most anticipated 2024 debut in BBC, Daily Mail, Stylist, New Statesman, Sunday Independent, Irish Times and Irish Examiner*
The haunting debut novel from acclaimed, Irish no. 1 bestselling author, Sinéad Gleeson.
The sea is steady for now. The land readies itself. What can be done with the woman on the cliff?
On a wild and rugged island cut off and isolated to some, artist Nell feels the island is her home. It is the source of inspiration for her art, rooted in landscape, folklore and the feminine. The mysterious Inions, a commune of women who have travelled there from all over the world, consider it a place of refuge and safety, of solace in nature.
All the islanders live alongside the strange murmurings that seem to emanate from within the depths of the island, a sound that is almost supernatural – a Summoning as the Inions call it. One day, a letter arrives at Nell’s door from the reclusive Inions who invite Nell into the commune for a commission to produce a magnificent art piece to celebrate their long history. In its creation, Nell will discover things about the community and about herself that will challenge everything she thought she knew.
Beautifully written and gripping, Sinéad Gleeson’s debut novel takes in the darker side of human nature and the mysteries of faith and the natural world. Perfect for readers of Margaret Atwood and Sarah Moss.
'Sublime' OBSERVER
‘Original and captivating’ BBC
'A gripping punch to the gut' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
‘Startling, engrossing, darkly playful’ RODDY DOYLE
‘Magnificent…a literary page-turner’ JENNIFER HIGGIE
'Constellations: Reflections from Life' by Sinéad Gleeson won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards.
The Ministry Of Time, Kaliane Bradley
The Instant New York Times and Sunday Times Bestseller
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON
'Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic' MAX PORTER
'Thought-provoking and horribly clever' ALICE WINN
'Funny, moving, original, intelligent, beautifully written' NATHAN FILER
'Electric, charming, whimsical and strange' EMILY HENRY
'Within the first couple of pages I was gripped' KATE MOSSE
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as '1847' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as 'washing machine', 'Spotify' and 'the collapse of the British Empire'. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction
'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON
'Make room on your bookshelves for a new classic' MAX PORTER
'Thought-provoking and horribly clever' ALICE WINN
'Funny, moving, original, intelligent, beautifully written' NATHAN FILER
'Electric, charming, whimsical and strange' EMILY HENRY
'Within the first couple of pages I was gripped' KATE MOSSE
A BOY MEETS A GIRL. THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE. A FINGER MEETS A TRIGGER. THE BEGINNING MEETS THE END. ENGLAND IS FOREVER. ENGLAND MUST FALL.
In the near future, a disaffected civil servant is offered a lucrative job in a mysterious new government ministry gathering 'expats' from across history to test the limits of time-travel.
Her role is to work as a 'bridge': living with, assisting and monitoring the expat known as '1847' - Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to find himself alive and surrounded by outlandish concepts such as 'washing machine', 'Spotify' and 'the collapse of the British Empire'. With an appetite for discovery and a seven-a-day cigarette habit, he soon adjusts; and during a long, sultry summer he and his bridge move from awkwardness to genuine friendship, to something more.
But as the true shape of the project that brought them together begins to emerge, Gore and the bridge are forced to confront their past choices and imagined futures. Can love triumph over the structures and histories that have shaped them? And how do you defy history when history is living in your house?
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