Great Gatsby

26,00 

The Great Gatsby remains not just one of the greatest works of American literature, but a timeless evocation of the allure, corruption and carelessness of wealth…a gilded society intoxicated by wealth, dancing its way into the Great Depression., ” Gatsby is a connoisseur’s guide to the glamour and glitter of the Jazz Age, but it’s also a nearly prophetic glimpse into the world to come. Writing at the height of the boom, in the midst of the Roaring Twenties, Fitzgerald detected the ephemerality, fakery and corruption always lurking at the heart of the great American success story . . . A haunting meditation on aspiration, disillusionment, romantic love–and a blistering exposé of the materialism, duplicity, and sexual politics driving what Fitzgerald calls America’s true “business”: “the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty.” –Times, ” The Great Gatsby remains not just one of the greatest works of American literature, but a timeless evocation of the allure, corruption and carelessness of wealth . . . a gilded society intoxicated by wealth, dancing its way into the Great Depression.” — Times, “His masterpiece, an elegy for the American Dream, the greatest lost cause of them all.” — Los Angeles Times, “The first and greatest modern novel, it has beautiful women, lavish parties, romance, betrayal and murder woven together in an intricately structured plot. A prescient comment on the dying days of a gilded age that is brilliant entertainment with a very eloquent insight.” — Mirror, “It is a marvellously suggestive novel . . . a parable of modern America, and by extension of modern life.” — Daily Telegraph

Les Enfants Terribles

24,00 

A tragedy about the power of the imagination and the strange, claustrophobic world of childhood.At home, Paul shares a private world with his sister Elisabeth, a world from which parents are tacitly excluded. Their room is where the Game is played, the Game being their own bizarre version of life. All that they do outside is effectively controlled by the rules of the Game — but unfortunately the rules of the Game prescribe that two children must die.

Collector

29,00 

Withdrawn, uneducated and unloved, Frederick collects butterflies and takes photographs. He is obsessed with a beautiful stranger, the art student Miranda. When he wins the pools he buys a remote Sussex house and calmly abducts Miranda, believing she will grow to love him in time.

Tenth Man

25,00 

In a prison in Occupied France during the Second World War, the order is given that every tenth inmate is to be executed. Louis Chavel, a rich lawyer, draws the short straw and barters everything he owns to exchange places with another man and survive. Destitute but free, Chavel later returns to the house that he sold for his life, where he must face the consequences of his cowardice and seek redemption.

Papillon

32,00 

First published in 1969 and filmed with Steve McQueen in the lead role, Henri Charrières semi-autobiographical narrative recalls his wrongful conviction for murder in Paris, his transportation to a penal colony in French Guiana, and his daring escape in an open boat. He also describes his recapture and eight further bids for freedom, including one from the notorious Devils Island, before his final release to a new life in Venezuela.

Martian Chronicles

27,00 

The strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions.The classic work that transformed Ray Bradbury into a household name.

Written in the age of the atom when America and Europe optimisitcally viewed the discovery of life on Mars as inevitable, Bradbury’s 1940s short stories of a brutal, stark and unforgiving martian landscape were as shocking and visionary as they were insightful.

‘The Martian Chronicles’ tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a pin dot. Those few that survived found no welcome. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.

More rockets arrived from Earth, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them – and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.

Illustrated Man

27,00 

A classic collection of stories — all told on the skin of a man — from the author of Fahrenheit 451. If El Greco had painted miniatures in his prime, no bigger than your hand, infinitely detailed, with his sulphurous colour and exquisite human anatomy, perhaps he might have used this man’s body for his art! Yet the Illustrated Man has tried to burn the illustrations off. He’s tried sandpaper, acid, and a knife. Because, as the sun sets, the pictures glow like charcoals, like scattered gems. They quiver and come to life. Tiny pink hands gesture, tiny mouths flicker as the figures enact their stories — voices rise, small and muted, predicting the future. Here are sixteen tales: sixteen illustrations! the seventeenth is your own future told on the skin of the Illustrated Man.

Siddhartha

29,00 

Siddhartha,novel by Hermann Hesse based on the early life of Buddha, published in German in 1922. It was inspired by the author’s visit to Sri Lanka and Indonesia before World War I. Illness prevented him from visiting India itself as he had planned, but Hesse returned from his visit to South Asia with an idealized view of an India grounded in spirituality and religious devotion that remained with him for the rest of his life.The theme of the novel is the search for self-realization by a young Brahman, Siddhartha. Realizing the contradictions between reality and what he has been taught, he abandons his comfortable life to wander. His goal is to find the serenity that will enable him to defeat fear and to experience with equanimity the contrasts of life, including joy and sorrow, life and death. Asceticism, including fasting, does not prove satisfying, nor do wealth, sensuality, and the attentions of a lovely courtesan. Despairing of finding fulfillment, he goes to the river and there learns simply to listen. He discovers within himself a spirit of love and learns to accept human separateness. In the end, Siddhartha grasps the wholeness of life and achieves a state of bliss and highest wisdom.

Disney Twisted Tale: Sleeping Beauty- Once Upon a Dream

35,00 

Embark on a thrilling adventure with this beautifully produced hardback edition of the popular Disney Twisted Tale.

Discover what would have happened if a kiss from the prince didn’t wake Sleeping Beauty …

The handsome prince is poised to kiss the beautiful sleeping princess and live happily ever after, but as soon as his lips touch hers he too falls asleep. It is clear that this tale is far from over.

Now, Princess Aurora must escape from dangerous and magical land created from her very own dreams.

With Maleficent’s agents following every move, Aurora needs to discover who her true friends are and, most importantly, who she really is.

Twenty Love Poems & A Song

25,00 

A sensual, tender collection to be cherished by lovers new and old

Pablo Neruda was probably the greatest and certainly the most prolific of twentieth-century Latin American poets. This, his third collection, Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Cancion Desesperada, or, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, was first published in 1924 and attracted international acclaim. Still adored the world over, the collection is ambitiously metaphorical and sensuous.

Inspired by Neruda’s own personal relationships and injected with an expressive eroticism, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair is evidence of a genius poet at work. A perfect present for your beloved on Valentine’s Day.

Maestra

29,00 

By day Judith Rashleigh is a put-upon assistant at a London auction house.

By night she’s a hostess in one of the capital’s unsavoury bars.

Desperate to make something of herself, Judith knows she has to play the game. She’s learned to dress, speak and act in the interests of men. She’s learned to be a good girl. But after uncovering a dark secret at the heart of the art world, Judith is fired and her dreams of a better life are torn apart.

So she turns to a long-neglected friend.

A friend that kept her chin up and back straight through every past slight.

A friend that a good girl like her shouldn’t have: Rage.

To Have & Have Not

25,00 

To Have and Have Not is the dramatic story of Harry Morgan, an honest man who is forced into running contraband between Cuba and Key West as a means of keeping his crumbling family financially afloat. His adventures lead him into the world of wealthy and dissipated yachtsmen who throng the region, and involve him in a strange and unlikely love affair.
Harsh, realistic, yet with one of the most subtle and moving relationships in the Hemingway oeuvre, To Have and Have Not is literary high adventure at its finest.

The Glass Bead Game

32,00 

In the remote Kingdom of Castalia, the scholars of the Twenty Third century play the Glass Bead Game. The elaborately coded game is a fusion of all human knowledge – of maths, music, philosophy, science, and art. Intrigued as a school boy, Joseph Knecht becomes consumed with mastering the game as an adult. As Knecht fulfils his life-long quest he must contend with unexpected dilemmas and the longing for a life beyond the ivory tower.

Prayer For Owen Meany

32,00 

If you care about something you have to protect it. If you’re lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.’ Eleven-year-old Owen Meany, playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire, hits a foul ball and kills his best friend’s mother.Owen doesn’t believe in accidents; he believes he is God’s instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is both extraordinary and terrifying.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

27,00 

This is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born. It tells of Vietnam, of the lasting impact of war, and of his family’s struggle to forge a new future.

And it serves as a doorway into parts of Little Dog’s life his mother has never known – episodes of bewilderment, fear and passion – all the while moving closer to an unforgettable revelation.

Winter Garden

27,00 

From the Number One multi-million copy international bestselling author of THE FOUR WINDS and THE NIGHTINGALE. Winter Garden is a haunting and compelling novel illuminating the intricacy of mother-daughter bonds and the enduring links between past and present. Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her family and manage the family apple orchard; the other followed a dream and travelled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But these two estranged women come together at their father’s deathbed standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, to hear the one last promise he extracts from the women in his life. It begins with a story like no other. A captivating, mysterious love story that spans sixty-five years and moves from war torn Leningrad in the 1940’s to modern-day Alaska. The three women are brought together by a story so unexpected and extraordinary that when Meredith and Nina finally learn the secret of their mother’s past and uncover a truth so terrible, it will shake the very foundation of the family and who they think they are.’A tearjerker . . . a journey as lovely and haunting as a snow filled winter’s night’ People

The Four Winds

27,00 

“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable marriage to a man she barely knows.By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

Home Stretch

32,00 

In the compelling new novel, Home Stretch, Graham Norton demonstrates his keen understanding of the power of stigma and secrecy – with quietly devastating results.

‘Graham is a lovely writer and this is by far his best. The passage of time is beautifully handled, and the emergence of Ireland into the modern world is a joy to read… There’s a lovely kindness and a fundamental goodness at the heart of this book. A great read!’ RUSSELL T. DAVIES

‘A real page-turner, the kind of warmth and magical storytelling that puts me in mind of the late, great Maeve Binchy… a writer of real strength and talent.’ LORRAINE KELLY

Some Desperate Glory

25,00 

The story of World War I, through the lives and words of its poets The hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of what many believed would be the war to end all wars is in 2014. And while World War I devastated Europe, it inspired profound poetry―words in which the atmosphere and landscape of battle are evoked perhaps more vividly than anywhere else. The poets―many of whom were killed―show not only the war’s tragedy but also the hopes and disappointments of a generation of men. In Some Desperate Glory, the historian and biographer Max Egremont gives us a transfiguring look at the life and work of this assemblage of poets. Wilfred Owen with his flaring genius; the intense, compassionate Siegfried Sassoon; the composer Ivor Gurney; Robert Graves, who would later spurn his war poems; the nature-loving Edward Thomas; the glamorous Fabian Socialist Rupert Brooke; and the shell-shocked Robert Nichols―all fought in the war, and their poetry is a bold act of creativity in the face of unprecedented destruction. Some Desperate Glory includes a chronological anthology of the poets’ works, telling the story of the war not only through the lives of these writers but also through their art. This unique volume unites the poetry and the history of the war―so often treated separately―granting readers the pride, strife, and sorrow of the individual soldier’s experience coupled with a panoramic view of the war’s toll on an entire nation.

Midnight Club (netflix tie in)

25,00 

Now an original Netflix series!

From the author of The Wicked Heart and The Immortal comes a beautiful and haunting novel about a group of five terminally ill teenagers whose midnight stories become their reality.

Rotterham Home was a hospice for young people—a place where teenagers with terminal illnesses went to die. Nobody who checked in ever checked out. It was a place of pain and sorrow, but also, remarkably, a place of humor and adventure.

Every night at twelve, a group of young guys and girls at the hospice came together to tell stories. They called themselves the Midnight Club, and their stories could be true or false, inspiring or depressing, or somewhere in-between.

One night, in the middle of a particularly scary story, the teenagers make a secret pact with each other, which says, “The first one who dies will do whatever he or she can do to contact us from beyond the grave, to give us proof that there is life after death.”

Then one of them does die…

The Botanist’s Daughter

27,00 

A buried secret…

Present day: Anna is focused on growing her new gardening business and renovating her late grandmother’s house. But when she discovers a box hidden in a wall cavity, containing water colours of exotic plants, an old diary and a handful of seeds, she finds herself thrust into a centuries-old mystery. One that will send her halfway across the world to Kew Gardens and then onto Cornwall in search of the truth.

A lady adventurer…

1886: Elizabeth Trebithick is determined to fulfil her father’s dying wish and continue his life’s work as an adventurer and plant-hunter. So when she embarks on a perilous journey to discover a rare and miraculous flower, she will discover that the ultimate betrayal can be found even across the seas…

Two women, separated by centuries. Can one mysterious flower bring them together?

Game of Lies

35,00 

They say the camera never lies.
But on this show, you can’t trust anything you see.

Stranded in the Welsh mountains, seven reality show contestants have no idea what they’ve signed up for.

Each of these strangers has a secret. If another player can guess the truth, they won’t just be eliminated – they’ll be exposed live on air. The stakes are higher than they’d ever imagined, and they’re trapped.

The disappearance of a contestant wasn’t supposed to be part of the drama. Detective Ffion Morgan has to put aside what she’s watched on screen, and find out who these people really are – knowing she can’t trust any of them.

And when a murderer strikes, Ffion knows every one of her suspects has an alibi . . . and a secret worth killing for.

Quiet Tenant

36,00 

Aidan Thomas is a hardworking family man and a respected member of his community. He’s the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. He’s also a kidnapper and serial killer who has murdered eight women. And there’s a ninth, a woman he calls Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed where she fears for her life. When Aidan’s wife dies, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Cecilia, are forced to move. Aidan has no choice but to bring Rachel too, introducing her to Cecilia as a family friend who needs a place to stay. He knows that after five years of captivity, Rachel is too frightened of the consequences to attempt to escape. But Rachel is a fighter and a survivor. And when Emily, a local restaurant owner, develops a crush on the handsome widower, she finds herself drawn into Rachel and Cecilia’s orbit, coming dangerously close to discovering Aidan’s secret. The Quiet Tenant explores the psychological impact of Aidan’s crimes on the women in his life through the voices of Rachel, Cecilia, and Emily – and the bonds between those women that give them the strength to fight back. Both a searing thriller and an astute study of trauma, survival, and the dynamics of power, The Quiet Tenant is an electrifying novel by a major talent.

Martin: Fevre Dream

27,00 

Abner Marsh has had his dearest wish come true – he has built the Fevre Dream, the finest steamship ever to sail the Mississippi. Abner hopes to race the boat some day

Cannery Row

25,00 

Meet the gamblers, whores, drunks, bums and artists of Cannery Row in Monterey, California, during the Great Depression. They want to throw a party for their friend Doc, so Mack and the boys set about, in their own inimitable way, recruiting everyone in the neighbourhood to the cause. But along the way they can’t help but get involved in a little mischief and misadventure. It wouldn’t be Cannery Row if it was otherwise, now would it?

Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

24,00 

Mika Moon follows three rules: hide your magic, keep your head down, and stay away from other witches. Mika is good at being alone, and she doesn’t mind it . . . mostly. But when an unexpected invitation arrives to teach three young witches at the mysterious Nowhere House, Mika jumps at the chance for a different life. As she comes to care for its quirky inhabitants – and Jamie, the handsome but prickly librarian – finally belonging somewhere feels like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world – is it worth risking everything to protect the found family Mika didn’t know she was looking for?

Gateway

28,00 

Wealth … or death. Those were the choices Gateway offered. Humans had discovered this artificial spaceport, full of working interstellar ships left behind by the mysterious, vanished Heechee.Their destinations are preprogrammed. They are easy to operate, but impossible to control. Some came back with discoveries which made their intrepid pilots rich; others returned with their remains barely identifiable. It was the ultimate game of Russian roulette, but in this resource-starved future there was no shortage of desperate volunteers. Winner of the Hugo, Locus, Nebula and John W. Campbell awards, Gateway begins Pohl’s space operatic Heechee saga. He was hugely influential in SF as an author but also an agent and editor, and his career spanned decades.

Citadel of Forgotten Myths

26,00 

Elric along with his companion Moonglum return, in this prequel set within the early days of Elric’s wanderings, in order to investigate the history of Melniboné and its dragons, known as the Phroon, in this exciting new addition to the Elric Saga from World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Moorcock.

Elric is the estranged emperor of the Melnibonéan empire, struggling with his nature while desperately striving to move forward with his dying empire alongside the constant thirst of his soul-sucking sword, Stormbringer. Elric is on the hunt for the great Citadel of Forgotten Myths while traveling through the remnants of his empire with his tragic best friend Moonglum, as Elric seeks the answers to the nature of the phroon of The Young Kingdoms. Taking place between the first and second book in the Elric Saga, The Citadel of Forgotten Myths is perfect for longtime fans and those new to this epic fantasy series.

Impulse Purchase

29,00 

Cherry, Maggie and Rose are mother, daughter and granddaughter, each with their own hopes, dreams and even sorrows. They have always been close, so when, in a moment of impulse, Cherry buys a gorgeous but rundown pub in the village she grew up in, it soon becomes a family affair.

All three women uproot themselves and move to Rushbrook, deep in the heart of Somerset, to take over The Swan and restore it to its former glory. Cherry is at the helm, Maggie is in charge of the kitchen, and Rose tends the picturesque garden that leads down to the river.

Before long, the locals are delighted to find the beating heart of the village is back, bringing all kinds of surprises through the door.

Could Cherry’s impulse purchase change all their lives – and bring everyone the happiness they’re searching for?

Escape to the glorious Somerset countryside with this joyful and uplifting story of family, love and hope.

Home Front

27,00 

An intimate look at the inner landscape of a disintegrating marriage and a dramatic exploration of the price of war. Kristin Hannah’s Home Front is a provocative and timely portrait of hope, honour, loss, forgiveness – and the elusive nature of love. From a distance, Michael and Jolen Zarkades seem to have it a solid dependable marriage, exciting careers and children they adore. But after twelve blissful years together, the couple has lost their way. They are unhappy and edging towards divorce. Then an unexpected deployment tears their already fragile family apart, sending one of them deep into harm’s way and leaving the other at home, caring for the children and waiting for news. When the worst happens, each must face their darkest fear and fight for the future of their family.

Dreamland

32,00 

Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, until tragedy grounded his aspirations. Now the head of a small family farm in North Carolina, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in St. Pete’s Beach, Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. But when he meets Morgan Lee, his world is turned upside-down, making him wonder if the responsibilities he has shouldered need dictate his life forever. The daughter of affluent Chicago doctors, Morgan has graduated from a prestigious college music program with the ambition to move to Nashville and become a star. Romantically and musically, she and Colby complete each other in a way that neither has ever known. While they are falling headlong in love, Beverly is on a heart-pounding journey of another kind. Fleeing an abusive husband with her six-year-old son, she is trying to piece together a life for them in a small town far off the beaten track. With money running out and danger seemingly around every corner, she makes a desperate decision that will rewrite everything she knows to be true. In the course of a single unforgettable week, two young people will navigate the exhilarating heights and heartbreak of first love. Hundreds of miles away, Beverly will put her love for her young son to the test. And fate will draw all three people together in a web of life-altering connections . . . forcing each to wonder whether the dream of a better life can ever survive the weight of the past.

Armageddon Rag

26,00 

Magic, music, drugs and rock’n’roll in an early novel from George R. R. Martin, author of A GAME OF THRONES

One-time underground journalist Sandy Blair has traveled far from his radical roots in the ’60s – until the bizarre and brutal murder of a millionaire rock promoter draws him back. As Sandy sets out to investigate the crime, he finds himself on a magical mystery tour of the pent-up passions of his generation. For a new messiah has resurrected the once legendary rock band Nazgûl – but with an apocalyptic new beat that is a requiem of demonism, mind control, and death only Sandy may be able to change in time …

Behold the Man    

25,00 

Meet Karl Glogauer, time traveller and unlikely Messiah. When he finds himself in Palestine in the year 29AD he is shocked to meet the man known as Jesus Christ – a drooling idiot, hiding in the shadows of the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth. But if he is not capable of fulfilling his historical role, then who will take his place?

Nights Of Plague

45,00 

1901. Night draws in.

With the stealth of a spy vessel, the royal ship Azizye approaches the famous vistas of Mingheria. ‘An emerald build of pink stone’. The 29th state of the ailing Ottoman Empire.

The ship carries Princess Pakize, the daughter of a deposed sultan, her doctor husband, and the Royal Chemist, Bonkowski Pasha. Each of them holds a separate mission. Not all of them will survive the weeks ahead. Because Mingheria is on the cusp of catastrophe. There are rumours of plague – rumours some in power will try to suppress.

But plague is not the only killer.

Soon, the eyes of the world will turn to this ancient island, where the future of a fragile empire is at stake, in an epic and playful mystery of passion, fear, scandal and murder, from one of history’s master storytellers.

Everything is Beautiful

24,00 

When Amy Ashton’s world fell apart eleven years ago, she started a collection.

Just a few keepsakes of happier times: some honeysuckle to remind herself of the boy she loved, a chipped china bird, an old terracotta pot . . . Things that others might throw away, but to Amy, represent a life that could have been.

Now her house is overflowing with the objects she loves – soon there’ll be no room for Amy at all. But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery, and Amy’s carefully curated life begins to unravel. If she can find the courage to face her past, might the future she thought she’d lost still be hers for the taking?

Perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant and The Keeper of Lost Things, this exquisitely told, uplifting novel shows us that however hopeless things might feel, beauty can be found in the most unexpected of places