A poignant and heartfelt novel about family ties, family lies and the truths we withhold to protect the ones we love.

When Sika is invited to a lavish family party in Accra, she jumps at the chance. Her life might be in London – with a high-powered job, demanding boss and intense friendships – but she's itching to get to know her cousins, aunts and uncles, and explore the country her mother left just after Sika was born.

The holiday is better than she could have imagined, especially when handsome, charismatic Danso steps onto the scene. But on the night of the big party, as her happiness soars, Sika discovers a dark secret that will change everything – for everyone – forever.

An imaginative insight into the sexual awakening of a young man (Monty Bellamy) who, at an early age, decides to live entirely for pleasure, using his God-given talents to bring a smile of considerable satisfaction (and so much more) to a seemingly endless chain of needy, grateful and generous women, regardless of age. The character is alive and identifiable and will strike a chord with many, highlighting a hedonistic lifestyle of which some may dream and others will envy. It kicks in with pacey intrigue and the momentum continues throughout almost forty years until it reaches a bitter-sweet and justified denouement. It is a strong and entertaining read, suggesting that we may be hearing a great deal more of Len Russell - Martin Pedrick - Author of In the Front Line and The Urbane Terrorist In his own inimitable style, Len Russell has done it again. Following on from his autobiography, Len's story on the high seas and his detailed knowledge of such a life, has us hooked from page one. The protagonist, Monty is a bold and colourful character, not unlike his creator and it's Len's undeniable understanding of how people tick that vibrantly brings all the characters to life in the most unusual way, giving us a peephole into a gigolo's life (and all those he 'touches'). The result is often funny, sometimes sad but always enthralling. - Ken Balneaves - Author of The Greatest Gift and Drifting Sands Drawing on a grand English tradition that harks back at least as far as Tom Jones and A Rake's Progress, author Len Russell creates a ribald and at times cautionary tale about 'Monty from Watford'; an earnest young man who unwittingly evolves from handsome seaman to one of international society's most sought after gigolos. Relying on a mix of charm and the reputed size of his 'Utensil', Monty cuts a swathe through the lives of socialites from Monaco to Miami. Erotic, hilarious and endearing in equal parts. - Dan Witters - Author of The Carrington Effect

From disco balls to Christmas baubles ... Ex-dancer Emily Williams turned her back on the sparkle of popular dancing show Strictly Dancing with Celebs to help those in need. Now the only dancing she does is teaching lonely pensioners to waltz, and the closest she gets to disco balls is making baubles with the homeless people in her Christmas crafts class. She's certainly not star-struck when Hollywood heart-throb Blake Harris is sent to her at short notice for community service, and has no desire to babysit the arrogant actor with his bad boy antics and selfish ways. Christmas might be a time for miracles, but Blake seems to be a lost cause. But Emily's reasons for abandoning her dancing passion means she understands the Hollywood wild child more than she'd like to admit. Could their time together, coupled with a dash of Christmas spirit, lead to a miracle change of heart for them both?

Eviscerated Panda - So Far, So Good, So Panda is the fifth book in the Eviscerated Panda series. It follows the band and those close to them while they try to gain musical success and not get jaded and faded by life's many demands. There are gigs aplenty for the Pandas; in Coventry with Over-revved Engine, in their native Reading with Dick Trouble, Deep Red Mistress and Nightshade Milkshake, and in Camden with Horror Frog. Gigs take place against a backdrop of personal issues; Ian and Gav meet their estranged Mum, Suzy reluctantly celebrates her thirtieth birthday, Victor, the singer of Deep Red Mistress, irritates Phil. Paul plays at the swanky golf club with covers band the Bandits of Party City. Nick and Jenni move in together. Paul and Angie celebrate their wedding anniversary and daughter Rose's first birthday. Jez and Cleo visit a castle. The Pandas record their second album. They play in Bognor with Horror Frog and at a bike rally. Paul becomes the drummer for the Bandits of Party City as well as the Pandas. Phil outlines his Pandas on tour plan and buys a van then kicks a stressful aspect of his life to the kerb. Paul decides to leave the Pandas. They advertise for a new drummer. Cleo has doubts about Jez. Suzy is not pleased to see men in uniform. Gav and Cleo move back to Reading and a promising new drummer excites Phil. Eviscerated Panda has claws and potential, they aren't going to give up yet.

Jim just demobbed from the army and seeking employment, inadvertently finds himself working for a black marketeer.He descends into the grimy twilight world of his employer and is soon engaged in the same criminal pursuits. Then, upon meeting a respectable girl, he resolves to leave the clutches of his ruthless employer and make a fresh start.But that has its difficulties and his subsequent actions and that of his employer, result in a totally unexpected conclusion. Bob Chapman's gritty look at a post World War II Britain is both riveting and disturbing, based on the truth, it is not for the prudish or faint hearted.

This book tells the story of a former nun and the struggles she faces and finally overcomes after leaving her convent following the death of her mother. All the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to a charity which helps the homeless who live and sleep on our city streets.

Hamilton is confused and frightened. Heading he knows not where. The nightmare from which he is trying to escape will follow him wherever he goes. Salvation will come but not before tribulation...

Part hallucination, part queer bildungsroman, Never Was is a beautifully strange novel about grief, addiction and working-class masculinity, taking us from a limbo of lost dreams to a small salt-mining town and exploring the way identity is both inherited and re-invented. Daniel sits on a clifftop in the aftermath of a party at Fin's mansion, looking out over a junky sea. Daniel's not sure why they're there, or who Fin is, even though Fin seems to be somebody famous. To find out, Daniel must tell Fin the story of their childhood, going back to a small salt-mining town in The North, a visit from their now-estranged cousin Crystal, and the life and losses of their salt-miner father, Mika. Taking us from bus shelters to playgrounds to McDonalds, from the depth of a salt mine to a nightclub toilet, Daniel describes their world of soap operas, sunglasses, newspaper clippings and Princess Diana, steering Fin through the events that led up to The Great Subsidence, when their town and the mine that sustained it collapsed. As Daniel tells their story, they come to learn they're in a place called Never Was, a limbo for lost dreams and disappointments, a landfill for things that never came to be, but also a place of change and transition. Dreamy, poignant, and revelatory, Never Was is a bold and inventive novel by an inimitable voice in literary fiction.

‘Where are the fragments of the life you have lived?’

2005

In Atlanta, Benjamin, a white-passing man of Nigerian heritage, is wondering what his life has been made up of, broken relationships, attempts to forge an identity from others’ memories.

In Lagos, Margaret, a Nigerian single mother, is trying to decipher and finally destroy the mental malaise that has troubled her for as long as she can remember, by winding her way through a complex family history.

Though they are no longer the twenty-somethings they once were when they met, and the 40 years that have passed since they last saw one another might suggest they are strangers, there is a deep and unsettling history that has bound them together since long before they were born.

1905

A well-respected chief in Umumilo village, Nigeria, Okolo has always followed tradition. Then three of the young village women – including his sister, who follows the white man’s God – are shrouded in scandal, and Okolo is forced to choose which path to take: that of least resistance, embracing the ways of the white man to save his village and his sister’s pride, or the other, preserving the ways that have sustained generations – but at what cost?

A beautifully crafted multi-generational story of family history and identity, This Kind of Trouble is a powerful debut that asks what makes up a life, and how when it’s broken, we might put it together again.

This is the story of Chip the Chihuahua who goes on a grand adventure in his own magical garden. Chip meets Bert the Bee who thinks Chip is also a bee. Chip soon discovers just how busy the little bees that live in our gardens really are.

Three love stories all set in the fair city of Verona and all linked to the overwhelming presence of The Arena, formerly a Roman amphitheatre. AD 30 - Can Lucius overcome the dangers of the arena to win Drusilla? AD 116 - Will Pietro recover his memory of an earlier love before she is lost to him forever? PRESENT DAY - Carletta has an ambition to sing opera in The Arena but many obstacles bar her way. Can the dark-haired man help her?

The year is 1998. The location is Reading, England. Cleo Howard is almost sixteen years old. It's going to be a big year. By the end of it she'll have seen Black Sabbath and Slayer, sat her GCSEs, been alone with a man and Opal Fruits will have been renamed Starburst. It's a time of great change. Cleo is lucky to have her constant companions Ian and Jenni to help her weather the storms of her world.

Une histoire enchantA (c)e que les grands auront plaisir A lire aux enfants. Le monde sous-marin est un endroit magique pour Dilo le dauphin. Sa mAre montre A Dilo comment utiliser ses sens avant de s'aventurer A la recherche de l'ile aux Phoques.

Un cuento encantador que adultos disfrutar de la lectura a los niA+/-os. El mundo submarino es un lugar mA!gico para Dilo el delfA n. Su madre enseA+/-a a Dilo cA(3)mo utilizar su sonido mA!gico antes de salir en una aventura para encontrar La Isla de las Focas.

These twenty four short stories are ideal for advent reading or whenever you can fit them into the busy month of December. These festive snapshots into other people's lives aim to enliven and entertain. A handful of the stories are set in the recent past, because Christmas is a great time for nostalgia. There are stories about anticipation, hope and that tingling feeling you get when waiting for something pleasant to happen. There is a cast of characters of all ages and not all of them are human. There are themes of time and counting, dark and light, change and renewal. The book is two dozen slices of Christmas, waiting to bring cheer at the dark time of the year.

The ninth book in Jennifer Chiaverini's bestselling series--when two of Elm Creek Quilts' founding members decide to leave the fold, who can possibly take their place in the circle of quilters?When Elm Creek Quilts announces openings for two new teachers, quilters everywhere are vying to land the prestigious post. The impending departure of two founding members means untold changes for the Elm Creek Quilters. As they begin the interview process, a single question emerges: Who can possibly take the place of beloved colleagues and friends? "We must evaluate all of the applicants' qualities," advises Master Quilter Sylvia Compson. "Our choice will say as much about us as it says about who we decide to hire." Who merits a place among the circle of quilters? Will it be Maggie, whose love of history shines through in all her projects; Anna, whose food-themed quilts are wonderfully innovative; Russ, the male quilter with a completely original style; Karen, a novice teacher whose gifts for language complement her deep understanding of the quilters' mission; or Gretchen, the soulful veteran whose craft is inspired by quilting tradition?

This is a tale of a 13-year old girl, Jadesola Balogun, who is torn between two worlds. Her parents hail from Nigeria but as she is London-born and bred, her London friends are the source of her western life style. Jadesola's paternal grandmother is staying with the family. Mrs Balogun Snr is stubbornly steeped in tradition. 'Jadesola will henceforth be brought up the African way,' she vows. The West and South Looking Child delivers powerful messages about racism, teen pregnancy and generational differences. Its stance is positive. It encourages open-mindedness. It is a must read for anyone interested in inter-cultural issues.

Now a Major Motion Picture from Director Luca Guadagnino, Starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet, and Written by James Ivory WINNER BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ACADEMY AWARD Nominated for Four Oscars A New York Times Bestseller A USA Today Bestseller A Los Angeles Times Bestseller A Vulture Book Club Pick An Instant Classic and One of the Great Love Stories of Our Time Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.

Fancy a spot of peaceful, dignified golf? Then West Belby, with its dark past and present traumas, is not the place for you. Hard up and desperate, the club's novice managers turn to the services of a mysterious American, who promises what he may never deliver and keeps his past a secret. Fraud, vandalism and an unexplained fire put fragile friendships and rocky relationships to the test. Old rivalries re-emerge, past loves gain new energy, ancient wrongs cry out for revenge and John Winter, a decent man with one major weakness, women, is caught in the middle of a tale of deceit, revenge, passion and humiliation, as the past returns to haunt them all. Even the tightly regulated game of golf, with its strict etiquette, buttoned-up morality, and a rule for every situation proves an unreliable restraint on the explosive emotions of its players. Off the course, moreover, there are no rules, and precious little remains buttoned-up for long! 'Winter Rules' is a rip-roaring follow-up to the popular 'The Trophy Wife'. It deals with grown-up themes in a humorous, witty and down-to earth way. The style is delightful, the characters engaging and the story turns this way and that before reaching a satisfying and surprising conclusion.