Joseph Heller's powerful, wonderfully funny, deeply moving novel is the story of David -- yes, King David -- but as you've never seen him before. You already know David as the legendary warrior king of Israel, husband of Bathsheba, and father of Solomon; now meet David as he really was: the cocky Jewish kid, the plagiarized poet, and the Jewish father. Listen as David tells his own story, a story both relentlessly ancient and surprisingly modern, about growing up and growing old, about men and women, and about man and God. It is quintessential Heller.

In a series of mock lesson plans, the author of the incomparable Memory of Fire trilogy provides an eloquent, passionate, funny, and shocking exposé of our first world privileges and assumptions. From a master class in "The Impunity of Power" to a seminar on "The Sacred Car"-with tips along the way on "How to Resist Useless Vices" and a declaration of "The Right to Rave"-he guides us through a world unevenly divided between abundance and deprivation, power and helplessness.

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...

Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies
With a new introduction by Tayeb Salih

‘An Arabian Nights in reverse … Powerfully and poetically written’ 
Observer

When a young man returns to his village in the Sudan after many years studying in Europe, he finds that among the familiar faces there is now a stranger – the enigmatic Mustafa Sa’eed. As the two become friends, Mustafa tells the younger man the disturbing story of his own life in London after the First World War. Lionized by society and desired by women as an exotic novelty, Mustafa was driven to take brutal revenge on the decadent West and was, in turn, destroyed by it. Now the terrible legacy of his actions has come to haunt the small village at the bend of the Nile.

The story of a man undone by a culture that in part created him, Season of Migration to the North is a powerful and evocative examination of colonization in two vastly different worlds.

It's uncanny! Within six months of breaking up with her, Peg Silver's ex-lovers always meet and marry the women of their dreams. Even worse than being the eternal bridesmaid, she's the last girlfriend, the one who awakens in a guy theknowledge of what he's always wanted in a relationship ... and it's never with Peg. Obviously, a major lifestyle change is seriously called for, which is why the distraught interior landscape designer says good-bye to Manhattan and late-night lattes with pal Nina, and hello to a farmhouse on ten acres in tiny, backwater Manshire, Vermont, hoping to meet the ultimate, all-organic country man (without too much facial hair) to keep her warm in those frosty New England winters.

Instead, Peg finds herself at Inward Bound -- a proactive adult-education retreat for the hapless and hopelessly lovelorn -- to try to lift her dreaded "girlfriend curse." A steamy (and expressly forbidden) dalliance with gorgeous woman-eater Ray probably isn't going to help cure her. But some romantic insight could arise from her attraction to Linus, Inward Bound's sexy, scruffy, smart and still-single founder. Perhaps there is a secret to be unearthed in the crunchy Green Mountains, one that will magically transform Peg Silver from the Perpetual Also Ran to the Big Winner in love.

Set in post-war Switzerland, Fleur Jaeggy's novel begins simply and innocently enough: `At fourteen I was a boarder in a school in the Appenzell'. But there is nothing truly simple or innocent here. With the offhanded knowingness of a remorseless young Eve, the narrator describes life as a captive of the school and her designs to win the affections of the seemingly perfect new girl, Frederique. As she broods over her schemes as well as on the nature of control and madness, the novel gathers a suspended, unsettling energy.

"Beautifully complex and deftly drawn...In Every Mirror She's Black is a sexy, surprising, searing debut about love, loss, desire, and the many dimensions of Black womanhood."—Deesha Philyaw, 2020 National Book Award Finalist & award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies An arresting debut for anyone looking for insight into what it means to be a Black woman in the world. Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people. Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation's largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi's move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life. A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege—a life she's not sure she wants—as the object of his unhealthy obsession. And Somali refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny's office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home. Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She's Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society. Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an African-American (Nigerian-American) award-winning author, speaker, and photographer based in Sweden. This is her first novel. Praise for In Every Mirror She's Black: "In Every Mirror She's Black is a wise and complicated exploration of the lives of three Black women in America and Sweden. Lola Akinmade Åkerström offers a sharply written story with messy, deeply moving characters, raising brutal questions and steering clear of easy answers. A book that will stick with you long after you've turned the last page."—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six "In Every Mirror She's Black highlights the struggles of three women fighting to assimilate into a society that ignores their worth. These characters will pull at your heartstrings. Lola writes with a contemporary flair, highlighting the layered subtleties of the Black woman's plight. In Every Mirror She's Black will stay with readers for a long time."—Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of bestselling novels Here Comes the Sun and Patsy "In Every Mirror She's Black is an absolute must-read. From its relatable and three-dimensional characters, to its delving into racism and tokenism, to its unique and sometimes heartbreaking examination of the lives of Black women in a Nordic setting, this novel delivers an emotional punch. Kemi, Brittany, and Muna's lives come alive on the page. If you're looking for a novel that will stay with you even days after you've read the last page, then make sure you grab a copy of Lola Akinmade Åkerström's In Every Mirror She's Black. This is a very different and unpredictable portrayal of Black women's search for love and self, and it's pure magic."—Kim Golden, USA Today bestselling author

Maya and Daughter live in complete isolation in a secluded woodland, their days aligned with the light and changing seasons, a complex pattern of routine and ritual. Daughter has never questioned the life her mother has chosen for them; the life that has meant she's never met another soul, or known anywhere except their forest home.

But one day, when Daughter is almost sixteen, a red-haired stranger steps into the confines of their territory. Where there was always two, suddenly there are three - and the carefully constructed world that Maya has built to keep her daughter safe may not survive it.

Urgent, haunting and thrillingly alive, Life Cycle of a Moth explores both the tenderness and ferocity of maternal love, asking what we might find ourselves capable of - and willing to sacrifice - in order to shelter those we hold dear.

It is 1939, the outbreak of World War Two, and ten year old Ryan Brannigan newly arrived from Ireland experiences the horrors and excitement of war. A rebellious lad in conflict with the parish priest, Father O'Donnell, his teachers, and his father, as well as the Church, he forms an uneasy relationship with Nadina Brown, a vulnerable, ultra-religious, highly sensitive, intelligent girl of the same age. Ryan's father, Fergus, an armchair warrior of the IRA due to a wound sustained in the Easter Rising of 1916, strongly suspects the priest of abusing the girl, though she strenuously denies it. Convinced that she is scared to tell the truth, he hurries round to the presbytery to find O'Donnell gone back to Ireland and a priest to replace him arriving the very next day. Angry and frustrated, Fergus rushes to the police station to demand action, but his complaints are contemptuously dismissed. Ryan, confused over the turn of events has taken a thorough dislike towards Nadina. But soon he will discover the truth and his compassion for her and desire for revenge will know no bounds.

The year is 1971 and Great Yarmouth, along with all parts of the United Kingdom, must get to grips with decimal currency, widely known as "the new money". Some, more than others will find the transition difficult, but none more so that Maud's sister, Enid in her gift shop. Don Stevens and Rita Ricer pull together another line-up of variety artistes to headline The Golden Sands Theatre for a twice nightly summer season show but with the added pressure of a small theatre in crisis at the neighbouring Brokencliff-on-Sea, that it seems only Rita can help to save. * What secret is the new backstage manager hiding? * Find out if running a hotel is all it is cracked up to be * Who will be topping this year's bill at The Golden Sands? * Rock star Rick O'Shea sets a certain landlady's heart aflutter * Will Freda's new perfume cause a stink with the locals? * A new guest house launches, but with a difference * And the question on every landlady's lips: "Who will be head of GAGGA?" Back with his unique mix of Great Yarmouth locals, landladies and variety stars, Tony Gareth Smith revisits the seaside pleasures of yesteryear and reminds us when summer holidays were simpler and didn't involve the use of electronic mobile gadgets. So settle down with a quarter of your favourite sweets or a cup of tea and a cream horn and enjoy this year's most relaxing read.With the added bonus of a short story, Boarding Tonight preceding the main feature "Curtains", it is fun, fun, fun all the way...

SLAVE. ESCAPE-ARTIST. MURDERER. TERRORIST. SPY. LOVER. MOTHER. TRICKSTER.

At the Golden Sunset retirement home, it is not unusual for residents to invent stories. So when elderly Ms Mook first begins to unspool her memories, the obituarist listening to her is sceptical.

Stories of captivity, friendship, murder, adventure, assumed identities and spying. Stories that take place in WWII Indonesia; in Busan during the Korean war; in cold-war Pyongyang; in China. The stories are so colourful and various, at times so unbelievable, that they cannot surely all belong to the same woman. Can they?

As playful and thought-provoking as it is compelling, as brutal and harrowing as it is achingly poignant and tender, this is a novel about love and war, deceit and betrayal, about identity, storytelling and the trickery required for survival.

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.

Structure is Character. Characters are what they do. Story events impact the characters and the characters impact events. Actions and reactions create revelation and insight, opening the door to a meaningful emotional experience for the audience. Story is what elevates a film, a novel, a play, or teleplay, transforming a good work into a great one. Movie-making in particular is a collaborative endeavour - requiring great skill and talent by the entire cast, crew and creative team - but the screenwriter is the only original artist on a film. Everyone else - the actors, directors, cameramen, production designers, editors, special effects wizards and so on - are interpretive artists, trying to bring alive the world, the events and the characters that the writer has invented and created. Robert McKee's STORY is a comprehensive and superbly organized exploration of all elements, from the basics to advanced concepts. It is a practical course, presenting new perspectives on the craft of storytelling, not just for the screenwriter but for the novelist, playwright, journalist and non-fiction writers of all types.

Mariza, 'n bekende historiese romanskrywer, het haar woorde verloor nadat 'n brand haar huis byna in puin gelê het. Daarna sterf haar man en nou, 'n jaar later, haar Jack Russell wat 16 jaar haar metgesel was.

Sy ontmoet Joubert Hofmeyr, en hulle vertrek op 'n reis na die Kgalagadi: Sy om haar woorde terug te kry en hy om meer vir sy navorsing oor sy voorgeslag se skades en skandes by haar uit te vind. Mariza en Joubert verskil soms, is 'n klankbord vir mekaar en ryg mekaar se stories aanmekaar, maar besef dat die verlede soms jou toekoms bepaal. Die goue draad deur die storie van vyf geslagte vroue is dat hul probleme universeel is. Dat die kollektiewe geheue van die vroue mekaar van geslag tot geslag beïnvloed.

Die reis is alles is nie so eenvoudig nie. Dit is die medereisigers wat alles die moeite werd maak. Selfs die voorgeslagte oor eeue heen.

THE MODERN CLASSIC: OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD A Sunday Times bestseller and a Richard & Judy book club pick 'The real deal: one gorgeous read' Stephen King 'This book will change your life. An instant classic' Daily Telegraph 'A book lover's dream' The Times Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'Cemetery of Lost Books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from the book, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind... 'Marvellous' Sunday Times 'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' Independent 'Gripping and instantly atmospheric' Mail on Sunday 'Irresistibly readable' Guardian 'Diabolically good' Elle

A stunning tale of a submarine disaster. In 1948, Naval Intelligence discovered that the Soviets were building a large submarine fleet, all much faster and deadlier than the German U-boats. Britain's fleet of escort vessels would be outclassed. The government ordered two of our existing slow T class submarines to be adapted to go faster, and then tried out against our existing frigates. The anti-submarine trials were a disaster, not helped by the stormy relationship between two people each brilliant in their field: the young mathematician boffin, Dr Alison Maynard; and her boyfriend Tom Seago, maverick navigator of one of the sub-chasing frigates. For a gripping read, full of passion, danger, ingenuity and moments of cliffhanging fear, look no further.

It's the year 2020, and John Dean is making plans - big plans. He's seen the writing on the wall. Temperatures of over 45 degrees are a regular occurrence and sea levels are rising; severe drought has meant harsh water restrictions, and the economy has slowed almost to a standstill. But John is not going to sit and suffer; he'll do whatever it takes to protect his family, and he's taking action. This is the story of how he moves his family away from a society on the brink of destruction to create a haven and make a fresh start. The Dean family and those who join them on their farm pull together to create a self-sufficient life as civilisation crumbles around them. They struggle to learn farming techniques and long-lost skills, but they survive. Then a threat comes from the north when refugees stream into northern Australia to escape heat, flooding and starvation. The Dean group must do the unimaginable: they must kill to defend the farm and their lives. This well-paced futuristic story about the astonishing human ability to adapt will keep readers engaged from the beginning as they imagine what they would do in the same situation - a totally credible scenario, as global warming increases its grip on our planet. The characters are beautifully drawn, and readers will be able to relate to the family relationships and admire the leadership of John and his son. Until the Little Birds Sing is a thoroughly engaging book - at times a grim tale, but ultimately one of hope, courage and renewal.

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.

As Tom Jeffson inserts the key into the lock of an empty house on Easter Saturday in 1922, he is completely unaware that his youngest daughter, eight year-old Daisy, is hiding there following a childish prank. Although Daisy is the innocent witness to her father's adulterous liaison that day, it is her older sister, Rose, who forever carries the burden of his deception. Sunlight on Broken Glass is a story of two sisters, united as they endure the consequences of their father's increasingly appalling behaviour. But, as the story reaches its climax and Tom is diagnosed with a chilling psychopathic disorder, can their love for each other withstand the strain? Based on a true story, Sunlight on Broken Glass is the first novel in the Jeffson Family Trilogy, an epic saga of love, loss, hopes, dreams and family loyalty.