For readers who have been moved and overwhelmed by Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life, Emma Donoghue’s Room and Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain, Sparrow tells the story of Jacob, son of no one, last survivor of an abandoned British Roman town. Raised in a brothel on the Spanish coast in the waning years of the Roman Empire, a boy of no known origin creates his own identity. He is Sparrow, who sings without reason and can fly from trouble. His world is a kitchen, the herb-scented garden, then the loud and dangerous tavern, and finally the mysterious upstairs where the ‘wolves’ - prostitutes of every ethnic background from the far reaches of the empire - do their mysterious business. When not being told stories by his beloved ‘mother’ Euterpe, he runs errands for her lover the cook, while trying to avoid the blows of their brutal overseer or the machinations of the chief wolf, Melpomene. A hard fate awaits Sparrow, one that involves suffering, murder, mayhem, and the scattering of the little community that has been his whole world.

Through meticulous research and bold imagination, Hynes brings the entirety of the Roman city of Carthago Nova - its markets, temples, taverns of the lowly and mansions of the rich - to vivid life. You will feel you have been to this place, and understand how a slave class - conquered people of every age, walk of life, or skin colour - made the brutal empire function.

Sparrow recreates a lost world of the last of old pagan Rome as its codes and morals give way before the new religion of Christianity, and introduces readers to one of the most powerfully affecting and memorable characters of recent fiction.

The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire - neither Offred's nor that of the two men on which her future hangs.

Brilliantly conceived and executed, this powerful evocation of twenty-first century America gives full rein to Margaret Atwood's devastating irony, wit and astute perception.

When the truth is the worst lie of all ...Traumatised after overhearing the shocking truth about her family, nine year-old Violet Grey realises that her entire life has been based on lies. Meanwhile, her mother, Doris, slides towards social isolation as the consequences of bygone secrets begin to manifest themselves in her rebellious daughter's behaviour. When war is declared in 1939, no one can predict the devastating events that will follow. Melody of Raindrops is the story of a mother and daughter, driven apart by the family's patriarch, Tom Jeffson, as he struggles to overcome his recently diagnosed psychopathic disorder. A harrowing tale of misplaced family loyalty, envy and manipulation, will Tom conquer the demons that haunt him, win back the trust of those he has wronged in the past and keep his promises to his wife and daughters? Although the novel is the second book in the Jeffson Family Trilogy, it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone family saga, covering the period 1932 to 1945.

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.

In the barrio of Fresno, California, the Molina family is living out the Chicano version of the American Dream. Father William works on an assembly line while his wife, the well-bred beauty Rachel, stays at home to care for their three children--and to keep them off the streets. But when William is offered an opportunity to enter the ranks of the middle class, he quits his job, packs up the Ford Maverick, and transports the Molinas to a brand-new world: the small town of Medford, Oregon. So begins the dramatic transformation of youngest son and aspiring actor Joey, who assumes the role of a vato loco gang member in order to win the respect and fear of his gringo classmates. While Joey tries to make himself popular with tall tales of guns and glory, his father embarks on a bitter struggle to develop his career and combat age-old cultural stereotypes. How William's extraordinary efforts and deepening despair affect the lives of his loved ones is at the heart of this haunting and incandescent novel--one destined to become a classic in Chicano-American literature.

Contribution is the sequel to The Girl from Penthorpe Hill. Poppy Anderson, Jasmine's adopted granddaughter, is a beautiful and compassionate young woman, dedicated to educating the world about our fragile planet. Her energy and passion for living life to the full, protecting the environment, helping others and striving to be the best she can, makes Poppy an international celebrity. Poppy, whose parents are devoted physicians working abroad, was raised by her wise old grandmother, Jasmine, living in the magnificent tropical jungles of Costa Rica before going on to further her education in the United States. After a long life, Jasmine's spiritual legacy lives on in the lives of Poppy and her best friend Sam, who plays a pivotal role in Poppy's journey. Contribution tells of the twists and turns in Poppy's life, learning to grow and confronting heart-breaking challenges. Recovering from a tragedy in India, which changes her world for ever, Poppy discovers there are many kinds of love and joy a person can experience in one lifetime. Poppy ultimately takes a trip back to Penthorpe Hill and begins to understand for herself that true love has no end. As with The Girl from Penthorpe Hill Carol Clayton writes about resilient women with honesty of emotion, be it sorrow or joy, and of meeting life's challenges with the main character emerging the stronger for it. Contribution is an intensely moving story of self-discovery, learning to live with loss and moving forward to experience life in all its fullness! A truly enjoyable read!

BY THE WINNER OF THE 2021 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 'Riveting and heartbreaking ... A compelling novel, one that gathers close all those who were meant to be forgotten, and refuses their erasure' Maaza Mengiste, Guardian 'A brilliant and important book for our times, by a wondrous writer' Philippe Sands, New Statesman, Books of the Year _______________ While he was still a little boy, Ilyas was stolen from his parents by the German colonial troops. After years away, fighting in a war against his own people, he returns to his village to find his parents gone, and his sister Afiya given away. Another young man returns at the same time. Hamza was not stolen for the war, but sold into it; he has grown up at the right hand of an officer whose protection has marked him life. With nothing but the clothes on his back, he seeks only work and security - and the love of the beautiful Afiya. As fate knots these young people together, as they live and work and fall in love, the shadow of a new war on another continent lengthens and darkens, ready to snatch them up and carry them away... _______________ 'One of the world's most prominent postcolonial writers ... He has consistently and with great compassion penetrated the effects of colonialism in East Africa and its effects on the lives of uprooted and migrating individuals' Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Committee 'In book after book, he guides us through seismic historic moments and devastating societal ruptures while gently outlining what it is that keeps those families, friendships and loving spaces intact, if not fully whole' Maaza Mengiste 'Rarely in a lifetime can you open a book and find that reading it encapsulates the enchanting qualities of a love affair ... One scarcely dares breathe while reading it for fear of breaking the enchantment' The Times

In this romantic adventure story David Greason Walker applauds youth, life, love, adventure and the wide landscapes that are far beyond the restrictions of a cosy fireside. The story explores the twilight world between youth and adulthood, with its mixture of idealism, love, realism and sheer caprice. When Carl Hafod first meets Vreni outside a busy pub on a cold, snow-blown winter's day, he is totally unaware of the new direction his life will follow; including the discovery of a hoard of Nazi gold and how the gold has political implications that have remained buried in secrecy since World War Two. The story revolves not only around Carl and Vreni, and Carl's business interests in Fiji, but also around the lives of six other closely knit students. How they become victims of the ever increasing value of the gold. The final decisions they make and the all-encompassing passion Carl feels for Vreni and her abject beauty.

From the shadows. A new evil will rise. Faceless. Nameless.

Since his appointment as Nomarch of Memphis, by the God-Pharaoh Rameses, Piay has thrown himself into pulling the city back from the brink. The famous white city walls have been rebuilt, the once starving inhabitants fed and every day caravans have arrived from the desert wastes, filled with the many riches looted and hidden by the Hyksos. But when the body of a murdered scribe is found sealed inside the newly constructed city vault - the mark of Anubis, god of death, scrawled next to him in his own blood - panic sweeps the city. Only the wisest man in all Egypt can solve this mystery - Piay's mentor, the great sage Taita.

Called from his place at the God-Pharaoh Rameses' side, Taita's arrival in Memphis calms the populace, but it isn't long before the mark of Anubis appears again, and again. Taita and Piay are drawn into a battle of wits against a criminal mastermind turned warlord, his aim - with the demise of the Hyksos - to see the kingdom of the Red Pretender restored and the forces of Rameses crushed.

Will everything that Taita has fought for be torn asunder? Or will he and Piay finally reunite the two kingdoms? Only time will tell. And time is running out.

Book 4 in The New Kingdom Sequence and book 10 in the Ancient Egyptian series from the master historical adventure writer, Wilbur Smith.

An epic and transporting novel, the latest installment of the “heart-wrenching, uplifting, and utterly enthralling” (Lucy Foley, author of The Guest List) Seven Sisters series, unravelling between the dazzling streets of modern-day New York City and the breathtaking plains of 1940s colonial Kenya.

Electra d’Aplièse is a top model who seems to have it all: beauty, fame, and wealth. But beneath the glittery veneer, she’s cracking under all the pressure. When her father dies, she turns to alcohol and drugs to ease the pain. As friends and colleagues fear for her health, Electra receives a shocking letter from a stranger who claims to be her grandmother.

In 1939, New Yorker Cecily Huntley-Morgan arrives in Kenya’s Lake Naivasha region for the exciting chance to stay with her godmother, the famous socialite Kiki Preston. But after a sheltered upbringing, she’s astounded by the hedonistic antics of the other ex-pats in the infamous Happy Valley set. Cecily soon grows to love her stunning but complicated new home, and she even accepts a proposal of marriage from an enigmatic older cattle farmer. After a shocking discovery and with war looming, Cecily feels isolated and alone. Until she meets a young woman in the woods and makes her a promise that will change the course of her life forever.

Featuring Lucinda Riley’s “engaging and mesmerizing” (Library Journal, starred review) storytelling and filled with unforgettable and moving characters, The Sun Sister explores how love can cross seemingly impossible boundaries.

In Finding Ashley, a deeply moving novel from the number one bestseller Danielle Steel, two estranged sisters get the chance to reconnect and right the wrongs of the past. Melissa Henderson leads a quiet life. Once a bestselling author, she now pours all her energy into renovating a Victorian house in the foothills of rural New England. Six years ago, her life was derailed by tragedy and she stopped writing. The house has given her new purpose. When her beloved home appears on the news, Melissa receives a call from her estranged sister, Hattie. They were close once, but that was before Melissa withdrew from the world. Now Hattie is determined to help Melissa turn a new page, even if it means reopening one of the most painful chapters of her life. All these years later, Hattie feels compelled to embark on a journey that will change both their lives forever, to find the child that Melissa was forced to give up when she was only a teenager in Ireland. Finding Ashley is a powerful love story of two strong, brave women turning loss into reconnection, and a family reunited.

God. Hero. Idol. Monster. Murderer. The story of Hercules is one of the most famous ever told. But what if it's wrong? Locus and Nebula Award-winning author John Wiswell brings his gentle, human storytelling to the most infamous of stories and discovers the heart inside us all.

Furious with Zeus for once again siring a child with a mortal woman, Hera finds herself redirecting all her fury at the baby himself, Heracles, an innocent named in her honour. As Heracles grows into a man - an unfathomably strong, loving man - he thanks Hera for all the blessings he feels she's seen fit to bestow upon him.

In a moment of misdirected rage, however, Hera sends a fury to kill Heracles' family. Heracles sets out on an epic quest to discover the name of the god who set their murders in motion. Desperate to keep him busy until she can come up with a solution, Hera sets Heracles a series of tests, as impossible as they are deadly: the Nemean lion, the hydra, the Stymphalian birds, the Aegean stables . . .

But Heracles' innate kindness, along with his determination to discover the identity of the god who cost him everything he loves, carries him through each task. As his legend grows, so does Hera's desperation.

A novel of friendship, of found family, of kindness and of legend, this is the story of Hercules as it has never been told before.

The Sunday Times bestselling sequel to Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, the stunning conclusion to Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize-winning Wolf Hall trilogy. Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020 Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020 'Mantel has taken us to the dark heart of history...and what a show' The Times 'If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?' England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith's son from Putney emerges from the spring's bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry's regime to breaking point, Cromwell's robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him? With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man's vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage. A Guardian Book of the Year * A Times Book of the Year * A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year * A Sunday Times Book of the Year * A New Statesman Book of the Year * A Spectator Book of the Year Sunday Times Bestseller (08/03/2020)