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Books > Fiction > Special features > Short stories
In Love with a Stranger is a moving collection of short
stories by Johannesburg-based Kaizer Mabhilidi Nyatsumba, whose
impressive powers of human observations and acclaimed writing
expertise are on display in this book. Contained in it are
fascinating short stories written at a time when South Africa was
going through an historic political transition that gripped the
world’s attention. Although based in South Africa, the stories have
a universal appeal. While some may be of greater interest or
relevance to people in countries dealing with conflicts or going
through transitions, the themes and emotions that the stories touch
upon are universal in nature, such as love and fear, among others.
'Vivid, memorable and beautifully crafted' - Sarah Moss, author of
Summerwater 'A brilliant collection, from a remarkable talent' -
Joseph O'Connor, author of Shadowplay Hearts and Bones is a book
about relationships. It explores what love does to us, and how we
survive it. A young woman learns to wield her power, leaving
casualties in her wake, while a man from a small town finds solace
in a strange new hobby. A watchful child feels a breaking point
approach as her mother struggles to keep her life on track, and
another daughter steps onto a stage while her family in the
audience hope that she is strong enough now to take on the world.
First-time lovers make mistakes, brothers and sisters try to
forgive one another, and parents struggle and fail and struggle
again. Teenage souls are swayed by euphoric faith in a higher power
and then by devotion to desire, trapped between different notions
of what might be true. Quiet revolutions happen in living rooms, on
river banks, in packed pubs and empty churches, and years later we
wonder why we ever did the things we did. Set between Ireland and
London in the first two decades of this millennium, the stories in
Hearts and Bones, Niamh Mulvey's debut collection, look at the
changes that have torn through these times and ask who we are now
that we've brought the old gods down. Witty, sharply observed and
deeply moving, these ten stories announce an extraordinary new
Irish literary talent. 'Astute, surprising and wholly entertaining'
- Irish Independent 'Showcases Mulvey's strenths as a writer: the
strangeness, the originality, the perfect pacing . . . highly
accomplished' - Irish Times 'Honest, daringly fresh and stunningly
written, these stories cut right to the very essence of what it
means to be young' - Jan Carson, author of The Raptures
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In the latest of our celebrated series, you find yourself
surfacing, dazed in the waiting room. You read snatches of lines
over the shoulders of raincoats. In the carriage you have glimpses
and visions. At your destination you can hear space, see thunder,
taste realization. You are running towards something, someone in
the trees who holds out to you an understanding hand. Welcome to
the wonderful and sometimes frightening world of Unthology 5.
Stories do not have to be long. In the space of a couple of
sentences - or even a page or two - we can see the human heart
exposed in a way that is more powerful than in a novel. In Tiny
Tales Alexander McCall Smith explores romance, ambition, kindness
and happiness in thirty short stories that range in length from the
short to the tiny. The settings are as diverse as the characters -
Scotland, England, Australia, the United States - combining to
create a rich and always surprising selection. An Australian pope?.
A persuasive cosmetic surgeon? The world's laziest cat. A group of
students living together and getting romantically entangled? All
human and animal life is here - in miniature.
For generations of Oxfords residents, students and visitors,
Boswells has been part of the city's charm. It was therefore an
obvious subject for Oxford Inc, a group of writers who compile
stories around a common theme. All sorts of people pass through the
department store; they may look just like the rest of us but,
underneath the surface, the authors reveal private lives with
twists, joy and despair, all of which make for an entertaining
read. There are stores here to make you laugh, some will make you
cry, and others will make you think; together they present a
collection which is a varied and delightful as Boswells, the famous
old store which links them all. Boswells are donating a percentage
of the profit from every copy they sell to their Charity of the
Year.
Scardio The Seahorse is a non-fiction childrena s book, telling the
story of a beautiful racehorse from Indonesia who left his home to
become a champion, but unfortunately, over the years fell on hard
times. The true story, through its wonderful illustrations tells of
Scardioa s fall from grace, but, also how he was then rescued by a
local boy. a Scardio the Seahorsea is often referred to as a a 21st
century version of Black Beautya for younger children wanting a
very happy ending.
The New York stories, most of which take place around the year 2000,
consider the fateful consequences that can spring from brief encounters
and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of
modern marriages.
Told from seven points of view, 'Eve in Hollywood' describes how one of
Towles’s most beloved characters, the indomitable Evelyn Ross from
Rules of Civility, crafts a new future for herself―and others―in a
noirish tale that takes us through the movie sets, bungalows and dive
bars of 1930s Los Angeles.
Written with his signature wit, humour and sophistication, Table for
Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and
transporting fiction.
The second collection of short stories by the author, a retired
social worker, covers a wide range of human eperience from the sad
to the life-affirming, and we meet some odd, some might say
dysfunctional characters along the way.
It's never too late to change as the characters in this poignant
collection of stories demonstrate. These stories introduce us to a
wide range of people young and old as they face up to change and
challenge in their lives. Wheather it's learning to ride a bike for
the first time in middle age, facing up to demons from the past,
dealing with loss and bereavement, or embarking on a life-changing
journey, their humanity shines through. They will make you laugh
and make you cry but above all they stand as testimony to the
resilience of the human spirit. Christine is an English writer
married and living in Gloucestershire, her favourite form is the
short story and in most of her work we meet characters young and
old, male and female who in one way or another are struggling
against challenges. She follows their journeys as they deal with
their difficulties with grit, determination and sometimes humour.
Things happen in Beaumont Street, but what? To Whom? What really
goes on behind the elegant facades of the Ashmolean Museum and the
Randolph Hotel? You'd be surprised. Could that really happen in the
Playhouse? In this book, it does. A group of Oxford writers have
let their imaginations roam through the past, present and even the
future to produce a collection of short stories, all based in
Beaumont Street. The result is an entertaining read, just as
enjoyable to those who know Oxford well as it will be to its many
visitors. But be warned: once you have read this book you'll never
see Beaumont Street the same way again. All profits from the
publications of this book are being donated to the Ashmolean Museum
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