Isobel lives an isolated life in North London, working at a nearby library. She feels safe if she keeps to her routines and doesn't let her thoughts stray too far into the past. But a newspaper photograph of a missing local schoolgirl and a letter from her old teacher are all it takes for her ordinary, careful armour to become overwhelmed and the trauma of what happened when she was a pupil at The Schoolhouse to return.

The Schoolhouse was different - one of the 1970s experimental schools that were a reaction to the formal methods of the past. The usual rules did not apply, and life there was a dark interplay of freedom and violence, adventure and fear. Only her teenage diary recorded what happened, but the truth is coming for her and everything she has tried to protect is put at risk.

Set between the past and the present, The Schoolhouse is a masterful and gripping novel about childhood, secrets and trust.

A fresh adaptation of English literature’s first great detective novel.

When Franklin Blake returns to England, he is forced to face the ghosts he fled a year ago when the Moonstone, a priceless Indian diamond, was stolen.

Rachel Verinder, Franklin’s beautiful young cousin, inherited the stone from her uncle on her 18th birthday. It was always said that the stone carried a curse and the morning after her birthday party, it was missing. In the aftermath of the theft, Rachel cut off all ties with Franklin - the man she had loved. A year later and Franklin is determined to heal the rift between them.

But Rachel has one condition - she won’t see him until he can tell her exactly what happened to the diamond that night. Only then can Franklin win back the love of his life.

Amid the chaos and political upheaval of 1970s America, three very different women must accept the world as it is, or act to change it.

Phyllis Patterson is a housewife in White Plains, Illinois. Her son Jimmy returns to the family home from Vietnam with a Korean wife and two children. Blindsided by these new additions, particularly her curious granddaughter, Soozie, Phyllis’s small-town world is turned upside down in more ways than she could have ever imagined.

Andrea Dworkin is an activist in Amsterdam. Having fled her abusive husband and their life together, she finds herself desperate for answers, for herself and the world around her. An encounter with Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault at their infamous Dutch debate provokes her burgeoning independence. Returning to America she will embody a revolution, no matter the price.

Muriel Rukeyser is a poet in New York. Despite protestations from her lover, Monica, Muriel insists on campaigning against injustice, using her words as weapons and pushing her body to its limits. In this era of political unrest, Muriel’s life stands as a testament to the possibility of creative resistance.

A single postcard from an imprisoned writer thousands of miles away will unite these women in the fight for a world they believe in.

Full of compassion, imagination and rich storytelling, Our Better Natures is a powerful novel about language, connection and freedom.

Shakespeare is revered as the greatest writer in the English language, yet education reform in the English-speaking world is informed primarily by the 'market order', rather than the kind of humanism we might associate with Shakespeare. By considering Shakespeare's dramatisation of the principles that inform neoliberalism, this book makes an important contribution to the debate on the moral failure of the market mechanism in schools and higher education systems that have adopted neoliberal policy. The utility of Shakespeare's plays as a means to explore our present socio-economic system has long been acknowledged. As a Renaissance playwright located at the junction between feudalism and capitalism, Shakespeare was uniquely positioned to reflect upon the nascent market order. As a result, this book utilises six of his plays to assess the impact of neoliberalism on education. Drawing from examples of education policy from the UK and North America, it demonstrates that the alleged innovation of the market order is premised upon ideas that are rejected by Shakespeare, and it advocates Shakespeare's humanism as a corrective to the failings of neoliberal education policy. Using Shakespeare's Plays to Explore Education Policy Today will be of key interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of education policy and politics, educational reform, social and economic theory, English literature and Shakespeare.

'A compelling, fast-moving narrative . . . delivers real emotional impact' Telegraph 'A literary provocateur' Guardian Isobel lives an isolated life in North London, working at a nearby library. She feels safe if she keeps to her routines and doesn't let her thoughts stray too far into the past. But a newspaper photograph of a missing local schoolgirl and a letter from her old teacher are all it takes for her ordinary, careful armour to become overwhelmed and the trauma of what happened when she was a pupil at The Schoolhouse to return. The Schoolhouse was different - one of the 1970s experimental schools that were a reaction to the formal methods of the past. The usual rules did not apply, and life there was a dark interplay of freedom and violence, adventure and fear. Only her teenage diary recorded what happened, but the truth is coming for her and everything she has tried to protect is put at risk. Set between the past and the present, The Schoolhouse is a masterful and gripping novel about childhood, secrets and trust.

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020 Longlisted for the Desmond Eliot Prize 2020 Longlisted for the Polari Prize 2021 Featuring on BBC 2's Between the Covers 'Sophie Ward is a dazzling talent who writes like a modern-day F Scott Fitzgerald' Elizabeth Day, author of How To Fail 'An act of such breath-taking imagination, daring and detail that the journey we are on is believable and the debate in the mind non-stop. There are elements of Doris Lessing in the writing - a huge emerging talent here' Fiona Shaw 'A towering literary achievement' Ruth Hogan, author of The Keeper of Lost Things Rachel and Eliza are planning their future together. One night in bed Rachel wakes up terrified and tells Eliza that an ant has crawled into her eye and is stuck there. Rachel is certain; Eliza, a scientist, is sceptical. Suddenly their entire relationship is called into question. What follows is a uniquely imaginitive sequence of interlinked stories ranging across time, place and perspective to form a sparkling philosophical tale of love, lost and found across the universe.

Shakespeare is revered as the greatest writer in the English language, yet education reform in the English-speaking world is informed primarily by the 'market order', rather than the kind of humanism we might associate with Shakespeare. By considering Shakespeare's dramatisation of the principles that inform neoliberalism, this book makes an important contribution to the debate on the moral failure of the market mechanism in schools and higher education systems that have adopted neoliberal policy. The utility of Shakespeare's plays as a means to explore our present socio-economic system has long been acknowledged. As a Renaissance playwright located at the junction between feudalism and capitalism, Shakespeare was uniquely positioned to reflect upon the nascent market order. As a result, this book utilises six of his plays to assess the impact of neoliberalism on education. Drawing from examples of education policy from the UK and North America, it demonstrates that the alleged innovation of the market order is premised upon ideas that are rejected by Shakespeare, and it advocates Shakespeare's humanism as a corrective to the failings of neoliberal education policy. Using Shakespeare's Plays to Explore Education Policy Today will be of key interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of education policy and politics, educational reform, social and economic theory, English literature and Shakespeare.

'A compelling, fast-moving narrative . . . delivers real emotional impact' Telegraph 'A literary provocateur' Guardian Isobel lives an isolated life in North London, working at a nearby library. She feels safe if she keeps to her routines and doesn't let her thoughts stray too far into the past. But a newspaper photograph of a missing local schoolgirl and a letter from her old teacher are all it takes for her ordinary, careful armour to become overwhelmed and the trauma of what happened when she was a pupil at The Schoolhouse to return. The Schoolhouse was different - one of the 1970s experimental schools that were a reaction to the formal methods of the past. The usual rules did not apply, and life there was a dark interplay of freedom and violence, adventure and fear. Only her teenage diary recorded what happened, but the truth is coming for her and everything she has tried to protect is put at risk. Set between the past and the present, The Schoolhouse is a masterful and gripping novel about childhood, secrets and trust.