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Abbott, JeffAdeniran, SadePanicThings are going well for youngfilmmaker Evan Casher until he receivesan urgent phone call from his mother,summoning him home. He arrives tofind her brutally murdered body on thekitchen floor and a hit man lying in waitfor him.Imagine ThisA compelling story about the humanspirit and resilience against the odds.Imagine This is the journal of LolaOgunwole which she starts at the age ofnine; it charts her survival from childhoodto adulthood. Born in London to Nigerianparents, Lola and her brother Adebolagrow up in a temporary foster home aftertheir mother abandons them. They arebriefly reunited with their father when,in danger of losing them for good, hepacks up and moves them back to Nigeriato live. For Lola, the trauma of leavingLondon and settling in Lagos is soonovershadowed by separation from herfather and the only constant in her life,her brother Adebola. They are both sentto live with different relatives and Lolaends up with her aunt, in a small villagecalled Idogun where her struggle forsurvival begins.

Adichie,Chimamanda NAdichie,Chimamanda NHalf of a Yellow SunWith the effortless grace of a naturalstoryteller, Adichie weaves together thelives of five characters caught up in theextraordinary tumult of the decade.Fifteen year old Ugwu is houseboy toOdenigbo, a university professor whosends him to school, and in whoseliving room Ugwu hears voices full ofrevolutionary zeal. Odenigbo’s beautifulmistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, isrunning away from her parents’ world ofwealth and excess. Kainene, her urbanetwin, is taking over their father’s business,and Kainene’s English lover, Richard,forms a bridge between their two worlds.Purple HibiscusThe limits of fifteen year old Kambili’sworld and her regulated life are definedby the high walls of her family estateand the dictates of her repressive father.When Nigeria begins to fall apart herfather mysteriously involved in themilitary coup, sends Kambili and herbrother away to live with their aunt. Inthis house full of energy and laughtershe discovers life and love and a terrible,bruising secret deep within her family.

Akhtar, Nasreen Catch a Fish from the Sea(Using the Internet)Akunin, Boris‘Catch a Fish from the Sea (Using theInternet)’ is the memoir of one boldPakistani woman who decided that shewould find her own suitable boy bytravelling the World Wide Wed. She’syoung, good-looking and professional,but still potential suitors seem to be inshort supply. She tries the conventionalapproach when they come home andscrutinise her over tea: she tries to avoidsending her picture to men on emailhoping they will like her for what she isnot just her looks, but this doesn’t workeither! Then Akhtar meets a man whoshe falls in love with, but he wants tochange her and forever compares herto his past love, before finally leavingher heart broken. However, the intrepidyoung woman is not to be deterred andfinds solace in her Islamic faith. She picksherself up and continues with her quest.The Death of AchillesInternational intrigue, professionalrivalry, the criminal underworld ofnineteenth-century Moscow, and anirresistible femme fatale: if Erast Fandorinwas hoping for a quiet homecoming,he is about to be disappointed. His oldfriend General Sobolev, the famous‘Russian Achilles’ has been found dead ina hotel room, and Fandorin suspects foulplay. Our eccentric and ingenious heromust endeavour to discover not so muchwhodunit, as why.

Alliott,CatherineAnand, ValerieNot That kind of GirlHenrietta Tate has always taken her roleas a full time mother and home makervery seriously. But now she and her familyhave moved to an idyllic house in thecountryside and her teenage childrenare away at boarding school most of thetime, she finds herself less than fulfilledby life in the sticks. Perhaps a new jobworking for Laurence de Havilland, thefamous military historian, could providejust the distraction she needs!The House of LanyonWhen two ambitious families occupy thesame patch of English soil, rivalry takesroot and flourishes. Minor hurts, nursedwith jealousy, fester into hatred, and theprice for this wild and beautiful pieceof ground will take more than threegenerations to settle.Atkinson, KateCase HistoriesThe scene is set in Cambridge, with threecase histories from the past: A youngchild who mysteriously disappearedfrom a tent in her back garden; Anunidentified man in a yellow jumperwho marched into an office and slasheda young girl through the throat; anda young woman found by the policesitting in her kitchen next to the bodyof her husband. Jackson Brodie, aprivate investigator and former police

Atkinson, KateAtkinson, Katedetective, is flung into the midst of theseresurrected old crimes. In digging into thepast Jackson seems to have unwittinglythreatened his own future.One Good TurnIt is summer, it is the Edinburgh Festival.People queuing for a lunchtime showwitness a road-rage incident - an incidentwhich changes the lives of everyoneinvolved.In “One Good Turn”, Kate takes hermasterful plotting one step further. Likea set of Russian dolls, each thread of thenarrative reveals itself to be related tothe last. This is a sharply intelligent readthat is also percipient, funny, and totallysatisfying.When Will There be Good NewsNot a traditional mystery, Kate Atkinson’sthird Jackson Brodie novel grows insteadout of the terrible traumas that childrenand young people must endure whenpeople they love die violently. So markedare they by their sudden tragedies, thatthey never really escape their pasts, andspend the rest of their lives wondering“when will there be good news.” Fiveseparate plot lines evolve and begin tooverlap here, and in each of these plotsthe main characters are all needy peoplehiding an inner loneliness from whichthey would like to escape.

Atwood,MargaretAlias GraceA decade and a half has passed sinceGrace was locked up, at the age of16, for the cold-blooded murders ofher employer Thomas Kinnear and hishousekeeper/lover Nancy Montgomery.Her alleged accomplice, James McDermot,was hanged in 1843. Dr Simon Jordanattempts to uncover the truth.Atwood,MargaretOryx and CrakePigs might not fly but they are strangelyaltered. So, for that matter, are wolvesand racoons. A man, once named Jimmy,now calls himself snowman and livesin a tree, wrapped in old bed sheets.The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved,teasingly haunts him. And the greeneyedchildren of Crake are, for somereason, his responsibility.Barclay,LinwoodNo Time for GoodbyeOn the morning she will never forget,suburban teenager Cynthia Archerawakes with a nasty hangover and afeeling she is going to have an evennastier confrontation with her mam anddad. Instead, the house is empty, with nosign of her parents or younger brotherTodd. In the blink of an eye, withoutany explanation, her family has simply

disappeared. Twenty-five years later themystery is no nearer to being solved andCynthia is still haunted by unansweredquestions.Bauby,Jean-Dominique The Diving-Bell and the ButterflyOn December 8, 1995, Jean-DominiqueBauby’s life was forever altered whena part of his body he’d never heard of--his brain stem--was rendered inactive.The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, hisexquisitely painful memoir, is neithera triumphant account of recovery nora journey into the abyss of self-pity.Instead, it is a tender testament to thepower of language and love. At 43,Bauby was defined by success, wit andcharisma. But in the course of a fewbewildering minutes, the editor-in-chiefof French Elle became a victim of therare locked-in syndrome. The only wayhe could express his frustration was byblinking his left eye. The rest of his bodycould no longer respond. Bauby wasdetermined to escape the paralysis of hisdiving bell and free the butterflies of hisimagination.

Bennett, AlanBennett, AlanThe Complete Talking HeadsAlan Bennett’s award-winning seriesof six television monologues, TalkingHeads, may have been first aired in1988, but over a decade later it is stillimpossible to read these deeply movingand affectionate scripts without hearingthe voices of the actors who played them.Maggie Smith as the alcoholic vicar’s wifefinding a semblance of happiness in anaffair with an Indian shop owner, PatriciaRoutledge as the poisonous neighbour,Julie Walters as the over-the-hill dollybird auditioning for a porn film and ofcourse Thora Hird as Doris, the old ladyalone in her home having fallen andbroken her hip.The Uncommon ReaderA deliciously funny novella thatcelebrates the pleasure of reading.When the Queen in pursuit of herwandering corgis stumbles upon a mobilelibrary she feels duty bound to borrowa book. Aided by Norman, a young manfrom the palace kitchen who frequentsthe library, Bennett describes the Queen’stransformation as she discovers theliberating pleasures of the written word.With the poignant and mischievous witof The History Boys, England’s best lovedauthor revels in the power of literatureto change even the most uncommonreader’s life.

Butcher, TimBuxbaum, JulieBlood RiverEver since Stanley first charted itsmighty river in the 1870s, the Congohas epitomised the dark and turbulenthistory of a failed continent. However,its troubles only served to increasethe interest of “Daily Telegraph”correspondent Tim Butcher, who wassent to cover Africa in 2000. Before longhe became obsessed with the idea ofrecreating Stanley’s original expedition,except travelling alone, despite warningsfrom old Africa hands that his planwas ‘suicidal’! Butcher’s journey was aremarkable feat. But the story of theCongo told expertly and vividly in thisbook, is more remarkable still.The Opposite of LoveWhen successful twenty-nine-yearoldManhattan attorney Emily Haxbyends her happy relationship just as herboyfriend is on the verge of proposing,she can’t explain to even her closestfriends why she did it. Somewherebeneath her sense of fun, her bravado,and her independent exterior, Emilyknows that her breakup with Andrew hasless to do with him and more to do with...her.13

Byrne, PaulaPerdita : The Life of Mary RobinsonSex fame and scandal in the theatrical,literary and social circles of late 18thCentury England. One of the mostflamboyant women of her time, MaryRobinson’s life was marked by reversals offortune.Byrski, LizGang of FourThe story of four very differentjourneys and a celebration of womenin their prime of life. They have beenclose friends for almost two decades,supporting each other through personaland professional crises.Carter, Stephen Palace CouncilPhilmont Castle is a man who has it all:wealth, respect, and connections. He’s thelast person you’d expect to fall prey toa murderer, but when his body is foundon the grounds of a Harlem mansion, theyoung writer Eddie Wesley, along withthe woman he loves, Aurelia Treene, arepulled into a twenty-year search for thetruth. The disappearance of Eddie’s sisterJune makes their investigation even moretroubling. As Eddie and Aurelia uncoverlayer upon layer of intrigue, their odyssey14

Cartwright,JustinCezair-Thompson,Margarettakes them from the wealthy drawingrooms of New York through the shadycorners of radical politics all the wayto the Oval Office and President Nixonhimself.The Promise of HappinessThe Judds are an ordinary family aboutto be thrown into turmoil by the returnof a prodigal daughter. Juliet, the bestlovedeldest child, is to be released fromprison in New York. She has been servingtime for an art theft — but was she reallyguilty of her crime? Her imprisonmenthas tormented each member of herfamily, and Juliet herself is bitter andwounded at being the scapegoat fora victimless crime. Now, as she finallyreturns home, every one of the Judds iswondering whether life will ever be thesame.The Pirate’s DaughterIn 1946, a storm-wrecked boat carryingHollywood’s most famous swashbucklerarrived dramatically in Jamaica, and theglamorous world of 1940s Hollywoodconverged with that of a small WestIndian society. After a long and eventfulcareer on the silver screen, Errol Flynnspent much of the last years of his lifeon a small island off Jamaica, throwingparties and sleeping with increasinglyyounger girls. The Pirate’s Daughter tellsthe provocative history of a vanished era.15

Child, LeeClark, CandidaThe Hard WayOn the trail of a vicious kidnapper, JackReacher is learning the chilling secretsof his employer’s past...and of a horrificdrama in the heart of a nasty little war.He’s beginning to realize that EdwardLane is hiding something.The only way to find the truth is to doit the hard way. So Reacher starts overat square one. What started in NYCexplodes three thousand miles awayin the sleepy English countryside withReacher striding alone in the shadows,armed and dangerous, and invincible.The ChaseSet on the first day of illegal hunting inEngland, a gripping story of jealousy,revenge, class and marriage. An idyllicseeminggathering of family and friendsis blown apart by a husband’s jealousrage. Featuring the secretly-pregnantLady Celia, her suspicious husband,a Labour anti-hunting MP, a fecklesssister, a gay groom, a former Iraq soldierliving in the gatehouse and a dangeroushunt-worker with a romantic grudge,this is stylish English fiction of the mostsatisfying kind.16

Clark, ClareCleeves, AnnColin, BeatriceThe Great StinkIt is 1855, and engineer William May hasreturned home to his beloved wife fromthe battlefields of the Crimea. He securesa job transforming London’s sewer systemand begins to lay his ghosts to rest.Above ground, his work is increasinglycompromised by corruption, and choleraepidemics threaten the city. But it isonly when the peace of the tunnels isshattered by murder that William loseshis tenuous hold on sanity.Raven BlackIt is a cold January morning and Shetlandlies buried beneath a deep layer ofsnow. Trudging home, Fran Hunters eyeis drawn to a vivid splash of colour onthe white ground, ravens circling above.It is the strangled body of her teenageneighbour Catherine Ross. The locals onthe quiet island stubbornly focus theirgaze on one manloner and simpletonMagnus Tait. But when police insiston opening the investigation a veil ofsuspicion and fear is thrown over theentire community.The Luminous Life of Lilly AphroditeBig, rich, intelligent, and masterfullywritten, here is a page-turning storyof glitter and splendor, drama andlove, friendship and identity, and anilluminating account of a period ofhistory that foreshadowed much of thetwentieth century.As the clock chimes the turn of the17

Dafydd, CatrinDavidson,AndrewRandom Deaths and CustardSam Jones is a perfectly ordinary Valleysgirl. Except for the random deaths, thatis. Which she only just manages to avoid.Like the time she swallows a fish fingerwhole before answering the door to thecatalogue salesman. That random deathleads to love, mind, which is a reliefto Sam: people on her street will stopthinking she’s a lesbian. She has plentyof other crosses to bear: Custard’s, thecustard factory where she works; AntiPeg’s swearing; her Mam’s boyfriend;her squaddie brother. Not to mentionthe posh Welshies at the end of theroad. There’s even a rock band calledDeath of the Sales, Man! With its comicdarkness, its write-as-she-speaks style andits recognition of how the ordinary andeccentric are two sides of the same coin,this is a novel that will have you laughingand crying into your custard.The GargoyleThe narrator of THE GARGOYLE is a verycontemporary cynic, physically beautifuland sexually adept, who dwells in themoral vacuum that is modern life. Asthe book opens, he is driving along adark road when he is distracted by whatseems to be a flight of arrows. He crashesinto a ravine and suffers horrible burnsover much of his body. As he recovers ina burn ward, undergoing the torturesof the damned, he awaits the day whenhe can leave the hospital and commit19

Davies, Martincarefully planned suicide - for he is now amonster in appearance as well as in soul.The Conjuror’s BirdIt seems a long time ago that Fitz andGabby were together, with his work onextinct species about to make him worldfamous.Now, it’s his career that is almostextinct.Gabby wants his help in tracing thehistory of The Mysterious Bird of Ulieta,a creature once owned by the great 18thCentury naturalist Joseph Banks.To solve the puzzle, Fitz must uncover theidentity of the amazing woman Banksloved - a woman who has disappearedfrom history as effectively as thespecimen he is hunting.Davies, Peter Ho The Welsh GirlAn engrossing war time love story set inthe stunning landscape of North Walesduring the final months of World War2. Young Esther Evans has lived herwhole life in the confines of her village.Then in the wake of D Day, one summerevening she follows a group of boys tothe German POW camp boundary. As theboys heckle the prisoners, one soldierseems to stand apart. The consequencesof their relationship resonate throughthe lives of a vividly imagined cast ofcharacters.20

Dines, Adrienne The Jigsaw MakerDore, AnnabelWhen Jim Nealon walks into LizzieFlynn’s shop and proposes that she helphim make jigsaws, Lizzie agrees. Puttingtogether one person’s memories so thatanother person can feel part of themseems like a good idea. Then Jim showsher the photographs he intends to use.Now the picture that was Lizzie’s life isin the air, swirling around in a thousandpieces and threatening to fall. As shescrambles to put her life back togetheragain, Lizzie realises that it can’t be done.It was never a real picture anyway.The Great North RoadIt is Newcastle, 1953, and two newmothers make a pact that will resonatefor generations to come. “The GreatNorth Road” is an epic literary voyagethrough the storied landscapes ofnorthern England, through tragedyand comedy, to the darker reaches ofhuman behaviour. Compassionate andunfailingly dramatic, it is a searingand addictive debut novel. ‘A gothic,surreal melodrama ...perceptive andaffectionate’21

Dunmore,HelenCounting the StarsIn the heat of Rome’s long summer, thepoet Catullus and his older married lover,Clodia Metelli, meet in secret. Livingat the heart of sophisticated, brittleand brutal Roman society at the timeof Pompey, Crassus and Julius Caesar,Catullus is obsessed with Clodia, theLesbia of his most passionate poems. Heis jealous of her husband, of her maid,even of her pet sparrow. And Clodia?Catullus is ‘her dear poet’, but possiblynot her only interest...Their Rome is acity of extremes. Tenants are packedinto ramshackle apartment blocks whilepalatial villas house the magnificence ofthe families who control Rome. Armedstreet gangs clash in struggles for politicalpower. Slaves are the eyes and ears ofeverything that goes on, while civilizationand violence are equals, murder is theeasy option and poison the weapon ofchoice. Catallus’ relationship with Clodiais one of the most intense, passionate,tormented and candid in history. Inlove and in hate, their story exposes thebeauty and terrors of Roman life in thelate Republic.22

Dunmore, Helen The SiegeLeningrad, September 1941. Germantanks surround the city, imprisoning thosewho live there. The besieged people ofLeningrad face shells, starvation, andthe Russian winter. Interweaving twolove affairs in two generation, the Levinfamily struggle to stay alive during thisterrible winter.Ebershoff, David The 19th WifeIt is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young hasrecently separated from her powerfulhusband, Brigham Young, prophet andleader of the Mormon Church. Expelledand an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on acrusade to end polygamy in the UnitedStates. A rich account of a family’spolygamous history is revealed, includinghow a young woman became a pluralwife.Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, asecond exquisite narrative unfolds-a taleof murder involving a polygamist familyin present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, ayoung man who was thrown out of hisfundamentalist sect years earlier, mustreenter the world that cast him aside inorder to discover the truth behind hisfather’s death.23

Edwards, KimElton, CharlesThe Memory Keeper’s DaughterArticulates every mother’s silent fear:what would happen if you lost your childand she grew up without you? In 1964,when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henryto deliver his own twins, he immediatelyrecognizes that one of them has DownSyndrome and makes a split-seconddecision that will haunt all their livesforever. Compulsively readable anddeeply moving, The Memory Keeper’sDaughter is an astonishing tale ofredemptive love.Mr ToppitAnd out of the Darkwood Mr Toppitcomes, and he comes not for you, orfor me, but for all of us... When theauthor of The Hayseed Chronicles, ArthurHayman, is mown down by a concretetruck in Soho, his legacy passes to hiswidow, Martha, and her children - thefragile Rachel, and Luke, reluctantlyimmortalised as Luke Hayseed, the centralcharacter of his father’s books. But otherswant their share, particularly Laurie, whohas a mysterious agenda of her own thatchanges all their lives. For buried deepin the books lie secrets which threatento be revealed as the family begins tocrumble under the heavy burden of theirinheritance. Not since Jonathan Coe’sWhat a Carve Up! has a novel managedto capture a family and a society to suchwonderfully funny and painful effect.24

Eng, Tan TwanFallon, JaneThe Gift of RainIn 1939, 16 year old Philip, the halfChinese youngest child of Noel Hutton,head of one of Penangs great tradingfamilies, feels alienated from both theBritish and Chinese communities. Hediscovers a sense of belonging in hisunexpected friendship with HayatoEndo, a Japanese diplomat who rentsan island from his father. But Endois bound by obligations of his own;and too late, as the Japanese invadeMalaya, Philip realises that his senseito whom he owes absolute loyalty is aJapanese spy. The Gift of Rain is epic,haunting and unforgettable, richly shotthrough with themes and ideas, a novelabout agonizingly divided loyalties andunbearable loss. But it is also abouthuman courage and ultimately about thenature of enduring love.Getting Rid of MatthewWhat to do if Matthew, your secret loverof the past four years, finally decidesto leave his wife Sophie (and their twodaughters) and move into your flat, justwhen you’re thinking that you might notwant him anymore...Plan A - stop shavingyour armpits, and your bikini line; tellhim you have a moustache that you waxevery six weeks; Plan B - accidentally onpurpose bump into his wife Sophie andbefriend her. “Getting Rid of Matthew”isn’t as easy as it seems, but alongthe way, Helen will forge an unlikelyfriendship, find real love and realize thatnothing ever goes exactly to plan...25

Faulks, Sebastian EnglebyMike Engleby says things that others darenot even think. A man devoid of scrupleor self-pity, he rises without trace inThatcher’s England and scorches throughthe blandscape of New Labour.Sebastian Faulks’s new novel can be readas a lament for a generation and thecountry it failed. It is also a meditation onthe limits of science, the curse of humanconsciousness and on the lyrics of 1970s’rock music. And beneath this highlydisturbing surface lies an unfoldingmystery of gripping narrative power.For when one of Mike’s contemporariesunaccountably disappears, the readerhas to ask, is even the shameless Englebycapable of telling the whole truth?Fellowes, Julian Past ImperfectDamian Barker is hugely wealthy anddying. He lives alone in a big housein Surrey, looked after by a chauffeur,butler, cook and housemaid. He has butone concern - his fortune in excess of100 million and who should inherit it onhis death. COMING OUT is the story ofa quest. Damian Barker wishes to knowif he has a living heir. By the time hemarried in his late thirties he was sterile(the result of adult mumps), but whatabout before that unfortunate illness?He was not a virgin. Had he sired a child?A letter from a girlfriend from thesetimes suggests he did. But the letter isanonymous. Damian contacts someone heknew from their days at university.26

Ferris, JoshuaFforde, JasperFletcher, SusanHe gives him a list of girls he slept withand sets him a task: find his heir!Then we came to the End‘How we hated our coffee mugs! Ourmouse pads, our desk clocks, our dailycalendars, all the contents of our deskdrawers. Even the photos of our lovedones taped to our computer monitorsfor uplift and support turned to cloyingreminders of time served’. Welcome tothe world of Joshua Ferris’s dazzlinglyacute, brilliantly original, agonizinglyfunny novel.The Eyre AffairIn Jasper Fforde’s Great Britain, circa1985, time travel is routine, cloning is areality and literature is taken very, veryseriously. But when someone beginskidnapping characters from works ofliterature and plucks Jane Eyre from thepages of Bronte’s novel, Thursday is facedwith the challenge of her career. Fforde’singenious fantasy, enhanced by a websitethat re-creates the world of the novel,unites intrigue with English literature in adelightfully witty mix.Eve GreenPregnant with her first child, Eve Greenrecalls her mother’s death when shewas eight years old and her struggle tomake sense of her parents’ mysteriousromantic past. She is sent to live with hergrandparents in rural Wales, where shefinds comfort in friendships with Daniel,a quiet farmhand, and Billy, a disabled,reclusive friend of her mother’s.27

Fowler,Karen JoyFox, KateFreedland,JonathanThe Jane Austen Book ClubSix people five women and a man meetonce a month in California’s CentralValley to discuss Jane Austen’s novels.They are ordinary people, neitherhappy nor unhappy, but each of themis wounded in some ways. Over the sixmonths they meet, marriages are tested,affairs begin, unsuitable arrangementsbecome suitable and some of them evenfall in love.Why IKate Fox was born in 1975 and grew upin West Yorkshire and South Cumbria.Kate’s collection of comic poems, WhyI, was published by Zebra Publishing inMay 2005. It covers topics from DavidHasselhoff’s involvement in the fall of theBerlin Wall, to small girlfriends, to thesimilarity of a Geordie exclamation andexistentialism?Jacob’s GiftJonathan Freedland and his son Jacob arethe fourth and fifth generation of Jewishimmigrants who came from EasternEurope to Britain to carve a new life forthemselves. In “Jacob’s Gift”, Freedlanddelves deep into his family history todiscover what brought his ancestors toBritain and what they found when theygot there. The result is a wonderfulfamily memoir, and a profoundmeditation on roots, identity and theperennial need to belong.28

Galloway, Steven The Cellist of SarajevoGardam, JaneSnipers in the hills overlook half theintersections in Sarajevo. In the streetsbelow, two inhabitants, Dragan andKenan, trapped, like all their neighbours,in the city, strive to go about theirdaily lives, trying to second guess whenand where the next bullet will strike.One man, a cellist, defies this game of‘Sarajevo Roulette’; in memory of thecity’s dead, for 22 consecutive days, hebecomes a sitting target as he playsAlbinoni’s ‘Adagio’ in the street outsidehis building. Unbeknown to him, oneyoung woman watches his performanceswith unflinching attention. Tense andheart-wrenching to its last page, “TheCellist of Sarajevo” shows how life undersiege creates agonizing and almostimpossible choices.Old FilthFilth was an international lawyer witha practice in the Far East. Now, onlythe oldest QCs can remember that hisnickname stood for Failed In London TryHong Kong. This novel tells his story, fromhis birth in what was then Malaya tothe extremities of his old age. Brilliantlyconstructed, going backwards andforwards in time, yet constantly workingtowards the secret at its core.29

Gerritsen, TessGoodkind, Terry PhantomThe Memphisto ClubChristmas in Boston brings horror ratherthan good cheer when a woman’s bodyis found dismembered in a crime scenethat leaves even hardened cops queasy.Doctor Maura Isles is assigned to the case,but soon another brutal murder takesplace: a woman has been mutilated andmurdered on Beacon Hill, near the homeof the director of the Mephisto Club. Thisis a clandestine society whose subjectis the study of evil -- and its agenda isto confront it in its most unadulteratedforms. As Detective Jane Rizzoli becomesinvolved, it’s quickly apparent that bothwomen are up against something whichis close to a distillation of the purest evil.On the day she awoke rememberingnothing but her name, Kahlan Amnellbecame the most dangerous womanalive. For everyone else, that was the daythat the world began to end.But Kahlan learns that if she ever were tounlock the truth of her lost identity, thenevil itself would finally possess her, bodyand soul.30

Gray, AlexGray, SimonThe RivermanWhen the dead body of a man is fishedout of Glasgow’s River Clyde the morningafter an office celebration, it looks like acase of accidental death. An anonymoustelephone call and a forensic toxicologytest, however, give DCI Lorimer reasonto think otherwise. Probing deeper intothe life and business of the deceasedaccountant, Duncan Forbes, a seeminglyupright member of the community,Lorimer finds yet more unansweredquestions.The Smoking DiariesWhen he turned sixty-five, the playwrightSimon Gray began to keep a diary: not acareful honing of the day’s events witha view to posterity but an account ofhis thoughts as he had them, honestly,turbulently, digressively expressed. TheSmoking Diaries is the result, in whichone of Britain’s most amusing andoriginal writers reflects on a life filledwith cigarettes (continuing), alcohol(stopped), several triumphs and manymore disasters.Gregory, Philippa The Constant PrincessTudor history lives in Gregory’scompelling novels, no more so than herewith Katherine of Aragon’s early life inEngland as first the wife of Prince Arthurand then of Henry VIII.31

Gregory, Philippa The Other Boleyn GirlGregson, JuliaEveryone knows the fate of Anne Boleyn,but not many know the story of her riseto majesty and the part played by herrival and sister, Mary, who was Henry’smistress and mother to two of his bastardchildren before the dazzling olderBoleyn girl even caught his eye. PhilippaGregory, has surpassed her self with thisepic tale of lust, jealousy and betrayal.The Other Boleyn Girl charts the lives ofboth Boleyns and their fiercely ambitious,conniving family who used the girls aspawns to advance their own positions atthe court of Henry VIII.East of the SunAutumn 1928. The Kaisar-i-Hind is enroute to Bombay. In Cabin D38, VivaHolloway an inexperienced chaperone,is beginning to feel as though she’smade a mistake. Her advert in TheLady has resulted in three unsettlingyoung charges to be escorted to India.But nothing frightens Viva as much asher real reasons for the voyage. Threepotential Memsahibs with a multitude ofreasons for leaving their homeland - butthe cargo of hopes and secrets they carrycan do little to prepare them for what liesahead in India.32

Griffiths, JayHaddon, MarkWildIn Wild, Jay Griffiths describes anextraordinary odyssey throughwildernesses of earth, ice, water, andfire. A poetic consideration of the tenderconnection between human society andthe wild, the book is by turns passionate,political, funny, and harrowing. It isalso a journey into that greatest ofuncharted lands-the wilderness of themind-and Griffiths beautifully exploresthe language and symbolism that shapeour experience of our own wildness. Parttravelogue, part manifesto for wildnessas an essential character of life, Wild is aone-of-a-kind book from a one-of-a-kindauthor.A Spot of BotherAt 57, George is settling down to acomfortable retirement, building ashed in his garden and enjoying thefreedom to be alone when he wants.But then he runs into a spot of bother.That red circular rash on his hip, and thedeeply inappropriate Ray who Katie, hisdaughter, announces will become hersecond husband.An unforgettable follow-up to “TheCurious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime”.Once again, Haddon proves amaster of a story, hilarious, poignant,dark, and profoundly human. Here themadness, literally, of family life provesrich comic fodder for Haddon’s cracklingprose and bittersweet insights intomisdirected love.33

Hall, SarahThe Carhullan ArmyThe world has changed. War rages inSouth America and China, and Britain,now entirely dependent on the USfor food and energy, is run by anomnipresent dictatorship known simplyas The Authority. Assets and weaponshave been seized, every movement ismonitored and women are compulsorilyfitted with contraceptive devices. This isSister’s story of her attempt to escape therepressive regime. From the confines ofher Lancaster prison cell she tells of hersearch for The Carhullan Army, aquasi-mythical commune of ‘unofficial’women rumoured to be living in aremote part of Cumbria.Hamilton, Hugo The Speckled PeopleAll Hugo wants to do is speak English.English is, after all, what the otherchildren in Dublin speak. English is whatthey use when they hunt down in thestreets of Dublin, and English is whatthey use when they bring him to trial andexecute him at a mock seaside court. Outof this fear and confusion Hugo tries tobuild a balanced view of the world, toturn the twisted logic of what he is toldinto truth.34

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Harris, JoanneChocolatAn exotic stranger opens a chocolateboutique in a French village at thebeginning of Lent, the traditional seasonfor self denial, dividing the communityand causing a conflict that escalates intoa “Church not Chocolate” battle.Harris, JoanneGentlemen and PlayersThe place is St Oswald’s, an old and longestablished boys’ grammar school inthe north of England. A new year hasjust begun, and for the staff and boysof the School, a wind of unwelcomechange is blowing. Suits, paperwork andInformation Technology rule the world,and Roy Straitley, Latin master, eccentric,and veteran of St Oswald’s, is finally,reluctantly, contemplating retirement.But beneath the little rivalries, pettydisputes and everyday crises of theschool, a darker undercurrent stirs. Anda bitter grudge, hidden and carefullynurtured for thirteen years is about toerupt.36

Harrison, Noelle A Small Part of MeHart, JohnChristina’s mother walked out on herwhen she was just six years old. Now inher early thirties Christina has reacheda desperate crossroads as a motherherself and goes on the run with heryoungest child, in a bid to find hermother, Greta, and sanctuary from herhusband and family. A Small Part of Me isa beautifully evocative novel about lovelost, the complexity of parental love, theinnocence of the love of a child, and thepossibility of finding a love mirror for oursouls in another human being.Down RiverAdam Chase has a violent streak, and notwithout reason. As a boy, he saw thingsthat no child should see. The traumaleft him passionate, misunderstood, afighter. After being narrowly acquittedof a murder charge, Adam is houndedout of the only home he’s ever known,exiled for a sin he did not commit. Forfive long years he disappears, fades intothe faceless gray of New York City. Nowhe’s back and nobody knows why, not hisfamily or the cops, not the enemies heleft behind. But Adam has his reasons.37

Heller, Mandasue The CharmerHislop, VictoriaMaria Price has inherited a large housein the best part of Manchester and moremoney than she ever dreamed of. Anorphan since her mother died whenshe was only eleven years old, she hassurvived the care system and thoughtshe would never have a family orsecurity again. Then she meets Joel Parry.Handsome, considerate, charming and awonderful lover. But Joel isn’t what heseems to be. He’s deep in Manchester’sdrug scene. And his terrifying past isabout to catch up with him and the naivegirl who trusts him.The IslandAlexis longs to find out about hermother’s past. But Sofia has never spokenof it. All she admits to is growing up ina small Cretan village before moving toLondon. On her first visit there, Alexisdiscovers Plaka is opposite the small,deserted island of Spinalonga. She’sastonished to read that it used to beGreece’s leper colony. When she meets anold friend of Sofia’s, who agrees to tellthe full story of Alexis’s family, she findsout they were deeply connected withSpinalonga - and that the tragic secrets ofthe past can hold enormous power overthe future...38

Hoblyn, AlisonHomes A. M.The Scent of WaterHistory repeats itself, so they say. Perhapsit has to because nobody listens! Ellie,an artist in her middle age, needs to liveher life in a new way after the death ofher husband. Feeling fearful but doingit anyway, she enrols on a garden coursein Tuscany one spring. Ellie comes tofind that the universal truths still hold apotent relevance.This Book Will Save Your LifeRichard Novak is a modern day Everyman,a middle aged divorcee trading stocksout of his home. He has done such agood job getting his life under controlthat he needs no one - except his trainer,nutritionist, and housekeeper. He isfunctionally dead and doesn’t evennotice until an attack of intense pain thatlands him in the emergency room, andthe discovery of an expanding sinkholeoutside his house. A vivid, revealing novelabout compassion, and what can happenif you are willing to lose yourself andopen up to the world around you.Hosseini, Khaled A Thousand Splendid SunsBorn a generation apart and with verydifferent ideas about love and family,Mariam and Laila are two womenbrought jarringly together by war, byloss and by fate. As they endure the everescalating dangers around them-in theirhome as well as in the streets of Kabultheycome to form a bond that makesthem both sisters and mother-daughterto each other, and that will ultimately39

Husain, Edalter the course not just of their own livesbut of the next generation. With heartwrenchingpower and suspense, Hosseinishows how a woman’s love for her familycan move her to shocking and heroic actsof self-sacrifice, and that in the end it islove, or even the memory of love, thatis often the key to survival. A stunningaccomplishment, A Thousand SplendidSuns is a haunting, heartbreaking,compelling story of an unforgivingtime, an unlikely friendship, and anindestructible love.The IslamistIn The Islamist, Husain describes how hebecame an Islamic fundamentalist at theage of 16. He explains that, five yearslater, after much emotional turmoil, herejected fundamentalist teachings andreturned to normal life and his family.Husain says that his book explainsthe appeal of extremist thought, howfanatics penetrate Muslim communitiesand the truth behind their agenda ofsubverting the West and moderate Islam.Husband, Marion The Good FatherWhen Peter Wright’s father dies heleaves his entire fortune to Peter’s bestfriend Jack. In the summer of 1959, theconsequences of the old man’s legacyaffect three families, Jack’s, who hasbrought up his three children alonesince his wife was killed, Wright’ssolicitor Harry who is trying to rebuildhis relationship with his estranged sonGuy, and that of Peter himself, whose40

Husband, Marion Paper Moonfriendship with Jack is threatened by hisfather’s death.The passionate love affair betweenSpitfire pilot Bobby Harris andphotographer’s model Nina Tate laststhrough the turmoil of World War Two,but is tested when his plane is shot down.Disfigured and wanting to hide from theworld, Bobby retreats from BohemianSoho to the empty house his grandfatherhas left him, a house haunted by thesecrets of Bobby’s childhood. Paper Moonexplores the complexities of love andloyalty against a backdrop of a worldtransformed by war.Husband, Marion Say You Love MeSay You Love Me is a powerful, sensitiveyet shocking, exploration of the longlastingtraumas caused by parental sexualabuse.Ben Walker sets out to trace his fatherand discovers the truth about hisadoption in 1968. But the past holdssecrets that his brother Mark is desperateto keep. Old hatreds between thebrothers are rekindled and their adoptedfather is made to face his own guilt overthe events of that spring of 1968.41

Hyde,Catherine RLove in the Present TenseFor five years Pearl has managed to keepthe past from catching up to her and herbright, frail five year old son. Life hasgiven her every reason to mistrust people,but circumstances force her to trust herneighbor Mitch with watching Leonardwhile she goes off to work. Then oneday Pearl drops her son off, and neverreturns.Hyde, Elisabeth The Abortionist’s DaughterNineteen year old university studentMegan Thompson is beautiful, cool,clever and sexy, the kind of girl boys fallin love with. She’s mostly steered clearof family life since the death of heryounger brother. That is until the day shehears her mother, Diana, has been foundfloating face down in their swimmingpool.Diana, as Director of the Centre forReproductive Choice, was a nationalfigure who inspired passions and madeenemies. Detective Huck Berlin is broughtin to investigate the case when itbecomes clear that Diana was murdered.42

Jacobson,HowardJames, NealKalooki NightsLife should have been sunny for MaxGlickman, growing up in CrumpsallPark in peacetime, with his mother’sglamorous card evenings to look forwardto, and photographs of his father’sfavourite boxers on the walls. But othervoices whisper seductively to him ofBuchenwald, extermination, and theimpossibility of forgetting. He is drawnback into the Holocaust obsessionsfrom which he realises there can be,and should be, no release. There is wild,angry, even uproarious laughter in thisnovel, but it is laughter on the edge.A Ticket to TewkesburyIt had been written by a soldier returninghome after the end of the Second WorldWar to a nurse in Cleethorpes. They hadmet at a rehabilitation hospital in Kentand fell head over heels in love. Thatmuch was clear from the brief note,but what remained was a mystery. Julieloved mysteries and set off on a questto locate the intended recipient of thecommunication. That quest was to takeher and her long-suffering husband ona journey from the peaceful and idyllictown of Tewkesbury on the River Avonin Gloucestershire to the East Coastholiday resort of Cleethorpes. Theirdiscoveries at these locations unearthedan organisation whose roots lay deepwithin the Fascism which had threatenedto engulf Europe in the 1940s,43

Jansson, Toveand activated a series of triggers whichhad lain dormant since that time.A Winter BookA Winter Book collection of some of ToveJansson’s best loved and most famousstories. Drawn from youth and olderage, and spanning most of the twentiethcentury, this newly translated selectionprovides a thrilling showcase of the greatFinnish writer’s prose, scattered withinsights and home truths.Jaskunas,Paul RichardHiddenSix years after her attack, Maggie Wilsonreceives a call from the prosecutor whoput her husband in jail after Maggieidentified him as the man who nearlykilled her. Told that another inmate hasconfessed to the crime and that her exhusbandwill be freed, Maggie plungesinto memories of her stormy marriageto her college sweetheart, Nate Duke.Secluded in the old farmhouse thatwas her marital home, Maggie poresthrough trial transcripts, old journals,and photo albums, recreating the historyof their courtship and trying fruitlesslyto remember the events of that fatefulnight.44

Jones,Griff RhysJones, LloydJones, SadieSemi-DetachedIn “Semi-Detached” Griff Rhys Jonesrecreates his suburban childhood andadolescence in precise and evocativedetail. A real treat for anyone whoremembers or wants to know aboutBritain in the late 60’s and 70’s, laughaloud at Griff’s self-deprecating, elegant,affectionate prose, or understand a littlebit better how on earth they got fromthere to here.Mr PipOn a copper-rich tropical island shatteredby war, where the teachers have fledwith all most everyone else, only onewhite man stays behind, the eccentric Mr.Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn,who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouseand begins to read to the children eachday from Charles Dickens’s classic GreatExpectations.So begins this rare, original story aboutthe abiding strength that imagination,once ignited, can provide.The OutcastIt’s 1957 and Lewis Aldridge is travellingback to his home in the South of England.He is straight out of jail and nineteenyears old. His return will trigger theimplosion not just of his family, but of awhole community.45

Jordan, ToniKay, JackieAdditionGrace’s life is organised according to astrict routine - she wakes up at the sametime every day, flosses the same numberof times each morning, takes the samenumber of steps to the same café. Oneday, her usual table is taken...forced toshare a table with a stranger, her life isturned upside down. Though Grace’s OCDhas led to her losing her job and her lifebecoming very small, she isn’t a victimin any way. This is a smart, thoughtprovokingnovel as well as a wonderfulromantic comedy. It looks at the role ofmedication in society, questions our rightto judge how others manage their livesand asks, ‘what’s so great about beingnormal anyway?TrumpetCelebrated trumpeter Joss Moody hasdied and the jazz world is in mourning.But in death, Joss can no longer guardthe secret he kept all his life, and Colman,his adoring son, must confront the truth:the man whom he believed to be hisfather was, in fact a woman.46

Kellerman, Jesse The Brutal ArtKernick, SimonA New York art gallery owner, EthanMuller, discovers a cache of brilliant butdisturbing drawings by a mysteriousartist who has since disappeared. Ethanputs the pictures on show and theystart to sell for large sums. But then itbegins to emerge that the artist couldhave been involved in a series of brutalchild murders 40 years before, and thedrawings might even be evidence.RelentlessJohn Meron, a happily married fatherof two, who’s never been in trouble,receives a phone call that will change hislife forever. His friend, Jack Calley, a highflyingcity lawyer, is screaming down thephone for help. As Meron listens, Calley ismurdered. His life’s about to get one hellof a lot worse.Kerr, PeterBob Burns Investigates:The Mallorca ConnectionBob Burns is an old-fashioned kindof Scottish sleuth, more interested incatching villains than brown-nosing toget promotion. So, when his enquiriesinto a brutal and bizarre murder areblocked by his bosses, should he risklosing his career by carrying on hisinvestigations? Encouraged by anattractive-though-maverick forensicscientist and assisted by a keener-thanbrightyoung constable, Bob does it his47

King, Catherine Silk & SteelKoomson,Dorothyway. The trail leads the trio from Scotlandto Mallorca, where intrigue and mayhemmingle with the crowds at a fishermen’sfiesta. A rare combination of suspenseand comedy, with a real twist in the tail.When Mary Bowes’ mother dies, it seemsthat things cannot get any worse. Butthen she discovers a devastating secretthat her father has kept hidden all theseyears, and her world is thrown intoturmoil. And so when she is told thatshe must marry a man forty years hersenior, she has no option but to leaveand fend for herself. But she is forgettingthe dangers lurking around every corner.For this is the Yorkshire of the IndustrialRevolution and everyone’s got somethingto hide -- there are people out lookingfor her, and it’s only a matter of timebefore she is found.My Best Friend’s GirlBest friends Kamryn Matika and AdeleBrannon thought nothing could comebetween them - until Adele did theunthinkable and slept with Kamryn’sfiance, Nate. Worse still, she got pregnantand had his child. When Kamryndiscovered the truth about their betrayal,she vowed never to see any of themagain.48

Kostova,ElizabethKrauss, NicoleThe HistorianElizabeth Kostova’s The Historiancombines a search for the historicalDracula with a profound sense thatStoker got some things right, that thelate Mediaeval tyrant kills among us yet,undead and dangerous. From Stoker, shealso takes a sense that the supernaturalseems more real when embedded indocumentary evidence.The History of LoveLeo Gursky is an old locksmith who feelsas though he is disappearing. He triesat all costs to draw attention to himself,but still feels he has a void in his life;eventually, he goes on a quest to find hislong-lost son and the novel that he wroteas a young man, now published in Chileunder a different man’s name.Alma Singer is a young teenage girl whois trying to keep her family together afterthe loss of her father. Named after theheroine of The History of Love, Alma triesto console her widowed mother (who hasrecently been requested to translate thenovel from Spanish) as well as keep heryounger brother from becoming a socialpariah.49

Lansens, LoriLarsson, SteigLaws, ValerieThe GirlsThe girls, Rose and Ruby Darlen, wereboth joined at the head (craniopagustwins) in a rural farming community in1974. Abandoned by their frightenedteenage mother, they are adopted by aneccentric nurse, and her husband. Thesisters attempt to lead a normal life andnow almost thirty, Rose and Ruby are onthe verge of becoming the oldest livingcraniopagus twins in history. Rose has apassion for writing and The Girls is herversion of life as a conjoined twin.The Girl With the Dragon TattooForty years ago, Harriet Vangerdisappeared off the secluded islandowned and inhabited by the powerfulVanger family. Her uncle, Henrik, isconvinced that she was murdered bysomeone in her own family. Disgracedjournalist Mikael Blomqvist is hired toinvestigate, but he needs a competentassistant : computer hacker LisbethSalander - a tattooed, truculent, angrygirl who rides a motorbike like a Hell’sAngel and handles makeshift weaponswith the skill born of remorseless rage.MoonbathingThis is the first full volume of poetryfrom prize-winning poet, playwright andperformer Valerie Laws, whose poetry hasoften been published in magazines andanthologies.50

Laws, ValerieLawson, MaryLethem,JonathanQuantum SheepIn 2002 Valerie spray-painted words ontothe fleeces of sheep from a nearby farm.As the flock milled about, the wordsrearranged and a new “poem” wascreated every time the sheep came torest.The Other Side of the BridgeTwo generations in the small townof Struan, Ontario, are tragicallyinterlocked, linked by fate andcommunity but separated by a war whichdevours its young men - its unimaginablehorror reaching right into the heart ofthis remote corner of an empire. Withher astonishing ability to turn the ratchetof tension slowly and delicately, Lawsonbuilds their story to a shocking climax.The Fortress of SolitudeThis is the story of two boys, Dylan Ebdusand Mingus Rude. They are friends andneighbors, but because Dylan is whiteand Mingus is black, their friendshipis not simple. This is the story of theirBrooklyn neighborhood, which is almostexclusively black despite the first whispersof something that will become known as“gentrification.”51

Lewis, SimonBad TrafficLively, Penelope ConsequencesInspector Jian is a Chinese cop from theSiberian borders who thinks he’s seen itall. But his search for his missing daughterbrings him to the meanest streets he’sever faced - in rural England. Migrantworker Ding Ming is distressed his gangmaster’s making demands, he owes alot of money to the snakeheads andno one will tell him where his wife hasbeen taken. Maybe England isn’t the‘gold mountain’ he was promised..... Twodesperate men, uneasy allies in a bafflingforeign land, are pitted against a band ofruthless criminals. There’s BAD TRAFFICahead.A chance meeting in St. James’s Parkbegins young Lorna and Matt’s intenserelationship. They leave London for acottage in a rural Somerset village. Theirintimate life together with their newbaby, Molly is shattered with the arrivalof World War II.In 1960s London, Molly falls pregnant bya wealthy man who wants to marry herbut whom she does not love.Thirty years later, Ruth, who has alwaysconsidered herself a peculiar accident,questions her own marriage and begins ajourney that takes her back to 1941.52

Lynch, JimMcCarthy,CormacMcEwan, IanThe Highest TideOn a moonlit night, thirteen-year-oldMiles O’Malley packs up his kayak andgoes exploring on the flats of PugetSound. His heart pounds as he movescloser to an enormous breathingbeast. He realises that he is looking atsomething remarkable: a giant squid.This gripping story of obsession, beautyand the wonders of the sea intoxicatesthe reader with its humour and tragedyas a young boy comes of age in a summernever to be forgotten.The RoadA profoundly moving story of a journey.It boldly imagines a future in which nohope remains, but in which the fatherand his son, each the other’s world entire,are sustained by love. Awesome in thetotality of its vision, it is an unflinchingmeditation on the worst and thebest that we are capable of: ultimatedestructiveness, desperate tenacity, andthe tenderness that keeps two peoplealive in the face of total devastation.AtonementIn the hot summer of 1935 thirteen yearold Briony Tallis is trying to stage a playto welcome her older brother home,but her cousins are proving not to beup to the task. As she sulks in her roomshe notices that her sister Cecilia hasstripped her clothes off and jumped intoa fountain, apparently at the behest of53

McEwan, IanMcEwan, Ianthe cleaning lady’s son Robbie. That nightsomething truly terrible happens, whichwill dramatically change the lives ofCecilia, Robbie and herself.On Chesil BeachThe year is 1962. Florence, the daughterof a successful businessman, is a talentedmusician. She dreams of a career on theconcert stage and of the perfect lifewith Edward, the earnest young historystudent. From the precise and intimatedepiction of two young lovers eager torise above the hurts and confusion of thepast, this is an extraordinary explorationof how the entire course of a life can bechanged—by a gesture not made or aword not spoken.SaturdayHenry Perowne is a contented man,a successful neurosurgeon, a devotedhusband and the proud father of twogrown-up children. Unusually, he wakesbefore dawn, drawn to the window ofhis bedroom and filled with a growingunease. What troubles him as he looksout at the night sky is the state of theworld, the impending war against Iraq, agathering pessimism since 9/11 and a fearthat his city, its openness and diversity,and his happy family life are underthreat.54

McGee, JamesRatcatcherHunting down highwaymen was not theusual preserve of a Bow Street Runner.From the squalor of St Giles Rookery, tothe palatial homes of the aristocracy,Hawkwood relentlessly pursues hisquarry. With no way of knowing who canbe trusted, Hawkwood must engage ina desperate race against time to preventthe successful execution of the Emperor’splot.MacLeod, Alison Fifteen Modern Tales of AttractionMcMahon,KatherineThese are indeed fifteen modern talesof attraction in which MacLeod relatesstories of love, electricity, hearts, anddeath. Here is an author unafraid to pushat the shape of what a story can be, whatit can say. Some of the stories are surrealand startling, the characters revealingunusual desires. It is because of theauthor’s skill that we accept the strangeurges: Nineteen-year-old Naomi wantsto have sex with a dead man in Sacredheart, and she is utterly believable. Gloriacraves both electric shock therapy and thedoctor who administers it in Live Wire.The Rose of SebastopolRussia, 1854, the Crimean War grindson, and as the bitter winter draws near,the battlefield hospitals fill with dyingmen. Rosa Barr, young, headstrongand beautiful, travels to Balaklava,determined to save as many of thewounded as she can. Mariella, Rosa’scousin, follows her fiancé Henry to Italy55

McNab, AndyMiller, Andrewafter he falls ill and is sent to recuperate.As her quest leads her deeper into thedark heart of the conflict, Mariella’sordered world begins to crumble and shefinds she has much to learn about secrecyand love.AggressorEx-deniable operator Nick Stone seemsto be living his dream, not a care in theworld as he steers his camper van roundAustralia. But, when he witnesses on TVthe massacre of children in a terroristsiege in the other side of the world, longsuppressedmemories are triggered andNick finds himself catapulted once moreinto working for the American secretservices - only this time, of his own freewill.OxygenA family reunion of sorts is underway inthe summer of 1997 for Alice, a newlyretired, long-widowed schoolteacher,dying of cancer at her home in theEnglish countryside. Gathering at herside are her two sons: Alec, a myopic,indecisive translator, and the moregregarious Larry, an unemployed TVsoap star whose glittering US careeris about to take a nosedive into theshabby territory of porn films, so he canstave off bankruptcy and hold on to hisdisintegrating marriage.56

Miller, RebeccaMiller, StephenThe Private Lives of Pippa LeeAt fifty, Pippa Lee seems just fine. Thedevoted wife of a brilliant publisherthirty years her senior, the proudmother of successful twins, and a lovelyand adored friend and neighbour, sheseems to glow with feminine serenity.But when her husband spontaneouslydecides they should cast off GramercyPark for Marigold Village retirementhome as a “pre-emptive strike againsthis decrepitude,” Pippa finds her beatificpersona unraveling in alarming ways.Paralympian: May AutobiographyStephen Miller is one of Britain’s mostsuccessful athletes. Record-breakingStephen, who has Cerebral Palsy, is also awriter and poet. Stephen’s inspirationalautobiography tells of his struggles andtriumphs, and is told with refreshinghonesty and infectious humour. With aforeword by Kevin Keegan. ‘I know howhard it is to compete at the highest level.It takes dedication, courage and selfbelief,and Stephen has those qualities inabundance. His story is truly unique andinspiring’ – Kevin Keegan.57

Miller, SueMills, MarkMills, MarkThe Story of My fatherIn the fall of 1988, Sue Miller foundherself caring for her father as he slippedinto the grasp of Alzheimer’s disease.With compassion, and an urgency bornof her own yearning to rescue herfather’s memory, Sue Miller takes uson an intensely personal journey thatbecomes, by virtue of her enormous giftsof observation, perception, and literaryprecision, a universal story of fathers anddaughters.The Savage GardenA beautiful Tuscan villa, a mysteriousgarden, two hidden murders - one fromthe 16th century, one from the twentieth- and a family driven by dark secrets,combine in this evocative, intriguingmystery set in post-War Italy. What reallylay behind a killing at the villa towardsthe end of the war?Past and present, love and intrigue,intertwine in an evocative mystery whichvividly captures the experience of aninnocent abroad in the uncertain worldof post-War Italy.The Whaleboat HouseIn the small town of Amagansett,perched on Long Island’s windsweptcoast, generations have followed thesame calling as their forefathers, fishingthe dangerous Atlantic waters. Theirstability is shattered when a beautifulNew York socialite turns up dead in theirnets. On the face of it, her death was58

Min, AncheeMorton, Kateaccidental, but deputy police chief TomHollis is convinced the truth lies in theintricate histories and family secrets ofAmagansett’s inhabitants.Empress OrchidTo rescue her family from poverty andavoid marrying her slope-shoulderedcousin, seventeen-year-old Orchidcompetes to be one of the Emperor’swives. When she is chosen as a lowerrankingconcubine she enters theerotically charged and ritualisedForbidden City. But beneath itsimmaculate facade lie whispers ofmurders and ghosts, and the thousandsof concubines will stoop to any lengths tobear the Emperor’s son.The House at RivertonSummer 1924: On the eve of a glitteringSociety party, by the lake of an Englishcountry house, a young poet takes hislife. The only witnesses, sisters Hannahand Emmeline Hartford, will neverspeak to each other again. Winter 1999:Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaidof Riverton Manor, is visited by a youngdirector making a film about the poet’ssuicide. A shocking secret threatens toemerge; something history has forgottenbut Grace never could.59

Mosse, KateMostert,NatashaLabyrinthWhen Dr Alice Tanner discovers twoskeletons during an archaeologicaldig in southern France, she unearths alink with a horrific and brutal past. Butit’s not just the sight of the shatteredbones that makes her uneasy; there’s anoverwhelming sense of evil in the tombthat Alice finds hard to shake off, even inthe bright French sunshine.Season of the WitchThe Matrix meets Interview with theVampire in this sexy gothic thriller abouttwo beautiful witch sisters and the lovetriangle that consumes the informationthief who is drawn into their intrigues.Season of the Witch tells the story ofGabriel Blackstone: hacker, informationthief, and skilled “remote viewer.” Askedby a former lover to investigate thedisappearance of her stepson, Gabriel’ssuspicions fall on two beautiful sisterswho live in a rambling Victorian house inLondon. Gabriel soon becomes convincedthat his client’s son had been murderedand that one of the women is the killer.But which one?60

Mountain, Fiona Lady of the ButterfliesNemirovsky,IreneOn the ancient marshlands of Somerset,a girl grows up in the shadow of theEnglish Civil War, knowing that oneday she will inherit the rich estatewhich belonged to her late mother.Her father, fears for his daughter in thepoisonous aftermath of the war, and forher vulnerability as an heiress. Aboveall he misunderstands her scientificpassion for butterflies. The girl is EleanorGlanville, destined to become oneof the most famous entomologists inhistory, bequeathing her name to therare butterfly which she discovered, theGlanville Fritillary.Suite FrancaiseSet during a year that begins withFrance’s fall to the Nazis in June 1940 andends with Germany turning its attentionto Russia, “Suite Francaise” falls into twoparts. The first is a brilliant depiction ofa group of Parisians as they flee the Naziinvasion and make their way through thechaos of France; the second follows theinhabitants of a small rural communityunder occupation who find themselvesthrown together in ways they neverexpected.61

Niffenegger,AudreyThe Time Traveler’s WifeThe story of Henry and Claire, who haveknown each other since Claire was sixand Henry was 36, and were marriedwhen Claire was 20 and Henry 28. Thisis possible only because Henry is one ofthe first people diagnosed with chronodisplacement-disorder- allowing him totravel in time.Oakes, AndyCitizen OneSun Piao is released from Ankang, thepsychiatric hospital for Chinese dissidents,and demoted to working in the ViceSquad, ostensibly a non-job since theChinese authorities claim there is no vicein the People’s Republic. Before you knowit, he is trying to solve a string of murdersof prostitutes, in which elite army officersare implicated. It is a case no one wantsand no one wants solved since it spellsdanger to all involved. As his fellowPSB Officers are butchered, Sun Piao’sinvestigations lead him to take on theprincelings, the sons of the highest cadrein China.62

Oates,Joyce CarolO’Hagan,AndrewOmaar, RagehBlack Girl WhiteThe novel centres on the events leadingup to the death of Generva Meade’sroommate, 19 year old Minette Swift, atthe Schuyler Liberal Arts College in thespring of 1975. Told from a 15-yearsonpoint of view, Generva (or Genna, asshe is more frequently referred to in thenovel), is looking back at her past, andthat of Minette, in order to understandhow such a terrible death befell herroom-mate.Be Near MeWhen an English priest takes over a smallScottish parish, not everyone is ready toaccept him. He makes friends with twolocal youths, Mark and Lisa, and clasheswith a world he can barely understand.The town seems to grow darker eachnight. Fate comes calling and before thesummer is out his quiet life is the focus ofpublic hysteria. “Be Near Me” is a story ofart and politics, love and change, and abook about the way we live now.Revolution DayRageh Omaar reported from Iraq forsix years prior to the conflict in 2003.He evaded the official minders to meetordinary Iraqis, finding out how theylived under Saddam’s brutal regime.Then war came, and he chose to stay inBaghdad, to see firsthand the countryhe loved crumble beneath the Allied63

O’Neill, Josephonslaught. His shocking account of thewar that followed and its terrifyingfallout, is a heartbreaking and fascinatingtestament to a people enduringdeprivation and destruction, told by theman who was there before, during andafter.NetherlandOsborne, Frances The BolterIn a New York City madephantasmagorical by the events of9/11, Hans, a banker originally from theNetherlands finds himself maroonedamong the strange occupants of theChelsea Hotel after his wife and sonreturn to London. Alone and untethered,feeling lost in the country he had come toregard as home, Hans stumbles upon thevibrant New York subculture of cricket,where he revisits his childhood and,thanks to a friendship with a Trinidadiannamed Chuck, reconnects with his lifeand his adopted country.‘The Bolter is the real Idina’s story toldby her great-grand-daughter FrancesOsborne. It whirls the reader throughthe London social scene during the FirstWorld War and the decadence of Kenya’sHappy Valley via Idina’s five marriagesand innumerable love affairs.64

Patterson, James LifeguardPenney, StefPicoult, JodiEverything is going right for lifeguardNed Kelley. He is involved with Tess, themost beautiful woman he has ever seenand what’s more, a million dollars iswithin touching distance; his share of thescore for the robbery of some world-classart. All he has to do is trigger alarms tothrow the cops off the scent. But whenTess is brutally murdered and the othersinvolved in the robbery are massacred,Ned is the prime suspect. He has been setup...The Tenderness of Wolves1867, Canada - As winter tightens its gripon the isolated settlement of Dove River,a man is brutally murdered and a 17-yearold boy disappears. Tracks leaving thedead man’s cabin head north towardsthe forest and the tundra beyond. In thewake of such violence, people are drawnto the township - journalists, Hudson’sBay Company men, trappers, traders- but do they want to solve the crime, orexploit it?My Sister’s KeeperKate Fitzgerald has a rare form ofleukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceivedto provide a donor match for proceduresthat become increasingly invasive. At13, Anna hires a lawyer so that she cansue her parents for the right to makeher own decisions about how her bodyis used when a kidney transplant isplanned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglectedoldest child of the family, is out setting65

Raisin, RossRamsland,Mortenfires, which his firefighter father, Brian,inevitably puts out.God’s Own CountrySam Marsdyke, the teenage son of afarmer up on the Yorkshire Moors. Hespends his days working the sheep,mending fences, trying to dodge the eyeof his brutal, silent father, and most ofall, watching the transformation of thefarms and villages around him. From thetop of the moors he watches the goofyramblers and the earnest ‘towns’, thefamilies from York, who are feverishlybuying up the farmhouses left empty bybankrupt farmers. As he watches, oneyoung daughter of a new family catcheshis eye.DogheadChased by bloodhounds on a Germanplain after escaping from a Naziconcentration camp, Askild is a painter, amurderer and a thief.His son, Niels “Jug Ears” Junior, usesdynamite to blow up the privy when hisfather sells his cherished coin collection.Grandson Asger fears dogs coming out ofthe walls, and can’t stop obsessing aboutthe space under the stairs.Three generations of wild anddysfunctional men are seen throughlayered and looping stories in a richlyimaginative novel.66

Robb, J DRobertson,JamesBorn in DeathEve Dallas has a grisly double homicideto solve when two young lovers-bothemployees of the same prestigiousaccounting firm are brutally killed on thesame night.Mavis her buddy, needs another favor.Tandy Willowby, one of the moms to bein Mavis’s birthing class, didn’t show upfor the baby shower. Eve will have totrack Tandy down while simultaneouslyunearthing this particularly vicious killer.The Testament of Gideon MackA son of the manse, Mack has grown upin an austere and chilly house, dominatedby a joyless father. Unable to believein God, he is far more attracted by theforbidden cartoons on television. Fatherand son clash fatally one day and it maybe guilt which drives Mack to take up acareer in the Church.Robinson,MarilynneGileadReverend John Ames, third generationpreacher, describes his pacifist fatherand his bloodied grandfather’s troubledrelationship in Kansas, during thestruggle for abolition and the ensuingAmerican Civil War. In the telling,reverent Ames reveals his anxious fear ofa younger namesake, John Ames, namedin honour of him years ago by his best67

Robinson, PhilRollins, Jamesfriend, who has returned to the smallcommunity in Iowa.That We Might Never Meet AgainSet within an isolated community,Michael, an artist, has been commissionedto paint a portrait of Lord Palmer, ownerof the remote estate of Inchnamactaire- the island of the wolf. Escape fromLondon, and its attendant distractions,should have proved just the tonic torepair Michael’s wounded relationshipwith his wife, Lucia, but best-laid planssoon turn rotten with the arrival of thecommunity’s Head Gardener.Map of BonesShots rang out across the cathedral.Sporadic. Cries suddenly silenced.Death stalked the cathedral as themonks slaughtered the few remainingsurvivors... All for a sack of bones. Why?Why steal the bones of the Magi?’ Whena group of parishioners is burned todeath in a German cathedral, the USsends in Sigma force. For this tragedy ismore than a case of arson - someone hasstolen the priceless treasure stored in thecathedral’s golden reliquary: the bones ofthe biblical Three Kings.68

Rollins, JamesRubenfeld, JedSandstormThe glass enclosure exploded outwards.Stabbing spears pierced his left side. Buthe barely felt the cuts as a wave of blastfurnaceheat struck him, searing, burningaway all the oxygen. The next explosionripped Harry from his feet and threw hisbody clear across the gallery. Lady KaraKensington’s family paid a high price inmoney and blood to found the gallerythat now lies in ruins. And her search foranswers is about to lead her into a worldshe never imagined.The Interpretation of MurderInspired by Sigmund Freud’s only visitto America, this is an intricate tale ofmurder and the mind’s most dangerousmysteries. In 1909 as Freud disembarksfrom the steamship George Washington,across town a stunning young womanis found dangling from a chandelier.The next day, a second beauty, barelyescapes the killer, but can not rememberanything.Dr. Stratham Younger, America’s mostcommitted Freudian analyst, calls in hisidol, the Master himself, to guide himthrough the challenges of analyzing thishigh-spirited young woman.69

Ruiz Zafon,CarlosSamaraweea,DarrylSandham, FranThe Shadow of the WindHidden in the heart of the old city ofBarcelona is the ‘cemetery of lost books’,a labyrinthine library of obscure andforgotten titles that have long gone outof print. 10-year-old Daniel is allowed tochoose one book from the shelves andpulls out ‘La Sombra del Viento’ by JulianCarax.What begins as a case of literary curiosityturns into a race to find out the truthbehind the life and death of Julian Carax.Vicky Had One Eye OpenThis wonderful first novel from DarrylSamaraweera sees Vicky’s family gatheraround her hospital bed. In a remarkablyconfident literary structure, readersexplore the subterranean emotions andaspirations flowing through the familyand its key members, and absorb theimpressionistic sense of place which rootsthem. Set in London and - in Vicky’s ownimagination - in an idealised Sri Lanka,this is a gorgeous literary experience.TraversaInspired by the great explorers, FranSandham left behind the daily grind ofLondon to undertake an extraordinaryadventure. Traversa is the funny andengaging story of his epic 3,000 mile solowalk across an entire continent, fromNamibia’s Skeleton Coast to the IndianOcean near Zanzibar.70

Sansom, C JScheinmann,DannyWinter in Madrid1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, andMadrid lies ruined, its people starving,while the Germans continue theirrelentless march through Europe. Britainnow stands alone while General Francoconsiders whether to abandon neutralityand enter the war.In a vivid and haunting depiction ofwartime Spain, Winter in Madrid is anintimate and compelling tale which offersa remarkable sense of history unfolding.Random Acts of Heroic Love1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospitalsomewhere in South America, hisgirlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn’tknow where he is or how Eleni died.1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive froma Siberian POW camp. Seven thousandkilometers over the Russian Steppesseparate him from his village and hissweetheart. When Moritz finally limpsback into his village to claim the hand ofthe woman he left behind, will she still bewaiting? Cinematic and brimming withraw emotions, it is the magnificent andemotive debut from a remarkable newwriter.71

Sebold, AliceShakespeare,NicholasLovely BonesAlice Sebold’s haunting andheartbreaking debut novel unfolds fromheaven, following the brutal murderof schoolgirl Susie Salmon; where “lifeis a perpetual yesterday” and whereSusie narrates and keeps watch over hergrieving family and friends, as well asher brazen killer and the sad detectiveworking on her case.SnowlegA young Englishman visits Cold WarLeipzig with a group of students and,during his brief excursion behind the IronCurtain, falls for an East German girl whois only just beginning to wake up to theway her society is governed. He spendsthe next 19 years pretending to himselfthat he is not in love until one day, withGermany now united, he decides to goback and look for her. But who was she,how will his actions have affected herand how will he find her? All he knowsof her identity is the nickname he gave toher - Snowleg.72

Shields, CarolUnlessReta Winters, 44-year-old successfulauthor of light summertime fiction, hasalways considered herself happy, evenblessed. That is, until her oldest daughterNorah mysteriously drops out of collegeto become a panhandler on a Torontostreet corner -- silent, with a sign aroundher neck bearing the word “Goodness”.Shriver, LionelShriver, LionelThe Post - Birthday WorldIt all hinges on one kiss. Whether IrenaMcGovern does or does not lean in toa specific pair of lips in London, willdetermine whether she stays with herdisciplined intellectual partner Lawrenceor runs off with Ramsey, a hardlivingsnooker player. Using a paralleluniverse structure, we follow Irena’slife as it unfolds under the influence oftwo drastically different men, havingramifications for her relationships withfriends and family, her career as anillustrator, and more importantly, for thetexture of her daily life.We Need to Talk About KevinTwo years ago, Eva’s son, Kevin,murdered seven of his fellow highschoolstudents, a cafeteria worker, anda popular algebra teacher. Telling thestory of Kevin’s upbringing, Eva addressesherself to her estranged husband througha series of letters. Fearing that her ownshortcomings may have shaped what herson has become, she confesses to a deep,73

Slouka, MarkSmiley, Janelong-standing ambivalence about both,motherhood in general and Kevin inparticular.The Visible WorldThe unnamed narrator of The VisibleWorld, the American born son of Czechimmigrants living in New York, grows upin an atmosphere haunted by fragmentsof a past he cannot understand. As anadult, the narrator travels to Prague,hoping to learn about a love affairbetween his then young mother and amember of the Czech Resistance namedTomas, an affair whose untimely end, hesenses, lays behind Ivana’s unhappiness.A Thousand AcresLarry Cook’s farm is the largest in hiscounty in Iowa and a tribute to his hardwork and single-mindedness. Proud andpossessive, his sudden decision to retireand hand over the farm to his threedaughters is disarmingly uncharacteristic.Ginny and Rose, the two eldest, arestartled yet eager to accept, but Caroline,has misgivings. Immediately her fathercuts her out. It is a decision that causeschaos.74

Smith, AliSmith, AndrewSummerscale,KateThe AccidentalArresting and wonderful, “TheAccidental” pans in on the Norfolkholiday home of the Smart family onehot summer. There, a beguiling strangercalled Amber appears at the door bearingall sorts of unexpected gifts, tramplingover family boundaries and sendingeach of the Smarts scurrying from thedark into the light. A novel about theways that seemingly chance encountersirrevocably transform our understandingof ourselves.MoondustTwelve men walked on the Moon.Privately they refer to themselves as theOrder of the Ancient Astronauts. As timepasses, what they did seems ever morebizarre. Today, the lunar journey seemsas strange as stuffing fraternity brothersinto phone booths, eating goldfish, orlistening to the 1910 Fruitgum Company.The mission itself seems as pointless (butalso as heroic) as walking solo to theSouth Pole.The Suspicions of Mr Whicher‘A pacy analysis of a true British murdercase from 1860, the unravelling of whichinvolved one of the earliest ScotlandYard detectives and inspired sensationnovelists such as Dickens and WilkieCollins by exposing the dark secrets of theVictorian middle-class home.75

Swift, GrahamTaylor, AndrewThe Light of DaySarah is in prison. Every fortnight she isvisited by George, the private eye sheemployed to observe the final stageof her husband’s affair. The visits, andthe days between, lead George backinto Sarah’s past and into events he canpicture only too well, while bringinghim ever closer to a time he can’t quiteimagine, when she will once againstep out into the clear light of day. Thisis a brilliant tale of love, murder andsuspense, from one of Britain’s finestwriters.The American BoyThomas Shield, a new master at a schooljust outside London, is tutor to a youngAmerican boy and the boy’s sensitive bestfriend, Charles Frant. Drawn to Frant’sbeautiful, unhappy mother, Thomasbecomes caught up in her family’s twistedintrigues. Despite his efforts, Shield iscaught up in a deadly tangle of sex,money, murder and lies. What of thestrange American child at the heart ofthese macabre events, what is the secretof the boy named Edgar Allen Poe?76

Taylor, DebbieThomas, RosieTorday, PaulHungry GhostsAfter two miscarriages and years ofIVF treatment, Sylvia is obsessed withfinding a cure for her infertility. Sheabandons her hospital job and buys aderelict cottage on the Greek island ofCrete. Her desire for a baby is graduallyeclipsed by a new obsession: to findout more about Martin, the buildershe hires to help renovate the cottage.Where does he vanish to each night? Asensual, disturbing novel about desireand loss, and the healing warmth of theMediterranean sun.Iris and RubyStiflingly quiet and claustrophobic, IrisBlack’s Cairo house is suddenly disturbedby the unexpected arrival of her wilfulgranddaughter, Ruby. Teenage Ruby hasrun away from England to seek solacewith the grandmother she hasn’t seen foryears. An unlikely bond is formed as thetwo open themselves up to one another.Salmon Fishing in the YemenThis is the story of Dr Alfred Jones, afisheries scientist for whom diary notableevents include the acquisition of a newelectric toothbrush and getting hisarticle on caddis fly larvae published in‘Trout and Salmon’, who finds himselfreluctantly involved in a project to bringsalmon fishing to the Highlands of theYemen. A project that will change his lifeand the course of British political historyforever.77

Tremain, RoseTropper,JonathanTuck, LilyThe Road HomeOn the coach, Lev chose a seat near theback and he sat huddled against thewindow, staring out at the land he wasleaving. He is on his way to Britain to findwork, so that he can send money backto Eastern Europe to support his motherand little daughter. Lev struggles withthe mysterious rituals of ‘Englishness’.We see the road Lev travels through Lev’seyes, and we share his dilemmas, theintimacy of his friendships, and his hopesof finding his way home, wherever homemay be.How to Talk to a WidowerWhen Doug Parker married Hailey,beautiful, smart and ten years older, heleft his carefree Manhattan life behindto live with her and her teenaged son,Russ, in a quiet Westchester community.Three years later, Hailey has been deadfor a year, and Doug, a widower at 29,just wants to drown himself in self-pityand Jack Daniels. But his family has otherideas. It isn’t long before his new life isspinning hopelessly out of control.The News From ParaguayIn Paris, Francisco Solano, the futuredictator of Paraguay picks up a bluefeather fallen from the hat of a beautifulwoman. And so begins his pursuit of theremarkable Irish courtesan Eliza Lynch.She follows him to Paraguay where shereigns as his mistress. She embraces her78

Tyler, AnneTyler, Annelover’s ill-fated imperial dream, onefuelled by a heedless arrogance that willdevastate all of Paraguay, and throwthis European woman into a worldof unprecedented privilege, ruthlessexploitation and even revolution...The Amateur MarriageMichael and Pauline seemed likethe perfect couple. The moment shewalked into his mother’s grocery storein Baltimore, he was smitten, and inthe heat of World War II fervour, theymarry in haste. From the sound of thecash register in the old grocery to thecounterculture jargon of the sixties, AnneTyler captures the nuances of everydaylife with telling precision and sly humour.Digging to AmericaIn what is perhaps her richest and mostdeeply searching novel, Anne Tylergives us a story about what it is to be anAmerican, and about Maryam Yazdan,who after Thirty-five years in this countrymust finally come to terms with her“outsiderness.”A luminous novel brimming with subtle,funny, and tender observations that casta penetrating light on the American wayas seen from two perspectives, those whoare born here and those who are stillstruggling to fit in.79

Vargas, FredWagner, EricaWaites, MartynThe Three EvangelistsSophia Simeonidis, a Greek opera singer,wakes up one morning to discover thata tree has appeared overnight in thegarden of her Paris house. Intrigued andunnerved, she turns to her neighbours:Vandoosler, an ex-policeman, and threeimpecunious historians, Mathias, Marcand Lucien - the three evangelists. Theyfind nothing but a few weeks later,Sophia disappears and her body is foundburned to ashes in a car. Several peopleseem to have a motive as Vandoosler andthe three evangelists set out to find thetruth.SeizureJanet grew up with her father; hermother, she was told, died when shewas three. Her father’s stories were ofher mother’s beauty and their earlylove. But now, living an ocean away, sheunexpectedly inherits a house. The househad belonged to her mother, who in factlived long into Janet’s adulthood. In astate of shock, she travels north with thekey and finds an old stone cottage at thesea’s edge.The White Room19-year-old Jack Smeaton returns fromthe trenches and the trauma of WWII. Heseeks solace in socialism, falling underthe spell of the young T. Dan Smith,visionary future leader of Newcastle citycouncil. Meanwhile, the future of MonicaBlacklock, victim of a childhood of abuse,seems unremittingly bleak. A chance80

Waters, SarahWinthrop,Elizabeth H.encounter with a handsome young manon the banks of the river Tyne looks setto change her life for the better. Buthandsome, psychopathic Brian Mooneyhas plans for Monica. In fact, Brian hasplans for lots of people.The Night WatchThe story of three women and a youngman with a past, who’s lives, and those oftheir friends and lovers, connect in waysthat are surprising not always known tothem. In wartime London, the womenwork as ambulance drivers, ministryclerks, and building inspectors. There arefeats of heroism, epic and quotidian, andtragedies both enormous and personal,but it is the emotional interiors of hercharacters that Waters captures withabsolute and intimacy.DecemberEleven-year-old Isabelle hasn’t spokenin nine months. Her mother has stoppedwork to devote herself full-time to herdaughter’s care. Four psychiatrists havealready given up on her, and her school,which until now has allowed her to studyfrom home, will not take her back in theNew Year. As her parents spiral aroundIsabelle’s impenetrable silence, she herselfemerges, in a fascinating portrait of anexceptional child, as a bright young girl inneed of help yet too terrified to ask for it.81

Wolstencroft,DavidYates, RichardGood News, Bad NewsMeet Charlie. An everyday bloke. Thegood news is he has a job. The bad newsis that it’s in a photo kiosk. He whilesaway the hours with his rather eccentriccolleague George. The truth is Charlieand George haven’t been very honestwith each other. Their real jobs are a lotmore dangerous. It’s time to come clean.But the truth could very well kill them.Revolutionary RoadThe story of Frank and April Wheeler,a bright, beautiful and talented couplewho have lived on the assumption thatgreatness is just around the corner.With heartbreaking compassion andremorseless clarity, Richard Yates showshow they mortgage their spiritualbirthright, betraying themselves and eachother.82

Young, William P The ShackMackenzie Allen Philips’ youngestdaughter, Missy, has been abductedduring a family vacation and evidencethat she may have been brutallymurdered is found in an abandonedshack deep in the Oregon wilderness.Four years later in the midst of his GreatSadness, Mack receives a suspicious note,apparently from God, inviting him backto that shack for a weekend. Against hisbetter judgment he arrives at the shackon a wintry afternoon and walks backinto his darkest nightmare.83

www.newcastle.gov.uk/libraries0191 277 4100March 201084