1950, London. Bloomsbury Books on Lamb's Conduit Street has resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the manager's unbreakable rules. But after the turmoil of war in Europe, the world is changing and the women in the shop have plans.
As the paths of stylish Vivien, loyal Grace and brilliant Evie cross with literary figures such as Daphne Du Maurier, Samuel Beckett and Peggy Guggenheim, these Bloomsbury girls are working together to plot out a richer and more rewarding future.
Natasha Solomons is the author of five internationally bestselling novels, including Mr Rosenblum''s List, The Novel in the Viola, which was chosen for the Richard & Judy Book Club, and The Gallery of Vanished Husbands. Natasha lives in Dorset with her son, daughter and her husband, the children''s author, David Solomons with whom she also writes screenplays. Her novels have been translated into 17 languages. When not writing in the studio, Natasha can usually be found in her garden.>
1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie''s empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho''s gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost. With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson brings together a glittering cast of characters in a truly mesmeric novel that captures the uncertainty and mutability of life; of a world in which nothing is quite as it seems.
1940, Nazi occupied France. In the middle of a devastating war, how many lives can you save?
Varian Fry, a young American journalist, arrives in Marseille, shortly after the Germans have occupied the country. He is armed only with three thousand dollars and a list of writers, thinkers and artists he hopes to rescue - so long as the Nazis don''t get to them first.
With borders closing around him, Varian tries to track down those on his list - renowned artists like Marc Chagall, who cannot believe that he will ever be unsafe in the country he loves. He smuggles them over the Pyrenees mountains and across the sea hidden in boats, but everyday hundreds of ordinary Jewish refugees beg him for help. Does Varian have the right to choose who to save?
At home in New York, making a list seemed simple, but in the middle of the worst war imaginable, he must do all he can to help. And as the Nazis begin to get word of Varian''s secret operation, he must find dig deep and find the courage to rescue as many innocents as he can.
Even though his own life may be in terrible danger.
An incredibly compelling and heart-wrenching historical novel, inspired by true events, about the extraordinary courage and friendships forged during humanity''s darkest hour. If you loved Schindler''s List, All The Light We Cannot See or The Tattooist of Auschwitz, you''ll adore The Flight Portfolio.
What readers are saying about The Flight Portfolio:
''Oh - it''s FABULOUS!... The best historical novel I''ve read in a long time.'' Goodreads Reviewer ''I love this book so much I can barely breathe.'' Goodreads Reviewer ''Such a wonderful novel!!... Please do yourself a favour and read it!!'' Goodreads Reviewer ''Couldn''t put this down. Beautiful writing and a riveting plot make this book an absolute page-turner!'' Goodreads Reviewer ''I did not want this book to end... Riveting. I loved it.'' Goodreads Reviewer ''An outstanding book for anyone who likes historical fiction, a gripping story, lyrical writing, or all three. It is one of those books that you never want to end.'' Goodreads Reviewer ''I can''t begin to believe that I will read another book this year that will even come close to reaching the heights of The Flight Portfolio.'' Goodreads Reviewer
In 1963, in a Siberian gulag, former nuclear specialist Valery Kolkhanov has mastered what it takes to survive: the right connections to the guards for access to food and cigarettes, the right pair of warm boots to avoid frostbite, and the right attitude toward the small pleasures of life. But on one ordinary day, all that changes: Valery''s university mentor steps in and sweeps Valery from the frozen prison camp to a mysterious unnamed town hidden within a forest so damaged it looks like the trees have rusted from within.
Here, Valery is Dr. Kolkhanov once more, and he''s expected to serve out his prison term studying the effect of radiation on local animals. But as Valery begins his work, he is struck by the questions his research raises: what, exactly, is being hidden from the thousands who live in the town? And if he keeps looking for answers, will he live to serve out his sentence?
Based on real events in a surreal Soviet city, and told with bestselling author Natasha Pulley''s inimitable style, The Half Life of Valery K is a sweeping historical adventure.
This story is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil.
Stunningly-designed new editions of Toni Morrison''s best-known novels, published by Vintage Classics in celebration of her life and work. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY BOOKER PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR BERNARDINE EVARISTO Sethe is now miles away from Sweet Home - the farm where she was kept as a slave for many years. Unable to forget the unspeakable horrors that took place there, Sethe is haunted by the violent spectre of her dead child, the daughter who died nameless and whose tombstone is etched with a single word, ''Beloved''. A tale of brutality, horror and, above all, love at any cost, Beloved is Toni Morrison''s enduring masterpiece and best-known work.
**'The marker you should judge all other time-travelling narratives by' Guardian** Octavia E. Butler's masterpiece and ground-breaking exploration of power and responsibility, for fans of The Handmaid's Tale, The Power and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing . With an original foreword by AyO²bàmi AdebàyO². '[Her] evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human' New York Times ' No novel I've read this year has felt as relevant, as gut-wrenching or as essential' The Pool In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave. When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning. She saves his life - and it will happen again and again. Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them. And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun. Octavia E. Butler's ground-breaking masterpiece is the extraordinary story of two people bound by blood, separated by so much more than time. What readers are saying about KINDRED: ' It was written in 1979 but could have been written last year. Incredible. I couldn't put it down ' ' The narrator is us - we see the abomination and humiliation of slavery not through a slave's eyes, but our modern-day eyes , and it makes it all the more powerful ' 'A must-read for everyone' ' Emotionally and viscerally alive and challenging . I don't know how I missed it before now'
WINNER OF THE 2015 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR FICTION A beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.'' For Marie-Laure, blind since the age of six, the world is full of mazes. The miniature of a Paris neighbourhood, made by her father to teach her the way home. The microscopic layers within the invaluable diamond that her father guards in the Museum of Natural History. The walled city by the sea, where father and daughter take refuge when the Nazis invade Paris. And a future which draws her ever closer to Werner, a German orphan, destined to labour in the mines until a broken radio fills his life with possibility and brings him to the notice of the Hitler Youth. In this magnificent, deeply moving novel, the stories of Marie-Laure and Werner illuminate the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.
The Times Top Ten Bestseller From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Dear Mrs Bird comes Yours Cheerfully , the charming and hilarious tonic we''ve all been waiting for! ''Sweet, heart-warming and uplifting . . . Absolutely lovely!'' - Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups ''Full of wit, friendship and the uplifting knowledge that when people come together, great changes can be made'' - Katie Fforde, author of Wedding Season London, September, 1941. Following the departure of the formidable Editor, Henrietta Bird, from Woman''s Friend magazine, things are looking up for Emmeline Lake as she takes on the challenge of becoming a young wartime advice columnist. Her relationship with boyfriend Charles is blossoming, while Emmy''s best friend Bunty is still reeling from the very worst of the Blitz, but bravely looking to the future. Together, the friends are determined to Make a Go of It. When the Ministry of Information calls on Britain''s women''s magazines to help recruit desperately needed female workers to the war effort, Emmy is thrilled to be asked to step up and help. But when she and Bunty meet a young woman who shows them the very real challenges that women war workers face, Emmy must tackle a life-changing dilemma: between doing her duty, and standing by her friends. Every bit as funny, touching and cheering as AJ Pearce''s debut, Dear Mrs Bird , Yours Cheerfully is a celebration of friendship, a testament to the strength of women and the importance of lifting each other up, even in the most challenging times.
The New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller'A novel of breathtaking scope' Guardian1939.SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATHThis new edition features exclusive first chapter from Markus Zusak's brand new literary novel BRIDGE OF CLAY, out in autumn 2018.
In Athens, crowds flock to the Agora, where the most shocking trial of the ancient world is about to shake the city to its very foundations . . . Theseus, King of Athens and legendary hero of the Greeks, is steering his people towards a radical new democracy. But when a shocking accusation plunges the royal family into scandal, he is faced with a decision that could bring his kingdom crumbling to the ground. Phaedra, Cretan Princess and Theseus''s consort, has accused her stepson, Hippolytus, of rape. Phaedra is young and beautiful, but she is from a family of tainted women and the Athenian court is awash with rumours about her. Hippolytus is a man of honour, sworn to the service of the goddess Artemis. Now the men of Athens are gathering to determine the truth. Each man will cast his vote, and thus decide the fate of the queen. But what of the women of Athens? They have many stories to tell, about Hippolytus and the men like him. Stories that have gone unheard. Until now . . .
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN''S PRIZE 2022br>A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICKbr>SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021br>br>A rich, magical new novel from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World - now a top ten Sunday Times bestsellerbr>br>It is 1974 on the island of Cyprus. Two teenagers, from opposite sides of a divided land, meet at a tavern in the city they both call home. The tavern is the only place that Kostas, who is Greek and Christian, and Defne, who is Turkish and Muslim, can meet, in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic, chilli peppers and wild herbs. This is where one can find the best food in town, the best music, the best wine. But there is something else to the place: it makes one forget, even if for just a few hours, the world outside and its immoderate sorrows.br>br>In the centre of the tavern, growing through a cavity in the roof, is a fig tree. This tree will witness their hushed, happy meetings, their silent, surreptitious departures; and the tree will be there when the war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to rubble, when the teenagers vanish and break apart.br>br>Decades later in north London, sixteen-year-old Ada Kazantzakis has never visited the island where her parents were born. Desperate for answers, she seeks to untangle years of secrets, separation and silence. The only connection she has to the land of her ancestors is a Ficus Carica growing in the back garden of their home.br>br>In The Island of Missing Trees, prizewinning author Elif Shafak brings us a rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature, and, finally, renewal.br>br>''What a wonderful read! This book moved me to tears... in the best way. Powerful and poignant'' Reese Witherspoonbr>br>''A brilliant novel -- one that rings with Shafak''s characteristic compassion for the overlooked and the under-loved, for those whom history has exiled, excluded or separated. I know it will move many readers around the world, as it moved me'' Robert Macfarlanebr>br>''A wonderfully transporting and magical novel that is, at the same time, revelatory about recent history and the natural world and quietly profound'' William Boydbr>br>''This is an enchanting, compassionate and wise novel and storytelling at its most sublime'' Polly Samsonbr>br>''A wise novel of love and grief, roots and branches, displacement and home, faith and belief. THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES is balm for our bruised times'' David Mitchellbr>br>''An outstanding work of breathtaking beauty'' Lemn Sissaybr>br>''A writer of important, beautiful, painful, truthful novels'' Marian Keyesbr>br>''Lovely heartbreaker of a novel centered on dark secrets of civil wars & evils of extremism: Cyprus, star-crossed lovers, killed beloveds, damaged kids. Uprootings. (One narrator is a fig tree!)'' Margaret Atwood on Twitterbr>br>''Elif Shafak is a unique and powerful voice in world literature'' Ian McEwan>
Amor Towles is the author of New York Times bestsellers Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow . The two novels have collectively sold more than 4 million copies and have been translated into more than thirty languages. Towles lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children.>
* The million-copy bestseller* * National Book Award finalist * * An instant New York Times Bestseller and one of their 10 Best Books of 2017 * * Selected for Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club * 'This is a captivating book... Min Jin Lee's novel takes us through four generations and each character's search for identity and success. It's a powerful story about resilience and compassion' BARACK OBAMA. Yeongdo, Korea 1911. In a small fishing village on the banks of the East Sea, a club-footed, cleft-lipped man marries a fifteen-year-old girl. The couple have one child, their beloved daughter Sunja. When Sunja falls pregnant by a married yakuza, the family face ruin. But then Isak, a Christian minister, offers her a chance of salvation: a new life in Japan as his wife. Following a man she barely knows to a hostile country in which she has no friends, no home, and whose language she cannot speak, Sunja's salvation is just the beginning of her story. Through eight decades and four generations, Pachinko is an epic tale of family, identity, love, death and survival.
One September evening in 1785, the merchant Jonah Hancock hears urgent knocking on his front door. One of his captains is waiting eagerly on the step. He has sold Jonah's ship for what appears to be a mermaid.
As gossip spreads through the docks, coffee shops, parlours and brothels, everyone wants to see Mr Hancock's marvel. Its arrival spins him out of his ordinary existence and through the doors of high society. At an opulent party, he makes the acquaintance of Angelica Neal, the most desirable woman he has ever laid eyes on... and a courtesan of great accomplishment. This meeting will steer both their lives onto a dangerous new course, on which they will learn that priceless things come at the greatest cost.
Where will their ambitions lead? And will they be able to escape the destructive power mermaids are said to possess?
In this spell-binding story of curiosity and obsession, Imogen Hermes Gowar has created an unforgettable jewel of a novel, filled to the brim with intelligence, heart and wit.
