The groundbreaking debut novel from the bestselling author of HAMNET and THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT, featuring a review by Ali Smith'This devastatingly skilful love story will break your heart!' Alice Winn'Gripping. Superbly moving' Ali SmithA distraught young woman boards a train at King's Cross to return to her family in Scotland. Six hours later, she catches sight of something so terrible in a mirror at Waverley Station that she gets on the next train back to London.AFTER YOU'D GONE follows Alice's mental journey through her own past, after a traffic accident has left her in a coma. A love story that is also a story of absence, and of how our choices can reverberate through the generations, it slowly draws us closer to a dark secret at a family's heart.'Remarkable. Luminous' Observer'Deeply moving' The Times'An amazing study of love and grief as it poses the wrenching question: What do you do with all the love you have for someone when they're gone?' Glamour Read more

'Absolutely amazing read, had me guessing the whole way through... Then the ending. Love it!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'What an emotional gut punch. Utterly engrossing and deeply thought provoking. I can't wait to discuss this one with the book club!... THAT ENDING' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The number one Sunday Times bestseller that will stay with your forever in your heart from master storyteller Jodi Picoult. Emma Hunt has spent fifteen years raising Theo and Jacob on her own, and has created what she sees to be a stable and happy life for them, despite the challenges of Jacob's Asperger's syndrome.Jacob's behaviour has sometimes frustrated Emma, but she has never doubted her son's good heart. Yet, when his tutor is found dead, suspicion begins to surround Jacob and the Hunt family, who have never quite fitted into the community.Now, as more and more evident links Jacob to the crime, Emma is determined to prove her son's innocence.Can she believe in it?Everyone is hooked by House Rules:'One of the most moving stories that I have ever read... A masterpiece. Everyone should read this book' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Just wow... This book made me laugh, cry, and want to hug the characters. So well researched, which made it completely believable' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Everything I look for in good fiction... made me laugh, made me cry, and kept me intrigued until the very end' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Captivated me from the very beginning. Existing Picoult fans will find everything they love in this novel' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'A joy to read, great characters, interesting situations and gripping plot' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Had me gripped from beginning to end. The characters are believable and likeable... I loved the ending, too. Great read, I couldn't put it down' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Utterly gripping' Stylist'A real page-turner' Sunday Express Read more

'COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Absolutely brilliant book, couldn't put it down... You will not believe the end!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Heartbreaking... From the moment I picked it up I couldn't put it down. Every time I thought I had the answer I was completely wrong... Will stay in your heart forever... I was an emotional wreck throughout this whole story' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐The international bestseller that will stay with you long after you have turned the final page from master storyteller Jodi Picoult.After years of cruel bullying from his classmates, Peter Houghton snaps one morning, and in nineteen minutes, ten residents of the town of Sterling are dead. When the case goes to trial, the reeling town is determined to seek justice for the innocents Peter killed.But as the trial unfolds, Peter's testimony casts light on the terrible role the residents of Sterling have played in turning a sweet, loving boy into a killer. It isn't long before Sterling's illusions of innocence find themselves shattered forever... Readers are gripped by Nineteen Minutes:'I sat up til after 1am reading the final chapters of this brilliant book. I just could not put it down. I had to know how it would end. Right up to the last few pages you still didn't know who was telling the truth' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Wow. By the end, I felt so connected to these characters I didn't want it to be over... So emotional and one that will make me think for a long, long time' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'I knew from the first chapter that this book was going to blow my mind. And I was right... This was my first Jodi Picoult and DEFINITELY not my last' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Wonderful... Emotional and thoughtful... You really get into the minds of the character... Another one that made me cry. Picoult never disappoints!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Incredible book! I was so engrossed in it and the ending... Oh my!... Fantastic story that touches the reader' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Amazing story from one of my favourite authors... It's smart, intelligent and emotional story telling at its absolute best' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Once started, it was extremely difficult to put down... Breaks your heart and makes you think' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'I haven't been brought to tears in the final pages of a novel in a long time' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Fantastic read. A book that you won't forget you read and one you will think of after reading' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Fabulous book!... you feel part of the story and unable to set it down!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Incredibly thought-provoking' The Sun Read more

Brutally violent, Blood Meridian is the story of one teenage runaway in the nineteenth-century American South, as a sadistic gang unleashes its massacre across the desert land. It is the work that sealed Cormac McCarthy's reputation as one of the twentieth century's greatest writers.‘[A] brilliant, uncompromising work of fiction – imagine if the authors of the King James Bible, their hands guided by Satan, wrote a western’ – The TimesThrough the hostile landscape of the Texas–Mexico border wanders the Kid, a fourteen year-old Tennessean who is quickly swept up in the relentless tide of blood.A group known as the Glanton gang hunt Indigenous Americans, collecting scalps as their bloody trophies. At the centre of this violence stands Judge Holden: a massive, hairless man, mysterious if not supernatural, erudite and cold-blooded. He is singularly extreme in his sadistic violence.But the apparent chaos is not without order – the Glanton gang, too, are stalked as prey.Read as both a brilliant subversion of the Western novel and a blazing example of that form, it is a powerful, mesmerizing and savagely beautiful novel – and one of the most important works in American fiction of the last century.‘In Blood Meridian, McCarthy reaches the peak of his style: spare and ornate at once, repetitious but endlessly readable’ – GuardianPraise for Cormac McCarthy:‘McCarthy worked close to some religious impulse, his books were terrifying and absolute’ – Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and The Wren, The Wren'His prose takes on an almost biblical quality, hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power' – Stephen King, author of The Shining and the Dark Tower series'[I]n presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose, [McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence' – Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback MountainPart of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature. Read more

The Japanese bestseller: a tale of love, new beginnings, and the comfort that can be found between the pages of a good book.When twenty-five-year-old Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle Satoru's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above his shop.Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, the Morisaki Bookshop is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building, the shop is filled with hundreds of second-hand books. It is Satoru's pride and joy, and he has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife left him five years earlier.Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the shop.And as summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.Quirky, beautifully written, and movingly profound, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop will appeal to readers of Before The Coffee Gets Cold, The Cat Who Saved Books, and anyone who has had to recover from a broken heart.PRAISE FOR DAYS AT THE MORISAKI BOOKSHOP:'Brims with genuine charm . . . evokes powerful feelings that any book lover will recognize' Japan Times'Ozawa's translation gracefully captures the author's whimsical and tender voice. Yagisawa has the right touch for lifting a reader's mood' Publishers Weekly'Readers will want to linger in this world' Booklist'A familiar romance about books and bookstores, told with heart and humor' Kirkus'A slender book, but one rich in experience, exactly like the tiny, crammed Morisaki bookshop itself' New York Journal of Books Read more

'Truly extraordinary books are rare, and this is one of them' – Roddy DoyleJames is a profound and ferociously funny novel from one of our greatest living writers, Percival Everett.The Sunday Times BestsellerWinner of the National Book Award for FictionWinner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in FictionShortlisted for the Booker PrizeShortlisted for the Dublin Literary AwardFinalist for the Orwell Prize for Political FictionThe Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new owner in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter forever, he flees to nearby Jackson’s Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father who recently returned to town.So begins a dangerous and transcendent journey along the Mississippi River, towards the elusive promise of the free states and beyond. As James and Huck navigate the treacherous waters, each bend in the river holds the promise of both salvation and demise. And together, the unlikely pair embark on the most life-changing odyssey of them all . . .A 'Book of the Year' in The Observer, The Times & Sunday Times, The Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express, The Spectator, New Statesman, Independent, TLS, The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, i newspaper, The Economist, The Irish Times, The New York Times, TIME and The New Yorker'Who should read this book? Every single person in the country' – Ann Patchett'Scorchingly funny and action-packed' – The Sunday Times, 'Books of the Year''This may be Everett's best book yet' – Bonnie Garmus'Playful and viciously comic' – The Telegraph, 'Books of the Year''My favourite novel this year' – Salman Rushdie Read more

'A splendidly exciting and original story' Sunday Telegraph'Terrifyingly exciting suspense' Ian FlemingSet in Changi, the most notorious prisoner of war camp in Asia, King Rat is an heroic story of survival told by a master story-teller who lived through those years as a young soldier. Only one man in fifteen had the strength, the luck, and the cleverness simply to survive Changi. And then there was King.'KING RAT is the best novel in English to have come out of Japanese prisoner of war camps . . . James Clavell is a teller of stories. They are complicated and exciting, and you are desperate to know what will happen to his characters because they are like the people you know from your own life and experience, set in strange and sometimes terrible circumstances' John Simpson Read more

*ORDER YOUR COPY OFTHE DEATH OF US, ABIGAIL DEAN'S STUNNING NEW NOVEL NOW!*‘The year’s best debut’ SUNDAY TIMES‘The best crime novel of the year’ INDEPENDENT‘Sensational. Gripping, haunting, and beautifully written’ RICHARD OSMANCHOSEN AS A BEST BOOK OF 2021 BY THE TIMES, THE FT, THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, STYLIST AND MORE!‘The biggest mystery thriller since Gone Girl’ ELLE‘The novel you’ll stay up reading until 3am’ SUNDAY TIMES‘An astonishing achievement.’ JESSIE BURTON‘Gripping, beautifully written perfection.’ SOPHIE HANNAH‘A masterpiece.’ LOUISE O’NEILL‘Fantastic.’ PAULA HAWKINS ‘Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’I am Lex Gracie: but they call me Girl A.I grew up with my family on the moors.I escaped when I was fifteen years old.NOW SOMETHING IS PULLING ME BACK…RIGHTS SOLD IN 36 TERRITORIESSOON TO BE A TV SHOW DIRECTED BY JOHAN RENCK (Chernobyl)‘Incendiary, beautifully written debut’ Guardian‘Psychologically astute, adroitly organised, written with flair’ Sunday Times‘Terrifyingly gripping’ SUSIE STEINER‘Beautiful’ ADELE PARKS‘Incredibly well written, devastating in a good way, and intriguing to the last page’ LIZ NUGENT‘I was obsessed by it. As close to perfect as thrillers get’ JOHN MARRS‘A gripping debut’ Oprah magazineOne of Marie Claire, Waterstones and Grazia’s best books for 2021A Sunday Times No.2 bestseller for w/e 6/2/21A New York Times bestseller Read more

THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE RECORD-BREAKING, MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES BY RICHARD OSMAN----------'Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so VERY funny' Marian Keyes'So smart and funny. Deplorably good' Ian Rankin'Thrilling, moving, laugh-out-loud funny' Mark BillinghamIn a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?The Times Crime Book of the MonthGuardian Best Crime and Thrillers----------'A warm, wise and witty warning never to underestimate the elderly' Val McDermid'I completely fell in love with it' Shari Lapena'This is properly brilliant. The pages fly and I can't stop smiling' Steve Cavanagh'Steeped in Agatha Christie joy' Araminta Hall'Pure escapism' Guardian'As gripping as it is funny' Evening Standard'An exciting new talent in crime fiction' Daily Mail'A witty and poignant tale' Daily Telegraph'Funny and original' Sun Read more

DISCOVER THE DU MAURIER DARK ROMANCE COLLECTION'A brilliantly executed thriller' VOGUE'Daphne du Maurier has no equal' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'The master of slow-burning menace' STACEY HALLS'Her influence on fiction is incalculable, her imagination unsurpassable' ANDREW MICHAEL HURLEYShe was a woman, and for no reason in heaven or earth she loved him. He had kissed her, and she was bound to him for ever.On a bitter November evening, Mary Yellan crosses the windswept Cornish moors to seek revenge with her Aunt Patience at Jamaica Inn. But the crumbling inn is no safe haven, and Patience is a changed woman, cowering before her domineering husband Joss. In fear of her life, and disturbed by her powerful attraction to Joss's younger brother, Mary is soon plunged into a brutal world of smuggling and murder in which she can trust no one - not even herself. 'The author's stunning evocation of her beloved Cornwall is the real star of this book' RUTH WARE Read more

'An absolute classic, and a whole new world to explore ... irresistible' Lee Child'Beautiful and melancholic, Inspector Imanishi Investigates is not just an ingenious and elegant mystery, but a fascinating window into 1960s Japan' Paula Hawkins A thrilling crime classic, from the bestselling author of Tokyo ExpressTokyo, 1960. As the first rays of morning light hit the rails at Kamata Station, a man’s body is found on the tracks. With only two leads – a distinctive accent and a single word, ‘kameda’ – senior inspector Imanishi Eitaro is called in to solve the puzzle.Setting aside his beloved bonsai and haikus, he must cross Japan in search of answers, from Osaka to Akita, accompanied by junior detective Yoshimura. At each new town, they encounter traces of the avant-garde Nouveau Group – young Tokyo artists who are bringing new ideas from the West. What to make of this modern collective? And how to stop another mysterious death occurring? Inspector Imanishi investigates…A fascinating glimpse into Japanese society at a time of great change, this is one of Seicho Matsumoto’s best-loved novels – a riveting mystery from the master of Japanese crime. Read more

‘Just relishable. Thank God for the balm of good writing’ NIGELLA LAWSON‘A joy to read in a single relaxing afternoon’ JACQUELINE WILSON'Razor sharp on family, love and marriage' DAVID NICHOLLS'I devoured it in one long lazy afternoon - I laughed and cried' VICTORIA HISLOPThe happily ever after is only part of the story… A funny, touching, hopeful gem about love, marriage and second chances It’s the day before her daughter’s wedding and things are not going well for Gail Baines. First thing, she loses her job – or quits, depending who you ask. Then her ex-husband Max turns up at her door expecting to stay for the festivities. He doesn’t even have a suit. Instead, he’s brought memories, a shared sense of humour – and a cat looking for a new home.Just as Gail is wondering what’s next, their daughter Debbie discovers her groom has been keeping a secret…As the big day dawns, the exes just can’t agree on what’s best for Debbie. Gail is seriously worried, while Max seems more concerned with whether to opt for the salmon or prime rib at the reception, if they make it that far.The day after the wedding, Gail and Max prepare to go their separate ways again. But all the questions about the future of the happy couple have stirred up the past for Gail. Because ‘happy’ takes many forms, and sometimes the younger generation has much to teach the older about secrets, acceptance and taking the rough with the smooth.'Clear-eyed, out-and-out funny and a cause for celebration' RACHEL JOYCE'Three Days in June has all her trademark wry humour and brilliant observation, brought together with her immaculate technique. It’s full of love, and that can never be beaten' ELIZABETH BUCHAN'If Anne Tyler isn’t the best writer in the world, who is?' BBC R4 WOMAN'S HOUR'Anne Tyler really is the best' GRAHAM NORTON'Our greatest chronicler of family life' DAILY MAIL'Nobody does it better' VOGUE Read more

'A fantasy, impossible but delicious ... an exuberance of life and wit' The Times Literary SupplementFirst masculine, then feminine, Orlando begins life as a young sixteenth-century nobleman, then gallops through the centuries to end up as a woman writer in Virginia Woolf's own time. Written for the charismatic, bisexual writer Vita Sackville-West, this playful mock biography of a chameleon-like historical figure is both a wry commentary on gender and, in Woolf's own words, a 'writer's holiday' which delights in its ambiguity and capriciousness.Edited by Brenda Lyons with an Introduction and Notes by Sandra M. Gilbert Read more

Discover the haunting, heart-breaking post-apocalyptic tale of female friendship and intimacy set in a deserted world.Deep underground, thirty-nine women are kept in isolation in a cage. Above ground, a world awaits. Has it been abandoned? Devastated by a virus?Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. But, as the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone an outcast in the corner.Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. The woman who will never know men.WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, BOOKER PRIZE-LONGLISTED AUTHOR OF THE WATER CURE Read more

*THE SMASH HIT NO.1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER ~ A GUARDIAN and SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH ~ TV IN DEVELOPMENT WITH NETFLIX*IT’S THE CRIME OF THE CENTURYEveryone knows the Anna O case.Everyone knows it was her fingerprints on the knife.But no-one knows the secrets of her sleepwalking.No-one knows whether she really meant to kill that night.As a trial nears, the mystery reawakens.Is she innocent, or guilty?IT’S TIME TO PICK A SIDE____READERS LOVE THE STORY OF ANNA O⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Best book of the year so far and will take some beating’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Hooked me from the start and continues to haunt me. Brilliantly written and so many red herrings!’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Absolutely riveting, I couldn't put it down’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This was a rollercoaster read with some exciting twists and a killer ending’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Addictive, brilliant and one I would definitely recommend’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I loved this incredible fast-paced thriller’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘If you like The Silent Patient, this is the book for you.’ Read more

A Guardian best crime and thriller book of 2024'Excellently lean and tense crime novel with a touch of the nouveau roman about it' Ian Rankin'Mason has been mainlining Simenon for a while, and it shows' Mick Herron'The very definition of unputdownable' David Peace'It's like the provincial British version of Maigret' Clare ChambersThe people I work with call me 'Finder'. I'm a specialist, a finder of missing people.July 2015, Sevenoaks. 12-year-old schoolgirl Alice Johnson went missing while doing her paper round, her bag found discarded on the pavement. At 08.00, she was spotted standing in heavy rain at the side of the busy by-pass. At 11.00, she was seen talking to the driver of a black car in Tonbridge. After that, nothing. Alice was never found.Nine years later the body of another schoolgirl, Joleen Price, is pulled from a nearby lake and a local man named Vince Burns detained. Convinced that Burns is guilty in both cases, SIO Dave Armstrong calls in the Finder to investigate the earlier disappearance.Interviewing those who thought they knew her, the Finder gradually reveals a hidden Alice, a girl of surprising contradictions. Seeking answers from her divorced parents - an over-protective mother, a negligent father - the Finder is forced to consider violently opposing narratives. Was the timid 12-year-old a victim of the predator Burns, as he himself hints? Or was she carrying out a plan of her own?The Case of the Lonely Accountant, book two in the Finder Mysteries, is OUT NOW! Read more

Jane Gardam's funny and wise masterpiece, reissued with a new introduction by Nina Stibbe'Old Filth has stayed with me for years' SATHNAM SANGHERA'Sharp, humane, generous and wonderfully funny' HILARY MANTEL'The last great book I read' RACHEL WEISZ 'Gardam's masterpiece'GUARDIANFilth, in his heydey, was an international lawyer with a practice in the Far East. Now, only the oldest QCs can remember that his nickname stood for Failed In London Try Hong Kong. Long ago, Old Filth was a Raj orphan - one of the many young children sent 'Home' from the East to be fostered and educated in England. Jane Gardam's novel tells his story, from his birth in what was then Malaya to the extremities of his old age. In doing so, she not only encapsulates a whole period from the glory days of the British Empire, through the Second World War, to the present and beyond, but also illuminates the complexities of the character known variously as Eddie, the Judge, Fevvers, Filth, Master of the Inner Temple, Teddy and Sir Edward Feathers. Read more

Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho is one of the most controversial and talked-about novels of all time. A multi-million-copy bestseller hailed as a modern classic, it is a violent and outrageous black comedy about the darkest side of human nature.With an introduction by Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting.I like to dissect girls. Did you know I’m utterly insane?Patrick Bateman has it all: good looks, youth, charm, a job on Wall Street, and reservations at every new restaurant in town. He is also a psychopath. A man addicted to his superficial, perfect life, he pulls us into a dark underworld where the American Dream becomes a nightmare . . .Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature. Read more

The groundbreaking Victorian-era fantasy from the Scottish literary master. “Without question one of the cornerstones of the genre.”—Black Gate   George MacDonald’s first major fiction work, in MacDonald’s words “a sort of fairy tale for grown people,” Phantastes was published in 1858. This unusual fantasy, subtitled a “faerie romance,” is one of MacDonald’s most mysterious and esoteric titles. The book’s narrator, Anodos, enters Fairy Land through a mysterious old wooden secretary. From that beginning, he embarks on a dream-like series of encounters that follow the form of an epic quest, though the purpose and destination of his journey remain obscure and are never fully clarified.   Sales of Phantastes proved a disappointment, until young atheist C.S. Lewis discovered it in 1916. Within a few hours he said he knew he “had crossed a great frontier.” MacDonald’s unusual fantasy set Lewis on the road toward his eventual conversion to Christianity, and forever after he referred to MacDonald as his “master.” In spite of its poor initial reception among Victorian readers, Lewis’s affection for it established Phantastes as one of MacDonald’s most enduring and studied works in literary and academic circles. This new edition is one of six fantasy titles in The Cullen Collection that has not been edited or updated in any way and is reproduced exactly in its original text.   “It can be exquisitely beautiful . . . from time to time I was caught by MacDonald’s enchantment, by his underlying concept that we can build a land of Faerie in our minds, and travel there.”—Tor.com Read more

'A herculean achievement . . . strong plot and strong characterisation' The TimesIt is 1862 and Japan is a land in chaos as the power of the Shogun wanes and the rival factions plan to restore the Emperor. In Yokohama, the gai-jin, the hated foreigners, seek to profit from the chaos. At the head of the Noble House - and heir to the title of Tai-Pan - stands Malcolm Struan, who is determined to become his own man and marry the woman he loves. At the head of the Shogunate party is the Lord Yoshi, a direct descendant of Shogun Toranaga, who shares all of his ancestor's cunning and ambition.'A passionate portrait of suffering . . . a strange and gripping tale of a nation's deflowerment' Mail on Sunday Read more