Products
The Things That We Lost, Jyoti Patel (paperback Jan 2024)
£9.99
AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL OF 2023
WINNER OF THE 2021 #MERKY BOOKS NEW WRITERS' PRIZE
Nik has lots of questions about his late father but knows better than to ask his mother, Avani. It's their unspoken rule. But when his grandfather dies, Nik has the opportunity to learn about the man he never met.
Armed with a key and new knowledge about his parents' past, Nik sets out to unlock the secrets that his mother has been holding onto his whole life. The Things That We Lost is a beautifully tender exploration of family, loss and how far we will go to protect the ones we love.
The Things We Do To Our Friends, Heather Darwent ( paperback Jan 2024)
£9.99
The Things We Do To Our Friends: A deliciously dark, intoxicating, compulsive tale of feminist revenge, toxic friendships, and deadly secrets
Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate: to find the right people and reinvent herself.
And then she meets Tabitha. Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon Clare is sucked into her enigmatic circle of friends and their dizzying world of champagne on rooftops and summers in France.
Her new life has begun. Then Tabitha reveals the little project they're working on, a project they need Clare's help with. It's reckless, possibly perilous and might finally allow Clare to become who she was meant to be...
But how much is an extraordinary life worth if others have to pay?An intoxicating feminist page-turner with shades of The Secret History and Promising Young Woman, this novel will take you on a journey from Edinburgh's dazzling spires to the dripping staircases and dark alleyways of its underbelly.
Paperback from January 2024.
The Thinking Machine , Stephen Witt ( Hardback April 2025)
£25.00
The Thinking Machine : Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip.
AI tech giant Nvidia is as valuable as Apple and Microsoft. It has shaped the world as we know it. This is the inside story of the company that is inventing the future and its charismatic CEO Jensen Huang.
The Thinking Machine is the astonishing story of how a designer of videogame equipment conquered the market for AI hardware, and in the process reinvented the computer. It is the story of a determined entrepreneur who defied Wall Street to push his radical vision for computing, becoming one of the wealthiest men alive.
And it’s the story of our awesome and terrifying AI future, as a new kind of microchip unlocks hyper-realistic avatars, autonomous robots, self-driving cars and new movies, art and books, generated on command. ‘A page-turning biography of perhaps the most consequential CEO and company in the world’ David Epstein, author of Range.
The Time of Green Magic, by Hilary McKay (paperback, August 2020)
£7.99
From acclaimed author and Costa winner Hilary McKay comes The Time of Green Magic: a beautiful, spell-binding novel about family, magic, an old house and a mysterious visitor . . .
Abi and her two step-brothers, Max and Louis, find that strange things happen when they are alone in their eerie, ivy-covered new house. Abi, reading alone, finds herself tumbling deep into books, while Louis summons a startling guest through his bedroom window. Even Max has started to see shapes in the shadows .
. . Their busy parents see none of it - but Louis' secret visitor is growing too alarming to keep secret, and he finds he cannot manage without Max and Abi's help. Can they find out where the mysterious creature has come from - and how to get it back there?
One of my favourite authors for aged 8+ readers.
The Time Tider, Sinead O’Hart ( paperback Feb 2023)
£7.99
Mara and her dad have lived in their van for as long as she can remember. Whatever her father does to scrape a living has kept them constantly moving and Mara has never questioned it. That is until she uncovers a collection of notes addressed to 'the Tider', an individual responsible for harvesting lost time from people whose lives were cut short.But before Mara can question her father he is taken by a dangerous group who want to use his power for evil. With the very fabric of time and space at stake, it's down to Mara and her new friend Jan to find him before it's too late... A fast-paced, time bending adventure perfect for fans of A WRINKLE IN TIME, THE SECRET KEEPERS and SKY SONG.
The Time Tider, Sinead O’Hart ( Paperback Feb2023)
£7.99
Mara and her dad have lived in their van for as long as she can remember. Whatever her father does to scrape a living has kept them constantly moving and Mara has never questioned it. That is until she uncovers a collection of notes addressed to 'the Tider', an individual responsible for harvesting lost time from people whose lives were cut short.But before Mara can question her father he is taken by a dangerous group who want to use his power for evil. With the very fabric of time and space at stake, it's down to Mara and her new friend Jan to find him before it's too late... A fast-paced, time bending adventure perfect for fans of A WRINKLE IN TIME, THE SECRET KEEPERS and SKY SONG.
The Time Travelling Caveman, Terry Pratchett ( Paperback)
£7.99
A brand new collection of short stories from the incredible Sir Terry Pratchett!*Imagination is an amazing thing. It can take you to the top of the highest mountain, or down to the bottom of the deepest depths of the sea. This is where it took Doggins on his Awfully Big Adventure: a quest full of magic and flying machines.
(And the world's best joke - trust me, it's hilarious.)It took three young inventors to the moon (where they may or may not have left a bottle of lemonade) and a caveman on a trip to the dentist. You can join them on these adventures, and many more, in this incredible collection of stories . .
. From the greatest imagination there ever was. Written for local newspapers when Terry Pratchett was a young lad, these never previously published stories are packed full of anarchic humour and wonderful wit.
A must-have for Terry fans . . . and young readers looking for a fix of magic.
The Tools, Phil Stutz ( paperback March 2023)
£12.99
Change can begin right now. Learn to bring about dynamic personal growth using five uniquely effective tools- from psychotherapist Barry Michels and psychiatrist Phil Stutz, subject of the Netflix documentary Stutz, directed by Jonah Hill. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you could tap into a new source of power - one that has been inside you all along - to solve your own problems and become the master of your life?The Tools is an extraordinary psychological model based on the proven methods of Hollywood's greatest psychotherapists.Phil Stutz and Barry Michels have over 60 years of psychotherapeutic experience between them. Together they have helped their A-list clients work through whatever has held them back - be it insecurity, trauma, anger, lack of willpower, negativity or avoidance - to achieve their greatest work and find a deep level of fulfilment. Now, at last, the acclaimed clinicians are sharing their methods in this eye-opening and empowering book.
Introducing their five simple techniques, namely The Reversal of Desire, Active Love, Inner Authority, The Grateful Flow and Jeopardy, the authors clearly explain what they are plus how and when to use them. Astonishingly effective and beautifully simple - once you've learned a tool it takes only three to five seconds to use it - this book will give you everything you need to propel yourself forward to achieve your ambitions and be who you were born to be.
The Trackers, Charles Frazier ( paperback, July 2024)
£9.99
The stunning new novel from the author of international million-copy bestseller Cold Mountain.
Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he’s landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office. A wealthy art lover named John Long and his wife Eve have agreed to host Val at their sprawling ranch.
Rumors and intrigue surround the couple: Eve left behind an itinerant life riding the rails and singing in a western swing band. Long holds shady political aspirations, but was once a WWI sniper—and his right hand is a mysterious elder cowboy, a vestige of the violent old west. Val quickly finds himself entranced by their lives.
One day, Eve flees home with a valuable painting in tow, and Long recruits Val to hit the road with a mission of tracking her down. Journeying from ramshackle Hoovervilles to San Francisco nightclubs to the swamps of Florida, Val's search for Eve narrows, and he soon turns up secrets that could spark formidable changes for all of them.
The Trading Game, Gary Stevenson ( paperback 30 Jan 2025)
£10.99
An unforgettable story of greed, financial madness and moral decay' Rory Stewart
'Hilarious, shocking and deeply sad — often in the same sentence' Sunday Times
An outrageous, white-knuckle journey to the dark heart of an intoxicating world - from someone who survived the trading game and then blew it all wide open'If you were gonna rob a bank, and you saw the vault door there, left open, what would you do? Would you wait around?Ever since he was a kid, kicking broken footballs on the streets of East London in the shadow of Canary Wharf's skyscrapers, Gary wanted something better. Something a whole lot bigger. Then he won a competition run by a bank: 'The Trading Game'.
The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the whole city. A place where you could make more money than you'd ever imagined. Where your colleagues are dysfunctional maths geniuses, overfed public schoolboys and borderline psychopaths, yet they start to feel like family.
Where soon you're the bank's most profitable trader, dealing in nearly a trillion dollars. A day. Where you dream of numbers in your sleep - and then stop sleeping at all.
But what happens when winning starts to feel like losing? When the easiest way to make money is to bet on millions becoming poorer and poorer - and, as the economy starts slipping off a precipice, your own sanity starts slipping with it? You want to stop, but you can't. Because nobody ever leaves. Would you stick, or quit? Even if it meant risking everything?
The Trees, Percival Everett ( paperback March 2022) * Booker Shortlist 2022 *
£9.99
The Trees is a page-turner that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body - that of a man who resembles Emmett Till, a young black boy lynched in the same town 65 years before.The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried.
In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence, and does so in a fast-paced style that ensures the reader can't look away. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance.
The Troubles With Us, Allie O’Neill (Paperback out June 2022)
£9.99
A hilarious memoir about growing up in Northern Ireland in the 90s towards the end of the Troubles and a brilliantly propelling narrative of the extraordinary background story of her mother. Her mother's vivid personality and witty colloquialisms dominate the book and help to give a social history of life in Belfast from the 1950s onwards. Growing up on the Falls Road in 1990s Belfast, Alix O'Neill has seen it all - burnt-out buses blocking the route to school, the police mistaking her father for a leading terrorist and a classmate playing hide and seek with her dad's prosthetic hand (blown off making a device for the IRA).Not that she or her friends are up to speed with the goings-on of the resistance. They're too preoccupied with the obsessions of every teenage girl - booze, boys and Boyzone - to worry about the violence on their doorstep. Besides, the odd coffee jar bomb is nothing compared to the drama about to explode in Alix's personal life.
Desperate to leave Northern Ireland and the trials of her mother's unorthodox family - a loving yet eccentric band of misfits - behind, she makes grand plans for the next stage. But it's through these relationships and their gradual unravelling that Alix begins to appreciate not only the troubled history of where she comes from, but the strength of its women. Warm, embarrassing and full of love and insight, The Troubles with Us is a hilarious and moving account of the madness and mundanities of life in Northern Ireland during the thirty-year conflict.
It's a story of mothers and daughters, the fallout from things left unsaid and the lengths a girl will go to for fake tan.
The Truth Must Dazzle Gradually, Helen Cullen ( PB 2021)
£10.99
AN IMMERSIVE AND HEARTFELT EXPLORATION OF FAMILY AND LOVE
A beautiful bittersweet story of love, loss and families all set in the most irresistible of locations. Tears were shed!' Graham Norton 'A compassionate portrayal of love, support and grief ... a writer whose skill is matched by an ability to surprise with each new work' John Boyne, Irish Times'
On an island off the west coast of Ireland, the Moone family are shattered by tragedy. Murtagh Moone is a potter and devoted husband to Maeve, an actor struggling with her most challenging role yet - being a mother to their four children.
Now Murtagh must hold his family close as we bear witness to their story before that tragic night. We return to the day Maeve and Murtagh meet, outside Trinity College in Dublin, and watch how one love story gives rise to another. And as the Moone children learn who their parents truly are, we journey onwards with them to a future that none of the Moones could predict .
The Turning Tide, Jon Gower ( paperback August 2024)
£10.99
Fascinating, spellbinding, erudite and great fun.’ Roddy Doyle
The Turning Tide is a hymn to a sea passage of world-historical importance. Combining social and cultural history, nature-writing, travelogue and politics, Welshman Jon Gower charts a sea which has carried both Vikings and saints; invasion forces, royals and rebels; writers, musicians and fishermen.
The divided but interconnected waters of the Irish Sea – from the narrow North Channel through St George’s Channel to where the Celtic sea opens out into the wide Atlantic – have a turbulent history to match the violence of its storms. Jon Gower is a sympathetic and interested pilot, taking the reader to the great shipyards of Belfast and through the mass exodus of the starving during the Irish Famine in coffin boats bound for America. He follows the migrations of working men and women looking for work in England and tells the tales of more casual travellers: sometimes seasick, often homesick too.
The Irish Sea is also a place with an abundant natural history. The rarest sea bird in Europe visits its coasts in summer while the rarest goose wings in during winter. The Turning Tide navigates waters teeming with life, filled with seals and salt-tanged stories and surveyed by seabirds.
Lyrically written and fizzing with curiosity, this is a remarkable and far-reaching book.
The Ultimate Guide to Growing Dragons, Andy Shepherd ( paperback Sept 2022)
£7.99
Book 6 in the successful series for 6-9 year olds, but can be read standalone.
An enchanting companion title to Andy Shepherd and Sara Ogilvie's bestselling THE BOY WHO GREW DRAGONS seriesTomas, the boy who grew dragons, is officially the Grand High Dragon Master. He's lived with his dragons - Flicker and Zing - and grown dozens more. He's an expert at caring for the dragonfruit tree.
He knows all the tricks for training dragons, nurturing dragonfruit seedlings and defusing dragon poo. So - he has this brilliant idea. He and his friends have got to get all their dragon expertise down, in one easy-to-read place, for them, and anyone else who might find themselves growing dragons!The only problem is - Tomas's friends Ted, Kat, Kai, Liam and Aura are currently scattered all around the world, from Suffolk to Mexico to China.
Perhaps, though, if they can get their heads together, they can figure this all out together, and create the most brilliant ULTIMATE GUIDE ever, together? Of course, what they don't realise is they still have a lot to learn about dragons!
The Unknowns, by Shirley-Anne McMillan ( paperback 2017)
£7.99
A teenage story of friendship, and boundaries, and preconceptions. Likeable main characters of Tilly and Brew, it’s edgy but realistic. My 15yo enjoyed this a lot.
Shirley Anne is from Lisburn and this is her second novel.
Tilly is perched at the top of Belfast's largest crane. She likes to climb up high at night in order to feel free from a city which, despite the best PR, is still full of trouble and conflict. Eventually, she comes back down to discover her bike is missing and in its place is a boy named Brew.
Wearing eyeliner and high-heeled boots, he offers her a drink from his flask of coffee before disappearing into the night. The next morning, Tilly's bike is returned, but tucked into the spoke of the wheel is a card with Brew's number on it. As Tilly learns to trust Brew, he leads her into a world she never knew existed - a world of parties in abandoned houses, completing missions that involve break-ins, and risking everything just to help strangers in need; the world of The Unknowns.
What Tilly doesn't anticipate is that they will also make her question everything she was brought up to believe in, and force her to make a choice that will stay with her for the rest of her life. The Unknowns is a story about hope in a city where increasing numbers of young people are struggling to get by, a place where there is no trust in the political system, and where some people still dare to dream.
The Vanishing Elephant, Charles Way and Sabine Dargent
£9.99
In the heart of Bengal, a young boy named Opu dreams of becoming an elephant trainer. When he befriends Janu, an Asian elephant, their friendship is a first step on an adventure so huge, it spans decades and continents. On their separate paths, they face fearsome encounters, stormy seas and strange new worlds.
It works as a great story to read aloud to younger children and to share with older children, the layout and shape of the book is great for shared reading.
This moving story of friendship and belonging from award winning theatre company Cahoots was named Critic's Pick by the New York Times. The live show is coming to Belfast for one week only this Autumn! Don't miss it - book via the Grand Opera House Belfast, at www.goh.co.uk.
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett ( Paperback, 29 April 2021)
£9.99
* Longlisted for Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 *
'The Vanishing Half is an utterly mesmerising novel. It seduces with its literary flair, surprises with its breath-taking plot twists, delights with its psychological insights, and challenges us to consider the corrupting consequences of racism on different communities and individual lives. I absolutely loved this book' Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize 2019
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical.
But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past.
Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' story lines intersect? Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
The Voyage Home, Pat Barker ( paperback from April 2025)
£20.00
THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE WOMEN OF TROY AND THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS
After ten blood-filled years, the war is over. Troy lies in smoking ruins as the victorious Greeks fill their ships with the spoils of battle. Alongside the treasures looted are the many Trojan women captured by the Greeks – among them the legendary prophetess Cassandra, and her watchful maid, Ritsa.
Enslaved as concubine – war-wife – to King Agamemnon, Cassandra is plagued by visions of his death – and her own – while Ritsa is forced to bear witness to both Cassandra’s frenzies and the horrors to come. Meanwhile, awaiting the fleet’s return is Queen Clytemnestra, vengeful wife of Agamemnon. Heart-shattered by her husband’s choice to sacrifice their eldest daughter to the gods in exchange for a fair wind to Troy, she has spent this long decade plotting retribution, in a palace haunted by child-ghosts.
As one wife journeys toward the other, united by the vision of Agamemnon’s death, one thing is certain: this long-awaited homecoming will change everyone’s fates forever. ‘The queen of literary historical fiction, Barker is an unflinching guide for a trip across ancient Greece’ National Geographic‘
9780241995679 paperback from April 2025
The Wake Up Call, Beth O’Leary ( paperback Feb 2024)
£9.99
They'll do anything to save the hotel, except work together . . .Welcome to Forest Manor Hotel, where the staff and guests are one happy family. Except for Izzy and Lucas - bitter rivals banned from working the same shift, for everyone's sake. After struggling for years, the hotel may soon have to close its doors forever.
But when Izzy returns a guest's lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management this might fix everything. With four rings still sitting in lost property, Izzy and Lucas are forced to work together to try to save the day. But as their rivalry becomes something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas start to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future .
The Wall Between Us, Dan Smith ( paperback June 2023)
£7.99
A high-stakes adventure, set during the Cold War, centred on two cousins separated when the Berlin Wall is built.
BERLIN 1961 Anja and Monika live opposite each other. They play together every day, with Otto the cat.
One night they wake up to bangs and shouts. Soldiers are building a huge barbed wire fence between them. A terrible forever wall that gets longer and higher until it divides the whole city.
On the East side, Monika is scared - neighbours are becoming spies and there are secret police everywhere. It's Anja who spots that Otto has found a way across. If he can visit Monika, then perhaps she can too.
But Anja gets trapped and there's no safe way back . . .
An emotional, atmospheric story from Carnegie Medal-nominated author Dan Smith From the author of Nisha's War, My Friend the Enemy and She Wolf.
The War on the West, Douglas Murray ( paperback March 2023)
£10.99
In The War on the West, international bestselling author Douglas Murray asks: if the history of humankind is one of slavery, conquest, prejudice, genocide and exploitation, why are only Western nations taking the blame for it? It's become perfectly acceptable to celebrate the contributions of non-Western cultures, but discussing their flaws and crimes is called hate speech. What's more it has become acceptable to discuss the flaws and crimes of Western culture, but celebrating their contributions is also called hate speech.Some of this is a much-needed reckoning; however, some is part of a larger international attack on reason, democracy, science, progress and the citizens of the West by dishonest scholars, hatemongers, hostile nations and human-rights abusers hoping to distract from their ongoing villainy. In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows the ways in which many well-meaning people have been lured into polarisation by lies, and shows how far the world's most crucial political debates have been hijacked across Europe and America. Propelled by an incisive deconstruction of inconsistent arguments and hypocritical activism, The War on the West is an essential and urgent polemic that cements Murray's status as one of the world's foremost political writers.
The Wardrobe Department, Elaine Garvey ( hardback Feb 2025)
£16.99
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST DEBUT OF 2025
Mairéad works all hours in a run-down West End theatre's wardrobe department, her whole existence made up of threads and needles, running errands to mend shoes, fixing broken zips and handwashing underwear. She must also do her best to avoid groping hands backstage and the terrible bullying of the show's producer. But, despite her skill and growing experience, half of Mairéad remains in her windy, hedge-filled home in Ireland, and the life she abandoned there.
In noughties London, she has the potential to be somebody completely new - why, then, does she feel so stuck? Between the bustling side streets of Soho, and the wet grass of Leitrim and Donegal, Mairéad is caught, running from the girl she was but unable to reveal the woman she'd hoped to become. Told with rare honesty and equal measures of warmth and bite, The Wardrobe Department is a story about reckoning with the past, finding the courage to change the present - and asking what comes next.
The Watch House, by Bernie McGill (paperback)
£9.99
THE WATCH HOUSE by Bernie McGill is the story of the modern world arriving on Rathlin, a remote Irish island, at the very end of the nineteenth century, with dramatic consequences for a young woman named Nuala. As the twentieth century dawns on the island of Rathlin, a place ravaged by storms and haunted by past tragedies, Nuala Byrne is faced with a difficult decision. Abandoned by her family for the new world, she receives a proposal from the island's aging tailor.
For the price of a roof over her head, she accepts. Meanwhile the island is alive with gossip about the strangers who have arrived from the mainland, armed with mysterious equipment which can reportedly steal a person's words and transmit them through thin air. When Nuala is sent to cook for these men - engineers, who have been sent to Rathlin by Marconi to conduct experiments in the use of wireless telegraphy - she encounters an Italian named Gabriel, who offers her the chance to equip herself with new skills and knowledge.
As her friendship with Gabriel opens up horizons beyond the rocky and treacherous cliffs of her island home, Nuala begins to realise that her deal with the tailor was a bargain she should never have struck.
One of our bestselling novels. Vividly imagined and with a page turning suspense. A great read - Linda
The Way We Were : Catholic Ireland Since 1922, Mary Kenny (hardback Aug 22)
£17.99
At a time when the values of Catholic Ireland are so often viewed in a negative, even hostile, light, Mary Kenny's approach is a balanced and measured recollection of the Ireland of our times - and of times past, since the foundation of the Irish state a hundred years ago. She focuses on the people and personalities involved in our social history, seeing Ireland from 1922 to 2022 through their stories, and the events in which they were involved. Yes, there have been stark failings in Irish society, involving the position and power of the Catholic church, and these must be honestly described.Yet our values, our heritage, our own family members also included many kind, intelligent and patriotic people doing their best, who built up the Irish state from a fragile beginning.The Week at World's End, Emma Carroll (PB March 2022)
£7.99
The hotly anticipated new standalone from the bestselling and award-winning Queen of Historical Fiction, Emma Carroll.
Britain, 1962 'Who are you?' I asked. 'You don't know who I am? You mean, it's not been on the news?' The girl glanced from Ray to me and back again.
'It's better I don't tell you,' she said firmly. Nothing ever happens in World's End Close. So when Stevie discovers a runaway girl in her coal shed, the first thing she does is fetch her best friend, Ray.
Both are dying for a bit of adventure, and when the girl begs for help, they readily agree. Yet they soon realise they've taken on more than they bargained for. The girl, Anna, reveals she's on the run from people who are trying to poison her.
Meanwhile, on the news, the Americans and Russians are arguing over missiles in Cuba. As the threat of war grows, Anna's behaviour becomes more mysterious. And when Stevie unearths a dark family secret, she wonders if Anna has come to World's End Close on purpose, with a special message just for her .
A funny, engaging thriller set in the 1960's. Hilary Mantel for the 8-13 year olds!
The Weight of Love, Hilary Fannin ( paperback, March 2021)
£8.99
Robin and Ruth meet in the staff room of an East London school.
Robin, desperate for a real connection, instantly falls in love. Ruth, recently widowed and fragile, is tentative. When Robin introduces Ruth to his childhood friend, Joseph, a tortured and talented artist, their attraction is instant.
Powerless, Robin watches on as the girl he loves and his best friend begin a passionate and turbulent affair. Dublin 2017. Robin and Ruth are married and have a son, Sid, who is about to emigrate to Berlin.
Theirs is a marriage haunted by the ghost of Joseph and as the distance between them grows, Robin makes a choice that could have potentially devastating consequences. The Weight of Love is a beautiful exploration of how we manage life when the notes and beats of our existence, so carefully arranged, begin to slip off the stave. An intimate and moving account of the intricacies of marriage and the myriad ways in which we can love and be loved.
'Delicate, powerful, hypnotic' DONAL RYAN'
The Welcome Centre, Peter Hollywood ( paperback March 2023)
£12.99
The Welcome Centre features an eclectic selection of 15 stories, many of them packed with literary references and allusions – from familiar book titles and author names to actual cameos by characters from other works. He even gives us a full-blown noir fiction follow-up to The Great Gatsby, which includes an appearance by Dashiell Hammett's boozy husband and wife crimebusters, Nick and Nora Charles, just for good measure.The Whispering Muse, Laura Purcell ( paperback Jan 2024)
£9.99
Be careful what you wish for... it may just come true. At The Mercury Theatre in London's West End, rumours are circulating of a curse.
It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees. What Jenny finds is a woman as astonishing in her performance as she is provocative in nature.
On stage, it's as though Lilith is possessed by the characters she plays, yet off stage she is as tragic as the Muse who inspires her, and Jenny, sorry for her, befriends the troubled actress. But when strange events begin to take place around the theatre, Jenny wonders if the rumours are true, and fears that when the Muse comes calling for payment, the cost will be too high.
"Spooky, atmospheric and brilliant" Bridget Collins
The Whispers, Ashley Audrain ( paperback from 04 July 2024)
£9.99
The whispers started long before the accident on Harlow Street .
. . Was it at the party, when Whitney screamed blue murder at her son?Or after neighbour Blair started prowling Whitney's house, uninvited?Or once Rebecca and Ben's childlessness finally puts a crack in their marriage?But on the terrible night of the accident, the whispers grow louder, more insistent.
Neighbours gather round. Questions are asked. Secrets are spilled.
And the gloss on everything begins to rub off. Everyone is drawn into the darkness. Because there's no smoke without fire.No friendship without envy.And no lie that does not conceal a devastating truth .
The captivating new novel from the author of the explosive Sunday Times bestseller, THE PUSH'Spellbinding, a shimmering, visceral ride through the dark side of family' LISA JEWELL
The Wild HooBoo, Barry Falls (hardback August 2025)
£12.99
When the selfish King captures the wish-granting wild HooBoo, he is taught a lesson he won't forget!The wild HooBoo sings a magical song – coo, chit churp churee! – that can grant you anything you wish for, if your heart is good and true. But the King’s only desire is selfish and cruel, so when he captures the HooBoo and starts making demands, things don’t quite go as he’d planned . .
. Stunningly illustrated and bursting with colour and kindness, this is a new cautionary tale with a classic feel from award-winning Irish children's author Barry Falls.
The Wild Outside (paperback August 2024)
£8.99
Tulip loves being outside. She loves puddles and pinecones, flowers and feathers, and her pockets are full of nature's treasure. But Tulip is desperate to know more about the things she sees and finds on her daily walk ...
"What is this stone... this plant... this seed?" "What is this tree...
this leaf... this weed?" So, when Tulip finds a nature trail drawn in chalk on the street outside her house, she is delighted to discover the names and uses of all her favourite trees, plants, and flowers. Then one day, she comes home to find a carefully wrapped present waiting on her doorstep ...
A book of nature from around the world. Every day, Tulip learns more and more about nature, but who is creating the nature trail? With names and facts given for every tree, plant and flower Tulip discovers, this beautifully illustrated book encourages children to stop, notice, name and celebrate the nature that can be found in their surroundings - and beyond. Because just outside your own front door, there is a whole world of nature to explore.
The Wild Verses : Nature poems on love, hope and healing - Helen Mort
£16.99
In a fast-paced world, The Wild Verses invites you to slow down, reflect and to seek solace through poetry and nature. From consoling words of hope and healing to meditations on love and friendship, this beautiful collection has a poem for every feeling. Accompanied by emotive illustrations of animals in the wild, this is a poetry collection to be returned to again and again.
With original words from acclaimed poet and writer Helen Mort ( The Illustrated Woman) plus some inspirational borrowings from other poetry. This is a lovely book.
The Wildelings, Lisa Harding ( hardback April 2025)
£16.99
A vivid and compulsive story of obsession, control and guilt, set in Nineties Dublin – perfect for fans of dark academia'
Jessica and Linda have been best friends since the first day of school.
Both girls are from very different broken homes – and beautiful, wilful Jessica has always ensured their survival. Now eighteen, the two girls have come to Wilde – an elite university in the heart of Dublin, far away from their troubled childhoods. Jessica thrives immediately, and, with the faithful Linda at her side, finds herself at the heart of a new circle of friends.
But then Mark enters the picture. A philosophy student a few years older than them, he has strange and compelling ideas about self-discovery. When Linda and Mark start dating, Jessica is disturbed by the change in her friend – and how quickly she seems to have fallen under this abrasive, charismatic man’s control.
It turns out that Mark’s influence is not limited to Linda alone; and Jessica soon finds out that her whole group of friends are keeping secrets for him – culminating in a terrible tragedy that strikes at the end of their first year. Years later, Jessica is still grappling with her guilt over what happened at Wilde. And when Mark resurfaces, she knows she owes it to herself – and Linda – to set the record straight once and for all.
The Wind In The Willows - 90th Anniversary picture book version ( paperback)
£7.99
A stylish foiled picture book adaptation - celebrating 90 years of E. H. Shepard's iconic original illustrations!
Story beautifully abridged by Timothy Knapman, perfect for 3 -6 year olds to introduce them to the classic story.
"Don't you know?" grinned Rat. "Oh, Mole! There is nothing half so much fun as simply messing about in boats!" A world of wonders awaits Mole as he emerges from his little underground home one spring day.
He discovers the sights and delights of the river aboard Rat's rowing boat. He ventures into the Wild Wood, home to kindly Badger. In the company of fun-loving Toad, he feels the thrill of the open road.
But Mole soon learns that where there is Toad, there is trouble. Toad has a dangerous new hobby, and Mole and his friends must use all their wits and courage to keep him from disaster! Kenneth Grahame's delightful characters, Mole, Rat, Badger and Toad, have entertained generations of children.
The Wind Knows My Name, Isabelle Allende ( paperback July 2024)
£9.99
What a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time' - COLUM MCCANN
No, we're not lost. The wind knows my name. And yours too. Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is five years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht - the night their family loses everything. As her child's safety seems ever harder to guarantee, Samuel's mother secures a spot for him on the last Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to England.
He boards alone, carrying nothing but a change of clothes and his violin. Arizona, 2019. Eight decades later, Anita Diaz and her mother board another train, fleeing looming danger in El Salvador and seeking refuge in the United States.
But their arrival coincides with the new family separation policy, and seven-year-old Anita finds herself alone at a camp in Nogales. She escapes her tenuous reality through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination. Meanwhile, Selena Duran, a young social worker, enlists the help of a successful lawyer in hopes of tracking down Anita's mother.
Intertwining past and present, The Wind Knows My Name tells the tale of these two unforgettable characters, both in search of family and home. It is both a testament to the sacrifices that parents make, and a love letter to the children who survive the most unfathomable dangers - and never stop dreaming.
The Winners, Fredrik Backman ( paperback June 2023)
£10.99
'It's often said that winners write history, but there are no winners here 'This is a small story about big questions. It's a story about family, community, life. It starts with a storm - and a death.
But how does it end? Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there's something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life's big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them?As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon.
Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink. So what are the residents of Beartown willing to sacrifice for their home? Everything. Praise for the Beartown books:'I utterly believed in the residents of Beartown, and felt ripped apart by the events in the book' Jojo Moyes 'Surrounded by impenetrable forests, Beartown recreates the stifling atmosphere of a dying community.
Backman can tickle the funny bone and tug on the heart strings when he needs to, and is a clever enough storyteller to not overindulge in either' Independent'
The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice and The Magician Next Door, Rachel Chivers Khoo ( paperback Feb 2024)
£7.99
A beautifully illustrated and magical classic about the power of wishes for readers aged 7-10 "A story full of wishes and a big dollop of magic." Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear "Ideal for newly confident readers." I'm often asked to recommend books for young Harry Potter fans and this sweet, funny fantasy adventure with age-appropriate peril is perfect. If you're moving up from Isadora Moon, or enjoy Loki, this is great!
The Wishkeeper's Apprentice
When Felix makes a very special wish, he doesn't expect to be offered a job as an apprentice to wishkeeper Rupus Beewinkle. Now Felix must save the town's wishes from the wishsnatcher, who wants to destroy hopes and dreams everywhere.
The Magician Next Door
Late one night a flying house crash-lands in ten-year-old Callie's garden in Northern Ireland. It is the home of magician Winnifred and all of her magical artefacts.
Winnifred asks for Callie's help finding her lost Wanderdust – until she realizes it is Callie's sadness that is causing her malfunctioning magic. With Winnifred's most precious magical possessions at risk from malicious fairies and dangerous giants, can Callie and her friend Sam find the Wanderdust in time to save the magician?
The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice, Rachel Chivers Khoo ( paperback May 2023)
£7.99
A beautifully illustrated and magical classic about the power of wishes for readers aged 7+ "Ideal for newly confident readers." The Independent
"A story full of wishes and a big dollop of magic." Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear"
Wanted! A wishkeeper's apprentice. When Felix makes a very special wish, he doesn't expect to be offered a job as an apprentice to wishkeeper Rupus Beewinkle.
Now Felix must save the town's wishes from the wishsnatcher, who wants to destroy hopes and dreams everywhere. Beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Rachel Sanson.
Plenty of dialogue and chapter imagery to keep newly independent readers encouraged." - Irish Examiner