FICTION
In the ever changing world of fiction publishing we try to keep abreast of the best in Ireland, the UK, Europe ( and the USA - in a separate collection now) . The curated collection here is simply ' the best of' that we have come across in our recent years of running this shop. Consequently, we stand behind these in that most of these books are personally recommended and will not disappoint!
Note, we have the Irish fiction, and American fiction, in a separate collection.
Aphrodite by Phoenicia Rogerson ( hardback August 2025)
£16.99
I’m a liar, to begin with.' I wasn’t always a goddess, you see.
My only real power was my beauty – you’ll have heard. It’s legendary. But that was never going to be enough for me.
It took a web of lies to convince the gods of Olympus I was one of them. But I did. I was that good.
Zeus gave me a title and riches and loved me. And all he wanted in return was for me to love him back. But of course, Zeus was a tyrant.
(Not entirely surprising when you’re ninety per cent insecurities and ten per cent raw power.) I couldn’t live at someone’s mercy. Really, I had no choice. I had to take on the mightiest Olympian of all. And this bit’s not a lie… I intended to win.
Authors and readers LOVE Aphrodite: 'Expect multiple POV's, humour (duh), strong female energy, love, action, war, all packaged in a beautifully crafted, comprehensive story' R
What We Can Know, Ian McEwan ( hardback Sept 2025)
£22.00
A literary thriller and a love story, What We Can Know spans the past, present and future to ask profound questions about who we are and where we are going. 2014: A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no copy has yet been found.
2119: The lowlands of the UK have been submerged by rising seas. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. Tom Metcalfe, a scholar at the University of the South Downs, part of Britain's remaining archipelagos, pores over the archives of the early twenty-first century, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith.
When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the great lost poem, revelations of entangled love and a brutal crime emerge, destroying his assumptions about a story he thought he knew intimately. What We Can Know is a masterpiece that reclaims the present from our sense of looming catastrophe, and imagines a future world where all is not quite lost.
The Land in Winter, Andrew Millar ( paperback Sept 2025)
£10.99
** Now Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 **
DECEMBER 1962, THE WEST COUNTRY.
Local doctor Eric Parry, mulling secrets, sets out on his rounds, while his pregnant wife sleeps on in the warmth of their cottage. Across the field, funny, troubled Rita Simmons is also asleep, her head full of images of a past life her husband prefers to ignore. He's been up for hours, tending to the needs of the small dairy farm where he hoped to create a new version of himself, a project that's already faltering.
But when the ordinary cold of an English December gives way to violent blizzards, the two couples find their lives beginning to unravel. Where do you hide when you can't leave home? And where, in a frozen world, can you run to? More praise for The Land in Winter'Perfect'OBSERVER'Delicate and devastating'I PAPER'Incredibly satisfying'FINANCIAL TIMES'A novel of dazzling humanity and captivating, crystalline prose'MAIL ON SUNDAY
Cursed Daughters, Oyinkan Braithwaite ( hardback Sept 2025)
£18.99
CURSES ARE LIKE HEARTS. SOME ARE MORE EASILY BROKEN THAN OTHERS... the twist-filled, spooky heartbreaker from the global-bestselling author of My Sister, the Serial Killer--'A haunting, twisty tale of curses and romance' Ayòbámi Adébáyò'A sweeping love story...
I lost myself within its gorgeous pages' Jennie Godfrey'Funny and fearless, soaked in secrets, spirit, heartbreak, and love... Impossible to put down' Abi DaréNo man will call your house his home. And if they try, they will not have peace...
So goes the family curse, handed down from generation to generation, ruining families and breaking hearts as it goes. And now it's calm, rational Eniiyi's turn - who, due to her uncanny resemblance to her dead aunt, Monife, and her family's insistence that she must be a reincarnation, has long been used to some strange familial beliefs. Still, when she falls in love with the handsome boy she saves from drowning, she can no longer run from her family's history.
Is she destined to live out the habitual story of love and heartbreak, or can she escape the family curse and the mysterious fate that befell her aunt?-
So satisfying''Sharp, brilliantly written...and broke my heart on more than one occasion''I cannot express how much I adored this book - like truly, madly, deeply adored it'
The Scent of Oranges : by Kathy George ( PAPERBACK SEPT 2025)
£9.99
A retelling of one of literature's great novels, Oliver Twist, from the point of view of Nancy, one of the most sympathetic, most maligned and most tragic of Dickens's characters. For readers of The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks. Nancy has spent her whole life on the vibrant and gritty streets of Victorian London, first as one of Fagin's child pickpockets and now on the arm of violent and mercurial Bill Sikes.
Nancy does what she must to get by. She's attuned to the harsh realities of life, but also knows how to find moments of beauty amid the grime, even if it is only the scent and taste of an orange - its miraculous colour and form. When she embarks on a relationship with enigmatic gentleman Mr Rufus, it awakens emotions she's never felt before, and makes a better life feel possible for the first time.
But when she takes cherubic orphan Oliver Twist under her wing, something even more elusive and appealing seems to be within reach: redemption. This captivating tale of love, sacrifice, and the battle between good and evil showcases the power of compassion in a world tainted by darkness
