Soul Dust

Susan Hill meets Alfred Hitchcock in Alison Littlewood's latest chiller: mad-doctor Nathaniel is obsessed with the beautiful Mrs Harleston - but is she truly delusional? Or is she hiding secrets that should never be uncovered . . . ?Haunted by his father's suicide, Nathaniel Kerner walks away from the highly prestigious life of a consultant to become a mad-doctor. He takes up a position at Crakethorne Asylum, but the proprietor is more interested in phrenology and his growing collection of skulls than the patients' minds. Nathaniel's only interesting case is Mrs Victoria Harleston: her husband accuses her of hysteria and delusions - but she accuses him of hiding secrets far more terrible.Nathaniel is increasingly obsessed with Victoria, but when he has her mesmerised, there are unexpected results: Victoria starts hearing voices, the way she used to - her grandmother always claimed they came from beyond the grave - but it also unleashes her own powers of mesmerism . . . and a desperate need to escape.Increasingly besotted, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a world of séances and stage mesmerism in his bid to find Victoria and save her.But constantly hanging over him is this warning: that doctors are apt to catch the diseases with which they are surrounded - whether of the body or the mind . . .

The story of a woman's life, from childhood to death, somewhere in provincial France, from the 1950s to just shy of 2025. She has doting parents, does well at school, finds a loving husband after one abortive attempt at passion, buys a big house with a moonlit terrace, makes decent money, has children, changes jobs, retires, grows old and dies. All in the comfort that the middle-classes have grown accustomed to. But she's bored. She takes up all sorts of outlets to try to make something happen in her life: adultery, charity work, esotericism, manic house-cleaning, motherhood and various hobbies - each one abandoned faster than the last. But no matter what she does, her life remains unfocussed and unfulfilled. Nothing truly satisfies her, because deep down - just like the town where she lives - the landscape is non-descript, flat, horizontal.Sophie Divry dramatises the philosophical conflict between freedom and comfort that marks women's lives in a materialistic world. Our heroine is an endearing, contemporary Emma Bovary, and Divry's prose will remind readers of the best of Houellebecq, the cold, implacable historian who paints a precise portrait of an era and those who inhabit it and in doing so renders existence indelibly absurd.

Longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2016Clarisse Rivière's life is shaped by a refusal to admit to her husband Richard and to her daughter Ladivine that her mother is a poor black housekeeper. Instead, weighed down by guilt, she pretends to be an orphan, visiting her mother in secret and telling no-one of her real identity as Malinka, daughter of Ladivine Sylla. In time, her lies turn against her. Richard leaves Clarisse, frustrated by the unbridgeable, indecipherable gulf between them. Clarisse is devastated, but finds solace in a new man, Freddy Moliger, who is let into the secret about her mother, and is even introduced to her. But Ladivine, her daughter, who is now married herself, cannot shake a bad feeling about her mother's new lover, convinced that he can bring only chaos and pain into her life. When she is proved right, in the most tragic circumstances, the only comfort the family can turn to requires a leap of faith beyond any they could have imagined.Centred around three generations of women, whose seemingly cursed lineage is defined by the weight of origins, the pain of alienation and the legacy of shame, Ladivine is a beguiling story of secrets, lies, guilt and forgiveness by one of Europe's most unique literary voices.

'Tracy Rees is the most outstanding new voice in historical fiction' Lucinda Riley. The powerful third novel from the author of the Richard and Judy bestseller Amy Snow.2014. Sensible Nora has always taken success for granted, until suddenly her life begins to fall apart. Troubled by anxiety and nightmares, she finds herself drawn to the sweeping beaches of Tenby, a place she's only been once before. Together with a local girl she rents a beautiful townhouse and slowly begins to settle in to her new life. But Tenby hides a secret, and Nora will soon discover that this little town by the sea has the power to heal even the most painful memories.1950. Teenager Chloe visits Tenby every summer. She stays with relatives, and spends the long, idyllic days on the beach. Every year is the same, until she meets a glamorous older boy and is instantly smitten. But on the night of their first date, Chloe comes to a realisation, the aftermath of which could haunt her forever.The Hourglass is a moving novel about reinvention and reconciliation; about finding love even after it seems too late, about family and the healing power of a magical place by the sea.

Andreas Ban is a writer and a psychologist, an intellectual proper, full of empathy, but his world has been falling apart for years. When he retires with a miserable pension and finds out that he is ill, he gains a new perspective on the debris of his life and the lives of his friends. In defying illness and old age, Andreas Ban is cynical and powerful, and in his investigations into his own past, he learns stories told by the disempowered, hunted down and helpless, stories that uncompromisingly lay bare a gamut of taboos.In Belladonna, Dasa Drndic pushes to the limit the issues about illness and the (im)possibility of living (and dying) in contemporary, utterly dehumanised world where old age and illness are the scarlet letters of shame thrown in the face of the advertised eternal youth and beauty. Belladonna brings together fiction and reality, and Andreas Ban stands for a true hero of our times; he is a castaway intellectual of a society which subdues every critical thought under the disguise of political correctness.

One Hundred Years of Solitude meets The Kite-Runner in Saddam Hussein's Iraq"A contemporary tragedy of epic proportions. No author is better placed than Muhsin Al-Ramli, already a star in the Arabic literary scene, to tell this story. I read it in one sitting"Hassan Blasim, winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The Iraqi ChristOn the third day of Ramadan, the village wakes to find the severed heads of nine of its sons stacked in banana crates by the bus stop.One of them belonged to one of the most wanted men in Iraq, known to his friends as Ibrahim the Fated.How did this good and humble man earn the enmity of so many? What did he do to deserve such a death?The answer lies in his lifelong friendship with Abdullah Kafka and Tariq the Befuddled, who each have their own remarkable stories to tell.It lies on the scarred, irradiated battlefields of the Gulf War and in the ashes of a revolution strangled in its cradle.It lies in the steadfast love of his wife and the festering scorn of his daughter.And, above all, it lies behind the locked gates of The President's Gardens, buried alongside the countless victims of a pitiless reign of terror.

From the award-winning author of The Dress Thief comes a love story set in the glittering world of London theatre. Perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley and Kathleen Tessaro.War has been over more than a year but rationing and shortages persist. The worst winter in two-hundred years is just around the corner. London desperately needs an injection of cheer and colour, and the glamorous Farren Theatre Company intends to provide it. Young war widow, Vanessa Kingcourt, has just been hired as wardrobe mistress at the notorious old theatre the Farren in London. Working backstage at the Farren is a lifelong ambition, and she's looking to re-find the sense of purpose that war work gave her. But when Vanessa becomes romantically entangled with the Farren's married owner - the enigmatic Alistair Redenhall - Vanessa's career, and her very happiness, are put on the line.

'One of the US's finest writers' according to Joshua Ferris, Jim Shepard now delivers a new collection that spans borders and centuries with unrivalled mastery. These ten stories ring with voices as diverse as those belonging to Arctic explorers in history's most nightmarish expedition, the Montgolfier brothers competing to be the first man to fly, and two American frontierswomen whose passionate connection is severed by jealous husbands and a deadly snowstorm.In each case the personal is the political as these humans, while falling in love or negotiating marital pitfalls or simply coming to terms with their own failings, face the tidal wave of nature's indifference and cruelty. History has swept them from our sympathy; Jim Shepard has reached into the past and sought them out.In his first collection to be published in the UK, this celebrated master of the short story displays his formidable acuity in imagining these wildly different worlds, and what our various lives feel like in the grip of catastrophe.

From the author who brought you the bestselling book everyone is talking about, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k:the no-f**ks-given, no-holds-barred guide to living your best life.Ever find yourself snowed under at the office - or even just glued to the sofa - when you really want to get out (for once), get to the gym (at last), and get started on that daunting dream project you're always putting off? Then it's time to get your sh*t together. In The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k, 'anti-guru' Sarah Knight introduced the joys of mental decluttering. Get Your Sh*t Together takes you one stop further - organizing the f*cks you want and need to give to help you quit your day job and move abroad, balance work and fun - and save money while you're at it - or simply get out of the door for happy hour, every day. Praise for the bestselling The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k:'Life-affirming . . . The key practice she advocates is devising for yourself a "fuck budget" . . . It's a beautiful way of streamlining your psyche' Guardian'The best book I have read recently . . . Absolutely blinding. Read it. Do it.' Daily Mail'Genius' Cosmopolitan'I love Knight's book before I even start reading it' Sunday Times Magazine'The anti-guru' Observer

'Take on January with new-found serenity with this series of self-help books' StylistOvercome your fears and change your life.We all feel frightened sometimes - it's totally natural - but if fear is holding you back, making you feel stuck in a rut and hindering your ambitions, it's time to make changes. Jo Usmar provides a concise, straight-forward guide to battling your fears. There are strategies, tools and relatable examples throughout that offer simple and effective ways to feel brave, independent and confident. Pushing through your fear will allow you to take back control of your life so you can make changes, accept that you have choices and recognise that you absolutely can cope with whatever life throws at you. Anxiety is one of the biggest mental health challenges of our times. Rather than a downbeat 'coping with' book this is an inspiring modern take on 'feel the fear and do it anyway'. Chapters include: CBT-based techniques, dealing with physical anxiety, getting to the root cause of your fear, negotiating obstacles, stopping self-sabotage, building confidence, combatting guilt and shame, feeling more powerful, breaking negative patterns.Praise for This Book Will series:'Top tips for making your life loads better.' Cosmo'The answer to all my problems.' Katie Piper

Following the extraordinary international success of NORWEGIAN WOOD, the bestselling manual for chopping, stacking and drying wood the Scandinavian way, THE NORWEGIAN WOOD ACTIVITY BOOK offers something for all the family, including: · Top Trunks· Spot the difference· Dot-to-dot and mazes· Cut out and colour the woodchoppers' clothing· Step-by-step guides to laying the perfect fire and building a round stack· And magnificent frozen landscapes THE NORWEGIAN WOOD ACTIVITY BOOK is an original gift for all seasons and the perfect fireside companion, to bring warmth and entertainment to armchair enthusiasts and active woodcutters alike.

The fully annotated, fully filthy, fully hilarious book from the Number 1 podcast sensation My Dad Wrote a PornoBelinda blinked, it wasn't a dream, the job interviewer had just asked her to remove her jacket and silk blouse...So begins Belinda Blinked, Rocky Flintstone's now-legendary porno (sorry, erotic novel), and so began My Dad Wrote a Porno, the outrageously funny podcast begun by Rocky's son and two friends and now adored by legions of fans, having been downloaded over ten million times.Now the steamy book that became a podcast sensation is a book again: the ultimate annotated edition of Belinda Blinked, with all the original text, all the podcast team's baffled, delighted and disgusted commentary, and huge amounts of new material, including - character profiles- analysis of the themes and motifs of the novel- a detailed look at the ins and outs of the pots and pans industry- a quiz- illustrations: how exactly do you grab someone's cervix?- Rocky's own response to his new-found fame. All that, plus of course the pleasure of holding the real text of Belinda Blinked in your hands; relive the initial interview, the tombola, the fundraising party for the Asses and Donkeys Trust, and so much more. My Dad Wrote a Porno: the book is the funniest, naughtiest, strangest book of a podcast of a book you'll ever read.This book contains adult content and is not suitable for those under the age of 18

Vine royalty, YouTube megastars, hip-pop sensations, and best friends, Jack & Jack bring their own brand of irreverent comedy, on-point style, and heartfelt life advice to You Don't Know Jacks.Jack & Jack: You Don't Know Jacks is a 240-page, full-colour behind-the-scenes look at the lives of Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson, two of the hottest stars performing today. The book details the rise of two best friends growing up in Nebraska, posting Nerd Vandals Vines, to becoming iTunes bestselling rap-rock stars. Full of exclusive photographs, backstage antics, and hilarious anecdotes, it's perfect for any fan who's ever dreamed of someday being famous.

Written by a retired British soldier, Trouble at Zero Hour is a breathless and vivid story, dramatizing three of the key Allied operations that turned the tide of the Second World War.6 June, 1944, somewhere over the Normandy coastline: Robbie Stokes sits in a glider, his Bren resting on the floor between his outstretched legs. The nose lowers and the glider descends rapidly: ten minutes of stomach-churning twists and turns until suddenly the call goes up to 'BRACE'. The belly makes contact with the ground and the first Allied troops tumble out into occupied Europe.For new recruit Robbie Stokes it is the beginning of ten months of brutal and relentless conflict that take him from D-Day, via Operation Market Garden and the battle for Arnhem Bridge, to the Rhine Crossing and the final push for victory. Three operations that change the course of the war and test Robbie Stokes and his band of brothers to their limits. If they fail, then the Allied invasion fails. They must succeed through their longest days.