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MÁRIO DE SÁ-CARNEIRO: The Ambiguity of a Suicide
by Giuseppe CafieroThe apparent suicide in 1916 of the writer Mário de Sá-Carneiro causes his friend, the poet Fernando Pessoa, great distress. Pessoa feels compelled to trace Sá-Carneiro's final movements, to understand what could have caused him to lose all hope.Exploring byways of the imagination and ambiguity with the investigator David Mondine and Dr. Abílio Fernandes Quaresma, solver of enigmas, the three men decide to uncover the conclusive certainties which led Mário to poison himself.These suicide investigators travel to Lisbon - Mário's birthplace - and to Paris, talking to strangers and friends who might shed light on the poet's mysterious and sudden decline. As the city wrestles with the grief and tumult of war, the men hold court at the cafes and bistros Mário would have frequented. Their witty, enigmatic and sometimes obscure conversations illuminate the friendship between Mário and Fernando Pessoa, their poetry and their literary ambitions, revealing the tragic end of one of the founders of Portuguese modernism.
A Good Death
by Michael BagleyThe year is 2028 and it’s a stunning spring day on the Lincolnshire Wolds, when Bess finally persuades her Uncle John to tell her the story of the family scandal that’s been merely whispered about at weddings and funerals. We’re then transported back fiften years where, as a young man, John Stafford is forced to chase his father across the USA and Europe. We discover, over three time-zones, that A Good Death is essentially about three characters: an embittered, former military father, a quiet, troubled son, suddenly thrust into the midst of a family crisis, and a bright, questioning young woman, who acts as conscience to both uncle and grandfather. The relationship between all three is constantly tested, as John discovers aspects of his father’s past, and is forced to remember disturbing elements of his own history, when he was just a small child. The novel is about love and hate and betrayal and in parts it’s a dark story. But all three characters are on their own personal journeys – which each feels compelled to make – and they don’t end until back in 2028, where fate, at long last, waits.
In My House
by Alex HourstonIn the queue for the toilets at Gatwick, a teenage girl catches 57-year-old Margaret Benson's eye in the mirror and mouths the world help. Margaret's reaction leads to the dramatic rescue of the teenager from her trafficker and Margaret becomes a hero.But when the story gets picked up by the papers, Margaret is panicked by the publicity, as well as the strange phone calls she begins to receive. Meanwhile Anja makes contact. She wants to thank her rescuer, but she also quickly inserts herself into Margaret's lonely life. As their friendship develops, so do questions: who is Margaret hiding from, and what are Anja's true motives? And what is the cost of living a lie?
Floods
by Maurice RiordanThe poems in Maurice Riordan's second collection are unusual in their recourse to the humanist belief in poetry as one of the forms of knowledge, imparting information about the observable world; but they also mix ancient wisdom (signs and wonders) with the open-ended science of the quantum age. Riordan's vision is syncretist. The old and new coexist - interrogating the book's epigraph that 'time is what keeps everything from happening at once' - and this informs his more personal poems: childhood memories of rural Ireland and poems of irretrievable loss nuanced with the restorative intimation that time's arrow is not, perhaps, relentlessly linear.
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
by Lee HallListen, girls, if we stick together there's no ways we'll even get to the second round...Young, lost and out of control, a bunch of Catholic schoolgirls go wild for a day in the big city, the singing competition a mere obstacle in the way of sex, sambuca and a night back home with the submarine crew in Mantrap.Funny, sad and raucously rude, Lee Hall's musical play Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, adapted from Alan Warner's novel The Sopranos, premiered at the Traverse Theatre in August 2015, in a production by the National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre.Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy 2017.
Representing the Other in Modern Japanese Literature: A Critical Approach (The University of Sheffield/Routledge Japanese Studies Series)
by Rachael Hutchinson Mark WilliamsRepresenting the Other in Modern Japanese Literature looks at the ways in which authors writing in Japanese in the twentieth century constructed a division between the ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’ in their work. Drawing on methodology from Foucault and Lacan, the clearly presented essays seek to show how Japanese writers have responded to the central question of what it means to be ‘Japanese’ and of how best to define their identity. Taking geographical, racial and ethnic identity as a starting point to explore Japan's vision of 'non-Japan', representations of the Other are examined in terms of the experiences of Japanese authors abroad and in the imaginary lands envisioned by authors in Japan. Using a diverse cross-section of writers and texts as case studies, this edited volume brings together contributions from a number of leading international experts in the field and is written at an accessible level, making it essential reading for those working in Japanese studies, colonialism, identity studies and nationalism.
The New Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor
by Salim BachiSalim Bachi's The New Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor offers a new perspective on the Western and Arabic worlds through the eyes of an Algerian writer who straddles East and West, and an allegory for pre Arab Spring Algeria. One Thousand and One Nights's Sinbad the Sailor is reborn as a young, adventurous man in modern day Algeria, who has joined the waves of North African immigration into Europe. Accompanied by a mysterious mongrel and his Senegalese friend Robinson, this lover of women and beauty embarks on a journey around the Mediterranean from Algiers to Damascus, passing through Rome, Paris, Baghdad, through the refugee camps and the deceitful glimmer of the Western world that takes him on a headlong pursuit of happiness and love. It is the story of a man coming to grips with the stark realities of war within the framework of legend. Salim Bachi's New Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor is translated from the French by Sue Rose and published by Pushkin Press
One Foot Wrong
by Sofie Laguna‘The stars shine brightest out of the deepest dark’Hester is a young girl of dark beginnings and few words. She is kept at home by her painfully reclusive parents and allowed no contact with the world outside the front door. And yet Hester finds joy in life’s ordinary moments – to her, everything is an Alice-in-Wonderland discovery.But from the moment Hester is forced to attend school, she quickly learns that there are some things she cannot tell her parents. She knows that ‘a secret has no sound; it lives in your darkest corner where it sits and waits’. Until the day the secret can no longer be contained and Hester reclaims her freedom with one final, powerful act.Published around the world to huge acclaim, One Foot Wrong firmly establishes the arrival of an immensely talented new writer. You will not forget this powerful and haunting story.
Aiblins: New Scottish Political Poetry
by Katie Ailes Sarah PatersonAiblins is a selection of new Scottish political poetry. The poems in this collection reflect the tumultuous, rapidly evolving nature of contemporary Scottish politics. They also stand as a testament to the deep engagements poets are making with the political landscape today, not only by reflecting on current events through their work but also by issuing provocations which reframe and challenge conventional assumptions.
Donegal Folk Tales (Folk Tales Ser.)
by Joe BrennanDonegal has a rich heritage of myths and legends which is uniquely captured in this collection of traditional tales from the county. Discover the trails where Balor of the Evil Eye once roamed, the footprint left by St Colmcille when he leapt to avoid a demon and the places where ordinary people once encountered devils, ghosts, and fairies. In a vivid journey through Donegal’s varied landscape, from its spectacular rugged coast line to the majestic mountains of Errigal and Muckish, and on to the rich farmland of the east, local storyteller Joe Brennan takes the reader to places where legend and landscape are inseparably linked.
In Paris With You
by Clementine BeauvaisEugene and Tatiana could have fallen in love. If things had gone differently. If they had tried to really know each other. If it had just been them, and not the others. But that was years ago and time has found them far apart, leading separate lives. Until they meet once more in Paris. What really happened back then? And now? Could they ever be together after everything?
Based on a True Story: A Novel
by Elizabeth RenzettiIt might not have happened precisely that way... Fresh out of rehab, badly behaved diva Augusta Price has one last chance to turn her life around. Her memoir, Based on a True Story, has become an unlikely hit, and she's going to use that fame to start afresh. But Augusta is her own worst enemy. Augusta discovers that her former lover is planning a tell-all book of his own. Enraged - and concerned that perhaps her version of events may not have been the most accurate - Augusta decides to ensure that her story is the only one that will see the light of day. Aided and abetted by Frances, her newly employed ghostwriter, Augusta finds her way back to California, and to her lost love. It's time to face up to her past: something that will be the making - or breaking - of Augusta Price. Hilarious, honest, and unforgettable, Augusta will find her way into your heart - and steal it, and all your vodka.
The Rock Boy
by Jan MichaelA boy is washed up on the rocks in St Thomas Bay, Malta. He is injured and unable to speak. Who is he? What terrible secret is he hiding? All Josephine knows is that he needs her help. She cannot tell her parents in case the boy is one of the refugees her father says should be sent back to their own country. Jo enlists the help of her friend Andreas. Together they find a hiding place for the rock boy, but it becomes harder and harder to keep their secret. Finally, the only safe place left is The Hypogeum, an ancient underground temple that holds the bones of thousands of people killed in ritual sacrifice...
Ducks, Newburyport: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019
by Lucy EllmannSHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019 | OBSERVER FICTION PICKS 2019 | THE HERALD FICTION PICKS 2019 | THE IRISH TIMES FICTION PICKS 2019 | SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS FICTION PICKS 2019 | COSMOPOLITAN FICTION PICKS 2019Latticing one cherry pie after another, an Ohio housewife tries to bridge the gaps between reality and the torrent of meaningless info that is the United States of America. She worries about her children, her dead parents, African elephants, the bedroom rituals of "happy couples", Weapons of Mass Destruction, and how to hatch an abandoned wood pigeon egg. Is there some trick to surviving survivalists? School shootings? Medical debts? Franks ’n’ beans?A scorching indictment of America's barbarity, past and present, and a lament for the way we are sleepwalking into environmental disaster, Ducks, Newburyport is a heresy, a wonder—and a revolution in the novel.
Ungentlemanly Warfare
by Howard LinskeyA soldier and a spy, an officer but not quite a gentleman, Captain Harry Walsh is SOE's secret weapon.Loathed by his own commanding officer, haunted by the death of his closest friend and trapped in a loveless marriage, Harry Walsh is close to burn out when he is ordered to assassinate the man behind the ME 163 Komet, Hitler's miracle jet fighter. If Walsh fails, there is no prospect of allied victory in Europe.Harry Walsh is ruthless, unorthodox and ungentlemanly. He is about to wreak havoc...Ungentlemanly Warfare is a captivating historical thriller about a pivotal and dramatic event from the Second World War.Praise for Howard Linskey'One of the single most dramatic events of the Second World War, Linskey makes the mission of Jan Kubis and Joseph Gabcik impossible to put down' - Northern Echo'Linskey delivers a flawless feel for time and place, snappy down to earth dialect dialogue mixed in with unrelenting violence and pace' - Times'Howard Linskey is a powerhouse storyteller of exceptional skill. One of the best UK writers working today' - Steve Cavanagh
The Wind Dog
by Tom PaulinThe 'wind dog' is a broken rainbow, but, in the title poem of Tom Paulin's sixth collection, it provides this most agile of poets with a perfect bridge into childhood and its 'lingo-jingo of beginnings'. The poem is a gloriously singing meditation on the life of the ear - 'the only true reader' - and the meaning and music of both words and pre-verbal sounds are a recurring theme in this rich, cogent and prosodically adventurous volume.
Hedda Gabler: Large Print
by Henrik IbsenJust married. Bored already. Hedda longs to be free.This vital new version by Patrick Marber (Closer, Three Days in the Country) opened at The National Theatre, London, in December 2016.
Before the Feast
by Saša StanišicA dazzling, award-winning new novel by the 'offensively gifted' author of How the Soldier Repairs the GramophoneIt's the night before the feast in the village of Fürstenfelde (population: an odd number). The village is asleep. Except for the ferryman - he's dead. And Mrs Kranz, the night-blind painter, who wants to depict her village for the first time at night. A bell-ringer and his apprentice want to ring the bells - the only problem is that the bells have gone. A vixen is looking for eggs for her young, and Mr Schramm is discovering more reasons to quit life than smoking.Someone has opened the doors to the Village Archive, but what drives the sleepless out of their houses is not that which was stolen, but that which has escaped. Old stories, myths and fairy tales are wandering about the streets with the people. They come together in a novel about a long night, a mosaic of village life, in which the long-established and newcomers, the dead and the living, craftsmen, pensioners and noble robbers in football shirts bump into each other. They all want to bring something to a close, in this night before the feast.The highly regarded and bestselling author Saša Stanišic was born in 1978 in what was then Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina), and currently lives in Germany. Before the Feast, his second novel, was a bestseller in Germany and won the prestigious Leipzig Book Fair Prize; his award-winning debut How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone has been translated into 30 languages, and is also published by Pushkin Press.
Until We Meet Again
by Margaret ThorntonIt’s the summer of 1914 – the last peaceful summer Britain will see for four long years. Tilly Moon has long looked to her elder half-sister, Maddy, as a role model. Maddy’s love of music inspired Tilly to follow in her footsteps, becoming an accomplished pianist. If there is one thing she loves more than playing the piano though, it is her twin brother’s best friend Dominic. But, in the first tentative steps of romance, what they all feared has come to pass. The country is at war.Following the Moon family’s triumphs and tragedies during the outbreak of the First World War, Margaret Thornton’s heartfelt and highly evocative narrative brings those turbulent times to life, perfectly capturing the horror of war and the devastating sorrow it brought, but also the heroism it engendered in ordinary people.
Leaving Everything Most Loved: A gripping investigation in inter-war London (Maisie Dobbs #10)
by Jacqueline WinspearLondon, 1933. Some two months after an Indian woman, Usha Pramal, is found murdered in a South London canal, her brother turns to Maisie Dobbs to find the truth about her death. Not only has Scotland Yard made no arrests, but evidence indicates they failed to conduct a full and thorough investigation.Before her death, Usha was staying at an ayah’s hostel, a refuge for Indian women whose British employers had turned them out. As Maisie learns, Usha was different from the hostel’s other lodgers. But with this discovery comes new danger — soon another Indian woman who was close to Usha is found murdered before she can speak out.As Maisie is pulled deeper into an unfamiliar yet alluring subculture, her investigation becomes clouded by the unfinished business of a previous case. And at the same time her lover, James Compton, gives her an ultimatum she cannot ignore...
Travels with Tom Crean: Antarctic Explorer
by Aidan DooleyTWO MEN Tom Crean, the Kerryman, whose phenomenal feats of bravery in the unexplored Antarctic earned him a rare medal for valour, pinned on him by King George. Aidan Dooley, the Galway man, who rejected a job in the bank for a life on the stage. ONE STORY In this enthralling, funny and moving account, actor Aidan Dooley tells the story of his journey with Tom Crean. His one- man show about this unsung hero grew from an unknown play with an unknown actor into an award-winning hit that has been performed from Dublin to Dubai, and from Broadway to the Antarctic ice. This is a tale of fortitude and courage – on stage and in the savage beauty at the bottom of the world.
House of Memories: House Of Memories (Mossgrove Ser. #3)
by Alice TaylorSet in rural Ireland in the early 1960s, a sequel to The Woman of the House and Across the River, House of Memories concludes the story of two neighbouring farms and their feuding families. Following his brutish father's death, young Danny Conway strives to rescue the family farm from ruin. When all seems hopeless, help comes from the most unexpected quarter. A story of grief and trying to cope with loss, but also of resilience in the face of family tragedy. No one knows the minutiae of country life as Alice Taylor does, and again she displays her unique ability to capture its rhythms and cadences.
This Is Memorial Device: An Hallucinated Oral History of the Post-Punk Music Scene in Airdrie, Coatbridge and environs 1978–1986
by David KeenanSHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2017ROUGH TRADE BOOK OF THE MONTHLRB BOOK OF THE WEEKCAUGHT BY THE RIVER BOOK OF THE MONTHSHORTLISTED FOR THE COLLYER BRISTOW PRIZE This Is Memorial Device, the debut novel by David Keenan, is a love letter to the small towns of Lanarkshire in the west of Scotland in the late 1970s and early 80s as they were temporarily transformed by the endless possibilities that came out of the freefall from punk rock. It follows a cast of misfits, drop-outs, small town visionaries and would-be artists and musicians through a period of time where anything seemed possible, a moment where art and the demands it made were as serious as your life. At its core is the story of Memorial Device, a mythic post-punk group that could have gone all the way were it not for the visionary excess and uncompromising bloody-minded belief that served to confirm them as underground legends. Written in a series of hallucinatory first-person eye-witness accounts that capture the prosaic madness of the time and place, heady with the magic of youth recalled, This Is Memorial Device combines the formal experimentation of David Foster Wallace at his peak circa Brief Interviews With Hideous Men with moments of delirious psychedelic modernism, laugh out loud bathos and tender poignancy.
The Divine Comedy
by Craig RaineThe Divine Comedy is a fugue and a black comedy. In delicious and bawdy detail, an unnamed narrator offers snapshots into the lives and loves of an astonishing cast of philanderers and fuckups while along the way, the evidence amasses for a comic, cosmic conspiracy. Craig Raine's second novel, The Divine Comedy, is a voyeuristic meditation on sex and insecurity, God and the nature of the human body - its capacity for pleasure and pain, its desires, disappointments, and its many mortifying betrayals.
Remains of Elmet: Remains Of Elmet, Cave Birds And River
by Ted Hughes'The Calder valley, west of Halifax, was the last ditch of Elmet, the last British Celtic kingdom to fall tothe Angles. For centuries it was considered a more or less uninhabitable wilderness, a notorious refuge forcriminals, a hide-out for refugees. Then in the early 1800s it became the cradle for the Industrial Revolution intextiles, and the upper Calder became "the hardest-worked river in England". Throughout my lifetime, since1930, I have watched the mills of the region and their attendant chapels die. Within the last fifteen years the endhas come. They are now virtually dead, and the population of the valley and the hillsides, so rooted for so long,is changing rapidly.' Ted Hughes, Preface to Remains of Elmet (1979)Ted Hughes's remarkable 'pennine sequence' celebrates the area where he spent his early childhood. It mixessocial, political, religious and historical matter - a tapestry rich in the personal and poetic investment of alandscape that both creates and is inured to its people, whose moors 'Are a stage for the performance of heaven./ Any audience is incidental.' Remains of Elmet is one of Hughes's most personal and enduring achievements.