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This Is Where We Live
by null Kate Hardie’The most gripping account of motherhood since Rachel Cusk’s A Life’s Work’ Independent A single mother wakes to blood in her mouth and flesh under her fingernails. A severed toe on the doorstep. A boy missing. But her child needs to get to school. There’s a food shop to be done. Parents evenings, play dates and pasta for tea. Raising her child alone, she’s done all she can to protect them. But what if she’s the thing they need protecting from the most?
Marking Time (Cazalet Chronicles #2)
by Elizabeth Jane HowardBeautifully and poignantly told, Marking Time is the second novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s bestselling family saga The Cazalet Chronicles, set during the onset of World War II.'Compelling, moving, unputdownable . . . Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite MistakeHome Place, Sussex, 1939. As the shadows of the Second World War roll in, banishing the sun-drenched days of childish games and trips to the coast, a new generation of Cazalets takes up the family’s story.Louise, who dreams of becoming a great actress, finds herself facing the harsh reality that her parents have their own lives with secrets, passions and yearnings. Clary, an aspiring writer, learns that her beloved father, Rupert, is now missing somewhere on the shores of France. And sensitive, imaginative Polly feels stuck, haunted by her nightmares about the war.‘She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts’ – Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of The Mirror and the LightMarking Time is the second volume of the extraordinary Cazalet Chronicles and a perfect addition to your collection. Marking Time is followed by Confusion, the third book in the series.
Casting Off (Cazalet Chronicles #4)
by Elizabeth Jane HowardThe Second World War has finally ended and so begins a new era of freedom and opportunity for the Cazalet family in Casting Off, the fourth novel in Elizabeth Jane Howard's magnificent Cazalet Chronicles.'Compelling, moving, unputdownable . . . Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite MistakeThe Cazalet cousins are now in their twenties, trying to piece together their lives in the aftermath of the Second World War. Louise is faced with her father’s new mistress and her mother’s grief at his betrayal, while suffering a loveless marriage of her own. Clary is struggling to understand why her beloved father chose to stay in France long after it was safe to return to Britain, and both she and Polly are madly in love with much older men.As Polly, Clary and Louise face the truth about the adult world, their fathers – Rupert, Hugh and Edward – must make choices that will decide their own, and the family’s, future.'She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts' – Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of The Mirror and the LightCasting Off is the heartbreaking and heartwarming fourth instalment of Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling series. It is followed by All Change, the fifth and final book in the series.
Confusion (Cazalet Chronicles #3)
by Elizabeth Jane HowardSet in the height of the Second World War, The Cazalet Chronicles continues with the third in the series, Confusion, where chaos has become a way of life for the Cazalet family.'Compelling, moving, unputdownable . . . Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite MistakeIt’s 1942 and the dark days of war seem never-ending. Scattered across the still-peaceful Sussex countryside and air-raid-threatened London, the divided Cazalets begin to find the battle for survival echoing the confusion in their own lives.Headstrong, independent Louise surprises the whole family when she abandons her dreams of being an actress and instead makes a society marriage. Polly, now living in London with Clary, is struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother and manage her grieving father. Meanwhile, Clary is painfully aware that what she lacks in beauty she makes up for in intelligence, and is the only member of the family who believes that her father might not be dead . . .'She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts' – Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of The Mirror and the LightConfusion is the heartbreaking and heartwarming third instalment of Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling series. It is followed by the fourth book in the series, Casting Off.
All Change: Cazalet Chronicles Book 5 (Cazalet Chronicles #5)
by Elizabeth Jane HowardAs the old world begins to fade from view and a new dawn emerges, All Change marks the fifth and final volume in Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling Cazalet Chronicles.'Compelling, moving, unputdownable . . . Maybe my favourite books ever' - Marian Keyes, bestselling author of My Favourite MistakeIt is the 1950s and as the Duchy, the Cazalets’ beloved matriarch, dies, she takes with her the last remnants of a disappearing world – houses with servants and cherished tradition – in which the Cazalets have thrived.Louise, now divorced, becomes entangled in a painful affair, while Polly and Clary must balance marriage and motherhood with their own ideas and ambitions. Hugh and Edward, now in their sixties, feel ill-equipped for this changing world, while Villy, long abandoned by her husband, must at last learn to live independently. But it is Rachel, who has always lived for others, who will face her greatest challenges yet. And nothing will ever be the same again.'She helps us to do the necessary thing – open our eyes and our hearts' – Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of The Mirror and the LightAll Change is the heartbreaking and heartwarming final instalment of Elizabeth Jane Howard's bestselling series.
Introducing a Hermeneutics of Cispicion: Reading Sarah and Esau’s Gender (Failures) Beyond Cisnormativity (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by Dr Jo Henderson-MerrygoldA hermeneutics of cispicion challenges cisnormative presuppositions that shape and, at times, occlude the variations in gender and sex exhibited by key characters in the ancestral narrative of Genesis 12–50. It charts the progression from Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics of suspicion, through liberation, feminist and queer approaches. Focusing on Deryn Guest's queer and trans hermeneutics, Henderson-Merrygold then offers a new strategy for reading against fixed, binary gender assumptions, where a character's sex always matches that assigned at birth. The initial case study addresses Sarah, who is the proto-matriarch of the ancestral narratives in Genesis. Masculinities contrast with femininities, and Sarah's own agency makes the picture of a consistent gender hard to identify. By closely reading the text, different facets of Sarah's story emerge to emphasise how much the narrative directs the reader towards a cisnormative reading. However, Henderson-Merrygold shows it is not only the images of Sarah as feminine woman and mother that remain visible. The subject of the second case study, Esau, is regularly judged to be a hypermasculine character due to his bodily appearance, but repeatedly fails to fulfil the expectations related to that appearance. Though often condemned as a poor example of (hyper)masculinity, a cispicious reading identifies a richer and more nuanced figure. Attending to Esau's actions, his rejection of the gendered expectations appears intentional, allowing him to settle more comfortably into his own identity. This project advocates for, and demonstrates the value of, creative, interpretations of biblical texts that challenge both malestream and feminist gender assumptions.
Gay Conversion Practices in Memoir, Film and Fiction: Stories of Repentance and Defiance (Library of Gender and Popular Culture)
by James E. Bennett and Marguerite JohnsonFor over half a century, organizations and individuals promoting ex-gay, conversion and/ or reparative therapy have pushed the tenet that a person may be able to, and should, alter their sexual orientation. Their so-called treatments or therapies have taken various forms over the decades, ranging from medical (including psychiatric or psychological) rehabilitation approaches, to counselling, and religious healing. Gay Conversion Practices in Memoir, Film and Fiction provides an in-depth exploration of the disturbing phenomenon of gay conversion 'therapy' and its fictional and autobiographical representations across a broad range of films and books such as But I'm a Cheerleader! (1999), This is What Love in Action Looks Like (2011) and Boy Erased (2018). In doing so, the volume emphasizes the powerful role the arts and media play in communicating stories around conversion practices. Approaching the timely and urgent subject from an interdisciplinary perspective, contributors utilize film theory, queer theory, literary theory, mental health and social movement theory to discuss the medicalization and pathologizing of queer people, the power of institutions ranging from church, psychiatry and family (sometimes in alliance), and the real and fictional voices of survivors.
Gay Conversion Practices in Memoir, Film and Fiction: Stories of Repentance and Defiance (Library of Gender and Popular Culture)
For over half a century, organizations and individuals promoting ex-gay, conversion and/ or reparative therapy have pushed the tenet that a person may be able to, and should, alter their sexual orientation. Their so-called treatments or therapies have taken various forms over the decades, ranging from medical (including psychiatric or psychological) rehabilitation approaches, to counselling, and religious healing. Gay Conversion Practices in Memoir, Film and Fiction provides an in-depth exploration of the disturbing phenomenon of gay conversion 'therapy' and its fictional and autobiographical representations across a broad range of films and books such as But I'm a Cheerleader! (1999), This is What Love in Action Looks Like (2011) and Boy Erased (2018). In doing so, the volume emphasizes the powerful role the arts and media play in communicating stories around conversion practices. Approaching the timely and urgent subject from an interdisciplinary perspective, contributors utilize film theory, queer theory, literary theory, mental health and social movement theory to discuss the medicalization and pathologizing of queer people, the power of institutions ranging from church, psychiatry and family (sometimes in alliance), and the real and fictional voices of survivors.
Introducing a Hermeneutics of Cispicion: Reading Sarah and Esau’s Gender (Failures) Beyond Cisnormativity (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by Dr Jo Henderson-MerrygoldA hermeneutics of cispicion challenges cisnormative presuppositions that shape and, at times, occlude the variations in gender and sex exhibited by key characters in the ancestral narrative of Genesis 12–50. It charts the progression from Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics of suspicion, through liberation, feminist and queer approaches. Focusing on Deryn Guest's queer and trans hermeneutics, Henderson-Merrygold then offers a new strategy for reading against fixed, binary gender assumptions, where a character's sex always matches that assigned at birth. The initial case study addresses Sarah, who is the proto-matriarch of the ancestral narratives in Genesis. Masculinities contrast with femininities, and Sarah's own agency makes the picture of a consistent gender hard to identify. By closely reading the text, different facets of Sarah's story emerge to emphasise how much the narrative directs the reader towards a cisnormative reading. However, Henderson-Merrygold shows it is not only the images of Sarah as feminine woman and mother that remain visible. The subject of the second case study, Esau, is regularly judged to be a hypermasculine character due to his bodily appearance, but repeatedly fails to fulfil the expectations related to that appearance. Though often condemned as a poor example of (hyper)masculinity, a cispicious reading identifies a richer and more nuanced figure. Attending to Esau's actions, his rejection of the gendered expectations appears intentional, allowing him to settle more comfortably into his own identity. This project advocates for, and demonstrates the value of, creative, interpretations of biblical texts that challenge both malestream and feminist gender assumptions.
Scenes of a Graphic Nature: 'A perfect page-turner' (Dolly Alderton) from the bestselling author of The Rachel Incident
by Caroline O'DonoghueTHE RACHEL INCIDENT - Caroline O'Donoghue's bestselling new novel* - is out nowCharlie's life isn't going forward - so she's decided to go back After a tough few years floundering around the British film industry and experimenting with amateur pornography, Charlie and her best friend Laura take a trip to her familial home on an island off the west coast of Ireland. Her father's health is rapidly declining and this could be the last chance to connect with her roots. But events on the island cause Charlie to doubt her father's childhood stories - and then there's her complicated relationship with Laura. Pursuing the truth will shatter everything she thought knew - but is that what it takes to grow up?'A gorgeous exploration of the messy and fragile nature of friendship and all the many forms of love' IRISH TIMES'A darkly humorous, keenly observed blend of millennial drift and murder mystery from a razor-sharp writer' RED'Witty, tender and insightful' GUARDIAN'A perfect page-turner. I loved it' DOLLY ALDERTON'Wonderful. Had me gripped' MARIAN KEYES*The Rachel Incident was a #2 bestseller in Ireland in June 2023
Wolf Play (Modern Classics)
by Hansol Jung"There's an unruly quality to Jung's idea of what theater can be, jagged and untethered, coy and dreamlike. It's thrilling to see that potential unleashed on the vagaries of love." New York TimesA southpaw boxer is on the verge of their pro debut when their wife signs the adoption papers for a Korean boy: the boy's original adoptive father was all set to hand him over to a new home … until he realizes the boy would have no 'dad'. Caught in the middle, the child launches himself in a lone wolf's journey of finding a pack he can call his own.Mischievous and affecting, Hansol Jung's Wolf Play deftly explores the intricacies of the families we choose and un-choose, and how far we would all go to defend our pack.Nominated for seven Lucille Lortel Awards after its initial production was postponed by the Covid-19 outbreak, Wolf Play is published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, featuring a new introduction by Dustin Wills.
Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare
by Will Tosh'Engrossing, enlightening and hugely entertaining'SARAH WATERS, author of Fingersmith'Brilliant - so vivid and so sharp, fantastically clever and consistently fascinating'KATHERINE RUNDELL, author of Super-InfiniteWas Shakespeare gay? The answer is both simpler and more complex than you might think . . .Shakespeare's work was profoundly influenced by the queer culture of his time - much of it totally integrated into mainstream society. From a relentless schooling in Latin and Greek homoeroticism, to a less formal education on the streets and in smoky taverns, from the gender-bending of the early comedies to the astonishingly queer literary scene that nurtured Shakespeare's sonnets, this is a story of artistic development and of personal crisis.Straight Acting is a surprising portrait of Shakespeare's queer lives - his own and those in his plays and poems. It is a journey back in time and through Shakespeare's England, revealing a culture that both endorsed and supressed same-sex desire. It is a call to stop making Shakespeare act straight and to recognise how queerness powerfully shaped the life and career of the world's most famous playwright.'Magisterial and saucy . . . This fresh account kickstarts the queer canon of English literature: Shakespeare won't go back in the closet again'EMMA SMITH, author of This Is Shakespeare
Wolf Play (Modern Classics)
by Hansol Jung"There's an unruly quality to Jung's idea of what theater can be, jagged and untethered, coy and dreamlike. It's thrilling to see that potential unleashed on the vagaries of love." New York TimesA southpaw boxer is on the verge of their pro debut when their wife signs the adoption papers for a Korean boy: the boy's original adoptive father was all set to hand him over to a new home … until he realizes the boy would have no 'dad'. Caught in the middle, the child launches himself in a lone wolf's journey of finding a pack he can call his own.Mischievous and affecting, Hansol Jung's Wolf Play deftly explores the intricacies of the families we choose and un-choose, and how far we would all go to defend our pack.Nominated for seven Lucille Lortel Awards after its initial production was postponed by the Covid-19 outbreak, Wolf Play is published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, featuring a new introduction by Dustin Wills.
Running Close to the Wind: A queer pirate fantasy adventure full of magic and mayhem
by Alexandra RowlandOur Flag Means Death meets Six of Crows in this queer pirate adventure from the author of A Taste of Gold and Iron.'Come for the irrepressible gremlin of a narrator, stay for the plot-relevant cake competitions! A whip-smart, hilarious and exuberant high seas romp' – Freya Marske, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Marvellous Light Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Arashti Ministry of Intelligence, has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world – and the only place to flee with a secret that big is the open sea.To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, Avra must work with his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Haffar. Together, they will have to risk journeying to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls. The only things in their way? A calculating new Arashti ambassador to the Isles; Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own; and the fact that they’re sailing straight into sea serpent breeding season and almost certain doom.But if they can find a way to survive and sell the secret on the black market, they’ll all be as wealthy as kings – and, more importantly, they’ll be legends . . .'Uproariously funny, exquisitely witty, brimming with buckling of swashes and scuttling of butts' – Premee Mohamed, Nebula Award-winning author of Beneath the Rising
The Ghost Ship: An Epic Historical Novel from the Number One Bestselling Author (The Joubert Family Chronicles)
by Kate MosseThe Sunday Times Number One Bestseller‘Mosse is a master storyteller’ – Madeline Miller, bestselling author of CirceFrom number one bestselling author Kate Mosse, The Ghost Ship is the third volume in the enthralling and epic series, The Joubert Family Chronicles.The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water — its hull splintered and its sails tattered and burnt. For months the Ghost Ship has hunted pirates to liberate enslaved prisoners. Now it, too, finds itself hunted.But the ship’s crew hides a secret, and the stakes could not be higher. The bravest among them are not what they seem: if arrested, they will hang for their alleged crimes. Can they survive their journey and escape their fate?A sweeping and epic love story, The Ghost Ship is a tale of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes, piracy and hidden secrets on the high seas.Praise for The Joubert Family Chronicles:'Historical fiction to devour' — Anthony Horowitz, bestselling author of The Twist of the Knife, on The Burning Chambers'An utterly absorbing epic' — Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Paris Apartment, on The City of Tears'Meticulously researched and stunningly written' — Santa Montefiore, bestselling author of Wait for Me, on The Ghost Ship
The Secret Photographs: Absolutely gripping historical fiction by the author of the Richard and Judy Book Club Pick The French House
by Jacquie Bloese'What a sumptuous, evocative triumph of a novel!' Jenny Ashcroft A picture can tell a thousand words. And hide as many secrets... England, 1895: In the bustling seaside town of Brighton, Ellen Harper assists her brother running their photography studio, where fashionable ladies and gentlemen pose in all their finery. Behind the facade of a respectable business, the siblings hide a dark and shadowy secret. One that if exposed to the light of day could destroy them all. When newly married Clementine comes to sit for a portrait, Ellen learns she is looking for a lady's companion. Longing for a life of her own choosing and freedom from the deals her brother has made, Ellen accepts the post. The new position transports her to a sweeping white-fronted townhouse on one of Brighton's most prestigious crescents, full of every luxury imaginable. But Clem's gilded world hides as much darkness as Ellen has hoped to escape. And what will happen when Clem discovers the truth about the young woman she has welcomed into her home? Atmospheric, sensual and powerfully moving, The Golden Hour is a spellbinding portrait of women determined to find their freedom - perfect for fans of Sarah Waters, The Doll Factory and The Essex Serpent.Praise for The Golden Hour: 'A divine and sumptuous portrait of Victorian Brighton, written in gloriously seductive prose, I was enthralled' Amanda Geard, author of The Midnight House'A glorious and sumptuous feast for the senses and it drew me in from the start, wanting to find out more about these women's stories and their struggles for freedom and change. It's an absolute joy. I couldn't put it down' Rosanna Ley, author of The Orange Grove'A captivating panorama of late-Victorian Brighton... Beautifully atmospheric' Gill Paul, author of The Secret Wife'I was hooked from the very beginning... The characters and the setting were all portrayed with such vivid colour and conviction' Suzanne Goldring, author of My Name is Eva'Luminous... Perfect for fans of Sarah Waters and Sarah Perry' Sean Lusk, author of The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley
All Friends Are Necessary: A Novel
by Tomas MonizIn this &“tender and open-hearted novel," (Nina LaCour, author of Yerba Buena) Tomas Moniz—a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway and Lambda Literary awards—delivers a commanding new story about the power of friendship, community, and the families we create for ourselves. Efren &“Chino&” Flores has just moved back to the Bay Area from Seattle, jumping from sublet to sublet. In Washington, he was an adored middle school biology teacher with a loving wife, and a child on the way—that is, until a stunning loss upended his life. Now he&’s working temp jobs, terrified of commitment, and struggling to put himself back out into the world. But there to nurture Chino is a coterie of new and old friends and lovers who form a protective web around him. Closest to him are Metal Matt, a red-haired metalhead with a soft spot for Courtney Love and a rangy dog named Sabbath, and Mike and Kay, a couple whose literary edge is matched only by the success of their secret OnlyFans account. As Chino begins to date more men and women—and to open himself up again to love—his bonds with those around him grow both rich and profound. Like a fern blooming in the wake of a forest fire, new life comes after even the most devastating upheaval. With gorgeous, heartrending detail and a seemingly infinite catalogue of tender, unexpected interactions, Tomas Moniz has created a striking mosaic of desire and belonging. An anthem to both queer and platonic love, All Friends Are Necessary evinces the wonder of friendship and the joy of giving yourself up to the essential force of community."Vibrant, alive, and absolutely devastating in its beauty, All Friends Are Necessary is like a late-night phone call with your best friend—exuberant, confessional, and above all, honest."—Chelsea Bieker, author of Godshot and Madwoman
The Stars Too Fondly: An interstellar sapphic romcom for fans of Casey McQuiston and Becky Chambers
by Emily HamiltonPart space odyssey, part Sapphic romcom and all spaceship-stealing fun, Emily Hamilton's breathtaking debut is a wild tale of galaxy-spanning friendship, improbable love, and wonder as vast as the universe itself.'I love the way the relationship between Cleo and Billie developed. I fell in love with them, with their relationship. And they made me cry a lot. AND THE LONGING !!!!!!!!' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Absolutely gut-wrenching and gorgeously written. This book sucked me in instantly' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐So, here's the thing: Cleo and her friends really, truly didn't mean to steal this spaceship. They just wanted to know why, twenty years ago, the entire Providence crew vanished without a trace. But then the stupid dark matter engine started all on its own, and now these four twenty-somethings are en route to Proxima Centauri, unable to turn around, and being harangued by a snarky hologram that has the face and attitude of the ship's missing captain, Billie.Cleo has dreamt of being an astronaut all her life, and Earth is kind of a lost cause at this point, so this should be one of those blessings in disguise people talk about. But as the ship gets deeper into space, the laws of physics start twisting, old mysteries start crawling back to life, and Cleo's initially combative relationship with Billie turns into something deeper and more desperate than either woman is prepared for.Lying somewhere in the subspace between science fantasy and sapphic rom-com, The Stars Too Fondly is a soaring near-future adventure about dark matter and alternate dimensions, leaving home and finding family, and the galaxy-saving power of letting yourself love and be loved.'I'm a huge fan of that bombastic, earnest, interdimensional aspect that 80's sci-fi had, so seeing it here, just as earnest and openly Queer, was a real treat' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The vibes of this book are seriously so great. It had some of my favorite bookish elements - found family, great banter, forced proximity, and women in STEM' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'QUEER ROMANCE. IN SPACE. ROMANTASY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The number of times I silent screamed while reading this cannot even be counted on one hand. This novel is so, so, SO funny and heartfelt' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Space? Check. Sapphic? Check. Rom-com? Check. . . . I loved it from the first page' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I loved this book. It was soft and loving and bright and adventurous and surprised me in a wonderful way' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Wow, this book was such a fun surprise. It was a bit like an episode of Doctor Who. There are big universe ending stakes and yet it's still funny and light-hearted' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I adored literally everything about this. I am a huge Trekkie and also a huge Star Trek Voyager fan and a queer woman, so it did feel like this book might have been made in a lab for me' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I adored this book. The science, the found family, the relationship between Billie and Cleo- it was absolute perfection' Reader review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Private Rites
by null Julia Armfield'Stunning' DAZED 'Her prose sparkles' ELIZA CLARK 'A book of extraordinary sentences' MEGAN HUNTER From the bestselling author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a haunting novel of three sisters navigating queer love and faith at the end of the world. There’s no way to bury a body in earth which is flooded It is a fact consigned to history along with almost everything else It’s been raining for a long time now, for so long that the lands have reshaped themselves. Old places have been lost. Arcane rituals and religions have crept back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their estranged father dies. A famous architect revered for making the new world navigable, he had long cut himself off from public life. They find themselves uncertain of how to grieve his passing when everything around them seems to be ending anyway. As the sisters come together to clear the grand glass house that is the pinnacle of his legacy, they begin to sense that the magnetic influence of their father lives on through it. Something sinister seems to be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always been unusually interested in their lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperilled world. 'Lyrical, haunting, unsettling' Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World 'Armfield's latest novel is the author at her finest' Kristen Arnett, author of With Teeth ‘[A] signature cocktail of deadpan wit and staggering beauty’ Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller ‘Brilliant, original … an era-defining writer’ Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time ‘Astonishing, ambitious’ Sarvat Hasin, author of The Giant Dark
Nick and Charlie (A Heartstopper novella)
by Alice OsemanA SUNDAY TIMES TOP 5 CHILDREN’S BESTSELLER A short novella based on the beloved characters from Alice Oseman’s acclaimed debut novel Solitaire and graphic novel series Heartstopper – now a major Netflix series. From the author of the 2021 YA Book Prize winning Loveless.
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea: A heart-warming cosy fantasy - and an instant Sunday Times bestseller (Tomes & Tea)
by Rebecca ThorneA heart-warming, sapphic journey brimming with jeopardy, magic and a love of tea – for fans of Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes and TJ Klune.Two women wanted to open a cosy bookshop. They discovered a world of adventure.Reyna and Kianthe dream of opening a friendly book shop together, serving the very best tea and cakes. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters – all complemented by love and good company. But Reyna is an elite bodyguard to a vengeful queen, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives behind seems . . . impossible. Yet they flee to Tawney, a town nestled in the icy peaks of dragon country. There, they open the bookstore they'd always wanted.What follows is a tale of mishaps, mysteries, dragons, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. Through it, these two women will discover what they mean to each other – and their world.Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne is a gorgeous treat of a book, filled with cosy adventure, sapphic romance and good feelings. The story continues in the swashbuckling A Pirate's Life for Tea.Can't Spell Treason without Tea was a Sunday Times HB fiction bestseller in May 2024.
Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States
by Ben BascomMuch of U.S. cultural production since the twentieth century has celebrated the figure of the singular individual, from the lonesome Huckleberry Finn to the cinematic loners John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, but that tradition casts a backward shadow that prohibits seeing how the singular in America was previously marked as unwanted, outcast, excessive, or weird. Feeling Singular: Queer Masculinities in the Early United States examines the paradoxical nature of masculine self-promotion and individuality in the early United States. Through a collection of singular life narratives, author Ben Bascom draws on a queer studies approach that uncovers how fraught private desires shaped a public masculinity increasingly at odds with the disinterested norms of republican public culture. In telling the stories of excessive American masculinities, Feeling Singular presents the Early Republic of the United States as a queer and messy world of social outcasts and eccentric personalities all vying--and in spectacular ways failing--for public attention. These figures include John Fitch (1743-1798), a struggling working-class mechanic; Jeffrey Brace (1742-1827), a formerly enslaved Black Revolutionary War veteran; Timothy Dexter (1747-1806), a self-declared "Lord" who secured a fortune through a risky venture in bedpans and whalebone corsets; Jonathan Plummer (1761-1819), an itinerant peddler and preacher; and William "Amos" Wilson (1762-1821), a reclusive stonecutter who became popularly known as "the Pennsylvania Hermit." Despite leaving behind copious manuscripts and printed autobiographies, they dwindled instead into cultural insignificance, failing to achieve what scholars have called the hallmarks of "republican masculinity." Through closely reading a range of texts--from manuscripts to hastily printed books, and from phonetically spelled pamphlets to sexually explicit broadsides--Bascom uses the language of queer studies to understand what made someone singular in the early United States and how that singularity points at the ruptures in social codes that get normalized through historical analysis. Departing from the likes of Benjamin Franklin, whom tradition positions as a paragon of self-production, this book offers instead typologies of the failed inventor, the tragic outsider, the flamboyant pretender, the farcical exhorter, and the disaffected exile.
Beautiful: The Story of Julian Eltinge, America's Greatest Female Impersonator
by Andrew L. ErdmanFrom the late 19th to the early 21st centuries, female impersonation was a hugely popular performance genre. Long before today's popular television shows, men in colleges, business, and even the military formed drag clubs and put on musicals and variety shows of all kinds with little fear of negative judgment. But no female impersonator was as famous, successful, or highly-regarded as Julian Eltinge (1881-1941). Eltinge, born William Dalton just outside Boston, started playing female characters and imitating women with his mother's encouragement as a child while his father shuttled his family around the Americas in search of a mining fortune that never materialized. The future drag star returned to Boston in his late teens where he quickly rose through the ranks of semi-amateur all-male musicals, then transitioned to vaudeville, and eventually starred in hugely successful musical comedies such as The Fascinating Widow (1910). For decades, the Julian Eltinge Theatre on West 42nd Street bore testament to his stature. But Eltinge longed to play serious roles which did not require him to impersonate women; it was a lifelong struggle. He constructed a hypermasculine offstage persona-- a cigar-loving former Harvard athlete who beat up anyone who questioned his manliness--most of which wasn't true. But Eltinge's efforts were essential in a culture increasingly focused on separating ?real men? from ?inverts? and ?perverts,? demanding men define themselves in new ways during a time of economic and cultural upheaval. During his heyday, Eltinge published a beauty and advice magazine for women, launched lifestyle-brand makeup and skincare products, and became a paid spokesperson for corsets and women's shoes, all without a hint of irony. Julian Eltinge's success with mainstream audiences, ever avoiding suspicions and scandal, says much about the emergent middle-class white heteronormativity of the era and what we have come to think of as the social construction of gender. Beautiful pays tribute to Eltinge and gives rich insight into his unique contributions to the transformation of cultural ideas about masculinity and femininity.
Experimental Film and Queer Materiality
by Juan A. Su?rezOften described as an art of abstraction and subjective introspection, experimental film is also invested in exploring daily objects and materials and in channeling, in the process, a peculiar perception of the modern everyday that this book calls queer materiality. Queer materiality designates the queer latency of modern material culture, which often inspired queer artists and filmmakers to envision wayward bodies and behaviors, and refers to the way in which sexual and social dissidence was embedded in the objects, technologies, substances, and spaces that make up the hardware of experience. This book studies a rich archive of queer material engagements in work by well-known filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Barbara Hammer, Carolee Schneemann, and Jack Smith as well as under-recognized figures such as Tom Chomont, Jim Hubbard, Ashley Hans Scheirl, and Teo Hern?ndez. Combining history, formal analysis, and theoretical reflection, author Juan A. Su?rez shows how plastics, glitter, mechanical ensembles, urban ruins, garbage, amphetamine, film grain, and noise have been mobilized in the articulation of queerness for the screen. Experimental Film and Queer Materiality is an inquiry into the liveliness of matter and into the interface between sexuality and the material world.
Experimental Film and Queer Materiality
by Juan A. Su?rezOften described as an art of abstraction and subjective introspection, experimental film is also invested in exploring daily objects and materials and in channeling, in the process, a peculiar perception of the modern everyday that this book calls queer materiality. Queer materiality designates the queer latency of modern material culture, which often inspired queer artists and filmmakers to envision wayward bodies and behaviors, and refers to the way in which sexual and social dissidence was embedded in the objects, technologies, substances, and spaces that make up the hardware of experience. This book studies a rich archive of queer material engagements in work by well-known filmmakers such as Andy Warhol, Barbara Hammer, Carolee Schneemann, and Jack Smith as well as under-recognized figures such as Tom Chomont, Jim Hubbard, Ashley Hans Scheirl, and Teo Hern?ndez. Combining history, formal analysis, and theoretical reflection, author Juan A. Su?rez shows how plastics, glitter, mechanical ensembles, urban ruins, garbage, amphetamine, film grain, and noise have been mobilized in the articulation of queerness for the screen. Experimental Film and Queer Materiality is an inquiry into the liveliness of matter and into the interface between sexuality and the material world.