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Essays on the Peripheries
by Peter ValenteEssays on the Peripheries contains essays written by translator and scholar Peter Valente over a twenty-year period, stretching from the 1990s to 2019. They are a record of literary exploration and discovery, concerned with the recovery of lost works, with those writers whose works were out of print or hard to find, and whose names were somehow not fashionable in the current discourse, but who are important nevertheless. Edouard Roditi, Barbara Barg, and Tom Savage, for example, should be better known, but their books are largely ignored. This collection of essays highlights those works on the periphery, such as Turkish poets Seyhan Erözçelik and Küçük İskender, while it also includes several essays on better-known queer authors like Pierre Guyotat and Pier Paolo Pasolini, focusing on often overlooked qualities in their work that bear looking at closely. These essays on works of literature are complemented by a number of texts on jazz, again highlighting important and interesting figures in the world of jazz and free improvisation that may have fallen through the cracks, such as the pianist Richard Twardzick and the Ganelin trio, which recorded their great experimental work Ancora da Capo in 1980, behind the Iron Curtain. Attention is also to given to more popular figures such as Stan Getz. The volume is completed with a series of essays reappraising Roman poets in the twenty-first century, offering fresh new translations and readings of authors such as Catullus and Callimachus. A collection of essays, like an anthology, is by its nature incomplete. Essays on the Peripheries is a kind of sketch, rather than a finished portrait, of the author's changing impressions on various subjects over the years.
Love Don't Need a Reason: The Life & Music of Michael Callen
by Matthew J. JonesFrom a stage erected in front of the US Capitol, on April 25, 1993, Michael Callen surveyed the throng: an estimated one million people stretched across the National Mall in the largest public demonstration of queer political solidarity in history. “What a sight,” he told the crowd, his earnest Midwestern twang reverberating through loudspeakers. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. Being gay is the greatest gift I have ever been given, and I don’t care who knows about it.” He then launched into a gorgeous rendition of “Love Don’t Need a Reason,” the AIDS anthem he composed with Marsha Malamet and the late Peter Allen. As Callen finished singing, people stood cheering and flashing the familiar American Sign Language symbol for “I Love You.” For they knew the song’s sentiment rang true for Callen, who had recently announced his retirement from music and activism after a living for more than a decade with what was then called “full-blown AIDS.” After the March on Washington, Callen returned to his recently adopted West Coast home, Los Angeles. In the ensuing months, his health rapidly declined, and on 27 December 1993, Callen died of AIDS-related pulmonary Kaposi’s sarcoma. Love Don’t Need a Reason focuses on Callen’s most important and lasting legacy: his music. A witness to the overlooked last years of Gay Liberation and a major figure in the early years of the AIDS crisis, Michael Callen chronicled these experiences in song. A community organizer, activist, author, and architect of the AIDS self-empowerment movement, he literally changed the way we have sex in an epidemic when he co-authored one of the first safe-sex guides in 1983. A gifted singer, songwriter, and performer, he also made gay music for gay people and used music to educate and empower people with AIDS. Listening again to his music allows us to hear the shifting dynamics of American families, changing notions of masculinity, gay migration to urban areas, the sexual politics of Gay Liberation, and HIV/AIDS activism. Using extensive archival materials and newly-conducted oral history interviews with Callen’s friends, family, and fellow musicians, Matthew J. Jones reintroduces Callen to the history of LGBTQIA+ music and places Callen’s music at the center of his important activist work.
Gender Trouble Couplets, Volume 1: Volume 1
by A.W. StrouseJudith Butler’s Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity radically claimed that the sexed body is a fallacy, discursively constructed by the performance of gender. A.W. Strouse has undertaken to rewrite Butler’s classic tome into an octosyllabic poem. Inspired by the rhyming encyclopedias of the Middle Ages, Strouse transforms each of Butler’s sentences into Seussian couplets. This performative repetition of Chapter 1 of Butler’s Gender Trouble, “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire,” deconstructs Butler’s deconstruction. Relishing in the campiness of rhyme and meter—in the bodily pleasures of form—Strouse’s Gender Trouble Couplets, Volume 1 is an imitation for which there is no original. Gender Trouble, perhaps, was poetry all along.
Publics and Counterpublics
by Michael WarnerPublics and Counterpublics revolves around a central question: What is a public? The idea of a public is a cultural form, a kind of practical fiction, present in the modern world in a way that is very different from other or earlier societies. Like the idea of rights, or nations, or markets, it can now seem universal. But it has not always been so. Publics exist only by virtue of their imagining. They are a kind of fiction that has taken on life, and very potent life at that.Publics have some regular properties as a form, with powerful implications for the way our social world takes shape; but much of modern life involves struggles over the nature of publics and their interrelation. There are ambiguities, even contradictions in the idea of a public. As it is extended to new contexts and media, new polities and rhetorics, its meaning can be seen to change, in ways that we have scarcely begun to appreciate.By combining historical analysis, theoretical reflection, and extended case studies, Publics and Counterpublics shows how the idea of a public works as a formal device in modern culture and traces its implications for contemporary life. Michael Warner offers a revisionist account at the junction of two intellectual traditions with which he has been associated: public-sphere theory and queer theory. To public-sphere theory, this book brings a new emphasis on cultural forms, and a new focus on the dynamics of counterpublics. To queer theory, it brings a new way of seeing how queer culture (among other examples) is shaped by the counterpublic environment.
Women I've Undressed: The Fabulous Life and Times of a Legendary Hollywood Designer
by Orry-KellyOrry-Kelly created magic on screen, from Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon to Some Like It Hot. He won three Oscars for costume design. He dressed all the biggest stars, from Bette Davis to Marilyn Monroe. Yet few know who Orry-Kelly really was - until now. Discovered in a pillowcase, Orry-Kelly's long-lost memoirs reveal a wildly talented and cheeky rascal who lived a big life, on and off the set. From his childhood in Kiama to revelling in Sydney's underworld nightlife as a naïve young artist and chasing his dreams of acting in New York, his early life is a wild and exciting ride. Sharing digs in New York with another aspiring actor, Cary Grant, and partying hard in between auditions, he ekes out a living painting murals for speakeasies before graduating to designing stage sets and costumes. When he finally arrives in Hollywood, it's clear his adventures have only just begun. Fearless, funny and outspoken, Orry-Kelly lived life to the full. In Women I've Undressed, he shares a wickedly delicious slice of it.
The New Woman (Charity Norman Reading-Group Fiction)
by Charity Norman*A Radio 2 Book Club choice for Summer 2015*Luke Livingstone is a lucky man. He's a respected solicitor, a father and grandfather, a pillar of the community. He has a loving wife and an idyllic home in the Oxfordshire countryside. Yet Luke is struggling with an unbearable secret, and it's threatening to destroy him. All his life, Luke has hidden the truth about himself and his identity. It's a truth so fundamental that it will shatter his family, rock his community and leave him outcast. But Luke has nowhere left to run, and to continue living, he must become the person - the woman - he knows himself to be, whatever the cost.
Pretended: Historical, Cultural and Personal Perspectives
by Catherine LeePretended is a vivid historical, political and cultural account of schools and teaching under Section 28, a law that banned schools in the UK from promoting homosexuality as a 'pretended family relationship'.Catherine Lee was a teacher in schools for each of the 15 years that Section 28 was law (between 1988 and 2003). In Pretended, she considers the landscape for lesbian and gay teachers leading up to, during and after Section 28. Drawing on her diary entries from the Section 28 era, Lee poignantly recalls the challenges and incidents affecting her and thousands of other teachers during this period of state-sanctioned homophobia. She reveals how these diaries led to her involvement in the 2022 feature film Blue Jean, and describes how this unexpected opportunity helped her to make peace with Section 28.Pretended will resonate with every lesbian and gay teacher who experienced Section 28 and will shock those who previously knew nothing about this law. Crucially, Pretended will explain to those who were lesbian and gay students during Section 28 why they never saw people like them in the curriculum, never had a role model and never had an adult in school to talk to about their identity.
The Opposite of Lonely (The Skelfs #5)
by Doug JohnstoneA body lost at sea, arson, murder, astronauts, wind phones, communal funerals and existential angst … This can ONLY mean one thing! The Skelfs are back, and things are as tense, unnerving and warmly funny as ever!The Skelf women are recovering from the cataclysmic events that nearly claimed their lives. Their funeral-director and private-investigation businesses are back on track, and their cases are as perplexing as ever.Matriarch Dorothy looks into a suspicious fire at a travellers’ site, and takes a grieving, homeless man under her wing. Daughter Jenny is searching for her missing sister-in-law, who disappeared in tragic circumstances, while grand-daughter Hannah is asked to investigate increasingly dangerous conspiracy theorists, who are targeting a retired female astronaut … putting her own life at risk.With a body lost at sea, funerals for those with no one to mourn them, reports of strange happenings in outer space, a funeral crasher with a painful secret, and a violent attack on one of the family, The Skelfs face their most personal – and perilous – cases yet. Doing things their way may cost them everything…Tense, unnerving and warmly funny, The Opposite of Lonely is the hugely anticipated fifth instalment in the unforgettable Skelfs series, and this time, danger comes from everywhere…
Black Hearts (The Skelfs #4)
by Doug JohnstoneA faked death, an obsessive stalker, an old man claiming he’s being abused by the ghost of his late wife, and a devastating spectre from the past. The Skelfs are back in another explosive thriller, and this time things are more than personal…‘A new outing for the Skelfs deserves dancing in the streets of Edinburgh' Val McDermid‘Tense, funny and deeply moving’ Mark Billingham‘A total delight to be returned to the dark, funny, compulsive world of the Skelfs … Johnstone never fails to entertain whilst packing a serious emotional punch. Brilliant!’ Gytha Lodge________________________Death is just the beginning…The Skelf women live in the shadow of death every day, running the family funeral directors and private investigator business in Edinburgh. But now their own grief interwines with that of their clients, as they are left reeling by shocking past events.A fist-fight by an open grave leads Dorothy to investigate the possibility of a faked death, while a young woman’s obsession with Hannah threatens her relationship with Indy and puts them both in mortal danger. An elderly man claims he’s being abused by the ghost of his late wife, while ghosts of another kind come back to haunt Jenny from the grave … pushing her to breaking point.As the Skelfs struggle with increasingly unnerving cases and chilling danger lurks close to home, it becomes clear that grief, in all its forms, can be deadly…________________________‘The Skelfs keep getting better and better. Compelling and compassionate characters, with a dash of physics and philosophy thrown in’ Ambrose Parry‘Expertly written, with poise, insight and compassion’ Mary Paulson-Ellis’If you loved Iain Banks, you’ll devour the Skelfs series’ Erin Kelly‘Dynamic and poignant … Johnstone balances the cosmos, music, death and life, and wraps it all in a compelling mystery’ Marni Graff‘Just when you thought you couldn’t love the Skelfs more, Doug Johnstone finds a way to turn up the heat’ Live & DeadlyPraise for The Skelfs series***Shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Book of the Year******Longlisted for Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year******Shortlisted for Amazon Publishing Capital Crime Thriller of the Year***‘An engrossing and beautifully written tale that bears all the Doug Johnstone hallmarks in its warmth and darkly comic undertones’ Herald Scotland‘Gripping and blackly humorous’ Observer‘A tense ride strong, believable characters’ Kerry Hudson, Big Issue‘The power of this book, though, lies in the warm personalities and dark humour of the Skelfs, and by the end readers will be just as interested in their relationships with each other as the mysteries they are trying to solve’ Scotsman‘Remarkable’ Sunday Times‘Keeps you hungry from page to page. A crime reader can’t ask anything more’ The Sun‘A thrilling, atmospheric book, set in the dark streets of Edinburgh. Move over Ian Rankin, Doug Johnstone is coming through!’ Kate Rhodes‘An unstoppable, thrilling, bullet train of a book that cleverly weaves in family and intrigue, and has real emotional impact. I totally loved it’ Helen Fields‘This enjoyable mystery is also a touching and often funny portrayal of grief ... more, please’ Guardian‘Wonderful characters: flawed, funny and brave’ Sunday Times‘Exceptional … a must for those seeking strong, authentic, intelligent female protagonists’ Publishers Weekly
The Reykjavik Noir Trilogy (Reykjavik Noir #0)
by Lilja SigurdardottirGet ALL THREE books in the electrifying, unputdownable Reykjavík Noir Trilogy in one GREAT-VALUE Box Set!A young, single mother is lured into cocaine smuggling to keep custody of her son, as she eludes customs officers and the police, and tries to escape the clutches of the kingpins in Lilja Sigurðardóttir’s critically acclaimed, award-winning, international bestselling Reykjavík Noir Trilogy. A nerve-shredding, emotive Icelandic series by the co-writer of the Netflix hit Katla.’Tough, uncompromising and unsettling’ Val McDermid‘Stylish, taut and compelling’ Daily Express‘Tense and pacey … an intriguing mix of white-collar and white-powder’ GuardianSnare (Book One)Set in a Reykjavík still covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, and with a dark, fast-paced and chilling plot and intriguing characters, Snare sees young mother Sonja become involved in cocaine-smuggling in and out of Iceland, under the suspicious eye of a customs officer … An outstandingly original and sexy Nordic crime thriller, and a nail-biting game of cat and mouse!Trap (Book Two)When Sonja's son is kidnapped by her ruthless ex-husband, she's thrust back into the world of cocaine smuggling, but this time she's got a plan of her own, with an unexpected ally, and a complicated relationship on her conscience ... High-stakes jeopardy presides in this dark and original, breathtakingly fast-paced thriller...Cage (Book Three)A deadly threat to Sonja and her family sees her return to Iceland, where she needs to settle scores with longstanding adversaries if she wants to stay alive, while a group of businessmen tries to draw Agla into an ingenious fraud. Drugs, smuggling, big money and political intrigue rally with love, passion and murder in the masterful conclusion to the explosive Reykjavík Noir Trilogy.Praise for the Reykjavik Noir trilogy**Guardian and New York Journal of Books THRILLER of the Year****WINNER of the Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year****Longlisted for the CWA International Dagger**‘A tense thriller with a highly unusual plot and interesting characters’ Marcel Berlins, The Times‘An emotional suspense rollercoaster on a par with The Firm, as desperate, resourceful, profoundly lovable characters scheme against impossible odds’ Alexandra Sokoloff‘Clear your diary. As soon as you begin reading … you won’t be able to stop until the final page’ Michael Wood‘A towering powerhouse of read and I gobbled it up in one intense sitting’ LoveReading‘Zips along, with tension building and building … thoroughly recommend’ James Oswald‘With characters you can’t help sympathising with against your better judgement, Sigurdardottir takes the reader on a breathtaking ride’ Daily Express‘Tense, edgy and delivering more than a few unexpected twists and turns’ Sunday Times‘Smart writing with a strongly beating heart’ Big Issue‘Deftly plotted though and with a forensic attention to the technicalities of stock exchange manipulations and drug-running techniques’ Financial Times‘The intricate plot is breathtakingly original, with many twists and turns you never see coming. Thriller of the year’ New York Journal of Books‘Compelling … this is prime binge-reading’ Booklist
Girlcrush: The debut novel from the bestselling author of Women Don't Owe You Pretty
by Florence Given'Dark, funny and wild.'- Chloe Ashby, author of WET PAINT'Girlcrush is a funny, filthy and furious exploration of sexuality, identity and the expectations on us all. It's a rare combination - a page turner with a message.' - Daisy Buchanan'It feels like a ball of energy coming right for you. I loved this debut.' - Emma GannonGIRLCRUSH is a dark feminist retelling of Jekyll & Hyde by bestselling author Florence Given.In Given's debut novel, we follow Eartha on a wild, weird and seductive modern-day exploration as she commences life as an openly bisexual woman whilst also becoming a viral sensation on Wonderland, a social media app where people project their dream selves online.The distance between her online and offline self grows further and further apart until something dark happens that leads her into total self-destruction, forcing Eartha to make a choice; which version of herself should she kill off?Warning this book does include storylines that some readers may find triggering.*Also by Florence Given*Women Don't Owe You Pretty
Bella Caledonia: An Anthology of Writing from 2007 - 2021
by Kathleen Jamie Irvine Welsh Andy WightmanIn October 2007, writers Mike Small and Kevin Williamson launched Bella Caledonia at the Radical Book Fair in Edinburgh. Since then, Bella has consistently explored ideas of self-determination and offered Scotland’s most robust and insightful political commentary. In the run up to Scottish independence referendum, international interest grew and Bella Caledonia had more than 500,000 unique users a month, with a peak of one million in August ― and since then has been given multiple awards recognising it as one of the top 10 political blogs in the UK. This anthology, curated by Mike Small, is a flavour of Bella’s output over these 14 years ― the editor’s pick. Bella is aligned to no political party and sees herself as the bastard child of parent publications too good for this world; from Calgacus to Red Herring, from Harpies & Quines to the Black Dwarf. Under Mike’s editorship, Bella has developed a ‘Fifth Estate’ as a way of disrupting the passive relationship of old media, creating something more active and appropriate for the 21st century ― it’s about concentration of ownership, and bringing together radical coverage with cultural analysis. Hence the plethora of wide-ranging voices in this anthology, each representing outlier viewpoints in contemporary society ― novelists, poets, bloggers and journalists publishing in non-mainstream media outlets, and the social media. *”Bella Caledonia has been a flagship for progressive thought in Scotland, providing a platform for informed and creative writing, advocating a progressive and independent nation fit for the future."Stuart Cosgrove”Bella has been to be a constant thorn in the side of the powerful voices who would prefer that conventional wisdom went unchallenged, that awkward questions went unasked, and bold solutions went unheard."Peter Geoehgan * The Contributors:Andy Wightman • Alan Bissett • Brian Quail • George Rosie • Kathleen Jamie • Peter Arnott • Scott Hames • Laura Easton Lewis • Meaghan Delahunt • AL Kennedy • Alistair Davidson • Alastair McIntosh • Katie Gallogly-Swan • Max Macleod • Caitlin Logan • Irvine Welsh • Paul Tritschler • Chloé Farand • Abi Lightbody • Pat Kane • Adam Ramsay • Rory Scothorne • Alison Phipps • Jamie Maxwell • Amna Saleem • Neil Cooper • Dougie Strang • Mairi McFadyen • Christopher Silver • George Gunn • Stuart Christie • George Kerevan • Iain MacKinnon • Dougald Hine • Cait O’Neil McCullagh • Raman Mundair • Gerry HassanAbout The Editor:Mike Small is a writer, journalist, author and publisher. He has written for the Guardian, Sunday Herald, Sunday National, Open Democracy, Variant, Lobster and Z Magazine. He is currently working on a biography of Patrick Geddes and a history of Scottish Anarchism. He has edited Bella Caledonia since 2007.
Your Love is Not Good (G - Reference,information And Interdisciplinary Subjects Ser.)
by Johanna HedvaAt an otherwise forgettable party in Los Angeles, a queer Korean American painter spots a woman who instantly controls the room: gorgeous and distant and utterly white, the centre of everyone’s attention. Haunted into adulthood by her Korean father’s abandonment of his family, as well as the spectre of her beguiling, abusive white mother, the painter finds herself caught in a perfect trap. She wants Hanne, or wants to be her, or to sully her, or destroy her, or consume her, or some confusion of all the above. Since she’s an artist, she will use art to get closer to Hanne, beginning a series of paintings with her new muse as model. As for Hanne, what does she want? Her whiteness seems sometimes as cruel as a new sheet of paper.When the paintings of Hanne become a hit, resulting in the artist’s first sold-out show, she resolves to bring her new muse with her to Berlin, to continue their work, and her seduction. But, just when the painter is on the verge of her long sought-after breakthrough, a petition started by a Black performance artist begins making the rounds in the art community, calling for the boycott of major museums and art galleries for their imperialist and racist practices. Torn between her desire to support the petition, to be a success, and to possess Hanne, the painter and her reality become more unstable and disorienting, unwilling to cut loose any one of her warring ambitions, yet unable to accommodate them all. Is it any wonder so many artists self-destruct so spectacularly? Is it perhaps just a bit exciting to think she could too? Your Love Is Not Good stuffs queer explosive into the cracks between identity and aspiration, between desire and art, and revels in the raining debris.
Anything That Moves
by Jamie StewartFrom being caught having their first orgasm by their mum’s best friend to being stalked and propositioned by a fundamentalist pastor; from soliciting spanking dates over the Internet to scoring a coveted invitation to a threesome with some elf fetishist neighbours, art rock darling (Xiu Xiu) Jamie Stewart’s journey of fleshy self-discovery and queer awakening makes for an extraordinary, cringy, unputdownable epic in miniature, burning always with radical and often shocking self-criticism.A one-of-a-kind exploration of abasement, depravity, joy, and embarrassment (and even joy in embarrassment), Anything That Moves is a series of comic, tragic X-rays of sex. It is funny, erotic, anti-erotic, honest, brave, icky, and hauntingly sad by turns. It demonstrates too how love and forgiveness can percolate around the edges of even the most traumatic relationships.Stewart's band Xiu Xiu has been called ‘self-flagellating’, ‘brutal’, ‘shocking’ and ‘perverse’, but also ‘genius’, ‘brilliant’, ‘unique’, ‘imaginative’ and ‘luminous’. Readers can expect nothing less from Anything That Moves.
Boulder
by Eva BaltasarWorking as a cook on a merchant ship, a woman comes to know and love Samsa, a woman who gives her the nickname ‘Boulder’. When Samsa gets a job in Reykjavik and the couple decides to move there together, Samsa decides that she wants to have a child. She is already forty and can’t bear to let the opportunity pass her by. Boulder is less enthused, but doesn’t know how to say no – and so finds herself dragged along on a journey that feels as thankless as it is alien.With motherhood changing Samsa into a stranger, Boulder must decide where her priorities lie, and whether her yearning for freedom can truly trump her yearning for love.Once again, Eva Baltasar demonstrates her pre-eminence as a chronicler of queer voices navigating a hostile world – and in prose as brittle and beautiful as an ancient saga.
Go Back at Once
by Robert AickmanCompleted by Robert Aickman in 1975; but never before published in the USA; Go Back at Once is a delicious; delirious comic fantasy about the joys and terrors experienced by two young women seeking to escape the degradations of our technological and conformist age by fleeing to a chaotic; poet-ruled utopia.
Oldladyvoice
by Elisa VictoriaNine-year old Marina swears like a sailor and thinks like a novelist; but that doesn’t make growing up any less of a mystery.While her mother is in the hospital with a grave but unnamed illness; Marina spends the summer with her grandmother; waiting to hear whether she’ll ever get to go home or be bundled off; newly orphaned; to a convent school. There are no rules here; but that also means there are no easy ways to fend off the visions of sex and violence that both torment and titillate the girl. Presenting a fresh; vivid take on the coming-of-age novel; Oldladyvoice reimagines childhood through the eyes of its one-of-a-kind; hilarious; perceptive; and endearing narrator.
Keeping the House
by Tice CinThe Turkish variety are prized for their enlarged leaf bud; that’s where we put the heroin . . . Ayla has a plan. There’s a stash of heroin; just waiting to be imported. No one seems sure what to do with it; but Ayla’s a gardener; and she knows.From secretive men’s clubs to spotless living rooms; Keeping the House is an electrifying debut that lifts the lid on a covert world. But just as it offers a fresh take on the London drug trade and its machinery; it tells the story of three women in one house: a grandmother; a mother; and the daughter; each dealing with the intricacies and reverberations of community; migration and love.
Queering Psychotherapy
by Jane Chance CzyzselskaLGBTIQ+ people are more likely than cisgender and heterosexual individuals to suffer with mental health issues, yet often have poorer therapeutic outcomes. Mainstream Eurocentric psychotherapeutic theories, developed largely by heterosexual, cisgender and white theorists, tend to see LGBTIQ+ as a singular group through this “othered” lens. Despite the undeniable value offered by many of these theories, they and those who use them – queer therapists included – can often pathologize, marginalize, misunderstand and diminish the flourishing and diversity of queer experience. In this volume, editor and psychotherapist Jane C. Czyzselska speaks with practitioners and clients from diverse modalities and lived experiences, exploring and rethinking some of the unique challenges encountered in a world that continues to marginalize queer lives. The contributors to Queering Psychotherapy present key insights and practical advice in a dynamic conversational format, providing intimate access to therapists’ personal and professional knowledge and reflections. This book is an invaluable training in itself.
Fall
by West CamelEstranged brothers are reunited over plans to develop the tower block where they grew up, but the desolate estate becomes a stage for reliving the events of one life-changing summer.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Twins Aaron and Clive have been estranged for forty years. Aaron still lives in the empty, crumbling tower block on the riverside in Deptford where they grew up. Clive is a successful property developer, determined to turn the tower into luxury flats.But Aaron is blocking the plan and their petty squabble becomes something much greater when two ghosts from the past – twins Annette and Christine – appear in the tower. At once, the desolate estate becomes a stage on which the events of one scorching summer are relived – a summer that shattered their lives, and changed everything forever…Grim, evocative and exquisitely rendered, Fall is a story of friendship and family – of perception, fear and prejudice, the events that punctuate our journeys into adulthood, and the indelible scars they leave – a triumph of a novel that will affect you long after the final page has been turned.––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Praise for West Camel’s debut novel Attend‘From its opening gambit to its final line, Attend demands and rewards attention’ Foreword Reviews’With its blend of dark, gritty themes and gorgeous imagery, this is a book to make you believe there’s still magic in the world’ Heat ‘I’ve fallen in love with this absolutely glorious, spell-binding tale’ LoveReading‘It’s a genuinely pleasurable experience to encounter something couched in such alert and transparent language as West Camel’s Attend … In three hundred finely judged pages, West Camel leaves the reader eager for more from his pen’ Barry Forshaw, CrimeTime‘Lyrical and intense, the spellbinding prose is full of carefully chosen words which create an emotive and flowing’ Crime Review‘Rich, lively and intelligent, Attend is a novel of mystery, morality and meaning, but so delicately sewn together, you never notice the seams…’ Rosie Goldsmith'There is such a joy to the language. West Camel is a truly gifted wordsmith, and a beautiful storyteller’ Louise Beech
The Great Silence (The Skelfs #3)
by Doug JohnstoneThe discovery of a human foot in an Edinburgh park, the inexplicable circumstances of a dying woman, and the missing daughter of Jenny’s violent ex-husband present the Skelf women with their most challenging – and deadly – cases yet…‘Simply stunning. Tense, funny and deeply moving’ Mark Billingham‘If you loved Iain Banks, you’ll devour the Skelfs series’ Erin Kelly'I LOVE the Skelfs’ Val McDermid_______________Keeping on top of the family funeral directors’ and private-investigation businesses is no easy task for the Skelf women, and when matriarch Dorothy discovers a human foot while walking the dog, a perplexing case presents itself … with potentially deadly results.Daughter Jenny and grand-daughter Hannah have their hands full too: The mysterious circumstances of a dying woman lead them into an unexpected family drama, Hannah's new astrophysicist colleague claims he's receiving messages from outer space, and the Skelfs' teenaged lodger has yet another devastating experience.Nothing is clear as the women are immersed ever deeper in their most challenging cases yet. But when the daughter of Jenny’s violent and fugitive ex-husband goes missing without trace and a wild animal is spotted roaming Edinburgh's parks, real danger presents itself, and all three Skelfs are in peril.Taut, dark, warmly funny and unafraid to ask big questions – of us all – The Great Silence is the much-anticipated third instalment in the addictive, unforgettable Skelfs series, and the stakes are higher than ever._______________‘Mysteries aplenty … a poignant reflection on grief and the potential for healing that lies within us all. A proper treat’ Mary Paulson-Ellis‘This enjoyable mystery is also a touching and often funny portrayal of grief, as the three tough but tender main characters pick up the pieces and carry on: more, please’ Guardian‘Wonderful characters: flawed, funny and brave’ Sunday Times ‘Exceptional … a must for those seeking strong, authentic, intelligent female protagonists’ Publishers WeeklyPraise for The Skelfs series***Shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Book of the Year******Longlisted for Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year******Shortlisted for Amazon Publishing Capital Crime Thriller of the Year***‘An engrossing and beautifully written tale that bears all the Doug Johnstone hallmarks in its warmth and darkly comic undertones’ Herald Scotland‘Gripping and blackly humorous’ Observer‘This dark but touching thriller makes for a thoroughly enjoyable slice of Edinburgh noir’ Mary Paulson-Ellis‘This enjoyable mystery is also a touching and often funny portrayal of grief, as the three tough but tender main characters pick up the pieces and carry on: more, please’ Guardian‘A tense ride strong, believable characters’ Kerry Hudson, Big Issue‘They are all wonderful characters: flawed, funny, brave and well set up for a series. I wouldn’t call him cosy, but there’s warmth to Johnstone’s writing’ Sunday Times
Betrayal
by Lilja SigurdardóttirBurned out and traumatised by her horrifying experiences around the world, aid worker Úrsula has returned to Iceland. Unable to settle, she accepts a high-profile government role in which she hopes to make a difference again.But on her first day in the post, Úrsula promises to help a mother seeking justice for her daughter, who had been raped by a policeman, and life in high office soon becomes much more harrowing than Úrsula could ever have imagined. A homeless man is stalking her – but is he hounding her, or warning her of some danger? And why has the death of her father in police custody so many years earlier reared its head again?As Úrsula is drawn into dirty politics, facing increasingly deadly threats, the lives of her stalker, her bodyguard and even a witch-like cleaning lady intertwine. Small betrayals become large ones, and the stakes are raised ever higher…Exploring the harsh worlds of politics, police corruption and misogyny, Betrayal is a relevant, powerful, fast-paced thriller that feels just a little bit too real…
The Big Chill (The Skelfs #2)
by Doug JohnstoneRunning private investigator and funeral home businesses means trouble is never far away, and the Skelf women take on their most perplexing, chilling cases yet in book two of this darkly funny, devastatingly tense and addictive new series!Haunted by their past, the Skelf women are hoping for a quieter life. But running both a funeral directors’ and a private investigation business means trouble is never far away, and when a car crashes into the open grave at a funeral that matriarch Dorothy is conducting, she can’t help looking into the dead driver’s shadowy life. While Dorothy uncovers a dark truth at the heart of Edinburgh society, her daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah have their own struggles. Jenny’s ex-husband Craig is making plans that could shatter the Skelf women’s lives, and the increasingly obsessive Hannah has formed a friendship with an elderly professor that is fast turning deadly. But something even more sinister emerges when a drumming student of Dorothy’s disappears and suspicion falls on her parents. The Skelf women find themselves sucked into an unbearable darkness – but could the real threat be to themselves?Following three women as they deal with the dead, help the living and find out who they are in the process, The Big Chill follows A Dark Matter, book one in the Skelfs series, which reboots the classic PI novel while asking the big existential questions, all with a big dose of pitch-black humour.
Ash Mountain
by Helen FitzGeraldSingle-mother Fran returns to her sleepy hometown to care for her dying father when a devastating bush fire breaks out. A heartbreaking disaster-noir thriller from the bestselling author of The Cry.________________Fran hates her hometown, and she thought she’d escaped. But her father is ill, and needs care. Her relationship is over, and she hates her dead-end job in the city, anyway.She returns home to nurse her dying father, her distant teenage daughter in tow for the weekends. There, in the sleepy town of Ash Mountain, childhood memories prick at her fragile self-esteem, she falls in love for the first time, and her demanding dad tests her patience, all in the unbearable heat of an Australian summer. As past friendships and rivalries are renewed, and new ones forged, Fran’s tumultuous home life is the least of her worries, when old crimes rear their heads and a devastating bushfire ravages the town and all of its inhabitants… Simultaneously a warm, darkly funny portrait of small-town life – and a woman and a land in crisis – and a shocking and truly distressing account of a catastrophic event that changes things forever, Ash Mountain is a heart-breaking slice of domestic noir, and a disturbing disaster thriller that you will never forget…________________Praise for Helen FitzGerald‘The plotting is intricate and beautifully handled, and the narrative pace is absolutely breakneck … a wonderful, energetic, hard-hitting and deeply funny novel’ The Big Issue‘Shocking, gripping and laugh-out-loud hilarious’ Erin Kelly‘The main character is one of the most extraordinary you’ll meet between the pages of a book’ Ian Rankin‘A dark, comic masterpiece which manages to be both excruciatingly tense and laugh out loud funny at the same time’ Mark Edwards‘Outrageous, extremely funny and ultimately devastating’ Ambrose Parry‘Fabulously transgressive and completely unique’ Mark Billingham‘The classic thriller gets a hell of a twist’ Heat‘FitzGerald writes like a more focused Irvine Welsh or a less misogynist Philip Roth’ Daily Telegraph
Love Offers No Safety: Nigeria's Queer Men Speak
by Olumide Femi Makanjuola and Jude DibiaLove Offers No Safety: Nigeria's Queer Men Speak is a raw and powerful collection of 25 first-person narratives that explore the diverse experience of queer Nigerian men. These stirring stories cut across age, class, religion, ethnicity, family and relationships, offering a glimpse into what it means to survive as a queer man in Nigeria. From Tunji, who takes us back to the thriving networking community before social media, to Chukwori, who struggles to reconcile his need to serve God with his sexuality, and Abdulkarim, who frustratingly wonders if he'll ever stop working twice as hard to be accepted, these stories are full of contradictions, anger, resiliency, profound insight, and radical hope. With heightened levels of oppression, violence, and discrimination faced by LGBTQ Nigerians due to the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Law, these voices remind us of what the queer community in Nigeria has always been fighting for - the freedom to be themselves, love themselves, and love each other, despite being viewed as unworthy. Love Offers No Safety is a heart-breaking yet hopeful reminder that love knows no boundaries and offers no safety, but it is worth fighting for.