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The Brink

Jamie Fewery

Selected for the Woman’s Own Book Club May 2023
One of Prima Magazine’s Best New Books May 2023
'Warm, wry, sad and brilliantly sharp' Daily Mail
'Clever, fresh and original' Nina Pottell, Books Editor at Prima Magazine

Dan and Anya Moorcroft have decided to get a divorce. Together, they’ve done it all. Two kids, three owned houses, four rented flats, fifty-something holidays, and one affair apiece. Now, after fifteen years together (nine of them married) they’re on the brink.

But as they go through couples’ mediation, revisiting and rediscovering their shared history in sessions surrounded by lawyers and paperwork, are they about to find something that’s worth saving? Or are they going to reaffirm their decision to end things for good?

Each section of the book is a focus area for the divorce mediation process: sex, home, money, family, us. Through this, the novel explores how marriage is built on bonds between people and the experiences they share. It goes back in time to reveal Dan and Anya’s past. And then returns to the present day as they work out their future.

Smelling to Survive

Bill Hansson

Smell is arguably the least understood sense, yet it has always been a vital component of the human experience, and that of all living creatures.

It has been used by plants and animals for millions of years to warn, to attract, to identify, to navigate and even to mislead. Smelling to Survive explains some of these fascinating processes, and explores how the past would have smelt quite different to our ancestors, and how future technologies will further change the world of scents.

Along the way, leading scientist Bill S. Hansson recounts amazing stories from the world of olfactory research: from the tobacco plant that excretes an alarm odour, to mosquitos that cherish the smell of sweaty feet, to lilies that imitate the fragrance of a dead horse. Hansson explains why scientists are interested in the smell that surrounds teenage males, and how climate change affects the smell of our environment. He describes research trips to Christmas Island, where crabs with particularly keen noses crack coconuts on the beach, and outlines studies that reveal how penguins recognize their partner by their scent.

Conversations with an Octopus

Rebecca Smith

'I can't think of a more perfect book for the beach' Toby Litt

'Mysterious deaths, an intuitive octopus, and colourful characters in a Devonshire seaside town, make this an unmissable read' Tamar Hodes

'Utterly addictive from the first page' Jonathan Whitelaw

Diana Parks is a beautician with a temper, and she’s not the only member of Ottersea WI who’s had enough of bullies and slimeballs. When the body of lecherous landlord, Raj Sumal, washes up on the beach, it’s up to Detectives Jim Paddon and Grace Brown to solve the mystery. They start to suspect Raj’s wife, Sukhi, who likes walking on the cliffs.

Meanwhile, at Ottersea Oceanworld, Jane the Octopus hears people’s secrets and understands everything during a sweltering summer of strange deaths, new friendships, and a whole lot of ice cream.

The Almost Lizard

James Higgerson

‘a superb tragicomic satire on our soap-opera-saturated culture'

Sam Mills, author of The Quiddity of Will Self

‘a neat idea… a plot full of death and disaster’

The Metro

Today is Daniel Lizard’s twenty-first birthday and he has just completed his autobiography. Now, he plans on killing himself, leaving behind possibly the longest suicide note ever committed to paper.

Daniel creates soap operas in his head - a game that he plays on his paper-round. Rather than a phase, this is just the beginning of a fantasy that becomes more and more elaborate as the people around Daniel become his unwitting co-stars.

Daniel begins to realise that, in life, you cannot write all of the scripts, there is no-one there to shout cut or hit rewind and, inevitably, all manipulations have their repercussions.

Mixed

Tamar Hodes

Longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2025

One of the Best Books to Read this Spring 2025 Jewish News

'A true moral tale for today, told with great humour and pathos' Rest less

Can two sisters overlook their differences?
Mixed is a hilarious yet moving story of family and faith, best served hot (or cold) with a dollop of sour cream.

Sisters Ruth and Miriam Green spent most of their childhood loving each other and hating each other, treasuring each other and resenting each other. Now they’re grown up their lives have taken them on very different paths, creating a rift which is proving difficult to heal. Ruth has followed her traditional Jewish upbringing. Miriam has not – and while she wants to instil her heritage in her children, they just want to fit in.

As resentment, tension and divisions build within the family, can the sisters overlook their differences or will their family be torn apart?

Skin

Liam Brown

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN'S NOT THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019

A strange virus is sweeping the globe.

Humans have become allergic to one another.

Simply standing next to somebody could be a death sentence.

A kiss could be fatal.

Angela is a woman trying to get by in this bewildering new world. Though she still lives with her husband and children, they lead separate lives. Confined to their rooms, they communicate via their computers and phones. In some ways, very little has changed.

That is, until she spots a mysterious stranger walking through town without even a face mask for protection. A man, it seems, immune to this disease. A man unlike anyone else she knows. A man it might just be safe to touch...

Blinded by The Lights

Jakub Żulczyk

Kuba is a cocaine dealer in the dark, electric streets of Warsaw, believing he is smart enough to stay in control, unlike the top lawyers, doctors, TV personalities who are his client base.

However, after calling in the debt of a failing nightclub owner, breaking his own rules on other people's property and being caught in the consequences of his clients' actions, all control starts to slip from his grasp.

Now suffering under the glare of the spotlight and dragged into the dark underbelly of the drug world, Kuba must find a way through the middle of the whirlwind of violence and betrayal sweeping him away.

The Beach Hut

Cassandra Parkin

'A beautiful maze of hidden pasts, family ties and fairytales' --Jen Campbell, author of The Bookshop Book

'A thoughtful novel. Parkin creates authentic, interesting characters' --Carys Bray, Costa-shortlisted author of A Song for Issy Bradley

'A great read' --The Sun

It is autumn time and on a peaceful Cornish beach, Finn and his sister Ava defy planning regulations and achieve a childhood dream when they build themselves an illegal beach hut. This tiny haven will be their home until Ava departs at Midwinter for a round-the-world adventure.

In the town, local publican Donald is determined to get rid of them. Still mourning the death of his wife, all he wants is a quiet place where he can forget the past and raise his daughter Alicia in safety. But Alicia is wrestling with demons of her own.

As the sunshine fades and winter approaches, the beach hut stirs old memories for everyone. Their lives become entwined in surprising ways and the secrets of past and present are finally exposed.

Home Bird

Fran Hill

'This has all of Fran's trademark quick wit and black humour' Gráinne Murphy
'Funny, warm and very moving' Lucinda Hawksley
'Fran writes with such humour and humanity, it was an absolute tonic' Victoria Mackenzie

1979. Jackie Chadwick is 17 and living in a supported bedsit. She's still close to her foster parents and friends with (aka unofficial minder for) Amanda, their irresponsible daughter, but she’s enjoying her independence – until a fire leaves her temporarily homeless. Jackie’s dad, widower and recovering alcoholic Dave, has just been released from prison and sees this as his chance to make amends. He offers her his spare room – but can their relationship survive him going back on the booze and the arrival of his gin-loving lady friend and her errant son? As things go from bad to worse, Jackie has to decide how many chances you give someone who keeps letting you down.

Bittersweet and funny, Home Bird draws on Fran Hill's own experiences as a teenager in foster care.

Charm Offensive

William Thacker

‘A strange book, but its strangeness is what keeps you turning the pages.’ Jennifer Johnston

‘I'm always a sucker for redemption stories but this one is really highly entertaining, life-affirming and - yes - charming. On this evidence, William Thacker is a name you will hear a lot more often.’ Matt Haig

On reflection, he should probably continue with the plan. The plan was to get away, wasn't it? What made him deviate from the plan? It was all the things that came in between. He just needs to keep going.

When retired politician Joe Street is named in a tabloid media slur, he carries out a last-ditch attempt to resurrect his marriage and undo the damage from the lie. With a cheap PR consultant in tow, Joe is reintroduced to a world of empty sound bites and media appearances - a world he would rather forget.

His PR campaign takes a turn for the worse and Joe sets out to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter. Together, they commit themselves to a challenge that will help right their wrongs.

In spite of his regeneration, Joe discovers that nothing is ever easy. With his fragile reputation on the line, his past continues to chase him. Joe finds himself on a journey of self-discovery, of redemption, but most importantly, of finding hope once more.

The Big Book of Wisdom

Larry Culliford

The Big Book of Wisdom is a guide on how to live a meaningful life, how to grow through adversity towards maturity, and making one’s contribution, little by little, to a better, safer, cleaner, healthier, much happier world.

This book on wisdom is BIG not because of its length, but because it is about everything and for everyone.

Combining scientific findings with logical and intuitive reasoning, we are taken on a journey to look into our intellectual and spiritual experiences. Topics such as Capitalism, Education, Religion, Politics, Health, are explored and we look at the imbalance between our aims and values as well as the discovery of intersecting cosmic miracles of existence, life, consciousness, love and unity.

The Strange Adventures of H

Sarah Burton

Shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award

Orphaned young, H is sent to live with her doting aunt in London. H’s life is a happy one until her lecherous cousin robs her of her innocence, and the plague takes away the city and the people she loves. H is cast out – friendless, pregnant and destitute – into the rapidly emptying streets of London under quarantine.

Forced to fend for herself, she is determined to gain back the life she lost. H will face a villain out for revenge, find love in the most unexpected places, and overcome a betrayal that she never could have foreseen. Weathering it all, can H charm, or scheme, her way to the life of freedom and independence that she longs for?