Recommended Items
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My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction
‘In one short and sly book after another, [Levy] writes about characters navigating swerves of history and sexuality, and the social and personal rootlessness that accompanies both’ Atlantic
Who was Gertrude Stein?
Avant-garde American poet and art collector who made her home in Paris, godmother of modernism, queer icon, friend to Picasso and Hemingway, self-declared genius ― a writer who has baffled readers and critics for a century.
And why does she matter?
The narrator of Deborah Levy’s latest, dazzling fiction has gone to Paris to find out. There she meets Eva with the blinding gaze, an artist in a long-distance marriage, and Fanny, a sexually adventurous financier; together they cook, walk, read and argue late into the nights.
As Paris sweeps her along in its ceaseless flow, she thinks – about what we have to lose to become modern, navigating anxiety, living with uncertainty, angry fathers, making a new life in another country, art and language – how all these things looked to Gertrude Stein in the early days of the twentieth century, and how they look to her and her friends in the early twenty-first.
This is a book about how we put ourselves together― an exhilarating, witty, cosmopolitan meditation on the pleasures and challenges of friendship, desire and living with other people. But it is also crashes through genre to create an inspired portrait of Stein herself: a writer who experimented fearlessly with a new way of living and who wrestled herself free from the nineteenth century to invent a brand-new way of looking at the world.
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From £10.60My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction
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Tears from the Mother of the Sun: A Secret History of the World
Esoteric legends that track history across multiple continents and planes of existence• Synthesizes ancient mythologies across time, space, and cultures to resacralize the human experience
• Written as a novella interspersed with metered quatrains in the tradition of medieval Persian belles-lettres
• Includes full-color paintings of key figures and motifs, including Sita, Yggdrasil, the Minotaur, Quetzalcoatl, and the Three Marys
In this globe-spanning chronicle, Pir Zia Inayat Khan, leader of the Inayatiyya, sets forth an astonishing sequence of legends revealing little-known connections between ancient cultures and spiritual lineages.
Framed as a dialogue between the Iranianepic poet Firdausi and his tutelary daimon, this novella follows the tradition of medieval Persian belles-lettres in which prose passages are punctuated with metered verses. The daimon reveals to the hitherto depressed poet the inner history of the world as reflected in the missions of a succession of sages moving through Earth’s lands and ages. Readers will learn of the creation of the universe, the war of the angels and the jinns, the exile of Adam and Eve, and the deeds of Melchizedek and Enoch. They will also explore the rise of the Nephilim, the advent of ancient civilizations, the origins of the Abrahamic faiths, and the history of the Grail and Emerald Tablet. Beautiful paintings by Amruta Patil bring the legends to life.
The cumulative effect of the traditions synthesized here is a resacralization of the human experience across time, space, and cultures, achieved through an unexpected marriage of myth and history.
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Psychological Essays
Alfred Richard Orage (1873-1934) was born in Dacre, West Riding, Yorkshire, and was a schoolteacher in Leeds for twelve years, during which time he helped found the Leeds Arts Club. He moved to London in 1906, where he worked as editor of The New Age: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature and Art, to which many well-known writers and intellectuals contributed. He was involved in socialism for a time, and was a supporter of the social credit system of C.H. Douglas. During the years 1922 to 1930, Orage worked with G.I. Gurdjieff in France and the United States, after which he returned to England, where he became editor of The New English Weekly. He died suddenly during the early morning of 6th November, 1934, having given a radio talk for the B.B.C. on Social Credit the evening before, apparently in good health.Orage wrote wrote fifteen short Psychological Essays in the 1920s. They encompass such subjects as thought power and mental development, dealing with dark moods, the relationship between thought, feeling and body, the importance of active curiosity, observation, and so on. Although these can be read as stand-alone essays, they are very much connected with each other in the sequence given, and in their totality give a kind of recipe for living life to the full.
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From £2.20Psychological Essays
From £2.20 -
The Queen Who Walked Away: A Tudor Tale Of Anne Of Cleves (Women Of The Tudor Court Book 3)
She crossed the sea to become Henry VIII’s queen. Instead, she became something far more dangerous: a woman who refused to die for a king.
When Anne of Cleves arrives in England to marry the notorious Henry VIII, she expects duty, obedience, and a crown. What she does not expect is the king’s immediate revulsion toward her – or the deadly atmosphere of the Tudor court, where queens who fail are discarded, disgraced, or destroyed.
Surrounded by whispers of execution and haunted by the fates of the women who came before her, Anne quickly understands the peril she faces. To fight for the crown is to risk her life. To surrender it may cost her everything she was raised to believe she must be.
In a court where survival is never accidental, Anne of Cleves makes an unthinkable choice: she agrees to her own annulment. But this is not defeat. It is strategy. By becoming the king’s “beloved sister,” Anne secures wealth, independence, and the one thing no other wife of Henry VIII achieved – her freedom.
From the treacherous splendor of the Tudor court to the quiet power of a life reclaimed, this intimate historical novel restores the voice of a woman history dismissed as merely “lucky.” Anne of Cleves was not lucky. She was brilliant. And she won by knowing when to walk away.
Perfect for readers who love Tudor historical fiction, strong heroines, and clean, character-driven stories about women who survived history on their own terms. Meant to be a short escape, this book is part of a series, but can be read as a standalone.
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Crush: Twentieth Anniversary Edition: 99 (Yale Series of Younger Poets)
The twentieth-anniversary edition of the influential first poetry collection by Richard Siken
An Atlantic choice for “Best American Poetry of the 21st Century (So Far)”
Since winning the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, Crush has become a modern classic. This twentieth-anniversary edition includes a new introduction by award-winning poet Dana Levin and a new afterword by the author.Read more
From £12.99 -
Strength Through Poetry: Resilience in rhythm: The strength of mind and body in verse
Samantha Crilly’s first collection of poems – Hope through Poetry – was inspired by her personal experience of mental illness and recovery, and by what she had learned from friends and family. Five years after it was first enthusiastically received, she returns with a new collection that draws on her ongoing recovery together with her work as an actor and script writer raising awareness of mental health struggles. Giving honest and relatable insights into what it means to have a mental illness and what causes and triggers may lie behind it, these insightful poems are here as comforting companions and to promote understanding and acceptance.
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From £13.18£15.99
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Broken Country: AMAZON’S BOOK OF THE YEAR – THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER
*****AMAZON’S BOOK OF THE YEAR*****
INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
REESE WITHERSPOON’S BOOK CLUB PICK
FEARNE COTTON’S HAPPY PLACE BOOK CLUB PICK
AMANDA LAMB BOOK CLUB PICK‘An unforgettable story of love, loss, and the choices that shape our lives . . . but it’s also a masterfully crafted mystery that will keep you guessing until the very last page. Seriously, that ending?! I did not see it coming’
REESE WITHERSPOON‘This story of a love affair is so addictive it could be at home with the thrillers . . . A simmering book of secrets, scandal and devastating consequences’ The i
‘Excellent . . . a vivid, forceful love story which plays out at the pace of a thriller’ Irish Times
‘In this surprising romantic novel, there are decisions to be made that are heartbreaking and real, yet amid the gentle pastoral setting . . . it has all the pace of a literary thriller. A dazzling debut’ Woman and Home
‘Beautiful . . .So moving on the subject of how a tiny decision can have cataclysmic consequences’ Good Housekeeping
‘Wistful love meets murder . . . a tear-jerker’ Grazia
Everyone in the village said nothing good would come of Gabriel’s return. And as Beth looks at the man she loves on trial for murder, she can’t help thinking they were right.
Beth was seventeen when she first met Gabriel. Over that heady, intense summer, he made her think and feel and see differently. She thought it was the start of her great love story. When Gabriel left to become the person his mother expected him to be, she was broken.
It was Frank who picked up the pieces and together they built a home very different from the one she’d imagined with Gabriel. Watching her husband and son, she remembered feeling so sure that, after everything, this was the life she was supposed to be leading.
But when Gabriel comes back, all Beth’s certainty about who she is and what she wants crumbles. Even after ten years, their connection is instant. She knows it’s wrong and she knows people could get hurt. But how can she resist a second chance at first love?
A love story with the pulse of a thriller, Broken Country is a heart-pounding novel of impossible choices and devastating consequences.
‘Lyrical, brutal and passionate. I devoured it’
MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER, author of The Paper Palace‘Evocative, sensitive and compelling . . . Fires directly at the heart and hits the mark’
DELIA OWENS, author of Where the Crawdads Sing‘Broke my heart then mended it again. An epic, tortured love story. Bring tissues’
JENNIE GODFREY, author of The List of Suspicious Things‘I stayed up until 4am to finish it, something I haven’t done in years. It’s a page-turner, but also beautifully written’
FLORENCE KNAPP, author of The Names‘Had me hooked from start to finish . . . a really great book’ DAWN O’PORTER, author of Cat Lady
‘A love story like no other’
CHRIS WHITAKER, author of All the Colours of the DarkREADERS LOVE BROKEN COUNTRY ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This book is everything. Love, heartbreak and hope’
‘Will break you into pieces and then put you back together again’
‘I was absolutely gripped and didn’t want it to end’
‘If I could give more than five stars, I would. Perfect’Read more
From £11.80 -
The Names: ‘The best debut novel in years’ Sunday Times
A once-in-a-generation debut from a major new talent, The Names is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark.
‘I’ve just been blown away by the best debut novel in years . . . A genius idea for a book’
Sunday Times‘Wildly original and emotionally profound’
Observer‘An unadulterated success: moving, evocative and utterly convincing’
The TimesTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
It is 1987, and in the aftermath of a great storm, Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and call the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates. Going against his wishes is a risk that will have consequences, but is it right for her child to inherit his name from generations of domineering men? The choice she makes in this moment will shape the course of their lives.
Seven years later, her son is Bear, a name chosen by his sister, and one that will prove as cataclysmic as the storm from which it emerged. Or he is Julian, the name his mother set her heart on, believing it will enable him to become his own person. Or he is Gordon, named after his father and raised in his cruel image – but is there still a chance to break the mould?
Powerfully moving and full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark. It is the story of one family, and love’s endless capacity to endure, no matter what fate has in store.
CHOSEN AS A SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY MAIL, RED, PRIMA, STYLIST and EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF 2025 | A READ WITH JENNA BOOKCLUB PICK
‘The viral literary hit of the summer’
Grazia‘A beautiful, heartwrenching, utterly original novel’
Miranda Cowley Heller‘The 2025 book that will be everywhere . . . One of those rare books that makes you glad to be alive’
Stylist‘Magnificent . . . Read it. It’s very special’
Chris Whitaker‘Beautifully written, and wise and tender . . . An utter original’
Jojo Moyes‘Exceptional . . . will stay with me for a very long time’
Anita Rani, Woman’s Hour‘Heart-shattering . . . a sucker punch of a novel’
Pandora Sykes‘A modern classic’
Jenna Bush Hager‘Heartbreaking and yet brimful of hope . . . Exceptional’
Mail on Sunday‘Brilliant . . . one of those books that will make you irritable with anyone who interrupts you, but which you’ll finish wanting to press into the hands of a friend’
The Times‘Astonishing, unique and incredibly moving, The Names is a beautiful novel about the courage of a mother in the moment she names her child . . . I know it will stay with me for a long time’
Jeanine CumminsRead more
From £10.89 -
Flesh: WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025
**WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025**
‘A masterpiece, told with virtuosic economy… Pure brilliance from the first to the (devastating) last sentence’ India Knight
‘Brilliance on every page’ Samantha Harvey
‘Spare, visceral, urgent, compelling. This book doesn’t f**k around’ Gary Stevenson
‘So brilliant and wise on chance, love, sex, money’ David NichollsThrough chance, luck and choice, one man’s life takes him from a modest apartment in Hungary to the elite society of London – in this captivating new novel about the forces that make and break our lives
Fifteen-year-old István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. New to the town and shy, he is unfamiliar with the social rituals at school and soon becomes isolated, with his neighbour – a married woman close to his mother’s age – as his only companion. As these encounters shift into a clandestine relationship, István’s life spirals out of control.
Years later, rising through the ranks from the army to the elite circles of London’s super-rich, he navigates the twenty-first century’s tides of money and power. Torn between love, intimacy, status, and wealth, his newfound riches threaten to undo him completely.
‘How do I get out of a reading slump? This is the book to do that’ Rhianna Dhillon, BBC Radio 4
‘A revelatory novel’ Sunday Times
‘So much searing insight into the way we live now’ Observer
‘Refreshing, illuminating and true’ Financial Times
‘Compelling and elegant, merciless and poignant’ Tessa Hadley
‘One of the year’s best novels to date’ Daily Mail
‘Utterly engrossing and I read it all in a day’ 5* reader review
‘I was hooked and tried to read this book with any spare moment that I had’ 5* reader review
A ‘Best Book of 2025’ in the Guardian, Observer, Financial Times, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail
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From £9.49£18.99Flesh: WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025
From £9.49£18.99
