August Literary Fiction

The limits of fifteen-year-old Kambili’s world are defined by the high walls of her family estate and the dictates of her fanatically religious father. Her life is regulated by schedules: prayer, sleep, study, prayer. When Nigeria is shaken by a military coup, Kambili’s father, involved mysteriously in the political crisis, sends her to live with her aunt. In this house, noisy and full of laughter, she discovers life and love – and a terrible, bruising secret deep within her family. This extraordinary debut novel from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, is about the blurred lines between the old gods and the new, childhood and adulthood, love and hatred – the grey spaces in which truths are revealed and real life is lived.

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Selected for Granta's Best of Young American Novelists 2017. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Best First Book Shortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel - the intimate, gripping story of a brilliantly vivid cast of characters and through their lives the very story of America itself. Epic in its canvas and intimate in its portraits, Homegoing is a searing and profound debut from a masterly new writer.

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'I'm not exaggerating when I say this novel challenged everything I thought I knew about love and friendship. It's one of those books that stays with you forever.' - Dua LipaThe million-copy bestseller, Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life, by the author of To Paradise and The People in the Trees, is an immensely powerful and heartbreaking novel of brotherly love and the limits of human endurance.Winner of Fiction of the Year at the British Book AwardsShortlisted for the Booker PrizeShortlisted for the Women's PrizeFinalist for the US National Book Award for FictionWhen four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome – but that will define his life forever.'Yanagihara takes you so deeply into the lives and minds of these characters that you struggle to leave them behind.' – The Times

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Discover the haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic tale of female friendship and intimacy set in a deserted world.Deep underground, thirty-nine women are kept in isolation in a cage. Above ground, a world awaits. Has it been abandoned? Devastated by a virus? Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before. But, as the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground. The woman who will never know men. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, MAN BOOKER PRIZE-LONGLISTED AUTHOR OF THE WATER CURE

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'A modern classic.' Guardian'A near-perfect work of art.' Joyce Carol OatesSylvia Plath is a major cultural icon who continues to inspire new generations of female readers. The Bell Jar is one of the defining novels of the 20th century.I was supposed to be having the time of my life . . . Working as an intern for a New York fashion magazine in the summer of 1953, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. Esther's vision of the world shimmers and shifts: day-to-day living in the sultry city, her crazed men-friends, the hot dinner dances . . . The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, is partially based on Plath's own life. It has been celebrated for its darkly funny and razor sharp portrait of 1950s society, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD''As clear and readable as it is witty and disturbing.' New York Times Book ReviewReader responses:'Very readable, often darkly funny, and feels fresh.' 'Plath's masterpiece . . . It's amazing how relevant this book still is.' 'So enthralling . . . So thought provoking, so vivid, that it's thoroughly engrossing.' 'I just couldn't put it down.' 'Ever better than I expected.''Plath's underrated humour shines through this startling account of 1950s 'normality'.'

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** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER ** **A BBC BETWEEN THE COVERS BIG JUBILEE READ** Discover the cultural phenomenon behind the award-winning TV series that feels all the more powerful and prescient in a post-Roe vs. Wade world. 'As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it' Guardian I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light. Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford - her assigned name, Offred, means 'of Fred'. She has only one function: to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world, she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day, and between two men upon which her future hangs. Masterfully conceived and executed, this haunting vision of the future places Margaret Atwood at the forefront of dystopian fiction. 'A fantastic, chilling story. And so powerfully feminist', Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other.

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"For someone damned to be forgettable, Addie LaRue is a most delightfully unforgettable character, and her story is the most joyous evocation of unlikely immortality." -Neil GaimanA Sunday Times-bestselling, award-nominated genre-defying tour-de-force of Faustian bargains, for fans of The Time Traveler's Wife and Life After Life, and The Sudden Appearance of Hope.When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she is convinced she's found a loophole-immortality in exchange for her soul. But the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone. Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world, learning to live a life where no one remembers her and everything she owns is lost and broken. Existing only as a muse for artists throughout history, she learns to fall in love anew every single day.Her only companion on this journey is her dark devil with hypnotic green eyes, who visits her each year on the anniversary of their deal. Alone in the world, Addie has no choice but to confront him, to understand him, maybe to beat him.Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. Suddenly thrust back into a real, normal life, Addie realises she can't escape her fate forever.

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'Unforgettable' New York Times 'Impressive' Observer 'Remarkable' Independent 'Important' Guardian 'Captivating' Mirror 'Luminous' Daily Mail 'Sparkling' Harper's Bazaar 'Beautiful' HeraldTHE NEW YORK TIMES AND TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLERSHORTLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE FOR FICTIONRECOMMENDED BY MALALA YOUSAFZAI, ELIZABETH DAY, ANDI OLIVER AND DOLLY PARTONI don't just want to be having any kind voice . . .I want a louding voice.At fourteen, Adunni dreams of getting an education and giving her family a more comfortable home in her small Nigerian village. Instead, Adunni's father sells her off to become the third wife of an old man. When tragedy strikes in her new home, Adunni flees to the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where she becomes a house-girl to the cruel Big Madam, and prey to Big Madam's husband. But despite her situation continuously going from bad to worse, Adunni refuses to let herself be silenced. And one day, someone hears her.'A story of courage that will win over your heart' Stylist'Daré's characters leap off the page, powering this funny, luminous and heart-swelling tale' Daily Mail'Such a vibrant, tender, beautiful novel... [I] fell in love with her, and fell in love with the book.' Elizabeth Day'Adunni . . . is an ambassador for girls everywhere. She is important, funny, brave, and enduring. Abi Daré has written an unforgettable novel, by the strength of her own louding voice.' Jeanine Cummins

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THE BOOK EVERYONE LOVES:'I loved this book' JOJO MOYES'One of the best books I've ever read' JOHN GREEN'The book that everyone should read' PANDORA SYKES, Stylist Live'One of the few I really like a lot this year' JAMES PATTERSONThis is the story of Sam and Sadie. It's not a romance, but it is about love.When Sam catches sight of Sadie at a crowded train station one winter morning he is catapulted back to the brief time they spent playing together as children. Their unique spark is instantly reignited.What comes next is a story of friendship and rivalry, fame and creativity, betrayal and tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, ultimately, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.* GoodReads Winner for Best Fiction * #1 Amazon.com Book of the Year * #1 TIME magazine Novel of the Year * APPLE Book of the Year * 'A must-read' NEIL DRUCKMANN, creator of The Last of Us *

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In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames. When his brilliant memory earns him a spot as an apprentice at a printing press, the world opens up far beyond the slums and across the seas.   In 2014 in Turkey, Narin, a Yazidi girl living by the River Tigris, waits to be baptized. The ceremony is cruelly interrupted, and soon she and her grandmother must journey across war-torn lands in the hope of reaching the sacred valley of their people.   In 2018 in London, broken-hearted Zaleekhah, a hydrologist, moves to a houseboat on the Thames to escape the wreckage of her marriage – until an unexpected connection to her homeland changes everything.   A dazzling feat of storytelling from one of the greatest writers of our time, one that spans centuries and continents, this is the story of one lost poem, two great rivers and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water.

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**NOW INCLUDING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF DEMON COPPERHEAD: THE NEW BARBARA KINGSOLVER NOVEL****DEMON COPPERHEAD IS AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER**An international bestseller and a modern classic, this suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and their remarkable reconstruction has been read, adored and shared by millions around the world.'Breathtaking.' Sunday Times'Exquisite.' The Times'Beautiful.' Independent'Powerful.' New York TimesThis story is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959.They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil.What readers are saying***** 'This remains one of the most fascinating books I have ever read.'***** 'I felt every emotion under the sky with this book.'***** 'Riveting.'***** 'This novel left a lasting - YEARS LASTING - impression.'***** 'This is one of those books that stands the test of time and is worth rereading.'***** 'Five epic, no-wonder-this-book-is-so-well-loved stars!'

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Rediscover the extraordinary love story that inspired the major new Sky TV series.Clare and Henry met when Clare was just six and Henry thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. Impossible but true.The Time Traveler's Wife is the international bestselling novel of a time-altering love. Henry is a librarian who suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets, finding himself pulled suddenly into his past or future. Meanwhile, Clare is an artist waiting all her life for her great love Henry to appear. In the face of this force neither can prevent nor control, Henry and Clare's struggle to lead normal lives is both intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.'Dark, unpredictable, incredibly clever and a modern romance' Grazia

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