Describes a comic expedition by middle-class Victorians up the Thames to Oxford.

THE NEW YORK TIMES #1 BESTSELLER OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK 'One of the best books I have ever read in my entire life. I haven't felt this way since I first read Beloved . . .' Oprah Winfrey The unmissable debut novel by the critically acclaimed author of Between the World and Me and We Were Eight Years in Power - a richly imagined and compulsively page-turning journey to freedom Hiram Walker is born into bondage on a Virginia plantation. But he is also born gifted with a mysterious power that he won't discover until he is almost a man, when he risks everything for a chance to escape. One fateful decision will carry him away from his makeshift plantation family - his adoptive mother, Thena, a woman of few words and many secrets, and his beloved, angry Sophia - and into the covert heart of the underground war on slavery. Hidden amidst the corrupt grandeur of white plantation society, exiled as guerrilla cells in the wilderness, buried in the coffin of the deep South and agitating for utopian ideals in the North, there exists a widespread network of secret agents working to liberate the enslaved. Hiram joins their ranks and learns fast but in his heart he yearns to return to his own still-enslaved family, to topple the plantation that was his first home. But to do so, he must first master his unique power and reclaim the story of his greatest loss. Propulsive, transcendent and blazing with truth, The Water Dancer is a story of oppression and resistance, separation and homecoming. Ta-Nehisi Coates imagines the covert war of an enslaved people in response to a generations-long human atrocity - a war for the right to life, to kin, to freedom. 'I was enthralled, I was devastated. I felt hope, I felt gratitude, I felt joy... [Ta-Nehisi Coates] is a magnificent writer' Oprah Winfrey

Photographs and stories of 500 women from around the world, based on the author's hugely popular website. Since 2013 Mihaela Noroc has travelled the world with her backpack and camera taking photos of everyday women to showcase the diversity and beauty all around us. The Atlas of Beauty is a collection of her photographs that celebrates women from fifty countries across the globe and shows that beauty is everywhere, regardless of money, race or social status, and comes in many different sizes and colours. Mihaela's portraits feature women in their native environments, from the Amazon rain forest to markets in India, London city streets and parks in Harlem, creating a mirror of our varied cultures and proving that beauty has no rules. 'Stunning . . . aims to challenge the ideals of beauty dictated by the women's fashion magazine industry' Independent 'A startling and revealing project' Daily Mail 'Scrolling through "The Atlas of Beauty", beauty becomes not a universal standard, but a complicated tapestry' Huffington Post

Discover the #1 BESTSELLING novel behind the EMMY- and GOLDEN GLOBE-WINNING HBO TV series. And get ready for the highly-anticipated second series of Big Little Lies by reading the first book . . . ----------------------------- Perfect families, perfect houses, perfect lives. Three mothers, Jane, Madeline and Celeste appear to have it all . . . but do they? They are about to find out just how easy it is for one little lie to spiral out of control. ----------------------------- Single mum Jane has just moved to town. She's got her little boy in tow - plus a secret she's been carrying for five years. On the first day of the school run she meets Madeline - a force to be reckoned with, who remembers everything and forgives no one - and Celeste, the kind beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare, but is inexplicably ill at ease. They both take Jane under their wing - while careful to keep their own secrets under wraps. But a minor incident involving the children of all three women rapidly escalates: playground whispers become spiteful rumours until no one can tell the truth from the lies. It was always going to end in tears, but how did it end in murder? -------------------------- 'Blame and guilt, forgiveness and retribution, love and betrayal. A tense, page-turning story . . . a great read' Mail on Sunday 'Blending romance, comedy and mystery, this is a wonderful book - full of brains, guts and heart' Sunday Mirror 'A hell of a good book. Funny and scary' Stephen King 'Brilliant, standout, superbly clever. Moriarty writes vividly, wittily and wickedly' Sunday Express

An extraordinary new novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Number One New York Times bestselling author of Olive Kitteridge and My Name is Lucy Barton 'A superbly gifted storyteller and a craftswoman in a league of her own' Hilary Mantel Olive, Again follows the blunt, contradictory yet deeply loveable Olive Kitteridge as she grows older, navigating the second half of her life as she comes to terms with the changes - sometimes welcome, sometimes not - in her own existence and in those around her. Olive adjusts to her new life with her second husband, challenges her estranged son and his family to accept him, experiences loss and loneliness, witnesses the triumphs and heartbreaks of her friends and neighbours in the small coastal town of Crosby, Maine - and, finally, opens herself to new lessons about life. 'A powerful storyteller immersed in the nuances of human relationships' Observer 'She gets better with each book' Maggie O'Farrell 'One of America's finest writers' Sunday Times

Searching through a little-used cupboard at home, Glyn Peters chances upon a photograph he has never seen before. It shows his wife holding hands with another man. As Glyn begins to search for answers, he, and those around him, find the certainties of the past and present slip away.

As drifters in search of work, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie have nothing in the world except each other - and a dream that they will one day have some land of their own. Eventually, they find work on a ranch, but their hopes are doomed as Lennie becomes a victim of his own strength.

Sometimes you get a second chance . . . Carl M?rck used to be a good homicide detective. One of Copenhagen's best, in fact. Then a bullet almost took his life. Two of his colleagues weren't so lucky, and Carl, because he didn't draw his gun, blames himself. Now his erratic behaviour is going to cost him his job. It's just a matter of time. So promotion is the last thing he expects. Newly created Department Q deals with 'cases of special focus'. His former colleagues think it's a joke - a home for hopeless cases. Carl, leading it, will fit right in. Except that his first case is that of missing politician Merete Lynggaard. She vanished five years ago. Everyone assumes she's dead. Everyone assumes it's a waste of time. Everyone, that is, except Carl. Because Merete isn't dead - at least not yet.

Young and athletic, London cycle courier Astrid Bell is bad luck - for other people. For Astrid and her six housemates it's the beginning of a nightmare: suspicious glances, bitter accusations, fallings out and a growing fear that the worst is yet to come. Because if it's true that bad luck comes in threes - who will be the next to die?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE 2022br>br>SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2021br>br>SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG FICTION AWARD 2021br>br>''Diamond-sharp, timely and urgent'' Observer, Best Debuts of 2021br>br>''Subtle, elegant, scorching'' Voguebr>br>''Virtuosic, exquisite, achingly unique'' Guardianbr>br>''I''m full of the hope, on reading it, that this is the kind of book that doesn''t just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible'' Ali Smithbr>br>''Exquisite, daring, utterly captivating. A stunning new writer'' Bernardine Evaristobr>br>Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Step out into a world of Go Home vans. Go to Oxbridge, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy a flat. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going.br>br>The narrator of Assembly is a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend''s family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can''t escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?br>br>Assembly is a story about the stories we live within - those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers. And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life.br>br>''One of the most talked-about debuts of the year . . . You''ll read it in one sitting'' Sunday Times Stylebr>br>''Expertly crafted, remarkable, astonishing... A literary debut with flavours of Jordan Peele''s Get Out'' Bookseller, Editor''s Choicebr>br>''Virginia Woolf''s Mrs. Dalloway meets Citizen by Claudia Rankine... As breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true'' Olivia Sudjicbr>br>''Bold and original, with a cool intelligence, and so very truthful about the colonialist structure of British society'' Diana Evansbr>br>''This marvel of a novel manages to say all there is to say about Britain today'' Sabrina Mahfouz>

A stunning, shattering debut novel about two Black British artists falling in and out of love - available for pre-order nowbr>br>''A love song to black art and thought, an exploration of intimacy and vulnerability between two young artists learning to be soft with each other in a world that hardens against black people.'' Yaa Gyasi, bestselling author of HOMEGOING br>br>Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists - he a photographer, she a dancer - trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.br>br>At once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety in love, only to lose it. With gorgeous, soulful intensity, Caleb Azumah Nelson has written the most essential debut of recent years.br>br>''An amazing debut novel. You should read this book. Let''s hear it for Caleb Azumah Nelson, also known as the future'' Benjamin Zephaniahbr>br>''A beautiful and powerful novel about the true and sometimes painful depths of love'' Candice Carty-Williams, Sunday Times bestselling author of QUEENIE br>br>''Caleb is a star in the making.'' Nikesh Shukla, editor of THE GOOD IMMIGRANTbr>br>''A stunning piece of art'' Bolu Babalola, Sunday Times bestselling author of LOVE IN COLOUR>

Discover the late Ursula Le Guin's passionate and enthralling story of a young boy sent to a school of wizardry to learn the ways of magic in the opening quartet of the Earthsea story. 'One of the literary greats' Margaret Atwood 'The deepest and smartest of writers. Her words are always with us. Some of them are written on my soul' Neil Gaiman A Wizard of Earthsea * The Tombs of Atuan * The Farthest Shore * Tehanu Ged is but a goatherd on the island of Gont when he comes by his strange powers over nature. Sent to the School of Wizards on Roke, he learns the true way of magic and proves himself a powerful magician. And it is as the Archmage Sparrowhawk that he helps the High Priestess Tenar escape the labyrinth of darkness. But over the years, Ged witnesses true magic and the ancient ways submit to the forces of evil and death. Will he too succumb, or can he hold them back? 'Superb. One of literature's best-written fantasy worlds. I adored A Wizard of Earthsea, which I read and reread until my ratty old paperback copy required emergency surgery. Le Guin's words are magical. Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it' David Mitchell 'One of the greats. A literary icon' Stephen King 'A colossus of literature, a trailblazer' China Mieville Previously titled The Earthsea Quartet.

FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER '[Mr Loverman is] Brokeback Mountain with ackee and saltfish and old people' Dawn French WINNER OF THE JERWOOD FICTION UNCOVERED PRIZE 2014 and FERRO GRUMLEY AWARD FOR LGBT FICTION 2015 Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he's lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather - but he is also secretly homosexual, lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris. His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manage to break away? Mr Loverman is a ground-breaking exploration of Britain's older Caribbean community, which explodes cultural myths and fallacies and shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves. Praise for Bernardine Evaristo: 'One of Britain's most innovative authors . . . Bernardine Evaristo always dares to be different' New Nation 'Evaristo remains an undeniably bold and energetic writer, whose world view is anything but one-dimensional' Sunday Times 'Audacious genre-bending, in-yer-face wit and masterly retellings of underwritten corners of history are the hallmarks of Evaristo's work' New Statesman

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

The beloved, award-winning novel is now a major motion picture starring 13 Reasons Why's Katherine Langford and Everything, Everything's Nick Robinson. ---------- Straight people should have to come out too. And the more awkward it is, the better. Simon Spier is sixteen and trying to work out who he is - and what he's looking for. But when one of his emails to the very distracting Blue falls into the wrong hands, things get all kinds of complicated. Because, for Simon, falling for Blue is a big deal ... It's a holy freaking huge awesome deal. ---------- Praise for Love, Simon: 'Worthy of Fault in Our Stars-level obsession.' Entertainment Weekly 'I love you, SIMON. I LOVE YOU! And I love this fresh, funny, live-out-loud book." Jennifer Niven, bestselling author of All the Bright Places

Offers a traveller's account of a newly-discovered island (Utopia) where the inhabitants enjoy a social order based on natural reason and justice, and human fulfillment is open to all.

Winston Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities.

Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Wellington leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard. But as time passes, the ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten.

Danny is a paisano, descended from the Spanish settlers who arrived in California centuries before. Danny is quick to offer shelter to his fellow gentlemen when he suddenly inherits two houses. They are drawn into many daring adventures, until Danny, tiring of his new responsibilites, disappears.

California''s fertile Salinas Valley is home to two families whose destinies are fruitfully, and fatally, intertwined. Over the generations, between the beginning of the twentieth century and the end of the First World War, the Trasks and the Hamiltons will helplessly replay the fall of Adam and Eve and the murderous rivalry of Cain and Abel.br>br>East of Eden was considered by Steinbeck to be his magnum opus, and its epic scope and memorable characters, exploring universal themes of love and identity, ensure it remains one of America''s most enduring novels. This edition features a stunning new cover by renowned artist Bijou Karman.>

Content with her life and not interested in marriage, Emma Woodhouse, a rich and beautiful heiress, causes complications with her matchmaking schemes.

What if Fate were out to get you? The day David Case saves his brother's life, his whole world changes. He must hide, become an entirely new person to escape Fate... if he can. This comic novel is for teenage readers.

When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a new life of freedom. But as a ruthless group of pigs takes control, they discover that they are hopelessly ensnared once more.

This 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 impefect ones. And, ultimately, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.