CONTEMPORARY FICTION

Beginning one morning in December, WE DO NOT PART traces the path of a young woman, Kyungha, as she travels from the city of Seoul into the forests of Jeju Island, to the home of her old friend Inseon. Hospitalised following an accident, Inseon has begged Kyungha to hasten there to feed her beloved pet bird, who will otherwise die.

Kyungha takes the first plane to Jeju, but a snowstorm hits the island the moment she arrives, plunging her into a world of white. Beset by icy wind and snow squalls, she wonders if she will arrive in time to save the bird – or even survive the terrible cold which envelops her with every step. As night falls, she struggles her way to Inseon’s house, unaware as yet of the descent into darkness which awaits her.

The incredible first memoir from the Booker-winning radical icon Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things

I never anticipated Charlie Florek. But Charlie Florek changed my life.

Good things happen at the lake. That's what Alice's Nan always says. And it's true. It's where Alice took that photo, the one that catapulted her career.


But when Nan falls, Alice puts down her camera and heads back to Barry’s Bay. No camera. No deadlines. Quiet… until he shows up.

Charlie Florek. He was nineteen when she accidentally photographed him. Now he’s back - taller, hotter, and somehow even more unforgettable.

Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver . . .

There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.

Bo is determined to live his own life in his own way. But his son has other ideas...

Bo lives a quiet existence in his small rural village in the north of Sweden. He is elderly and his days are punctuated by visits from his care team and his son.

This is a volcanic journey into the soul of a winged red monster named Geryon. It is queer coming-of-age love story, a Greek myth retold, and a modern classic.


Tormented as a boy by his brother, Geryon escapes to a parallel world of photography. He falls deeply in love with Herakles, a golden young man, who deserts him at the peak of infatuation. So Geryon retreats ever further into the world created by his camera, fascinated by his wings, his redness and the fantastic accident of who he is. But all is suddenly and irrevocably shattered by Herakles’ return.

A song without any answer in it?
That's the sound of waiting.
Livia Bohusz misses her brother, Cyrus.
Unmoored by his death, and the stifling silence of the family farm, eleven-year-old Livia has no choice but to survive.
Her only solace: music, an escape in the quiet rapture piano practice brings.
The promise of a new life her talent offers, intoxicating.
So when Livia starts her college music scholarship it feels as if a new life might begin. Immersing herself in her passions in a world where she excels, even as she struggles to fit in with more urbane classmates, she glimpses the possibilities of a life beyond the farm and her parents.

Min Jin Lee, the acclaimed author of Pachinko, returns with a breathtaking contemporary epic that follows one family as they reckon with personal dreams and familial duty.

John and Helen Koh and their three children – Bo, DH and Mido – are building new lives in Korea when they find their worlds upended, first by a terrible betrayal and then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Striving to regain their footing, the Kohs set out to do whatever it takes to provide for their children’s futures.
They leave Seoul for Sydney and eventually settle in California, where new opportunities open for the Koh children, as the parents, strangers in a strange land, adjust to a difficult existence in which their qualifications mean little. Their way forward is lit by the faith that education will lead the next generation to the success and security that have eluded their parents.

At New England boys boarding school Welton Academy, tradition is celebrated and high achievement is expected. When former Welton student and new English teacher John Keating encourages students to "make their lives extraordinary" with his unorthodox teaching methods, he shakes up the stuffy preperatory school's high-pressure environment and guides his pupils on a journey of self-discovery.


Inspired by Keating, high school junior Todd Anderson and friends resurrect the Dead Poets Society—a secret club where, free from the constraints and expectations of school and parents, they let their passions run wild. But the Dead Poets pledges soon realize that their newfound freedom can have tragic consequences. Can the club and the individuality it inspires survive the pressure from authorities determined to destroy their dreams?

Sweet and gentle, calm and collected, nervous and inexperienced, Tobias Mitchell was death cloaked in the form of a handsome man. But, instead of running the other way, she fell for him.


Aria Miller is a scientist researching rare genetic diseases when her world is tilted off its axis, and she collides with Tobias. When she takes him on as her assistant, he becomes infatuated with her in ways he can't comprehend.


When reality hits and Aria is forced to leave the country, Tobias is faced with the thought of losing the object of his desire. His mask slips, showing her his true self for the first time.

Aria is his, and he'll do anything to make sure she stays that way.

It all began with just one line. . .
The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary and contained a single sentence:
I’ll wait forever if I have to.

It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.

Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?

A love story and a tale of life-enhancing friendship: Pulitzer Prize winner Andrew Sean Greer showcases his wit, sophistication and deep knowledge of focaccia in this magical tale set amidst the Tuscan hills.


Broke and directionless, our young man takes a job in the Italian countryside as the all-purpose assistant to Lisabetta, known to her friends as Coco - a strong-willed, wealthy widow of great local renown.


Trained as an archivist, he thinks he's been hired to catalogue the contents of the beautiful, crumbling mansion nestled in the green Tuscan hills... but what are his actual duties?
Days are spent ridding the house of a marten - whatever that is - locating the antediluvian septic system, entertaining an endless carousel of guests (from bohemian painters to elderly princesses to unnervingly handsome nephews), attending a funeral in order to make off with the urn, and not inadvertently sabotaging Coco's great and final plan-to locate the lost love of her life and be reunited before it's too late.


As summer turns into autumn and the Italian countryside begins to work its magic on our protagonist, the secrets of Villa Coco and its inhabitants are slowly brought to light - and with them, an unforgettable story of the enduring power of friendship.

The princess isn’t supposed to dethrone the king.

Elsa
He told me he’d destroy me - and he did.
I might have lost the battle, but the war is far from over.
They say it takes just one move to dethrone a king.
No one warned me he’d drag me down with him on the way.

Aiden
If Steel’s little princess wants a war, then she’ll get one.
There’s only one rule: follow mine - or none at all.
So go ahead, sweetheart.
Show me what you’ve got.

The London winter of 1947 is as cold as St Petersburg during the Revolution. Albertine, the wife of a British army officer often abroad on covert government business, finds herself increasingly lonely.

Eager to distract herself with work, she takes a job as companion to the mysterious 'Monsieur Ka', a Russian emigre. As she is drawn into Ka's dramatic past, her own life is shaken to its foundations.

As a girl, Clara del Valle can read fortunes, make objects move as if they had lives of their own, and predict the future. Following the mysterious death of her sister, Rosa the Beautiful, Clara is mute for nine years. When she breaks her silence, it is to announce that she will be married soon to the stern and volatile landowner Esteban Trueba.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck is a sweeping novel that intertwines the lives of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, over multiple generations in California's Salinas Valley. The story explores complex themes of good and evil, free will, and the struggle for identity and redemption.

The narrative primarily follows the Trask family, beginning with Adam Trask, who moves to California after a tumultuous relationship with his half-brother, Charles. Adam marries the enigmatic and morally corrupt Cathy Ames, who later abandons him and their twin sons, Caleb ("Cal") and Aron. Cathy becomes a brothel owner, embodying the novel's exploration of inherent evil.

The Hamilton family, particularly Samuel Hamilton and his daughter, Liza, provide a counterpoint with their integrity and moral strength. Samuel becomes a close friend to Adam Trask, helping him through his struggles.

As the story progresses, the focus shifts to the next generation, particularly the contrasting paths of Cal and Aron. Cal, feeling overshadowed by his idealized brother Aron, grapples with feelings of guilt and a desire for his father's approval. The novel culminates in Cal's ultimate struggle with his own nature and the choices he makes, echoing the biblical story of Cain and Abel.

What’s worse than a big little lie? An even bigger little truth...

It has been a decade since the ill-fated quiz night at Pirriwee High. A man died. Accusations of murder were rife. For mothers and best friends Madeline, Celeste and Jane, the fall out still feels like it happened yesterday. Never mind that their kids have grown into grouchy teenagers with too many hormones. Or that, as their frazzled mothers, they don’t have enough.

Because life always has its challenges, big and small.

Narrated by Kathy, now 31, Never Let Me Go hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world.

A story of love, friendship and memory, Never Let Me Go is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships - but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor - and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.

It is 18th century Saint Domingue, and Tété never knew her parents. All she knows is that her mother was a slave, and that her white father’s identity will forever remain a mystery.

As a child she is sold to the plantation-owner Toulouse Valmorain, and finds herself subjected to his unwanted attentions. Still, in spite of everything, she finds community and comfort among the other slaves. And as a revolution gains momentum and opportunities surface, she can’t help but wonder: will freedom, one day, be in reach?

In colonial Chile, 1832, the infant Eliza is found on the doorstep of the British Import and Export Company. Adopted by the maternal Miss Rose, she is raised dutifully, with Victorian piety and propriety. But as a young woman, Eliza falls in love with the wildly inappropriate Joaquín Andieta – and when he leaves for the gold-laden hills of California, she can’t help but follow.

Yeongdo, Korea 1911. In a small fishing village on the banks of the East Sea, a club-footed, cleft-lipped man marries a fifteen-year-old girl. The couple have one child, their beloved daughter Sunja. When Sunja falls pregnant by a married yakuza, the family face ruin. But then Isak, a Christian minister, offers her a chance of salvation: a new life in Japan as his wife.

Following a man she barely knows to a hostile country in which she has no friends, no home, and whose language she cannot speak, Sunja's salvation is just the beginning of her story.

From the bestselling author of the Dream Harbor series, comes a new small-town romance set in the quirky town of Maple Hollow.

The darker the woods, the bigger the secrets…

Ruby Bellerose lives on the edge of the woods, in a cottage more akin to a fairy tale than modern day life. Her love life is practically non-existent, and she keeps away from the whispered gossip that travels through Maple Hollow.

Until a chance encounter with Rafe.

As mysterious as he is brooding, Ruby is drawn to the woodsman, curious to find out about the stranger who lives deep within the woods.

Deluxe limited edition, sprayed edges.

For Lily, mastering Chinese means connection:

To her family

Her heritage

To herself

But what if waiting for perfection means it's too late to get the answers she wants most?
Yale student Lily Chen arrives in Taipei hungry: for family, for culture, for connection.
But her summer of discovery quickly unravels. Her classes are grueling, her roommate unbearable, and a reckless, deeply awkward trip to the hot springs with a guy she barely knows soon ignites vicious gossip.
Then her grandfather dies.
Grieving and adrift, Lily must confront her own questions about the culture she inherited but never fully understood. She embarks on a wryly funny, often devastating search for understanding: of herself, her family, and the meaning of home.

For Lily, mastering Chinese means connection:

To her family

Her heritage

To herself

But what if waiting for perfection means it's too late to get the answers she wants most?
Yale student Lily Chen arrives in Taipei hungry: for family, for culture, for connection.
But her summer of discovery quickly unravels. Her classes are grueling, her roommate unbearable, and a reckless, deeply awkward trip to the hot springs with a guy she barely knows soon ignites vicious gossip.
Then her grandfather dies.
Grieving and adrift, Lily must confront her own questions about the culture she inherited but never fully understood. She embarks on a wryly funny, often devastating search for understanding: of herself, her family, and the meaning of home.

More pleasure, more kink, more partners, more zest - this is desire turned all the way up.

If Want sparked the fire of a quiet revolution, More gives women the fuel to let it roar.
In this electrifying sequel to the landmark bestseller, Gillian Anderson invites us to leave shame and fear at the door as she dials up the heat on women's sexual fantasies and dares us to want more.

Set across Istanbul and Oxford, from the 1980s to the present day, Three Daughters of Eve is a sweeping tale of faith and friendship, tradition and modernity, love and unexpected, bitter betrayal.

Peri, a wealthy Turkish housewife and mother, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground - an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor. A relic from a past - and a love Peri had tried desperately to forget.

Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2026

Every morning, Sybil Van Antwerp sits down to write letters – to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to attend a class she desperately wants to take, to her favourite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.


Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her correspondence – witty and wise – to make sense of the world. But beyond the page, she has spent the last thirty years keeping the people who love her at arms’ length... until letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life.

THE ROAD - but with hope.


Hig, bereaved and traumatised after global disaster, has three things to live for - his dog Jasper, his aggressive but helpful neighbour, and his Cessna aeroplane.
He's just about surviving, so long as he only takes his beloved plane for short journeys, and saves his remaining fuel.

But, just once, he picks up a message from another pilot, and eventually the temptation to find out who else is still alive becomes irresistible. So he takes his plane over the horizon, knowing that he won't have enough fuel to get back.
What follows is scarier and more life-affirming than he could have imagined.

After a string of nightmare relationships, Emily's had it with modern-day men. She'd rather pour herself a glass of wine and curl up with Pride and Prejudice and her beloved Mr Darcy. So what if he’s a fictional hero?

Faced with spending New Year’s at yet another singles party, she books herself on a coach tour of Jane Austen country, but quickly realises she won't find her dream man here - just a coach full of pensioners and one particularly aggravating (if handsome) journalist, Spike.

That's until she enters a room and finds herself face-to-face with none other than Darcy himself. The actual, real Mr Darcy. From the book. And, suddenly, every woman's fantasy becomes one woman's reality . . .