1960. The border between East and West Germany has closed.For Elisabeth - a young painter - the GDR is her generation's chance to build an egalitarian socialist future. For her brother Uli, it is a place of stricture and oppression. Separating them is the ever-wider chasm of the party line; over them loom the twin spectres of opportunity and fear, and the shadow of their defector brother Konrad. In prose as bold as a scarlet paint stroke, Brigitte Reimann battles with the cla...
'When you’re living a lie, you find it’s best to avoid close attachments…’Lynch, a burned out con-artist, arrives, broke, in London, trying not to dwell on the mistakes that got him there. When he bumps into Bobbie, a rehab-bound heiress - and when she briefly mistakes him for her missing brother - Lynch senses the opportunity, as well as the danger…Bobbie’s brother, Heydon, was a troubled young man. Five years ago, he walked out of the family home and never went back. His ca...
After ten blood-filled years, the war is over. Troy lies in smoking ruins as the victorious Greeks fill their ships with the spoils of battle.Alongside the treasures looted are the many Trojan women captured by the Greeks – among them the legendary prophetess Cassandra, and her watchful maid, Ritsa. Enslaved as concubine – war-wife – to King Agamemnon, Cassandra is plagued by visions of his death – and her own – while Ritsa is forced to bear witness to both Cassandra’s frenzi...
Sometimes the truth lies in the things you cannot see.In 1830 a young novice called Catherine Labouré was granted a vision of the Virgin Mary. Nearly 200 years later, Sister Anne is also waiting for a sign. Which is why she accepts a mission to go to a tiny community on an island just off the coast of Brittany. Her only companion there is a sceptical, chain-smoking older nun who just wants to be left in peace.On the island she meets Hugo, the son of a devout family who prefer...
Arthur Miller's classic parable of mass hysteria draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch-hunt of 1692 - 'one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history' - and the McCarthyism which gripped America in the 1950s. The story of how the small community of Salem is stirred into madness by superstition, paranoia and malice, culminating in a violent climax, is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations....
Ralph Ellison's blistering and impassioned first novel tells the extraordinary story of a man invisible 'simply because people refuse to see me'. Published in 1952 when American society was in the cusp of immense change, the powerfully depicted adventures of Ellison's invisible man - from his expulsion from a Southern college to a terrifying Harlem race riot - go far beyond the story of one individual. As John Callahan says, 'In an extraordinary imaginative leap, he hit upon ...
In a world where birth order determines your fate, what if everything you believed about yourself was a lie?Like all second-born daughters of the realm, Cerise Solon has never ventured beyond the temple grounds where she lives in service to the goddess. But unlike her peers, Cerise is a complete failure as an oracle. Her inability to foretell a single tragedy has brought shame upon her family, something she sees reflected in their eyes during their rare visits. Everything cha...
Portia Daniels’ life is sorted. She has a perfect man (Jason, a hot Irish TV producer) a perfect apartment (in lower Manhattan), a perfect job (writing for TV). Best of all, unlike the rest of her family, she lives in perfect peace and obscurity.Because it’s all about the drama for her mother – Kerry-born reality TV queen, Dessie – and sisters – Insta-guru, Vinnie, and TikTok teen sensation, Ariel.But then Jason blows up their idyllic life, and Portia flees to LA to take refu...
With a foreword by Lauren Asher, author of The Fine Print and Love Redesigned‘I dare you to read the first chapter … chances are you won’t be able to stop once you start.’ – Lauren AsherCraving adventure, seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland leaps at the opportunity to step into the dizzying world of British high society in the resort town of Bath.Adventure arrives in the form of handsome clergyman Henry Tilney, and the ominous promise of his family home: Northanger Abbey. Bu...
All of us have in our minds a cartoon image of what an autocratic state looks like, with a bad man at the top. But in the 21st century, that cartoon bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, security services and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. The corrupt, s...
Our human rights are endangered. After the devastation of World War Two the international community united to enshrine fundamental rights to refuge, health, education and living standards. They protected privacy, fair trials and free speech and outlawed torture, slavery and discrimination. Their goal was greater global justice, equality and peace. That settlement is now under attack from opponents on both left and right and populist and authoritarian movements worldwide. Simu...
Introducing the new 'How To...' series from #Merky Books: unlock your potential with our short, practical pocket-sized guides.How to Move It: Reset Your BodyThis book is about motivating your body through the power of movement, focusing on you as an individual and not the ideal of fitness we see so often. Before you lift a single kettle bell or hit the yoga mat, Nike Master Trainer Joslyn Thompson Rule will break down the stages to moving your body for the better. Starting wi...
Ahnna is haunted by the destruction of her homeland so when the wealthy kingdom of Harendell claims her as a bride for its crown prince, Ahnna is prepared to do whatever it takes to gain influence as the future queen.But she soon discovers that beneath the beautiful surface of Harendell's court lurk dark secrets and the only person who she feels she can trust is not her future husband, but his infuriating half brother, James.And it isn't long before Ahnna finds herself attrac...
A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers's best stories, including her beloved novella "The Ballad of the Sad Café." A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town's gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes "Wunderkind," McCullers's first published story wri...
Berlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear. At the house on 55 Jablonski Strasse, its various occupants try to live under Nazi rule in their different ways: the bullying Hitler loyalists the Persickes, the retired judge Fromm and the unassuming couple Otto and Anna Quangel. Then the Quangels receive the news that their beloved son has been killed fighting in France. Shocked out of their quiet existence, they begin a silent campaign of defiance, and a deadly game of cat an...
A ground-breaking book that reveals why our human biases effect the way we receive and interpret informationOur lives are minefields of misinformation. Statistics, stories and studies lie to us on a daily basis. Not only this but, as Professor Alex Edmans reveals, our brains lie to us too. He argues that we need to acknowledge and understand the role that our own human biases play in interpreting and digesting the information that we consume. It's only when we do, that we can...
The theme of the great Shakespearean tragedies is a hero's fall from grace due to a fatal character flaw. Whether it is the ruthless ambition of Macbeth or the folly of Lear, the irresolution of Hamlet or the suspicion of Othello, the cause of the tragedy – even when it is the murder of a king – is trifling compared to the calamity that it unleashes. Despite their flawed natures, however, the tragic protagonists all have a nobility that emphasizes the greatness of humanity. F...
Two of the bestselling storytellers of all time have created an unforgettable thriller.A once-in-a-century volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii.But a decades-old military secret could turn the volcano into something even more terrifying...Now it’s up to a handful of brave individuals to save the island – and the entire world. 'As thrilling and jaw-dropping as Jurassic Park' Don Winslow'Heart-pounding storytelling at its finest' T.J. Newman'One of the...
An Inspector Calls, first produced in 1946 when society was undergoing sweeping transformations, has recently enjoyed an enormously successful revival. While holding its audience with the gripping tension of a detective thriller, it is also a philosophical play about social conscience and the crumbling of middle class values. Time and the Conways and I Have Been Here Before belong to Priestley’s ‘time’plays, in which he explores the idea of precognition and pits fate against ...
A likeable young girl burns her family home to the groundA man has no memory of the night he killed his wifeA teenager’s visions have murderous effectOne question binds the cases of Dr Duncan Harding, Britain’s top forensic psychiatrist: Why?Growing up in a violent home, Harding became a doctor to be good and kind. His journey brought him to psychopaths, to the limits of his compassion and to the darkest corners of his own troubled past.But he’s never turned away nor given up...
A smart, incisive take-down of the bogus claims being made about so-called ‘artificial intelligence’, exposing the real harm these technologies do to our jobs, health, society and environment, who stands to gain from them, and how to fight back.Is AI going to take over the world? Have scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it going to replace all our jobs, even creative ones, like doctors, teachers and care-workers? Are we about to enter an ag...
On 24 February 2022, the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, armoured vehicles approached the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. It was the most direct way for them to reach the capital - and an extraordinarily reckless plan after the disaster that had taken place there three decades earlier. Russian occupation of the plant had begun. It would last thirty-five days.Closely reported and narrated from multiple perspectives, this is the story of...
While on a year of study in Paris in 1927, Liebling acquired the friendship and tutelage of Yves Mirande, 'one of the last great gastronomes of France', beginning a joyous apprenticeship in the fine art of eating. Told with gluttonous joie de vivre, Between Meals expounds on the delights and pitfalls of a life dedicated to food, from bad rosé ('a pinkish cross between No-Cal and vinegar') to lobster a l'Américaine ('I have never personally inquired into the mysteries of its f...
The third book from Branford Boase award nominated author, Jenny Ireland. This YA sport romance is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Emily Henry!When Lexie sees Shane for the first time, she’s blown away. Not only by the way he plays football (although that is great), but by his looks, and how he’s not like the other boys. Best of all, he feels the same way about her. Electricity at first sight.But there's a problem.New in town, Shane has taken the position in Westing FC's st...
