The Flavour Thesaurus: More Flavours by Niki Segnit

The hugely anticipated follow-up to Niki Segnit's landmark global bestseller The Flavour Thesaurus

 ‘As brilliant, informative and witty as the first Flavour Thesaurus… This book will inspire a new generation of home cooks, chefs and writers alike.’

Rukmini Iyer on The Flavour Thesaurus: More Flavours

 

‘Matching ingredients isn't a trivial matter and Niki Segnit is definitely the reigning champion.’ Yotam Ottolenghi on The Flavour Thesaurus: More Flavours

 

‘It’s been fascinating, if not to say dangerously appetising, to research the dozens of mostly plant-based ingredients in this all-new treasury of flavour combinations. As with its sister volume, the first Flavour Thesaurus, my hope is that the mix of science, culinary advice, tasting notes, recipes and stories will inform and inspire cooks, from the professional chef creating recipes in her test kitchen, to the home cook trying to avoid consigning half a cauliflower to the bin.’ Niki Segnit

The Flavour Thesaurus
More Flavours
Niki Segnit 
Bloomsbury / HB / 11 May 2023 / £20

In The Flavour Thesaurus: More Flavours – Plant-led pairings, recipes and ideas for cooks, Niki Segnit applies her ground-breaking approach to explore 92 plant-based flavours, from Kale to Cashew, Pomegranate to Pistachio. Every ingredient is vegetarian and explored with the economy of a thesaurus, then expertly paired with those they complement.

Some of the pairings are classic, like Honey & Yoghurt or Green Bean & Tomato, some are contemporary like Turmeric & Ginger or Black Bean & Avocado, many are global like Miso & Seaweed or Tofu & Chilli, and others are compellingly unexpected, like Tamarind & Cheese or Papaya & Green Bean. There are over 800 witty and erudite entries combining recipes, tasting notes and stories to bring each ingredient to life. 

Together with Niki Segnit’s first book, The Flavour Thesaurus, this is a modern classic of food writing. Witty, playful and beautifully written, More Flavours is as much a bedside read as an indispensable kitchen resource.

The Flavour Thesaurus, first published in 2011, is a global bestseller and has been translated into fifteen languages. It was winner of the André Simon Award for best food book, the Guild of Food Writers Award for best first book and shortlisted for the Galaxy National Book Awards. It’s an iconic book with evangelists that span the world, from Nigel Slater, Yotam Ottolenghi, Heston Blumenthal, Brian Eno and Kate Winslet to baristas, bar tenders and wine writers.

ABOUT ME Niki Segnit

Niki Segnit lives in London with her husband and two children. On BBC Radio 4, she has contributed to The Food Programme, Woman’s Hour and Word of Mouth, and her columns, features and reviews have appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Times and Prospect magazine. She is the author of The Flavour Thesaurus and Lateral Cooking.

Selected praise for The Flavour Thesaurus:

‘The books I value most are those I return to again and again. Such has been the case with The Flavour Thesaurus’ - Nigel Slater

‘An original and inspiring resource’ - Heston Blumenthal

‘Every time I return to it, which is often, it makes me tingle with happy greed’ - Bee Wilson

‘I heartily recommend The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit. It lists more than 4,000 possible combinations of 99 flavours, with lots of recipes to inspire you’ - Kate Winslet, Harper’s Bazaar

 

Selected praise for Lateral Cooking:

‘It is hard to convey just what a staggering achievement Lateral Cooking is … I can lose myself in it any time, from any page, and you could cook from it over a whole lifetime, and still be learning’ - Nigella Lawson

‘A rigorous, nuts-and-bolts bible of book, which works from the premise that there are base recipes from which all others can be built’ - Jay Rayner

‘The pleasure here is not in the technical know-how but the writing – witty, playful and conversational – and the juicy little nuggets of information’ - Diana Henry

'Pure, informative delight' - The New York Times

FRAY by Chris Carse Wilson

FRAY By Chris Carse Wilson
HarperNorth / 27th April 2023 / Hardback Fiction / £14.99

‘Fray is right up there for me with other first-person books like The Catcher in the Rye and Janice Galloway’s The Trick is to Keep Breathing. I couldn’t recommend it more highly.’ - Alan Cumming

‘Grief is the everyday devil, and in this hallucinatory debut it grabs us by the hand. Is there a mystery to solve? Or is it the real mystery that any of us manages to go on living in the face of grief?’ - Damian Barr

 ‘Mind-alteringly beautiful writing.’- Kirstin Innes

The debut literary suspense novel by Chris Carse Wilson, exploring hope and grief in the remote wilderness of the Scottish Highlands. Chris secretly wrote Fray in fifteen-minute bursts on the bus to and from work, even hiding the book from his wife until it was finished.

I am not gone. Mum is not gone. We are here. We are hidden.

 A father who is trying to rescue his lost wife. 

Their child, desperately searching the wild forests and dangerous mountains of the Scottish Highlands, not knowing what’s out there.

An abandoned cottage in the remote wilderness, filled with thousands of confusing, terrifying handwritten notes.

And a dark, looming voice who threatens to destroy everything…

ABOUT CHRIS CARSE WILSON

Chris Carse Wilson is a debut author and lifelong runner who uses exercise and nature to manage his mental health. Chris is a passionate advocate for mental health awareness and was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 40. He lives outside Dundee, where he was part of the team who created V&A Dundee, Scotland’s design museum.

INTRODUCTION TO FRAY

Chris Carse Wilson began writing Fray in 2016 during a family trip to Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands.

 He had long wanted to write about his own mental health experiences but had always struggled to find a way to do this. The key moment came during a mountain run in a storm.

Chris said: “I had foolishly decided to try and run up one of the Munro mountains in Glen Coe on a dark October day. Not long into the climb, the rain came on heavily and the wind really picked up – the conditions were painful, with raindrops spiking into my face and terrible visibility.

“I had to give up halfway, but on the way back down I passed an old, boarded-up hunting lodge. That combination of the wild, threatening weather and this abandoned building gave me the way into telling a story that is open and honest about mental health.”

Chris would later receive an autism diagnosis, after completing Fray.

He said: “My mental health challenges are inextricably linked to being autistic and how I experience the world, which for 40 years of my life I never understood. The diagnosis has been an incredible moment, although I’m still learning and coming to terms with it.

“But, and this is crucial, this book isn’t really about me – it’s about the mental health experiences we all face, and the ways we may struggle to understand or communicate these. At its heart, Fray is a book about love and self-acceptance, while also taking the reader on a wild adventure through the Scottish Highlands.”

FURTHER ADVANCE PRAISE

‘Fray is a haunting, insightful literary story... a tale of family, tragedy, and loneliness set against the evocative backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, written with a unique flair and style. A dark and atmospheric masterpiece.’ - Vikki Patis, author of Return to Blackwater House

‘Eerie and ethereal, Fray is an unsettling quest in the unforgiving Scottish Highlands – utterly spellbinding.’ - Marion Todd, author of the DI Clare Mackay series

‘Fray is a totally original novel and I loved it for that… A dangerous journey that throws up lots of surprises. The writing is awe-inspiring.’ - Alex Pine, bestselling author of the DI James Walker series 

'Dark and atmospheric, Fray is chilling and very original. I couldn't put it down.' - Simon McCleave

'Chris Carse Wilson has that deftness of touch that will scare you witless but keep you coming back for more and more.' - Jonathan Whitelaw

Fray will also be available as an audio book read by Angus King, who voiced Booker Prize winner Shuggie Bain.

The Monk by Tim Sullivan

'DS George Cross is as arresting as the cases he solves.' RICHARD E. GRANT

“A perfect detective for our time and for all time.” STEPHEN FRY

 ‘Compelling, full of twists and turns, I couldn’t put this down. Sullivan has created a truly original and endearing detective in George Cross. I’m looking forward to the next one.’ SIMON MCCLEAVE on The Politician

The Monk
by Tim Sullivan
Hardback / 27 April / Head of Zeus

DS George Cross has always wondered why his mother left him when he was a child. Now she is back in his life, he suddenly has answers. But this unexpected reunion is not anything he's used to dealing with. When a disturbing case lands on his desk, he is almost thankful for the return to normality.

The body of a monk is found savagely beaten to death in a woodland near Bristol. Nothing is known about Brother Dominic's past, which makes investigating difficult. How can Cross unpick a crime when they don't know anything about the victim? And why would someone want to harm a monk?

ABOUT TIM SULLIVAN

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director whose film credits include A Handful of Dust, Jack and Sarah and Cold Feet. Early in his career he directed Jeremy Brett’s iconic portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in ITV’s The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes¸ cementing his lifelong passion for crime fiction.

Tim’s crime series, featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross, has been widely acclaimed and topped the book charts. The Monk is the fifth in the series.

He lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy Award-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman.

To find out more about the author please visit TimSullivan.co.uk 

Twitter: @timjrsullivan / Instagram: @timsullivannovelist / TikTok: @timsullivanauthor

TALKING POINTS & FEATURE IDEAS

  • Creating character – from films to crime novels, what keeps us hooked?

  • Differences between writing for screen and writing novels – from detailed storyboarding, to being surprised by what your character does next…

  • How experience as a director helps the novel writing process – from The Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes to George Cross…
    NB Tim’s first two movies were adaptations of books which was another way of learning about the process of novel writing and the difference between the page and the screen.

  • The importance of supporting characters in fiction – in Sullivan’s George Cross novels his partner at work, Josie Ottey, is often his conduit, interpreter, and apologist to those that don’t make any effort to understand him. Alice Mackenzie, the young staffer, relatively new to the department acts as the eyes for the reader as she comes to understand her boss and his ways. His father, Raymond, is a constant source of love and support for someone who is so often misunderstood and abused. This cast of characters enables the detective, sleuth, pathologist, whoever the main character in a crime novel is, to function at their best.

  • The perfect detectives, and what they have in common – from Sherlock Holmes to Poirot and Philip Marlowe to Harry Bosch

  • Creating George – from his passion for playing the organ to his absent mother, what makes George tick?

  • Creating a setting – why Bristol is the perfect place for the DS George Cross series

  • Mortality / grief intruding in the most unexpected of places – Tim’s father died in his arms at his wedding as they left the church

SELECTED PRAISE

 'A British detective for the 21st century who will be hard to forget' DAILY MAIL

 ‘The fact that Cross has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder makes him just as intriguing as the murder mystery’ THE TIMES

 ‘Elegant writing and a firm grasp of the crime medium…We’ve had sleuths on the autistic spectrum before but Sullivan’s copper is among the most distinctive characterisations.’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Fantastic story with a brilliant D.S. Loved it’ FROST MAGAZINE

‘A compelling, suspenseful police procedural with an intimate, positive insight into living on the autistic spectrum' WOMAN

'A good police procedural made doubly interesting by the development of the characters' CHOICE

'True characters, a fresh setting, and a good mystery – this one's got the lot.' THE MORNING STAR

'Superb, clever and taut' BELFAST TELEGRAPH

'An absolute cracker' THE BOOKBAG

‘[An] extremely accomplished novel… [with] a plot-line which keeps you constantly on your toes…George Cross is superbly written…the author really captures the person the little details that make him the person he is…[A] crime novel of the highest quality, packed with twists, protagonists who leap of the page with a narrative which kept me engaged throughout…This is a series which I cannot recommend highly enough, by an author who has elevated himself to the top of the crime writing genre.’ Andy Wormald, AMW BOOKS

Twelve Moons by Caro Giles

Twelve Moons:
A Year Under a Shared Sky
Caro Giles
19 January 2023/ £14.99/ Hardback/ ebook/ audio

‘A multi-sensory experience of the natural world, which invites the reader to become both companion and witness in a timeless account of the power of the sea.’
- Katharine Norbury


TWELVE MOONS follows a year spent caught between the wild sea and the changing moon of the wide Northumberland skies.

Caro Giles lives on the far edge of the country, with her tribe of daughters: The Mermaid, The Whirlwind, The Caulbearer and The Littlest One. She is at once alone and yet surrounded. Bound by circumstance, financial constraints, illness and the challenges of single motherhood, she has nowhere to go but the fierce landscape that surrounds her.

Over the course of the year, the moon becomes her fellow traveller through dark times, and companion through joyful ones – and even when the sky is wreathed in cloud, the moon is still felt in the pull of the tides.

TWELVE MOONS follows the lunar calendar, each chapter sharing a month and a moon, and shows the simmering power that lies in our often hidden daily lives. A dazzlingly honest memoir that while never turning away from the awkward truths of life, also shows how love will flourish if we can only find a space for ourselves.

Set against windswept beaches and ancient hills, this is a story steeped in nature and landscape. Since our earliest days, mankind has looked up at the moon and seen a story reflected back. Twelve Moons is one of those stories – a book about finding yourself, your voice and a sense that even in the dark of the night, we are never truly alone.

ABOUT Caro Giles

Caro Giles is a writer based in Northumberland. Her words are inspired by her local landscape, the wide empty beaches and the Cheviot Hills. She writes honestly about what it means to be a woman, a mother and a carer and about the value in taking the road less travelled. Her writing has appeared in journals, press and periodicals and she was named Countryfile magazine’s New Nature Writer of the Year in 2021. She tweets @CaroGilesWrites.

A Book of Days by Patti Smith

A Book of Days
By Patti Smith
15 November 2022 / hardback / £25 / non-fiction Bloomsbury


A deeply moving and brilliantly idiosyncratic visual book of days by the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids and M Train. More than 365 images chart Smith's singular aesthetic - inspired by her wildly popular Instagram.

In 2018, without any plan or agenda for what might happen next, Patti Smith posted her first Instagram photo: her hand with the simple message "Hello Everybody!" Known for shooting with her beloved Land Camera 250, Smith started posting images from her phone including portraits of her kids, her radiator, her boots, and her Abyssinian cat, Cairo. Followers felt an immediate affinity with these miniature windows into Smith's world, photographs of her daily coffee, the books she's reading, the graves of beloved heroes - William Blake, Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Simone Weil, Albert Camus. Over time, a coherent story of a life devoted to art took shape, and more than a million followers responded to Smith's unique aesthetic in images that chart her passions, devotions, obsessions, and whims. Original to this book are vintage photographs: anniversary pearls, a mother's keychain, and a husband's Mosrite guitar. Here, too, are never-before-seen photos of life on and off the road, train stations, obscure cafés, a notebook always nearby. In wide-ranging yet intimate daily notations, Smith shares dispatches from her travels around the world.

With 365 photographs, taking you through a single year, A Book of Days is a new way to experience the expansive mind of the visionary poet, writer, and performer. Hopeful, elegiac, playful - and complete with an introduction by Smith that explores her documentary process - A Book of Days is a timeless offering for deeply uncertain times, an inspirational map of an artist's life.

ABOUT PATTI SMITH

A writer, performer, and visual artist, Patti Smith has exhibited her drawings and photographs internationally, most recently Camera Solo at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford. She has recorded thirteen albums, launched by the seminal Horses in 1975. Her many books include Witt, Babel, The Coral Sea, Auguries of Innocence and Just Kids, which won the National Book Award in 2010. Patti Smith lives in New York City.

Patti’s Instagram, @thisispattismith, has over 1 million followers.

Buzzin’ by Bez

Buzzin’
The Nine Lives of a Happy Monday
By Bez
(With Andrew Perry)
White Rabbit / HB / 3 November 2022 / £20
(also available as ebook and audio book)

At the height of his initial, turn-of-the-1990's infamy as the maraca-wielding dancer with 'Madchester' giants Happy Mondays, Mark Berry - forever known to the world as Bez - was visibly a danger to society. He became the so-called Chemical Generation's bug-eyed pied piper, every weekend leading millions out to oblivion and beyond, as they adopted his E-gobbling party lifestyle.

Neither an accomplished musician nor even a very good dancer, Bez was a prime candidate for fleeting celebrity, soon to sink into 'Where Are They Now?' obscurity. That, however, never happened, nor does it show any sign of happening. Through Black Grape, the second band he co-fronted with the Mondays' Shaun Ryder, and his ever-presence in the mass media, Bez's popularity has grown exponentially, his star rocketing ever upwards.

When he bowled into Celebrity Big Brother in 2005, he ended up winning the series, as viewers came to understand his fundamental decency and sunny outlook. His adult life has been extraordinary: unbelievable scrapes with mortality, periods of financial ruin, mindfuck moments like when David Bowie genuflected before him, and enough narcotic-strewn hi-jinx to fill several more volumes of memoir.

Written with the assistance of estimable rock and roll ghostwriter, Andrew Perry (John Lydon, Tricky), this is the story of a bad lad who has turned his life good, tracing his passage from early-thirty-something casualty to middle-aged politician, eco-warrior and bee-aficionado.

‘There is no one like Bez: you could literally throw him out of a helicopter at 60,000 feet and he would land in somebody’s extra-deep swimming pool, get out they would cook him Sunday dinner – and let him stay the night! Shaun Ryder on Bez

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

“Haynes is a master of her trade... She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories”
- DAILY TELEGRAPH

STONE BLIND
Medusa’s Story
By Natalie Haynes
15th September 2022/ Mantle/ Hardback/ £18.99

Natalie Haynes, the Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of A THOUSAND SHIPS, brings the infamous Medusa to life as you have never seen her before . .

So to mortal men, we are monsters.
Because of our teeth, our flight, our strength.
They fear us, so they call us monsters.

Medusa is the only mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her sisters, she quickly realizes that she is the only one who gets older, experiences change, feels weakness. Her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.

When desire pushes a God to commit the unforgivable, Medusa’s mortal life is changed forever. Her punishment is to be turned into a Gorgon: sharp teeth, snakes for hair, and a gaze that will turn any living creature to stone. Appalled by her own reflection, Medusa can no longer look upon anything she loves without destroying it. She condemns herself to a life of solitude in the shadows to limit her murderous range.

That is, until Perseus embarks upon a fateful quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon . . .

This is the story of how a young woman became a monster. And how she was never really a monster at all.

ABOUT Natalie Haynes

NATALIE HAYNES is a writer and broadcaster. She is the author of novels THE AMBER FURY, shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize; THE CHILDREN OF JOCASTA, a feminist retelling of the Oedipus and Antigone stories and A THOUSAND SHIPS, a retelling of the Trojan War from an all-female perspective; and non-fiction books THE ANCIENT GUIDE TO MODERN LIFE and, most recently, PANDORA’S JAR about the women in Greek myths. She has written and presented seven series of the BBC Radio 4 show, NATALIES HAYNES STANDS UP FOR THE CLASSICS. In 2015, she was awarded the Classical Association Prize for her work in bringing Classics to a wider audience. STONE BLIND is her fourth novel.

www.nataliehaynes.com

Natalie Haynes is available for events and interview.

Praise for Haynes’ last novel A THOUSAND SHIPS

“Absorbing and fiercely feminist” – GUARDIAN

“Elegant and intelligent… Haynes combines a wide ranging knowledge of the original myths with a gift for compelling narrative.” – SUNDAY TIMES

“Clever and entertaining” – THE TIMES

“If you are new to myths, then this is a learned, well-fashioned introduction, with many shining moment of subtle power.” – THE SPECTATOR

“Haynes expertly crafts an emotional and vivid historical tale with high stakes and female empowerment at its core.” – WOMAN’S OWN

“This quietly compulsive and revisionist novel extracts these women from the shadows. “Their story will be told”, declares Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, and Natalie Haynes is the right author to do it.” – DAILY MAIL

“Natalie Haynes is swiftly becoming this generation’s Mary Renault; her retelling of the Trojan war from an all-female perspective, A Thousand Ships, is her best yet” – THE OBSERVER

"With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War. Her thoughtful portraits will linger with you long after the book is finished." – MADELINE MILLER, AUTHOR OF CIRCE

“The forgotten women are vividly brought to life in this moving, intelligent and witty book. Natalie Haynes’ knowledge of Greek mythology shines through her skilful story telling. Epic is the word” – MARTHA KEARNEY

“Here they all are — the women of antiquity of whom we know much but have heard so little. Not any more… A Thousand Ships gives voice to women and what voices, what women! Haynes takes the baton from Renault and runs with it. Her modern take on antiquity is exquisitely informed without ever being research-heavy. She brings these women and their triumphs and tragedies to life. Glorious!” – DAMIAN BARR

‘Turns the Trojan War into a gripping, feminist masterpiece” - DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE, THE GUILTY FEMINIST PODCAST

The Last Party By Clare Mackintosh

Introducing Dc Ffion Morgan, in the Unmissable New Series From #1 Bestseller Clare Mackintosh

‘I absolutely inhaled this insanely gripping and atmospheric thriller. DC Ffion Morgan and her English counterpart Leo Brady are up there with the greats: Morse and Lewis, Kerrigan and Derwent, Wexford and Burden, Marnie Rome and Noah.’ - Erin Kelly

 ‘Terrific. The Last Party has twists that blindside you all the way, the last of which you’ll never see coming’ - Mari Hannah

‘Superb. A compelling murder mystery told with warmth, humour and enough red herrings to keep even the most seasoned crime reader guessing. Clare Mackintosh’s new series is set to be a sure-fire hit and I can’t wait to find out what kind of crime Ffion is faced with investigating next’ - C.L. Taylor

At midnight, one of them is dead. By morning, all of them are suspects . . .

THE LAST PARTY
By Clare Mackintosh
Sphere / 4th August / HB / £14.99

On New Year's Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests.

His lakeside holiday homes are a success, and he's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. This will be the party to end all parties.

But not everyone is there to celebrate. By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year's Day, DC Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects.

The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbours, friends and family - and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn't who wanted Rhys dead . . . but who finally killed him. 

In a village with this many secrets, a murder is just the beginning.

The Last Party is a mystery with echoes of Agatha Christie and Scandi-noir but with a modern edge all of Mackintosh’s own, and features her signature strong characters, heartfelt emotion and unpredictable twists and turns. It also draws upon her own experiences as a former police officer.

About Clare Mackintosh

Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of five Sunday Times bestselling novels, including I Let You Go, which was the fastest-selling debut thriller in the year it was released. Translated into forty languages, her books have sold more than two million copies worldwide, have been New York Times and international bestsellers and have spent a combined total of 64 weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller chart.

Clare spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant and is the founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She now writes full time and lives in Wales with her husband and their three children.

'No one writes a twist like Clare Mackintosh' – Paula Hawkins

'She's a major talent' – Lee Child

'Compulsive, thrilling and just so beautifully done' - Lisa Jewell

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh

'A nail-biter of a thriller' Shari Lapena

‘Hypnotically good' Lee Child

'Feels like a blockbuster movie' Lisa Jewell 

‘Utterly riveting’ Lucy Foley

‘A propulsive read – Hostage will have you questioning “what would you do” at every turn’ Karin Slaughter

The jaw-dropping, edge-of-your-seat Sunday Times bestselling thriller

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh
Sphere / 23 June / PB / £8.99

Save hundreds of lives. Or save your child?

You're on board the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney. It's a landmark journey, and the world is watching.

Shortly after take-off, you receive a chilling anonymous note.

There are people on this plane intent on bringing it down - and you're the key to their plan.

You'd never help them, even if your life depended on it.

But they have your daughter . . . So now you have to choose.

DO YOU SAVE HUNDREDS OF LIVES? OR THE ONE THAT MATTERS MOST?

'Taking the locked room mystery to a new, white-knuckle extreme, this is electrifying' HEAT

'A thrilling, chilling gut-punch of a book' RED

'The year's most intriguing high-concept plot' DAILY EXPRESS

'Mackintosh is a pro' NEW YORK TIMES

'An incredibly tense read that has a satisfyingly clever ending' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
‘The book of the summer’ SUN

About Clare Mackintosh

Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of five Sunday Times bestselling novels, including I Let You Go, which was the fastest-selling debut thriller in the year it was released. Translated into forty languages, her books have sold more than two million copies worldwide, have been New York Times and international bestsellers and have spent a combined total of 64 weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller chart.

Clare spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant and is the founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She now writes full time and lives in Wales with her husband and their three children.

Access All Areas by Barbara Charone

Memoir from the writer and music PR legend Barbara Charone, telling the story of a music-obsessed girl from Chicago who falls in love with British counter-culture, destined to re-shape it for multiple generations

Access All Areas
A Backstage Pass Through 50 Years of Music and Culture
By Barbara Charone
Foreword by Elvis Costello
White Rabbit / HB / 23 June 2022 / £20

Access All Areas: A Backstage Pass Through 50 Years of Music and Culture tells the story of how a music-loving, budding journalist from a Chicago suburb became the defining music publicist of her generation. With an exclusive foreword from Elvis Costello, Barbara Charone’s debut memoir is a time capsule of the last fifty years, told through the lens of music, from the incredible woman who set the cultural agenda in her work with a myriad of stars including Keith Richards, Foo Fighters, REM, Rod Stewart and Madonna.

First as a journalist and then a publicist at Warner Brothers Records for nearly twenty years, Barbara Charone has experienced, first-hand, the changes in the cultural landscape. Access All Areas is a personal, insightful and humorous memoir packed with stories of being on the cultural frontline, from first writing press releases on a typewriter driven by Tip Ex, then as a press officer for heavy metal bands taking the bus up to Donnington Festival with coffee, croissants and the much more popular sulfate. To taking on Madonna, an unknown girl from Detroit, and telling Smash Hits 'you don't have to run the piece if the single doesn't chart', and becoming a true pioneer in music, Charone continues to work with the biggest names in music, including Depeche Mode, Robert Plant, Foo Fighters and Mark Ronson at her agency MBCPR.

ABOUT Barbara Charone

Born in Chicago, Barbara Charone moved to London after graduating from Northwestern University. The first half of her career was spent as a music journalist working for NME, Sounds, Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy and Cream before writing the authorised biography Keith Richards: Life As A Rolling Stone in 1979.

In November 2000, after almost 20 years at Warner Brothers, Barbara co-founded leading independent music agency MBCPR with Moira Bellas where she still works now. Within six months it became one of the country’s top music PR firms. The current client roster includes: Madonna, Mark Ronson, Foo Fighters, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards, Rod Stewart, Kasabian, Metallica, Depeche Mode, Texas, Rag’n’Bone Man, St Vincent, Pearl Jam, Olly Murs, Ray Davies  and Rufus Wainwright.

Barbara Charone is one of the most respected women working in the music business. In November 2001, Charone and her business partner, Moira Bellas, were honoured as Women of the Year by Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and The Brit Trust and in 2006 and 2009 won the coveted Music Week PR Award.


Brouhaha by Ardal O’Hanlon

The razor-sharp, violent and darkly comic satire on the politics and close-kept secrets of small-town Ireland from actor, comedian and writer Ardal O’Hanlon

‘Ardal O’Hanlon is blessed with a genuine literary talent’ - Mail on Sunday

‘Perceptive, local and wild, a brilliantly imagined deadly serious thriller with a wonderful undertow of soul…’ Tommy Tiernan – comedian, actor and write

Brouhaha by Ardal O’Hanlon
Harper Collins / 26 May 2022 / £16.99
Hardback fiction

Dove Connolly is dead. That’s not good for anyone in Tullyanna, never mind Dove.

Now his best friend Sharkey is home asking awkward questions about Dove’s death, about the strange graphic novel he left behind, and, most of all, about Sandra. Sandra Mohan. Missing now for over a decade, whereabouts unknown.

This, however, is a town dead-set on keeping its secrets. And Sharkey is already drawing attention from all the wrong quarters…

A mystery, a black comedy, and a satire on Ireland’s tangled politics of memory, Brouhaha is an edgy, funny and fierce novel set in a small town on the Irish border during the transition to peace. And peace doesn’t come easy in these parts.

ABOUT Ardal O’Hanlon

Ardal O’Hanlon is an actor, comedian, writer, and documentary filmmaker. A star of several high-profile television series, including Death in Paradise, My Hero, and the BAFTA-winning Father Ted, he is also the author of the critically acclaimed novel Talk of the Town (1998). He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

‘Growing up in the border region, I’ve always been captivated by the language and deadpan character and dark humour of the people and the place. In trying to capture that I’ve tried to write the sort of book I love to read - pacy, thrilling, edgy, insightful, funny, and humane and I really hope people enjoy it.’

Ardal is available for interview and events.

The Octopus Man by Jasper Gibson

‘What an astonishing work OCTOPUS MAN is. Schizophrenia is not an easy condition to write about. It scares us. It scares those who live with it even more. But there is a kind of beauty, comedy and transcendence in the way that Jasper Gibson takes us inside the mind of Tom, which lifts the spirits and shows that disorders like his can give as well as take away.’ Stephen Fry

 

‘Funny. Disturbing. Brilliant.’ Lily Allen

 

‘What a brilliant and necessary book. A funny, heart-expanding story of a man trapped between the God-like voice in his head and society's desire for him to be “normal”. It's a deeply compassionate portrait and I felt the frustration of battling a broken mental healthcare system, and the guilt and hope of everyone who loves poor, cheeky, troubled Tom and wants so badly for him to get better.’
Douglas Stuart, author of SHUGGIE BAIN and winner of the Booker Prize

 

'The Octopus Man reminds us that behind the words "mental health" lies a universe of wild creativity, humanity, and spanking big life. A beautiful thing, this is The Dharma Bums meet Clozapine. Now is the time for this book.'
DBC Pierre, author of VERNON GOD LITTLE, winner of the MAN Booker Prize and the Whitbread First Novel Award

*The Octopus Man has been optioned by Working Title*

The Octopus Man by Jasper Gibson
Paperback / Weidenfeld & Nicolson / 19 May £8.99

I put my hand against the hot patch and return to prayer, closing my eyes to concentrate on my breathing and think only of His love. I love you with all my heart. Please keep me from triggering. Please keep me from madness.

Once an outstanding law student Tom is now lost in the machinery of the British mental health system, talking to a voice no one else can hear: the voice of Malamock, the Octopus God – sometimes cruel, sometimes loving, but always there to guide him.

After a florid psychotic break, the pressure builds for Tom to take part in an experimental drugs trial that promises to silence the voice forever. But no one, least of all Tom, is prepared for what happens when the Octopus God is seriously threatened.

Deeply moving and tragi-comic, The Octopus Man takes us into the complex world of voice-hearing in a bravura literary performance that asks the fundamental questions about belief, meaning, and love.

About Jasper Gibson

Jasper Gibson was born in the Peak District, Derbyshire in 1975. He is the author of one previous novel, A BRIGHT MOON FOR FOOLS (2013). He lives in East Sussex, where the book is set.

Talking Points

  • The inspiration for the novel – a cousin who died at the age of 40 for apparently no reason after two decades of a schizophrenia diagnosis, and the author’s own experiences of psychosis

  • The importance of humanising mental health conditions and the frustration at the usual depiction of people with severe mental health challenges as being violent etc

  • The weight of responsibility when writing fiction based on issues of mental health – and the challenges of writing about voice hearing as a non-voice-hearer

  • The research process - inside the Hearing Voices Network, meeting voice-hearers, visiting frightening psychiatric units, drug trials

  • The mental health system as a microcosm of society at large: materialism, individualism, surveillance, infantilization

  • NB Mental Health Awareness Week is 9-15 May 2022

‘The Octopus Man was a joy to read. I cried with laughter and I just plain cried. It is one of the wittiest and most humane pictures of a person and their mind - a timely conversation about mental health from within the perspective of the subject. It's a beautiful book and so incredibly funny.’ JOHNNY FLYNN

 

'A brave, bold and brilliant exploration of the forces that drive us mad and the wild, crazy journey's back to ourselves and each other. Scary, hilarious and touching. I loved it.'  DR JACQUI DILLON

A letter from the author - Jasper Gibson, 2020

This book started with a knock at the window. I was sitting in a train about to leave London for Glasgow when my girlfriend tapped on the glass, her face fallen, her eyes brimming with tears. She had gone back onto the platform to answer the phone as the reception was so poor, and perhaps that was why they hadn’t been able to get through to my phone at all. The whistle blew. She motioned to me to take our luggage and get off the train. We weren’t going to Glasgow anymore. My cousin Ed had been found dead in his bed. There was no disease, no suicide, no murder. At the age of 40, he had simply stopped living.

Ed, once a handsome and brilliant law student (both my sisters were utterly in love with him), had suffered under a schizophrenia diagnosis and the effects of long-term medication for twenty years. His experiences became the inspiration for Tom Tuplow, the protagonist of The Octopus Man.

What does it feel like to hear voices? To see things no one else can see? To have beliefs which condemn you as mad? What is it like to be caught up in the British mental health system, at the mercy of a scientific consensus that fundamentally rejects your reality? What is it like to be on such heavy drugs that every day you wake up on the bottom of the sea?

I always knew this book had to be first person, present tense. Yet though we see the world through Tom’s eyes, I hope too that the thoughts and feelings of the other characters, particularly his long-suffering sister Tess, are just as real, just as valid.

This is not an anti-psychiatric or indeed political novel, in the sense that its primary concern is not ‘another world is possible’, but rather another possible world. However, if we book-lovers can argue that the novel is the most human of all the arts, and that the lodestone of this artform is the individual, then questions of human dignity are bound to rise when discussing mental health provision. Though for some, receiving the label 'schizophrenic' is a relief, a label the world can understand, for many it means a catastrophic loss of power over oneself and one's decisions. 

Unlike so many portrayals of people with mental health difficulties as either psychopathic killers or 'Rainman'-type idiot savants, this novel hopes to bring a little more reality, and humanity, to those in touch with dimensions the rest of us cannot access. If just one reader doesn't move seats next time they see a person apparently talking to themselves on the bus, but instead wonders what happened to them, what have they suffered, what have they seen, then this book will have been worth it.

The other thing is that it's meant to be funny. I do hope you like it.

A Village in the Third Reich by Julia Boyd

From the bestselling author of Travellers in the Third Reich comes a stunningly evocative portrait of Hitler’s Germany through the people of a single village.

A Village in the Third Reich
How Ordinary Lives were Transformed by the Rise of Fascism
Julia Boyd (with Angelika Patel)
Elliott & Thompson / HB / £25 / 5 May 2022

Oberstdorf is a beautiful village high up in the Bavarian Alps, a place where for hundreds of years ordinary people lived simple lives while history was made elsewhere. Yet even here, in the farthest corner of Germany, National Socialism sought to control not only people’s lives but also their minds.

By putting one village under the microscope, this book evocatively portrays the momentous period of Nazism in Germany. Why did Germans respond to Hitler in the manner that they did? How did their attitudes change as the war progressed? And when all hope was gone and their country lay in ruins, how did they pick themselves up and start again?

Drawing on archive material, letters, interviews and memoirs, A Village in the Third Reich is an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Germany under Hitler, of the descent into totalitarianism and of the tragedies that befell all of those touched by Nazism. In its pages we meet the Jews who survived – and those who didn’t; the Nazi mayor who tried to shield those persecuted by the regime; and a blind boy whose life was thought ‘not worth living’.

About Julie Boyd

Julia Boyd is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Travellers in the Third Reich: The Rise of Fascism through the Eyes of Everyday People. Her previous books include A Dance with the Dragon: The Vanished World of Peking's Foreign Colony, The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Woman Physician and Hannah Riddell: An Englishwoman in Japan. As the widow of a former diplomat, she lived in Germany from 1977 to 1981. She lives in London.


About Angelika Patel

Angelika Patel was born into an old Oberstdorf family. She studied History and German Literature before taking an MBA at INSEAD at Fontainebleu. She is the author of Ein Dorf im Spiegel seiner Zeit (A Village in the Mirror of its Time): Oberstdorf 1918–1952. She lives in London and Oberstdorf.

Praise for Sunday Times bestseller Travellers in the Third Reich

‘A compelling historical narrative . . . both flatters and challenges our hindsight. [Boyd] lets her voices, skilfully orchestrated, speak for themselves, which they do with great eloquence.’ – Daily Telegraph

‘Fascinating . . . surreal scenes pepper Boyd’s deep trawl of travellers’ tales from the scores of visitors who were drawn to the ‘new Germany’ in the 1930s.’ – Spectator

‘Contains many amazing anecdotes . . . It warns us that we, with our all-seeing hindsight, might ourselves have been fooled or beguiled or inclined to make excuses, had we been there at the time. I can thoroughly recommend it as a contribution to knowledge and an absorbing and stimulating book in itself.’ – Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday
 

‘Meticulously researched…. thought-provoking reading.’ – Caroline Moorehead, Literary Review

‘A fascinating book.’ – Robert Elms, BBC Radio London

‘To a younger generation it seems incomprehensible that after the tragic Great War people and political leaders allowed themselves to march into the abyss again. Julia Boyd’s book, drawing on wide experience and forensic research, seeks to answer some of these questions.’ – Randolph Churchill

‘With an almost novelistic touch, [Boyd] presents a range of stories of human interest . . . The uncomfortable moral of Travellers in the Third Reich is that people see and hear only what they already want to see and hear.’ – David Pryce-Jones, Standpoint

‘Fascinating . . . This absorbing and beautifully organised book is full of small encounters that jolt the reader into a historical past that seems still very near.’ – Lucy Lethbridge, The Tablet

 
‘In the 1930s the most cultured and technologically advanced country in Europe tumbled into the abyss. In this deeply researched book Julia Boyd lets us view Germany's astonishing fall through foreign eyes. Her vivid tapestry of human stories is a delightful, often moving read. It also offers sobering lessons for our own day when strong leaders are again all the rage.’ – Professor David Reynolds, author of The Long Shadow: The Great War and the 20th Century

‘Drawing on the unpublished experiences of outsiders inside the Third Reich, Julia Boyd provides dazzling new perspectives on the Germany that Hitler built. Her book is a tour de force of historical research.’ – Dr Piers Brendon, author of The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s

‘A truly fascinating read.’ – Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent 

‘A revealing and original account’ – Sir John Tusa
 

‘A glorious read for anyone with an interest in the history of the twentieth century.’ – Sir Christopher Mallaby, former ambassador to Germany and France

‘Unique, original and engagingly written.’ – Dr Zare Steiner, author of The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919–1933

My Rock ’n’ Roll Friend by Tracey Thorn

An exploration of female friendship and women in music, from the iconic singer-songwriter and bestselling author of Another Planet and Bedsit Disco Queen

'Entertaining, affectionate and righteous' Guardian

'Says so much about being a woman' Cosey Fanni Tutti 

‘A gorgeous, vivid account of female friendship, what it is to be a woman in a band, activism, art, motherhood, love and having men take credit for your work’ Sinéad Gleeson 

‘It's such a radical act – as well as a loving one – for a woman to tell the story of her friend like this, and to free her (and all of us, it feels!) from the distorting prism of the male gaze. I honestly wanted to stand up and cheer!’ Melissa Harrison 

‘My Rock ’n’ Roll Friend is a book to treasure, brimming with empathy and good jokes.’ Andrew O’Hagan

My Rock ’n’ Roll Friend
By Tracey Thorn
Paperback / 5 May 2022 / £9.99

In 1983, backstage at the Lyceum in London, Tracey Thorn and Lindy Morrison first met. Tracey’s music career was just beginning, while Lindy, drummer for The Go-Betweens, was ten years her senior. They became confidantes, comrades and best friends, a relationship cemented by gossip and feminism, books and gigs and rock ’n’ roll love affairs.

Morrison – a headstrong heroine blazing her way through a male-dominated industry – came to be a kind of mentor to Thorn. They shared the joy and the struggle of being women in a band, trying to outwit and face down a chauvinist music media.

In My Rock 'n' Roll Friend Thorn takes stock of thirty-seven years of friendship, teasing out the details of connection and affection between two women who seem to be either complete opposites or mirror images of each other. This important book asks what people see, who does the looking, and ultimately who writes women out of – and back into – history.

ABOUT Tracey Thorn

Tracey Thorn is a singer-songwriter and writer, best known for her 17 years in bestselling duo Everything But The Girl. She has released four solo albums, one movie soundtrack, a large handful of singles, and three books, including the Sunday Times bestsellers Another Planet and Bedsit Disco Queen. She has been a judge of the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Goldsmiths Prize and writes regularly for the New Statesman. She lives in London, with her husband Ben Watt and their three children.


@tracey_thorn | traceythorn.com

No Way to Die by Tony Kent

Like Baldacci at his best.’ Steve Cavanagh

‘A pulsating action thriller’ Sunday Times

The fourth adrenaline-fueled thriller from author of Zoe Ball Book Club and Richard & Judy Book Club picks

A deadly threat. A ghost from the past. And time is running out…

NO WAY TO DIE
Tony Kent
Boxer. Barrister. Thriller Writer.
PB / 7 April 2022 / Elliott & Thompson / £7.99

When traces of a radioactive material are found with a body in Key West, multiple federal agencies suddenly descend on the scene. This is not just an isolated murder - a domestic terrorist group is ready to bring the US government to its knees.

The threat hits close to home for Agent Joe Dempsey when he discovers a personal connection to the group. With his new team member, former Secret Service agent Eden Grace, Dempsey joins the race to track down the bomb before it’s too late. But when their mission falls apart, he is forced to turn to the most unlikely of allies: an old enemy he thought he had buried in his past.

Now, with time running out, they must find a way to work together to stop a madman from unleashing horrifying destruction across the country.

About Tony Kent

Tony Kent is a practising criminal barrister who draws on his legal experience to bring a striking authenticity to his thrillers: Killer Intent, Marked for Death, Power Play and now No Way To Die.

Ranked as a ‘leader in his field’ Tony has prosecuted and defended in the most serious trials during his twenty years at the Criminal Bar - specialising in murder, terrorism, corruption, kidnap and organised crime. His case history is filled with nationally reported trials and his practice has brought him into close professional contact with GCHQ, the Security Service and the Ministry of Defence. He has also defended in matters with an international element, involving agencies such as the FBI.

Tony also appears as a criminal justice expert on a number of TV shows, including Meet, Marry, Murder (coming soon to Netflix), My Lover, My Killer and Kill Thy Neighbour (both Channel 5).

Prior to his legal career Tony represented England as a heavyweight boxer and won a host of national amateur titles.

 He lives just outside of London with his wife, young son and dog.

Earthed by Rebecca Schiller

‘Wow! A beautiful memoir of one small plot of land and one complex human mind; a story of our interconnection and an ambitious search for the truth.’ - Amy Liptrot

‘A powerfully confessional memoir that excavates important truths about our lives, our selves and our dreams - and what happens when we have to let go.’ – Clover Stroud

‘The 'how I moved to a field and had a breakdown book' that desperately needed to be written. Incredibly bold, brave, poetic and absolutely beautiful: a fascinating insight into the mind.’ – Sophie Heawood

‘Earthed is Rebecca Schiller’s powerful, poetic meditation on the process of falling apart, and her love letter to the land that rooted and rebuilt her. A deeply affecting read.’ - Leah Hazard 

‘A moving, intriguing and beautifully conceived exploration of place, person and planet through time, Earthed speaks to the struggles of holding on during dark days and the power of hope in hard times.’ - Rob Cowen 

‘This is a hard and beautiful read. The tough truth about the simple life.’ – Eva Wiseman

Earthed
by Rebecca Schiller
Elliott & Thompson / 10 March 2022 / paperback / memoir / £9.99

Can the good life ever be the simple life?

 After moving to a countryside smallholding, Rebecca Schiller finds that her family's new life – despite its beautiful surroundings – is far from simple. Overwhelmed by what she has taken on and reeling from the turmoil in the wider world, she turns to her land, searching for answers and hope.

Here, she begins to uncover the hidden layers of her plot's history – and of herself. As the seasons shift, the ground under Rebecca's boots offers hard lessons, revealing brutal truths about the past, our planet and the seeds she holds in her hands.

Yet as a New Year arrives, offering a life-changing diagnosis and a global emergency, Rebecca begins to move forwards with understanding: the smallholding has become her anchor and her family's shelter; an ancient oak tree her compass and guide. Because when we find ourselves lost, we all need something to hold on to – a way to keep ourselves earthed.

About Rebecca Schiller

Rebecca Schiller is an author and journalist. She is co-founder and trustee of the human rights charity Birthrights and a regular contributor to the Guardian. Rebecca and her family raise a motley crew of goats, geese, ducks and chickens and work their Kent smallholding to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers and restore wildlife to the land.

Talking Points

Mental health and the cost of hidden neurodiversity:

  • in a time of pandemic as well as personal, political and environmental crisis

  • exposing the destructive burden of undiagnosed ADHD

  • the feminist issues raised by widespread underdiagnosis in women and girls and the extraordinary pressures of lockdown motherhood

  • the highs and lows of smallholding as therapy: working the land, tending livestock and growing food to rebuild after breakdown and overwhelm  

The real story of the not-so-simple life:

  • exploring our impulse to go back to nature, self-sufficiency, sowing and growing in uncertain times

  • the practical lessons and joys of smallholding life: from breeding goats and 'counting chickens', to growing food as a family

  • an unflinching look at the back-breaking, marriage-straining reality of following our post-pandemic escape-to-the-countryside dreams

Uncovering our land's hidden histories and politics:

  • stories of the neglected women of our land's past and how their voices can help us today

  • tracing an English country garden back to our brutal, colonial roots

  • looking towards an uncertain future where climate change, political division, race inequality and pandemics collide

  • asking how to live, love and thrive in complicated times of hope, fear and change

The linocut on the jacket of Earthed was designed and painted by Anne Fewster using natural inks and pigments made from the author's smallholding, land and garden.

Happy Mind, Happy Life by Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Happy Mind, Happy Life
10 Simple Ways to Feel Great Every Day
By Dr Rangan Chatterjee
31 March 2022 | Trade Paperback | Penguin Life | £16.99

‘Simple, genius and reassuring.ʼ Chris Evans

‘No matter how happy you feel, this book will lift you up and make you stronger.' Fearne Cotton

‘A well-researched, personal and entirely user friendly guide for anyone who worries they may have their priorities wrong and who sees a more contented life.ʼ Matt Haig

‘This book will change your life for the better.ʼ The Happy Pear

‘Ranganʼs latest book gets to the crux of what truly matters. Contentment, peace and happiness. This is a joy to read and a simple framework that you can put into practice immediately.ʼ Dr Rupy Aujla

Happiness is good for your health. Learn how to nurture yours.

During his 20 years as a GP, Dr Rangan Chatterjee has seen first-hand how motivation isn't always enough for us to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It's only when we learn how to support our own mental wellbeing and cultivate core happiness that these choices become easy.

In his latest book, Dr Chatterjee shares cutting-edge insights into the science of happiness and reveals 10 simple ways to put you back in control of your health. It features real-life case studies and over 20 practical exercises, including lessons on how to:

1. Define what success means to you.
2. Treat yourself with compassion.
3. Have more genuine, ‘masklessʼ conversations.
4. Deal with criticism

Whether you are at a crisis point or simply want to experience more joy, this book will help you feel calmer, more confident, and able to live your life to the full.

  • How to re-define what success means to you – Ranganʼs upbringing prized ‘successʼ and ‘achievementʼ over happiness and he says, ‘the single biggest problem people have in their search for happiness is them confusing it with success.ʼ

  • How to eliminate too much choice in your life, and why all this choice can be a hidden stressor.

  • Why it is so important to treat yourself with respect – and the link between self-compassion and physical health

  • How and why to treasure your time

  • How to deal with criticism

  • How to talk to strangers – and the importance of micro-connections

  • How to create distance from your phone, and why this will improve your relationships.

  • How to have Maskless Conversations, and make time for interactions where you can truly be yourself

  • How to take your daily holiday – the importance of doing something that brings you into the present moment and helps you to find a time of stillness

  • How to practice gratitude, and the health benefits of prioritising the happiness of others.

ABOUT Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee is regarded as one of the most influential medical doctors in the UK. A practising GP for the last two decades, Dr Chatterjee wants to inspire people to transform their health and happiness through making small sustainable changes to their lifestyles. Leading the charge on how healthcare and medicine is understood in the UK, Dr Chatterjee has co-created and teaches the widely acclaimed 'Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine' course with the Royal College of GPs, that has now been delivered to thousands of doctors and healthcare professionals. Dr. Chatterjee hosts the most listened to health podcast in the UK and Europe, ‘Feel Better, Live Moreʼ which is one of Apple's most downloaded podcasts. His mission is to empower 100 million people to become the architect of their own health and to help them feel fantastic with simple, practical and digestible information. He is the author of four bestselling books and regularly appears on BBC television, national radio and has been featured in numerous international publications including The New York Times, Forbes, The Guardian, The Times, Grazia, Vogue, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail and his TED talk, How To Make Disease Disappear, has been viewed almost 4.4 million times. He lives in Wilmslow with his wife and their two children.

Are you ready to get good at happy?

Clare Mackintosh

Sphere takes two more from number one bestseller Clare Mackintosh, and launches her first-ever crime series

Number one Sunday Times bestseller Clare Mackintosh is launching her first-ever crime series this summer, beginning with The Last Party. The series will be set against the wild, beautiful backdrop of Snowdonia, Mackintosh’s home, and star the fiery DC Ffion Morgan.

The Last Party is a mystery with echoes of Agatha Christie and Scandi-noir but with a modern edge all of Mackintosh’s own, and features her signature strong characters, heartfelt emotion and unpredictable twists and turns. It also draws upon her own experiences as a former police officer. Rhys Lloyd, a home-grown hero who has returned to build controversial holiday homes on the shore of Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake), is found floating dead in the water on New Year’s Day, the morning after a party that brought together the feuding villagers and locals. DC Ffion Morgan has to investigate her neighbours, friends and family – and in a village with this many secrets, a murder is just the beginning.

Mackintosh will be undertaking a major tour to mark the start of the series, travelling throughout Wales sharing proofs of The Last Party with bookshops as well as visiting stores across the UK.

Cath Burke, executive publisher for Sphere, and Lucy Malagoni, fiction publisher at Sphere, also acquired world rights in two further thrillers in a deal with Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown. The first book will be the next DC Morgan mystery, publishing in 2023.

Lucy Malagoni, Publisher for Sphere Fiction, said: “I can't wait to invite readers to The Last Party this summer and introduce them to the brilliant DC Ffion Morgan. Myself and the team at Sphere have had the privilege of working with Clare and Sheila since the launch of I Let You Go, and it never ceases to be a thrill. Clare raises the bar with every book she writes, and we are as ambitious as ever for this exceptional new series.”

Clare Mackintosh said: “I have an incredible team at Sphere, not only in editorial, but across marketing, PR, sales and more. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be staying with this stellar crew for another two books, and I can’t wait to introduce DC Ffion Morgan to my readers.” 

Sheila Crowley said: “It is wonderful working with Clare Mackintosh who is always finding new ways to reach her readers, and works tirelessly with the Sphere team in developing innovative campaigns. This exciting new series will bring Clare to an even wider audience.”

Clare Mackintosh’s books have won multiple awards, sold over 2 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages. The Last Party publishes on 4th August.

How We Met by Huma Qureshi

‘A tale of patience, tenderness and love that’ll add sunshine to your year.’
-Stylist (best non-fiction, 2021) 

‘A beautiful, refreshing and honest memoir about family, love, inheritance and loss that is warm and authentic’ - Nikesh Shukla

How We Met
A Memoir of Love and Other Misadventures
By Huma Qureshi
Paperback / non-fiction / Elliott & Thompson / 3 February 2022 / £9.99

You can’t choose who you fall in love with, they say.

If only it were that simple.

Growing up in Walsall in the 1990s, Huma straddles two worlds – school and teenage crushes in one; the expectations and unwritten rules of her family’s south Asian social circle in the other. Reconciling the two is sometimes a tightrope act, but she manages it. Until it comes to marriage.

Caught between familial duty and her own appetite for adventure, Huma seeks refuge in Paris and imagines a future full of possibility. And then her father has a stroke and everything changes.  

As she learns to focus on herself she realises that searching for a suitor has been masking everything that was wrong in her life. Marriage – arranged or otherwise – can’t be the all-consuming purpose of her life. And then she meets someone. Neither Pakistani nor Muslim nor brown, and therefore technically not suitable at all. When your worlds collide, how do you measure one love against another?

As much as it is about love, How We Met is also about how we fall out with and misunderstand each other, and how sometimes even our closest relationships can feel so far away. Warm, wise, tender and hopeful, this is a coming-of-age story about what it really means to find 'happy ever after'.

ABOUT Huma Qureshi

Huma Qureshi is an award-winning writer and journalist, and contributor to The Best Most Awful Job: Twenty Writers Talk Honestly About Motherhood (2020). Her collection of stories, Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love (Sceptre, Nov ’21), has been described as ‘deft, satisfying and poignant’ (Pandora Sykes).

A former Guardian reporter, she has also written for The Times, Independent, Observer, Grazia, Red, Harpers, New Statesman and The Huffington Post. She is a regular contributor to BBC2’s Pause for Thought and has appeared as a contributor on BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC London, BBC Breakfast and the BBC Asian Network. She is the winner of the 2020 Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize.

Selected Praise for How We Met

‘A sweet, touching memoir about family, faith and love. There's a purity and simplicity to Huma's writing, as she attempts to reconcile the sprawling weight of expectation with her own desire for a contained but free life. But what does a life on her own terms look like? What even are her own terms?  A consolation to others who have trod this very path, enlightening for those of us who haven't, you'll be rooting for not just Huma, but for everyone she loves too.’ Pandora Sykes

‘I just loved loved loved loved How We Met. A love story about panic, faith, family, duty, living on your own, work, grief and trust. It delves into love and politics in the British South Asian community and left me beaming.’ Nell Frizzell, author of The Panic Years

‘This beautiful, romantic memoir grabs you from the first page and won’t let you go. Told with heart, wit and quiet restraint, How We Met is the story of how we can transcend the expectations of others and arrange our own happiness in life and in love.’ Viv Groskop

‘A wonderful read - a memoir of grief, becoming and true love. Huma Qureshi is a writer with a sharp eye and a romantic heart.’ Katherine May, author of Wintering

'I devoured this brilliant memoir! Huma's voice is effortless, beautiful, incredibly refreshing and so relatable. I highly recommend it' Haleh Agar, author of Out of Touch

‘There are the books that touch you. Then there are the books that open out their arms and straight out hug you - How We Met is this second kind of book. Honest, joyful, at times heart-breaking, at times laugh out loud funny, but always generous in its telling... this is Huma Qureshi, heart and soul.’ Ami Rao, author of David and Ameena

‘A fearlessly honest memoir of courage, love and loss, and trying to find your place in the world. Quietly heart-breaking but life-affirming too.’ Kia Abdullah, author of Take It Back

‘Every page radiates Huma’s love for her family, for her emerging self, and for the possibilities of a life more fully lived’ Leah Hazard, author of Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story

‘Huma Qureshi tells the story of her great loves with generosity and tenderness that will grab readers by the heart.'  Jean Hannah Edelstein, author of This Really Isn't About You

'How We Met is the book I, and countless women of similar heritage, have been waiting our whole lives for. I cried and laughed out loud as I recognised myself in so much of Huma Qureshi's story.’ Saima Mir, author of The Khan

‘I loved every minute.’ Laura Pearson

Write It All Down by Cathy Rentzenbrink

9781529056228.jpg

Write It All Down
How to Put Your Life on the Page
By Cathy Rentzenbrink
6th January 2022 / hardback / £14.99

'Astonishingly good, not just on how to write about your life, but why to as well.’
Steve Biddulph, bestselling author of 'Raising Boys'

Why do we want to write and what stops us?

How does the urge to express ourselves fight with the worry that no-one will care or that we will get in trouble?

How do we identify and overcome everything that gets in our way so we can start making work? 

Sunday Times bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink shows you how to tackle all this and more in Write It All Down, a guide to putting your life on the page. This is a kind, encouraging and stimulating book that explores the nature of memoir writing and offers helpful guidance on how to write your life on paper. Rentzenbrink will help you to discover the pleasure and solace to be found in writing; the profound satisfaction of wrestling a story onto a page and seeing the events of your life transformed through the experience of writing the self. 

Perfect for both seasoned writers as well as writing amateurs and everyone in between, this helpful handbook will steer you through the philosophical and practical challenges of writing the self. Intertwined with reflections, anecdotes and exercises from successful writers such as Dolly Alderton, Matt Haig, Kit de Waal, Sathnam Sanghera and Maggie O’Farrell, Write It All Down is at once an intimate and enjoyable narrative and an invitation to share your story.

TALKING POINTS

  • ‘How writing changed my life’ - Cathy’s personal story

  • Top 5 tips on how to write your own story 

  • How to use this book for your own wellbeing

  • Writing in a digital world: the importance of storytelling

  • New Year’s Resolutions – why you shouldn’t diet, but learn something new instead

  • Therapy – both Cathy’s personal experiences, and how to use writing as therapy.

Cathy Rentzenbrink Author photo.jpg

ABOUT Cathy Rentzenbrink

Cathy Rentzenbrink is the author of the Sunday Times best-seller The Last Act of Love and of A Manual for Heartache, Dear Reader: The Comfort and Joy of Books and Everyone is Still Alive. It took her twenty years to wrestle her own life story on the page and she loves to use what she has learnt about the profound nature of writing the self in the service of others.

Cathy has taught for Arvon, Curtis Brown Creative, at Falmouth University and at festivals and in prisons, and welcomes anyone, no matter what their experience, education, background or story. She believes that everyone’s life would be improved by picking up a pen and is at her happiest when encouraging her students to have the courage to delve into themselves and see the magic that will start to happen on the page. 

Website - https://cathyreadsbooks.com/
Instagram – @writeitalldown_
Twitter - @catrentzenbrink