Canongate Books strana 9 z 33

''Life-affirming'' JANICE HALLETT''Full of compassion and hope'' ELISSA SOAVE''A masterpiece'' CAROLE HAILEYGerard is twelve. He hates his name, but loves flying round the streets of Glasgow on his bike, or mucking about with his gang, the Broncos. He''s a bright kid, but trouble seems to follow him. No one really knows what it''s like at home for Gerard; he''s used to carrying a lot on his small shoulders.Gerard doesn''t always make good decisions. And on one April morning, in the blink of an eye, he makes a very bad one - one that will upend his whole world. Now, he faces a bewildering stream of concerned adults clutching files, unfamiliar streets to navigate, a strange bed to sleep in, and the very real chance he won''t see his wee brother and sister again.Heartbreaking and yet brimful of humour, compassion and hope, This Bright Life is a story about messy lives, second chances and the many hands it takes to build a boy.

There is something special about the night. For many, just the idea of it conjures thoughts of starlit skies, romance, refuge, of being tucked up in bed. For some, the night means fear, vulnerability, danger, sleeplessness. At night things go bump, monsters hide under beds, owls take wing and foxes prowl. For others still, nightfall signals the start of work. Overnight is a celebration of all things nocturnal, of those who labour while the rest of us sleep: the bakers, health workers, sailors, couriers, broadcasters, drivers, fishers, the emergency services and more. And it is also a hymn to nighttime wildlife, dreams and art. We''ll hang out with bats and look at the stars. We''ll learn what Moomintroll has to teach us. We''ll travel by ship, train, racing car and foot. There will be more than one surprise along the way.Through a series of personal journeys Dan Richards explores what the night means to a fascinating array of people, taking us from night terrors to the glow of watching the dawn break on the summer solstice. Overnight will change the way you think about the hours after dark.

''Terrifying, black-humoured, black-hearted and bristling'' Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl Jonathan and Barbara Rose are the perfect couple, living the dream in their beautiful house, filled with their precious antiques, their darling children, and their prized Ferrari in the garage. It''s all any red-blooded American could possibly want. But when Jonathan experiences a sudden heart attack (or so he thinks) Barbara realises that she wants a new life, without him. There''s just one problem: they both want the house. For husband and wife, it''s not just a residence: it''s a passion, one that will escalate an ugly divorce into a full-blown battlefield, complete with weapons and casualties.In this viciously black comedy, the Roses will each do whatever they can to destroy their better half - no matter the cost to themselves . . .

In the Black Mountains of Pakistan, the discovery of an unconscious, unknown man is the first snowball in an avalanche of chaos. The head of the village is beset with problems and failing to find his way out. His daughter receives a love letter and incurs her father''s wrath. A lame boy foretells disaster, but nobody is listening. Trapped in terrible danger, a wolf-dog is battling ice and death to save a soldier''s life. Beaten by her addict husband for bearing him only daughters, a woman is pregnant again - but can this child save her?As the elements turn on the village, can humanity find a way to co-exist with nature that doesn''t destroy either of them?

''Paul Alexander tells her story in a way that could put her soul and our questions to rest'' Gloria Steinem''Bitter Crop shows just what lay behind that tragic, transcendent gift'' Sunday Times ''Magnificent'' Irish TimesBitter Crop is an unconventional portrait of arguably America''s most eminent jazz singer. Acclaimed biographer Paul Alexander shrewdly focuses on the last year of her life - with relevant flashbacks to provide context - to evoke and examine the persistent magnificence of Holiday''s artistry when it was supposed to have declined, in the wake of her drug abuse, relationships with violent men, and run-ins with the law.Relying on interviews with people who knew her and new material unearthed in private collections and institutional archives, Bitter Crop limns Holiday as a powerful, ambitious woman who overcame her flaws to triumph as a vital figure of American popular music.

A WATERSTONES BEST BIOGRAPHY OF 2024My son''s death will never make sense to me. But it has taught me that it''s possible to find meaning, collectively and individually, in the loss of what we love. And in finding them, transform. Resilience is a seed that we all bear inside us. It germinates in emergencies. It sets down roots in astonishing and unexpected ways. And if we notice it, and tend to it, it blooms.Liz Jensen''s son, a zoologist, conservationist and ecological activist, was twenty-five when he collapsed and died unexpectedly. She fell apart. As she grieved, forest fires raged, coral reefs deteriorated, CO2 emissions rose and fossil fuels burned.Your Wild and Precious Life is the story of how a mother rebuilt herself, reoriented her life and rediscovered the enchantment of the living world. Set against the backdrop of climate and ecological catastrophe, it''s an argument for agency, legacy and the wild possibility of hope.

1959 saw Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the other members of Miles's sextet come together to record the seminal jazz album of all time Kind of Blue. 3 Shades of Blue is a magnificent, blended biography on the meandering paths which led Miles, Coltrane and Evans to the mountaintop of 1959 and the aftermath. It's a book about music, business, race, addiction and the cities that gave jazz its home; from New York and LA to Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City. Kaplan meditates on creativity and the great forebears of this golden age who would take the music down strange new paths. Above all, this is a book about three very different men - their struggles, their choices, their tragedies, their greatness. The tapestry of their lives is, in Kaplan's hands, an American Odyssey, with no direction home.

The world has been ravaged by a lethal virus and, with few exceptions, only the young have survived. Cities have been destroyed, and the natural world has reclaimed the landscape in surprising ways, with herds of wild camels roaming the American West and crocodiles that glow neon green lurking in the rivers. Against this perilous backdrop, Will Collins, the de facto caretaker of a Buddhist monastery in Colorado, receives an urgent and mysterious request: to deliver a potential cure to a scientist in what was once California. So Will sets out, haunted by dreams of the woman he once loved, in a rusted-out pickup pulled by two mules. A menacing thug is on his tail. Armed militias patrol the roads. And the only way he'll make it is with the help of a clever raven, an opinionated cat and a tough teenage girl who has learned to survive on her own. A highly original contribution to the canon of dystopian literature, The Way is a thrilling and imaginative novel, full of warmth, wisdom and surprises that reflect our world in unsettling, uncanny and even hopeful ways.

A marriage unravels in a Spanish hotel room as a young wife is haunted by a past love. A father travels to Paris to meet his scientist son and is exposed to his son's true nature. A woman attends a reading by a famous author and comes to some painful realisations about her own marriage. The stories in Barcelona reveal the underlying disquiet of modern life and the sometimes brutal nature of humanity. Whether on city streets, long car journeys or in suburban rooms, we glimpse characters as they approach those moments of desperation - or revelation - that change or reshape fate.

Embezzlement, murder, and beautiful women . . . Andy Roark, Vietnam veteran turned private investigator is on the case in this thrilling hardboiled mystery that?s perfect for fans of Robert B. Parker and Jeremiah Healy.?Fans of Robert B. Parker?s Spenser novels . . . will be eager to see more of Roark? Publishers Weekly ?Roark is genuinely likeable (not too tough, but not a patsy)? The New York TimesBoston, 1986. Spring in Boston is always a miserable affair, and Andy Roark?s latest case offers nothing to raise his spirits. The ex-military operative turned private investigator has been hired by a bank president to investigate three of his staff. One of them has embezzled over two million dollars ? and Brock wants Roark to find out who?s living above their means. Sounds exciting enough, but after two weeks'' tedious surveillance uncovers a grand total of nothing, Roark gives it up as a bad job. Brock needs a forensic accountant on the case, not a PI.But several weeks later, the bank is held up, and one of Brock?s suspects is murdered by the robber. Is there a connection? Roark can?t see how, but he?s never been a fan of coincidence. With the case niggling at him, he relaunches an investigation on his own dime. Soon he?s rubbing shoulders with some very shady characters ? and trying his best not just to solve the case, but also to come out of it alive.Written by a US Army veteran and New England police officer, the Andy Roark mystery series will appeal to fans of classic private detective novels, packed with wry humor, unexpected twists and explosive scenes.

* New novel THE LIFE IMPOSSIBLE available in paperback now * 10th anniversary edition, revised and updated with a new introduction from the author THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD FOR NON-FICTION WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEEL TRULY ALIVE? Aged 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living. This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. It has helped millions of people do the same. Moving, funny and even joyous, these are the lessons Matt learned. His reasons to stay alive.

A WATERSTONES BEST BOOK OF 2023 This is a neglected history. Not a sweeping, definitive, exhaustive history of the world but something quieter, more intimate and particular. A journey, picked out in 101 objects, through the fascinating, too-often-overlooked, manifold histories of women. Open up this cabinet of curiosities and you'll find objects that have been highly esteemed and others that are humble and domestic. Some (like a sixteenth century glass dildo) are objects of female pleasure, some (a thumbscrew) of female subjugation. There are artefacts of women celebrated by history and of women unfairly forgotten by it; examples of female rebellion and of self-revelation; objects that are inspiring, curious or (like radium-laced chocolate) just fundamentally ill-conceived. In this compendium, Annabelle Hirsch reveals a new history - teeming, unexpected, witty and always illuminating.

THE NUMBER ONE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER''How I loved this book . . . Seethaler is in his very own league'' Elizabeth Strout It is 1966, and Robert Simon has just fulfilled his dream by taking over a café on the corner of a bustling Vienna market. He recruits a barmaid, Mila, and soon the customers flock in. Factory workers, market traders, elderly ladies, a wrestler, a painter, an unemployed seamstress in search of a job, each bring their stories and their plans for the future. As Robert listens and Mila refills their glasses, romances bloom, friendships are made and fortunes change. And change is coming to the city around them, to the little café, and to Robert''s dream. A story of the hopes, kindnesses and everyday heroism of one community, The Café with No Name has charmed millions of European readers. It is an unforgettable novel about how we carry each other through good and bad times, and how even the most ordinary life is, in its own way, quite extraordinary.

Mairead works all hours in a run-down West End theatre''s wardrobe department, her whole existence made up of threads and needles, running errands to mend shoes, fixing broken zips and handwashing underwear. She must also do her best to avoid groping hands backstage and the terrible bullying of the show''s producer.But, despite her skill and growing experience, half of Mai? d remains in her windy, hedge-filled home in Ireland, and the life she abandoned there. In noughties London, she has the potential to be somebody completely new - why, then, does she feel so stuck? Between the bustling side streets of Soho, and the wet grass of Leitrim and Donegal, Mai? d is caught, running from the girl she was but unable to reveal the woman she''d hoped to become.Told with rare honesty and equal measures of warmth and bite, The Wardrobe Department is a story about reckoning with the past, finding the courage to change the present - and asking what comes next.

A walking tour of the border region where England and Scotland meet by the award-winning writer, meditating on a complicated, storied relationship through historyThe border between England and Scotland is rich in history. It has been the site of battles, treaties, castles and crossroads. But it can also be a lens through which to look at the changing history and identities of these two countries.Between Britain is a one-hundred-mile journey through eight centuries. It is a history book, a travelogue, a personal reminiscence and a gently prodding examination of national identity. But above all it is a celebration of a place and the people who live there.

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST DEBUT OF 2025Mairéad works all hours in a run-down West End theatre''s wardrobe department, her whole existence made up of threads and needles, running errands to mend shoes, fixing broken zips and handwashing underwear. She must also do her best to avoid groping hands backstage and the terrible bullying of the show''s producer.But, despite her skill and growing experience, half of Mairéad remains in her windy, hedge-filled home in Ireland, and the life she abandoned there. In noughties London, she has the potential to be somebody completely new - why, then, does she feel so stuck? Between the bustling side streets of Soho, and the wet grass of Leitrim and Donegal, Mairéad is caught, running from the girl she was but unable to reveal the woman she''d hoped to become.Told with rare honesty and equal measures of warmth and bite, The Wardrobe Department is a story about reckoning with the past, finding the courage to change the present - and asking what comes next.