Doubleday

Nationalities are often strongest on the border, where people define themselves in opposition to their neighbours. Flags fly, dialects become stronger, and the distance between 'us' and 'them' grows. But borderlands are also the spaces in between, where centuries of history and culture merge and collide to create complex and shifting identities. Along the Borders chronicles Richard Collett's multi-year journey, by bus, boat, train, plane, car and on foot, through hundreds of miles of borderlands. But this is not just a book about the United Kingdom's borders and boundaries: it's about the people that live there. Collett speaks to a vivid cast of characters, from nationalists to town criers, from pub landlords to battle reenactors, and charity workers helping refugees on a search for national and personal identity in an increasingly fragmented United Kingdom. By looking to the borderlands, we can discover the essence of what Britain is and what it isn't. What it has been and what it can be.

I am no ordinary ajumma. I am a killer. Recently widowed and unemployed, Mrs Shim and her two children face an empty fridge. As her job options run out, she answers an ad for the Smile Detective Agency. Within weeks, she has turned it around. For Mrs Shim is sharp as a blade, handles business cleanly and is like a padlock when it comes to keeping secrets. By day, she prepares kimchi for her family and her neighbour with dementia; by night Mrs Shim is out on a contract. But what starts as a need for survival escalates into a thirst for vengeance. For Mrs. Shim is done with being everyone's doormat. Diving headfirst into her new career among petty criminals, ghosts and assassins, Mrs Shim's past soon comes hurtling towards her.

Steph Harper is on the run. When she was five, her mother ran - with Steph and her younger sister in tow - from an abusive husband into the arms of a small Cherokee community, where she hoped they might finally belong. But Steph soon sets her sights as far away as she can get, vowing that she will let nothing interfere with her dream to become an astronaut, and ultimately, to go to the moon. In Steph's certainty that only her ambition can save her, she will stretch her bonds with the three women who know and love her most dearly: her younger sister Kayla, an artist whose determination to appear good takes her life to unexpected places; her college girlfriend Della, who strives to reclaim her identity as an adult after being removed from her family as a young girl through a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act; and her mother Hannah, who has held up her family's history as a beacon of inspiration to her kids, all the while keeping the truth about her own past a secret. Told through these women's interwoven lives, and spanning three decades and several continents, To the Moon and Back is an astounding and expansive coming-of-age novel of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice, alienation and heartbreak, terror and wonder. At its core, it is the story of the extraordinary lengths one woman will go to find a little space for herself.

From a comedian and host of a hit TED podcast, a hilarious and enlightening guide to laughing your way into a fuller life. Fourteen years ago, when Chris Duffy was an exhausted fifth-grade teacher, he taught the funniest person he's ever met: eleven-year-old Gary. Gary was the school newspaper's official food critic, blasting cafeteria pizza for looking like cardboard and opining that the baked beans weren't "beany" enough. These days, Duffy is a stand-up comedian and the host of a podcast with millions of listeners, but he's never forgotten the joy of laughing with Gary during a bleak Boston winter. Gary taught him that life without a sense of humor isn't much of a life at all. But Humor Me is more than just the story of a tired New England man learning life lessons from a highly opinionated child. It's a journey to find what it means to have a sense of humor in a world that often feels profoundly unfunny. How (and why) do we laugh when there's so much pain and suffering? Duffy finds insights about the underrated importance of humor everywhere from comedy clubs to emergency rooms to a helicopter full of Navy SEALs. Duffy employs his trademark curiosity and wit to learn how a good laugh can bring us all closer to the good life. Humor Me is packed with strategies for a life filled with laughter, deep friendship, and meaning, and is a genuinely funny read along the way. Much like a dish of cafeteria beans, this book is an experience you'll be thinking about for years afterward.

Daughter. Prisoner. Survivor. Warrior. Nobody’s Girl ... This is Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s last word. In 2011, Virginia Roberts Giuffre hit the headlines as Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s most outspoken victim: the woman whose decision to speak out helped send both serial abusers to prison and whose photograph with Prince Andrew catalyzed his fall from grace. But first and foremost, she became known as a voice of courage and resilience for women everywhere. This is her story, in her own words. A story that has never been told in full before now. It demonstrates with extraordinary power that victims are made, not born. And that once you come to truly understand the horrifying impact of abuse, you will never again question why a victim stays, or returns over and over again. In April 2025, Giuffre took her own life. She left behind a memoir written in the years preceding her death and stated unequivocally that she wanted it published. This is the powerful story of an ordinary girl who would grow up to confront adversity and trauma of the darkest form, yet found the strength to move forwards, reclaim her voice and shine a light on evil – advocating for others and fighting for a safer, fairer world. Nobody’s Girl is a remarkable recounting of one woman’s fortitude in the face of depravity and despair, and the legacy she leaves behind.

Robert Langdon, esteemed professor of symbology, travels to Prague to attend a groundbreaking lecture by Katherine Solomon—a prominent noetic scientist with whom he has recently begun a relationship. Katherine is on the verge of publishing an explosive book that contains startling discoveries about the nature of human consciousness and threatens to disrupt centuries of established belief. But a brutal murder catapults the trip into chaos, and Katherine suddenly disappears along with her manuscript. Langdon finds himself targeted by a powerful organization and hunted by a chilling assailant sprung from Prague’s most ancient mythology. As the plot expands into London and New York, Langdon desperately searches for Katherine . . . and for answers. In a thrilling race through the dual worlds of futuristic science and mystical lore, he uncovers a shocking truth about a secret project that will forever change the way we think about the human mind.

Nestling at the bottom of a five-storey apartment block is the children's playground, Hinode Park. If you look to the side, standing on stubby legs, is a hippo. Its upturned eyes give it a teary look, yet for decades, its quiet power has sustained the hearts of one community. Meet the neighbours who will reach out to kabahiko hippo: -Kanato presses his head to the hippo's cheek, hoping to recover the stellar marks he once scored; - Sawa, a lonely new mother, strokes its mouth, hopes to connect as she once did when she was an award-winning retail assistant; - Chiharu, a wedding-planner, hopes to be able to listen for the happiness of others; - Yuya avoids sports day with a fake injury, only to find he really is in pain. - despite Kazuhiko's fading eyes from too much editorial work, he will learn to see life's everyday wonders. A quietly powerful story of hope, friendship and connection, Michiko Aoyama's beloved bestseller is a celebration of everyday encounters. Its subtle portrayal of the magic of community will lodge itself in every reader's heart.

From internationally bestselling author John Boyne, a contemplative story about one man trying to move forward from the trauma of his youth to become a better father to his son. Being in limbo, 30,000 feet in the air, offers time to reflect and take stock. For Aaron Umber, it’s an opportunity to connect with his 14-year-old son as they travel halfway across the world to meet a woman who isn’t expecting them. Unsettled by his past, and anxious for his future, Aaron is at a crossroads in life. The damage inflicted upon him during his youth has made him the man he is, but now threatens to widen the growing fissures between him and his only child. This trip could bind them closer together, or tear them further apart. In this penetrating examination of action and consequence, fault and attribution, acceptance and resolution, John Boyne gives us a redemptive story of a father and a son on a moving journey to mend their troubled lives.

This is the story of three women - one an orphan and refugee who finds a place in the studio of a famous French artist, the other a wife and mother who has stood by her husband for nearly forty years. The third is his daughter, caught in the crossfire between her mother and a father she adores. Amelie is first drawn to Henri Matisse as a way of escaping the conventional life expected of her. A free spirit, she sees in this budding young artist a glorious future for them both. Ambitious and driven, she gives everything for her husband's art, ploughing her own desires, her time, her money into sustaining them both, even through years of struggle and disappointment. Lydia Delectorskaya is a young Russian emigree, who fled her homeland following the death of her mother. After a fractured childhood, she is trying to make a place for herself on France's golden Riviera, amid the artists, film stars and dazzling elite. Eventually she finds employment with the Matisse family. From this point on, their lives are set on a collision course.... Marguerite is Matisse's eldest daughter. When the life of her family implodes, she must find her own way to make her mark and to navigate divided loyalties. Based on a true story, Madame Matisse is a stunning novel about drama and betrayal; emotion and sex; glamour and tragedy, all set in the hotbed of the 1930s art movement in France. In art, as in life, this a time when the rules were made to be broken...

Designing Terry Pratchett's Discworld takes readers behind the scenes of the amazing partnership between Sir Terry Pratchett and artist Paul Kidby. It shows how the Discworld was brought to visual life - from the earliest sketches to the final magnificent masterpieces - and how Terry and Paul absorbed influences from art and pop culture, fusing them into the Discworld landscape. Whilst Terry was the undisputed creative fountainhead, for three decades Paul has been the artistic force taking the people, places and piece of man-eating luggage from Terry's ever-fertile imagination right into our world. This is a unique insight into one of the great literary partnerships, packed full of hitherto unseen art and the real stories behind it.

From internationally bestselling author John Boyne, a challenging and visceral narrative that asks the question: can one cataclysmic moment turn someone into a monster? On the face of it, Freya lives a gilded existence, dancing solely to her own tune. She has all the trappings of wealth and privilege, a responsible job as a surgeon specialising in skin grafts, a beautiful flat in a sought-after development, and a flash car. But it wasn’t always like this. Hers is a life founded on darkness. Did what happened to Freya as a child one fateful summer influence the adult she would become – or was she always destined to be that person? Was she born with cruelty in her heart or did something force it into being? In Fire, John Boyne takes the reader on a chilling, uncomfortable but utterly compelling psychological journey to the epicentre of the human condition, asking the age-old question: nurture – or nature?

A young couple - Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson and his partner Karen Green - move into a small house on Ash Tree Lane. It soon becomes clear that something is terribly wrong - their new home is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside . . . Neither Will nor Karen are prepared to face the consequences of this impossibility until the day their two small children wander off, and their voices eerily begin to tell another story - of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams and create nightmares. What happened next is loosely recorded on videotapes and in interviews, and impelled an eccentric old man to compile - on loose sheets of paper, stained napkins, crammed notebooks - a definitive account of what took place at Ash Tree Lane that seems to unveil a thrilling and terrifying history. Because these scraps prove to be far more than the deranged ramblings of a reclusive old man . . . Immensely imaginative. Impossible to put down. Impossible to forget. House of Leaves is thrilling, terrifying and unlike anything you have read before.

The gripping historical debut about a family separated by the Berlin wall - perfect for fans of All the Light We Cannot See, In Memoriam and Alone in Berlin Imagine waking up and a wall has divided your city in two. Imagine that on the other side is your child... Lisette is in hospital with her baby boy. The doctors tell her to go home and get some rest, that he’ll be fine. When she awakes, everything has changed. Because overnight, on 13 August 1961, the border between East and West Berlin has closed, slicing the city - and the world - in two. Lisette is trapped in the east, while her newborn baby is unreachable in the west. With the streets in chaos and armed guards ordered to shoot anyone who tries to cross, her situation is desperate. Lisette's teenage daughter, Elly, has always struggled to understand the distance between herself and her mother. Both have lived for music, but while Elly hears notes surrounding every person she meets, for her mother - once a talented pianist - the music has gone silent. Perhaps Elly can do something to bridge the gap between them. What begins as the flicker of an idea turns into a daring plan to escape East Berlin, find her baby brother, and bring him home.... Based on true stories, The Silence in Between is a page-turning, emotional epic that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

From million-copy-bestselling author John Boyne, an inescapably gritty story about one young man whose direction in life takes a vastly different turn than what he expected. It’s the tabloid sensation of the year: two well-known footballers standing in the dock, charged with sexual assault, a series of vile text messages pointing towards their guilt. As the trial unfolds, Evan Keogh reflects on the events that have led him to this moment. Since leaving his island home, his life has been a lie on many levels. He’s a talented footballer who wanted to be an artist. A gay man in a sport that rejects diversity. A defendant whose knowledge of what took place on that fateful night threatens more than just his freedom or career. The jury will deliver a verdict but, before they do, Evan must judge for himself whether the man he has become is the man he wanted to be.

LIMITED FIRST PRINT RUN while stocks last - Discover this special hardback collector's limited edition of the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. Your ability to change everything - including yourself - starts here Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Forced to resign, she reluctantly signs on as the host of a cooking show, Supper at Six. But her revolutionary approach to cooking, fuelled by scientific and rational commentary, grabs the attention of a nation. Soon, a legion of overlooked housewives find themselves daring to change the status quo. One molecule at a time. This special clothbound edition makes the perfect gift, featuring stunning endpapers, sprayed edges, and never-before-seen, exclusive content by the author.

The first thing Vanessa Carvin does when she arrives on the island is change her name. To the locals, she is Willow Hale, a solitary outsider escaping Dublin to live a hermetic existence in a small cottage, not a notorious woman on the run from her past. But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes? Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all. Can you ever truly wash away your past?