Not Stated

The Art of the Matter - beautifully illustrated, and almost tactile in its language - is centred around the idea that art is where we go to discover the things we don't yet know. As well as its attention to painting, it also engages with the art of managing grief. It offers the reader a way of looking at endurance, both in terms of resilience and everlastingness. Art prompts a kind of expansion in the chest: we become more human, more curious, more alive when we are in the presence of a really great painting. Focusing on the relationship with her painter father, Claire Steele considers his works as posthumous conversations - dynamic, ongoing and full of mysterious surprises. Via a collection of meditative reflections on art, loss, landscape, home and belonging, she explores what it was like to be the child of an artist, and how to retrieve a sense of him from attention to his paintings.

Set in South London during the 1970s, Becoming Henry is a sharply observed, big-hearted and brilliantly funny coming-of-age novel. Henry has grand ideas and even grander ambitions. He longs to be recognised - by his family, his peers, and the world - as the comic genius he believes himself to be. Told with emotional precision and wry humour, the story traces Henry's life from his earliest memories in a conventional, emotionally constrained household to the brink of adulthood. Raised in a family where tenderness is elusive and communication often tips into absurdity, Henry finds early refuge in his imagination, music, and books. Adolescence brings contradictions: Henry's idealised sense of himself clashes with a desperate need for connection - particularly romantic or sexual. As he enters his teens, his desire to be desired, combined with a fear of not being enough, results in a phase of anorexia and self-effacement. He lurches from one misjudged crush to another, suffering social humiliations, but also forming deep bonds with other misfit boys who share his anarchic sense of humour. With wit, psychological insight and finesse, the novel explores themes of identity, aspiration, class, and masculinity. It captures the ache of wanting to belong while needing to be seen as different - the longing to be both accepted and exceptional - and the lengths one boy will go to in order to matter. Blending the depth of literary fiction with the accessibility of great storytelling, Becoming Henry is a poignant, funny, and unforgettable portrait of growing up on the fringes.

Praying the Parables of Jesus offers an immersive encounter with Scripture, guiding readers to connect more deeply with the teachings of Jesus through prayerful reflection on His parables. In a world that constantly pulls our attention in countless directions, these 40 devotions invite us to pause, focus, and rediscover the quiet assurance of living out our faith with conviction.Drawing inspiration from Eugene Peterson’s perspective on parables as tools that “force attention, participation, and involvement,” authors Macchia and Skinner guide us into each parable, training our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our feet to follow Jesus’ path. This book helps us recalibrate our spirits toward faithfulness and fruitfulness, aligning our lives with the Kingdom of God in the here and now of our daily lives.Using the text of The Message Bible, Praying the Parables of Jesus provides holistic, multisensory prompts that encourage readers to not only hear and respond to the Word but also to live into it. Features included:Key contextual insights into 40 of Jesus’ parables,A guided prayerful reading of each parable, using the ancient practice of Lectio Divina,A companion reflection on original art inspired by the parable, based on the ancient practice of Visio Divina.This transformative experience helps turn the prism of daily life in a redemptive direction, offering gentle guidance from Jesus the storyteller to cultivate a life rooted in truth, prayer, and grace.

Alfie O'Brien, soon to rename himself Bogboy, is born an orphan into a house of dead things, presided over by his imperious, ailing aunt. This is a place where the past won't let the present go, where ghosts confer with the living, and where discovering who you are means coming face to face with some uncomfortable truths. It is a house cursed by shadows, secrets and dynasty. While the wind blows in from the Atlantic across these Irish peatlands, old enmities bite down, and when Bogboy is left for dead, he must learn how to trust love, discover where he belongs, and reconcile himself with his destiny. The ancestors are gathering and Bogboy is about to become a man. An audacious, rousing story of hope and beauty rising out of the dying embers of a corrupt and redundant regime, Bogboy is a story for our times, reminding us that attention to the natural world offers solace and healing, and that love - wherever we may find it - is always stronger than hatred.