Transworld Publishers

Far from being mere ornaments, flowers have shaped the very fabric of life on our planet. Their evolution triggered a cascade of biodiversity, transforming oceans, creating new habitats, and even altering the climate. Their beauty turned adversaries into allies, and their adaptability turned environmental upheavals into opportunities for renewal. Weaving together vivid storytelling, lyrical writing, and cutting-edge science, Haskell illuminates flowers as portals into deep time and essential players in our ecological future. He reveals how flowers built and sustained ecosystems from rainforests to prairies and have been pivotal in the evolution of species like butterflies, bees, and birds. He also uncovers their crucial role in human history, as cultural emblems, keys to scientific leaps, and evolutionary catalysts, with flowering grasses calling our ancestors to leave the trees, laying the foundation for agriculture and modern civilization. From lessons in resilience and creativity found among gardeners’ favourites, such as magnolias, orchids, and roses, to rediscovering lesser-known wonders, like our uncelebrated underwater meadows that sustain life and the secrets of our most humble wildflowers, How Flowers Made Our World invites readers to see these blooms in a whole new light - as the dynamic and influential forces they truly are.

Jack Reacher will make three stops today. Not all of them were planned for. First - a Baltimore coffee shop. A seat in the corner, facing the door. Black coffee, two refills, no messing about. A minor interruption from two of the customers, but nothing he can't deal with swiftly. As he leaves, a young guy brushes against him in the doorway. Instinctively Reacher checks the pocket holding his cash and passport. There's no problem. Nothing is missing. Second - a store to buy a coat. Nothing fancy. Something he can ditch when he heads to warmer climes. Large enough to fit a man the size of a bank vault. As he pulls out his cash, he finds something new in his pocket. A handwritten note. A desperate plea for help. Third - wherever this bend in the road takes him. Impressed by the guy's technique and intrigued by the message, Reacher makes it his mission to find out more . . .

On the glittering island of Capri, anything can be a mirage. But one thing is true: there's nothing deadlier than a family with everything to lose . . . The world was shocked by playwright Sarah Lingate’s death thirty years ago at an opulent, white-washed villa on the island of Capri. Absolved of the crime, the Lingate family maintains that what happened that night was a tragic accident. And every July they return to Capri to prove it’s true. This time, Helen Lingate - sole heir to the family fortune - has a plan. Tightly controlled by her father, she enlists the help of the family assistant, Lorna Moreno, to free herself from her family’s stranglehold on her life. And yet, behind closed doors, the legendary Lingate family unity is at breaking point. Upon arrival at the villa in Capri, an anonymous gift awaits them: the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died. In the aftermath, the paranoid, insular Lingates begin to unravel. As the investigation into her mother’s death is reopened, Helen begins to lose trust in everyone around her: her controlling father Richard, drug-addled aunt Naomi, aloof uncle Marcus, and even Lorna, whose past she realizes is frustratingly opaque. And as the family fractures, the long-hidden truth about that night and the secrets they’ve kept from one another boil to the surface - and they might not leave the island alive.

What if you could come back after death to watch over your loved one, installing yourself in a treasured mug, for example, or perhaps your mother's hearing aid, a diary, or even a climbing frame, to feel the clambering limbs of a beloved younger sister? Eleven recently deceased protagonists find themselves floating in the afterlife where a nameless ghost offers them a joyous reunion with their loved ones. But not as you would expect. In a world where souls linger restlessly around after death, unwilling to depart, The Soul Catchers is a comforting, witty, and surprisingly sensual take on the Japanese folk belief that objects can be inhabited by human presences. Utterly charming and feelgood, Higashi's classic is an original exploration of our eternal reluctance to let go.

Wit and wisdom for every season from the iconic queen of quips. We all want a best friend like Nora Ephron: frank but forgiving, wry but caring, someone who knows not only what to say but how to say it. Don’t know what to wear? “Black matches with everything, especially black.” Trouble in love? “You can never know the truth of anyone’s marriage, including your own.” Searching for a new belief system? “My religion is Get Over It.” Here is the best of Nora for every season of life, across her storied career, from her early days in the news media to her cult classic novel, to her unexpected turn as a legendary Hollywood writer. Nora saw it all, and with a wicked sense of humour and shrewd intellect, she made it all deliciously funny. Filled with unforgettable lines, this is a celebration of Nora’s singular wit and generosity—start at the beginning or flip to any page for instant delight.

You never know where love might bloom… fall in love with this cosy rivals-to-lovers small town romance! The perfect read if you love Gilmore Girls or The Pumpkin Spice Café series! April Jones needs a fresh start. Leaving behind a broken engagement and a dead-end job in New York, she returns to her hometown, Magnolia Springs, with a plan: she’ll renovate her dad's dive bar and turn it into a florist, just like she had always dreamed of. As spring flowers start to bloom, April throws herself into the project and finally begins to mend her broken heart. But then her high school rival Luke Pointer shows up. He's just as infuriating as April remembers, with his arrogant charm, perfectly styled hair and striking blue eyes. And it looks like their old rivalry isn't over yet: now a successful real estate developer, Luke has plans to tear down half of Main Street, including April's beloved flower store. April can’t believe that the fate of her business now rests in Luke’s annoyingly attractive hands, but she isn’t ready to give up on her fresh start just yet. If only April could find a way to make Luke set aside is hard hat and follow his heart instead of his blueprints... TROPES • Rivals-to-lovers • Opposites attract • Forced proximity • Small town romance

Adored by readers, the million-copy Japanese magical realist mystery for fans of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD. If you could meet any dead person of your choosing for one night, who would it be? When Hirase, a young woman from Tokyo arranges an appointment with The Go-Between, she doesn't expect a teenager to show up. Dressed preppy-style in a duffel coat and carrying a notebook, he communicates with the dead - at least, this is what Hirase has pieced together from the Internet - offering them a chance to travel back into the real world. He quickly lays down some ground-rules: you are allowed only one meeting with the dead, for a single night; the dead person must not have been called back by anyone else before, plus they have the right to refuse. Lastly, the service is entirely free. Four more characters will enlist the Go-Between for an emotional encounter with the dead. What is the mystery behind this smart young man with the notebook and why does he insist on meeting in, of all places, a freezing cold hospital carpark? Utterly unique and soul-stirring, THE GO-BETWEEN explores the wonder of life, the magic of the ordinary and the importance of friendship and always making amends, from Japan's best-loved magical realist mystery author.

Most books about public speaking don't tell you what to do when you open your mouth and nothing comes out. And they don't tell you how to get over the anxiety about performance that most people naturally have. They don't tell you what to do in the moments when you are made, as a woman, to feel small. They don't tell you how to own the room. This book does. From the way Michelle Obama projects 'happy high status', and the power of J.K. Rowling's understated speaking style, to Virginia Woolf's leisurely pacing and Oprah Winfrey's mastery of inner conviction, what is it that our heroines do to make us sit up and listen - really listen - to their every word? And how can you achieve that impact in your own life? Here's how.

Award-winning classicist and historian Emily Hauser takes readers on an epic journey to uncover the astonishing true story of the real women behind ancient Greece’s greatest legends, and the real heroes of those ancient epics, Homer's Iliadand Odyssey . . . Contrary to perceptions built up over three millennia, ancient history is not all about men – and it's not only men's stories that deserve to be told. In Mythica Emily Hauser tells, for the first time, the extraordinary stories of the real women behind some of the western world’s greatest legends. Following in their footsteps, digging into the history behind Homer’s epic poems, piecing together evidence from the original texts, recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies, she reveals who these women – queens, mothers, warriors, slaves – were, how they lived, and how history has (or has not – until now) remembered them. A riveting new history of the Bronze Age Aegean and a journey through Homer’s epics charted entirely by women – from Helen of Troy, Briseis, Cassandra and Aphrodite to Circe, Athena, Hera, Calypso and Penelope – Mythica is a ground-breaking reassessment of the reality behind the often-mythologized women of Greece’s greatest epics, and of the ancient world itself as we learn ever more about it.

When your favourite rockstar offers to be your wingman there's only one thing you cannot do – fall for him. Perfect for fans of Practice Makes Perfect and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. Maria Antonieta “Marianto” has her life perfectly mapped out – a long-term relationship with her dream man, Alejandro, and a coveted job at Latin America's biggest digital magazine. But within hours of going viral, everything falls apart. Marianto loses her boyfriend and her job. Her solution to get them back? Write the article of a lifetime about a series of romantic experiments to win back your ex. Enter Simón Arreaza, the sexy lead singer of her favourite indie band. After Simón discovers her list of experiments and replaces each idea with one of his own, Marianto is surprised to find that his advice actually works. They end up striking a deal: he coaches Marianto on how to win Alejandro's heart, and she will help raise his band's profile. But between the fake photo ops and late nights together, the lines of their alliance blur and Marianto starts to question if she really wants to rekindle things with Alejandro. Because Simón was never part of the plan, and for the first time, Marianto doesn't have all the answers. Maybe she doesn't need to. . . One wildcard can change everything – will she be open to the possibilities?

On a summer’s evening in 1926, six-year-old Celie Shepherd is hungry and desperate and not where a six-year-old should be. Instead she is dangling from a cliff, far above the sea, reaching out to pocket an impossibly beautiful thing. This bold theft will change the course of Celie’s life, and the lives of others. One hundred years later, a house is ransacked. The only thing missing: a dusty case containing that same impossible thing. What could conceivably be so important that it is stolen again and again (and perhaps yet again . . .)? So begins this extraordinary mystery from award-winning Belinda Bauer. A taut, wonderfully imagined novel brimming with skulduggery at every turn, The Impossible Thing is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers.

Razor-sharp, glittering tales exploring marriage, fame and female friendship, from the Sunday Times bestselling author. In this compulsive collection of twelve witty stories, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels, as she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends. In ‘The Patron Saints of Middle Age,’ a woman visits two friends she hasn’t seen since her divorce. In ‘A for Alone,’ a married artist embarks on a project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can’t spend time alone together without lusting after each other. And in ‘Lost but Not Forgotten,’ Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel Prep a new window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an awkward school reunion. Witty, confronting and full of tenderness, Sittenfeld peels back layer after layer of our inner lives, keeping us riveted to the page with her utterly distinctive voice.

Much-loved modern classic by the author of What You Are Looking for is in the Library. For fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Across a bridge, in view of cherry blossom lies the Marble Cafe where a woman writes in a notebook and a young waiter prepares her favourite hot drink. Both wonder about each other and about the other lives of the clientele who frequent this charming little cafe behind the trees .... Taking a walk along the river, cooking the best tamagoyaki, ordering hot chocolate, forgetting to remove our nail polish... The small, everyday acts that we do can offer unexpected encounters and ultimately change a life. Hot Chocolate on Thursday connects twelve slice-of-life moments that open and close with a woman ordering her regular hot chocolate at the mysterious Marble Cafe. What happens in between will touch and swell your heart, as readers connect with a community of untold unfolding lives.

An unexpected diagnosis. A breakup. A redundancy. When life throws a curveball, this book helps us through. After an incident in her own life left her reeling, pioneering cognitive scientist Maya Shankar managed the uncertainty by dedicating herself to researching the mind. Now, her powerful book invites us to rethink our relationship with change altogether. Sharing the riveting stories of others who have also gone through remarkable disruption, Maya unpicks scientific insights to illuminate the universal lessons hidden within them. Exploring our complex reactions to all kinds of change, from denial and guilt to rumination and stagnation, we’re offered tools and strategies to unlock our full potential in the face of upheaval. Change isn't something to just endure. It doesn't have to leave us feeling stuck, hopeless or broken. Approached in the right way, it can lead us to uncover new abilities, perspectives and values, transforming us in extraordinary ways. Whether you're processing a past change, grappling with a present one, or bracing for a future one, discover who you can become on the other side of change.

SOMETHING ASTONISHING IS HEADING OUR WAY . . . A massive asteroid hurtles toward Earth and humanity is braced for annihilation – but the end doesn’t come . . . Because it's not an asteroid . . . it’s a three-mile-tall alien figure that comes to earth outside Little Springs, Nebraska. Dubbed ‘the giant’, its body apparently pierced by a blade, its arrival transforms this quiet red-state farm town into a top-secret government research site and major metropolitan area, flooded with soldiers, scientists, government agents, bureaucrats, spies, criminals, conspiracy theorists . . . and a killer. As the sheriff of Little Springs, David Blunt thought he’d be keeping the peace among the same people he’d known all his life, not breaking up chanting crowds of conspiracy theorists, busting drugs gangs, dealing with doomsday cults, struggling to control town hall meetings about immigrants, and invaders and the construction of a mosque. Or trying to catch a cunning and seemingly untraceable killer. As the brutal, bizarre murders strike ever closer to home, Blunt – increasingly troubled by strange, unsettling dreams of a cosmos in chaos – throws himself into the hunt for a killer who seems somehow connected to the Giant. With bodies piling up and tensions in Little Springs mounting, he realizes that in order to find the answers he needs, he must first reconcile his traditional sense of things with the town, and the world, he now lives in – before it’s too late.

On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see only a cosy ramen restaurant. And just the chosen ones - those who are lost - will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets. Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop's new owner to find it ransacked, the shop's most precious acquisition stolen and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike other customers. For he offers help, instead of seeking it. Together, they journey through a mystical world to find Hana's father and the stolen choice - through rain puddles, hitching rides on paper cranes, across the bridge between midnight and morning and through a night market in the clouds. But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own - and risk making a choice she will never be able to take back. Would you rewrite your destiny if it meant losing a part of your past?