Vintage Publishing

There she stood. A goddess. I was in love with the marble goddess. When Rika Horauchi accepts an unusual new part-time job, she never expects to fall in love. Rika has been tasked with talking to Venus, to keep her company when the museum is closed on Mondays. As Venus comes to life in the quiet of their surroundings, she opens up new worlds for Rika, and they speak about everything. But when the museum’s curator, Hashibami, makes it clear he wants to keep Venus for himself, what will Rika d? hen the Museum is Closed is by turns charming, funny and surprising, a love story about our perceptions of beauty, overcoming loneliness and breaking free. Translated by Yuki Tejima'Slim and strangely exuberant...[an] unexpected, absurd humor' New YorkerREADERS LOVE WHEN THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED:'I quickly became addicted''Lyrical and enchanting''Filled with comedy, yet it constantly makes the reader question societal norms''Unlike anything I've ever read''Effortlessly blends the everyday with the fantastical''Fun, charming... if you've ever struggled with self-doubt, anxiety or just feeling like you don't quite belong you'll relate to and enjoy'

'Dark and strange and wonderful' MARK HADDON, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'Hilarious, moving, and delightfully weird' JO HARKIN, author of The PretenderA bold, vivid and fiercely imaginative historical novel with an unforgettable narrator, exploring intolerance, kindness and what 'madness' really means. In a remote medieval parish, under the rule of a ruthless Abbess, hapless new priest Alberto is charged with guarding those deemed mad – and therefore godless. All ‘insane’ villagers are locked in the Abbey dungeons, released only for the riotous Feast of the Holy Fool. Alberto’s thankless task is to gather them again when the Feast ends – but as he comes to know them, he begins to question whether these so-called fools need saving at all. Only one always escapes him: the Flying Girl, a mysterious child who refuses to speak or be caught. As Alberto’s sympathy deepens into defiance the Abbess calls in the Inferrant Brethren: a brutal religious inquisition with whom Alberto has history... With pressure mounting, Alberto must decide where he stands. Protecting the vulnerable may cost him everything.

How did Christianity grow into an international faith that shaped the world as we know it?‘Remarkable … A joy to read’ JOSEPHINE QUINN, author of How the World Made the West‘Dazzling … Will change how you see Rome, and Christianity, for ever’ CATHERINE NIXEY, author of Heresy'One of the most important books on ancient history in many years’ HARRY SIDEBOTTOM, author of Warrior of RomeRome’s Age of Revolution corrects the triumphalist narrative that the Christian message was so persuasive, and indeed superior, that people converted in huge numbers, abandoning their pagan beliefs, thereby turning a small, persecuted sect into the state religion of the Roman Empire. Tim Whitmarsh shows that Christianity would never have succeeded if it had not taken advantage of the infrastructure and culture of the Roman Empire; in turn the new religion was indelibly shaped and transformed by Roman beliefs and ideas, especially those circulating in the Greek-speaking, or Hellenistic, eastern parts of the empire. This radical transformation, Tim argues, can only be described as a revolution. And the consequences are with us to this day. ‘Riveting – incisive and stylishly written’ EDITH HALL, author of Aristotle’s Way‘Fascinating and powerful throughout’ ANDREW PETTEGREE, author of The Book at War‘Refreshingly innovative … Remarkable’ CANDIDA MOSS, author of God’s Ghost-writers‘History writing at its very best’ BRUCE GORDON, author of The Bible

An exhilarating debut novel about a life-changing romance in the long shadow of European history, inspired by the author's real discovery‘Stunningly good’ Julia Boyd‘You won’t be able to put it down’ Samantha Rose Hill‘Worthy of reading and rereading’ BookpageHarvard, 1996. Anna is about to graduate when she falls in love with Christoph, a German student visiting campus. As she visits Christoph in Germany and tries to understand the young, elegant man who fascinates her, he reveals his country to her. Germany is still reckoning with the Holocaust and its pretty new squares belie the war’s destruction. Anna wants to believe in Christoph and the future he promises her but as their relationship becomes increasingly unsettling, she must face up to everything she has been unwilling to see, and everything Christoph has chosen to ignore. 'As if a Sally Rooney novel merged with Richard Linklater's film, Before Sunrise' Booklist'A swiftly-moving, molecularly perceptive, singular portrait of intoxicating young love' Aube Rey Lescure'An elegant, unsettling novel about the burden of history and the illusions of love' Sana Krasikov'A masterpiece' Rebecca Donner

This summer, meet Regina Gottlieb as she becomes entangled with a magnetic professor – and his volatile wife…‘A raw, wild, hurtling foray into the tangled realms of sexuality’ Jennifer Egan‘Fantastic… I wanted to read it all the time’ Meg WolitzerIn the heat of September, and the heady rush of starting her graduate degree, Regina Gottlieb is entranced by her controversial professor Nicholas Brodeur. Against all advice, she becomes embroiled in his world, only to betray him in a passionate love affair with his charismatic, volatile wife. This is the story of Regina’s mistakes, which begin in the bedroom and end – if they do – fifteen years in the future and thousands of miles away. ‘A book that fulfils all the promise of a long, hot summer’ New York Magazine‘Smart and witty…so delicious’ Washington Post‘Surprised me and thrilled me’ The New Yorker‘An amazing book’ Michael Cunningham

Shortlisted for the Climate Fiction PrizeThe story of outcast twins Iris and Floyd who join a hunt through the Tasmanian wilderness for a man-killing puma. But there is a threat closer to home . . . ‘A sublime novel of loss and redemption’ Hannah Kent‘A propulsive novel of survival and betrayal’ The EconomistIn the Tasmanian highlands, a wild puma is on the loose. Dusk has escaped her captors and reports of killing sprees soon follow. Twins Iris and Floyd are out of work, money and friends. When they hear that a bounty has been placed on Dusk, they reluctantly decide to join the hunt. As they journey up into this wild, haunted country, they discover there's far more to the land and people of the highlands than they imagined. And as they close in on their prey, they're forced to reckon with conflicts both ancient and deeply personal. 'Starkly beautiful and deeply felt ... the pared-back textures of Dusk’s prose occasionally recall those of Cormac McCarthy' Guardian‘An expertly paced quest narrative doubling as the tale of a community riven by suspicion’ Mail on Sunday

A non-stop flight across the Atlantic might seem routine today. But it is only possible because of those who went first. ‘Vivid and compelling’ John Lancaster‘A delectable serving of escapist nostalgia’ The Times, Book of the WeekNewfoundland, 1919. Buffeted by winds, an unwieldy aircraft – made mainly from wood and stiff linen – struggled to take off from the North American island’s rocky slopes. Cramped side by side in its open cockpit were two men, freezing cold and barely able to move, but resolute. They had a dream: to be the first in human history to fly, non-stop, across the Atlantic Ocean. But there were three other teams competing against them, and as the waves raged a few miles below, memories of wartime crashes resurfaced . . . Mining letters, diaries and evocative unpublished photographs, David Rooney’s deeply researched account of this audacious contest shows how it was the airmen’s thrilling wartime experiences that ultimately led them to the ‘Big Hop’, and brought old friends together for one more daring adventure. ‘Excellent… consists of colourful biographical sketches of the aviators who took part in the competition and thrilling accounts of their efforts’ Daily Mail‘A glorious romp through an overlooked part of aviation history, stuffed full of intriguing characters and white-knuckle courage’ Sunday Times

'A fascinating journey that illuminates, in often thought-provoking ways, the politics of violence in radical movements' Angela DavisThe son of the FBI's most wanted woman tells the electrifying story of a childhood on the run – and a half-century of revolutionary struggle in AmericaWe all grapple with a past that defines us: culture, religion, a family story. But what happens when you inherit a revolutio? ayd Ayers Dohrn was born underground. His parents were fugitives after a decade fighting the US government; his mother co-founded a leftist radical group called the Weathermen, and replaced Angela Davis on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. All his life, Dohrn’s parents said his birth marked a clean break with violent revolutionary struggle but, in this explosive memoir, he discovers that story wasn’t entirely true. Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young offers a page-turning account of an infamous family and their life in hiding, as well as the political battles of the ‘60s and ‘70s. At its heart it asks big questions: how can a child survive when the place they feel safest – with their family – also puts them in danger? What does it mean to be a good revolutionary, and how should young people today try to change the world?

'Captures that era of Hong Kong music with such warmth and clarity... Transcendent and transportive' Angela Hui‘A wondrous thing: fresh, evocative, self-aware, fantastically light of touch and wholly original’ Sarah HoweA story of music, fandom and identity, from the acclaimed singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss (a.k.a. Emmy the Great)For 11-year-old Emma-Lee, the sound of Hong Kong in the summer of 1995 is Cantopop. The Cantopop stars she idolises are everywhere - their images are on every billboard and their music spills from shop speakers onto the streets. When she and her family move to England later that year, Emma-Lee’s love of Cantopop will be pushed underground – the sound and symbol of her secret childhood identity. My Cantopop Nights is the story of how Emma-Lee found herself in a Hong Kong bar twenty years later, listening to a Cantopop song and realising that this music was her inheritance. It’s about suffering an identity crisis just as the city’s post-colonial tensions erupt into protests. It’s a story of uncanny coincidences, magical thinking and a quest to reconcile the different sides of her heritage: Hong Konger and British, Cantopop and indie. It’s a story of falling in love with a city, its people and its music, while trying to find your own place to belong. ‘An author of exceptional vision... for anyone seeking to understand how complicated, tender histories unfurl in our present – and how art emerges to help us through’ Jessica J. Lee'Prepare to meet your new favourite playlist' Dan Schreiber

Head to the blissful tropical island of Tuga in this funny, moving, uplifting summer read'Absolutely blissful... Get both books in the series: I’ll eat my hat if you don’t love them' India Knight, Sunday TimesREADERS LOVE ISLAND CALLING: ‘A dream island escape’ ‘An uplifting, original story with such wonderful characters. Packed with humour…The perfect holiday read’‘Perfect for the summer holidays – I loved it’‘A gorgeous summer read’‘A fabulous return to the wonderful Island of Tuga’What if your mother knows you better than you know yoursel? n the remote island of Tuga de Oro, vet Charlotte Walker has been taken to the islanders’ hearts and, between days on the farms and nights with a new love interest, she’s content to remain in blissful retreat from her real life, in London. Just for now, obviously. Until real life hits the island with the force of a tropical storm: Charlotte’s mother arrives. Lucinda Compton-Neville knows an identity crisis when she sees one, and has come to haul her daughter back on course: back to England, back to her career, back home where she belongs. Funny, moving, and hope-filled, Island Calling is the joyous second novel in the Tuga Island Trilogy – about mothers and daughters; about holding on and letting go. PRAISE FOR THE TUGA ISLAND TRILOGY:‘A much-needed escape, I warmly recommend this beauty’ NIGELLA LAWSON‘A magical novel, so uplifting, heartwarming, funny . . . One of my favourite books OF ALL TIME’ MARIAN KEYES‘Brilliantly and thoroughly imagined. I didn’t want to go home’ NICK HORNBY‘Sparkling and sophisticated’ JESSIE BURTON

A powerful and important reckoning with Britain's imperial legacy and contemporary systemic racism'A richly told history of Empire from which we cannot turn away' AFUA HIRSCH'I’d have loved to have read such a book when I was a schoolboy' COLIN GRANTFrom the 1500s to the mid-twentieth century, the events that took place in the Caribbean – from conquest, colonisation and capitalism to racial slavery, revolution and migration – and the people who forged them played a seminal role in creating modern Britain and the Anglophone Caribbean. By the 1960s, Western global empires had begun to crumble. Yet the British Empire in the Caribbean did not end. Instead, colonialism was replaced with a new type of power whose impact can still be felt: neo-colonialism. Empire Without End offers a new interpretation of the British Empire, its enduring entanglement with the Anglophone Caribbean and the longevity of systemic racism. Taking a longer historical perspective starting in the period of European contact with the Caribbean and ending today, Imaobong Umoren looks at the impact and legacies of racial slavery to explore how later linked histories relating to capitalism, class, labour, war, political economy, poverty, gender and culture are crucial to telling the full story. In doing so, she sets out a compelling strategy to define our roles and responsibilities in challenging the legacy of colonialism and hierarchy – a legacy that continues to blight our society and our politics.

I often hated my brother, but I have to understand his life. The unflinching story of Édouard Louis’s brother’s violent life and death. ‘One of the most important, politically vital and morally bracing writers of his generation’ GUARDIANÉdouard’s brother spends much of his life dreaming. He lives in a poor, working-class world, where he imagines that he will become one of the finest butchers in France, that he will travel, that he will make his fortune, that he will restore cathedrals, that he will earn his father’s love. But his reality allows none of this. There is no way to escape, no one who can show him how, and everything about him – his drinking, his violence, his behaviour with women and with others – condemns him. At thirty-eight he is found dead on the floor of his small studio apartment. This book is the story of his collapse. Translated by TASH AW‘Bracing, pulverising... burns with white-hot truth’ COLIN WALSH‘Spare, raw... Édouard Louis is someone who makes writing matter’ NEIL BARTLETT‘Louis has never been tenderer, more sophisticated, or more fully on form’ NAOISE DOLAN‘Belongs to that vital group of writers, amongst the likes of Cusk, Rankine and Ernaux, who have revitalised and reinvented their own form’ ANDREW McMILLANPraise for Édouard Louis‘I feel so lucky to be living and writing at the same time as Édouard Louis’ MAGGIE NELSON‘One of the major writers of our time’ GARTH GREENWELL‘Louis is a master of the poetics of juxtaposition, elucidating the hostile and the intimate... the vulnerable and the resilient’ YIYUN LI

How far are you willing to go to get what you truly desir? t’s the summer of 1957 and Max, a piano prodigy, is on a sold-out concert tour. 'An enthralling literary symphony of ambition, desire and obsession' LAYNE FARGO'I couldn’t tear myself away' ERIN KELLYHis beautiful twin sister, Natasha, serves as his manager and minder. But despite Natasha’s careful planning, he begins, for the first time in his career, to make mistakes on stage. Upending his schedule to seek a cure in Paris, Max sets up the pair in the sprawling mansion of a handsome and wealthy count. But Henri is more than just a patron of the arts; he has also been – unknown to Max – Natasha’s lover. Freed from the familiar dynamic of manager and talent, Natasha’s simmering resentment and Max’s deep insecurity turn into a rivalry, as the two vie for Henri’s attention. While Henri woos Natasha in galleries and cafés during the day, it is Max’s playing that draws him from bed each night. As the twins compete, the fractures in their already vulnerable relationship start to show, with devastating consequences for both. 'Thrilling, claustrophobic, passionate' BRIDGET COLLINS'A riveting study in pressure - artistic, romantic and familial' LARA PRESCOTT'I devoured it' ANNA BAILEY'Sumptuous and intoxicating. . . a perfect summer read' RACHEL BLACKMORE‘Heady and intoxicating' KAT DUNN

A groundbreaking history of modern Britain that puts the experiences of disabled people to the fore for the first time. 'A timely and enjoyable untold history' PHILIPPA GREGORY, author of Normal Women'A rare feat of a book: so many extraordinary stories, so many lost names, brought to light' RAYMOND ANTROBUS, author of The PerseveranceDespite there being more than 16 million disabled people in the UK today, disability rarely features in mainstream accounts of our past. That absence is not down to lack of evidence: it is a forgotten, suppressed history – the result of deliberate choices about whose histories matter. This remarkable book rectifies this. Disability is a story of resistance and ingenuity, full of people who refused to be silenced or pitied. We meet the labourer who fights accusations in court that he’s faking his disability, and wins; the painter who signs her royalty miniatures ‘without hands’; and the one-armed textile worker who turned his injury into reform. We see how disabled people have rallied together to demand equality – fighting for their right to lead ordinary lives like everybody else. This is a story not of progress led by doctors or philanthropists, but an extraordinary ground-up history of ordinary people demanding dignity and justice. By putting disabled people back into our national story, David Turner reveals a fuller and richer history of modern Britain than ever before. 'Gripping, profound and important' GABRIEL WESTON, author of Alive'A lively, sensitive history' GAVIN FRANCIS, author of Recovery'Truly fantastic' GRACE SPENCE GREEN, author of To Exist As I Am

Change the way you see the world - and our place in it'Absolutely enthralling' BILL BRYSON'Stunning' GUARDIAN'Beautifully written and meticulously researched . . . Vivid and powerful' RICHARD DAWKINS'The revelations in this book made me rethink the world' CHRIS PACKHAMFrom evolution to capitalism, ‘survival of the fittest’ has shaped our view of the world. But we got it wrong – and our mistake has brought us to the brink. For the history of life on Earth is much more than a story of competition. The natural world has been forged and sustained by small miracles of co-operation between animals and plants, insects and fungi, fish and bacteria – these partnerships are ubiquitous, lifelong and an essential guide for a better future. In Togetherness, Rowan Hooper reveals the intimate connectedness of nature through these remarkable stories of symbiosis. From the female wasp venturing deep inside a fig and the intricate relationship between corals and the algae that sustain them to the symbiotic gut microbes that influence our moods, he explores how co-operation is fundamental to life itself and to protecting our shared future. Togetherness will change the way you see the world, our place in it and our obligation to its hidden wonders.

A death in the (dysfunctional) family – can they hold it together long enough to organise the funeral?'Sexy, terrifying, keen and startling' DAISY JOHNSON'At once shrewd and ethereal' CHRIS KRAUS'A rare, funny novel' NICOLA DINANWhen Mary dies, Patch can barely keep track of her mother’s journey from the hospital to the mortuary, let alone host a wake in her childhood home. Mary's ex Robin wants to support his daughter but, but instead of acting like a responsible father, he heads to his former haunt: the lay-by where he used to meet farmers for sex. Jude is en route. She hasn't spoken to her cousin Patch in almost a year, and would rather stay in Naples, but she's hoping that her attendance will mean that past behaviour is forgiven. Thrown together in Mary’s tiny house, each of them is trying to feel something: to grieve, atone, join in, be better. But they rarely have one another’s best interests at heart, and as the connections between them twist and contort, they lose sight of the rules and grasp towards anything that might make it all less painful. 'Sexy and intelligent' MERVE EMRE'Immensely fun' LIZZY STEWART'I can't remember the last time I read something so bold, tender, sexy and funny' CAMILLA GRUDOVA'Crellin explores the boundless complications of sexuality, desire and love' RACHEL CONNOLLY'Immersive, visceral, tender' HARRIET ARMSTRONG