‘[Gentleman’s] reporting proves why an independent press is so vital.’ Reni Eddo-Lodge ‘A timely reminder of what truly great journalists can achieve.’ David Olusoga ‘It is impossible to overstate the importance of this heartbreaking book.’ James O’Brien Amelia Gentleman’s exposé of the Windrush scandal shocked the nation, and led to the resignation of Amber Rudd…
Faber announces a chilling new collection of stories from John Lanchester
Faber to publish Reality, and Other Stories by John Lanchester Faber will publish Reality, and Other Stories by John Lanchester, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Wall, on 1 October. Alex Bowler, Publisher, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, plus EU, excluding Canada, from Caradoc King at United Agents. Lanchester’s first book of shorter fiction is a gathering of modern ghost stories and uncanny contemporary tales. Alex Bowler said:…
A dazzling satire of family and technology in the twenty-first century from Man Booker Prize-winner DBC Pierre
From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of Vernon God Little comes a humane, deeply empathetic starburst of a satire; the most moving and entertaining exaggeration of the fearful nightmare of trying to raise a kid now. It’s a big bad world out there in twenty-first century Dopamine City. Modern life has taken its toll on all Lonnie…
Shell Life on the Seashore
Illustrations by Amanda Dilworth taken from Shell Life on the Seashore by Philip Street, first published in 1962 and reissued in August 2019 with a fold-out jacket and a new introduction by Philip Hoare. Shells not shown to scale 1 Common limpet (Patella vulgata) 2 Blue-rayed limpet (Patella pellucida) 3 Keyhole limpet (Diodora graeca) 4…
Sue Prideaux wins the 2019 Hawthornden Prize for Literature
I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche by Sue Prideaux has been awarded the 2019 Hawthornden Prize for Literature. Dame Hermione Lee, the head judge, said ‘the Hawthornden Prize judges all agreed that (in a very strong year for the prize) this magnificent biography of a very strange and difficult subject is wonderfully well-written, lucid…
The Heartland by Nathan Filer
In 2013 former psychiatric nurse Nathan Filer won the Costa Book of the Year award for his debut novel The Shock of the Fall, described by Jo Brand as ‘one of the best books about mental illness.’ Now he has followed that up with a moving and clear-eyed non-fiction book on schizophrenia, that most misunderstood…
The Wall by John Lanchester – read the first chapter
Here’s the first chapter of John Lanchester’s new novel The Wall. His last was the international bestseller Capital, and like that book The Wall takes its cue from pressing issues of the day. Kavanagh begins his life patrolling the Wall. If he’s lucky, if nothing goes wrong, he only has two years of this,…
Pebble spotting with The Pebbles on the Beach
KEY TO IMAGES: 1 Ovoid pebble of grey granite 2 Grey granite with one surface cut and polished 3 Pebble of schist with one surface cut and polished. The laminations are more clearly seen on an uncut surface 4 Flattened ovoid pebble of crystalline limestone [unpolished] 5 Fragment of whitish chert. Its angularities show that…
6 pairs of Golden Tickets to be won to see a recording of QI!
To celebrate the forthcoming publication of the latest – and biggest – QI Fact book, 2,024 QI Facts to Stop You in Your Tracks, we are offering six lucky pairs of people the chance to see a recording of an episode of the next series of QI being recorded at a studio in London. To…
William Atkins vs the desert
This is an extract from William Atkins’ book The Immeasurable World: Journeys in Desert Places, taken from the chapter covering his trip to the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert. John C. Frémont had no desire to settle the desert, nor any expectation that it might be made to bloom as the boosters…
Read an extract from Patient X by David Peace
David Peace’s new novel, Patient X: The Case-Book of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, follows the life story of the great Japanese writer. Here’s an extract on Akutagawa’s growing obsession with books. House of Books . . . Book after book, book by book, pile by pile, shelf by shelf, screen by screen and wall by wall, you…
Cosey Fanni Tutti talks Art Sex Music
Industrial music pioneer and performance artist Cosey Fanni Tutti has written her autobiography. Art Sex Music is the story of a musician who, as a founding member of the avant-garde group Throbbing Gristle and electronic pioneers Chris & Cosey, has consistently challenged the boundaries of music over the past four decades. It is the account…
Thomasina Miers cooks crispy chicken thighs
Here’s two delicious recipes taken from Thomasina Miers’ new book, Home Cook. In it she cooks her favourite recipes, things she cooks at home for her family, from everyday breakfasts to special feasts. This first video shows her cooking Crispy Chicken Thighs. And the next shows the recipe for Poached Eggs with Melted Leeks and…
Points that Make a Line: Mapping Ireland’s Border by Garrett Carr
The Rule of the Land is about reading the power dynamics in a landscape. To write the book I explored Ireland’s border, but I like to think that I uncovered things relevant to frontiers everywhere. Growing up near the border may explain my fascination with what happens where a country ends, and what springs up…
Fiction’s greatest detective duos – chosen by Stav Sherez
Stav Sherez, author of the Carrigan and Miller crime series, has chosen his five favourite literary crime duos. His new novel, The Intrusions, is out on 2nd February 2017, which has been described by Ian Rankin as ‘A Silence of the Lambs for the internet age’. The classic image of the detective is that of a solitary figure silhouetted…
