New York, 1940. Vivian, a young girl exiled by her parents, arrives in the big city with her sewing machine. At the Lily Playhouse, a rather disreputable yet charming Manhattan revue theatre, she makes a new family and learns to…

A novel described as 'unsettling, life-affirming, triumphant and tragic', The Book Thief is set in Nazi Germany and tells the story of nine-year-old Liesel and her love for books, books which she steals wherever she can find them. But when…

A tale which has fascinated readers for over a century and filled them with terror, Dracula is a masterpiece of Gothic fiction narrated through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. The mysterious Count Dracula, a vampire from Transylvania who survives…

Despite her adverse circumstances, young Cristabel Seagrave has big dreams for her life and is determined to write her own story. When a whale washes up on the Dorset shore, she plants her flag, and the inanimate carcass becomes the…

The second volume in the trilogy of The Fairmile Series, Dark Tides continues the sweeping saga of the Tidelands family. When two unexpected visitors show up at a shabby warehouse on the south side of the river Thames, Alinor…

‘A must-read about modern Britain and womanhood. This is an impressive, fierce novel about the lives of black British families, their struggles, pains, laughter, longings and loves. With a dazzling rhythm, Evaristo takes us on a journey of intergenerational stories,…

It's the summer of 1822, and  in Edinburgh botanists patiently await for the Agave Americana plant to flower in the newly-installed Botanic Garden. When newly widowed Elizabeth moves into the grand house bordering the Botanic Garden, she becomes interested…

While Mrs Bennet wishes nothing better for her daughters than the prospect of an advantageous marriage, her daughter Elizabeth thinks otherwise. When the wealthy and eligible bachelor Mr Bingley moves into the neighbourhood, he soon becomes attached to Elizabeth's…

It's the summer of 1935, and young Briony sees her older sister Cecilia plunge nearly naked into the fountain of their country house, while Robbie Turner, the housekeeper's son, is watching. From that moment, their lives will never be the…

It's a glorious August morning, when Elle Bishop wakes up after a dinner party and heads for a swim in the freshwater pond below 'The Paper Palace' – the gently decaying summer camp in the back woods of Cape Cod…

Set in 1940, the year France fell to Nazi occupation, Suite Francaise tells two stories, that of a group of Parisians fleeing the invasion and that of a small rural community under German occupation. But even in dire circumstances, Némirovsky…

Amir is a young boy who likes running kites with Hassan, the son of his father's servant. But neither of the boys can foresee what is soon to happen, an event that will change their lives forever. Told against the…

'Rino’s mother is named Raffaella Cerullo, but everyone has always called her Lina. Not me ... To me, for more than sixty years, she’s been Lila.' Set in the 1950s, My Brilliant Friend is the first volume of the "Neapolitan…

Inspired by the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an incident which took place in the 1780s at the court of Louis XVI involving a precious diamond necklace and Marie Antoinette, The Queen's Necklace tells a tale of duplicity and deception,…

Inspired by Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamnet is the story of a boy whose life has been forgotten, but whose name has echoed throughout the centuries as one of the greatest plays ever written. Reimagining the life of Hamnet Shakespeare,…

When editor Susan Ryeland receives the latest manuscript from Alan Conway, the celebrated author of mystery novels centred on the detective Atticus Pund, she does not realise that between the lines is hidden another story, one of greed, jealousy, ruthless…

Against the backdrop of the Biafran war to establish the independence of Nigeria, the lives of five people are dramatically upended, and their ideals and personal loyalties tested. The novel follows young Ugwu, the revolutionary professor Odenigbo, the beautiful Olanna,…

The eighteen books of this series see Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace investigate mysterious and puzzling crimes. A man haunted by his demons and by the disappearance of his own wife, Roy Grace "is a new, and very different detective...open-minded…

'On a moonlit road close to midnight, a touch on Walter Hartright’s arm sends him spinning. Next to him, materialised as if out of the air, is a woman dressed from head to toe in white.' Published in serialised form…

The book follows Alexis on a journey to find out about her mother Sofia's past in Crete. Determined to visit the island, she sets off to Greece. Here, she meets Fotini, a friend of her mother's, who reveals to Alexis…

Joey is a young farm horse. In 1914, he is sold to the army and finds himself fighting alongside his officer on the Western Front. Amidst the horrors of the Great War on the frontline, his courage will be an…

Every summer, the Cazalet brothers spend two months in the family home in the Sussex countryside with their wives and children, and their unmarried sister Rachel. As they enjoy a seemingly idyllic sojourn, they can't manage to escape their troubles…

This book is the first instalment of the Simon Serrailler crime novels. Chief Inspector Simon Serrailler and policewoman Freya Graffham are investigating the disappearance of a woman on the hill in Lafferton. A pair of cufflinks and a mysterious note…

Stevens is an English butler who spent his life to the service of the recently deceased Lord Darlington. Encouraged to take a well-earned vacation, he decides to visit Miss Kenton, the former housekeeper at Darlington Hall. During the journey, he…

One morning, on his way to work, bookseller Laurent Letellier notices an abandoned handbag on top of a bin. Compelled to return the bag to its rightful owner, he attempts to go to the police, but with no success. Upon…

Moscow, 1922. Count Alexander Rostov is escorted out of the Bolshevik tribunal held in the Kremlin and into the grand Metropol Hotel. An unrepentant aristocrat, he is sentenced to live the rest of his life on the sixth floor of…

Maryam is only a young girl when she is abducted by the Jihadis, finding herself married into Boko Haram. Inspired by the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, her story is that of many girls, abruptly stripped of their innocence and forced to…

The second volume of Pullman's second trilogy The Book of Dust, this novel follows the protagonist, Lyra, in her second year as a student at Oxford. Pulled into a dark and mysterious world by her daemon, Pantalaimon, Lyra will find…

Set in 16th century Istanbul, the novel follows the adventures of a boy of humble origins who arrives in the city with a wonderful gift for the sultan, a rare white elephant. On the back of his loyal companion, the…

At the dawn of WW2, the young Eva, a Russian émigrée in Paris, is recruited to work for the British Secret Service. Under the guidance of her mentor, Lucas Romer, she transforms into the perfect spy, but all is not…

Set in the 1950s and '60s, the novel follows the adventures of the young Kya, who grew up isolated in the wild coastal marsh of North Carolina and finds herself accused of the murder of Chase Andrews, a local celebrity.…

This novel is the third and final instalment of the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, after Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012). The plot covers the last four years of Cromwell, minister at the court of Henry VIII, from…