Fiction: narrative themes

All the stories in Standing Her Ground have been chosen to celebrate the skill, the passion and achievements of women writers spanning one hundred years of innovation.

James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is a powerful, trailblazing novel that exposes the intricate relationship between race and class in late nineteenth-century America.

'Taut, compelling and deliciously dark' - B.

'Deserves to be an instant classic.

Winner of the Desmond Elliott PrizeShortlisted: Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year - Goldsmiths Prize - Betty Trask PrizeLonglisted: Booker Prize - Dylan Thomas PrizeMaps of Our Spectacular Bodies is a story of coming-of-age at the end of a life.

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that saw an explosion of Black art, music and writing, yet few female creatives are remembered alongside their male counterparts.

The number one Sunday Times bestseller, from the Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain.

A 20th century classic, The Prophet is thought-provoking, comforting and wise, and its simple truths remain compelling and rewarding to this day.

A haunting and moving debut, The Midwife by Tricia Cresswell is perfect for fans of The Familiars and The Binding.

WINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION 2022'Remarkable' - Colm Toibin, author of Brooklyn'Like Finnegans Wake, only readable' - The TimesIn A Shock, a clutch of more or less loosely connected characters appear, disappear and reappear.

'A sweet, hilarious treat' - Christina Lauren, author of The Soulmate EquationTheir love story has gone viral.

'No one is better .

'Baldacci is the master' - Jeffery ArcherMemory man FBI agent Amos Decker returns in the action-packed thriller Long Shadows, investigating the mysterious and brutal murder of a federal judge and her bodyguard at her home in an exclusive, gated community in Florida.

'Deliciously chilly' - Guardian'Humming with suppressed hysteria and madness' - The Times'Wonderfully evocative' - HeatHare House is not its real name, of course.

Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2023.

A hilarious and moving poetry collection.

From the award-winning Gemma Merino, author of the iconic The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water (over half a million copies sold worldwide), The Dragon Who Didn't Like Fire is a deeply funny story about acceptance, difference and unconditional love.

The Village Green Bookshop is a heartwarming story of good books and good friends, by the bestselling author of The Telephone Box Library, Rachael Lucas.

The Prize-winning International Bestseller When a mother allows her thirty-something daughter to move into her apartment, she wants for her what many mothers might say they want for their child: a steady income, and, even better, a good husband with a good job with whom to start a family.

'An apocalyptic novel for our times' - Guardian'Horrifyingly resonant' - ObserverSuperbowl Sunday, 2022.

The Golden Couple is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end - from Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, the authors of the top ten bestseller The Wife Between Us.

Guardian's Best Fiction of the Year'One of the most original and exciting writers working in English today' - Jhumpa LahiriOnce home to the country's most illustrious families, Waitsfield, Massachusetts, is now an unforgiving place awash with secrets.

'Fans of Elizabeth Strout and Anne Tyler will devour it.

'One of the greatest storytellers of our time' - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing'A story of love, family, unbreakable bonds, bravery and hope' - Christy Lefteri, author of The Beekeeper of AleppoThe Four Winds, an instant New York Times number one bestseller and Richard and Judy Book Club Pick, is a deeply moving story about the strength and resilience of women and the bond between mother and daughter, by the multi-million-copy bestselling author of The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah.

'Sunshine in book form' - Daily Mail'A joyfully escapist celebration of friendship and freedom' - Mail on Sunday'Delightful, heartwarming .

A Times, Guardian, and Good Housekeeping Book of the Year'Utterly compelling' - Marian Keyes'I adored it' - Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow & Bliss'One of the funniest writers in Britain' - The GuardianThe extraordinary fifth novel from Charlotte Mendelson, The Exhibitionist is a dazzling exploration of art, sacrifice, toxic family politics, queer desire and personal freedom.

Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2020From the author of The Long Take, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and winner of both the Walter Scott Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize.

The second book in the multi-million-copy bestselling series about a cosy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.

A Bend in the River is V.

With an introduction by publisher and acclaimed author Robert McCrum.

From Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony of the moon three hundred years later.

Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is the source of Zen Buddhism, and is probably the most broadly influential spiritual text in human history.

*Winner of the Crime Writers' Association New Blood Dagger Award 2023*Twelve year-old Esther Bianchi disappears on her way home from school in the small town of Durton - and the truth will not come easily.

A haunting and tragicomic tale of the end of childhood, Annie John is told with Jamaica Kincaid's trademark candour and complexity, and is a true coming-of-age classic.

Lucy, a teenage girl from the West Indies, comes to North America to work as an au pair for Lewis and Mariah and their four children.

At the Bottom of the River is Jamaica Kincaid's first published work, a selection of inter-connected prose poems told from the perspective of a young Afro-Caribbean girl.

Xuela Claudette Richardson is recalling the last seventy years of her life, and so she must begin with her birth, and the accompanying death of her mother.

Number one New York Times bestselling author W.

With the natural world increasingly under threat, Our Place in Nature explores one of the most topical issues of our day; our appreciation of nature and recognition of our place in it.

'Sharp' - The Guardian'Excellent' - Glamour'Darkly funny' - Harper's BAZAAR'Chaotic' - The SkinnyAmelia is no stranger to sex and death.

Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize'Wildly seductive' - Sarah Waters'Exquisite' - New York Times'Deeply enjoyable' - Daily TelegraphBriefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens is a story about breaking convention, and about love - secret, forbidden, unrequited.

'Vivid, memorable and beautifully crafted' - Sarah Moss, author of Summerwater'A brilliant collection, from a remarkable talent' - Joseph O'Connor, author of ShadowplayHearts and Bones is Niamh Mulvey's collection of stories about relationships.

'Ken Follett can't write a bad book, and Never is his best' - Stephen KingExpertly researched and visionary in scale, international no.

One of The New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st CenturyWinner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction -- Longlisted for the Booker PrizeThe Sunday Times Bestseller -- One of Barack Obama's Favourite Books of the Year'Massively enjoyable' - The Sunday Times'Genius' - The Observer'Enthralling' - Daily MailCan one person change the course of history?

Originally published in 1922, Elizabeth Von Arnim's The Enchanted April is a charming and light-hearted novel about unlikely female friendships and the power of a blissful escape.

A beautiful gift anthology of classic poetry which captures the excitement and joy of a new arrival in the family.

To find solace from grief, we have always turned to the written word.

With a preface by Elizabeth Macneal and original illustrations by Laurence Housman.

'Literally out-Christies Agatha' - Janice Hallett, author of The AppealNina de Gramont's The Christie Affair reimagines the unexplained eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie that captivated the world.