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Emotions run high when the temperature rises…Love, passion, power, jealousy and tragedy all combine in this dynastic tale of two Californian families thrown together by Fate.1957, Los Angeles. Two speeding cars.And a tragic accident, destined to change the future of two families forever.The Banning family lead a life of affluence, luxury – and sorrow. Victor Banning, ruthless oil magnate and head of this privileged dynasty, is a man of absolute power and obsessions. From an early age his grandsons, Jud and Cale, are groomed to take over his vast empire.Kathryn Peyton, widow of rising music star Jimmy, has struggled to keep her daughter Laurel safe and secure in the years since his sudden death. But one unexpected danger she is unable to guard against is love.Decades later, when Fate intervenes, and Jud and Cale meet the beautiful and spirited Laurel, these two families cross paths once again – with terrible consequences…Spanning thirty years and three generations, The Days of Summer explores our deepest ties to family, and the sacrifices we make in the pursuit of love.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, a short story about a young woman’s attempts to juggle her political beliefs with everyday life.On the day that the newspapers report that Stalin is dying, a young woman, with communist sympathies, attempts to look after her aunt and cousin on a disastrous trip to a photographer.Lightly satirical about the absurd ways people can behave, no matter what their political views, ‘The Day Stalin Died’ shows Doris Lessing at her most wry.This story also appears in the collection To Room Nineteen.

Can a mother ever give up hope?Janine wants her child to live a normal life full of adventure, so she lets her precious daughter go on her first overnight camping trip.When Sophie disappears, Janine is immediately facing a countdown she has no control over. Because Sophie isn’t like every other girl…she suffersfrom a rare disease. Every day her daughter is missing is one day closer to her death.A race against time.A race to save her little girl’s life.Praise for Diane Chamberlain ‘A marvellously gifted author. Every book she writes is a gem’ – Literary Times’Essential reading for Jodi Picoult fans’ – Daily Mail’So full of unexpected twists you'll find yourself wanting to finish it in one sitting. Fans of Jodi Picoult's style will love how Diane Chamberlain writes.’ – Candis

A stunning novel about a brilliant young forger who continually reinvents himself to escape the authorities, described by Chuck Palahniuk, bestselling author of FIGHT CLUB, as 'the best book I have read in easily five years. Easily. Maybe ten years.'Following a near fatal overdose of painkillers, Daniel Fletcher is resuscitated in a Los Angeles emergency room and detained for psychiatric evaluation. Through a series of questions and tests, the psychiatrist must ascertain whether the patient intended to kill himself, or whether he can walk free. What the psychiatrist doesn't know is that 'Daniel Fletcher' is actually John – Johnny – Dolan Vincent, a brilliant young forger who continually changes his identity to save himself from a lifetime of incarceration. Johnny has done such assessments before – many, many times.As he creates an elaborate bluff for the evaluator, Johnny reveals the true story of his traumatic past – a broken family, descent into the sinister world of forgers and criminals, and his one chance of salvation in the beautiful and elusive Molly. But time is running out; as his underworld clients lose patience and the psychiatrist's net closes around him, Johnny has to negotiate the escape act of his life.Evoking the boulevards and strip bars of 1980s LA with cinematic intensity, The Contortionist's Handbook is a darkly hypnotic and stunningly original debut.

A big, intensely involving and evocative Indian novel, with its story of a woman’s fight for her place in the world, reminiscent of Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’.The dew hasn't formally evaporated off the mustard leaves outside. Except for the sleeping baby, she is alone at home. Her mother gave her this much. As an excuse Lata Bai left Shanti behind for Mamta to look after. She has an hour before her mother will return from the well.Mamta runs her hand over her wedding sari. For a minute she considers why it is already lying unwrapped, in precise folds gleaming like a treasure in her mother's tin trunk, then she remembers her mother had used the wrapping to deliver Shanti. She picks up a corner and looks through the sheerness of the fabric. Everything turns red, the red of love. Mamta smiles. It is as it should be. «Keep my world red, oh Devi,» she prays. «Jai ho Devi, Devi Jai ho,» she recites her mother's words. Almost a married woman, she feels she has an equal right to them.’Mamta is one of seven children and learns early on in her childhood what it means to be born female in rural India. Married to a savagely unkind and brutal husband, she flees to the city to try and make a new life for herself. Sharing her story are her mother, Lata Bai, the saintly Lokend, her ever-loving brother Prem, a soul-searching bandit and a brutal landlord. This is a redemptive story, despite the often unforgiving setting, and one that is difficult to put down.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, a distinctive science fiction short story.Unknown observers send reports on a city that is threatened with destruction. They gather information on the inhabitants and their behaviour. It soon becomes clear that this is far from an alien planet.As in many of her acclaimed science fiction novels, in ‘Report on the Threatened City’, Doris Lessing uses the traditions of this genre to examine the world we know and human nature itself, from a completely new and often unforgiving perspective.This story also appears in the collection The Temptation of Jack Orkney.

The first in a multi-generational trilogy by mega-seller Penny Jordan is set in the decadent world of the silk industry.Dangerous liaisons…Skeletons in closets…A scandalous web of lies and deceit…The Pickfords are just your average family.1920s Cheshire. A time of great glamour and decadence, high living and loose morality. A time where anything goes – and does.Amber Vrontsky is the heiress to the wealthy Pickford dynasty, presided over by the formidable Blanche.Obsessed with social climbing, Blanche wants nothing more for her granddaughter than a titled husband – a prize which she herself failed to secure, despite her immense wealth.But free spirited Amber is intent on forging her own artistic career with the silk she loves so much. Unable to disobey Blanche, however, she moves to society London to become a debutante – and enters a world of illicit affairs, drug-taking, gambling, lavender marriages…From the lavish decadence of society London to the opium dens of the Far East, the chic boutiques of Paris to the Nazi-controlled streets of Berlin, Silk spans the depravity and the glamour of this tumultuous time.Spoil yourself with this dazzling, decadent treat by international multi-million-copy selling Penny Jordan – the ultimate read for fans of Danielle Steel and Penny Vincenzi.

A heartbreaking new novel about lost loves and past regrets. A guaranteed tearjerker.Blue Reynolds has the world at her feet. Her successful daytime chat show and the attendant wealth make her the envy of women all over the globe. But little do her fans know that behind the façade of designer clothes and luxury apartments, Blue is tormented by a tragic event in her past.Whilst on a work trip to Florida, Blue finds herself caught up in a love triangle between two men – a situation made even more problematic by the fact that the two men are father and son. Whilst Blue is drawn to her old flame Mitch, she also finds herself deeply attracted to his enigmatic son Julian.Her troubles are further increased when the press discover that she gave up a child for adoption as a troubled teen – a child that she has desperately tried to find in the years that followed.With the media camping outside her door, desperate to tarnish the reputation of one of the world's most famous women, Blue realizes she must face her demons and overcome her fears as well as follow her heart – even if that means giving up the life she has worked so hard to create.Old conflicts, long-held secrets, and thwarted expectations provoke the question of what makes love true. A compelling and poignant novel that will captivate readers of Anita Shreve and Rosie Thomas.

A poignant, highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever… ‘Told with warmth and humour – the story of a mother-son reconciliation, facilitated by a most unlikely fairy godmother…delightful’ Chloe Benjamin, author of The ImmortalistsAfter years of struggling as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally gets his big break when his novel sells to an editor at a major publishing house:none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie, or Mrs. Onassis as she's known in the office, loves James's candidly autobiographical novel, about his own dysfunctional family.As Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. But when a long-held family secret is revealed, he realises his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the page…

This remarkable novel tells the story of three women, each of them far from where they came, all of whom are still searching for somewhere that can be called home.This book was published by Heinemann in 2004. It has been out of print since 2005.Maysa returns to the house that was her grandparents' home , in a village high on the slopes of Mount Lebanon.Aida, long a traveller far from the land of her birth, returns in search for the man, a refugee, who was so much more of a father to her than her ownSalwa, who was taken from her homeland when a young bride and delivered to another family, another country, returns to find the person she once was.

Hilarious, poignant and frequently surreal, Small Holdings is a is a comedy of errors from a neglected corner of everyday life by the brilliantly unconventional Nicola Barker.An attractive park in Palmers Green plays host to Phil, a chronically shy gardener who feels truly at home only with his plants. He and his gentle colleague Ray, a man with all the sense of a Savoy cabbage, are tortured by Doug, their imposing and unpredictable supervisor, and a malevolent one-legged ex-museum curator called Saleem. In love with the truck-obsessed Nancy, Phil strives nobly to maintain his equilibrium despite being systematically mystified, brutalised, drugged, derided and seduced. But when he loses his eyebrows, he decides to fight back.

From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, a short story about a young boy’s coming of age.While on holiday with his mother, a young boy sees a group of older children jumping from a rock into deep sea. He feels compelled to challenge himself to match them, and in doing so will take his first steps away from childhood.An amazingly vivid short story, Through the Tunnel explores the difficulties of childhood and ageing, resonating with many of Doris Lessing’s acclaimed novels.This story also appears in the collection To Room Nineteen.