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  Feathered Glory

  James Lasdun

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  Feathered Glory explores themes of male friendship, waning middle-aged powers and sexual transgression in a way that couldn't feel more timely. The marriage of a school professor and artist reveals dangerous fault-lines when an old lover reappears in the husband's life and the wife, fascinated by a charismatic wildlife rehabilitator, brings an injured swan into their home.

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  Rappaccini's Daughter

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

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  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. 
   
  At only four years old, his father died and his mother took him and his two sisters to live with her family and then on to their own home in Raymond, Maine. The young Hawthorne had a passion for fiction and poetry and voraciously read the works of Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding and Lord Byron.  
   
  He was sent to college at his maternal uncle’s insistence. During these years he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future U S president Franklin Pierce. These friendships were lifelong and to have a crucial impact on his writings and career.  
   
  At college Hawthorne had made attempts at writing short stories and essays but without opportunities to publish. It was only in 1828 that he finally published his novel ‘Franshawe’ to little success and so he began work as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge.  
   
  Hawthorne’s short stories were first published in magazines but in 1837 were collected and published as ‘Twice-Told Tales’. A steady literary career still did not come his way and so he worked in a good position at Salem’s port and married the love of his life Sophia Peabody. They moved to live in ‘The Old Manse’ at Concord, Massachusetts.   
   
  Finally. in 1850 came spectacular literary and commercial success with ‘The Scarlet Letter’ followed by ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ the following year.  
   
  In 1852, Hawthorne published a biography of presidential candidate Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s victory he was appointed consul in Liverpool, a position that offered prestige, money and fame. At the end of this appointment he returned several times to Europe before settling in Massachusetts and resuming writing and publication. 
   
  During the early 1860’s his health declined and on 19th May 1864 during a trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 59 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.  
   
  ‘Rapaccinni’s Daughter’ is a classic piece of literature from his pen.  Set in Italy, it is an unsettling story of romance destroyed by science.

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  Walden of Bermondsey

  Peter Murphy

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  When Charlie Walden took on the job of Resident Judge of the Bermondsey Crown Court, he was hoping for a quiet life. But he soon finds himself struggling to keep the peace between three feisty fellow judges who have very different views about how to do their job, and about how Charlie should do his.
  And as if that's not enough, there's the endless battle against the 'Grey Smoothies', the humourless grey-suited civil servants who seem determined to drown Charlie in paperwork and strip the court of its last vestiges of civilisation.
  No hope of a quiet life then for Charlie, and there are times when his real job - trying the challenging criminal cases that come before him - actually seems like light relief.

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  The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn...

  Jessica Ryn

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  ‘This is the book we all need right now: a story of kindness and hope. I absolutely loved it’ 
  Anstey Harris, bestselling author of Richard and Judy Book Club pick The Truths and Triumphs of Grace AthertonShe’s not lost. She’s just waiting to be found… 
  ‘Completely beguiling – a messy, loveable cast of characters with Dawn at the centre, bringing the light. A truly lovely read’ 
  Beth Morrey, Sunday Times bestselling author of Saving Missy 
  Dawn Elisabeth Brightside has been running from her past for twenty-two years and two months, precisely. 
  So when she is offered a bed in St Jude’s Hostel for the Homeless, it means so much more than just a roof over her head. 
    
  But with St Jude’s threatened with closure, Dawn worries that everything is about to crumble around her all over again. 
    
  Perhaps, with a little help from her new friends, she can find a way to save this light in the darkness? 
    
  And maybe, just maybe, Dawn will finally have a place to call home…. 
  The utterly charming feel-good debut novel of summer 2021 to curl up with.  
  In the heart of a small, rural town, Dawn Brightside's story of coming of age unfolds, weaving a tapestry of relationships that are as complex as they are endearing. The top-notch fiction piece by Jessica Ryn explores the intricacies of friendship and family, set against the backdrop of the sea. 
  For fans of Freya Sampson (The Last Library), Libby Page (The Lido), Veronica Henry (An Eligible Bachelor), Cathy Bramley (The Sunrise Sisterhood), and Alexandra Potter (More Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up).

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  The Art of Living - & Other Stories

  John Gardner

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  An inspired book of short stories that explores the profound relationship between life and art While mourning the loss of his son in the Vietnam War, an Italian chef reflects on the importance of art for future generations. An American boy retreats inward after he kills his younger brother in a farming accident, finding solace in classical music and a friendship with his teacher. Placing the artist at the center of his stories, Gardner produces a series of beautiful moments where art must act as a life-affirming force—and creates a collection of poignant narratives as a result. In The Art of Living, author John Gardner brings his most significant themes to life with stunning eloquence and masterful narration. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of John Gardner, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Gardner family and the University of Rochester Archives.

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  Ashes - and other stories

  Naomi Shepherd

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  Naomi Shepherd is a prize-winning historian and biographer; here she turns her hand to fiction, revealing a razor-sharp eye, a finely attuned ear, and a keen sense of cultural dissonance. In each of these thirteen stories we see a different facet of a fast-changing country where the clash of cultures and of expectations creates situations rich in humour, poignancy, disappointment, and tragedy. 'The short stories in Naomi Shepherd's collection Ashes are a delight. In them we encounter themes of adultery, love, jealousy, loss, guilt, encroaching age, et cetera, set in an Israel of many modes, and Israel shaped by its heritage, its history, and, above all, its inhabitants, Jew and Arab, all gathered together not so much in a melting pot as in a stew concocted of intractable, discordant elements. We are presented, in short, with an anatomy of Israeli society, a species of social tragic-comedy.' Alan Isler, author of The Prince of West End Avenue

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