Other books that might interest you

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  Word-Play (NHB Modern Plays)

  Rabiah Hussain

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  In the Downing Street Press Office an emergency meeting has been called. The Prime Minister has been ad-libbing on live TV (again) and his words are going viral.
  There is a flurry of accusations, and demands for an apology; but as his team debate what to do next, it's already too late. His words have found their way to dinner parties, bus journeys and newspaper columns across the nation – and not everyone is angry.
  Rabiah Hussain's play Word-Play explores how language seeps into public consciousness and reverberates with far-reaching consequences that will last for generations. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London, in July 2023, directed by Nimmo Ismail.

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  Dracula

  Bram Stoker

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  Dracula is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. It is an epistolary novel with no single protagonist. The narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. 
  It was mostly written in the 1890s and drew extensively from Transylvanian folklore and history. Some scholars have suggested that the character of Dracula was inspired by historical figures like the Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler or the countess Elizabeth Báthory, but there is widespread disagreement. Stoker's notes mention neither figure. He found the name Dracula in Whitby's public library while on holiday, thinking it meant devil in Romanian. 
  Dracula is one of the most famous pieces of English literature. Many of the book's characters have entered popular culture as archetypal versions of their characters; for example, Count Dracula as the quintessential vampire, and Abraham Van Helsing as an iconic vampire hunter. The novel, which is in the public domain, has been adapted for film over 30 times, and its characters have made numerous appearances in virtually all media.

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  Above the Bejeweled City

  Jon Davis

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  In his seventh poetry collection, Jon Davis exhibits the range and mastery that is the result of fifty years of study, teaching, and practice. Above the Bejeweled City opens and closes with homages to Federico Garcia Lorca' s dream-struck ballad " Romance Soná mbulo." In between, he inhabits what the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty calls the " inexplicable existence" that marks our passage here on Earth.
  
  Part absurdist, part satirist, part tender correspondent, Davis writes in the slipstream of writers like Joyce, Beckett, Parra, and Plath. In an age that calls out for hopeful verse, Above the Bejeweled City offers, instead, a treatise on defeat and despair— and on how letting go is a way of holding on.

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  The Prophet - by Kahlil Gibran

  Kahlil Gibran

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  The Prophet by Khalil Gibran is a timeless masterpiece of poetic prose that explores universal themes of love, life, and the human experience. Written in a deeply lyrical and spiritual tone, the book follows Almustafa, a wise prophet, as he prepares to leave the city of Orphalese after twelve years. Before his departure, the townspeople gather to seek his counsel, prompting him to share profound reflections on 26 essential aspects of life, including love, marriage, work, freedom, joy, and sorrow. Through its eloquent and thought-provoking insights, The Prophet offers readers an inspiring guide to living with purpose, compassion, and self-awareness. Its enduring relevance and universal wisdom have made it a beloved literary treasure across generations.

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  Woman at the Crossing

  Susan Okie

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  In the poem that opens her debut collection, Susan Okie recounts an evening in the anatomy lab. Here we witness the depths of her curiosity toward her subject's inner workings. When I tugged on the flexor digitorum tendons, / her fingers partly closed and her thumb /crooked in. I seemed to see the two of us / as if from outside, and could no longer / name the tendons. I felt my fingers / from inside her hand." What to some might feel like harrowing proximity, Okie delivers, in astonishing verse, with wonder and even intimacy. To be sure, Woman at the Crossing is the work of a seasoned practitioner.

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  Red or Dead

  David Peace

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  'That's all I ask from anyone. That we try to make the people happy.'
  Bill Shankly had one aim: to make Liverpool Football Club invincible.
  As its manager from 1959, he secured the team promotion, the First Division title, the FA Cup and success in Europe. For fifteen years, he defined what it was to be a Liverpool fan, and demanded total loyalty from his players and coaches. A loyalty that Bill hoped would be repaid when he retired...
  David Peace's iconic novel Red or Dead is the fictionalised story of a game, a life, and a man of two halves. This stage version was adapted and directed by Phillip Breen, and first performed at Liverpool's Royal Court in 2025, with a cast including Peter Mullan as Bill Shankly.
  The novel was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and has been widely acclaimed:
  'David Peace brings perfect pitch to this ode to Bill Shankly's Liverpool reign' Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Observer
  'A love letter to a great manager, an elegy to the beautiful game' Independent
  'So hypnotic that even the football-averse might enjoy it' Guardian

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