In Half a Life, we are introduced to the compelling figure of Willie Chandran. Springing from the unhappy union of a low-caste mother & a father constantly at odds with life, Willie is naively eager to find something that will place him both in & apart from the world. Drawn to Engl&, & to the immigrant & bohemian communities of post-war London, it is only in his first experience of love that he finally senses the possibility of fulfilment. In its humorous & sensitive vision of the half-lives quietly lived out at the centre of our world, V.S. Naipaul`s graceful novel brings its own unique illumination to essential aspects of our shared history. ...

From one of twentieth-century China`s greatest writers & the author of Lust, Caution, this is an unforgettable story of a love affair set in 1930s Shanghai. Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory, where she meets Shijun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love & begin to dream of a shared life together
- until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after a separation of many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime? This affectionate & captivating novel tells the moving story of an enduring love affair, & offers a fascinating window onto Chinese life in the first half of the twentieth century. Eileen Chang was born in Shanghai in 1920. She studied literature at the University of Hong Kong but returned to Shanghai in 1941 during the Japanese occupation, where she established her reputation as a literary star. She moved to America in 1955 & died in Los Angeles in 1995. Karen S. Kingsbury taught & studied in Chinese-speaking cities for nearly two decades, & currently lives in Pennsylvania, USA. She has translated Love in a Fallen City for Penguin Classics, as well as other essays & stories by Chang. `A giant of modern Chinese literature` The New York Times ` Eileen Chang is the fallen angel of Chinese literature` Ang Lee `A dazzling & distinctive fiction writer` New York Times Book Review ` Chang`s world is a stark & mysterious place where people strive to find their way in love but often fail under the pressures of family, tradition, & reputation` New Yorker
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Former children`s laureate Michael Morpurgo remembers the post-war Britain of his childhood in this unflinching & deeply poignant tale of the physical & mental scars of war. From a young age, Michael is both fascinated by & afraid of his grandfather. Grandpa`s ship was torpedoed during the Second World War, leaving him with terrible burns. Every time he comes to stay, Michael is warned by his mother that he must not stare, he must not make too much noise, he must not ask Grandpa any questions about his past. As he grows older, Michael stays with his grandfather during the summer holidays, & as he finally learns the story behind his injuries, he gets to know the real man behind the solemn figure from his childhood. Michael begins to see beyond the burns, & this gives him the power to begin healing some of the scars that have divided his family for so long. ...

Charming & talented Alex dreams of becoming a professional saxophonist while working long hours in the family bakery. Detlef, lonely, repressed, & a small-time Stasi informer, develops an obsessive love for him. But Alex has eyes only for Nicky, an English woman visiting East Berlin as an au pair. With no natural outlet for his feelings, Detlef`s passion becomes destructive, his need for approval enmeshed with the latent homophobia of the regime. As Alex`s band becomes more successful, he moves closer to influences considered subversive by a state that has eyes & ears everywhere, & Detlef`s passions threaten to endanger all of them all. ...

Half Bad by Sally Green is a breathtaking debut novel about one boy`s struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches. You can`t read, can`t write, but you heal fast, even for a witch. You get sick if you stay indoors after dark. You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one. You`ve been kept in a cage since you were fourteen. All you`ve got to do is escape & find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. & do that before your seventeenth birthday. Easy. ”A book about witches with no owls & not a pair of round spectacles in sight. The new Hunger Games, I suspect... Brilliant & utterly compelling
- I loved it”. (Kate Atkinson, author of Life after Life & Behind the Scenes of the Museum). ” Teens rejoice: the inheritor to Stephenie Meyer`s crown has arrived”. (Fiona Wilson, The Times). ” Edgy, arresting & brilliantly written, Half Bad grips you from the first page & doesn`t let go”. (Michael Grant, author of Gone). ”A brilliant debut that is both deeply unique & unsettling, one that chilled me to the bone & broke my heart even as I sped through its pages. This will haunt you”. (Marie Lu, author of Legend).” Take our word for it, this book is going to be huge”. (Stylist). ” Brilliantly paced with more than a few nasty surprises, Half Bad is a wickedly addictive read that will capture the imagination of any fan of YA fiction”. (Starburst). ” Not since the Harry Potter books
- yes, I said it!
- have I felt so fully immersed in an author`s creation...I couldn`t be more stoked over Half Bad, & this launch novel of a trilogy truly deserves all the hype surrounding it
- & much more...” (Amanda Hurley, Inkwood Books). Sally Green lives in north-west Engl&. She has had jobs (paid & unpaid) & even a profession but at last has found the time to write down the stories she used to only be able to daydream about. She likes to read, walk in the country & would like to drink less coffee. Half Bad is her first novel.



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From Weimar Berlin to the fall of Paris, & on to the present day, danger, jealousy & inspiration combine to tempt a man to a secret betrayal. Now a ” Radio 4 Book at Bedtime” scheduled for 27th June
- 8th July. Chip told us not to go out. Said, don`t you boys tempt the devil. But it been one brawl of a night, I tell you. The aftermath of the fall of Paris, 1940. Hieronymous Falk, a rising star on the cabaret scene, was arrested in a cafe & never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. & he was black. Fifty years later, Sid, Hiero`s bandmate & the only witness that day, is going back to Berlin. Persuaded by his old friend Chip, Sid discovers there`s more to the journey than he thought when Chip shares a mysterious letter, bringing to the surface secrets buried since Hiero`s fate was settled. In ” Half Blood Blues”, Esi Edugyan weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty & the possibility that, if you don`t tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. & they just might tell it wrong...
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' It's time to stop fighting, & go home'. These are the words that persuade Aruna to walk out of her East London flat in the middle of breakfast, & keep on walking. Leaving behind her marriage to Patrick, her adoring husb&, she gets on a plane to Singapore, running back home to the city she had run away from in the first place. & there she finds her childhood friend & former lover, Jazz, who has never stopped waiting for her to return. After years spent fleeing the ghosts of her past
- the life she & Jazz had together, the terrible revelation that tore them apart, the troubling psychological diagnosis she would rather forget
- Aruna is about to discover that running away is easy. It is coming home
- making peace with herself, Jazz & those they have loved
- that is hard. Set in London, Singapore & Malaysia, Half Life is an extraordinary, brutal yet also lyrical novel of love & conflict, friendship & sacrifice. 'A compelling tale.. . Farooki's hypnotic narrative is driven by a delicate, probing intensity, full of grace & poignancy'
- Publishers Weekly (US).




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Perfect for a classic or modern interior, this floor lamp is sure to draw the eye. The authentic Models SL040 Half Mile Ray ...

Half Moon presents the ‘ Your Country Needs You’ range, a series of gift items using prints "es inspired by the famous enlistment campaign of WWI. The collection

Includes:: stationery, games, bags & kitchen ware. The imagery has been applied to contemporary designs to appeal & withstand a modern lifestyle. Beautifully made these items are sturdy & they are original gift ideas for anyone who loves history or likes ‘nostalgia’ products.

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Half Moon presents the Shackleton Expedition range, a series of gift items using prints "es inspired by the historic voyage. The collection

Includes:: stationery, games, bags & kitchen ware. The imagery has been applied to contemporary designs to appeal & withstand modern lifestyle. Beautifully made, these items are sturdy & they are original gift ideas for anyone who loves history or ‘nostalgia’ products.

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