Showing titles in City Life

Shani Akilah's stunning collection brings to life the stories of Black-British Londoners as they explore friendship and romance, community and independence, and navigate their way through the relationships that make them who they are.

Harry Silver has it all. A successful job in TV, a gorgeous wife, a lovely child. But in one moment of madness, he chucks it all away. A modern classic, Man and Boy is a hilarious and touching novel about how Harry comes to terms with his life, brings up his son alone and, gradually, learns what words like love and family really mean.

The last word anyone would use to describe Stella St. Vincent is adventurous. She's perfectly comfortable with the familiar, strict routines of her life as a copyeditor in New York. That is until she receives a mysterious note from her late mother and a one-way plane ticket to Paris. Alone and overwhelmed in a foreign city, Stella avoids new people and ventures out as little as possible. But then she meets Jules, an octogenarian art collector with very different ideas about how she should spend her time.

Brought to you by Penguin. Sex and the City' with a killer edge for fans of QUEENIE, EXPECTATION and MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER See me, see trouble Ronke, Simi, Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London. They have the gift of two cultures, Nigerian and English, though they don't all...

The fourth book in the multi-million-copy bestselling series about a cosy Tokyo cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time. Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s poignant Before We Say Goodbye, translated from Japanese, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel...

Old Michael Snowdon returns to London with an inheritance that he determines should go towards helping the poor—but goodness and charity are not to play a part here. Everyone has an agenda, and scheming spreads through the story like a disease. Gissing’s own experience of London as an outsider in a vast city that both fascinated and appalled him gave him the tools and the drive to create a visceral sense of place. Life is unremittingly grim for just about everyone, from the weak and well-intentioned Jane to the coarse, cunning Clem Peckover and her feckless rival Pennyloaf Candy.

London, 1927. On the morning of Friday 5th February, 1927, Miss Agnes Humphries – the landlady of the attractive, if-slightly shabby, white-fronted townhouse at Number 23 Burlington Square – has a decision to make. The rooms of the second floor lie empty, since poor Mr Blandford’s unfortunate demise, God rest his soul. And Agnes must make up her mind as to who will be her new lodger. Agnes must choose between them. But what will her decision lead to? One of the choices could result in scandal, one in devastation, and one could even lead to happiness. If only she gets it right.

Dublin-born Sean O’Connor rules the streets of Kilburn with his charm and his fists. But the locals don’t take kindly to an Irishman muscling in on their patch—and they’re out for blood. As a turf war heats up, Sean digs in deeper, determined to protect his empire and his family. But every move he makes pulls him further from the life he promised his wife, Josie, and their young daughter, Orla. Josie just wants out—a quiet life far from the violence and vendettas. But with Sean risking it all, escape might no longer be an option.

Secrets. Lies. Murder. Fame can be deadly. A British icon delivers a powerful blockbuster in an exhilarating thriller set in London’s East End. ____________________________________________________ A FALLEN ROCKSTAR. ONE LAST CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION. People used to scream Johnny Klein's name. Now...

A new series from bestselling author Kate Thompson. 'Kate Thompson's wartime novels always strike a chord and Secrets of the Homefront Girls is no exception. You can almost smell the Yardley violets drifting over the factory as the girls live lives complicated by the trials and tribulations of...

Brought to you by Penguin. FOR FANS OF BUTTER and KILLING EVE - the Korean cult portrait of a housewife turned contract killer. Translated by Paige Morris, a co-translator of Han Kang A hilariously unsettling tale of love, food and one woman's unconventional quest to support her family. I am no...

Grace can’t believe it when her husband of 25 years announces he doesn’t want to join her on their anniversary trip to Paris - instead, he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock, Grace makes the bold decision to go on this holiday of a lifetime alone. Audrey leaves behind heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no money and no knowledge of the French language, her summer adventure seems doomed to fail. Until she meets Grace, and everything changes....

Anthony Trollope was one of Victorian England’s most popular and prolific authors. He worked for the Post Office while establishing himself as a writer, and is credited with introducing the pillar box to Britain. Best known for his ‘Barsetshire’ and ‘Palliser’ novels, he wrote over 50 works in total, including short stories, travel books, biographies and a posthumously published autobiography. Collected here are a selection of superb adaptations of his much-loved novels, as well as a fascinating documentary and an original radio play by Patricia Cumper.

Following the death of her controlling husband, Margaret Routledge is no longer the downtrodden church mouse she once was. Now she’s the talk of the Close, frequenting seedy pubs and clubs where men gather to pick up good-time girls. It seems Margaret is past redemption until she sees neighbour Jenny Crawford’s headstrong 16-year-old daughter Gloria on the arm of a man of ill repute, and her motherly instincts return. By contrast, Jenny's eldest, land girl Tilly, has a heart of gold, but trouble brews when she helps a vulnerable mother and child with a dangerous past...

The trip of a lifetime! Rosie Lewis has her life together. A swanky job as a Michelin-starred Sous Chef, a loving husband and future children scheduled for an exact date. That’s until she comes home one day to find her husband’s pre-packed bag and a confession that he's had an affair...

From the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Swing Time, White Teeth and On Beauty - a masterful and intimate novel of modern London life 'A triumph. Every sentence sings' Guardian 'Intensely funny, richly varied, always unexpected. A joyous, optimistic, angry masterpiece'...

En la apacible ciudad de Golden la llegada de Theo despierta curiosidad. Nadie sabe de dónde viene, pero su presencia transforma las vidas de quienes lo rodean. Una mañana, Theo visita una cafetería local en la que hay colgados noventa y dos retratos de la gente de Golden, hechos por un artista local. Conmocionado, decide comprarlos todos y entregarlos a quienes corresponden. Con cada encuentro va tejiendo amistades, y este generoso gesto llena la comunidad de luz y resalta el poder de las relaciones.

The long-awaited new novel from one of America's most highly regarded contemporary writers, The Committed follows the Sympathizer as he arrives in Paris as a refugee. There he and his blood brother, Bon, try to escape their pasts and prepare for their futures by turning their hands to capitalism in one of its purest forms: drug dealing. No longer in physical danger, but still inwardly tortured by his re-education at the hands of his former best friend, and struggling to assimilate into a dominant culture, the Sympathizer is both charmed and disturbed by Paris. 

Loretta Chambers has spent her life working at her father’s boatyard down at the docks. She’s tried hard to keep the business afloat, but with the railways taking trade away every day, Lorrie fears for the worst. The arrival of handsome Italian, Matteo Falcone brings a brief glimmer of hope and a yearning inside Lorrie for another life, away from the filthy grime of the dockside.

Trapped in an abusive marriage to Lord Caraway with her beloved daughter Melissa, 24-year-old Lady Elodie Caraway knows she has to escape before her deepest and darkest secrets are revealed giving her husband every reason to seek his revenge. But time is of the essence, if she is to save herself and Melissa. With the help of lifelong friend Aiden Newman, they swiftly leave Oakland Hall for a new life in Liverpool's docklands. On arrival, Elodie and Melissa are welcomed as lodgers by Molly Haywood’s family, Aidens aunt – no questions are asked.