Transworld

For fans of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS, THE FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST and ET.

'A MOST UNUSUAL AND DELIGHTFUL BOOK' Alexander McCall Smith

Funny, touching, charming, wise: a friendship novel that explores what it is to be human.

Some time in the future:
Ben Chambers wakes up to find an old robot - rusty and dazed- sitting underneath the willow tree in his garden. It's not a new android model, the type people now use for domestic chores around the house, but an antique one, no longer of any use. Refusing to throw it on the skip as his wife Amy advises, he brings it inside.

He names it Tang. Tang turns out to be needy, he has a chronic oil leak and some inside parts don't work properly. As Ben - who has never wanted children or even a job - grows closer to his new friend, he and his wife, Amy, grow further apart.

When Amy finally walks out, Ben begins to realise he has now alienated all the human beings in his life.
But his new friend needs to be fixed, if he is to have a future. And so Ben decides to take Tang back to his maker, half way across the world, on a remote island in the Pacific ...

Soon to be a major Warner Brothers Japan movie, starring Kazunari Ninomiya from Arashi

READERS LOVE IT TOO:

There were so many funny parts in this book and i did not want it to end' 5 *****
'A lovely book about friendship and discovery. Heartwarming' 4 ****
'i knew nothing about this book when i started it and i could not put it down' 5 ****
'Wonderful. i did not want it to stop' 5 ****
'The characters are drawn with such tenderness' 5 ****

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'A crucial, riveting polemic in support of one of the most precious things humanity has built - democracy itself' OWEN JONES

'Graham Smith shows what fools our rotten constitution makes of us, with a monarch as emblem of a country beset by nepotism, backhanders, chumocracy and inherited privilege. Read and rebel!' POLLY TOYNBEE

We're constantly told the same things about the monarchy:

But the monarchy is good for tourism..
It isn't! Evidence points to some royal weddings actually having a negative impact on inbound tourism.

But the monarchy makes a big difference to charity..
Of the approx. 1,200 charities with a royal patron, 74% had no contact with their patron during the preceding year.

But everyone loves the monarchy..
A January 2023 poll showed support for the monarchy is down 55 percent.

It's wrong in principle and it doesn't work in practice. It doesn't have to be this way.

They say Britain should be proud to have the mother of parliaments, to be a shining beacon of democracy and an example to other nations. But there's an elephant in the room.

At the heart of power is a single family. They weren't elected but they live off the public purse. They aren't accountable to anyone, and yet between them they are privy to more government secrets than many cabinet ministers. Divinely appointed using a special hat, the head of the family is your superior, you his subject. Apparently he is guardian of our constitution - but we're also told he wouldn't dream of interfering in politics.

If you accept the monarchy, you must accept the moral compromise that comes with it, from its erosion of the principle of equality to the secret interference in our laws. But the good news is that we don't have to accept it. True democracy is within our reach.

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Family and business, husbands and wives, parents and children. It's always a balancing act... In this emotional and thought-provoking novel, multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope expertly weaves a study of familial relationships with a lightness of tone and real sense of compassion. Fans of Elizabeth Noble, Erica James and Amanda Prowse will not be disappointed.

'To be relished.' -- The Times
'Joanna Trollope's evocations of human relationships are, as ever, penetrating and engaging.' -- Daily Express
'A joy to read' -- ***** Reader review
'A great read, very engrossing and hard to put down' -- ***** Reader review
'A real page-turner' -- ***** Reader review
'Sublime' -- ***** Reader review

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WHEN EVERYTHING YOU'VE WORKED TO ACHIEVE SUDDENLY FEELS PRECARIOUS, YOU'LL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO KEEP IT STABLE...

Four strong women. All working in a family business. But what happens when they begin to want different things? And what about the men - and the children - in their lives?

Susie Moran has always been the breadwinner in her family. Her husband was the one who was there for their three girls. But now he wants something of his past back - the life he had before Susie's career took off, before they had children. And those children don't see their mother's business the way she has always seen it, thereby threatening the balance she has worked so hard to achieve.

And then, amidst the simmering tensions, someone significant from the past, someone almost forgotten, turns up. The problems of the past, the present, and the future all become challenges to the stability of both family and work. Which relationships - if any - will survive?

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The defenestration of an impresario's young son was definitely not the best way to end the play's first night party.

And the crime scene itself was most unusual. A locked bedroom. No sign of forced entry. No prints or traces of blood. Just a sinister, life-size puppet of Mr Punch lying on the floor...

Everyone at the party - from the corrupt producer and rakish male lead to the dour set designer and the assistant stage manager (the wild daughter of a prominent civil servant) - is a suspect.

It's a perfect case for Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit but the Home Office, wary of the PCU's eccentric methods and intensely aware of the potential political embarrassment, wants them off the investigation.

The elderly detectives are not so easily deterred, however. Delving into the history of London theatre and the gruesome origins of 'Punch and Judy', they uncover a maniacal killer is at work - one who must be caught before it's curtains for everyone!

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'MacDonald had a huge influence on me . . . Reacher is like a fully detached version of Travis McGee' LEE CHILD

Travis McGee isn't your typical knight in shining armour. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.

In the Florida Keys, a houseboat explodes in a giant white flash, instantly killing those on board. The boat belonged to Travis McGee's friend Meyer. But it's not Meyer who's dead - he'd lent it to his just-married niece, Norma, and her husband, hoping to give them the perfect honeymoon.

When a group of Colombian terrorists take responsibility for the brutal act, Meyer and McGee travel to Mexico to seek justice. And Meyer, normally content in McGee's shadow, is determined to avenge the one family member he had left . . . or die trying.

First published in 1982, Cinnamon Skin features an introduction by Lee Child

JOHN D. MACDONALD: A GRAND MASTER CRIME WRITER

'The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller' - Stephen King

'Travis McGee is my favourite fiction detective. He's great because he has a philosophical side - he will fight a bunch of mobsters in a car park and then have a muse about life, the universe and everything' - Tony Parsons

'A dominant influence on writers crafting the continuing series character . . . I envy the generation of readers just discovering Travis McGee' - Sue Grafton

'The consummate pro, a master storyteller and witty observer . . . The Travis McGee novels are among the finest works of fiction ever penned by an American author and they retain a remarkable sense of freshness' - Jonathan Kellerman

'. . . my favorite novelist of all time' - Dean Koontz

'A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field' - Mary Higgins Clark

'What a joy that these timeless and treasured novels are available again' - Ed McBain

'There's only one thing as good as reading a John D. MacDonald novel: reading it again . . . He is the all-time master of the American mystery novel' - John Saul

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In 'Faith and Hope Go Shopping', Faith has spent twenty years in a wheelchair. Together with her blind friend Hope, she lives in a nursing home. Their favourite carer calls them Butch and Sundance, and like their namesakes, they make a final dash for freedom - in pursuit of a copy of Lolita and a pair of slick red high heels.

In 'Hello, Goodbye', Angela K. is a society columnist for Goodbye! Magazine, and gets to attend all of the season's most sensational Dernières: the most exclusive celebrity funerals. She prides herself on finally having joined the ranks of the Immortals - until a sad, badly-dressed old couple arrives to disrupt her world.

Part of the Storycuts series, these stories were previously published in the collection Jigs & Reels.

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They met at a prestigious women's college in New England: three women from different backgrounds: Charlie, the poor girl from the wrong side of town; Tess, the gifted artist seeking love and acceptance; and Marina, a European princess craving an ordinary life. They were best friends and soul mates, and together they swore to keep a shocking secret.

Now, fifteen years later, the past has come back to shatter their worlds and rekindle long forgotten dreams. Charlie's teenage daughter has been kidnapped - but not for the ransom that her wealthy husband can pay. The truth reunites the roommates and forces them to confront the girls they were and the women they have become. Only now do they understand that true strength lies in their faith in one another and their willingness to expose the scandal, lies, and desperate acts born of sacrifice. And only the truth behind their ivy secrets can set them free.

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Jenny Pitman's success has been won against the odds. An outsider in the privileged world of racing, she has nevertheless turned herself into one of the most successful trainers in Britain today. And as a woman in a male-dominated profession, she has been forced to work doubly hard for her achievements.

Jenny's love of horses has dominated her life. Born on a modest Leicestershire farm without gas, electricity or running water, she joined a racing yard at the age of fifteen. While still in her teens she married jockey Richard Pitman, and together they set up a stable. Before long, Jenny became one of the very first women to be granted a professional licence to train horses. Despite the subsequent break-up of her marriage and financial hardship, Jenny soon managed to establish herself in her own right as a fully fledged trainer.

Since then, horses such as Garrison Savannah and Burrough Hill Lad have etched the Pitman name deeply in the record books. Jenny has trained the winners of all five major Nationals and two Cheltenham Gold Cups. With Corbiere in 1983 Jenny became the first woman trainer to win the Grand National - and she is still the only one to have done so. In 1993 her horse Esha Ness won the 'National that never was'. Two years later the notoriously difficult horse Royal Athlete won her this prestigious race for a second time.

The success of Jenny's Lambourn stables has been very much a family affair. Like his father, Jenny's son Mark also became a successful jockey. He rode many of her horses to victory, and on retiring as a jockey worked as assistant trainer to his mother before setting up on his own. In 1997, after an eighteen-year engagement, Jenny married her long-term companion, David Stait. In the 1998 New Year's Honours list she was awarded the OBE.

Her fierce will to succeed, her tenacity and her courage to fight for what she believes in, both professionally and personally - these are the foundations on which Jenny Pitman has built her life. Her frank and lively autobiography reflects this spirit.

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Set against the glorious Cotswold countryside and the playgrounds of the world, Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles offer an intoxicating blend of skulduggery, swooning romance, sexual adventure and hilarious high jinks.

This special 2-for-1 collection features two of these classic titles: Riders and Rivals.

Riders

Riders takes the lid off international showjumping, a sport where the brave horses are almost human, but the humans behave like animals.

The brooding hero, gypsy Jake Lovell, under whose magic hands the most difficult horse or woman becomes biddable, is driven to the top by his loathing of the beautiful bounder and darling of the show ring, Rupert Campbell-Black. Having filched each other's horses, and fought and fornicated their way around the capitals of Europe, the feud between the two men finally erupts with devastating consequences during the Los Angeles Olympics.

Rivals

Into the cut-throat world of Corinium television comes Declan O'Hara, a mega-star of great glamour and integrity. Living rather too closely across the valley is Rupert Campbell-Black, divorced and as dissolute as ever, and now the Tory Minister for Sport.

Declan needs only a few days at Corinium to realise that the Managing Director, Lord Baddingham, is a crook who has recruited him merely to help retain the franchise for Corinium. Baddingham has also enticed Cameron Cook, a gorgeous but domineering woman executive, to produce Declan's programme. Declan and Cameron detest each other, provoking a storm of controversy into which Rupert plunges with his usual abandon.

As a rival group emerges to pitch for the franchise, reputations ripen and decline, true love blossoms and burns, marriages are made and shattered, and sex raises its (delicious) head at almost every throw as, in bed and boardroom, the race is on to capture the Cotswold Crown.

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In Letters of Note: Grief, Shaun Usher gathers together some of the most powerful messages about grief, from the heart-wrenching pain of losing a loved one to reliving fond memories of those who have passed on.

Includes letters by:

Audre Lorde, Robert Frost,

Nick Cave, Rainer Maria Rilke,

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette,

Kahlil Gibran, Edith Wharton,

Mary Wortley Montagu, Seungsahn Haengwon

& many more

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'Fun, sexy and unputdownable - a classic' Marian Keyes
'Flawlessly entertaining' Helen Fielding
'Joyful and mischievous' Jojo Moyes

Set against the glorious Cotswold countryside, Riders offers an intoxicating blend of swooning romance, adventure and hilarious high jinks.

Brooding hero Jake Lovell, under whose magic hands even the most difficult horse or woman is charmed, is driven by his loathing of the dashing darling of the show ring, Rupert Campbell-Black. Having pinched each other's horses and drunk their way around the capitals of Europe, the feud between the two men finally erupts with devastating consequences at the Los Angeles Olympics . . .

A classic bestseller, Riders takes the lid off international show jumping, a sport where the brave horses are almost human, but the humans behave like animals.

'Sex and horses: who could ask for more?' Sunday Telegraph

Readers can't resist Riders
***** 'wildly entertaining'
***** 'pure racy escapism'
***** 'Rupert really is as fabulous as people say!'

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'This addictive novel is the SLIDING DOORS of American politics. Gripping' STYLIST 'Startlingly good. One of my favourite writers.' KATE ATKINSON____________'Awfully opinionated for a girl' is what they call Hillary as she grows up in her Chicago suburb. Smart, diligent, and a bit plain, that's the general consensus. Then Hillary goes to college, and her star rises. At Yale Law School, she continues to be a leader- and catches the eye of driven, handsome and charismatic Bill. But when he asks her to marry him, Hillary gives him a firm No.How might things have turned out for them, for America, for the world itself, if Hillary Rodham had really turned down Bill Clinton?With her sharp but always compassionate eye, Sittenfeld explores the loneliness, moral ambivalence and iron determination that characterise the quest for high office, as well as the painful compromises demanded of female ambition in a world ruled by men. _____________________________'A lot of fun. A wonderful sad dream of what might have happened' GUARDIAN'It ends up being a love letter to a type: the female intellectual, who is given none of the licence of her less talented male peers. At the end, i found myself saying Oh My God' OBSERVER'An explosive new book' GRAZIA'Getting inside a living person's head sounds like a colossally bad idea, but Sittenfeld makes it convincing here, just as she did with a character based on First Lady Laura Bush in her 2008 novel, AMERICAN WIFE' BBC CULTURE'An ingenious yet plausible glimpse of an alternative reality' THE SPECTATOR'Sittenfeld's RODHAM offers the cartharsis of uncomplicated regret' NEW YORKER'A nauseating, moving, morally suggestive, technically brilliant book that made me think more than any in recent memory' NPR'Deviously clever . . . Sittenfeld's Hillary is both a player in the Game of Thrones and a romance novel heroine. She's a brilliant badass who has found her voice and knows how to use it. She's whoever she wants to be' O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE'Of all the SLIDING DOORS fantasies offered by the last 40 years of American office, this may be the most mouth-watering. THE BIG ISSUE'Fascinating. Rich-with-possibilities concept' SAINSBURY'S MAGAZINE
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Set in the rainforests of Peru, The Celestine Prophecy contains ancient secrets that could change our world. As James Redfield defines and concisely explains each of the Nine Insights contained in his spiritual masterpiece, you will not only crystallize your perceptions of why you are where you are in life, but head into tomorrow with new energy and optimism.

Part of the Storycuts series, this is the 'pocket' guide to the Nine Insights of The Celestine Prophecy.

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Thief of Time is a graphic novel adapted from Terry Pratchett's critically acclaimed book, featuring artwork from prize-winning comic book illustrator Rachael Stott.

The very fabric of reality is at risk on the Discworld. A group of powerful cosmic beings are plotting to stop time and exact order over the dreadfully messy universe.

It is up to Susan, the assertive, no-nonsense granddaughter of Death himself, aided by a time-splicing monk and his mysterious apprentice, to navigate a world of chaos and clockmakers in an extraordinary bid to save the universe.

Together they will face an adventure that bends time and challenges the very nature of existence.

This new graphic novel is a feast for the eyes, packed with Pratchett's signature wit, insight and imagination, taking the reader on an unforgettable journey into the heart of time itself.

**PART OF THE DISCWORLD GRAPHIC NOVEL UNIVERSE**

Praise for the original novel:
'This is the best Pratchett I've read' Sunday Telegraph
'Terry Pratchett is one of the great inventors of secondary - or imaginative or alternative - worlds' The Times
'Part kung fu epic, part philosophical novel, part mind-bending experiment with chaos theory (and a piss-take of those three things)' Guardian

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'Gavin & Stacey' is a TV series like no other. Now, for the first time, its creators James Corden and Ruth Jones tell the full extraordinary story of how they turned their little show into a full-on cultural phenomenon.

As they recount the rejection, obstacles and challenges they faced on the way to giving birth to their beloved comedy creation, James and Ruth also explore the flourishing of their own real-life friendship. While their now legendary on-screen characters Nessa and Smithy had a profound awkwardness to negotiate, culminating in that marriage proposal in the 2019 Christmas special, Ruth and James forged a magical relationship of mutual support based also on a deep, shared sense of subversive fun.

Here, from their tentative initial pitch to the emotionally overwhelming final day of filming, the duo detail what's occurred every step of the way, bouncing off each other in inimitable style. Full of revelations and never-before-heard stories, this is a one-of-a-kind book about a show that's already gone down in history.

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Much loved author, Jo Carnegie, brings us another riveting and raunchy read - a really steamy, romantic and hilarious indulgence that fans of Jilly Cooper will adore...

'Fabulous... Sexy and scandalous... If the countryside was always this exciting, we'd swap our stilettos for shooting sticks in a flash' -- Heat
'Sex, gossip and laughs aplenty' -- Image
'Sexy shenanigans and hilarious goings on '' -- Saturday Magazine
'Easy holiday read or curling up on the sofa with a cuppa on a rainy Saturday!' -- ***** Reader review
'A cracking pace and the characters are fantastic' -- ***** Reader review
'I had many a late night reading those extra few pages!' -- ***** Reader review
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THE SCENE IS SET FOR A PERFECTLY SCANDALOUS YEAR...

When an A-list film set descends on the quiet village of Churchminster, so begins a very interesting time for the village...

Meet the glamorous cast of Wild Things!

Sophia - the leading lady who gets what she wants. And she wants...
Jed - the village's gorgeous gardener, living with devoted girlfriend...
Camilla - sweet-natured and desperate for a baby, unlike her sister...
Calypso - fiercely ambitious, and unimpressed by the penetrating gaze of...
Rafe - dashing leading man, who quickly wins over Calypso's grandmother...
Clementine - whose only desire is for Churchminster to win 'Britain's Best Village'!

Wild Things is a racy, pacy and sexy romp - guaranteed to have you laughing out loud and crying for more!

The Churchminster adventures continue in Dirty Tricks. Have you read Country Pursuits and Naked Truths, the first two books in the series?

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A family torn apart. Another trying to find a way to be as one.

Ingemar Lerberg had it all: successful businessman, politician, husband, father. Until he is found, brutally beaten and left for dead, in his mansion in a fashionable district of Stockholm. His wife, Nora, is missing. With no alternative, his children are taken into care. In one night, a family has been ripped apart.

Journalist Annika Bengtzon is assigned to the case. As she delves into the horrifying details of this family's fate, she grapples too with the change in her own. With her new boyfriend she must patch together a family from their respective children and stepchildren, and find a way for them all to live harmoniously.

Family matters above all else, but all is never as it seems. Behind the scenes, darkness lies.

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