What happens if you do actually find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?Nicky has always known Russell was rich, but he has no idea how astronomically rich Russell is until his friend drops dead, on his fiftieth birthday, with Nicky as the only witness. And now Nicky has come up with an uncharacteristically daring plan. If Nicky were to become Russell and leave his old life lying dead on the bathroom floor, he and his family could start again...

" Sell Us the Rope is original, adept and confident, with the spry sardonic voice of the new historical fiction: it is entertaining and in the end, deeply moving." —Hilary Mantel"A deeply satisfying novel. Incisive, inventive, frequently very funny." — The GuardianIn London in 1907, a decade before the revolution, young Stalin has yet to achieve the power, nor acted on the ruthlessness, that will define h...

THE TIMES BOOKS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2025'Stephen May has a nose for fascinating historical events' The Times'Very fine and fun novel' The Spectator'Skilfully orchestrates a large cast of both historical and fictional characters' Financial Times'The spry, sardonic voice of the new historical fiction' Hilary Mantel'Vivid and w...

Get Started in Creative Writing is an indispensible guide to unlocking your creativity, finding your voice and choosing a genre of writing that suits you best, whether fiction or non-fiction, short stories or novels, children's books or travel writing. It features guidelines for do's and don'ts along with suggestions for crafting a distinctive style.With tips from some of the best-known writers of fiction and non-fiction, you will receive loads of helpful advice to enable you get your own ...

Shortlisted for the 2012 COSTA Novel AwardBilly's Mum is dead. He knows - because he reads about it in magazines - that people die every day in ways that are more random and tragic and stupid than hers, but for nineteen-year-old Billy and his little brother, Oscar, their mother's death in a bungled street robbery is the most random and tragic and stupid thing that could possibly have happened to them.Now Billy must be both mother and father to Oscar, and de...

The books in this bite-sized new series contain no complicated techniques or tricky materials, making them ideal for the busy, the time-pressured or the merely curious. Inspired Creative Writing is a short, simple and to-the-point guide to learning the basic principles of creative writing in a few short steps. Whether writing a novel, poetry, non-fiction or just experimenting, in just 96 pages you will discover how to master the essential principles and create captivating and memorable wor...

'A deeply satisfying novel. Incisive, inventive, frequently very funny' Guardian'Historical facts furnish May with a cast of legends to bring to life, and he does it with verve and humour' The Times'Original, adept and confident ... I wish I had written it myself' Hilary MantelWhen it's time to hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope.May 1907. Young Stalin – poet, bank-robber, spy ...

Mistyann is fifteen, unpredictable, unreliable and violent. She's also gifted. Jonathan Diamond is fortyone.Looks a bit like Tom Cruise and he's going to Wales too. A failed musician and a recovering alcoholic he's now an Advanced Skills Teacher and he'll be in loco parentis for the week. Together the two of them develop an unlikely and dangerous alliance as they are forced to confront difficult truths about themselves.

The second edition addresses new theoretical and empirical developments since its initial publication, including the burgeoning influence of globalization and the relentless rise of English as the current world language. May’s broad position, however, remains largely unchanged. He argues that the causes of many of the language-based conflicts in the world today still lie with the nation-state and its preoccupation with establishing a 'common' language and culture via mass education. The so...

David Lloyd George is at Chequers for the weekend with his mistress Frances Stevenson, fretting about the fact that his involvement in selling public honours is about to be revealed by one Victor Grayson.Victor is a bisexual hedonist and former firebrand Socialist MP turned secret service informant. Intent on rebuilding his profile as the leader of the revolutionary Left, he doesn't know exactly how much of a hornet's nest he's stirred up. Doesn't know that this is, in fact, his la...

Revolutionary, poet, lover. Robber, murderer, spy. May 1907 and a young Stalin is in London for a conference of Russian communists. With Lenin, Trotsky, and Rosa Luxemburg among others he battles to keep the party radical, while dodging the attentions of the Czar’s secret police. He also finds himself drawn to a fiery Finnish activist, Elli Vuokko, beginning a relationship that is as dangerous as it is complicated.Electrically-imagined, immersive and compulsively readable, Sell Us ...

There is a saying that 'everyone has a book in them'. But not many people are able to get it out. This practical and inspiring guide, written by a successful author whose novels are published by Bloomsbury, will help guide you through every step of the process, including: * First thoughts - Why do you want to write, and how can you do it? * Genres - Understanding the conventions of writing * Generating ideas - Find a concept that makes your book stand out * Structure - Create a compelling ...