A GUARDIAN, ECONOMIST AND PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR'A superb book' Simon Sebag Montefiore'An empowering story of human ingenuity' Economist'Full of curious facts' The TimesCauses of death have changed irrevocably across time. In the course of a few centuries we have gone from a world where disease or violence were likely to strike anyone at any age, and wher...

What would you do if a two-foot septuagenarian Scotsman tumbled out of your washing machine? For William, a young Glaswegian travelling in Australia, his panicked efforts to save the tiny wee man bring a new companion abruptly into his life.'But what are you Davy?''I'm jist yer wee big bollixed pal.'William is on the rebound from a relationship with a Swedish girl, Beata, and from the lost friendship of his travelling buddies. When we first meet him, he is working on...

From the ages of 5 to 15, Jess Smith lived with her parents, sisters and a mongrel dog in an old, blue Bedford bus. They travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, and much of England too, stopping here and there until they were moved on by the local authorities or driven by their own instinctive need to travel. By campfires, under the unchanging stars they brewed up tea, telling stories and singing songs late into the night. "Jessie's Journey" describes what it was like to be one of th...

This is a wonderfully colourful and deeply poignant memoir of growing up in a 'single end' - one room in a Glasgow tenement - during and immediately after the Second World War. Although young Robert Douglas's life was blighted by the cruel if sporadic presence of his father, it was equally blessed by the love of his mother, Janet. While the story of their life together is in some ways very sad, it is also filled with humorous and happy memories. "Night Song of The Last Tram" is a superb ev...

In the third and final book of Jess Smith's autobiographical trilogy, Jess traces her eventful life with Dave and their three children, from their earliest years together. Their adventures and achievements are interspersed with stories of her parents' childhood, her father's 'tall tales' and the eerie echoes of ghosts and hauntings that she has heard from gypsies and travellers over many years. Fans of Jess Smith will not be disappointed with her latest memoir, full of more unforgettable c...

Who'd have thought a missing bacon rasher and a teaspoon would play a part in advancing someone's career? It's the late '60s and Jane Yeadon has always wanted to be a district nurse. Staff nursing in a ward where she's challenged by an inventorydriven ward sister, she reckons it's time to swap such trivialities for life as a district nurse. Independent thinking is one thing, but Jane's about to find that the drama on district can demand instant reaction; and without hospital back up, she's...

Tales from the Tent continues Jess Smith's story from the first book in the series, Jessie's Journey. Jess has left school, and after a miserable spell working in a paper-mill, she abandons the settled life and takes to the roads once more. The old bus has gone, to be replaced by a caravan and campsites. Times are changing, and it is becoming harder and harder for travellers to make a living by doing the rounds of seasonal jobs like the berry-picking. Conscious that the o...

A novel based on the award-winning playMagrit, Dolly, Doreen and Mrs Culfeathers are the lifeblood of their Glasgow community and the steamie is at the centre of their world. Now, in Tony Roper's bestselling novel, you can follow their story once more, meet new characters from their lives and get to know more about their husbands, their families and the friends they rely on in troubled times. These are the men and women from the shops, shipyards, bookies and street corners, and thi...

Horror lives in the shadows.It exists under the earth's surface in ancient caves. Below the vast sea's undulating waves. Under dense forest cover. Within a storm's thick, rolling clouds. And downstairs in our homes, when we hear the knife drawer rattle in the night. Even our minds and bodies harbour the alien under the skin, the childhood nightmares in our subconscious.Darkness hides things, no matter how much we strain our eyes. And sometimes those things ...

In the not too distant future, Rorie and Elsie's parents have disappeared. Just like that. And with only their cruel uncle to look after them, the girls are swept off to his miserable boarding school. But the sisters are determined to escape their uncle's grip - and discover the truth behind their parents' disappearance...A wild and futuristic fashion adventure!

The complete life work of Agnes Owens in short stories - everything from Gentlemen of the West, Lean Tales, People Like That and 14 brand new unpublished stories.Witty and dark, Owens' spare prose shocks and delights. Her talent for pithy, unsettling tales is as sharp as ever, confirming her place as one of Scotland's finest contemporary writers.

A man tries to build for his future by reconnecting with his past, leaving behind the ruins of the life he has lived. Iain Martin hopes that by returning to his Hebridean roots and embarking on a quest to reconstruct the ancient family home, he might find new purpose. But then he uncovers a secret from the past.