Five short stories by the novelist and short story writer Polly Samson.A Rose for Paul: A story giving hope to anyone who has to move on from a difficult relationship.The Morning After: A romantic tryst turns sour after an animal rights activist discovers the murderous taste of his lover in the form of her exotic Shatoosh shawl.The Itch: Playing on the idea of 'The Seven Year Itch', this is an unusual story about regeneration and recovery, set to the tale of a coupl...

He followed her eyes skyward to a bird that was falling, turning and turning, like a heart that had leapt free. It fell, and as it did it became a falcon. He was transfixed.Julian's fall begins the moment he sets eyes on Julia.Julia is married and eight years his senior; he is a gifted English student, a life of academia ahead. Ignoring warnings from family and friends, they each give up all they have to be together. Their new life in London offers immense happines...

Quite unlike her fair stepsisters, Lizzie is dark and secretive: 'Just like your father' says her mother. But what was her father like? Photos of him are hidden away; snatches of overheard conversation between her mother and her stepfather deepen the mystery. Only her best friend Savannah - also abandoned by her father when she was a baby - knows what it feels like to wonder, to try and piece together an earlier story. But when events propel Lizzie alone to London she stops wondering and s...

Do you cover up or reveal it all; seek revenge or just reassurance; let the truth be naked as the day or cloaked in a night-time story? The men and women of Polly Samson's debut fiction all have stories to tell, pasts to forget, futures to forge. Manipulative or meek, used or using, all are aware of the power of truth, deception and little white lies to get what they want or sometimes what they deserve. Some are concerned with the economies of speech, those little 'kindnesses' which protec...

In an English seaside town, lovers and children, men and women weave in and out of each other's lives and stories.A mother is tormented by her daughter's tattoo; another only pretends to love her baby. A wife stalks her husband and his new lover; a broken egg through a mailbox tells a story that will not go away; the cat thinks he knows best.Threaded throughout are longings for love and poignant disappointments, surprising pleasures and temptations. Some will fall but some,...

Julia is married and eight years Julian’s senior; he is a gifted English student, a life of academia ahead. Ignoring warnings, they each give up all they have to be together. When Julian hears that his boyhood home is for sale, he sets out to recreate a paradise for his new family. It is only when their daughter Mira becomes terrifyingly ill that it is impossible for Julia to conceal the explosive secret that she has been keeping from him.

You’d never guess that Fliss Chapron doesn’t have it all. All Fliss wants is to see two blue lines telling her she is pregnant with her much longed for second baby. But as the negative tests stack up, dreams of completing her perfect family feel more hopeless every day. After years of disappointment, Fliss’s husband Ben is spending more time at the office than in their marital bed, and Fliss finds herself wondering who could be responsible for their inability to conceive another child. Yet...

The blistering, compulsively readable new novel from Herman Koch, author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Dinner.When a medical procedure goes horribly wrong and famous actor Ralph Meier winds up dead, Dr. Marc Schlosser needs to come up with some answers. After all, reputation is everything in this business. Personally, he’s not exactly upset that Ralph is gone, but as a high profile doctor to the stars, Marc can't hide from the truth...

New York Times Bestseller • Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, O: The Oprah Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek“Kingsolver brilliantly captures both the price of profound change and how it can pave the way not only for future generations, but also for a radiant, unexpected expansion of the heart....

“Exquisite. . .Commonwealth is impossible to put down.” — New York Times**#1 New York Times Bestseller | NBCC Award Finalist | New York Times Best Book of the Year | USA Today Best Book | TIME Magazine Top 10 Selection | Oprah Favorite Book | New York Magazine Best Book of The YearThe acclaimed, bestselling author—winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize—tells the e...

Pulitzer Prize Finalist | New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of the YearNamed one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed

***FINALIST FOR THE 2019 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE*FINALIST FOR THE 2019 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD*FINALIST FOR THE 2019 ROGERS WRITERS' TRUST FICTION PRIZE*WINNER OF THE 2020 THOMAS RADDALL ATLANTIC FICTION AWARD*NATIONAL BESTSELLER*NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2019 BY The Globe and Mail • CBC • Toronto Star • Maclean'sCrummey's novel has the capacity to change the way the reader sees the world.** —Sco...