sellable

  • The Lie Maker

    The Lie Maker

    16.95

    In this twisty thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Take Your Breath Away, a man desperately tries to track down his father – who was taken into witness protection years ago – before his enemies can get to him. Your dad’s not a good person. Your dad killed people, son. These are some of the last words Jack Givins’s father spoke to him before he was whisked away by witness protection, leaving Jack and his mother to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives. Years later, Jack is a struggling author, recruited by the U.S. Marshals to create false histories for people in witness protection.

    Jack realises this may be a chance to find his dad – but then he discovers he’s gone missing, and he could be in serious danger. Jack knows he has to track him down. But how will he find a man he’s never truly known? And how will he evade his father’s deadly enemies – enemies who wouldn’t think twice about using his own son against him?

  • The Little Prince

    The Little Prince

    9.95

    The Little Prince is a modern fable, and for readers far and wide both the title and the work have exerted a pull far in excess of the book’s brevity. Written and published first by Antoine de St-Exupery in 1943, only a year before his plane disappeared on a reconnaissance flight, it is one of the world’s most widely translated books, enjoyed by adults and children alike. In the meeting of the narrator who has ditched his plane in the Sahara desert, and the little prince, who has dropped there through time and space from his tiny asteroid, comes an intersection of two worlds, the one governed by the laws of nature, and the other determined only by the limits of imagination.

    The world of the imagination wins hands down, with the concerns of the adult world often shown to be lamentably silly as seen through the eyes of the little prince. While adult readers can find deep meanings in his various encounters, they can also be charmed back to childhood by this wise but innocent infant. This popular translation contains the author’s own delightful illustrations, bringing to visual life the small being at the tale’s heart, and a world of fantasy far removed from any quotidian reality.

    It is also a sort of love story, in which two frail beings, the downed pilot and the wandering infant-prince who has left behind all he knows, share their short time together isolated from humanity and finding sustenance in each other. This is a book which creates a unique relationship with each reader, whether child or adult.

  • The Lock-Keeper's Wife

    The Lock-Keeper’s Wife

    15.95

    Julie McDermot has just been released from ‘The Mental’, the psychiatric institution where her husband committed her after the devastating loss of their two infant children. Returning to her narrow, lonely life along the canal, Julie is haunted by grief and the aching absence of what might have been. As she struggles to piece herself back together, an unexpected encounter with a stranger along the canal offers a glimmer of connection and the fragile possibility of hope.

    Their encounter also brings long-submerged realities to the surface, to a place where they can no longer be ignored; exploring Ireland’s dark history of institutional incarceration and offering a profound glimpse of hopein a stunning portrait of a woman’s life. Moving and deeply evocative, this novel is a powerful meditation on sorrow, isolation, and the surprising ways joy can return to even the most broken heart.

  • The Lodgers

    The Lodgers

    15.95

    One house. Three strangers. A second chance at happiness.

    Tessa’s life as an activist and volunteer worker takes a hit after a fall. At the ripe young age of 69, she’s no longer able to live alone and decides to take in two lodgers for free. After the recent death of his brother, Conn is riddled with grief and determined to make amends.

    A free room seems too good to be true – until he meets the other lodger. Chloe arrives at Tessa’s house to deliver a package and leaves with a room. But she takes an instant dislike to Conn, who refuses to say where he disappears to at night.

    With everyone so busy keeping their own secrets, the mysterious package is forgotten. It’s addressed to Tessa’s daughter who’s been missing for 10 years – and only the contents have the answer to what happened …

  • The Lost Spells

    The Lost Spells

    17.50

    Dazzlingly beautiful and wonderfully inventive, discover the magical new book from the creators of bestselling, critically acclaimed literary phenomenon, The Lost Words . . .

    ‘Luminously beautiful. An amulet in dark times, to be carried like a talisman out into the world, where it is very much needed’ Dara McAnulty. Kindred in spirit to The Lost Words but fresh in its form, The Lost Spells is a pocket-sized treasure that introduces a beautiful new set of natural spell-poems and artwork by beloved creative duo Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. Each “spell” conjures an animal, bird, tree or flower — from Barn Owl to Red Fox, Grey Seal to Silver Birch, Jay to Jackdaw — with which we share our lives and landscapes.

    Moving, joyful and funny, The Lost Spells above all celebrates a sense of wonder, bearing witness to nature’s power to amaze, console and bring joy. Written to be read aloud, painted in brushstrokes that call to the forest, field, riverbank and also to the heart, The Lost Spells summons back what is often lost from sight and care, teaching the names of everyday species, and inspiring its readers to attention, love and care. Praise for The Lost Words: ‘Gorgeous to look at and to read.

    Give it to a child to bring back the magic of language’ Jeanette Winterson, Guardian ‘Breathtaking, magical . . Jackie Morris has created something that you could spend all day looking at’ New Statesman. ‘Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris have made a thing of astonishing beauty’ Observer

  • The Lyrics

    The Lyrics

    75.00

    A self-portrait in 154 songs, by our greatest living songwriter’More often than I can count, I’ve been asked if I would write an autobiography, but the time has never been right. The one thing I’ve always managed to do, whether at home or on the road, is to write new songs. I know that some people, when they get to a certain age, like to go to a diary to recall day-to-day events from the past, but I have no such notebooks.

    What I do have are my songs, hundreds of them, which I’ve learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life.’ In this extraordinary book, with unparalleled candour, Paul McCartney recounts his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career – from his earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his solo albums to the present. Arranged alphabetically to provide a kaleidoscopic rather than chronological account, it establishes definitive texts of the songs’ lyrics for the first time and describes the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

    Presented with this is a treasure trove of material from McCartney’s personal archive – drafts, letters, photographs – never seen before, which make this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. We learn intimately about the man, the creative process, the working out of melodies, the moments of inspiration. The voice and personality of Paul McCartney sings off every page.

    There has never been a book about a great musician like it. Each volume is 480 pp, not available separately

  • The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

    The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

    18.95

    A wildly ambitious story of the making of a colossal, star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film, and the humble comic book that inspired it all.

    Spanning 80 years of a changing America and culminating in the opening of the film, we meet a colourful cast of characters including a troubled soldier returning from war, a young boy with an artistic gift, an inspired and eccentric director, a pompous film star on the rise, a tireless production assistant and countless film crew members that together create Hollywood magic.

    Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece offers an insider’s take on the momentous efforts it takes to make a film. At once a reflection on America’s past and present, on the world of show business and the real world we all live in.

  • The Many

    The Many

    8.95

    Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2016

    Timothy Buchannan buys an abandoned house on the edge of an isolated village on the coast, sight unseen. When he sees the state of it he questions the wisdom of his move, but starts to renovate the house for his wife, Lauren to join him there. When the villagers see smoke rising from the chimney of the neglected house they are disturbed and intrigued by the presence of the incomer, intrigue that begins to verge on obsession.

    And the longer Timothy stays, the more deeply he becomes entangled in the unsettling experience of life in the small village. Ethan, a fisherman, is particularly perturbed by Timothy’s arrival, but accedes to Timothy’s request to take him out to sea. They set out along the polluted coastline, hauling in weird fish from the contaminated sea, catches that are bought in whole and removed from the village.

    Timothy starts to ask questions about the previous resident of his house, Perran, questions to which he receives only oblique answers and increasing hostility. As Timothy forges on despite the villagers’ animosity and the code of silence around Perran, he starts to question what has brought him to this place and is forced to confront a painful truth. The Many is an unsettling tale that explores the impact of loss and the devastation that hits when the foundations on which we rely are swept away.

  • The Marriage Portrait

    The Marriage Portrait

    13.95

    Marriage was her destiny. Now she must survive it. The Marriage Portrait is a dazzling evocation of the Italian Renaissance in all its beauty and brutality.

    Winter, 1561. Lucrezia, Duchess of Ferrara, is taken on an unexpected visit to a country villa by her husband, Alfonso. As they sit down to dinner it occurs to Lucrezia that Alfonso has a sinister purpose in bringing her here.

    He intends to kill her. Lucrezia is sixteen years old, and has led a sheltered life locked away inside Florence’s grandest palazzo. Here, in this remote villa, she is entirely at the mercy of her increasingly erratic husband.

    What is Lucrezia to do with this sudden knowledge? What chance does she have against Alfonso, ruler of a province, and a trained soldier? How can she ensure her survival? The Marriage Portrait is an unforgettable reimagining of the life of a young woman whose proximity to power places her in mortal danger.

  • The Mess We're In

    The Mess We’re In

    17.50

    It’s the turn of the millennium and, landing in London with nothing but her CD collection and demo tape, Orla Quinn moves into a squalid Kilburn house with her best mate and a band called Shiva.

    Orla wants to make music, but juggling two jobs and partying every night isn’t helping.

    Back in Ireland her parents’ marriage has crumbled, she’s not speaking to her father, and her mother and sister are drinking too much.

    While Orla’s own dreams seem to be going nowhere, Shiva are on the brink of something big. But as the hype around the band intensifies, so does the hedonism, and relationships in the house are growing strained.

    This is the story of a young woman thrashing through life, trying to find home in a strange new place. It’s also a story about music: how it can break you down and build you back up again, and how to find your rhythm when all you hear is noise.

  • The Mirror and the Light

    The Mirror and the Light

    13.50

    England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner.

    As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army.

    Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him?

    With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

    Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020; Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2020;

    Mantel has taken us to the dark heart of history … and what a show‘ The Times

  • The Moon Gate

    The Moon Gate

    17.50

    1939: On the eve of war, young English heiress Grace Grey travels from London to the wilderness of Tasmania.

    Coaxed out of her shell by the attentions of her Irish neighbour, Daniel – Grace finally learns to live. But when Australian forces are called to the frontline, and Daniel with them, he leaves behind a devastating secret which will forever bind them together.

    1975: Artist Willow Hawkins, and her new husband, Ben, can’t believe their luck when an anonymous benefactor leaves them a house on the remote Tasmanian coast. Confused and delighted, they set out to unmask Towerhurst’s previous owner – unwittingly altering the course of their lives.

    2004: Libby Andrews has always been sheltered from the truth behind her father Ben’s death.

    When she travels to London and discovers a faded photograph, a long-buried memory is unlocked, and she begins to follow an investigation that Ben could never complete. But will she realise that some secrets are best left buried . . .?

  • The Moon Spun Round

    The Moon Spun Round

    19.95

    This sumptuously illustrated book of carefully selected works of WB Yeats, including poems, stories, a descriptive prose passage on Sligo, extracts from his letters, an adaptation of his memories of childhood, and an account of his daughter Anne’s memories of childhood.

  • The Most Irish Person

    The Most Irish Person

    12.95

    ‘I wonder who is the most Irish person in Ireland?’ Join Anna and Lucy as they hold a competition across the counties to find out!

    From Lei celebrating St Patrick’s Day in Galway to Alfonzo baking delicious bread in Tipperary, the competition is tough! Who will be the winner?

    A fun, easy read The Most Irish Person celebrates the beautiful multicultural society Ireland has become over the past decade. Featuring children from all different heritages, the book points out you don’t have to be ancestrally Irish to consider yourself as such.

  • The Motion of the body Through Space

    The Motion of the body Through Space

    10.50

    From the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin.

    All her life Serenata has run, swum, and cycled – but now that she’s hit 60, all that physical activity has destroyed her knees. And her previously sedentary husband Remington chooses this precise moment to discover exercise. As he joins the cult of fitness, her once-modest husband burgeons into an unbearable narcissist.

    When he announces his intention to compete in a legendarily gruelling triathlon, Serenata is sure he’s going to end up injured or dead – but the stubbornness of an ageing man in Lycra is not to be underestimated. The story of an obsession, of a marriage, of a betrayal: The Motion Of The Body Through Space is Lionel Shriver at her hilarious, sharp-eyed, audacious best.

  • The Names

    The Names

    18.95

    It is 1987, and in the aftermath of a great storm, Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and call the baby after him.

    But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates. Going against his wishes is a risk that will have consequences, but is it right for her child to inherit his name from generations of domineering men? The choice she makes in this moment will shape the course of their lives. Seven years later, her son is Bear, a name chosen by his sister, and one that will prove as cataclysmic as the storm from which it emerged.

    Or he is Julian, the name his mother set her heart on, believing it will enable him to become his own person. Or he is Gordon, named after his father and raised in his cruel image – but is there still a chance to break the mould? Powerfully moving and full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark. It is the story of one family, and love’s endless capacity to endure, no matter what fate has in store.