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£10.99
What happened to the books that were too valuable to burn? The story of a Jewish chef whose bestselling cookbook was expropriated under the Nazi regime. Alice Urbach had her own cooking school in Vienna, but in 1938 she was forced to flee to England, like so many others. Her younger son was imprisoned in Dachau, and her older son, having emigrated to the United States, became an intelligence officer in the struggle against the Nazis. Returning to the ruins of Vienna in the late 1940s, she discovers that her bestselling cookbook has been published under someone else’s name. Now, eighty years later, the historian Karina Urbach – Alice’s granddaughter – sets out to uncover the truth behind the stolen cookbook, and tells the story of a family torn apart by the Nazi regime, of a woman who, with her unwavering passion for cooking, survived the horror and losses of the Holocaust to begin a new life in America.
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£16.99
Strange things are happening in the cosmopolitan town of Lviv, western Ukraine. Seagulls are circling and the air smells salty, though Lviv is a long way from the sea. A group of ageing hippies meets at the cemetery in the middle of the night, gathered around a mysterious grave. Among them the ex-KGB officer who means to apologise to all those he spied on; the woman who is allergic to banknotes, and yet works at the money exchange; and Taras, who makes a living driving at top speed over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra, curing paying passengers of their kidney stones. Kurkov’s novels are often populated by lonely people going through difficult times, and by his own brand of black humour combined with magic realism (occasionally vodka-fuelled).
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£20.00
April, 1940. Louise Belmont runs, naked, down the boulevard du Montparnasse. To understand the tragic scene she has just experienced, she will have to plunge into the madness of the ‘Phoney War’, when the whole of France, seized by the panic of a new World War, descends into chaos. Alongside bistro-owner Monsieur Jules, new recruit Gabriel and small-time crook Raoul, Louise navigates this period of enormous upheaval and extraordinary twists of fate, for as the Nazi’s advance, the threat of German occupation will uncover long-buried secrets and make strange bedfellows. With his characteristic wit and verve, Pierre Lemaitre chronicles the greatness and decline of a people crushed by circumstance. In ‘Mirror of Our Sorrows’, the final novel in the Paris between-the-wars trilogy, is an incandescent tale that is both burlesque and tragic.
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£12.99
After breaking ties with Yugoslavia, the USSR and then China, Enver Hoxha believed that Albania could become a self-sufficient bastion of communism. Every day, many of its citizens were thrown into prisons and forced labour camps for daring to think independently, for rebelling against the regime or trying to escape – the consequences of their actions were often tragic and irreversible. ‘Mud Sweeter than Honey’ gives voice to those who lived in Albania at that time – from poets and teachers to shoe-makers and peasant farmers, and many others whose aspirations were brutally crushed in acts of unimaginable repression – creating a vivid, dynamic and often painful picture of this totalitarian state during the forty years of Hoxha’s ruthless dictatorship.
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£9.99
The year is 1903, and 22 years have passed since Astrid Hekne died in childbirth. Her son Jehans lives on a modest smallholding up in the hills near Butangen, having withdrawn from his community. He is drawn to freedom, to fishing and reindeer hunting, and one day meets a stranger over the body of a huge reindeer buck. Outside the new church in Butangen, Pastor Kai Schweigaard still cares for Astrid Hekne’s grave. The village’s overworked priest is tormented by his old betrayal, which led to death and to the separation of two powerful church bells cast in memory of two sisters in Astrid’s family. Kai is set on finding an ancient tapestry made by the sisters – the Hekne Weave – in the hope that it will reveal how he can remedy his iniquities.
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£20.00
It all starts with an innocuous curiosity: at the Hotel Verbier, a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps, there is no Room 622. This anomaly piques the interest of the writer Joël Dicker, Switzerland’s most famous literary star, who is staying at the hotel to recover from a bad breakup, mourn the death of his longtime publisher, and begin his next novel. Before he knows it, Joël is coaxed out of his torpor by a fellow guest – Scarlett, a captivating aspiring novelist with a nose for intrigue, who swiftly uncovers the reason behind Room 622’s deliberate erasure: an unsolved murder. Meanwhile, in the wake of his father’s passing, Macaire Ebezner is set to take over as president of the largest private bank in Switzerland.
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£30.00
The Himalaya meander through five very different countries, where the world religions of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are mixed with ancient shamanic religions. Countless languages and vastly different cultures live in the secluded mountain valleys. Modernity and tradition collide, while the great powers fight for influence. We have read about mountain climbers on their way up Mount Everest and about travellers on the spiritual quest for Buddhist monasteries. But how much do we know about the people living in the Himalaya? This book invites us into close encounters with the many peoples of the region, and at the same time takes us on a dizzying journey at altitude through incredible landscapes and dramatic, unknown world histories – all the way to the most volatile human conflicts of our times.
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£25.00
One of Grossman’s three great war novels, ‘The People Immortal’ is both a work of fiction and an important contribution to the Soviet war effort. Set during the catastrophic defeats of the war’s first months, it tracks a Red Army regiment that wins a minor victory in eastern Belorussia but fails to exploit this success. A battalion is then entrusted with the task of slowing the German advance, and eventually encircled, before ultimately breaking out and joining with the rest of the Soviet forces.
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£20.00
Professor Hans Rekke: born into a wealthy Stockholm family, world authority on interrogation techniques, capable of vertiginous feats of logic and observation. But he might just fall apart when the going gets tough, leading to substance abuse and despair. Micaela Vargas: community police officer, born to Chilean political refugees in a tough suburb, with two brothers on the shady side of the law. Vargas feels she has something to prove. She’s tenacious and uncompromising, but she needs Rekke’s unique mind to help her solve the case. Rekke has it all – wealth, reputation – but also a tendency to throw it all away. He needs Vargas to help him get back on an even keel so he can focus his mind on finding the killer before they’re both silenced for good.
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£12.99
Nooteboom’s love for Venice, this ‘absurd combination of power, money, genius and great art’, has been ongoing for more than fifty years. The first visit was in 1964, in the company of a young woman. Then, in 1982, he arrived on the Orient Express. Only on his tenth visit did he take a gondola ride. And in 2018 a violent storm cut off the only road and rail connection between the city and the rest of the world, ensuring that he stayed on much longer than planned. He has dived deep into the labyrinth and discovered his own lagoon city between the alleys, locked gates and countless canals. He is surrounded by the dead, and pays homage to the painters and writers who lived and worked there, to the palaces, bridges, painting and sculpture that give the city a kind of immortality.
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£8.99
Five women attempt the impossible – to love, to be strong, and to stay true to themselves. Bookseller Paula has lost a child, and a husband. Where will she find her happiness? Fiercely independent Judith thinks more of horses than men, but that doesn’t stop her looking for love online. Brida is a writer with no time to write, until she faces a choice between her work and her family. Abandoned by the ‘perfect’ man, Malika struggles for recognition from her parents. Her sister Jorinde, an actor, is pregnant for a third time, but how can she provide for her family alone?
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£12.00
Afghanistan has a rich literary history, but chronic instability, compounded now by the current crisis, have meant that women’s voices have remained hidden. This anthology is the result of more than two years working Afghan women writers. They have strong, original, and unexpected stories to tell, but until now have had no opportunity to publish these locally or beyond their borders. Now it seems certain that this opportunity will be taken from them again.
The Truth About Stacey 
