Adults Books
Mongrel by Hanako Footman
Footnotes Press hardback £16.99
A compelling debut novel about love, loss, and identity from a fresh new voice in British-Asian fiction.
I was utterly gripped from the very first sentence of this heart-rending story which weaves together 3 voices: Mei has grown up grieving the loss of her Japanese mother at the age of 6, and her yearning to fit in with her affluent suburban Surrey friends means that she suppresses both her Japanese heritage and her growing desire for her best friend Fran. We meet Yuki when she arrives in London to study violin, before she falls violently in love with her much older teacher and finds herself pregnant. After losing her mother in her early teens, Haruka goes off the rails and leaves her grandparent’s farm for the bright lights of Tokyo, always mourning the loss of her secretive mother, who left so many unanswered questions… Gradually the stories intersect, and we unravel the tangled web of deception that connects them. Vivid and visceral writing.

Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Faber paperback £9.99
Now into paperback, this is an intense, haunting novel by one of our favourite Irish writers.
Tom Kettle is a retired policeman, widowed and living alone, spending his days staring out to sea. His solitude is interrupted when two former colleagues turn up at his door to ask about a traumatic, decades-old case, and stir up long-buried memories. Tom is an unreliable narrator, slipping into dementia, and his narrative meanders between past and present, gradually revealing his harrowing story. Sublime writing - poetic, poignant and powerful.

The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin
Faber £9.99
We’ve been enjoying these Faber re-releases of Celia Fremlin’s 1960’s psychological thrillers, she certainly lives up to her moniker as Britain’s answer to Patricia Highsmith.
Louise would give anything - anything - for a good night's sleep. If the baby would just stop crying, everything would be fine. Or would it? What if Louise's growing fears about the family's new lodger, who seems to share all her husband's interests, are real? What could she do, and would anyone even believe her? Maybe, if she could get just get some rest, she'd be able to think straight . . .
Witty, suspenseful, and deliciously sinister, it is a joy to discover these forgotten classics!

Children’s Books
Saving Neverland by Abi Elphinstone.
Puffin books £7.99
Martha Pennydrop is ten years old, and in a real hurry to grow up. But when she and her little brother Scruff discover a drawer full of mysterious gold dust in the bedroom of their new house, they open the door to an incredible adventure in a magical world - Neverland! As it turns out, they are living in the Darling Family house, over 100 years on from Wendy’s adventures with Peter Pan. But Neverland is in the grip of a terrible curse, and when Scruff is kidnapped, Martha must rediscover the magic and imagination deep inside herself to help Peter Pan save Neverland and rescue her brother. A marvellous modern reimagining of the Peter Pan story.