Modern & contemporary fiction

A decade after the discovery of the Higgs Boson, the large Hadron Collider at CERN still leads the world in the search to uncover what the universe is made of, how it was formed, and what fate may lie in store for it. If there is such a thing as a cutting edge, it surely lies 100 metres below the...

A collection of 31 short stories from one of America's master storytellers. Here are tales of young love and older wisdom, of the order and consistency of the natural world and the chaos, contradictions and continuities of the human being.

A little girl throws up Gloria-Jean's teeth after an explosion at the custard factory; Pax, Alexander, and Angelo are hypnotically enthralled by a book that promises them enlightenment if they keep their semen inside their bodies; Victoria is sent to a cursed hotel for ailing girls when her perio...

A little girl throws up Gloria-Jean's teeth after an explosion at the custard factory; Pax, Alexander, and Angelo are hypnotically enthralled by a book that promises them enlightenment if they keep their semen inside their bodies; Victoria is sent to a cursed hotel for ailing girls when her perio...

A boy decides to become a writer when he discovers that his inventions hold the power to entice the rich girl who has stolen his heart. An architect flees Constantinople with plans for an impregnable library. A strange gentleman tempts Cervantes to write a book that has never existed. And Gaudi, ...

Romy is all set to join her boyfriend and his family in France for Christmas, though truth be told she isn't looking forward to it very much. And then she meets Felix - and her plans for the big day suddenly become a lot more interesting. This volume also includes 'Candlelight at Christmas' and '...

Nestled in the Devon countryside, the Keep has always been a refuge for the Chadwick family: forever warm and welcoming through the challenges life has thrown at them. And the current occupants have certainly seen their share of challenges. Lulu and her small son, Oliver, are staying at the Keep ...

Love, loss, betrayal. Grief, guilt, longing. The act of grace or forgiveness that can suddenly transform and redeem lives. In these 12 haunting stories Mary Costello carefully examines the passions and perils of everyday life and relationships and, with startling insight, casts a light on the dar...

A wife compulsively digs in her garden. Two brothers, long estranged, reunite for a terse, heady summer. A woman flies to Krakow to see her adult son. At dusk, a teenage girl pushes her dying mother out into the sea. A small boy sits on his own in the cinema, entranced by the cowboys who light up...

I was told of an older woman who was asked by her granddaughter, 'Granny, when was the happiest time of your life?' 'I don't know,' she replied, 'I may not have had it yet.' The stories found in this collection explore the sensual worlds of thirteen older women, reframing their intellectual and e...