Fiction & related items

A cutting-edge anthology, published on the 100th anniversary of the word 'Robot', exploring the impact it has had on the world, the possibilities and place of robots in society going forwards.

Throughout her distinguished career, Ann Granger has penned an array of hugely entertaining and gripping short stories. To mark her thirtieth anniversary as a crime writer, eighteen of these compelling mysteries have been brought together to delight and enthral crime fans everywhere. From a nosy ...

Following in the footsteps of his literary hero, researcher and historian Oliver Lewis set out to visit all the places to have inspired and been lived in by George Orwell. Over three years he travelled from Wigan to Catalonia, Paris to Motihari, Marrakesh to Eton, and in each location explored bo...

In Paradise Block, mould grows as thick as fur along the walls, alarms ring out at unexpected hours and none of the neighbours are quite what they seem. A little girl boils endless eggs in her family's burnt-out flat, an isolated old woman entices a new friend with gifts of cutlery and cufflinks,...

A marriage is arranged between a little servant girl and a middle-aged cook with an opium habit; an idealistic political worker faces disillusionment; a man returns from years studying in England to a wife he scarcely knows; a conventional bride has her first encounter with her husband's 'emancip...

In 2015, Alexander McCall Smith wrote a book entitled 'Chance Developments: Unexpected Love Stories', in which he imagined the stories behind five chanced-upon black-and-white photographs. Who were these people, why were they smiling, and what made them sad? He so enjoyed the experience that when...

Every mouthful you take is informed by the subtle tweaking and nudging of a vast, complex, global system: one so intimately woven into everyday life that you hardly even know it's there. The food system is no longer simply a means of sustenance. It is one of the most successful, most innovative a...

Tom Bingham examines what the rule of law actually means. He briefly examines the historical origins of the rule and then advances eight conditions which capture its essence as understood in western democracies today. He also discusses the strains imposed on the rule of law by the threat and expe...

This title explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are be...

'The Shortbread Tales' brings the reader face to face with a diversity of yarns, covering encounters with the SAS in Borneo, robberies, horse racing, financial escapades and ghostly experiences. The locations are as varied as the subject matter: from South Shields to the South Seas. All the short...