Barbara Kingsolver is at her very best in this highly readable story of a boy growing up amid poverty and addiction in Appalachia. In Demon she has created a warm, charismatic, damaged character, who will stay with you long after you have finished reading. Demon narrates his own story ‘My thinking here is to put everything in the order of how it happened’ and his voice draws you into his life and the lives of his friends; Maggot, Emmy, Tommy, Angus and Dori as they try to survive encounters with some truly terrible adults.
Kingsolver does not hold back in her depictions of social inequality and the terrible toll of the opioid addiction crisis in America, but the novel also celebrates the warmth of true friendships and the determination of some people to do the right thing, whatever the circumstances. Winner of both the Women’s prize for fiction and the Pulitzer Prize this may well be the best book you read this year.
]]>It begins in the 1940s with Victoria Nash, a teenager who runs the household on the family's peach farm in a small town in Colarado. When she encounters Wil, a drifter displaced from the Four Corners region, neither can foresee how much danger their connection will ignite. Go as a River is a story of forbidden love, tragedy and the ugliness of racism. But it also about finding courage, friendship and forgiveness and starting again.
This book took my breath away...and then it gave it back again.
]]>]]>
Stephen King described The Haunting of Hill House as ‘the perfect haunted house story’, and I have no reason to doubt him. This book will coil itself around you in the most deliciously creepy way.
Four individually charming characters meet at Hill House, known for its gruesome history and haunted past. There is Dr. Montague, an academic who invites them to the house for the summer to monitor and investigate paranormal phenomenon. There is Luke, heir to the house. Theodora, a confident, sensitive woman with supposed psychic abilities, and Eleanor, the victim of a proposed poltergeist as a child who is deeply marred by her relationship with her mother and sister. These three are the doctor’s perfect assistants, and what starts as a light-hearted holiday with blossoming attachments quickly descends into a deep, dark nightmare.
As one of the party slips into paranoia, and jealousy takes over and friendships become flayed, we slither into madness along with them, wondering all the while, ‘What is really happening?’
This book is terrifying, but not because of ghosts and ghouls. Jackson does not rely on hauntings or ectoplasmic apparitions or things that go bump in the night to instil fear in the reader. It is the unnerving, ceaseless disquieting sense that something is absolutely, undoubtedly, very wrong.
Jackson’s prose is masterful, lacing intricate fears into ordinary days, and doubts into ordinary minds, making you question the significance of every passing moment in that house. We watch, piece by piece, as luxuriously charming characters fragment, and ugly, disturbed faces grin beneath the surface.
This is a story of unspeakable fear and the disintegration of ordinary minds. But, as you read this perfectly autumnal, Halloween novel, never forget: Hill House, not sane, has stood for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continue upright, bricks meet neatly, floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut; silence lies steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walks there, walks alone.
]]>
Madeline Miller’s Circe is a wonderfully vivid and empowering retelling of a Greek classic. The story follows Circe, daughter of the Sun God Helios, through her life. Never have I felt so passionate about a character from Greek mythology before, but Miller breathes life into Circe and showcases her as a relatable Goddess who suffers at the hands of almost every man she meets. Nevertheless, she rises from the ashes each time, brushes herself off, and regains her power. This is a story of a woman overcoming what has been stripped from her, and flourishing in her own light rather than living in someone else’s.
The pages will slip by in almost one sitting. It is refreshing to read from the perspective of such a character, bold and strong despite the world in which she lives, and still compassionate. Circe is a book that will empower you, and inspire you to take back control of your life.
]]>We follow her story as she grows up and realises that there are so many nourishing relationships you can have, and that they can be found in all sorts of places. The story keeps relaying back to a picture book Eva reads in primary school called 'The Rainbow Rained Us' about different types of mothers, and you wish it was a real book you could read too.
Family isn't always blood relations and this book conveys grief, longing and love in the most magical way. With the glorious setting of Cordoba in Spain, follow Eva on her journey of discovery. My favourite recommendation since starting work at The Little Bookshop.
]]>Godmersham Park fictionalises the true story of Anne Sharp. She became the governess of Fanny Austen and began a friendship with Fanny's aunt Jane that lasted her lifetime.
A governess was a precarious position in Regency England, neither family or staff - cast in a no-man's land. In this novel our heroine treads a fine line; she hides her passion and brilliance in order to keep her job and the roof over her head. At times unfairly maligned and mistreated, Miss Sharp struggles to maintain her fortitude and rails against the unfair position of women in a society which favours men.
Gill Hornby captures the sparkle of Jane Austen's wit. You can practically see her laughing behind her gloved hand.
If you are forever desperate for more Jane Austen, then don't miss out on Godmersham Park.
]]>You will find yourself rooting for this pioneering heroine who just wants to be taken seriously as a research chemist. In the end, I imagine her male counterparts had wished that they had.
I think this is going to be a big hit this year and I can definitely see it being made into a TV series or a film. Catch it before it hits the screens!
Blurb:
Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing.
But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results.
Like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking ('combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride') proves revolutionary.
But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook. She's daring them to change the status quo.
]]>
This is the poignant, dark story of the girl who survived and managed to escape from her own House of Horrors. Lex Gracie and, her sister, Evie are trying to get their siblings together after their mother passed away in prison. She left them the family house, that no one wants to go back to, and twenty thousand pounds. Together, they must figure out what to do with the place where they have lived the worst time of their lives.
This is not a mystery book, but the survival story of 6 people who have had a traumatic upbringing, and struggle to live in the present, after everything they’ve lived. The author delivers, through flashbacks, an intriguing and soul wrecking story that will make you believe that evil does wear a pretty mask, and might walk among us.
This book is partly based on Rosemary & Fred West’s case and the House of Horrors, where the children were chained and heavily neglected by their mentally unstable parents. I have always had an interest in true crime stories and this story didn’t disappoint. Before, and while, reading it, I researched the real cases on Wikipedia. It made the book so much more intense because I could easily see how close the narrative was to the cases. This story really stays with you and, if you, like me, enjoy a good twist and find the psychology behind serial killers fascinating, I highly recommend it.
“and - though books cannot save you from everything - I hope that you are still reading.”
]]>Daisy Johnson’s Sisters is a wonderfully fast-paced read that maintains a deep-rooted sense of unease and dread until the climactic end. With twists and turns that throw you on an emotional rollercoaster, mysterious characters, and a dark plot that remains veiled until the very end, Sisters is completely unputdownable. I recommend this to anyone looking to pick up a book that will coil it’s cold, dark fingers around your mind from start to finish.
Sisters September and July, born only ten months apart, have an unusual bond forged in a blood pact they made when they were young. Now, as teenagers, they are fleeing with their mother from a terrible ordeal at their school in Oxford. Set in the dark eastern edge of the North York Moors, this book possesses a gloomy, gothic atmosphere. The storyline is murky and unnerving and Johnson perfectly encapsulates the abnormal bond these sisters share, and the dark past one wishes to escape, and the other to indulge in.
Johnson’s writing is stylish and befits the tone of the book perfectly. The creeping sense of dread will play on your mind, and the ending will leave you open-mouthed and scurrying to re-read the last few pages.
]]>Why are you writing?
We would always encourage you to write as it’s wonderful therapy, good for the soul, a great clarifier, and it helps critical thinking. We believe everyone should write, and often. But we’re not convinced that publishing is for everyone. Writing is hard, and the publishing world can be cruel. Before you take the plunge, stop and consider: Why are you writing? If it’s to make money, there are easier ways. If it’s to be heard, there are listening groups available. If it’s to leave something for your family, that’s a beautiful and personal thing - and it doesn’t deserve to be subjected to the criticism of a publisher or strangers.
Still want to publish?
Before you publish:
• Read. Read widely. Read books like yours and books that are different.
• Read Story by Robert McKee.
• Seek out feedback from lots of different readers - and listen to it.
• Join a writers’ group. They will help gauge if there’s a market for your book.
• Get a proper editor. Everyone makes mistakes, and the worst are the weaknesses we’re not aware of.
• Get active - on social media. Start conversations and interact with other authors. They need encouragement too and they may reciprocate.
• Go to author events.
• Find out about the bookshops you approach. Get to know who you might be aligning yourself with. If you are local then we would already expect to know you as a customer.
• Be nice to booksellers. Spell their names correctly. Get them on your side. Don't tell them how many copies are selling on Amazon. Really.
• Go on writing courses and learn the craft - treat it professionally.
So what can you do to maximise the chances of success?
Only a couple of self-published authors have sold successfully with us. Here’s how they did it: they personally, actively supported the bookshop. In fact, they enthusiastically promoted sales here and not via Amazon or themselves – creating promotion for the book and directed eager readers in our direction.
Did you know that...
190,000 books are published each year in the UK alone? And, at The Little Bookshop, we stock an average of 2,000 books. So we are considering hundreds of thousands of other titles competing for the very limited space on our bookshelves.
Important:
We are a community of book lovers who work together to share and spread a love of reading. We treat each other and our customers with respect. We likewise reserve the right to select the books we stock, and the people we work with.
It is sometimes the case that we can see value in a book, but we just can’t match it with our market. Please don’t be disheartened if you don’t hear back from us. What works in some shops will not work for others and all bookshops must be selective with stock to best fit their customers. If you don’t hear back, we wish you the best with your writing career.
Many thanks,
The Little Bookshop team x
]]>I loved everything about this book. I felt connected to the couple in some way and the whole book was a journey in itself. I read it in about 2 days; I was completely hooked on this journey. The description of both physical scenery and emotions was so well done. It also really put homelessness in a whole new perspective. Throughout the whole thing I was in awe of their resilience and determination through everything.
The Salt Path will make you laugh, cry and everything in between, as you’re taken along the southwest coastal path with this incredible couple. It’s brilliant.
]]>This novel follows a woman named Mariana, who is a group therapist. One day, she gets a phone call from Zoe, her niece, who tells her that something tragic happened and she thinks her best friend was murdered. Mariana goes to Cambridge University to help her niece cope with the tragedy and maybe, with the help of old and new friends, find those responsible for the murder.
Alex Michealides is a “mystery master”. When reading this genre, I often, successfully, read between the lines and guess who’s the villain. Not this time. I really thought I knew who did it. I really did. Every page made me believe that a certain character was the murderer. Until I reached the last 20 pages. It is amazing how the writer kept it all a secret until the end. He gives the reader several clues throughout the book, in the form of letter entries. However, he doesn’t prepare us for what is coming.
My favourite element of this book was its setting and the Greek mythology references. Michaelides paints a beautifully dark picture of Cambridge. The descriptions were so well written, that I truly felt like I was there, walking those streets, with Mariana and Zoe. The writer transported me to Cambridge, a place I, now, desperately need to visit.
Full of red herrings and a massive plot twist, if you’re looking for a fast paced, easy read that will make you skip supper because you need to read another chapter, this should be on your TBR.
]]>While this wasn't the story I was expecting - I assumed it would focus in the Minotaur myth, but ends up retelling her entire life - it was a pleasant surprise. There are a couple scenes where characters recount other myths, such as Medusa, which made the book even more fun to read.
This book especially focuses on women in Greek Mythology, how they were silenced, misunderstood and unfairly punished by men’s missteps and mortal envy. Jennifer Saint gives a voice to Ariadne and her sister, Phaedra. She shows us that you need to be strong and brave to survive in a world where women are just a means to an end and men and gods dominate the world.
”I would be Medusa... if the gods held me accountable one day for the sins of someone else, if they came for me to punish a mans actions, I would not hide away like Pasiphae. I would wear that coronet of snakes and the world would shrink for me instead.”
I was really happy while reading this. The hardback is stunning and I would definitely recommend it to everyone who is as passionate about mythology as I am. For fans of ‘Circe’ and ‘The Silence of the Girls’, this is a book you will definitely enjoy!
]]>Seven Shakespearean theatre students at the elite, fictional Dellecher conservatory play the same roles on stage and off: hero, tyrant, villain, temptress, but Oliver is always the supporting character. When they are assigned new roles, the shifting dynamics bleeds dangerously into their personal lives. All we know is that Oliver Marks has just served ten years for the murder of his friend, but did he do it? Did anyone?
I have not cried so much over a book since I was ten and reading Harry Potter. The language M. L. Rio implores is bewitching, employing the tragically beautiful words first used in Shakespeare’s tragedies. This is how the characters express themselves, how they convey their love, their suffering, their pain, by hiding behind the words of Shakespeare. Each quote has been carefully chosen and perfectly expresses the beauty of their experiences.
If We Were Villains is reckless, passionate, and beautiful. The many plot twists will play on your mind for a long time after closing the cover. You’re thrown into their world, you experience their trials and tribulations alongside them. I have never been so interested in King Lear, or Caesar, or Macbeth, as I was when reading If We Were Villains. In a sense, the book is a tragedy of its own.
The ending is, perhaps, one of the greatest endings to a book that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I suspect I shall always be affected by this novel to some degree. If We Were Villains will change and stay with you. I cannot recommend it highly enough, for one who embarks on their journey will surely be a different person on the other side.
Reviewed by Megan
]]>‘Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it’.
Donna Tartt’s debut novel follows Richard Papen, who joins a selective group of classics majors at a prestigious liberal arts university in Hampden, Vermont, and descend into moral decrepitude and murder.
I am often averse to reading books that reveals something as monumentous as murder in the prologue, but The Secret History is an exception. The characters are deeply flawed but impossible to hate. Between their Sunday evening dinners at Charles and Camilla’s (who are, strangely, siblings!) and Henry’s diary written in Latin so his classmate won’t know what he’s saying about them, you will struggle to escape the romanticism of academia. Tartt’s writing is hauntingly beautiful. She capably dons everything, murder and studying alike, in a chaotic allure.
My expectations were high when I started this book. The Secret History is a cult classic, and many friends have pushed this novel on me. It exceeded every harsh expectation I set. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it is now my favourite book.
Though Donna Tartt is best recognised as author of The Goldfinch, The Secret History deserves more recognition. Her characters are perfectly imperfect. They make mistakes, at times, just like the rest of us and, at other times, far worse than we probably would. Yet, they are just as human.
I recommend this book to anyone wishing to become entangled in a beautifully written novel about classical literature, murder, and a dysfunctional group of students. There are plenty of twists and revelations that will keep you up past two am, but it is worth the extra coffee you will need the next day. There are a lot of dark and adult themes in The Secret History, so be warned before you scramble to order yourself a copy - though, you still should!
P.S, Definitely Google the Latin
]]>
To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero... Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy.
She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there's no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don't believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar.
Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. When another body turns up, they realise they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape...
We have a special event on this Saturday for Halloween - we will be dressing up as Isadora Moon and handing out sweets (in sealed bags). We may even have some signed copies from the wonderful author, Harriet Muncaster.
We hope to see there x
]]>