Contemporary fiction Books 1240 results

Ocean Vuong

THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER AND TIKTOK SENSATION A Most Anticipated Book in Guardian, Financial Times, Sunday Times Style, BBC, GQ, New York Times and AnOther Desperate college dropout Hai is ready to make a devastating choice until a chance meeting with elderly widow Grazina changes the course of his life, in this achingly beautiful novel about chosen family and second chanc...

Claire Lynch

No one need know about her mother's deviation A mother following her heart A father with the law on his side A child caught in the middle 'I'll be thinking about it forever' Barbara Kingsolver 'Powerful ...smart and often heartbreaking' Guardian 'A brilliant book... Full of heart, sympathy and sadness' Sara Pascoe 'I was caught up from the first page' Clare Chambers 'I am in ...

Jeanine Cummins

From the internationally bestselling author of American Dirt, comes a classic novel of a family in crisis 'A riveting tale of three generations, this is storytelling at its finest' JOHN BOYNE, author of The Heart's Invisible Furies 'I loved this book... a big, sweeping story of family and identity, and what it means to belong' EDEL COFFEY, author of Breaking Point and In Her ...

Mai Mochizuki

Your NEXT BIG READ if you love BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD 'Lose yourself in a world of talking cats with this cult bestseller' GLAMOUR 'Feel-good fiction for those needing a redirection' BOOKLIST NO.1 BESTSELLER TRANSLATED INTO 20 LANGUAGES Under a glittering full moon, a Kyoto coffee shop with no fixed location or hours appears only where and when it's needed. It's run by...

Jessica Stanley

'LIKELY TO BE ONE OF THE BIG LOVE STORIES OF 2025' THE SUNDAY TIMES, Books to Look Out for in 2025 'I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END' LIANE MORIARTY, internationally bestselling author of BIG LITTLE LIES 'AS WARM AS A DAVID NICHOLLS NOVEL' STYLIST 'JOYFUL . . . I LOVED IT!' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, Books to Watch in 2025 'CLEVER, JOYFUL AND SO FUNNY' NINA STIBBE, author of LOVE, NINA 'DEEPLY ...

Jacqueline Harpman

FROM THE AUTHOR OF TIKTOK SENSATION I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN There's a voice in Aline's head: a voice that wants out. Brash, boisterous and sexually adventurous, this voice seems to be the antithesis of Aline, a prim literature professor for whom each day promises to be as quiet and conventional as the last. That is until, after thirty-five years of imprisonment, her alter...

Toshikazu Kawaguchi

The million-copy bestselling series. The fifth book in the spectacular, million-copy bestselling Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, with a fresh bunch of customers in a special Tokyo cafe hoping to go back in time. Translated from Japanese, four new guests enter the mysterious Tokyo café, each with a secret wish, each hoping to go back in time to fulfil it as their coffee is...

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

'Absolutely not to be missed' - Kate Quinn on this sumptuous historical epic from the author of Mexican Gothic. Golden Age Hollywood - a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue. Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary temptress. So when the film's mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican in...

Isabel Allende

'A spellbinding masterpiece' SANTA MONTEFIORE'Isabel Allende is a literary treasure' KRISTIN HANNAH 'A captivating novel of love and war from one of our most revered storytellers' KATE MORTON The new historical novel from literary legend Isabel Allende Emilia del Valle was always destined for great things. Abandoned at birth by her Chilean aristocrat father, Emilia comes of ...

Florence Knapp

Tomorrow - if morning comes, if the storm stops raging - Cora will register the name of her son. Or perhaps, and this is her real concern, she'll formalise who he will become. It is 1987 and in the aftermath of a great storm, Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband has ordered her to follow a long-standing family tradition and...

Lana Schwartz

For fans of Romantic Comedy and Notting Hill (so, everyone?!), a second-chance celebrity / normal person romance you'll read in one sitting."Second chance romance, celebrity/normal person, Hollywood highjinks...this checks a lot of romance boxes." —The Skimm "A total delight—I read it in a single sitting, right to the perfect Hollywood ending." —Annabel Monaghan, bestselling au...

Virginia Evans

Discover the word-of-mouth bestselling phenomenon that thousands of readers are calling their favourite book of the year! THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROVER HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD WORDLWIDEA TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK 'A warm, funny gem of a novel' LAURA HACKETT, THE TIMES 'Masterful . . . I was delighted and moved' NEW YORK TIMES 'I can't prais...

Sophie Kemp

'A wild, roaming marvel of a debut... some of the weirdest and funniest prose imaginable' MEGAN NOLAN 'The funniest book of the year and one of the smartest' GARY SHTEYNGART A hilarious, surreal, and devastating journey into the mind of Reality Kahn, a young woman on a quest to be the greatest girlfriend of all time. It was decreed from the moment she was bornth. Twenty-three...

John Patrick Mchugh

An Observer Best Debut Novelist of 2025 'One of the most exciting writers working in Ireland today' SALLY ROONEY 'Lively, bighearted ... an utter joy to read' COLIN BARRETT 'Truly gorgeous ... a writer of immense talent' MICHAEL MAGEE 'Funny and heartbreaking' FERDIA LENNON A stunning debut novel following a teenage boy as he comes of age on the west coast of Ireland, from the ...

Sergei Lebedev

The extraordinary new novel by the author of Untraceable. A sealed shaft in a Donbas coal mine contains unimaginable horror: layer upon layer of human bodies, the victims of Red and White terror during the Revolution, of Stalin's purges, of the Einsatzgruppen in the Holocaust. Around this infamous pit, in a polluted region convulsed once again by war and cruelty when Russia i...

Emma Gannon

*The unforgettable new novel from the bestselling author of Olive* Funny, fierce and life-affirming, TABLE FOR ONE is a love letter to you. If in doubt, date yourself. *** 'A fast-paced, funny and touching story about smart young women' ELIZABETH GILBERT 'It's a fabulous read' RUTH JONES 'Funny, warm yet galvanising' JENNIE GODFREY 'Joyful and affirming, this is a dopamine hi...

John Patrick Mchugh

THE INSTANT TOP 10 IRISH BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2025 AN OBSERVER BEST DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2025 'A triumph ... the funniest novel I've read in years' SALLY ROONEY 'One of my favourite books of the year' JULIA ARMFIELD 'A funny and frank coming-of age-drama' OBSERVER 'Gorgeous ... a writer of immense talent' MICHAEL MAGEE A stunning debut novel fol...

Vladimir Nabokov

'And this is fantasy, the flutter, the rapture of fantasy!' A bashful dragon, a lost wood-sprite, the prophet Elijah and the Devil disguised as a middle-aged woman appear in these playful, exuberant stories by Vladimir Nabokov. So do a vengeful husband, a barber confronting his torturer and the author himself, as he recalls his first love. Each of the thirteen tales here encha...

Albert Camus

Best known for his existentialist novel The Outsider, set in French-occupied Algeria, Albert Camus was profoundly influenced by the landscapes, towns and traditions of his youth. Selected here are some of his finest personal essays about Algeria and its environs, including the luminous 'Nuptials at Tipasa', one of his earliest works where he developed the themes that would info...

Shirley Jackson

It's terribly important that I get in touch with a gentleman who may have stopped in here to buy flowers this morning. Terribly important. Sometimes, the person you think you love isn't who they seem. And sometimes, you can be your own deception. Spanning Shirley Jackson's entire career, these devilish tales of love, death, and despair show us how all that keeps us safe in sub...

Bea Fitzgerald

When Cassandra's patron god, Apollo, offers her the gift of prophecy she seizes the opportunity. But when she fails to uphold her end of the bargain, she discovers just how very far she has to fall. No one believes her visions, which all seem to be of one girl - a girl who is going to start a war. Helen fled Sparta in pursuit of love - but is finding it elusive. Now she must n...

Zoe Dubno

The funny, propulsive new novel about hating your friends, hating what they bring out in you, hating how you pander to them, the perfect satirical summer read for fans of Emma Cline, Curtis Sittenfeld, and Ottessa Moshfegh. A LitHub most anticipated book of 2025 'Exceptionally funny and entertaining' Katy Hessel, bestselling author of The Story of Art Without Men 'A gorgeous...

Seán Hewitt

A stunning debut novel from the acclaimed young Irish poet Seán Hewitt, reminiscent of Garth Greenwell and Justin Torres in the intensity of its evocation of sexual awakeningSet in a remote village in the north of England, Open, Heaven unfolds over the course of one year in which two teenage boys meet and transform each other's lives.James—a sheltered, shy sixteen-year-old—is a...

Jennifer Saint

The enthralling tale of a powerful Greek goddess maligned in both myth and ancient history, as told by Sunday Times bestselling author Jennifer Saint. 'An exceptional achievement' ELODIE HARPER 'A very special novel' COSTANZA CASATI 'The essential mythological book of the decade' NIKITA GILL When Hera, immortal goddess and daughter of the ancient Titan Cronus, helps her broth...

Meg Jay

Most twentysomethings don't have disorders that need to be treated; they have problems that need to be solved. In the face of an unknown future and a challenging present, our twentysomethings are struggling. From the threat of climate change to worries about affording a home, it is no wonder that many are suffering with severe anxiety and depression. They are also, however, a...

Sosuke Natsukawa

The must-have sequel to Sosuke Natsukawa's bestselling The Cat Who Saved Books - an uplifting tale from Japan about a talking cat, a book-loving girl and the power of books to make a difference in the world. Nanami sees nothing wrong with a library and cat combination. But a talking cat is a whole other story. Nanami Kosaki loves reading. The local library is a home from home...

Simon Scarrow

NOW A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! THE EPIC NEW EAGLES OF THE EMPIRE NOVEL FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR SIMON SCARROW - THE PERFECT BOOK FOR THE SEASON OF ROME! ROME AND BOUDICA. A DUEL TO THE DEATH. AD 61. Britannia is divided. The rebel horde has been defeated. But the leader, Boudica, and her remaining warriors are still at large. With them is the eagle standard of the Ninth Legio...

Irvine Welsh

The #1 Sunday Times bestseller is back with a powerful, riveting new novel, as maverick investigator Ray Lennox discovers that confronting his past could cost him everything. OLD TRUTHS HAVE NEW CONSEQUENCES Ray Lennox is determined to move on from his darkest days. The former detective has left Edinburgh for a fresh start in Brighton. Soon, his fixations and addictions have ...

Jennifer Haigh

Banu Mushtaq

Longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize Winner of the PEN Translates Award A monumental first collection in English from Banu Mushtaq: lawyer, activist, champion of Muslim women, and winner of India's highest literary honors. In the twelve stories of Heart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq exquisitely captures the everyday lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern ...