Evelyn Waugh was born in Hampstead in 1903 and educated at Hertford College, Oxford. In 1928 he published his first novel, Decline and Fall, which was soon followed by Vile Bodies (1930), Black Mischief (1932), A Handful of Dust (1934) and Scoop (1938). During these years he also travelled extensively and converted to Catholicism. In 1939 Waugh was commissioned in the Royal Marines and later transferred to the Royal Horse Guards, experiences which informed his Sword of Honour trilogy (1952-61). His most famous novel, Brideshead Revisited (1945), was written while on leave from the army. Waugh died in 1966.

Evelyn Waugh

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Laura Barnett

From Sunday Times Number 1 bestselling author of Richard & Judy Book Club Pick, The Versions of Us, a beautiful novel about six lifelong friends and one unforgettable year, perfect for fans of David Nicholls and Jojo Moyes. 
 
‘A perfect, can’t-put-down summer read!’ Red 
 
‘A beautifully written story about second chances…couldn’t turn the pages fast enough’ Heat 
 
'Relatable, funny, moving and hopeful… a fantastic read’ 5-star reader review 
____ 
 
Six friends who were inseparable at university find themselves reunited at an engagement party twenty years later... 
 
Rob is a history teacher, with a string of broken relationships behind him. Yas is a surgeon and very much her own woman. Indie is married and a successful coffee entrepreneur. Rachel is a stay-at-home mum with two children. Al, widowed young, is about to take over his father's funeral business. 
 
When Rob's engagement party throws the gang together once more, some passions are reignited, old connections and resentments resurface. 
 
Over the next twelve months, there will, among the friends, be a birth, a marriage, and a death – but whose? 
 
Births, Deaths And Marriages is an era-spanning, globe-trotting novel about love, friendship, and how to stay at least relatively sane in an ever crazier world. It’s about a group of friends growing older, the possibility of second chances, about kindness and joy. 
 
It’s about births, deaths, marriages... and everything in between. 
 
Praise for Laura Barnett and Births Deaths and Marriages: 
 
‘My first read by Laura Barnett and won’t be my last…richly written and so moving’ Jennie Godfrey, Sunday Times bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things 
 
‘A must-read’ Closer 
 
‘I loved Births, Deaths and Marriages. Laura’s ability to jump between so many different lives and to keep those strands alive in the reader’s mind reminded me of Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors’ Georgina Moore, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Garnett Girls 
 
'A compelling and comforting read that reminds us about the power, support and importance of found family' Kate Sawyer, Costa Prize shortlisted author of The Stranding 
 
‘Barnett has that rare talent, like Curtis Sittenfeld or Kate Atkinson, of building up the mundane aspects of everyday life until they acquire meaning’ The Times 
 
Readers love Births, Deaths & Marriages: 
 
‘Four Weddings and a Funeral meets One Day...I couldn't put it down.’ 
 
'A rich, emotional read. I laughed, I cried, and I found myself rooting for each of them.' 
 
'An emotional, heartfelt book about the joys and sorrows of life. It is about love in all its forms, the friendships that shape us, and the quiet moments that define who we become.' 
 
'Perfect blend of humour, poignancy, and authenticity' 
 
‘Wow! Just wow! A book for anyone who has loved, for anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one, for anyone who has contemplated or been married, for every parent, indeed, for anyone who has lived.’ 
 
‘A hugely enjoyable novel which celebrates the durability of friendships that have weathered the storm of growing up.’ 
 
'Relatable, funny, moving and hopeful — a fantastic, life-affirming read.' 
 
'Characters so real you feel they could be your friends.' 
 
'A celebration of life’s milestones and the friendships that endure them.' 
 
'I couldn’t bear to leave that world behind — I wanted more!'

Births, Deaths and Marriages

M L Stedman

The mesmeric new novel from the author of the award-winning global bestseller, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS 
____________ 
 
'Heart-wrenching and beautifully set. A gorgeous feast of a novel about family, community, love and the lengths we will go to save them all’ RACHEL JOYCE, author of The Homemade God 
 
‘A big, bold story of resilience and hope. I was completely swept away’ BONNIE GARMUS, author of Lessons in Chemistry 
 
'One of those rare books that fill the soul' DONAL RYAN, author of Heart be at Peace and The Spinning Heart 
 
‘Utterly glorious. I have so much love for these characters - I felt their regrets, yet just as deeply, Stedman’s compassion. A truly brilliant novel’ FLORENCE KNAPP, author of The Names 
 
‘Truly a masterpiece. The kind of book you will remember for the rest of your life, and I love the very bones of it’ JOANNA CANNON, author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep 
 
'Epic, intimate and aching. I loved it’ MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER, author of The Paper Palace 
 
'A world, a story, a cast of characters I truly lost myself in' JENNIE GODFREY, author of The List of Suspicious Things 
____________ 
 
Outback Western Australia, 1958: for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a remote sheep station, Meredith Downs. A million arid acres, it’s an ocean of land, where the weather is a capricious god, and time still roams untamed. 
 
One ordinary day, on a lonely road, under the unending blue sky, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds the lives of the entire MacBride family are shattered. Then, instead of leaving wounds to heal, Fate comes for them yet again, in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child. Matt, the youngest MacBride, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide, as he is forced to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness. 
 
A tale of family and belonging, of compassion and hope, A Far-flung Life is about people trying to do their best, each, for private reasons, seeking shelter from the storm of life. Exploring the lives of a handful of isolated souls and the secrets they shield in order to survive, this epic novel stands 
as a testament to the enduring power of love.

A Far-flung Life

Carmella Lowkis

'Carmella Lowkis has done it again with this deeply satisfying and gothic stunner' ALLY WILKES 
'One of the best gothic novels the genre has to offer' JOHANNA VAN VEEN 
'Full of rich gothic decay and ratcheting tension ... twist after twist left me reeling' DANIELLE GILES 
 
'We are cursed, here at Harfold, whether you believe in it or not.' 
 
1922, Wiltshire. When Vee Morgan accepts the job of gardener at a crumbling stately home, she's hoping for a fresh start where nobody knows her troubled history. 
 
But Harfold Manor is shadowed by grief and the memories of long-faded glory, its rooms haunted by the only surviving member of the family, Lady Arabella Lascy. Vee is fascinated by her enigmatic new employer, a woman obsessed with the curse she believes has killed her family one by one. A curse that is coming for her next. 
 
As Vee immerses herself in the world of Harfold, she finds herself increasingly entranced by Arabella and the secrets that poison her. 
 
But Vee has her own things to hide: secrets that caused her to flee Cardiff, secrets that estranged her from her own family, secrets that might finally catch up to her…

A Slow and Secret Poison

Philippe Collin

An Immediate Bestseller | A Bloomberg Best Book of 2025 
 
'Philippe Collin is a magnificent storyteller. This novel fascinates at every turn.' Elle 
 
When the Ritz becomes the Nazis’ favourite spot, its Jewish bartender has no choice but to keep working. 
 
Paris, 1940. Despite the Occupation, the prestigious Ritz Hotel has managed to remain open. Its bar becomes a favorite spot for Nazis eager for a taste of French refinement. Its celebrated barman, Frank Meier, is forced to adapt to this new clientele. But he is hiding a secret that no one can find out: he is Jewish. 
 
With every word and smile, the atmosphere becomes more and more suffocating. Yet Frank refuses to flee. With the unwitting help of the Nazis, Frank eventually uncovers secrets that help keep him and his loved ones alive—especially Luciano, his young apprentice, and Blanche, wife of the director of the Ritz and Frank’s impossible love—both of whom are Jewish too. 
 
Betrayal, lies, and backstabbing raise the stakes for the bartender—with Frank always just one step ahead of fate. 
 
Based on a true story, The Barman of the Ritz is as chilling as it is fascinating.

The Barman of the Ritz

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