Alan Bilton – At Dawn, Two Nightingales

Bohemia in the Eighteenth Century. At Dawn, Two Nightingales is rumoured to be the most dangerous poem in the world, its haunted verses said to be invested with mysterious, supernatural powers. Now a ragbag bunch of bandits, criminals, censors and brigands are all hunting for it in an uproarious adventure that is part quest, part comic opera, and part unexpected ghost story. 

Bilton’s work is a Bohemian romp, an amuse-bouche which keeps on giving – Julian Stannard

Alan Bilton – The End of the Yellow House

Central Russia, 1919, a sanatorium cut off by the chaos of the Russian civil war. The murder of the chief doctor sets in motion a nightmarish series of events involving mysterious experiments, the secret police, the Tsar’s double, an enigmatic ‘visitor’, giant corpses, possessed cats, sorcery, and the overwhelming madness of war, in this fantastical and wildly exuberant historical novel.

An epic novel of considerable scope – Mark Blayney

A delicious mystery on every page – David Towsey

Carole Hailey – The Book of Jem

In the aftermath of catastrophic religious wars, God has been banned. A young woman – Jem – arrives in the isolated village of Underhill, announcing that not only does God exist, but It has sent her to deliver an apocalyptic message. Villagers convinced that Jem is lying, watch in horror as family and friends flock to join the God’s Threads religion. As the prophesied apocalypse draws near, Jem’s divisive message eventually threatens the very existence of Underhill.  

Bold storytelling, with the satirical force of Naomi Alderman’s The Power but its own claustrophobic sense of place – Francis Spufford, author of Golden HilI

Carolyn Lewis – Time, Again

Sensitively observed and poignantly written, Time, Again explores the eternal conflict between youth and age, parents and children, enduring ambition and the passing of time with both wit and empathy. Has Elizabeth been a good mother? Or did she sacrifice her family in the name of success? Time, Again offers no easy answers but thoughtfully examines the choices and challenges faced by all women in all stages of their lives.

Time, Again really resonated with me. Flawed but not fragile, betrayed but not beaten, in this coming of age novel, Lewis has created a character to root for in seventy-three year old entrepreneur Elizabeth as she embarks upon a journey of self-discovery to prove to herself- and the world – that she’s still in charge.
– Jane Fraser, author of Advent, winner of the Society of Authors Paul Torday Memorial

Carolyn Lewis – Some Sort of Twilight

These twelve stories are of people unsure of their place in the world – Cassie who discovers she can fly and has no-one to tell, Christine who’s been in her friend’s shadow for a long time, Bernard who loses his job through no fault of his own and Hannah who knows her father is waiting for her to sort his life out.

These stories combine pathos, humour and wisdom to explore how the ordinary can be strange, heartbreaking or comic, illuminating the inner lives of people who feel in some way they’re on the edge of their own lives.

Carolyn's stories are a joy to read. Her characters are so perfectly formed that we feel we have always known them. Of course people collect coat hangers! Who doesn't one day find they can fly? Her empathy for them all shines through and we feel in very safe hands – Sally Bramley, Winner 2021 Caledonia Novel Prize

Edward Matthews – Border Memories

Why live one life, when you could live a thousand?
Sol works for a start-up that traffics in the underground memory trade—harvesting memories from donors in Mexico and implanting them in Americans.

Sol’s newest client is Mr. Bray—old, rich, well-connected, blind. Mr. Bray hears rumors of a graveyard where miracles occur and has tracked down a young librarian, Nora, who remembers it.

Sol’s task is simple—find Nora, extract her memory.

But when Sol befriends Nora, he begins to understand who Mr. Bray is and what he is capable of doing…

As genuine art should, Border Memories explores important and ongoing problems and confidently reimagines them for a new audience.
– Margarita Pintado, author of Una muchacha que se parece a mí