14 Fiction


Russians entering Vienna, the guileless spirit of the opening pages have been replaced by one of despair, hopelessness and weariness after seven years of betrayal, occupation, brutality and horror. At the heart of the novel is Julia Homburg, a wealthy, strong-minded and celebrated actress and her husband Franz, a Socialist politician who is Jewish. When the SS invades, Franz must be concealed. With daring ingenuity, Julia conjures a hiding place. In the shadow of oppression, ancient hatreds resurface and the streets are full of spies and collaborators. 622 page paperback reprint. £8.99 NOW £3.50


73655 LAST THING HE


WANTED by Joan Didion It is 1984 and rumblings of the Iran- Contra Affair are just beginning to stir. Large quantities of lethal weaponry are reaching the Nicaraguan Contras without the official sanction of the US government, but with its complicit knowledge. Meanwhile, out-of- work journalist Elena McMahon watches as her evasive, gruff father’s life slowly ebbs away.


Rudderless, she feels compelled to understand him and resolves to do his bidding, to follow the action to Central America by escorting a shipment of anti-personnel mines to a remote jungle. 227pp, paperback. £8.99 NOW £2.75


73663 PLAY IT AS IT LAYS


by Joan Didion Somewhere out beyond


Hollywood, has-been actress Maria Wyeth’s life is going off the rails, but her permanent catatonic state leaves her a mere bystander to her own downward spiral. The book is a blistering, brutally refreshing dissection of 1960s American culture, a classic work of fiction, startling and poignant in its


exploration of the battle between the self and society, and the pain of living versus the ease of merely existing. A brilliant chronicle of America’s cultural and political life. 213pp in paperback reprint of the 1970 original. £8.99 NOW £3


73151 TIME KEEPER: A Novel by Mitch Albom


Dor, the inventor of the first clock and the first man to count the hours, is punished for measuring time. Made immortal, “Father Time” is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the pleas of those who come begging for a few more years of life. Finally, his soul all but broken, he is released, but on one condition: he must teach two mortals the true meaning of time. He commences a journey overseeing the lives of Sarah, an overweight, lovelorn teenage girl who wants to die, and Victor, a wealthy, critically ill old man who wants to live forever. To redeem himself he must save them both. 226pp, first UK edition of 2012. £12.99 NOW £4


73155 VALENTINE GREY by Sandi Toksvig The eponymous heroine of the novel was born in Assam in north-east India and enjoyed a carefree childhood. This is abruptly curtailed by the death of her father, and in 1897 she arrives in damp, cold London. She finds the skirts, petticoats, stays and corsets of Victorian society unbearable, but one thing makes life enjoyable - her unconventional and homosexual cousin Reggie. Reggie and his lover Frank enjoy an adventurous if clandestine life, one in which they are happy to include Valentine. But then comes the Boer War, and Reggie’s father volunteers him - but it will not be Reggie on the boat to Cape Town. Valentine seizes her chance. She bandages her chest, puts on her cousin’s volunteer regiment uniform and heads off for the adventure of war, leaving Reggie to indulge himself freely in London. 341pp. £16.99 NOW £6


73158 WHO NEEDS MR DARCY? by Jean Burnett


Taking in London, Paris and Brighton, this adventure details the charming and somewhat dastardly exploits of the youngest Bennet sister from Pride and Prejudice. Meet Lydia, everyone’s favourite Austen anti-heroine. Mr Wickham turned out to be a disappointing husband in many ways, the most notable being his early demise on the battlefields of Waterloo. So Lydia must make her fortune independently and with her natural ability to flirt uproariously on the dance floor and cheat seamlessly at the card table, she would swoon in the wake of a dashing highwayman, a corrupt banker and even an amorous Royal or two. There’s nothing that Lydia won’t turn her hand to. 405pp in paperback. £6.99 NOW £3.50


73192 THIEF OF TIME by John Boyne Matthieu Zela has lived his life well. In fact, he’s lived several lives well because Zela’s life is characterised by one amazing fact - his body stopped ageing before the end of the 18th century. Starting in 1758, a young Matthieu flees Paris after witnessing his mother’s brutal murder. His only companions are his younger brother Tomas and one true love, Dominique Sauvet. The story of his life takes us from the French Revolution to 1920s Hollywood, from the Great Exhibition to the Wall Street Crash to the end of the 20th century. 523pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £3


73207 THE VIKING SAGAS: Bracelet of Bones by Kevin Crossley-Holland


Halfdan is a Viking mercenary who longs to rejoin his friend Harald Hardrada in Miklagard - or Constantinople - where Harald is leader of the Empress’s guard. He has sworn to take his daughter, Solveig, but breaks his promise. So, she decides to follow him and sets off in a tiny boat, right into many adventures along the Baltic and through the river routes of Russia to the Black Sea. She joins forces with Swedish traders and, en route, encounters a ghost-ship, an English slave, a laughter- maker, a charming thief and a Russian king. Through it all, her belief in her father is unwavering. 260 pages with colophons and map. £12.99 NOW £4


73296 THE ROAD HOME by Rose Tremain Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to Britain to seek work. Behind him loom the figures of his dead wife, his beloved young daughter and his outrageous friend Rudi who lives largely for his battered Chevrolet. Ahead lies the strangeness of London which holds out the alluring possibility of friendship, sex, money and a new career and if he is lucky, a new sense of belonging. Deeply moving and bravely imaginative, this novel was the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction and is here in Vintage paperback with olive green cover and matching coloured page edges. 365pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £3.50


73314 NOVGOROD THE GREAT: A Novel by Andrew Drummond It is August 1833. In the ancient City of a Thousand Saints, in an inn kept by a man whose antipathy to all his guests is matched only by his violent loathing of poets, a young widow and a prosperous merchant encounter each other by chance. During a night spent in each other’s company, filled with dawning hope, revelation, and pickled eggs, several remarkable stories unfold. One is that of a pedestrian- traveller extraordinaire, deceased husband of Ksenia, and his infamous father, who spent his life defrauding governments and upsetting Napoleon. Another tells of the merchant Horatio, who reflects on love, slavery and arithmetic, not to mention carnivorous Colombian elephants and the questionable motives of travellers. Original and witty, as readers may have guessed! 381 paperback pages. £9.99 NOW £3


73356 HASTY DEATH by M. C. Beaton Longing for a life of emancipation, Lady Rose Summer has abandoned the comforts of her parent’s house to become self supporting. Fortunately for her, drudgery comes to an end when old acquaintance Freddy Pomfret is murdered, and her help, and upper class connections, are required by amateur sleuth Captain Harry Cathcart. As Rose and Harry prepare to take on the usual Edwardian social rounds, little do they know that they are about to uncover a devious blackmail plot and an unlikely killer. 245pp, paperback. £6.99 NOW £4


73379 SICK OF SHADOWS by M. C. Beaton A curse has befallen one of Rose’s friends. It would seem that even a pretend engagement cannot keep Lady Rose Summer from trouble. Bored with endless parties, teas and balls, she befriends Dolly Tremaine, a beautiful young girl newly arrived from the country and overwhelmed by the demands of the Season. Their friendship is cut tragically short when Dolly is found dead in the river, flowers in her hair and blood on her breast. Rose immediately calls on her fiancé, investigator Captain Harry Cathcart to help solve the mystery. 247pp in paperback. £6.99 NOW £4


73382 SNOBBERY WITH VIOLENCE by M. C. Beaton


After a brief and ill-advised dalliance with the Suffragette movement, Lady Rose Summers’ début season in London society turns out to be a complete disaster. Her father suspects that her fiancé, Sir Geoffrey Blandon, is a first-class scoundrel and calls in Captain Harry Cathcart to investigate. But when a malicious guest is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Rose becomes far more interested in discovering the truth than in landing a more appropriate suitor. As Harry and Rose begin to unravel a web of lies and rumours, a clever murderer sets out to make Rose’s dreadful first season her last. 248pp in paperback. £6.99 NOW £4


73394 VENETIA KELLY’S TRAVELING SHOW:


A Novel by Frank Delaney It is January 1932. While Ireland teems in the run-up to the most important national election in the Republic’s short history, Ben MacCarthy and his father, Harry, watch a vagabond variety revue making a stop in the Irish country-side. After a two-hour kaleidoscope of low comedy, Shakespearean recitations, juggling and tumbling, Harry - mesmerised by Venetia Kelly, the troupe’s magnetic leading lady - makes the fateful decision to abandon his family and set off on the road with her. Ben’s mother exhorts him to find Harry and bring him back, thereby sending the boy on a Homeric voyage into manhood. 427 pages. £16.99 NOW £3


73421 APPLEWOOD by Claude Michelet Set in war-torn France, there seems to be no future at all for the Vialhes. Their son Jacques a prisoner in Germany, Paul with the Free French in England, indomitable Berthe condemned to the horror of Auschwitz. But stubborn as the land of Limousin north of the Dordogne, the family whether this storm too, to emerge in a world irrevocably altered. For if the war brings Paul the dream he was seeking, it leads him to tragedy in Algeria. If Jacques forges new love and a new career, he cannot forget what he has lost. And who, of the 60s generation, will care for the unrewarding land owned by the family farm? 456pp in paperback. £6.99 NOW £2.75


73471 STEEP APPROACH TO GARBADALE by Iain Banks


After years of exile, Alban Wopuld has been summoned back to his family’s Highland estate, Garbadale. The Wopuld clan are closing ranks. They have built their fortune on the board game Empire! which has now become a hugely successful computer game, but now the Americans want to buy them out. As the family gathers for their Extraordinary General Meeting, old grudges, forbidden passions and dark secrets emerge. What drove Alban’s mother to take her own life? And is he over Sophie, his bewitching cousin and teenage love? 390pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £3.75


73476 THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL by Philippa Gregory


Mary Boleyn catches the eye of Henry VIII when she is a girl of just 14, but her joy is cut short when she discovers that she is a pawn in her family’s plot. When the capricious King’s interest wanes, Mary is ordered to


pass on her knowledge of how to please him to her sister Anne, her friend and rival. Anne soon becomes irresistible to Henry, and Mary must resign herself to being the other Boleyn girl, but beyond the court is a man who dares to challenge the power of her family and to offer Mary a life of freedom and passion. 625pp, paperback.


£6.99 NOW £3.50


73654 LARRY’S PARTY by Carol Shields


The dinner party which brings the novel to a deliciously unexpected conclusion is one of the greatest set pieces of modern fiction. We get inside Larry’s mind in 1984 - ‘If Heather McPhail was soft and curved, Megsy Hicks was a hard, straight line. Megsy of the bold sexy sweaters and Cher-style hair, Megsy of the wide mobile lipglossed


mouth in the middle of a face that was all quick sketch lines and strong severity - and attached to a moving, undulating muscular woman’s body.’ As if, with her glasses off, she didn’t notice what a drip he really was, as though she was oblivious to the honking embarrassment of being Larry Weller and what that might mean. In the ordered riotousness of Hampton Court’s maze, Larry Weller discovers the passion of his life. 339pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £2.75


73544 BULLFIGHTING by Roddy Doyle Doyle has an expert ear for capturing the voices and hearts of his characters. Moving from classrooms to graveyards, local pubs to bullrings, these dazzling tales feature an array of men taking stock and reliving past glories. Each is concerned with loss in different ways - of their place in the world, of their power, virility, health and ability to love. A bittersweet series of takes on men in middle age, revealing a panorama of Ireland today. 214pp, paperback. $15 NOW £5


73552 FAVOURITE SHERLOCK HOLMES


STORIES by Arthur Conan Doyle In 1927, Strand magazine challenged its readers to guess which of his Sherlock Holmes stories Arthur Conan Doyle rated as his very best. The stories included such classics of the detective genre as The Speckled Band, The Final Problem and The Dancing Men. Now his favourite 12 are published together for the first time along with his original Strand article. Others include Red-Headed League, A Scandal in Bohemia, The Five Orange Pips, The Devil’s Foot, The Musgrave Ritual and The Reigate Squires. 332pp, paperback. £7.99 NOW £5


FOOD AND DRINK


My favourite drink is a cocktail of carrot juice and whisky. I am always drunk but I can see for miles.


- Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown


74226 FROM SALLY LUNNS TO CIDER SAUCE: Recipes


and Memories of Somerset by Catherine Rothwell In the second instalment of her trilogy of books exploring the culinary heritage of the West Country, the author turns her attention to Somerset - the home of Meat Fuggan and Honey Pudding. 30 years ago, the Rothwell family


came down to Somerset from their native Lancashire to holiday in beautiful Halsway Manor. While travelling between Stogumber, Dunster and the Quantocks, the author fell in love with the local cuisine which, while recognisably English, has its own unique traits. This charmingly illustrated book is her opportunity to record not just the recipes she began collecting three decades ago, but also dozens of vignettes and observations on the life and history of the county. These delightful digressions appear at random amongst the recipes. As they create a menu, readers can learn about quaint Victorian carving terms such as ‘spoiling a hen’, ‘winging a partridge’, ‘embracing a mallard’ and ‘thighing a woodcock’ or be diverted by the tale of Pliny the Elder who, when he visited Britain, wrote that ‘These islanders consume great quantities of honey brew...’ by which he meant mead, of course. Enjoy Roast Gliny, Zummerzet Fritters and Watchet Fig Pie, and wash it all down with a jug of delicious Dunkery Lemonade or more-ish Somerset Farm Cider. 128 paperback pages, photos and line drawings and conversion guides. £12.99 NOW £5


72768 GREAT CHICKEN COOKBOOK by Reader’s Digest


These 200 recipes include not only standard dishes but almost half the recipes are low-fat, and each recipe is accompanied by a nutritional analysis covering calories, protein and saturated fat. Following snacks and starters the book goes on to soups, salads, casseroles and stews. The one-pot section starts with Winter Chicken Stew, progressing to a scrumptious Chicken Pot Pie, Moroccan Chicken Casserole, Greek-style Stuffed Capsicums, French-style Chicken with Red Wine, Cassoulet and Chicken Paella. Chicken with Pasta, Roasts, Oven Bakes and Barbecue dishes are also covered. Colour photos and clear instructions. 320pp. ONLY £7


72891 TASTE COMFORT FOOD: Over 100


Mouth-Watering Recipes by Igloo Books You can create all the flavour and texture of your favourites in reduced calorie/fat form with just a few small changes. Slow cooked chicken or lamb tagine from Morocco, chilli con carne with sour cream from Mexico, fagiolata (bean soup with pasta) and spaghetti


with chanterelles and parmesan from Italy, even good old Eton Mess, there are over 100 glorious recipes here, all photographed in mouthwatering colour. From soups/ starters, through mains/pasta to desserts to die for. 224pp, 8½”×10". £12.99 NOW £3


72998 KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL by Anthony Bourdain


Bawdy and bolshie, after 25 years of ‘sex, drugs, bad behaviour and haute cuisine’, chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain decides to tell all. From his first oyster in the Gironde to his lowly position as a dishwasher in a honky- tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown, from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop the Rockefeller Center to drug dealers in East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, his tales of the kitchen are unpredictable, shocking and funny. Buy also the sequel Medium Raw code 73004. 307pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £3


73004 MEDIUM RAW by Anthony Bourdain From journeyman cook to globe-travelling professional, Bourdain found himself holed up in the Caribbean, driving drunk and way too fast over unlit golf courses and along cliff edges. Something had to change. Beginning with a secret and highly illegal after-hours gathering of powerful chefs, and delving into the real nature of fatherhood, in his distinctive style he cuts to the bone on every subject he tackles. With chapter headings like ‘Alan Richman is a Douchebag’ and ‘The Fish-on-Monday Thing’. 281pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £3


74266 ANTHONY BOURDAIN: Set of Two by Anthony Bourdain


Buy both paperbacks and save even more. £17.98 NOW £4


73030 TALES FROM MY GRANDMOTHER’S KITCHEN by Jessica Gibson


This sumptuous book, based on the recipes collected, sifted and perfected by her colourful Chilean grandmother, recalls the author’s memories of extravagant creations lathered in cream, often dosed in brandy - exquisite, but never plain and homely. Cheese Savouries and Pisco Sour are perfect partners, and Spiced Red Cabbage with Caramelised Chestnuts is infinitely superior to plain old greens. 158 pages with line drawings and conversion tables for weights and volume.


£9.95 NOW £3 73313 MMA RAMOTSWE’S COOKBOOK:


Nourishment for the Traditionally Built by Stuart Brown with a foreword by Alexander McCall Smith


The author has made a detailed study of Alexander McCall Smith’s books, set in Botswana, all about the detective Mma Ramotswe of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. To begin with, you must have Red Bush Tea. We have tried it and it is delicious - as well as being naturally decaffeinated and good for you. Roasted Mealies are a must, as is Curried Pumpkin Soup. We can state with confidence that you will probably not be keen to try Mopane Worm Stew or Roast Leg of Springbok, but there are plenty of other mouth-watering dishes to sample. 150 paperback pages 25cm x 19cm in dazzling colour with glossary. £14.99 NOW £4.75


73516 BIG BOOK OF CHOCOLATE: 365


Decadent and Irresistible Treats by Jennifer Donovan


Starting with six basic recipes that will be used in many dishes (Chocolate Pastry Cream, Chocolate Crumb Crust) the book goes on to the Chocolate Heaven of mousses and cheesecakes, including Coffee, Chocolate and Praline Mousse, White Chocolate, Blueberry and Citrus Pots, Mocha Soufflés and a variety of delectable variations on a Tiramisu. Baked chocolate dishes come next, from Chocolate Cup Cakes to Chocolate Cream Roll with Strawberries via Single and even Double Chocolate Lamingtons. Chocolate desserts include Chocolate Crepes with Chestnut Cream, Pear Clafoutis and Chocolate Rice Pudding. The book concludes with a variety of chocolate ices and drinks. Spiral bound, 216pp, softback, colour photos. £12.99 NOW £3.50


33876 DICTIONARY OF DRINK: New Edition,


Updated and Illustrated by Ned Halley What is a slack-ma-girdle? How did White Horse whisky get its name? Or Old Bawdy barley wine? In a straightforward A to Z format, the book identifies thousands of individual brewers, distillers and winemakers, as well as the names of their products. Helps in locating beers and ciders, wines and spirits of every hue to their maker and place of origin. Laced with historical anecdotes, a thousand cocktail recipes, essays on topics from the Guiness dynasty to the principles of brewing. Illus with hundreds of drink labels. 656pp. Paperback. ONLY £4


72338 LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE: Recipe


Collection designed by Laura Palese Since its original publication in 1938, Larousse Gastronomique has withstood the test of time and trend to remain the world’s most authoritative culinary reference work. Its comprehensive collection of 2500 classic recipes makes it an indispensible resource. Recently updated, every one of these recipes has now been organised into four compact paperback volumes and presented in a glamorous slipcase. The first is Meat, Poultry and Game with more than 800 essential recipes and nearly 200 additional recipes for such basics as pastries, condiments, garnishes, stuffings, marinades and more. Hare with Cherries, Guinea Fowl Salad with Fruit, Ballotine of Goose with Savigny-lès-Baune are among the recipes. 533pp with colour photos. The second volume presents 500 quintessential fish and seafood recipes including Lobster Thermidor, Salmon Koulibiac, Pike Quenelles Mousselin and more than 150 recipes for sauces, dressings, glazes, condiments and stocks. 344pp in paperback with colour photos. The third volume provides landmark vegetable and salad recipes such as Asparagus Mousse, Gratin Dauphinois,


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