Books & Chat

Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary, but Logan Mountstuart's - lived from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century - contains more than its fair share of both. As a writer who finds inspiration with Hemingway in Paris and Virginia Woolf in London, as a spy recruited by Ian Fleming and betrayed in the war and as an art-dealer in '60s New York, Logan mixes with the movers and shakers of his times. But as a son, friend, lover and husband, he makes the same mistakes we all do in our search for happiness. Here, then, is the story of a life lived to the full - and a journey deep into a very human heart. 'Astonishing, touching, extremely funny. A brilliant evocation of a past era and an immensely readable story' - Sunday Telegraph

The Morrison siblings have been haunted by tragedy since the sudden death of their parents in an accident when they were young. Kate found an escape from the legacy of their dark past in her passion for the natural world. Now a zoologist far away from the small farming community where she grew up, she thinks she's outgrown her three brothers, who were once her entire world. But Kate can't seem to escape her childhood or lighten the weight of their mutual past.

Our Missing Hearts is the third novel by the American author Celeste Ng [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeste_Ng]. It was published in 2022 by Penguin Press [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Group]. The novel follows Noah Gardner (known as Bird) on a bus trip from Cambridge, Massachusetts [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge,_Massachusetts], where he lives with his father, to New York City in search for his mother. The novel takes place in a dystopian future under PACT (The Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act)

Rachel Sargeant is the author of The Roommates [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roommates-gripping-psychological-bestselling-Neighbours-ebook/dp/B07NKPZQ8R/ref=sr_1_1?amp&&&&&crid=LDOB6FAV0KIP&keywords=the%20roommates%20rachel%20sargeant&qid=1694433884&s=books&sprefix=the%20roommates%20rachel%20sargeant%2Cstripbooks%2C639&sr=1-1], The Good Teacher [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Teacher-gripping-bestselling-Neighbours-ebook/dp/B07GJB38F3/], and The Perfect Neighbours [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Neighbours-gripping-psychological-thriller-ebook/dp/B074M2VJ3P/ref=sr_1_1?amp&&&&&crid=1YEEC5TIK9U2G&keywords=the%20perfect%20neighbours%20rachel%20sargeant&qid=1694433993&s=books&sprefix=the%20perfect%20neighbours%20rachel%20sargeant%2Cstripbooks%2C3498&sr=1-1]. She also writes the Gloucestershire Crime Series, which includes Her Deadly Friend [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deadly-Friend-Gloucestershire-Crime-Book-ebook/dp/B0CY94TJBS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JRSDK8OPWG0Y&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ju9V2RjM4Zd4uYp8QOMmOcfgXKdk1ECiy9ZcHSaFlFeckfQBYgxEsLTTX4CjW1T6kGIUMdVrSP6Iq6a1ZlsO3YGXuwCh-5BgKTtg0FT0vWwXfxmZiGR4aIX_rhGwN-bVeTdR_64SAXwc096bFABNaDYBY72Nrtu_9whm2fHQfvf_3rXtE03LHputUpBAyYNYs-oBl2Iq3VqW5AGB-hL2zBu9TNDo8slbEs6b_8tbqFc.LdYlMN_jfSp12l6BpbNljjJSpOB96PC33KEYrpsKTQ4&dib_tag=se&keywords=her+deadly+friend&qid=1713889755&s=digital-text&sprefix=her+deadly+friend%2Cdigital-text%2C1587&sr=1-1] and Her Charming Man [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Charming-Gloucestershire-Crime-Book-ebook/dp/B0CY5ZFRR4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FEI4E1IMQ9J3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xmcNjWgoi3mwPOYkEDxki8B6S6dKHy64DXYmCBkwnuvt3mM0CgflG3APm0x2YnUX5A79NkFkxXT3L_MUMFhWq0LMOX0X0KeCHfZTZ3AHHthinMhai3l_6h4T_BOn3_LWFntflgmOFtd_ufdAgw1W8U08u2c30ckLfpW-iYDchlBbBEpItHZeCSIOW_Kv9nZ3uak5j3OwjxwJdeTmDnBPfAVecLfSjgcc-L8wkZYAxtE.c3eSZZM7vg0UxRFP9Q3Cnyal4CTAyUoakgVYoog7b6Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=her+charming+man&qid=1713890009&s=digital-text&sprefix=her+charming+man%2Cdigital-text%2C235&sr=1-1]. She won Writing Magazine’s Crime Short Story competition and has been shortlisted in various competitions including the Bristol Short Story Prize. Her stories have appeared in My Weekly and the Saucy Shorts series by Accent Press. She is a graduate of Aberystwyth University and holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham. She provides bespoke critiques for Henshaw Press short story competition entrants and is a judge in the quarterly competitions. After many years in Germany, she now lives in Gloucestershire with her family. Her hobbies are visiting country houses and coffee shops, and going to the theatre.

Shortlisted for the Wilbur & Niso Smith Adventure Prize for Fiction - could this be the winner? An extraordinary tale of family, scarifice and our never-ceasing battle with the past, Vardiashvili's mesmerising and unique novel about a boy looking for his father who's returned to his native Georgia for the first time since the war blends gripping mystery with questions about how we remember and why we forget.