The Book of Form and Emptiness von Ozeki, Ruth

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021

'Chilling and utterly compelling, The Fortune Menshines an essential light on a much-neglected period of our national life' Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland

Mahmood Mattan is a fixture in Cardiff's Tiger Bay, 1952, which bustles with Somali and West Indian sailors, Maltese businessmen and Jewish families. He is a father, chancer, some-time petty thief. He is many things, in fact, but he is not a murderer.

So when a shopkeeper is brutally killed and all eyes fall on him, Mahmood isn't too worried. It is true that he has been getting into trouble more often since his Welsh wife Laura left him. But Mahmood is secure in his innocence in a country where, he thinks, justice is served.

It is only in the run-up to the trial, as the prospect of freedom dwindles, that it will dawn on Mahmood that he is in a terrifying fight for his life - against conspiracy, prejudice and the inhumanity of the state. And, under the shadow of the hangman's noose, he begins to realise that the truth may not be enough to save him.

'A writer of great humanity and intelligence. Nadifa Mohamed deeply understands how lives are shaped both by the grand sweep of history and the intimate encounters of human beings'Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire

'A novel of tremendous power, compassion and subtlety, it feels unsettlingly timely'Pankaj Mishra

An unsparing and slippery, but thrilling and memorable novel from the fringes of urban life by cult writer Keith Ridgway.

A story of forbidden love that echoes across generations - from the prize-winning author of The Year of the Runaways.

'A gorgeous, gripping read' Kamila Shamsie
'A multi-generational masterpiece' Daily Mail

* A Book of the Year for The Times, Guardian and Daily Telegraph *

Mehar, a young bride in rural Punjab, is trying to discover the identity of her new husband. It is 1929, and she and her sisters-in-law - married to three brothers in a single ceremony - spend their days hard at work on the family farm, sequestered from contact with the men. When Mehar develops a theory as to which of them is hers, a passion is ignited that will put more than one life at risk.

Spiralling around Mehar's story is that of a young man who in 1999 flees from England to the deserted sun-scorched farm. Can a summer spent learning of love and of his family's past give him the strength for the journey home?

Readers love China Room
***** 'I didn't want it to end'
***** 'What. A. Book.'
***** 'Beautifully crafted...a story as old as time'
***** 'A novel of thwarted loves'

Shortlisted for the 2022 Rathbones Folio Prize
Longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize
Longlisted for the 2022 Walter Scott Prize
Longlisted for the 2021 Ondaatje Prize

'Amazing storytelling...gripping and very moving' BBC Radio 4, Open Book

'I'm blown away by it' Tessa Hadley

'The stuff of miracles' Bryan Washington

'Moving...fresh and nourishing' The Times

SHORTLISTED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE 2022

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2021

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG FICTION AWARD 2021

'Diamond-sharp, timely and urgent' Observer, Best Debuts of 2021

'Subtle, elegant, scorching' Vogue

'Virtuosic, exquisite, achingly unique' Guardian

'I'm full of the hope, on reading it, that this is the kind of book that doesn't just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible' Ali Smith

'Exquisite, daring, utterly captivating. A stunning new writer' Bernardine Evaristo

Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Step out into a world of Go Home vans. Go to Oxbridge, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy a flat. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going.

The narrator ofAssemblyis a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend's family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can't escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?

'One of the most talked-about debuts of the year . . . You'll read it in one sitting' Sunday TimesStyle

'Expertly crafted, remarkable, astonishing... A literary debut with flavours of Jordan Peele's Get Out' Bookseller,Editor's Choice

'Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway meets Citizen by Claudia Rankine... As breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true'Olivia Sudjic

'Bold and original, with a cool intelligence, and so very truthful about the colonialist structure of British society' Diana Evans

'This marvel of a novel manages to say all there is to say about Britain today' Sabrina Mahfouz