I confess I was a serious little boy and used to be an excessively serious writer. Stoning the Devil, which is about desperate Gulf Arab women, was longlisted for major prizes and hailed by the feminist press. Poignant, even heart-breaking, but hardly a barrel full of laughsāthough even then I couldnāt resist some black humour. But when I became a professor of Creative Writing at an American university, I found Iād fallen into a world madder than Wonderland, and realised that the best way to tackle woke insanity was through humourāas the great comedians are doing. Nearly all the best British fiction is humorous, so I started letting out my own zany side.
One of the rare successful tragicomedies. Starting as a witty sendup of the decadent British upper classes, it turns deadly serious in the middle, when John, the young son of Brenda, has an accident while fox-hunting. Because her lover is also called John, she imagines, on being told, that it is her lover who is hurtāand thanks God when she discovers that it is her son. Brendaās distraught husband Tony, the one noble character, mounts an expedition to South America, but instead of finding meaning and redemption, as the reader hopes, a nightmarish fate awaits him. With this novel, Waugh proved himself the greatest British novelist of the inter-war yearsāand inspired me, showing me how to mix elements of gravity and tragedy with comedy.
Evelyn Waugh's celebrated tale of decadence and social disintegration, now in a beautiful hardback edition with a new Introduction by Philip Eade
After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars. This breakdown of the Last marriageā¦
As a woman who writes fantasy, sci-fi, and horror Iām fortunate my family never said āwhy canāt you be more girly?ā Instead I was supported to challenge myself; to study psychology, psychophysiology, and archaeology; and to write about my passions. From that came my love for novels like these: with women who are complicated, difficult heroes, struggling with the same feet of clay as everyone.
Cancer was defeated, but at the accidental cost of longevity. Children no longer have time to grow up and are force-educated by viruses. All except for Milena, who is resistant and almost died from them; Milena with secret love in her heart, doesnāt yet know herself; Milena who, over her life, will become determined to set the children free.
The Child Garden is quite a challenging read with its non-linear structure and worldbuilding, and I admit it wonāt be for everyone. But if you are up to trying something unusual you will find it richly rewarding and emotionally devastating (in the best way).
Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards.
"An exuberant celebration of excess set in a resource-poor but defiantly energetic twenty-first century."āThe New York Times
"A richly absorbing taleāwith a marvelous premise expertly carried out."āKirkus Reviews
"Excellent. . . . Dark and witty and full of love, closely observed, and sprinkled with astonishing ideas. Science fiction of a very high order."āGreg Bear
"One of the most imaginative accounts of futuristic bioengineering since Greg Bear's Blood Music."āLocus
In a future London, humans photosynthesize, organics have replaced electronics, viruses educate people, and very few live past forty. Butā¦
My work over the past four decades has been to promote womenās rights, end violence against women, promote social justice, and positively transform the lives of men. Iāve worked extensively with the United Nations; presidents, prime ministers, and governments; companies and unions; NGOs and educators in fifty countries. I continue to be inspired by the many incredible people I get to meet. In addition to my talks to communities, companies, and universities, my activism, and my books on this subject, I also write fiction, most recently my mystery The Last Exit.
Turning to a novel, hereās a story of a man who visits this fictional museum and sees the mementos and reads the letters of lost love. Far too many are to or by men who have caused others harm. This is not a grim story. Itās about the space that opens up for men to find a truer path to their hearts.
Tyler is in therapy. Katia and Goran are in love. On a summer trip to Zagreb, the couple discover an unusual museum that displays mementos of broken relationships. Inside, Goran stumbles upon an exhibit that seems to be addressed to him, from a girl he met in a Sarajevo refugee camp at age fourteen. What follows is a whirlwind summer of reconnecting with lost pasts: Goran confronts the youth he lost during the Yugoslav Wars, Katia heads to Brazil to find her roots, and Afghanistan veteran Tyler pours out his soul. Set against alternating backdrops of violent circumstances, this novelā¦
A native of New Yorkās Long Island, Iāve always been obsessed with the shoreline. My best early memories are of traveling with my family to the eastern edge of Long Island for our two-week summer vacation. My parents didnāt earn a lot of money, and we didnāt vacation often, so those two weeks in August were heavenly. As an adult, I gravitate to coastlines and islands. Iāve always been a fan of books with a strong sense of place, especially when that place is the shore. And I loved setting my current book on an island in the Mediterranean, delving into the qualities and characteristics that make a coastline so evocative and so appealing.
Lucinda Riley had me before I even opened this book, as I loved the concept: Maia and her sisters, each adopted separately as babies by their enigmatic billionaire father, return upon his death to their childhood home: a castle on the coast of Switzerlandās Lake Geneva.
There, they discover that their father left clues about each sisterās origins. Maia, the eldest, an introverted beauty in her early thirties, learns that her roots are in Brazil, so she sets out to discover more.
I love this novel for its exotic locations, complicated mysteries, star-crossed lovers, and main character who finds her true self by searching her past.
The book is chock full of romance, passion, and history ā my favorite ingredients! No surprise, Iām making my way through the whole eight-book series!
The Seven Sisters is a sweeping epic tale of love and loss by the international number one bestseller Lucinda Riley.
Maia D'Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home - a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva - having been told that their beloved adoptive father, the elusive billionaire they call Pa Salt, has died.
Each of them is handed a tantalising clue to their true heritage - a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil . . .
I began my own writing journey in 2007. I skipped many HS classes just to stay home and read. I want to know the ending of a story. I want happy ending. Life is hard, but when I have the ability to write the stories I write with the ending that so many are deprived of, at least I know I can find it in a book of my own choosing. That is my love of romance.
If you love Indiana Jones or tales of King Solomanās Mines then this is a great book. Very sexy. I will say (because itās an old book, and yes, Iāve read and re-read it many times. Itās just that good!)
There is major head-hopping, but the story is so compelling that you can actually see past that. As a young girl, the heroine followed in her fatherās archeological footsteps. Her father was known as Crackpot Sherman and she is out to prove he was not a crackpot, but things donāt look too promising.
A trek up the Amazon and Rio Negro rivers and a thousand miles through the jungle in a search for the heart of an unknown tribe. Family dynamics, a frustrated, but, definitely, a hero to die for. One of the best stories that will keep you turning the pages, when you are just dying to put itā¦
A fabulous lost Amazon city once inhabited by women warriors and containing a rare red diamond: it sounded like myth, but archaeologist Jillian Sherwood believed it was real, and she was willing to put up with anything to find it-even Ben Lewis.
Ruffian, knock-about, and number one river guide in Brazil, Ben was all man-over six feet of rock-hard muscles that rippled under his khakis, with lazy blue eyes that taunted her from his tanned face. Jillian watched him come to a fast boil when she refused to reveal their exact destination upriver in the uncharted rain forests-and resolved toā¦
