May Newsletter
Author Spotlight:
Douglas Stuart
Douglas Stuart is a NY Times bestselling author whose work has been translated in to over forty languages. His debut novel, Shuggie Bain, won the 2020 Booker Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award. It was named both the Overall Book of the Year, and Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, and was selected by the Sunday Times as one of ‘the 25 best novels of the 21st century’.
His next novel, Young Mungo (2022), was a Sunday Times #1 bestseller and a finalist for the Carnegie Medal. His latest novel John of John is due out May 12.
His essays on gender, class and conformity have featured on Lit Hub and his short stories are published in The New Yorker.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he has an MA from the Royal College of Art in London and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Glasgow and Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. In a previous life he was a designer for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, and The Gap. Since 2000, he has lived and worked in New York City, although he spends as much time in Glasgow as he can.
In store 12 May – pre-order now
John of John by Douglas Stuart
Out of money and with little to show for his art school education, John-Calum Macleod takes the ferry home to the island of Harris to find that not much has changed except for him. In the windswept croft where he grew up, Cal resumes his old life, caught between the two poles of his childhood: his father John, a sheep farmer, weaver, and pillar of their local Presbyterian church, and his Glaswegian grandmother Ella, who has kept a faltering peace with her son-in-law for decades.
While Cal wonders if any lonely men might be found on the barren hillsides of home, John is dismayed by his son’s long hair and how he seems unwilling to be Saved. As the seasons pass, everything is poised to change as the threads holding together the fragile community become increasingly entangled.
John of John is the heartbreaking story of a young man’s return home and how the bonds of family life are torn by the weight of expectation. It confirms Douglas Stuart as one of the great British writers at work today.
Reviewed by Jacq
After escaping to art college, Cal (John-Calum) is drawn back to the tiny Isle of Harris where he grew up; where his devout Presbyterian father (a tweed weaver) & ever watchful & judgmental community require him to be vigilant in concealing his true self. Against a backdrop of a remote, stark landscape, limited prospects & resources, dwindling villager numbers & an omnipotent priest & church : everything is loaded.
Beautifully realised with flawed & tender characters this novel radiates life in a tiny Scottish hamlet with both humour & hostility. Containing some of the most lovely musings on colour I have ever read, this is a novel of beauty, duty & damage; of family ties & the power of truth, secrets & limitations to tear apart. This one stays with you.
Books of the Month
FICTION
Reviewed by Kate
A truly delightful, feel good read with characters you will fall in love with and hope the best for, while the plot keeps getting thicker!! She really kept me guessing with how she would resolve the narrative, and has done a tremendous job at creating a heartfelt, but laugh-out-loud-funny story, about how our passions in life – food, music, our closest friends and chosen family – make us who we are and can return us to ourselves – through illness and loss.
When Lemons Give You Life by Anna Johnston
Redemption is a dish best served warm . . .
Retired Michelin-star chef Griff Barlow has lost his appetite. He’s done with grief, guilt and the beige slop they dare call food at Sunny Glen Aged Care Facility, where he now resides.
Life’s given him all the lemons he can handle – so he breaks into the nursing home kitchen to bake himself one last tart. It’s supposed to be his final meal, but the act of cooking stirs a dormant joy. Soon, he’s regularly sneaking in after dark, serving up flavour and comfort to his fellow residents. Yet behind the apron is a lie so big it could destroy the one thing he has left to protect . . .
Meanwhile, Griff’s younger sister, Lisa, is navigating a new ADHD diagnosis and the spark of an unexpected romance. Despite their fractured sibling relationship, she dutifully visits Griff, though she knows hope of a reconciliation is gone, buried in the silence between them.
But the truth has a way of boiling over – and when secrets, soufflés and second chances collide, they may discover a recipe for forgiveness.
NON FICTION
Reviewed by Chloe
Childhood is a heart-wrenching memoir of Brendan James Murray’s childhood, path into education and parenting, and puts forward a compelling case for shifting the way we, as a society, approach education. A fascinating read for any teacher, parent or community-minded person. Highly recommend.
Childhood by Brendan James Murray
Why do some children grow up into happy lives, and others never make it?
Brendan James Murray’s childhood was one of stark contrasts: vivid imaginative adventures but also disadvantage, fear and the shadow of a school he spent months refusing to attend.
When a silhouette on a freeway overpass forces him to confront the ghosts of his own childhood, he has a defining realisation about the extraordinary power of imagination to transform lives, and the degree to which it has been neglected.
Childhood is a vital and deeply personal investigation into how we can help children find their place in the world, drawn from Brendan’s profound and unique perspective as a child, teacher and parent.
This haunting, uplifting memoir is a must-read for everyone seeking to understand how the crucial and overlooked absence of a rich inner life in childhood echoes through all our adult years.
KIDS & YA
Raised by Wolves is an engaging and easy-to-read story about Olive, who unexpectedly sees her fugitive Father again after years apart. As she follows him, she starts to question what she really believes about her family and herself. It’s a thoughtful book with a bit of suspense, but also plenty of heart.
Raised By Wolves by Tristan Bancks
When your dad‘s a fugitive, who do you trust – him, or yourself?
Twelve-year-old Olive Silver knows how to check every room with a knife when she gets home from school, how to survive alone and how to keep secrets. She’s had to – ever since her criminal dad abandoned her family five years ago and let them pay for his crime.
But now he’s back.
The day she spots him outside her school, everything tilts. Olive calls her big brother Ben, who’s two days from graduating the police academy, and follows Dad through rain and darkness, across railway tracks and through wrecking yards, desperate for answers. Does Dad love her? Or is he only back for the money?
As the night spins out of control, Olive faces a choice- let Dad go, or hunt him down and bring him to justice.
May New Release Highlights
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Kids & YA
Author Events:
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas:
Gift Mum an evening of connection & flavour!
Gift Mum a Book Bundle!
Gift Mum 3 months of fiction!
Book Club:
Kids’ Story Writing Competition:
What our staff are reading this month:
Belinda: Little Bones by Sandy Biggins
Indy: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Juz: The Woman in the Seal Skin by Lauren Keegan
Kate: Delicious by Kate Legge
Mahli: The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon
Suzie: The News From Dublin by Colm Toibin
Tenniell: Even the Good Girls Will Cry by Melissa Auf der Maur
Jemma: The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
Jacq: John of John by Douglas Stuart
Chloe: Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
Jamie: Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai
Sarge: Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran
Other Services:
