Showing results by publisher "Quercus" in All Categories

London in 1919 was a city of ghosts and absences, haunted by the men who marched away but never came back from 'the war to end all wars.' Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her fiancé, the brilliant and dazzling best friend of her brother. He was declared Missing in Action during the Battle of the Somme, but he starts to reappear both in her waking life and dreams. Grace is appalled when a body, dragged from the Thames, is identified as Catherine Smith, who has lodged with Grace and her family before suddenly disappearing.

In March 2015, Naja Marie Aidt's 25-year-old son, Carl, died in a tragic accident. When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back is about losing a child. It is about formulating a vocabulary to express the deepest kind of pain. And it's about finding a way to write about a reality invaded by grief, lessened by loss. Faced with the sudden emptiness of language, Naja finds solace in the anguish of Joan Didion, Nick Cave, C. S. Lewis, Mallarmé, Plato and other writers who have suffered the deadening impact of loss.

Holly loves making marmalade. Now she has a chance to leave her stressful city job and pursue her dream - of returning to the Dorset landscape of her childhood to open Bitter Orange, a shop celebrating the fruit that first inspired her. Holly's mother Ella has always loved Seville. So why is she reluctant to go back there with Holly to source products for the shop? What is she frightened of - and does it have anything to do with the old Spanish recipe for Seville orange and almond cake that Ella keeps hidden from her family?

PI Billie Carlson is in Cleveland following a lead on the whereabouts of her son, Lucas. But when the trail goes cold, she is forced to return to Glasgow and a life of waiting and praying that one day she might see him again. Back in the office and ready to throw herself into work, she picks up a call from Lars, an old friend from her teenage years in Sweden. He tells her some devastating news. His younger sister, Astrid, was found dead in the Highlands, frozen to death with traces of drugs and alcohol in her system.

Aphrodite Du Bell is a diamond of the first water and a favourite of the queen. Famed for her beauty, the members of the ton praise her warm brown skin, perfect curls and exquisite features. But her renowned loveliness didn't stop the love of her life, Evander Eagleman, from jilting her and marrying another woman four years ago. Heartbroken and still not knowing why the Duke threw her over, Aphrodite has been in self-imposed exile ever since.

Leni and her sister Alice were best friends. But did they know each other as well as Alice thought? In the hope of coming to terms with her grief, she tries to piece together Leni's last weeks - but her discoveries only lead to more questions. And that's before the surprise reappearance of someone from the past. Meanwhile, the rest of the family seem to be falling apart. Belinda, Alice's mum, has developed an unhealthy obsession with a clairvoyant, and Tony, her dad, is stressed about becoming a father all over again, what with three failed marriages stacking up behind him.

Billie Carlson left the police force under a cloud. Once a promising young officer, she now works as a private investigator, rooting out insurance scams and spying on cheating spouses. One morning a distraught young woman comes into her office saying that her baby has been stolen. Her story seems unbelievable, yet something about her makes Billie want to help - Billie knows what it's like to lose someone too. To get to the bottom of the case, Billie must rattle some dangerous cages and rely on old police friends for inside help.

A breathtakingly tense thriller from the author of The Wrong Girl, about one woman's determination to defend what's hers - and how quickly a straightforward plan can spiral out of control. Perfect for fans of Katerina Diamond's The Secret and Fiona Barton's The Widow. Shortly after Christmas, a message arrives at Sophie's house, scrawled across her own round robin newsletter: 'He's going to leave you. Let's see how smug you are then, you stupid bitch.'

I Am Not Your Baby Mother was a landmark publication in 2020. A thought-provoking, urgent and inspirational guide to life as a Black British mum, it was an important call-to-arms allowing mothers to take control and scrap the parenting rulebook to do it their own way. It was a Sunday Times top-five best seller. Sista Sister is a compilation of essays about all the things Candice wishes someone had talked to her about when she was a young Black girl growing up in London.

Anna Bella Nor is just two weeks away from revealing her controversial research on the evolutionary origin of birds when her supervisor Lars Helland is found dead with his tongue and a copy of her thesis in his lap. As the police investigate the most brutal and calculated case they've ever known, Anna remains convinced someone is trying to stop her research coming to light. She must fight to prove her innocence and fight for her life.

Gosport, 1941. The Bluebird Girls - Rainey Bird, Bea Herron and Ivy Sparrow - are on their way to stardom. From working mens' clubs to the glamour of the Savoy Hotel, fame and fortune beckon as the south coast's favourite singing trio work to charm their way into the hearts of the nation. But the war rages on, and reaching the top of their game will not be easy. Blonde bombshell Bea is still dealing with the fallout of a traumatic encounter last winter. Rainey is determined to live up to her mother's belief in her, but finds herself struggling with the whirlwind of life in showbusiness.

It's move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news arrives: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It's a seventeen-spot jump - was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let's just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef.

Trixie and Vi are back in Gosport and doing their bit to help Britain win the war. Felling trees is backbreaking, but at least they know they're doing vital work. Trixie has a new boyfriend, Eddie. He's charming, handsome, and always flush with cash - a real Gosport catch, though Vi isn't so sure. Something about Eddie doesn't seem quite right, and Vi will do anything to convince Trixie that she's making a mistake with this relationship. Though Trixie loves Eddie, she finds it hard to forget Cy, the man she fell in love with at the start of the War, who was declared missing in action.

In his vital debut, The Sustainable Self: A Guide to Coping, Identity, and Action in a Climate Changed World, Doherty will share his unique step-by-step psychological approach to understanding and healing our environmental anguish, a process he has been teaching practitioners and patients for over 15 years.

Charly Gaul is a forgotten cycling legend. Once a household name across Europe, the diminutive Luxembourger won the 1958 Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia twice. A unique rider, Gaul was supremely gifted at climbing and resilient even in the foulest weather. His pedalling style was smooth and swift, and he could set an unmatchable metronome rhythm on a mountain climb. 'Mozart on two wheels,' was how one contemporary writer described him; another dubbed him 'The Angel of the Mountains'.

A money-laundering accountant disappears in Romania. The hitman hired to disappear him is found dead in a Glasgow flat. And the owner of the flat, the accountant's widow, claims she knows nothing about it. Crime reporter Rosie Gilmour isn't convinced by Helen Lewis's innocent facade - she is convinced Helen was the one who ordered the hit on her husband, and she's going to prove it.

Samantha Whipple - a young American woman - is the last remaining descendent of the famous Brontë family of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre fame. After losing her father, a brilliant author in his own right, Samantha travels to Oxford in search of a mysterious family inheritance, described to her in her father's will only as 'the warnings of experience'.

Have you heard of The Rules of Engagement? It's a book that promises to teach you to find the man of your dreams in 10 easy steps. Unsurprisingly, I don't own a copy. What is it, 1892? But I'm a journalist, and I've promised to follow it to the letter and write about the results. Never mind that my friends think I'm insane, I'm stalking men all over town, and I can't keep my mouth shut at the best of times. My name is Cat Buchanan. I'm 36 years old and live with my daughter in Glasgow.

The Bonneville Hotel is the best-kept secret in Mayfair: its art deco suites and glittering ballrooms a former home-away-from-home for royalty and movie stars alike. Recent years haven’t been kind, but thanks to events manager Rosie, the Bonneville is reclaiming some of its old cachet as a chic retro-glam wedding venue. While Rosie’s weddings are the ultimate in romance, Rosie herself isn’t; she’s focused on the details, not the dramas.

Julian, Anne, Dick, George and Timmy are all feeling really rather rum, and it's been going on for days. Nothing seems to work, and with their doctors mystified, they're driven to trying out various expedients to cure themselves. Julian goes online to self-diagnose that he's got pancreatic cancer, bird flu and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Anne decides that the old methods are the best and decides to have herself exorcised - which proves to be an awful lot of bother for everyone, and such a mess.