Carys Bray – författare

WINNER OF THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2015SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2015 AND THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2015Meet the Bradleys.In lots of ways, they’re a normal family:Zippy is sixteen and in love for the first time; Al is thirteen and dreams of playing for Liverpool.And in some ways, they’re a bit different:Seven-year-old Jacob believes in miracles. So does his dad. But these days their mum doesn’t believe in anything, not even getting out of bed. How does life go on, now that Issy is gone?

WINNER OF THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2015SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2015 AND THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2015Meet the Bradleys.In lots of ways, they’re a normal family:Zippy is sixteen and in love for the first time; Al is thirteen and dreams of playing for Liverpool.And in some ways, they’re a bit different:Seven-year-old Jacob believes in miracles. So does his dad. But these days their mum doesn’t believe in anything, not even getting out of bed. How does life go on, now that Issy is gone?

Clover Quinn was a surprise. She used to imagine she was the good kind, now she’s not sure. She’d like to ask Dad about it, but growing up in the saddest chapter of someone else’s story is difficult. She tries not to skate on the thin ice of his memories. Darren has done his best. He's studied his daughter like a seismologist on the lookout for waves and surrounded her with everything she might want - everything he can think of, at least - to be happy.What Clover wants is answers. This summer, she thinks she can find them in the second bedroom, which is full of her mother's belongings. Volume isn't important, what she is looking for is essence; the undiluted bits: a collection of things that will tell the full story of her mother, her father and who she is going to be. But what you find depends on what you're searching for.

They say there's no place like home. It's where the heart is...Meet the little boy who believes in miracles.Meet the mother who loves to bring babies home from the newborn aisle of her supermarket.Meet the husband who carves a longed-for baby out of ice as a gift for his wife.Meet the widow who is reminded of romance whilst pegging out the washing.Awarded the Scott Prize for short story writing, Sweet Home weaves together moments of joy, heartache, sadness and unwavering love as told through seventeen very different notions of home.

'A powerful and truthful story about hope and how to find it' The Times 'A gem of a book' Emily MaitlisEmma's husband Chris is fretting about starvation and societal collapse. He's turned off the heating and is stockpiling off-label medicines and tins of baked beans.Chris, certain that society will soon spiral to its doom, finds Emma's optimism exasperating. Emma finds Chris's obsession with disaster relentless. She's beginning to wonder whether relationships, like mortgages, should be conducted in five-year increments. But when Chris's mother turns up for a visit, the cracks begin to show. Will Emma and Chris be able to find their way back to each other?

'Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.' Zelda FitzgeraldLove is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from Philautia, self-love, to Agape, love for humanity; and from Storge, a natural affection for family, to Mania, a frenzied, obsessive love. Seven authors; seven short stories; seven flashes of love. This paperback edition of How Much the Heart Can Hold includes the winning short story from the SceptreLoves short story Prize.