Matthew Thomas – författare

‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall be stamped upon.’ From the massively successful author that brought you exploding sheep (Before & After) comes the conspiracy theory to end them all.If you’re a cynic, you’re a sucker. ‘They’ want you to believe in aliens, UFOs and ghosts, because if you go chasing lies, you never get to the truth. ‘They’ are the ultra-secret world ‘Committee’ – the real decision makers who tell governments what to do, dictate which way the stock market’s heading, start up a few wars when things get boring. They’ve had five centuries’ experience at the top to know that nothing spreads a rumour faster than a carefully worded denial. Unfortunately, the ‘Committee’ have been so busy manipulating the entire globe they haven’t realised that they themselves are being manipulated.From opposite sides of the globe, former US commando Frank MacIntyre, and UFO enthusiast Dave Pierce, are about to stumble on the biggest conspiracy theory of all. And it’s a discovery that threatens to destabalise the whole planet.The meek have just put on their boots, and they’re ready to do a bit of stamping themselves.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARDNOMINATED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZENAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMESA stunning, heartbreaking debut – `We Are Not Ourselves’ is both the intimate story of a family and an epic of the American Century.The product of a stormy upbringing in an Irish Catholic enclave of New York City, Eileen craves stability. Coming of age in the early Sixties, she meets and marries a young scientist named Edmund Leary.But while Eileen wants more for her family, Ed won’t give up teaching for a better-paid job. Inadvertently Eileen starts to climb her own career ladder in nursing. She pushes Ed into finding a new home, but it becomes clear that his resistance is part of a deeply troubling psychological shift.In this masterful debut, Matthew Thomas paints a sprawling, profoundly sympathetic portrait of a family coping with slow-burning tragedy. `We Are Not Ourselves’ is a grand testament to our deepest hopes and most human frailties.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZELONGLISTED FOR THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARDNOMINATED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZENAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMESA stunning, heartbreaking debut – ‘We Are Not Ourselves’ is both the intimate story of a family and an epic of the American Century.Eileen Leary wants more. Raised in a downtrodden area of new York by hard-drinking, Irish immigrant parents, she dreams of another life: a better job, a bigger house, more respectable friends, a happy family. When she meets Ed Leary, a brilliant young scientist, she thinks she’s found the perfect partner to pursue and share her American Dream with. An indefatigable love enters Eileen’s life – but so too does a pervasive darkness and a loss that will last a lifetime.

The instant New York Times bestseller The Washington Post calls a “stunning…superbly rendered” novel, and Entertainment Weekly describes as “a gripping family saga, maybe the best…since The Corrections.” As an Irish immigrant in Queens in 1941, Eileen has dreamed of more in her life—but when she and her family seem to be moving closer to that dream, devastation hits and they must learn how to not only hold on to their reality, but to each other.Born in 1941, Eileen Tumulty is raised by her Irish immigrant parents in Woodside, Queens, in an apartment where the mood swings between heartbreak and hilarity, depending on how much alcohol has been consumed. From an early age, Eileen wished that she lived somewhere else. She sets her sights on upper class Bronxville, New York, and an American Dream is born. Driven by this longing, Eileen places her stock and love in Ed Leary, a handsome young scientist, and with him begins a family. Over the years Eileen encourages her husband to want more: a better job, better friends, a better house. It slowly becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper, more incomprehensive psychological shift. An inescapable darkness enters their lives, and Eileen and Ed and their son Connell try desperately to hold together a semblance of the reality they have known, and to preserve, against long odds, an idea they have cherished of the future. Described by The New York Times Book Review as “A long, gorgeous epic, full of love and caring…one of the best novels you’ll read this year,” We Are Not Ourselves is a testament to our greatest desires and our greatest frailties. Through the lives of these characters, Thomas charts the story of the American Century. The result is, “stunning…The joys of this book are the joys of any classic work of literature—for that is what this is destined to become—superbly rendered small moments that capture both an individual life and the universality of that person’s experience” (The Washington Post).

The instant New York Times bestseller The Washington Post calls a “stunning…superbly rendered” novel, and Entertainment Weekly describes as “a gripping family saga, maybe the best…since The Corrections.” As an Irish immigrant in Queens in 1941, Eileen has dreamed of more in her life—but when she and her family seem to be moving closer to that dream, devastation hits and they must learn how to not only hold on to their reality, but to each other.Born in 1941, Eileen Tumulty is raised by her Irish immigrant parents in Woodside, Queens, in an apartment where the mood swings between heartbreak and hilarity, depending on how much alcohol has been consumed. From an early age, Eileen wished that she lived somewhere else. She sets her sights on upper class Bronxville, New York, and an American Dream is born. Driven by this longing, Eileen places her stock and love in Ed Leary, a handsome young scientist, and with him begins a family. Over the years Eileen encourages her husband to want more: a better job, better friends, a better house. It slowly becomes clear that his growing reluctance is part of a deeper, more incomprehensive psychological shift. An inescapable darkness enters their lives, and Eileen and Ed and their son Connell try desperately to hold together a semblance of the reality they have known, and to preserve, against long odds, an idea they have cherished of the future. Described by The New York Times Book Review as “A long, gorgeous epic, full of love and caring…one of the best novels you’ll read this year,” We Are Not Ourselves is a testament to our greatest desires and our greatest frailties. Through the lives of these characters, Thomas charts the story of the American Century. The result is, “stunning…The joys of this book are the joys of any classic work of literature—for that is what this is destined to become—superbly rendered small moments that capture both an individual life and the universality of that person’s experience” (The Washington Post).

Overarching principles of human rights which shore up a nearly 30-year history of international efforts to develop educational systems that are responsive to the needs of all. Arguably the most widely recognised international inclusive education policy, the Salamanca Statement released in 1994 from the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), recognised that every child has a basic right to education. In so doing, however, it drew a line around special needs as a particular emphasis, in globalising efforts towards equal opportunity through decrees for first principles of universally attainable privileges. Considered a watershed moment in global responses to educational exclusion, the Salamanca Statement was core to increasing awareness among nations of the need for fostering more inclusive education policy and practice. Nonetheless, the liberal ideologies that frame human rights in inclusive education are seldom called into question, despite perpetual marginalisation and disadvantage post Salamanca. Inclusive Education Is a Right, Right? brings the many together to consider educational democracy at a moment in global history where the political order fractures populations, and the displacement of socio-economic participation is displayed in every news bulletin – true, fake or otherwise. Under these conditions, the significance of academic activism, wherein diverse perspectives, methodologies and theoretical approaches are put to work to increase equity in education, has perhaps never been so stark. Across the collection the combined chapters engage with researchers, students, education professionals and leaders, advocacy organisations, and people experiencing exclusion and consider human rights in relation to inclusive education.Contributors are: Kate Anderson, Alison Baker, Tim Corcoran, Edwin Creely, Jenny Duke, Peng-Sim Eng, Leechin Heng, Anna Kilderry, Sarah Lambert, Bec Marland, Julianne Moss, Philippa Moylan, Mia Nosrat, Joanne O’Mara, Jo Raphael, Bethany Rice, Andrew Riordan, Amathullah Shakeeb, Roger Slee, Kitty te Riele, Matthew K. E. Thomas, Peter Walker, Scott Welsh, Ben Whitburn, Julie White and Michalinos Zembylas.

Overarching principles of human rights which shore up a nearly 30-year history of international efforts to develop educational systems that are responsive to the needs of all. Arguably the most widely recognised international inclusive education policy, the Salamanca Statement released in 1994 from the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), recognised that every child has a basic right to education. In so doing, however, it drew a line around special needs as a particular emphasis, in globalising efforts towards equal opportunity through decrees for first principles of universally attainable privileges. Considered a watershed moment in global responses to educational exclusion, the Salamanca Statement was core to increasing awareness among nations of the need for fostering more inclusive education policy and practice. Nonetheless, the liberal ideologies that frame human rights in inclusive education are seldom called into question, despite perpetual marginalisation and disadvantage post Salamanca. Inclusive Education Is a Right, Right? brings the many together to consider educational democracy at a moment in global history where the political order fractures populations, and the displacement of socio-economic participation is displayed in every news bulletin – true, fake or otherwise. Under these conditions, the significance of academic activism, wherein diverse perspectives, methodologies and theoretical approaches are put to work to increase equity in education, has perhaps never been so stark. Across the collection the combined chapters engage with researchers, students, education professionals and leaders, advocacy organisations, and people experiencing exclusion and consider human rights in relation to inclusive education.Contributors are: Kate Anderson, Alison Baker, Tim Corcoran, Edwin Creely, Jenny Duke, Peng-Sim Eng, Leechin Heng, Anna Kilderry, Sarah Lambert, Bec Marland, Julianne Moss, Philippa Moylan, Mia Nosrat, Joanne O’Mara, Jo Raphael, Bethany Rice, Andrew Riordan, Amathullah Shakeeb, Roger Slee, Kitty te Riele, Matthew K. E. Thomas, Peter Walker, Scott Welsh, Ben Whitburn, Julie White and Michalinos Zembylas.