Stella Duffy – författare

Based on a true story, London Lies Beneath is a compelling historical novel from the award-winning writer Stella Duffy.''As gloriously alive as the turn of the century south London streets it portrays'' REDIn August 1912, three friends set out on an adventure. Two of them come home. Tom, Jimmy and Itzhak have grown up together in the crowded slums of Walworth. All three boys are expected to follow their father''s trades and stay close to home. But Tom has wider dreams. So when he hears of a scouting trip, sailing from Waterloo to Sheppey and the mouth of the Thames - he is determined to go. And Itzhak and Jimmy go with him.Inspired by real events, this is the story of three friends, and a tragedy that will change them for ever. It is also a song of south London, of working class families with hidden histories, of a bright and complex world long neglected. London Lies Beneath is a powerful and compelling novel, rich with life and full of wisdom.''Vivid and full of heart, Duffy''s new novel is a fitting hymn to the city that inspired it'' FINANCIAL TIMES''A paean not just to South London, but to a vanished way of working-class life . . . Duffy''s narrative is as fluid as a costermonger''s patter, carrying the reader along'' DAILY MAIL

''Nobody turns the screw of tension tighter than Stella Duffy'' VAL MCDERMID''Fast and bold and thrilling'' CHRISTOBEL KENT''A stunner'' THE TIMESLife is good for Laurie and Martha. They have three great kids, a much-loved home in the countryside, and after years of struggle, Laurie''s career as an architect is taking off at last. Everything''s perfect.But someone is about to walk into their happy family and tear it apart. Laurie has been hiding from him for years. The question is, now that he''s found her, can she keep her family safe? And just how far will she go to protect them?''A haunting tale that lingers in the memory'' SUNDAY TIMES''Utterly gripping'' SUNDAY MIRROR

''Faultless storytelling . . . Wise, generous, atmospheric'' ObserverGrowing up after the war in Westmere, an English seaside town, Kitty has been sheltered by her parents, but meeting Danny changes all of that. She decides to leave everyone and everything she knows to follow Danny to London, in pursuit of glamour and opportunity, and this sets in motion a series of events that will echo down the generations. Over fifty years later, when Kitty''s body is found in her beach hut with a suicide note by her side, her great-niece will help to unravel all the secrets which the family has kept hidden over the decades.''Explores familial legacy, generational secrets and the effects of long-lasting trauma with a distinct tenderness'' New Statesman''A portrait of sisterhood . . . powerful'' Daily Mail''A writer who never lets you down'' Ali Smith

A fun and fearless anthology of feminist tales, by sixteen bestselling, award-winning writers.''Wonderful . . . all killer, no filler'' Red Magazine''Dazzling stories, as inventive as they are inspiring'' Daily Mirror''Where power and feminist rage meet'' StylistBANSHEE. DRAGON. TYGRESS. SHE-DEVIL. HUSSY. SIREN. WENCH. HARRIDAN. MUCKRAKER. SPITFIRE. VITUPERATOR. CHURAIL. TERMAGANT. FURY. WARRIOR. VIRAGO.For centuries past, and all across the world, there are words that have defined and decried us. Words that raise our hackles, fire up our blood; words that tell a story. In this blazing cauldron of a book, sixteen bestselling, award-winning writers have taken up their pens and reclaimed these words, creating an entertaining and irresistible collection of feminist tales for our time.STORIES BY: Margaret Atwood, Susie Boyt, Eleanor Crewes, Emma Donoghue, Stella Duffy, Linda Grant, Annie Hodson, Claire Kohda, CN Lester, Kirsty Logan, Caroline O''Donoghue, Chibundu Onuzo, Helen Oyeyemi, Rachel Seiffert, Kamila Shamsie, Ali Smith, with an Introduction by Sandi Toksvig

Under his railway arch in Loughborough Junction, South London, Robert Sutton is taking leave of a lifetime of hard work. His dry-cleaning shop lies at the heart of a lively community, a fixed point in a changing world. And, as he explains to his successor, young East Londoner Akeel, it is also the resting place for the contents of his customers'' pockets - and for their secrets and lies. As he helps Akeel to make a new life out of his old one, Robert also hands on all he knows of his world: the dirty dip of the Thames; the parks, rare green oases in a desert of high-rises and decaying mansion blocks; and the varied lives that converge at the junction. Humming with life, packed tight with detail, The Room of Lost Things is a hymn of love to a great and overflowing city, and a profoundly human story that holds us in its grip from the first sentence until the last.

Justinian took a wife: and the manner she was born and bred, and wedded to this man, tore up the Roman Empire by the very roots'' ProcopiusCharming, charismatic, heroic - Theodora of Constantinople rose from nothing to become the most powerful woman in the history of Byzantine Rome. In Stella Duffy''s breathtaking new novel, she comes to life again - a fascinating, controversial and seductive woman. Some called her a saint. Others were not so kind... When her father is killed, the young Theodora is forced into near slavery to survive. But just as she learns to control her body as a dancer, and for the men who can afford her, so she is determined to shape a very different fate for herself. From the vibrant streets and erotic stage shows of sixth century Constantinople to the holy desert retreats of Alexandria, Theodora is an extraordinary imaginative achievement from one of our finest writers.

Duffy is best known for her sharp insights and sharper wit, and both are on display here... Brave, understated and unforgettable'' DAILY MAILWhen Jack and Cindy meet at a friend''s party they are immediately attracted to one another. Cindy, a celebrated mapmaker, traces the contours of their relationship, from New York to LA, from first passion to real love. After five years together, Cindy and Jack think they have tested their love to its limits. But then Cindy falls dangerously ill, and the couple must face the hardest test of all. Told with wit, tenderness and unflinching honesty, STATE OF HAPPINESS is a captivating story of love and loss from a writer at the height of her powers.''STATE OF HAPPINESS is a sharp, sobering cocktail spiked with metaphysic, immense good humour and understanding. Stella Duffy gets better and better'' Ali Smith, author of HOTEL WORLD

''Wealth, celebrity, sexuality and a tangled web of secrets ...Oh boy, what a mix. And it works . . . It was my first introduction to this writer and I''ll be coming back for more'' IRISH EXAMINERDespite her youth, Russian-born Yana Ivanova is already a Hollywood legend. She lives in a beautiful house in Beverly Hills with Jimmy, a sitcom star, and Penny, her British PA. Theirs is a strange and uneasy partnership, held together by sex, secrets and the fear of scandal. Then Yana starts receiving threatening letters from an anonymous but very knowledgeable source. Suspicion turns to fear, and fear leads to murder. But who exactly is conning whom?''Highly entertaining'' DAILY MAIL''A fine piece of writing . . . a powerful talent . . . a tough, poignant book'' GUARDIAN''A warm, witty and truthful love story'' TIME OUT

Once, Theodora was little more than a slave, the daughter of a bear-keeper, running barefoot through the streets of Constantinople. Now she is Theoudoron, ''the Gift of God'', Empress of Byzantine Rome and the most powerful woman in the world. ''Hard-nosed, cruel, imaginative, kind, frustrated, generous, ruthless: Theodora is, in Duffy''s hands, a richly paradoxical character from whom the light of life shines brightly'' GUARDIANIn Stella Duffy''s compelling new novel, the beguiling and extraordinary Empress Theodora emerges from the shadow of history into brilliant light. Clever, courageous and ruthless when betrayed, Theodora rules alongside her husband, the Emperor Justinian - a true love match in a world of political marriages. But while wars rage on the borders of the Empire, Theodora discovers that the greatest danger to her reign - and her life - lies much closer to home. ''Highly enjoyable'' SUNDAY TIMES''A writer who never lets you down'' ALI SMITH