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Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and Dua Lipa's monthly read for Service95 Book ClubIn November 2021, an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants from France to the United Kingdom capsized in the Channel causing the death of 27 people on board. Despite receiving numerous calls for help, the French authorities wrongly told the migrants they were in British waters and had to call the British authorities for help. By the time rescue vessels arrived on the scene, all but two of the migrants had died. The narrator of Delecroix’s fictional account of the events is the woman who took the calls. Accused of failing in her duty, she refuses to be held more responsible than others for this disaster. Why should she be more responsible than the sea, than the war, than the crises behind these tragedies?A shocking, moral tale of our times, Small Boat reminds us of the power of fiction to illuminate our darkest crimes.

First published in 1953, Artemisia is a classic of 20th century Italian literature. From its first publication in 1953, Artemisia, a novel about Artemisia Gentileschi, an iconic 17th century painter, by Anna Banti, a brilliant Italian art historian, established itself as a feminist masterpiece. Like Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower and Marguerite Yourcenar’s Memoirs of Hadrian, Artemisia is a book about the process of artistic creation. Much in Gentileschi’s life marked her out as a victim – rape at the age of 18, a forced marriage to a man she did not love and, a powerful, patriarchal father, Orazio Gentileschi, who failed to value her artistic genius. But Gentileschi did not accept the status of victim, in the years between 1610 and 1650; she produced over 50 paintings that have established her as one of the great painters of all time. She gave up everything – 'all tenderness, all claim to feminine virtues' to dedicate herself solely to painting. Sacrifices that Anna Banti, herself an artist, fully understands and captures in this amazing novel. 'What makes Artemisia a great book – and unique in Banti’s work – is this double destiny, of a book lost and re-created. A book that by being posthumous, rewritten, resurrected, gained incalculably in emotional reach and moral authority. A metaphor for literature, perhaps. And a metaphor for reading, militant reading – which, at its worthiest, is rereading – too.' Susan Sontag

The daughter of Algerian immigrants, Fatima Daas is raised in a home where love and sexuality are considered taboo and signs of affection avoided. Living in the majority-Muslim Clichy-sous-Bois, she often spends hours a day commuting into the city, where she feels like a tourist observing Parisian life. She goes from unstable student to maladjusted adult, doing years of therapy. As she gains distance from her family, she grapples with her attraction to women and how it fits with her religion, which she continues to practice. When Nina comes into her life, she doesn’t know exactly what she needs but feels that something crucial has been missing.'Through fiction, I was able to explore everything that had made me,' Daas says. 'Being a woman, but not what was expected of a woman. Being a north African woman, but also French, the only member of the family born in France. Being lesbian, being Muslim. It was almost a luxury for me, through fiction, to make all those identities coexist in my central character. I knew that those identities were in tension and confrontation in society, but for once, through fiction, I felt like I was liberating and reconciling them'

Nicky Burkett finds his childhood friend Vinnie dead at the bottom of a tower block. He and his mates have a code of conduct which makes revenge inevitable. They have to find the villains - much more serious criminals than themselves - and then they have to take them on. The result is a hilarious hybrid of Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino, with dialogue that crackles off the page, unforgettable characters and an authentic sense of place.Darkly comic, stylish and violent, Vinnie Got Blown Away offers a radical contrast from the British tradition of a murder mystery among the middle classes. It mixes without discrimination among black, white and Asian communities; it follows their speech patterns: cockney and Caribbean unite. It demonstrates the resilience in these communities, an ability to survive against all outside pressures and values.Walthamstow is stuck on the end of the north east of London. It is part of London but it inhabits a world of its own. Vinnie Got Blown Away is the first of five novels by Jeremy Cameron describing the area. This first book is set partly in prison, where Nicky Burkett tells his tale and reflects on life.It is part detective story, part thriller.

The Cost of Sugar is the historical story of Jewish family planters and their slaves in Suriname. Now a major motion picture, The Cost of Sugar gives an engrossing account of eighteenth century Suriname at the time when the country was ruled by the Dutch. The hypocrisies behind the veneer of a respectable colonial life are revealed through the eyes of two Jewish step sisters, Elza and Sarith, descendants of the settlers of New Jerusalem of the River' known today as Jodensavanne. Their pampered existences become intertwined with the fate of the plantations as the slaves decide to fight against the violent repression they have endured for too long...Cynthia McLeod presents a frank expose of life in a Dutch colony when sugar was king and demanded the consummate allegiance of all - colonists and slaves - regardless of the tragic consequence.

Nicky Burkett has done his time for manslaughter and you'd think they'd leave him alone. All he wants is a quiet pint, a pattie on the market and a quick one on the settee. But trouble follows him around. He is attacked. His mates are attacked. He runs to off Jamaica and is attacked again. Then the fight back begins. But trouble follows him around. He is beaten up for no reason that he knows of. So are his mates. All the aggravation in Walthamstow seems to land on his doorstep. He flees to Jamaica but trouble comes there too. It's not all bad though. Beautiful Noreen makes her moves. Nicky's mates come together: black, white and Asian, they defend the honour of Walthamstow. They make plans for a showdown. The dog stadium has never seen anything like it. Nicky Burkett lives a life of his own, funny, violent, loyal and unconquerable. But Noreen wants him to change and he wants her to think he has. He even takes a test for her...IT WAS AN ACCIDENT is the second in the five book Nicky Burkett series, set in Walthamstow, North East London. Like its predecessor, Vinnie Got Blown Away, it is consistently funny, nasty and authentic about crime on the streets of Walthamstow.IT WAS AN ACCIDENT was filmed by Pathe, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton, Max Beesley and James Bolam.

The trail leads to Switzerland. The whole gang decamps to Wengen in the high Alps - Noreen Hurlock, Jimmy Foley, Rameez Ahmed, Paulette James, Mercedes Marty Fisherman and Wayne Sapsford, not to mention DS TT Holdsworth and warrant officer George Marshall. Nicky takes a hilarious skiing lesson and then the bloody denouement descends on the town square of Wengen on new year's eve. Startlingly original, brilliantly funny crime novel sure to captivate fans of masters like Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake.

The proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19th century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa.The proud Republic of Liberia was founded in the 19th century with the triumphant return of the freed slaves from America to Africa. Once back ‘home’, however, these Americo-Liberians had to integrate with the resident tribes – who did not want or welcome them. Against a background of French and British colonialists busily carving up Mother Africa, while local tribes were still unashamedly trading in slaves . . . the vulnerable newcomers felt trapped and out of place. Where men should have stood shoulder to shoulder, they turned on each other instead.Land of My Fathers plunges us into this world. But in the midst of turmoil, there is friendship. Edward Richard, a man born into slavery and a preacher by profession, is convinced that the future of Liberia lies in bringing peace amongst the tribes. His mission takes him to the far north, where he meets an extraordinary man, Halay. Edward’s new and dearest friend is ready to sacrifice his own life to protect his country; for the Liberians believe that with Halay’s death, no war will ever threaten their land. A century later, this belief is crushed when war engulfs the land, bearing away with it the descendants of both Edward and Halay. The story of Halay is the untold story of Liberia. What he did would come to stand as symbol of man's ability to defy the odds, to face the inevitable head on.

A gripping Psychological thriller about parenthood and loss, bullying and revenge!Kito is the only child of his adoptive parents. Chubby and dark-skinned, he is ruthlessly bullied at school, but at home he says nothing of what he is going through, only that he has pains in his stomach. After a class outing to the beach, Kito goes missing. Days later his lifeless body is discovered washed up on the sand.Determined to find the person responsible for Kito’s death, his mother follows the trail to drama teacher Hannah, who was in charge of overseeing the field trip that day. By this time Hannah has begun a new life in the Bulgarian countryside, and unsuspectingly welcomes Kito’s mother. As the snow begins to fall the two women become entangled in a claustrophobic relationship, trust between them grows and Hannah hesitantly begins to tell the story of Kito. But Kito’s mother has only one thing on her mind, revenge…Translated from Dutch by Sarah WellingSarah Welling grew up in Eindhoven, in a bilingual family of teachers and translators. She has degrees in English Literature and Spanish and Latin American Studies from the Universities of Amsterdam and London . She works as a web editor and literary translator including. translator of exhibition texts for museums in Amsterdam , where she lives. She has also worked as a bookseller, language trainer and an editor. She has had work published in the English-language edition of a Dutch literary magazine, Das Mag, and is currently working on translations of a novel and an essay for another literary magazine.

An Ounce of Practice is a richly populated and original novel about the toll of fighting wholeheartedly for a political cause.Viktor is angry about the injustices he sees around him. Railing against social, racial and economic inequalities, he is obsessed with radical ideas which he believes would make the world a fairer place. Living in a hotbed of revolutionary thinking where friends and lovers spur him on, as his family life disintegrates, he decides to travel to Zimbabwe to put his ideals into practice. However, it is more difficult and dangerous than he imagines.

WALLANDER MEETS THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST in The Warehouse. Cash, an insurance investigator based in Karachi is asked to go to Waziristan to survey the damage caused by a burnt out warehouse and the recipient of an insurance claim that has remained open for years. He is persuaded to go on this dangerous journey by old flame - Sonia. There is also money to be made, money he can use to help fund his daughter's education back in Karachi. On his trip he encounters corrupt police, the power struggle between the Pakistani army, scurrilous locals and eventually the TALIBAN who kidnap him. They hold him prisoner and make use of his computer skills. He meets Bilgis, a beautiful widow, and has an opportunity to escape after a year in captivity. THE WAREHOUSE HURTLES THROUGH WAR-TORN WAZIRISTAN BARLEY PAUSING FOR BREATH.

Sugar, Sugar is a contemporary collection of short stories which reveals a rich and culturally diverse history behind India's migrant workers and one of the most abundant and controversial commodities in the world. Inspired by historical documents between 1838 and 1917, and the living memories of the descendents of indentured workers, Sugar, Sugar, spans five continents, travelling through time uncovering inspiring tales of courage and resilience.

Ranging widely across both historical periods and national boundaries, Qaisra Shahraz's new collection of short stories speaks powerfully to the burning ethical issues of the twenty-first century.

Karen’s dad is Muslim from Pakistan and her mother is white Christian, and Karen feels as if she doesn't quite fit in . . . anywhere. So she's made a choice: she's switching sides. She’s going to convert to Islam to find her true identity. But Shamshad, her hijab-wearing school mate, isn’t making things easy for her. What's her deal, anyway? Is Shamshad really any more proper than her?Turmoil erupts as school battles are replaced by family troubles; name-calling turns to physical confrontation, and cataclysmic secrets are unveiled. Set against a backdrop of seething Islamophobia, You're Not Proper shines a light on issues of identity, religion, politics and class affecting young people today.

Meet Adele Vialli: an intelligent, funny and resourceful 14-year-old – and a born troublemaker. Bored by her privileged life in a leafy suburb, Adele prefers shoplifting and hanging out with her footballer boyfriend, Marcus (from The Silent Striker).Adele is the star of her school’s football team, and when an England scout comes on the lookout for potential new players, her future seems full of promise. But when her City banker dad suddenly starts flirting with the mother of her ‘frenemy’ and fellow footballer Mikaela, a war breaks out between the two girls which threatens to throw everything off course.Teenage rivalry, family troubles – and the beautiful game. An honest, tender and witty examination of what it means to grow up in a culturally-diverse Britain today, and the struggle every young person goes through of finding out and understanding who they really are."Kalu packs plot and compulsive characters with story lines that grip" - The Voice (on Yard Dogs)

Football-crazy Leonard sits on the substitutes’ bench of the Ducie High School XI, but is never asked to play. Then everything changes. After a game near a nuclear power plant, a weird energy passes through Leonard, and that night he is visited by zombies . . .The ghostly players from the winning 1966 England World Cup team tell him that if he follows their instructions, not only will he get off the bench – but Ducie High Xl will start to take control. Leonard obeys, and the team’s prospects surge. But what is the price of the zombies’ involvement? How high will that price be – and what pound of living flesh will they demand?Zombie Xl is a story about football, friendship, family and cross-cultural teen relationships. Its humour, drama - and occasional shivers - send this book straight to the back of the net.

A gripping psychological tale, enlivened by wickedly sharp insights into contemporary small-town life. Yun Yun lives in a small West China town with her widowed father, and an uncle, aunt and older cousin who live nearby. Then, her once-secure world falls apart. Through her eyes, we observe her cousin, Zhang Qing keen to dive into the excitements of adolescence but clashes with repressive parents. Ensuing tensions reveal that the relationships between the two families are founded on a terrible lie.

Important issues of violence, terrorism, homosexuality and migration feature in A LONG WAY FROM DOULA , the first publication in English of a work by Max Lobé, an important new voice in African writing.On the trail of Roger, a brother who has gone north in search of football fame in Europe, Choupi, the narrator, takes with him the older Simon, a neighborhood friend. The bus trip north nearly ends in disaster when, at a pit stop, Simon goes wandering in search of grilled caterpillars. At the police station in Yaoundé, the local cop tells them that a feckless boza who wants to go to Europe is not worth police effort and their mother should go and pleasure the police chief if she wants help! Through a series of joyful sparky vignettes, Cameroon life is revealed in all its ups and downs. Issues of life and death are raised but the tone remains light and edgy.

Clinton, founder and head of a firm of international engineers, arrives in India to build a dam, bringing with him his young wife, Helen, and a strong team of aides and skilled men. They are faced with a formidable challenge, which involves working in daunting mountain and jungle terrain, within a time schedule dictated by the extreme tropical weather. Setbacks occur which bring into focus fundamental differences in the attitudes to life and death of the British bosses and the Indian workers. A timely reminder of the British contempt for Indian lives and for nature.

Marshall Sarjeant is born at the beginning of the 20th century in Paradise, Jamaica. As a young man, he is entrusted with a mythical quest to overcome a curse that has been put on his family. He must do this by returning to Africa from where family members were brought as slaves.Marshall’s journey is a long, taking him first to wartime Liverpool and then, London where he marries and mixes with a clubland crowd of gamblers, musicians and politicians. In Africa, he finds a continent in the turbulent throes of attempting to escape a colonial past. Returning to Paradise, Marshall’s life turns full circle in his epic mission to defeat the duppy, or ghost that started him on his voyage.In Duppy Conqueror, first published in 1998, Ferdinand Dennis has created a powerful narrative of the Afro-Caribbean experience

Married as a child bride to Nathan, a tenant farmer she had never met, Rukmani works side by side in the fields with her husband to wrest a living from a land ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects. With fortitude and courage, she fights poverty and disaster. Written over 70 years ago, Nectar in a Sieve is as relevant now as when it was first published. The story of Rukmani and Nathan is the story of many Indian farmers yesterday and today. This new edition introduces a new generation of readers to a tragic tale made all the more relevant as temperatures soar in India and working the land becomes more and more challenging.

After World War Two England was on her knees, so the call went out to the British Empire for volunteers to help rebuild the ‘Mother Country’. Young men and women from different Caribbean islands were quick to respond, paying the considerable sum of £28.10s to board HMT Empire Windrush – the ‘ship of dreams’ that would take them to their new lives.The motives and back-stories of these West Indian people is a key part of the Windrush story, one that has never been fully told. This powerful narrative reveals what happened on board that ship, which was packed with young, excited people who had never before left their parents, their parishes – let alone their islands. In the course of the memorable two-week voyage there were parties, friendships made and broken, fights, gambling, racism, sex - and discussions of God and love.

It was the middle of the nineteenth century when Lafanu Brown audaciously decided to become an artist. In the wake of the American Civil War, life was especially tough for Black women, but she didn’t let that stop her. The daughter of a Native American woman and an African-Haitian man, Lafanu had the rare opportunity to study, travel, and follow her dreams, thanks to her indomitable spirit, but not without facing intolerance and violence. Igiaba Scego has crafted a powerful exploration of what it means to be “other,” to be a woman, and particularly a Black woman, in a foreign country, yesterday and today.

21 MILES revisits the much-loved protagonist of 29 LOCKS two years after his canal boat adventure as a fifteen-year-old. Older, wiser and more confident, life is going well for the former gang member who’d escaped a brutal life of criminal exploitation. But when Donny and his best friend Zoe plan a day trip to France ahead of their sixth form exams, Donny loses his passport and is arrested as an ‘illegal’ migrant. To survive, he must rely on the help of unaccompanied teenage refugees, living rough in the dunes east of Calais.

The unnamed Uruguayan protagonist has accidentally booked the wrong ticket on a train journey between France and Spain and, finds himself in the Spanish border town of Irún with eight hours to kill. He meets a Spanish girl and her friends who befriend him, but we fear her intentions are not good. An unseen twist in the plot reveals our protagonist is not who he seems.Narrated in a disturbing second person present tense that constantly questions the reader and with a rhythm marked by suspense and inspired by the author’s own experience of booking the wrong ticket on a train journey.

It’s 1986 and 29-year-old Marlo O’Sullivan of London-Irish stock has just found out that his sister is his mother. To steady his life, he moves to Glengarriff, to a cottage he has inherited, in the stunning Beara Peninsula. When a neighbour dies unexpectedly, Marlo takes over his minibus service to Cork. There is nothing regular about the regulars on the bus - especially Sully, a non-verbal 6 year old, who goes nowhere but does the journey back and forth every day, on his own. Marlo is landed with this a strange but compassionate arrangement, fashioned to give the child’s mother respite from his care. Sully’s obsession with an imaginary friend in the ancient oak forests of Glengarriff slowly unveils its terrible secrets – a 400-hundred-year-old tragedy reveals itself.

An historical thriller narrated from two different perspectives, in two eras. The novel revolves, around kidnapping of five babies during the night of 5th of April 1885. This is the start of the experiment into the idea of nature vs nurture. What happens if these children are given different upbringing? Twenty-five years later the children now grown up suddenly reappear on the doorsteps of their biological parents. Confused by his daughter’s memory loss, one parent hires Alejandro a journalist to investigate. What he discovers shocks him to the core.

Explores parents in prison, extreme poverty, violence and young people, drug trafficking and police brutality. Fifteen-year-old Efraín and his two younger brothers live in a house on the hillside in Monterrey, Northern Mexico. They are left to fend for themselves after their mother is wrongly arrested for theft. Now it falls to Efraín to clear Má’s name and to look out for his younger brothers, too. Má has raised her boys to keep out of trouble with the local gangs and to study for their future, but they are viewed by society as good-for-nothings or criminals simply because of where they live.

On the 22nd of January 2017, Pateh Sabally, a twenty-two-year-old Gambian refugee living in Italy since 2015, arrives in Venice from Milan. He leaves his backpack near the Scalzi Bridge, puts his train ticket and residence permit in a plastic pouch, and then plunges into the cold waters of the Grand Canal, amidst the gaze of onlookers and tourists. As he drowns, some insult him, while others shout "Africa". Outraged by this tragic death, the novel’s narrator, a young writer based in Paris, follows Pateh’s trail aiming to piece together and understand the sequence of events leading up to his death. Venice Requiem tells the story of a Venice where literature grapples with the pressing dramas of our time. Throughout the novel, the narrator quotes authors who lived in or wrote about Venice: Goldoni, Thomas Mann, Ernest Hemingway, Lord Byron, Marcel Proust, and others. Through a dialogue with the writings and experiences of these authors, the novel explores the potential of literature to rescue humanity.