The Borough Press – serie

'A stunning debut' Woman & Home Winner of Amazon’s ‘Rising Stars’ competition Shortlisted for The Commonwealth Writer’s Prize 2010 Shortlisted for The Waterstones Book Circle Award Shortlisted for The Desmond Elliott Prize Japanese occupied Hong Kong, 1942. Raped then murdered, Lin Shui’s ‘Hungry Ghost’ clings tenaciously to life. Holing up in a hospital morgue, destined to become a school, just in time she finds a host off whom to feed. It is 12-year-old Alice Safford, the deeply-troubled daughter of a leading figure in government. The parasitic ghost follows her to her home on the Peak. There, the lethal mix of the two, embroiled in the family’s web of dark secrets and desperate lies, unleashes chaos.All this unfolds against a background of colonial unrest, riots, extremes of weather and the countdown to the return of the colony to China. As successive tragedies engulf Alice, her ghostly entourage swells alarmingly. She flees to England, then France, in a bid to escape the past, only to find her portable ‘Hungry Ghosts’ have accompanied her. It seems the peace she longs for is to prove far more elusive that she could ever have imagined.The Hungy Ghosts is a remarkable tour-de-force of the imagination, full of instantly memorable characters whose lives intermesh and boil over in a cauldron of domestic mayhem, unleashing unworldly spirits into the troubled air.–––––––––––––––‘As heart-rending as it is innovative, The Hungry Ghosts heralds Berry as an original new voice in fiction’ Time Out‘This is a novel as breezy as the best summer reads, yet secrets and deadly jealousy seethe at its core…engrossing’ Daily Mail‘A stunning debut…Epic in scope and voice…so skilfully crafted, and the writing so elegant, it’s hard to believe it is a first novel’ Globe and Mail'[A] brilliant, brittle portrayal of colonial Hong Kong’ Psychologies'The vivid, sensory depictions of Hong Kong circa 1970 ignite this almost unrelentingly sad story, and Berry’s easy way of switching between different narrative voices from chapter to chapter is impressive' List

A rollicking, laugh-out-loud funny-novel set to sizzle in summer 2011.Julian Corkle's got small-screenability. His mother tells him he'll be a star one day. 'Twinkle, twinkle,' she says, giving his hair a ruffle.Not everyone shares Julian's dreams of stardom. Television is too much like hairdressing for his father's tastes. A Tasmanian man wants a son for sporting purposes. 'Boys don't like dolls,' he tells Julian, 'They like Dinky Toys.' Not this boy, thinks Julian, who knows better than to tell the truth.Besides, the family already has a sporting hero, Julian's sister Carmel aka 'The Locomotive'. Julian likes his sister, but knows better than to tangle with her bowling arm. It's the same one she uses for punching.Julian Corkle is a Filthy Liar is the ultimate feel-good novel, a book that will have the reader laughing out loud on the back of a bus as it follows Julian's bumpy journey through adolescence, fibbing his way through school and a series of dead-end jobs, to find his ultimate calling as creator of 'The Hog'. It's as if Crocodile Dundee has crashed Muriel's wedding and run off into the desert with Priscilla.

‘Disturbing and heartfelt' THE TIMES‘A moving, compassionate and impressive first-novel which fans of The Kite Runner will love’ DAILY MAIL Two strong women. Two cultures. One unifying cause: survival. Ellen Thomas, experienced war correspondent, returns to Afghanistan's dangerous Helmand Province on assignment, keen to find the murderer of her friend and translator, Jalil. In her search for justice in a land ravaged by death and destruction, she uncovers disturbing truths.Hasina, forced by tradition into the role of wife and mother, lives in a village which is taken by British Forces. Her only son, Aref, is part of a network of underground fighters and she is determined to protect him, whatever the cost.Ellen and Hasina are thrown together – one fighting for survival, the other searching for truth – with devastating consequences for them both.The Last Kestrel is a deeply moving and lyrical story of disparate lives – innocent and not-so-innocent – caught up in the horrors of war. It is a book which will resonate with fans of The Kite Runner and The Bookseller of Kabul.–––––––––––––––-‘This book is moving and disturbing. Both sides are given honest portrayals, and the characters are very real. It will change the way you read headlines’ BOOKLIST‘McGivering’s prose is infused with the gritty realism of combat horrors and buoyed by the suspended moments of humanity one finds in war’ PUBLISHERS WEEKLY‘Jill McGivering has produced a deeply compassionate and thoughtful novel, written with the humanity that is a trademark of her reporting’ FERGAL KEANE‘A novel to move you and bring a better understanding about what is happening in Afghanistan…Beautifully written’ WOMAN’S DAY‘With an impeccable BBC pedigree, Jill McGivering is better placed than most other writers to give difficult stories about the realities of war-torn Afghanistan authenticity and immediacy’ YORKSHIRE POST

A stunning novel set in the wake of the Second World War, Little Exiles tells the extraordinary story of the forced child migration between Britain and Australia that took place after World War II and how this flight from home shaped the identity of a generation of children.What if someone you loved asked you to pack a bag and said that they would see you again soon?When Jon Heather’s mother leaves him by the door of the Chapeltown Boys’ Home of the Children’s Crusade, one cold night in post-war Leeds, he is convinced there has been a dreadful mistake. But several weeks later, nine-year-old Jon finds himself on a boat bound for Australia. Promised paradise, he soon realizes the reality of the Australian outback is very different: a life of hard labour on unforgiving terrain, under an alien sun. So begins a journey that will last a lifetime, as Jon Heather and his group of unlikely friends battle to make their way back home.

The New York Times bestselling author of Great Circle ‘Brilliantly written; the first ballet novel for grown-ups’ THE TIMES ‘A bravura display of high-performance art’ GUARDIAN ‘Brims with emotion … an accomplished novel embracing both domestic drama and the competitive quest for perfection’ SUNDAY TIMES Astonish Me is the irresistible story of Joan, a young American dancer who helps a Soviet ballet star, the great Arslan Rusakov, defect in 1975. A flash of fame and a passionate love affair follow, but Joan knows that, onstage and off, she is destined to remain in the shadows.After her relationship with Arslan sours, Joan decides to quit ballet and make a new life for herself. But as the years pass, Joan comes to understand that ballet isn’t finished with her yet…From the prize-winning author of Seating Arrangements comes an exquisitely written, fiercely compelling glimpse into the demanding world of professional ballet and its magnetic hold over two generations. ‘Cleverly constructed with some elegant pirouettes of its own’ DAILY MAIL ‘A gripping mix of family drama and insight into the world of ballet’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING ‘Shipstead is a gifted writer who examines families and relationships in a poignant, insightful way’ STYLIST ‘A dazzling story rooted in the competitive world of dance’ WOMAN & HOME ‘So graceful, so dazzling, so sure-handed and fearless, that at times I had to remind myself to breathe’ Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette ‘I will be paying close attention to Shipstead’s career from here on in’ Jeffrey Eugenides

From the author of The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart and set in the boom years of the West Virginia coalmining industry, this is an epic story of personal ambition, exile and return, and a grand heist.Keystone, West Virginia, 1910In the hot August rain the townspeople gather to witness the first public hanging in over a decade. At the gallows are none other than poker player, Abe Baach, and his lover, the madam of the town’s brothel, one Goldie Toothman.Abe split town seven years prior and has been playing cards up and down the coast ever since. But when he returns to Keystone to reunite with Goldie and to set the past right, he finds a brother dead and his father's saloon in shambles – and suspects the same men might be responsible for both. Only then, in facing his family's past, does the real swindle begin.