In this stunning coming-of-age novel, award-winner Miriam Toews balances grief and hope in the voice of a witty, beleaguered teenager whose family is shattered by fundamentalist Christianity. "Half of our family, the better-looking half, is missing," Nomi Nickel tells us at the beginning of A Complicated Kindness. Left alone with her sad, peculiar father, her days are spent piecing together why her mother and sister have disappeared and contemplating her inevitable career at Happy Family Farms, a chicken slaughterhouse on the outskirts of East Village. Not the East Village in New York City where Nomi would prefer to live, but an oppressive town founded by Mennonites on the cold, flat plains of Manitoba, Canada. This darkly funny novel is the world according to the unforgettable Nomi, a bewildered and wry sixteen-year-old trapped in a town governed by fundamentalist religion and in the shattered remains of a family it destroyed. In Nomi's droll, refreshing voice, we're told the story of an eccentric, loving family that falls apart as each member lands on a collision course with the only community any of them have ever known. A work of fierce humor and tragedy by a writer who has taken the American market by storm, this searing, tender, comic testament to family love will break your heart.

From the Man Booker-nominated author of The Water Cure comes an elegant and hypnotic new novel of obsession that centers on the real unsolved mystery of the 1951 mass poisoning of a French village. Still reeling in the aftermath of the deadliest war the world had ever seen, the small town of Pont-Saint-Esprit collectively lost its mind. Some historians believe the mysterious illness and violent hallucinations were caused by spoiled bread; others claim it was the result of covert government testing on the local population. In that town lived a woman named Elodie. She was the baker’s wife: a plain, unremarkable person who yearned to transcend her dull existence. So when a charismatic new couple arrived in town, the forceful ambassador and his sharp-toothed wife, Violet, Elodie was quickly drawn into their orbit. Thus began a dangerous game of cat and mouse – but who was the predator and on whom did they prey? Audacious and mesmerising, Cursed Bread is a fevered confession, an entry into memory’s hall of mirrors, and an erotic fable of transformation. Sophie Mackintosh spins a darkly gleaming tale of a town gripped by hysteria, envy like poison in the blood, and desire that burns and consumes.

for nerdy women, beefy men and immaculate software solutions Elora always guessed she would end up as a crazy cat lady. Who could have known that the cat in question was a huge Lion man? Hyperfocus and the urge to prove everybody who ever doubted her wrong made Elora work her butt off to become senior developer at BetaworthIT, one of the UK's top software agencies. Her boss adores her for her work ethic and dedication, and Elora has one thing on her mind: climbing the corporate ladder straight to the top. When she is entrusted with the most important project of her career, the promotion she dreams of is suddenly within reach. The only thing standing in her way is impressing her important client. That, and being stuck in her office day after day with her lion-human hybrid colleague. Ben Foster is hot and funny, and volunteers to take over the phone calls she hates so much—he’s practically perfect in every way. Ex-cop Ben likes his job at Betaworth just fine, one of the perks being his colleague Elora. She is kind, smart and beautiful, and his Lion pines for her. What would a woman like her want with him though? As a code monkey in his mid-thirties living alone with two cats, he isn’t exactly prime marriage material. When they are forced to work closely together, their professional relationship suddenly takes a romantic turn. Can Ben and Elora overcome their doubts and fears, and find happiness where they never thought to look—right in front of them? MANE OF MY EXISTENCE is a human/ monster romance novel with sugar & spice, and a guaranteed HEA. It's the first book in the CREATURES & CODING series and can be read as a standalone. ++++++++++ CW: Death of a parent/accident Negligence/bad parenting Dark net (not on page) Assault (police, knife, ambulance)/resulting trauma and anxiety Bike accident/hospital Accident of a child/broken bone/loss of consciousness (not on page) Cheating (no committed relationship, grey area)