The war is finally over and in the aftermath of the Blitz England has sent out a call for help from the colonies. Jazz musician Lawrie Matthews answers the call and arriving on the Empire Windrush takes a tiny room in south London lodgings. He falls for the girl next door and pours his heart […]

Colin Saville grows up in a mining village in South Yorkshire, against the backdrop of war, an industrialised countryside, town, coalmine and village.

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is the story of a young woman born in Korea towards the end of the twentieth century. It raises questions about endemic prejudice and oppression that are relevant to everyone. Described as ‘riveting, original and uncompromising’, and the most important book to have emerged from South Korea since Han Kang’s The Vegetarian.  […]

Art historian Max Morden returns to the seaside village where he once spent a childhood holiday, escaping from a recent loss and dealing with a distant trauma. He met the Grace family during that childhood holiday. Mr and Mrs Grace were unlike any adults he had met before but their children, twins Myles and Chloe, […]

Investigating the Secret Service is hard. For two years the government's Monochrome inquiry has produced nothing more than a series of dead ends. The Service has kept what happened in the newly reunified Berlin under wraps for decades, and intends it to stay that way. Then the OTIS file turns up. What classified secrets does […]

In the middle of a blizzard the unthinkable happens in a Somerset school. It's under siege. Children and teachers hide behind barricades in classrooms, the library and theatre. The Headmaster has been wounded. Parents gather desperate for news of their children. A police psychiatrist has three short hours to identify the gunman and bring a […]

Please note that the April meeting will be on the second Friday of the month, 10th April, to avoid Good Friday. Nineteen-year-old Minou Joubert is in her father's bookshop in Carcassonne when she receives an anonymous letter. It's 1562 just before the wars that will tear France apart. Sealed with a distinctive family crest the […]

It's never too late to grow old disgracefully... Peggy Smart is a 79-year-old pensioner whose life revolves around appointments with her Doctor and aqua aerobics. The highlight of her day is watching her neighbour Brian head out for his morning swim. Brian is treasurer of the Residents' Committee and one of the few eligible men […]

Azaro, is a spirit child, who in many traditions of Nigeria exists between life and death. Born into a difficult world, Azaro awakens with a smile on his face. Despite belonging to a spirit world made of enchantment, where there is no suffering, Azaro chooses to stay in the land of the Living: to feel […]

Thirty years ago, Vincent King became a killer. He's back in his hometown of Cape Haven, California after being released from Prison. Not everyone is glad to see him., including Star Radley, his ex-girlfriend, and sister of the girl he killed. Star has a thirteen-year-old daughter, Duchess, who is part-carer, part-protector to both Robin her […]