JONATHAN BUCKLEY

This is a startling breakthough novel from Jonathan Buckley, acclaimed author of "Ghost MacIndoe" and "So He Takes the Dog". It will be up for every prize going: a gripping, utterly compelling book whose themes hit home and hard for the baby boom generation. Dominic Pattison''s life is one of level contentment: his marriage has proved happy and durable; his business, too, is successful. And then Sam Williams, a builder and ex-squaddie, enters his life. Sam claims to be his son. Yet is Sam who he says he is? After almost thirty years, Dominic can remember little of the affair with Sam''s mother. His instinct is to recoil from this aggressive and volatile stranger, who could, with just a few words, take his life apart. But Sam refuses to be dismissed. With its deft switches of sympathy between menaced ''father'' and rebuffed ''son'' and its exploration of the intricacies of memory, "Contact" will resonate long with its readers.

Ideal for independent travellers this guidebook to Tuscany and Umbria written by destination experts combines must see sights with hidden gems and offers essential tips for both planning and on the ground adventures It s sustainably printed to ensure environmental responsibility Inside this Tuscany and Umbria travel book you ll find Regional deep dive coverage of key regions offering a rich selection of places and experiences and honest reviews of each one Itinerary samples designed for various durations and interests Practical information tips on how to get there and get around use public transport beat the crowds save time and money travel responsibly and more Expert recommendations insider advice on where to eat drink and stay alongside tips for nightlife and outdoor activities Seasonal tips when to go to Tuscany and Umbria climate details and festival highlights to plan your perfect trip Must See pick a curated selection of not to miss sights as chosen by our authors Piano Grande San Gimignano Cortona the Uffizi Orvieto Perugia Spoleto La Verna Michelangelo Sculptures Alpi Apuane the Piero della Francesca Trail Lucca Sant Antimo Campo dei Miracoli Pisa Duomo Siena Navigational maps colour coded maps highlig

"The Rough Guide to Florence" is the ultimate pocket handbook to one of the world''s great cities. Features include: expert commentary on the wealth of attractions, from the cathedral dome to the Uffizi, and from Michelangelo''s David to the flea market; incisive reviews of the best hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs and designer shops; day-trips to Fiesole, Pisa and Siena; and full-colour maps for the whole city, plus plans of galleries and monuments.

Including accounts of every sight and attraction from Stonehenge to the Eden Project, this guide offers reviews of the best options for eating, drinking and sleeping for every pocket. It also provides detailed background on subjects as diverse as King Arthur, Dracula and the Notting Hill Carnival. Practical coverage of England's best walks are included, from the Pennine Way to the South West Coast path.

The Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria provides detailed accounts of every sight, from the monuments of Florence, Siena and Assisi to the treasures of tiny Umbrian towns such as Montefalco and Spello. There are insightful reviews of accommodation and restaurants, helping you to enjoy the much-famed Italian dishes on offer. There are also practical tips on a host of activities, from attending Spoleto Festival to walking in the Monti Sibillini

Spanning a thousand years of music from Gregorian chant to works by contemporary composers such as Judith Weir and Wolfgang Rihm, The Rough Guide to Classical Music forms an indispensable guide to composers and key-recordings. The book combines informative summaries of the major compositions in all genres, with incisive reviews of hundreds of CDs, selecting the best of the latest recordings and the pick of the re-issues. Lively articles on such topics as sonata form, the concerto, atonality, and film music are also included.

Naomi arrive chez sa sœur Kate avec l’intention de lui dire au revoir. Un au revoir aux curieux accents d’adieu. Elle quitte Londres pour se retirer au fin fond de l’Écosse en compagnie d’un certain

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2025.On losing her father, Teresa returns to a small town on the Greek coast the same place she visited when grieving her mother nine years ago. She immerses herself again in the life of the town, observing the inhabitants going about their business, a quiet backdrop for her reckoning with herself. An episode from her first visit resurfaces vividly her encounter with John, a man struggling to come to terms with the violent death of his nephew. Soon Teresa encounters some of the people she met last time around: Petros, an eccentric mechanic, whose life story may or may not be part of Johns; the beautiful Niko, a diving instructor; and Xanthe, a waitress in one of the cafes on the leafy town square. They talk about their longings, regrets, the passing of time, their sense of who they are. Artfully constructed, absorbing and insightful, One Boat is a brilliant novel grappling with questions of identity, free will, guilt and responsibility.

Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2025.On losing her father, Teresa returns to a small town on the Greek coast the same place she visited when grieving her mother nine years ago. She immerses herself again in the life of the town, observing the inhabitants going about their business, a quiet backdrop for her reckoning with herself. An episode from her first visit resurfaces vividly her encounter with John, a man struggling to come to terms with the violent death of his nephew. Soon Teresa encounters some of the people she met last time around: Petros, an eccentric mechanic, whose life story may or may not be part of John's; the beautiful Niko, a diving instructor; and Xanthe, a waitress in one of the cafes on the leafy town square. They talk about their longings, regrets, the passing of time, their sense of who they are. Artfully constructed, absorbing and insightful, One Boat is a brilliant novel grappling with questions of identity, free will, guilt and responsibility.

A lyrical and beautifully realised novel about a blind mans experiences of the world around him, from the acclaimed author of Ghost MacIndoe. Edward Morton, a blind translator, arrives at the Oak, an ailing spa hotel in the west of England, intending to stay for a few days to visit his family and to work. The manager of the Oak, Malcolm Caldecott, is preparing for the closure of the hotel, and for the visit of Stephanie, the daughter he has not seen for eight years. Eloni Dobra, a chambermaid at the Oak, is striving to establish a life in England, and to free herself of a burden that is crucial to her relationship both with her employer and with Edward Morton. As the nature of that burden becomes clearer, each of these four protagonists and the absent fifth Mortons lover move towards a crisis and, like the Oak itself, towards an uncertain future. Spanning the last three weeks of the Oaks existence, Invisible explores multiple voices voices in conversation, voices in writing, on tape, in memory. Its an investigation of our perception of the world and our place in it, of the pleasures and deceptions of the senses, of the uses of language, of the lure of nostalgia and the difficulties of living in the present. Above all, like Buckleys previous novel, Ghost MacIndoe, its a lyrical celebration of the transient, and an original study of love.

Jonathan Buckleys Ghost MacIndoe is a bold and ambitious novel that focuses on the life of Alexander MacIndoe, a self-centred man who is characterised only by his physical beauty and a complete lack of will. Jonathan Buckleys third novel opens with Alexander MacIndoes earliest memory: a February morning in 1944, in the aftermath of the second wave of German air-raids. Set mainly in London and Brighton, Ghost MacIndoe is the story of the next fifty-four years of Alexanders life. We meet his glamorous mother and his father, a pioneering plastic surgeon; a traumatised war veteran called Mr Beckwith with whom Alexander works for several years as a gardener and, most important of all, the orphaned Megan Beckwith, whose relationship with Alexander crystallises into a romance in the 1970s. In the wake of his highly praised first two novels, Jonathan Buckleys third miraculously brings into being one simple life and the last sixty years of English history.

A stunning novel which examines our fears, prejudices and desires, from the author of Ghost MacIndoe and Invisible. On a beach in southern England, a dog returns to its owner with a human hand in its mouth. The hand belongs to a homeless eccentric named Henry, who has been wandering the south-west of England for the last thirty years. As the local policeman and his accomplice piece together Henrys movements prior to his death, talking to those who knew and watched him, they uncover an extraordinary life. And as the story of Henrys life becomes clearer, so the life of the narrator becomes more and more complex, in ways he could never have expected. So He Takes the Dog is a detective story like no other, a novel that further confirms Jonathan Buckley as one of the finest writers at work in this country.