Showing titles in Coming of Age

As an empire burns, he will rise from the ashes. Sparrow, the Sunday Times bestselling historical epic by James Hynes, is the incredibly moving story of one boy’s journey to freedom in the harsh world of the Roman Empire. Raised in a brothel at the edge of a dying empire, a boy of no known...

It is London, 1970. Carmel McBain, in her first term at university, has cut free of her childhood roots in the north. Among the gossiping, flirtatious girls of Tonbridge Hall, she begins her experiments in life and love. But the year turns. The mini-skirt falls out of style and an era of concealment begins. Carmel's world darkens, and tragedy waits in the wings.

Leipzig, 1726. Eleven-year-old Stefan Silbermann, a humble organ-maker’s son, has just lost his mother. Sent to Leipzig to train as a singer in the St Thomas Church choir, he struggles to stay afloat. Stefan’s talent draws the attention of the Cantor - Johann Sebastian Bach. Eccentric, obsessive and kind, he rescues Stefan from the miseries of school by bringing him into his home as an apprentice. Soon Stefan feels that this ferociously clever, chaotic family is his own. But when tragedy strikes, Stefan’s period of sanctuary in their household comes to a close.

When Elizabeth Bennet first knew Mr. Darcy, she despised him and was sure he felt the same. Angered by his pride and reserve, influenced by the lies of the charming Mr. Wickham, she never troubled herself to believe he was anything other than the worst of men—until, one day, he unexpectedly proposed. Mr. Darcy's passionate avowal of love causes Elizabeth to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about him.

A lost little girl with her notebook and toy monkey appears on the CCTV screens of the Green Oaks shopping centre, evoking memories of junior detective Kate Meaney, missing for 20 years.

Chaurisse and Dana have a lot in common. They both grew up in Atlanta, they shop at the same stores, visit the same restaurants. But unlike Chaurisse, Dana knows the truth: that the girls share the same father. A father with two families, one of which he is determined to keep secret. When the girls meet and become friends, the unsteady balance of both their lives is threatened. Theirs is a relationship destined to explode. 

1916. At the onset of war, Nurse Pru le Cuirot left her home in Jersey to care for injured soldiers at Ashbury Manor, Dorset. She wanted to do her bit but she never expected to meet Canadian pilot, Jack Garland, so unlike any man she has ever met. When Jack is sent on a dangerous mission and vanishes, Pru is forced to make an agonising decision…one that will haunt them both forever.

“Suspenseful…emotionally compelling. I found myself eagerly following in a way I hadn’t remembered for a long time, impatient for the next twist and turn of the story."—NPR An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their...

Brought to you by Penguin. Narrated by BAFTA winning actress Joanna Scanlan. From the prize-winning author of Reasons to be Cheerful comes a story about the ebb and flow of female friendship over half a lifetime Susan and Norma have been best friends for years, at first thrust together by force...

From New York Times best seller Pepper Winters comes one of her best tales yet... "What do you do when you meet your soul mate? No wait...that's too easy. What do you do when you meet your soul mate and have to spend a lifetime loving him in secret? I'll tell you what you do. You lie." Ren was eight when he learned that love doesn't exist - that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth. His mother sold him and for two years, he lived in terror. But then...he ran.

It is 1938 in China, and the Japanese are advancing. A young mother, Meilin, is forced to flee her burning city with her four-year-old son, Renshu, and embark on an epic journey across China. For comfort, they turn to their most treasured possession - a beautifully illustrated hand scroll. Its ancient fables offer solace and wisdom as they travel through their ravaged country, seeking refuge. Years later, Renshu has settled in America as Henry Dao. His daughter is desperate to understand her heritage, but he refuses to talk about his childhood.

Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies. This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College in Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse.

Anthony has decided to come out to his school in a big way and faces backlash, not just from his fellow students, but the principal as well. Cameron’s mom is still drinking and his dad remains absent. Can he turn to his boyfriend for support? Mindy has the hots for a guy who is most certainly taken, a predicament that intensifies when they're paired for a project. Silvia’s secrets are catching up with her, Keisha struggles to set aside her feelings for a girl she can’t have, and Omar’s dreams are about to crash and burn.

Seven years have passed since Mordecai’s battle with the Shining God, Celior. Since that time, his control of his abilities has vastly improved. He has, at last, envisioned a use for the ‘God-Stone’, but the gods want vengeance and now seek to destroy everything he has built. The secrets of the past threaten the future of his kingdom, his family, and perhaps humanity itself, unless Mordecai can discover the meaning of ‘Illeniel’s Doom’.

The lights dim at the Paris Opera House. The exquisite Christine Daae enraptures the audience with her mellifluous voice. Immediately, Raoul de Chagny falls deeply in love. But the legend of the disfigured opera ghost haunts the performance, and as Raoul begins his pursuit of Christine, he is pulled into the depths of the opera house, and into the depths of human emotions.

On a summer evening in 1931, Lilly Blackwood glimpses circus lights from the grimy window of her attic bedroom. Lilly isn't allowed to explore the meadows around Blackwood Manor. She's never even ventured beyond her narrow room. Momma insists it's for Lilly's own protection, that people would be afraid if they saw her. But on this unforgettable night, Lilly is taken outside for the first time - and sold to the circus sideshow.

Ever since the accident that changed Sophie’s life, she sees numbers everywhere. From the leaves on a tree to the volume of a puddle, everything has its number. And every person she meets? Their number is counting down the number of days they have left. Despite being lonely, Sophie has decided she’s not dating anyone with a number smaller than 20,000 days: 55 years together should be plenty. Which is fine, until Adam—her first love and most definitely the one that got away—suddenly reappears. And his number? Just 24 days…

Agneta är fyrtionio år och har bleknat in i tapeten. De utflugna barnen hör bara av sig när de vill att hon ska swisha pengar, och arbetskamraterna har absolut noll intresse för henne. Agnetas man Magnus, fågelskådare och frisksportare, anser att ”din kropp är ditt tempel” och att templet inte ska besudlas med till exempel rödvin eller aprikosmarmelad. Lyckligtvis finns ett utrymme bakom frysen i källaren där Agneta kan ha sin marmelad. Att ligga i sängen, dricka vin i smyg och se på tv-serier där folk renoverar franska gårdar är hennes enda, hemliga njutning.

A wonderful, warm novel from a major new American voice. In The Art of Fielding, we see young men who know that their four years on the baseball diamond at Westish College are all that remain of their sporting careers. Only their preternaturally gifted fielder, Henry Skrimshander, seems to have...

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to become Southern California’s first giraffes. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow.