Home Truths

Brick’s home life is a horror show. His dad has a temper like a pressure valve; you never know when he’s going to blow. His mom’s a self-absorbed flake who leaves the care of his little sister to Brick. A guy could go crazy with all that tension. It’s no wonder Brick has to let off a little steam of his own once in a while. It’s not like he’s anything remotely like his dad. The day he turns sixteen, Brick’s out of there. This summer he’s going to take up Mr. Larkin’s offer of work, even though he’s been forbidden to “fraternize with the neighbors.” And he’s going to earn enough money to escape. Get out and never look back. But who will his dad turn to when he doesn’t have a son to kick around anymore? A compulsive read by a two-time winner of the Ann Connor Brimer Award, Home Truths is a revealing portrait of a bully-in-training and his journey to redemption.

The UK's chronic housing shortage is lowering the quality of life for millions, turning the British dream of home ownership into a cruel nightmare – not least for 'generation rent'. Countless vulnerable families are meanwhile being deprived of access to decent social housing, causing homelessness to spiral. In this searing polemic, Liam Halligan offers radical solutions to the most urgent political issue of our times. Fully updated, with a foreword from former Chancellor Sajid Javid and drawing on extensive interviews with Cabinet ministers, civil servants, leading developers and struggling homebuyers across the country, Home Truths is a no-holds-barred critique of the UK's housing crisis.

Brought up by their eccentric uncle, the McCabe sisters had assumed their mid-thirties would be a time of happiness. The youngest, Cat, returns home from 4 years abroad. Fen, the middle sister, is determined to be a better mother. And is the eldest, Pip, too busy taking care of her stepson, her husband, her sisters - to notice her own needs?

Adrian Ludlow, a novelist with a distinguished reputation and a book on the 'A' level syllabus, is now seeking obscurity in a cottage beneath the Gatwick flight path. His university friend Sam Sharp, who has become a successful screen writer, drops in on the way to Los Angeles, fuming over a vicious profile of himself by Fanny Tarrant, one of the new breed of Rottweiler interviews, in a Sunday newspaper. Together they decide to take revenge on the interviewer, though Adrian is risking what he values most: his privacy. David Lodge's dazzling novella examines with wit and insight the contemporary culture of celebrity and the conflict between the solitary activity of writing and the demands of the media circus. 'Sharp, intelligent, surprising and fun' THE TIMES.

Freya North reunites her popular McCabe girls – sisters Cat, Fen and Pip – in this sexy and funny novel.

The poor standard of current housing, and the inability of too many people on low incomes to access decent housing, is causing a cascade of problems that are avoidable. Housing affordability. Unhealthy homes. Wealth inequality. Environmental sustainability. Social mobility. The state of New Zealand housing is central to many major issues confronting this country. In this wide-ranging BWB Text, leading international housing researcher Philippa Howden-Chapman reveals how New Zealand has lost its way on housing. This succinct introduction, drawing on two decades of award-winning research, helps chart a new way ahead for housing that is healthy, inclusive and sustainable.

What's left when your family is destroyed by lies? An unputdownable and timely new novel from the reading-group favourite author of The Secrets of Strangers. Livia Denby's family has been torn apart, and now her six-year-old son's life is hanging in the balance. The enemy is anonymous, ever-present, somehow always one step ahead. Its most powerful weapon is her husband's mind. Just how far will she go, to save the ones she loves?

Homes are powerfully defined by smells, sounds, textures and objects, all of which reflect how people live their everyday lives. From spray-painting the toilet wall to relaxing in the bath, the products we use speak volumes about who we are, how we relate to others and who we want to be. Based on extensive fieldwork, this fascinating book explores the intimate, material and sensory spaces of the home to uncover how gender roles are performed within our personal, private worlds. Pink shows how everyday items ranging from perfumes to soap powder imprint and reinforce daily experiences and a sense of identity. How has the home been affected by the fact that more and more women now go to work and increasingly more men spend time engaged in domestic tasks? How do more traditional family-centred homes compare with those belonging to diverse family forms and people living alone? What does a study of domestic gender tell us about how change occurs? Answering these questions and many more, Pink combines the most recent approaches in gender studies and material culture to show how everyday activities can be deeply revealing of gender roles in the 21st century.