Pub Walks In Underhill Country

Pub Walks in Underhill Country by Nat Segnit is a cunning, hilarious and heartbreaking novel that takes the form of a guide for walkers but is really a whole lot more . . . 'Start by turning right out of the main entrance of Malvern Link railway station . . .' So begins Graham Underhill's guide to rambling in the West Midlands. But it is not many yards before Graham has gone completely off track, all but abandoning the route ahead to exult in his love for his beautiful if headstrong wife Sunita. Along the way Graham treats us to his intemperate views on mountain bikers, litter louts, landscape photographers, and the Highways Agency, who are intent on building a bypass through his home. At least he has Sunita. Or does he? With each walk it becomes clearer that the paths of Underhill Country lead into treacherous terrain. 'If Vladimir Nabokov had written episodes of The Archers (with a little script advice from W G Sebald), then he might just have struck a note that chimed with the peculiar music of this beguiling first novel' Independent 'A metafictional escapade . . . has both Nabokov and Alan Partridge as its forebears' Daily Telegraph 'Has echoes of Mike Leigh's best films and Paul Torday's smash debut, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' Daily Mail Nat Segnit lives in London. His journalism and stories have appeared in several national newspapers, and his play, Dolphin Therapy, and two co-written comedy series, Strangers on Trains and Beautiful Dreamers, were broadcast on Radio 4. Pub Walks in Underhill Country is his first novel.

“A bold, wise, magical, and authentic novel about youthful infatuation and its legacy. Hannah Pittard’s beautifully confident prose is sure to make readers look back on their own teenage years with fresh wonder.” —Vendela Vida, author of The Lovers Already acclaimed for her short fiction—a McSweeney’s Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award winner whose work was selected by Salman Rushdie for inclusion in 2008 Best American Short Stories’ 100 Distinguished Stories—Hannah Pittard proves herself a master of long form fiction as well with her haunting, masterfully crafted debut novel, The Fates Will Find Their Way. A powerful and beautiful literary masterwork reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides, Pittard’s The Fates Will Find Their Way tells the unforgettable story of a teenaged girl gone missing, and the boys she grew up with who find themselves caught in the mysterious wake of her absence for the rest of their lives.

The New York Times bestseller from the author of Watchmen and V for Vendetta finally appears in a one-volume paperback. Begging comparisons to Tolstoy and Joyce, this “magnificent, sprawling cosmic epic” (Guardian) by Alan Moore—the genre-defying, “groundbreaking, hairy genius of our generation” (NPR)—takes its place among the most notable works of contemporary English literature. In decaying Northampton, eternity loiters between housing projects. Among saints, kings, prostitutes, and derelicts, a timeline unravels: second-century fiends wait in urine-scented stairwells, delinquent specters undermine a century with tunnels, and in upstairs parlors, laborers with golden blood reduce fate to a snooker tournament. Through the labyrinthine streets and pages of Jerusalem tread ghosts singing hymns of wealth and poverty. They celebrate the English language, challenge mortality post-Einstein, and insist upon their slum as Blake’s eternal holy city in “Moore’s apotheosis, a fourth-dimensional symphony” (Entertainment Weekly). This “brilliant . . . monumentally ambitious” tale from the gutter is “a massive literary achievement for our time—and maybe for all times simultaneously” (Washington Post).

Retreat takes us on a stunning journey through the many ways humans step back from daily life, both in today's world and in our past. 'A vivid personal quest...rich and almost eerily timely' William Fiennes From mindfulness and meditation to yoga breaks and spiritual bootcamps, stepping back from daily life remains a human obsession. In this endlessly enlightening book, Nat Segnit experiences retreats around the world as he investigates why we seek solitude, what we get out of it, and what is going on in our brains and bodies when we achieve it. Along the way, he meets yogic scholars, scientists, religious leaders, philosophers and artists, gaining fascinating - and often startling - insights. 'With a charming blend of sincerity and intellectual curiosity, Segnit leads us sure-footedly into the wilderness' Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment 'Open-minded, elegantly written and comprehensive' Daily Telegraph

Eleven-year-old Harrison Opoku, the second best runner in Year 7, races through his new life in England with his personalised trainers - the Adidas stripes drawn on with marker pen - blissfully unaware of the very real threat around him. Newly-arrived from Ghana with his mother and older sister Lydia, Harri absorbs the many strange elements of city life, from the bewildering array of Haribo sweets, to the frightening, fascinating gang of older boys from his school. But his life is changed forever when one of his friends is murdered. As the victim's nearly new football boots hang in tribute on railings behind fluorescent tape and a police appeal draws only silence, Harri decides to act, unwittingly endangering the fragile web his mother has spun around her family to keep them safe.

In the bestselling tradition of Girlfriends and Chicken Soup for the Soul, this original collection of heartfelt stories written by everyday women about their lives will strike a deep chord with readers everywhere. When Daryl Ott Underhill sent out a general request for stories written by women about their lives, she had no idea the response would be so phenomenal. She heard from over 500 women of all ages and from all backgrounds. The authors wrote about a wide range of subjects, including friendship, love, turning 30, motherhood, losing parents, surviving the empty nest syndrome, and fulfilling dreams. Now readers can experience this remarkable collection of powerful and inspiring stories and share the heartbreak, joy, and wonder of what it means to be a woman in today's world.