Once upon a time there were three young ladies who, despite their fortunes, had been on the marriage mart a bit too long. They were known as ""the Spinster Heiresses"" . . .

Miss Cassandra Holwell is too tall, too bookish, and too smart-but she does have money and a father who wants a grand title for her. Cassandra hasn't felt a desire to marry until she meets the sinfully handsome Duke of Camberly, who captures her imagination . . . until Soren York, Earl of Dewsberry and her family's sworn enemy, steps in the way.

The Holwells ruined Soren's family, and he's lived on the knife's edge trying to resurrect their fortunes . . . until he considers marrying the Holwell Heiress. Not only would her dowry give him the funds he needs, he has secretly had an eye on the independent-minded bluestocking since they both first realized the differences between men and women.

She likes to read; he has no patience for books. She knows little of sex; he is a man of the world and willing to school her. Her family destroyed his; his offer of marriage may be her only salvation.

Now Cassandra and Soren must learn to love each other for who they are, not what they are-and the lessons are becoming an exercise in absolute pleasure.

FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER

RECIPIENT OF THE WOMENS PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD

'Evaristo possesses enough ball-busting originality to create whole novels for each of the historical characters she resurrects . . . [she creates] funky yarns so tantalising you want to devour them' Guardian

Meet Stanley Williams: Single, in his thirties, grieving the death of his Jamaican father and wondering if there is more to life than his nine-to-five banking job in a sky-high glass menagerie.

Enter Jessie O'Donnell: barmaid, former singer-cum-comedienne, and desperate to get into her rusty old Lady Niva and hit the freeway across Europe.

The unlikely pair begin an electrifying odyssey that weaves in and out of history, colliding with the forgotten heroes of Europe's past. Shakespeare's mysterious 'Dark Lady of the Sonnet's, Pushkin and his Ethiopian great-grandfather and the mixed-race Allessandro de' Medici of Florence are all ready to have their voices heard, and Stanley and Jessie do what they can to hang on for the ride . . .

'A bouncy. . . touching novel about the search for love and belonging' The Times

If you liked Atonement by Ian McEwan, you'll love this Harper's Bazaar

The bestselling novel from the author of The Snakes, The Outcast is a powerful portrait of unexpected love and treacherous charades against the backdrop of a sleepy post-war English village

August 1957. Lewis Aldridge, straight out of jail, stands alone at a Surrey railway station.

Hes returned to the village where he grew up: the village where, a decade earlier, tragedy tore his family apart, leaving him to a troubled adolescence without a mother and with a father he barely knew.

Now, the only person who understands him is Kit, daughter of a bullying local businessman. Soon they realise that to forge their own futures, they must first confront the darkest secrets of their past.

As family, love, passion, sex and violence become ever more so intertwined, can Kit and Lewis find their way back to each other amidst the chaos?

------

A tragic account of the devastating effects of parental abuse and the redemptive power of true love Guardian

'In the tradition of Remains of the Day...a passionate and deeply suspenseful novel Margot Livesey

-----
WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION