In his poignant memoir, Charles Foran presents a portrait of his gruff-but-fond father wrestling with the end of life as Charlie acts as witness, solace, and would-be guide while facing his own mortality. What story can we tell ourselves and those we love, this radiant book asks, to withstand the inevitable mutability of time and self? A powerful meditation on fathers and sons, love and loss, and what it means to be alive "just once, no more."Dave Foran was a formidable man of few words, from a different era than his sensitive, literary son, Charlie. As a younger person, Dave had lived alone for months in the bush, overcome snow blindness, hauled a dead body across a frozen lake on a dogsled, dodged bullets in a bar, and gone toe-to-toe with a bear. Some aspects of his life were rollicking while others were more restrained: A decent father and a devoted husband, Dave was also emotionally distant, prone to laconic cynicism and a changeable mood. As Charlie writes:...

In a relatively short amount of time, James Singer has lost his wife, his job, his home and his subsequent place in the world. Now, with appearance of a shadowy phantasm who has taken to terrorizing him every night, he's beginning to fear that he, like his schizophrenic aunt, is also on the verge of losing his ability to discern what is real and what is not. As James's condition continues to grow worse, he begins to mysteriously and uncontrollably phase in and out of several different worlds-all of which seem to be inhabited by quirky, non-conventional and often down-right absurd characters. James doesn't know if he's dreaming, overmedicated, in the throes of a nervous breakdown or if he's already dead but one thing he does know is that, one way or another, it all ends on Monday. Compunction takes the psychological melancholy of writers like Iain Reid (I'm Thinking of Ending Things) and Matt Haig (How to Stop Time) and blends it together with a...

It seemed only five minutes ago that Richard went to the station to pick up Chloe, and now they were here. I was so excited. Finally, I would meet my stepdaughter for the first time, and Chloe would meet her baby sister Evie. Richard was over the moon that his daughter wanted to come back into his life. 'You'll love her,' he'd said, beaming. 'She's very sweet. She just had a wobble about me marrying again, but that's over now.' Well, she was going to find out she had nothing to worry about. I'd been fantasising non-stop about the two of us becoming close. I had visions of us baking together while Richard was at work, chatting about her boyfriends, her studies, what kind of job she'd like to do. I would be someone she could rely on, someone she could talk to when she would have spoken to her mum if she'd still been alive. Anyway, let's just say things haven't quite worked out that way. Whenever we're alone, Chloe makes it clear that she hates me. But in front of her father, she's a...

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER 'A heroine with a generous spirit, an unshakable will and a dragon's fury.' H. M. LongHaving grown up hearing tales of her uncle, the great King Beowulf, Fryda's one desire is to become a shield maiden in her own right. Yet a terrible childhood accident has left Fryda disabled – thus, she believes, thwarting her dream of becoming a warrior-woman for good. But still, somehow, she feels an uncontrollable power begin to rise within herself.Meanwhile, a great celebration of Beowulf's reign is underway, and Fryda's house is soon overrun with foreign kings and chieftains. Amidst the drunken revelry, a discovery is made that threatens the safety of Fryda's entire clan – and her own life. Enraged, Fryda resolves to fight for her people, no matter the cost... and all the while, her powers seem only to grow stronger.But she is not the only one to feel its effects. For, buried deep in her...

The death of the Pharaoh summons Ani to the last place she expected to be... Egypt. With all of the Anubis Blessed being called to Egypt to help prepare the Pharaoh for his final resting place, Ani finds herself subject to a new set of temple politics and everything that comes with it. But with Nik and Maita by her side, she knows she can face anything, even fellow Anubis Blessed priests and summons from royalty. - Death Of The Pharaoh is book 9 in the Apprentice Of Anubis, an urban fantasy series based on Egyptian mythology and featuring an established couple, a jackal familiar, and the duties of an embalmer. If you love Egyptian mythology, alternative versions of the modern day, temple politics, slow-burn workplace romance, and a world where the gods are real, then start the Apprentice Of Anubis series today with Apprentice Of The Dead.