This is possibly the first book that slips between real and imaginary worlds that I have picked up, read and enjoyed. I have always steered clear of any hint of fantasy - it just doesn't float my boat. That is, until I read The Porpoise. What a stunner of a story - the parallel worlds of the present day and ancient myths are beautifully interwoven, with a series of tragedies, co-incidences and adventures had me absolutely gripped. And the ending is heart-wrenching.
'Just downright brilliant... a transcendent, transporting experience' Observer
A motherless girl grows up in isolated luxury, hidden from the world by her wealthy father. She believes their life together is normal - but as time passes, she has a growing sense that something between them is very wrong.
She cannot escape, so she seeks solace in her books. Her favourite tales are those that conjure ancient worlds - of angry gods and heroic mortals, one of whom will some day come to her rescue.
Soon, she will forget where the page ends and her mind begins.
I have read The Secret History three times over many years, and I know I will read it again one day. It's a book that completely drew me in; I read it whenever I could (it's a long book); thought about it when I wasn't reading it and dreaded getting to the end because I wanted to read it forever. The characters are exquisitely observed, the plot is intriguing and original and the overriding sense of foreboding and mystery heightens as a dark secret is slowly revealed.
'Everything, somehow, fit together; some sly and benevolent Providence was revealing itself by degrees and I felt myself trembling on the brink of a fabulous discovery, as though any morning it was all going to come together---my future, my past, the whole of my life---and I was going to sit up in bed like a thunderbolt and say oh! oh! oh!'
Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries.…
I love Americanah for its brutal honesty about racial hierarchies in the USA, social divsions in Nigeria and for its wry humour throughout. I found it very thought provoking as well as thoroughly entertaining.
Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come.
How easy it was to lie to strangers, to create with strangers the versions of our lives we imagined.
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria. Self-assured Ifemelu heads for America. But quiet, thoughtful Obinze finds post-9/11 America closed to him, and plunges into a dangerous undocumented life in London.
Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria,…
Frazzled maths teacher, Mr B, attempts to keep his class quiet for an hour by setting what he thinks is an impossible task. As Mr B settles down for a well-earned rest, the class gets down to work. But tensions threaten to bubble over, until Carl has a brainwave. 101 is based on the true story of Carl Gauss, and has been updated and transported to the 21st century classrooms of South London. Written in rhyme and illustrated throughout, 101 is for middle grade readers.
