A wonderful retelling of the story of the great warrior Achilles and his partner Patroclus and the siege of Troy by Greek armies to rescue the famously beautiful Helen. Told from the point of view of Patroclus, a prince who is banished by his father after inadvertently killing another young boy and sent to live under the guardianship of Achilles' father. In the original version of this story, Patroclus and Achilles are the best of friends. In the version crafted by Madeline Miller, the relationship between them becomes romantic. After an idyllic time spent in the mountains under the kind and knowledgeable tutelage of a centaur named Chiron, fate leads them both to the battlefield outside the impenetrable gate of Troy. Another departure from the original story is that a physical vulnerability that can be exploited is not featured. The Achilles Heel in Miller's novel is not a body part, but rather, his pride. The only emotion Achilles feels as strongly as his love for Patroclus is self righteousness. But this book is not a story of pride going before the fall so much as it is a love story for the ages.
**OVER 1.5 MILLION COPIES SOLD** **A 10th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION, FEATURING A NEW FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR**
WINNER OF THE ORANGE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'Captivating' DONNA TARTT 'I loved it' J K ROWLING 'Ravishingly vivid' EMMA DONOGHUE
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms…
The event serving as launching point of this novel is the 1974 school segregation crisis that took place in Boston. Its plot features the death of a young Black man who is killed (either by a train or on the platform and then rolled onto the track), and a young White woman gone missing the same day. Are these two events related to each other? A detective is determined to solve at least one of the mysteries, and the girl’s relentless mother (who works with the mother of the deceased man) only cares about tracking down her daughter. Small Mercies is less a mystery than an unfolding. Soon enough we know that Auggie’s death was no accident, and that Jules was one of the White kids who chased him down. Rather than a whodunnit, this fine novel is a story about race, and class, and politics, and family, and the inner life of close-knit communities. It is about the inheritance of bias and intolerance that one can either choose to embrace or reject. It is about the pain of being a parent who outlives her children.
“Small Mercies is thought provoking, engaging, enraging, and can’t-put-it-down entertainment.” — Stephen King
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River—an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.
In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to…
Multiple narratives take turns at center stage of this novel, following the primary group of characters for significant portions of their lives. These intertwined story arcs include those of a set of African American twin sisters who are inseparable - until a decision one makes without consulting the other changes things, after which they have nothing more to do with each other beyond serving as memories of what used to be. That decision is to pass as White and turn her history into a guarded secret. On a single trip from cradle to grave it may be possible to change the trajectory of one's life, but sometimes this comes at the expense of discarded pasts and the people belonging to them.
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'An utterly mesmerising novel..I absolutely loved this book' Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the Booker Prize 2019
'Epic' Kiley Reid, O, The Oprah Magazine
'Favourite book [of the] year' Issa Rae
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years…
The Absolutely Amazing Adventures of Ava Appelsawse
For much of her seven years of age, Ava Appelsawse has wanted a baby sister. Or a dog. She would have settled for a cat. Instead she got a hamster...and an unexpected gift. A stack of wood left behind by a neighbor from which her father crafts a toy castle. It is perfect for games of make believe royalty with her dolls. And as she comes to learn, the castle is able to set her forth on adventures that are nearly beyond imagination. Ava discovers that along with her ordinary life in this world, she is also the princess of a kingdom that relies on her protection.
