Artie Dam is an ordinary Massachusetts teacher with an apparently comfortable life, yet beneath the surface he is quietly consumed by isolation and despair. The Things We Never Say explores loneliness, relationships and the things we keep hidden, even from those closest to us.

When a mysterious stranger named Theo arrives in the small town of Golden, he discovers ninety-two pencil portraits hanging in a local coffeehouse. He begins buying them and returning them to their subjects, sparking unexpected friendships and revealing the stories behind each face. A heartwarming novel about human connection, generosity and the profound impact of small acts of kindness.

Cambridge, 1942. Twins Tessa and Theo have always been inseparable, but Tessa returns from a summer in France harbouring a secret. As Theo joins the RAF, Tessa is recruited by the Special Operations Executive and sent into occupied France, where a lost love and a dark secret await. Two years later, only one of the twins returns home.

Everyone in Cork remembers the Rachel Incident. But what really happened? It’s simple. It’s complicated. It’s about love, sex and friendship. It’s definitely about betrayal. And, above all, it’s the story of Rachel and James, two twenty-somethings who met at a bookshop, became best friends, and spent one unforgettable year screwing up and growing up.

Set in New Zealand across 1984 and 2014, Pet follows twelve-year-old Justine, who becomes captivated by her glamorous new teacher. But when a series of thefts unsettles the school, Justine begins to question the woman she so desperately wants to impress. A psychological thriller exploring manipulation, misplaced loyalty, guilt and the lasting consequences of childhood experiences.

Biologist Inti Flynn arrives in the Scottish Highlands with fourteen grey wolves, determined to restore the landscape while helping her traumatised twin sister recover. But when a local farmer is found dead, suspicion falls on the wolves. Desperate to protect them, Inti makes a dangerous decision that draws her into a mystery involving violence, secrets and the man she is falling for.

Out of money and disillusioned after art school, John-Calum Macleod returns to his childhood home on the Scottish island of Harris. Struggling to reconcile his identity with the expectations of his deeply religious father, Cal finds himself caught between family duty, faith and his desire for connection. A novel about masculinity, belonging and the complicated bonds between fathers and sons.

A young woman murdered beyond recognition, a public execution in Saudi Arabia, a mutilated scientist in Syria and human remains discovered in Afghanistan. Four seemingly unrelated cases form part of a terrifying conspiracy. Pilgrim, a former intelligence operative who officially doesn’t exist, is forced out of retirement to uncover a plot that threatens millions of lives before it’s too late.

Journalist Dolly Alderton reflects on the chaos of early adulthood, from disastrous dates and messy break-ups to questionable decisions, career struggles and drunken nights out. With humour and honesty, she recounts the lessons learned through love, heartbreak and friendship, discovering along the way that the most enduring relationships aren’t necessarily the romantic ones.

Set in California’s Salinas Valley, East of Eden follows the intertwined lives of the Trask and Hamilton families across generations, exploring the destructive forces of jealousy, betrayal and family rivalry. Drawing on the biblical stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, John Steinbeck’s sweeping family saga examines the struggle between good and evil, and the choices that shape our lives.

Oxford, 1836. Orphaned in Canton and brought to England, Robin Swift earns a place at Babel, Oxford’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation, where language is used to fuel the British Empire’s power. But as Robin discovers the exploitation underpinning the institution, he finds himself torn between the privileges of academic life and a growing resistance to colonial rule.

In March 2020, Belle Burden’s husband of twenty years unexpectedly announces he is leaving, upending the life they have built with their three children. In this memoir, Burden reflects on the devastating aftermath of betrayal, her journey towards independence and the expectations placed on women to remain accommodating and silent, discovering a strength and voice she never knew she had.

Set in 1980s Glasgow, Shuggie Bain follows a young boy growing up in poverty with his alcoholic mother, Agnes, whose dreams of a better life have unravelled. As his siblings leave home, Shuggie remains fiercely devoted to her while struggling with his own identity in an unforgiving community. A devastating novel about addiction, class, sexuality and the limits of unconditional love.

In 1972, Jean McConville, a Belfast mother of ten, was abducted from her home and murdered during Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe examines her disappearance alongside the lives of IRA members and political figures, exposing the violence, secrecy and divided loyalties of the conflict, and the devastating consequences that continued long after the peace process.

A young, inexperienced woman marries the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter after a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo. Arriving at his grand English estate, Manderley, she finds herself living in the shadow of his beautiful, seemingly perfect first wife, Rebecca. Haunted by Rebecca’s memory and the sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers, she begins to uncover the dark secrets surrounding her predecessor’s death.

Born weighing an extraordinary eighteen pounds, Gabriel Fisher grows into a gentle giant with remarkable physical abilities. Raised by his devout grandparents in an Amish community in the American Midwest, his quiet life changes when a local football coach discovers him working in a field. His extraordinary journey becomes a story of faith, family, hidden secrets and unexpected possibilities.

Twelve very different people, mostly black and female, more than a hundred years of change, and one sweeping, vibrant, glorious portrait of contemporary Britain. Bernardine Evaristo presents a gloriously new kind of history for this old country: ever-dynamic, ever-expanding and utterly irresistible.

Maine, 1789. When a man is discovered frozen in the Kennebec River, midwife and healer Martha Ballard is called to examine his body. Her meticulous diary contains evidence linking the dead man to an alleged rape, but powerful townspeople want both matters buried. As Martha investigates, she risks her reputation and family in a community determined to protect its own.

Told through four interconnected stories, this novel examines the devastating consequences of crime from the perspectives of an enabler, an accomplice, a perpetrator and a victim. As their lives intersect, it explores responsibility, guilt, trauma and the possibility of redemption, questioning how harm is allowed to happen, the lasting impact on those involved and where complicity ends and innocence begins.

Eleanor Oliphant lives a meticulously ordered life, following the same routines every day and spending her weekends alone with two bottles of vodka. Convinced she is perfectly content, Eleanor has little reason to question her isolation until an unexpected act of kindness disrupts everything. As new friendships develop, she must confront the painful past she has spent years avoiding.

Set in 1950s America, this semi-autobiographical novel follows Esther Greenwood, a talented young woman whose promising future begins to unravel as she struggles with depression and the expectations placed on women. Through Esther’s increasingly fragile state of mind, the novel explores identity, ambition, mental illness and the suffocating social conventions of the era, balancing dark humour with psychological insight.

Set in 1930s Alabama, siblings Scout and Jem Finch grow up in a small Southern town where racial prejudice and social inequality shape everyday life. When their father, lawyer Atticus Finch, defends a Black man falsely accused of rape, the children witness the injustice and hypocrisy of their community. A coming-of-age story exploring racism, morality, empathy and the loss of childhood innocence.

Nora’s life has been going from bad to worse. Then at the stroke of midnight on her last day on earth she finds herself transported to a library. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived. Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?

Klara is an Artificial Friend, a solar-powered humanoid designed to provide companionship to children. From her place in a shop window, she carefully observes human behaviour, hoping someone will choose her. When she finally finds a home, her devotion to the young girl she cares for raises questions about love, loneliness, sacrifice and what it means to be human.

Afghanistan, 1975. Twelve-year-old Amir and his loyal friend Hassan share a childhood shaped by friendship, class divisions and political unrest. But a devastating incident following a kite-fighting tournament changes their lives forever. Years later, having fled to America after the Soviet invasion, Amir must return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to confront his past and seek redemption for a childhood betrayal.

Growing up motherless in small-town Louisiana, childhood best friends Vernice and Annie take very different paths into adulthood. Vernice moves to Atlanta, entering a world of wealth, ambition and influential Black women, while Annie sets out in search of the mother who abandoned her. Their diverging lives explore friendship, motherhood, class and the complexities of womanhood in the American South.

France, 1714. Desperate to escape an unwanted future, Addie LaRue makes a bargain that grants her immortality but curses her to be forgotten by everyone she meets. For nearly three centuries, she wanders the world, unable to leave any lasting trace of her existence. Everything changes when she encounters a young man in a bookshop who somehow remembers her name.

When their thirteen-year-old daughter Barbara goes missing at summer camp, all eyes fall on the Van Laar family. They’re cold, rich people. They own the camp. And it’s happened to them before. Fourteen years ago their little boy, Bear, vanished without a trace. Two children lost to the same wilderness. Is it a tragedy… or a crime?

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail expected a quiet life among books, but her formidable mother forces her to train as a dragon rider at the deadly Basgiath War College. Physically vulnerable and surrounded by ruthless competitors, Violet must rely on her intelligence to survive. As war threatens the kingdom, dangerous alliances, unexpected romance and hidden secrets complicate her fight to graduate alive.

Spanning Singapore, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and London, this multigenerational family saga begins with a traumatic event in Josephina’s childhood that shapes the lives of her descendants. Decades later, her granddaughter Annie arrives in London seeking refuge with an estranged uncle. Moving between three generations, the novel explores migration, family secrets, cultural identity and the complicated ties between mothers and daughters.

Ove is a cantankerous widower with rigid routines, strong opinions and very little patience for the people around him. But when a lively young family moves in next door, his carefully ordered existence is disrupted by unexpected friendships and responsibilities. Beneath his gruff exterior lies a story of love, grief and loneliness, as Ove slowly finds new reasons to embrace life.

In 1974 Cyprus, Greek Cypriot Kostas and Turkish Cypriot Defne fall in love amid escalating political violence, meeting secretly beneath a fig tree in a local tavern. Decades later in London, their daughter Ada begins uncovering the family history her parents have kept hidden. Moving between generations, this novel explores forbidden love, displacement, inherited trauma and the enduring connections between people and place.

The four Padavano sisters share an inseparable bond, each bringing her own ambitions and personality to their close-knit Italian American family. When Julia falls in love with William Waters, a young man carrying the weight of childhood trauma, he becomes part of their world. But an unexpected connection between William and another sister threatens to fracture the family, testing love, loyalty and forgiveness.

Thirteen-year-old Theo Decker survives a devastating accident in New York that kills his mother, leaving him adrift in a world of grief and uncertainty. Clinging to a small painting that reminds him of her, Theo moves between wealthy Manhattan society and the antiques trade. As he grows older, the stolen artwork draws him into a dangerous world of secrets, obsession and crime.

As Hitler’s forces advance on Leningrad during the Second World War, young Tatiana Metanova falls in love with Alexander, a Red Army officer harbouring a dangerous secret. Their forbidden romance becomes entangled in a devastating love triangle, threatening Tatiana’s relationship with her sister. Against the brutal backdrop of the Siege of Leningrad, they must navigate starvation, betrayal and the struggle to survive.

A year after the unexpected death of their beloved sister Nicky, Avery, Bonnie and Lucky Blue are scattered across London, Los Angeles and Paris, each struggling with grief and personal turmoil. When they reunite in New York to prevent the sale of their childhood home, long-buried tensions resurface, forcing them to confront their complicated relationships, destructive habits and shared loss.

Abandoned as a child, Kya Clark grows up alone in the marshlands of North Carolina, finding solace in nature while remaining an outsider to the nearby town. When a local man is found dead, suspicion falls on the mysterious ‘Marsh Girl’. Moving between Kya’s isolated upbringing and a murder investigation, the novel explores loneliness, prejudice, first love and survival.

Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY. 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that?And every year that follows?

On a spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay flees her unsafe marriage with her two young daughters, leaving behind the only home they know. With little money, no job and nowhere permanent to live, she struggles to rebuild their lives amid Ireland’s housing crisis. As her husband pressures her to return, Ciara discovers that escaping is only the beginning.

In 2019, London teenager Zac Brettler fell to his death from a luxury apartment overlooking the Thames. As his grieving parents searched for answers, they discovered he had been posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch. This investigative account traces Zac’s elaborate deception and his involvement with London’s criminal underworld, exploring wealth, power, identity and the devastating consequences of his double life.

Bullied at school and struggling with dyslexia, Mickey Bloom discovers an extraordinary talent for running, but the pressures of competitive sport eventually destroy her confidence and ambitions. Years later, trapped in an unfulfilling life and grieving her mother, Mickey finds herself drawn back to running. An unexpected friendship offers her a chance to rebuild her confidence and rediscover her dreams.

Nazi Germany, 1939. After losing her brother, young Liesel Meminger is sent to live with foster parents, where she discovers the transformative power of books and reading. Narrated by Death, her story unfolds against the horrors of the Second World War, as her family secretly shelters a Jewish man and Liesel finds comfort, friendship and resistance through the written word.

In a struggling Swedish town, the local ice hockey team offers hope for a brighter future, uniting a community desperate for success. But when a violent crime threatens the team’s prospects, Beartown becomes bitterly divided between those demanding justice and those determined to protect its reputation. A novel about loyalty, power, complicity and the consequences of choosing sides.

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him – and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

Fifteen years after the Second World War, Isabel lives a solitary, meticulously ordered life in her late mother’s Dutch country home. When her brother’s new girlfriend, Eva, arrives for an extended stay, Isabel’s carefully maintained routines begin to unravel. As tensions rise during a sweltering summer, an unexpected connection between the women reveals long-buried secrets that threaten everything Isabel believes about her past.

Mississippi, 1861. When enslaved Jim learns he is to be sold and separated from his family, he escapes, crossing paths with Huck Finn, who is fleeing his abusive father. Together they embark on a dangerous journey along the Mississippi River in search of freedom. A reimagining of a literary classic that confronts slavery, racism and the struggle for self-determination.

Linus Baker lives a quiet, uneventful life inspecting orphanages for magical children. When he is assigned to investigate a remote institution housing six supposedly dangerous children, including the Antichrist, his carefully ordered world is turned upside down. As he grows closer to the children and their protective guardian, Arthur, Linus begins questioning everything he believes about duty, belonging and family.

When Jen unexpectedly ends their relationship, struggling comedian Andy is left heartbroken, homeless and desperate to understand what went wrong. As he navigates dating, friendships and the uncomfortable realisation that everyone around him seems to have grown up, he becomes obsessed with winning her back. But understanding their break-up means confronting some uncomfortable truths, including Jen’s very different perspective on their relationship.

Raised in an isolated survivalist family in rural Idaho, Tara Westover grew up without formal schooling or medical care, preparing for an apocalypse her father believed was imminent. At sixteen, she began pursuing an education that would eventually take her far beyond her upbringing. This memoir explores family loyalty, abuse, self-discovery and the transformative power of education to challenge everything we believe.

After their father builds a fortune and purchases a lavish mansion outside Philadelphia, siblings Danny and Maeve Conroy grow up surrounded by wealth but little parental affection. When their stepmother forces them out of the family home, they are left with only each other. Spanning decades, this family saga explores sibling loyalty, resentment, forgiveness and the lasting influence of childhood.

When young Patch Macauley is abducted from his hometown, his best friend Saint devotes herself to finding him. During his captivity, Patch falls in love with a girl he never sees, and after escaping becomes obsessed with finding her. Spanning decades, their intertwined lives are shaped by trauma, devotion and an unrelenting search for truth, justice and love.

At fifteen, Mariam is forced into marriage with Rasheed and sent to Kabul, where she endures years of hardship and abuse. Two decades later, she forms an unlikely bond with Laila, a young woman who becomes Rasheed’s second wife. Against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s turbulent history and Taliban rule, their friendship becomes a source of strength, courage and extraordinary sacrifice.

For sixteen years, a nameless girl and her mother have lived on the run, finding shelter in a broken-down van beside the Brisbane River. Dreaming of becoming an artist, the girl longs to escape poverty, violence and the criminal underworld surrounding her. As danger closes in, a mysterious figure named Lola may hold the answers to her past and future.

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is declared an enemy of the Bolshevik regime and sentenced to lifelong house arrest inside Moscow’s grand Hotel Metropol. Stripped of his wealth and confined to a small attic room, he watches decades of Russian history unfold beyond its doors. Through unexpected friendships and changing fortunes, he discovers that a meaningful life can flourish even within the narrowest boundaries.

In the 1970s, charismatic singer Daisy Jones joins a rising rock band, and together they become one of the biggest musical acts of the decade. But behind their success, creative tensions, complicated relationships and personal struggles threaten to tear them apart. Told through interviews with the people involved, the novel unravels the truth behind the band’s sudden and mysterious break-up in 1979.

Exiled from his family, young prince Patroclus finds refuge at the court of King Peleus, where he forms an unlikely friendship with the celebrated warrior Achilles. As they grow older, their bond deepens into love, despite the objections of Achilles’ divine mother. When the Trojan War begins, they are drawn into a conflict where prophecy, loyalty and love collide with devastating consequences.

Orphaned and raised by cruel relatives before being sent to a harsh boarding school, Jane Eyre grows into a fiercely independent young woman. Taking a position as governess at Thornfield Hall, she falls in love with its mysterious master, Edward Rochester. But when a shocking secret threatens their future, Jane must choose between her feelings for him and her determination to remain true to herself.

Born to the sun god Helios, Circe is an outcast among the Greek gods, until she discovers a talent for witchcraft that leads to her exile on a remote island. There, she develops her powers and encounters figures from Greek mythology, including Odysseus. As gods and mortals threaten her independence, Circe must decide what she is willing to sacrifice for love and freedom.

A rich, sweeping novel set between the 19th century and modern times, about love and loss, memory and erasure, hurt and healing, centred around three enchanting characters living on the banks of the River Thames and the River Tigris – their lives all curiously touched by the epic of Gilgamesh.

When their parents open up their marriage, the three Flynn sisters find their already complicated lives spiralling further into chaos. Abigail is dating a much older ex-soldier, Louise is secretly corresponding with an online terrorist, and youngest sister Harper suspects their town is under surveillance. Her investigation into a powerful local billionaire draws the dysfunctional family into a dangerous criminal conspiracy.

As the Second World War unfolds, blind French girl Marie-Laure flees occupied Paris with her father, while Werner, a German orphan with a gift for radio technology, is recruited into the Nazi war effort. Their lives gradually converge in the coastal town of Saint-Malo, where their stories explore the moral complexities of war, survival and the small acts of humanity that endure amid destruction.

When Daphne unexpectedly encounters Eddie, the stepfather she adored but has not seen since childhood, at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, their reunion brings long-buried memories to the surface. As they reconnect after years apart, both are given an opportunity to revisit their shared past and consider what their relationship might mean now, in a story about love, loss and second chances.

When Lara’s three adult daughters return to the family cherry orchard during the pandemic, they persuade her to recount a long-ago romance with a now-famous actor. As Lara revisits her summer performing in a theatre company, her daughters discover a side of their mother they never knew. Moving between past and present, the novel explores first love, marriage, family and the choices that shape a life.

Just weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a devastating diagnosis: he is slowly transforming into a great white shark and has less than a year left as a human. His wife, Wren, struggles to accept their uncertain future as his transformation progresses. Blending magical realism with an intimate portrait of marriage, the novel explores grief, devotion and what it means to love someone through profound change.

Born to an unmarried teenage mother in 1940s Ireland and adopted by an eccentric, emotionally distant couple, Cyril Avery grows up feeling he belongs nowhere. As he navigates friendship, love and his sexuality in a deeply conservative society, his search for identity takes him across decades and continents. Along the way, his life remains connected to the young woman who gave him up.

In the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian theocracy established in the former United States, fertile women are forced into reproductive servitude. Offred, assigned to a powerful Commander, lives under constant surveillance and the threat of execution. As she remembers her former life and the family taken from her, she quietly navigates forbidden relationships, resistance and the struggle to retain her identity.

At seventeen, Beth falls deeply in love with Gabriel, only for him to leave and break her heart. Years later, she has built a happy life with her husband Frank and their son when Gabriel unexpectedly returns. Their old feelings quickly resurface, threatening everything Beth holds dear. Set in rural England, the novel explores forbidden love, loyalty and the devastating consequences of choices made in passion.

Rescued as a chick by Marnie, Tama the magpie becomes an unlikely member of a farming household in rural New Zealand. As he learns to speak and attracts public attention, he witnesses the increasingly violent relationship between Marnie and her husband Rob. Narrated through Tama’s sharp, often hilarious observations, the novel explores domestic abuse, captivity and the uneasy relationship between humans and animals.

Martha has spent much of her life struggling with an undiagnosed mental illness that affects her relationships and sense of self. Her devoted husband Patrick has loved her since they were teenagers, but their marriage is increasingly strained. Set between London and Oxford, this darkly funny novel explores mental health, marriage, motherhood and the possibility of rebuilding a life when everything seems to have gone wrong.

In 1970s Alaska, thirteen-year-old Leni moves with her parents to a remote wilderness settlement, hoping for a fresh start. But as the harsh winter closes in, her father’s increasingly violent behaviour makes life at home as dangerous as the landscape outside. Growing up amid isolation and uncertainty, Leni finds friendship and first love while learning what it takes to survive.

In 1980s Brisbane, twelve-year-old Eli Bell is growing up surrounded by crime, addiction and family dysfunction. With a mother battling heroin addiction, a drug-dealing stepfather and a brother who refuses to speak, his childhood is anything but ordinary. When his family becomes entangled with a notorious criminal, Eli must navigate violence, loyalty and love while trying to make sense of the world around him.

After losing her husband, Tova Sullivan takes a night-cleaning job at a local aquarium, where she forms an unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a remarkably intelligent giant Pacific octopus. Still grieving the mysterious disappearance of her teenage son thirty years earlier, Tova has never found answers. But Marcellus knows more than anyone suspects and may hold the key to uncovering the truth.

Deep underground, forty women are imprisoned in a cage, guarded by men and cut off from the outside world. Thirty-nine retain faint memories of their former lives, but the youngest has known nothing else. When an unexpected opportunity allows them to escape, they discover a deserted, unfamiliar landscape. Together, they must learn to survive while confronting the mystery of their captivity and the world they have inherited.

In Regency-era England, the spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets the wealthy and seemingly arrogant Mr Darcy, forming an immediate dislike of him. As family expectations, social class and marriage prospects complicate their lives, both must confront their own assumptions and misunderstandings. Through sharp social observation and humour, the novel explores love, reputation and the consequences of judging others too quickly.

Beginning in early twentieth-century Korea, Sunja’s life changes when she becomes pregnant by a wealthy married man and accepts a minister’s offer of marriage and a new life in Japan. There, she and her descendants face poverty, discrimination and the challenges of belonging in a country that considers them outsiders. Spanning four generations, this family saga explores identity, sacrifice and survival.

When eighteen-year-old artist Louisa unexpectedly inherits a famous painting, she becomes determined to uncover the story behind three small figures depicted on a pier. Twenty-five years earlier, four troubled teenagers found friendship and refuge there, sharing dreams of better lives. As Louisa travels to discover their history, she begins to understand how their bond shaped the painting and her own future.

In 1959, fifteen-year-old Mabel Waller became Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. More than sixty years later, living quietly in Melbourne under a different name, she discovers her elderly neighbour dead. When police uncover her identity, a new investigation attracts intense media attention. Now eighty-one, Mabel finally decides to tell her side of the story, raising questions about guilt, justice and what really happened all those years ago.

In 1596 Stratford-upon-Avon, eleven-year-old Hamnet searches desperately for help when his twin sister falls ill, unaware that he will soon be the one to die. His death devastates his mother Agnes and father William Shakespeare, whose work keeps him away in London. Centred on Agnes, the novel explores marriage, motherhood, grief and the family tragedy that would inspire one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.

In an alternate 1979 England, thirteen-year-old triplets Vincent, Lawrence and William live in a government institution, taking daily medication against a mysterious illness that has killed their friends. Meanwhile, Nancy grows up isolated from the outside world by her parents. As the government begins closing its institutions, their lives intersect, exposing disturbing secrets about the children’s origins and the society controlling their futures.

Auckland siblings Greta and Valdin are both struggling with love and figuring out what they want from life. Valdin is still hung up on his ex-boyfriend, now living in Argentina, while Greta is hopelessly attracted to a fellow English tutor. Surrounded by their eccentric Māori, Russian and Catalonian family, the pair navigate heartbreak, identity and the complications of modern relationships with plenty of humour.

In war-torn Italy in 1944, young British soldier Ulysses Temper meets Evelyn Skinner, an art historian rescuing paintings from the destruction. Their chance encounter in a Tuscan villa leaves a lasting impression on them both. Spanning decades between Florence and London, the novel follows Ulysses and his unconventional circle of friends as they discover the enduring importance of art, love and chosen family.

Reclusive Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo finally decides to reveal the truth about her extraordinary life, choosing an unknown journalist, Monique Grant, to tell her story. From her rise to fame in 1950s Los Angeles to seven marriages and a secret great love, Evelyn recounts decades of ambition and sacrifice. But as her revelations unfold, Monique discovers their lives are connected in an unexpected and devastating way.

Growing up in a small Irish town, popular Connell and socially isolated Marianne form an unexpected connection that develops into a complicated relationship. As they move from secondary school to university in Dublin, their shifting social circumstances, insecurities and struggles with intimacy repeatedly draw them together and push them apart. The novel explores class, power, friendship and the difficulty of understanding ourselves and those we love.

At an elite New England college, Richard Papen becomes fascinated by a close-knit group of classics students studying under a charismatic professor. Drawn into their privileged, secretive world, he discovers that their intellectual obsessions have led them far beyond conventional morality. When murder enters the picture, the group’s carefully constructed lives begin to unravel under the weight of guilt, paranoia and betrayal.

Arriving alone at a luxurious Rhode Island hotel, Phoebe Stone is mistaken for a guest at an extravagant wedding. But Phoebe has very different reasons for being there, and her presence threatens the bride’s meticulously planned celebrations. As their lives unexpectedly collide, an unlikely friendship develops in this funny, moving novel about loneliness, second chances and finding happiness in unexpected places.

In 1960s America, brilliant chemist Elizabeth Zott struggles to be taken seriously in a scientific world dominated by men. After losing her research position, she unexpectedly becomes the host of a popular television cooking show. Refusing to conform to expectations, Elizabeth approaches cooking as chemistry and uses her newfound platform to challenge sexism, encourage independence and inspire women to question the roles society has assigned them.

In Nazi-occupied France during the Second World War, sisters Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac face very different battles for survival. Vianne struggles to protect her daughter while German soldiers occupy her home, while rebellious Isabelle joins the French Resistance, risking her life to help Allied airmen escape. Separated by circumstance and conviction, both women must find extraordinary courage in the face of war, loss and impossible choices.

Natalie has built a lucrative online following around her seemingly idyllic life as a traditional wife and mother on a working ranch, carefully concealing the staff and production team behind it. But when she wakes in a disturbing alternate version of her own life, everything familiar feels wrong. Desperate to escape, Natalie confronts the unsettling reality behind the domestic perfection she has spent years selling.

In 1965, sheltered nursing student Frankie McGrath leaves her privileged California upbringing behind to serve as an Army nurse in Vietnam. Confronted by the brutality of war, she forms profound friendships with fellow nurses while navigating love and loss. Returning to a divided America, Frankie struggles with trauma and a society unwilling to acknowledge the sacrifices made by women who served.

Childhood friends Sam and Sadie reconnect by chance at a train station and begin creating video games together, turning their shared passion into an extraordinary creative partnership. As their careers take off, their relationship is tested by ambition, jealousy, misunderstandings and tragedy. Spanning decades, their story explores the complicated nature of friendship, the intimacy of collaboration and the many forms love can take.

Born to a teenage single mother in rural Virginia, Demon grows up surrounded by poverty, addiction and instability. Armed with sharp wit, resilience and a talent for drawing, he navigates foster care, exploitation and the devastating opioid crisis sweeping Appalachia. Through loss, unlikely friendships and repeated setbacks, Demon struggles to find belonging and build a future beyond the circumstances of his birth.

Ryland Grace wakes aboard a spacecraft millions of miles from Earth with no memory of who he is or why he’s there. As his memories return, he discovers he is the sole survivor of a mission to prevent a cosmic threat from destroying humanity. Armed with scientific ingenuity and an unexpected ally, he must solve an extraordinary mystery before time runs out.

In 1980, astronomy professor Joan Goodwin leaves her quiet academic life behind after being selected for NASA’s space shuttle programme. Training alongside a remarkable group of astronauts, she discovers unexpected friendships, ambition and a love that challenges everything she thought she knew about herself. But when a mission in December 1984 takes a catastrophic turn, Joan faces an unimaginable test of courage and devotion.

JB, Jude, Malcolm and Willem. Four young men move to New York broke, adrift and buoyed only by friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem; the sardonic painter JB; Malcolm, a frustrated architect; and Jude, brilliant and enigmatic – their centre of gravity.

In rural New Zealand, brothers Taukiri and Ārama are left to navigate the aftermath of gang violence that killed their father and drove their mother into hiding. Haunted by grief and guilt, Taukiri leaves his younger brother in an abusive home, where eight-year-old Ārama finds comfort in an unlikely friendship. Their intertwined stories explore intergenerational trauma, family, violence and the enduring power of aroha.

Sybil Van Antwerp is a witty, fiercely opinionated woman whose life is revealed through decades of letters to family, friends, and strangers. As she enters the final chapter of her life, Sybil sets out to repair fractured relationships, confront long-buried regrets, and reckon with a devastating loss she has carried for decades in this heartwarming literary novel about second chances and the enduring power of the written word.

After a devastating storm in 1987, Cora, must decide what to name her newborn son despite her husband’s insistence on continuing a family tradition. That single choice unfolds into three alternate versions of his life, exploring how identity, family, and the legacy we inherit can shape the people we become.

A young university student who is drawn into the intense friendship of brilliant classmates Sam and Yash, where intellectual ambition, first love, and complicated loyalties shape the course of her life. Decades later, now a successful writer with a family of her own, an unexpected visit forces her to confront the choices and deceptions of her youth in this moving literary novel about love, and the lives we might have lived.

A gripping climate fiction novel set on a remote island near Antarctica, where a family tasked with protecting the world’s largest seed bank rescues a mysterious woman washed ashore after a violent storm. As long-buried secrets emerge and danger closes in, trust is tested in this atmospheric literary thriller about survival, family, love, and the devastating consequences of climate change.