Sandstone Blog

Geek Pride Day

I’ve loved fantasy and science fiction since my dad read me Tolkien’s The Hobbit when I was about eight. Or maybe it was even before that, when he read me...

A letter on publication day keeps the doctor away?

Happiest of publication days to Ike Anya and his wonderful memoir of training to become a doctor in 90s Nigeria. With wonderfully evocative writing, Ike takes us from Nsukka to...

An excerpt a day keeps the doctor away: Infertility

Small by Small is out tomorrow! To whet your appetite, we're sharing an excerpt a day from this warm, funny, beautifully written medical memoir. Today, rather than sharing an extract...

An excerpt a day keeps the doctor away: First scrubs

Only two days until Small by Small by Ike Anya hits bookshop shelves! We're celebrating on social media (today's your last chance to enter our Twitter giveaway) as well as...

An excerpt a day keeps the doctor away: Advice from Mma

Small by Small by Ike Anya is out this week! We're celebrating on social media (make sure you've entered our Twitter giveaway) as well as in the real world. Ike's...

Grief Nurse wanted

Happy book birthday day to Angie Spoto and her gorgeous debut, The Grief Nurse! This historical fantasy novel features spectacular world-building, plenty of gothic vibes, and a whodunnit plot to...

Ninja Book Box: The Little Box of Big Feelings

We were delighted when the lovely folks at Ninja Book Box got in touch to say they'd like to design a book box around Angie Spoto's debut novel, The Grief...

Lipstick & Leather: A letter from the editor

As we celebrate the publication of Lipstick & Leather by Kim Hawes, we're delighted to have her editor, Kay Farrell, on the blog with a letter to readers. With its...

April at Sandstone Press

We’re in for a busy month at Sandstone HQ, with a debut novel and two non-fiction books due out over the next few weeks. First up, we have Lipstick and...

A letter to readers from Natalie Sanders

Happy publication day to Dr Natalie Sanders and The Last Sunset in the West! To mark publication day, we're very pleased to share a letter from the author here on...

Extract: Jennifer Juniper

Happy publication day to Jenny Boyd and Jennifer Juniper! We're celebrating by sharing the introduction to Jenny's memoir right here on the Sandstone blog. The book is now available direct...

Celebrating marriage with Saint Valentine

Many stories surround Saint Valentine – who is the patron saint of beekeepers and epilepsy as well as lovers – but the most widely known is that he continued...

GOING HOME

Sandstone Press is delighted that Remzije Sherifi, author of Shadow behind the Sun, has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List for services to refugee integration in...

The Sandstone guide to Christmas gifts: The great outdoors

For the trad climber with all the gear The golden age of Himalayan mountaineering, from the mid 1970s to the ‘80s, brought forth a generation of radical young climbers...

'Sets himself low standards which he fails to achieve'

James Thellusson's School’s Out: truants, troublemakers and teachers’ pets is officially out this week. This anthology of some of the worst school reports of the last 200 years was rated...

Lunapark Crowdfunding FAQ

UPDATE: Our Kickstarter campaign is live now - you can find out more and become a backer on Kickstarter.comSince we announced that we’ll be crowdfunding Lunapark, the sixth title in...

Nikky Smedley answers fan questions

Last night, the delightful Nikky Smedley, better known as Laa-Laa from the Teletubbies hosted an AMA, answering fan questions about her career across children’s TV. Here are some of our...

Sandtember? Sandtember!

Every month is Sandstone month for us, but we're delighted that the Squad Pod Collective are celebrating our authors this month, too! This group of bloggers puts their hearts and...

Summer reading recommendations from Jamie Mollart

We asked a few of our authors for book a sentence or two on their top summer reading recommendations - you can find recommendations from several of our other 202...

Summer reading recommendations from Sandstone authors

We asked a few of our authors for book a sentence or two on their top summer reading recommendations, and they came up with some great suggestions! Come back on...

Summer reading recommendations from Sandstone HQ

It's far too hot to do anything other than sit in the shade with a cool drink and a good book, so we asked our team for their top summer...

Linking Wait for Me Jack and Wah!

While they're published under different names, Wah! and Wait For Me, Jack are written by the same (wonderful!) author. That's not all they have in common, though. Today we're delighted...

Wah: A warning

As we celebrate Cynthia's memoir at Dingwall library today, we're delighted to share a short warning about the book with those who couldn't join us for the launch.

Supporting your Friendly Independent Publisher

Independent publishing is a notoriously tricky business: indies tend to publish more innovative and ‘risky’ books than the big publishers, with considerably less available to spend on marketing and sales...

Music inspired by books

There's something truly special about one person's creative project inspiring others to make more art. Today on the blog, we're delighted to be sharing music inspired by a selection of...

Along the Amber Route: Interactive Map

To celebrate the paperback publication of Along the Amber Route, we created an interactive map featuring some highlights from C.J. Schüler's fascinating look at this ancient trade route - just...

Marram: First impressions

Today we're delighted to have our Managing Director, Robert Davidson, on the blog to share some thoughts on our latest paperback publication.When I first read Leonie Charlton’s Marram I...

Earth Day: Cli-Fi recommendations from Jamie Mollart

We're delighted to have Jamie Mollart, author of Kings of a Dead World, on the blog recommending some of his favourite Cli-Fi novels for Earth Day! If you'd like to...

Easter Crime: Ebooks for 99p

We're celebrating the Norwegian Easter tradition of Påskekrim (find out more about it in our previous blog post)! To mark the occasion, all our paperback crime fiction is on sale...

Easter Crime: a Norwegian reading phenomenon

In Britain, mention of Easter will evoke thoughts of chocolate eggs, bunnies, and perhaps even church. In Norway, though, the link between Easter and crime fiction is so strong that...

Kay Farrell: Finnish Literature Exchange

Last week I was fortunate enough to take part in the Finnish Literature Exchange (FILI) Editor’s trip to Helsinki. It was wonderful to be there and lovely to see such...

Shackleton's Endurance

‘In December 1913, when Sir Ernest Shackleton publicly announced his plans for the Endurance expedition to the Antarctic, he received nearly five thousand letters from hopeful applicants. Shortly afterwards, a...

A letter to readers: Stephen May on Sell Us the Rope

Dear readers, After five contemporary novels, Sell Us the Rope was a bit of a swerve for me. I came across the story of a young Stalin in gaslit Edwardian...

Love and where to find it

You might never have read a single book in that hugely popular genre called ‘Romance’ but I’m sure you’ve read hundreds of love stories. Classic literature, for example, is full...

Tsundoku vs Reading

The Actuality: blog tour round-up

A huge thank you to all the wonderful bloggers who took part in our online tour celebrating the paperback publication of The Actuality by Paul Braddon. We knew the reviewers...

The Actuality: Q&A with Paul Braddon

Today we're delighted to be taking part in the blog tour celebrating the paperback publication of The Actuality by Paul Braddon. We fell in love with this speculative novel when...

Veganuary with Abi & Lea: Carrot Lox

Hi everyone! We’re Abi and Lea (or Lilith), a queer couple with a love of cycle touring, zines and vegan food. We’re back on the Sandstone blog today to offer...

Veganuary with Abi & Lea: Silken Tofu

Hi everyone! We’re Abi and Lea (or Lilith), a queer couple with a love of cycle touring, zines and vegan food. We’re back on the Sandstone blog today to offer...

Veganuary with Abi & Lea: Nooch

Hi everyone! We’re Abi and Lea (or Lilith), a queer couple with a love of cycle touring, zines and vegan food. We’re back on the Sandstone blog today to offer...

Human Trafficking Awareness Day: Stolen Lives

To mark Human Trafficking Awareness Day, we're sharing an extract from the introduction to Louise Hulland's powerful investigation into human trafficking and modern slavery in the UK. We're very proud...

Veganuary with Abi & Lea: Dried Soya Mince

Hi everyone! We’re Abi and Lea (or Lilith), a queer couple with a love of cycle touring, zines and vegan food. We’re here on the Sandstone blog to offer support...

Along the Amber Route: Helsinki

You are never far from the sight, sound or smell of the sea in Helsinki. This agreeable low-rise city is spread across a rocky, starfish-shaped peninsula in a wide natural...

Along the Amber Route: Kaliningrad

‘You’re from London and you’re going to Kaliningrad?’ a young man in Lithuania asked. ‘That’s like me going to Mars.’I drove through a tract of concrete that could have been...

Along the Amber Route: Pärnu

I drove into Pärnu just as it was getting dark. Located on the estuary of the river of the same name, the city was an early member of the Hanseatic...

Along the Amber Route: Riga

The coastal A1 to Riga, the Via Baltica, was a smooth, modern EU-sponsored road. There was little traffic, and almost before I knew it I had crossed the Latvian border...

Along the Amber Route: Liepāja

I had arrived in Karosta, the northern suburb of Liepāja founded in 1893 by Tsar Alexander III as a naval base, and used as recently as 1991 by the Soviet...

Along the Amber Route: Klaipėda.

Flaky snow started to fall as I drove across a wide modern bridge over the River Danė and into Klaipėda. The Old Town was an appealing jumble of cobbled streets...

Along the Amber Route: Gdańsk

Much of Gdańsk’s Old Town has been painstakingly re- constructed after its devastation in the Second World War, and walking along Ulica Dług (Long Street) today, it is not hard...

Along the Amber Route: Klaipėda.

Flaky snow started to fall as I drove across a wide modern bridge over the River Danė and into Klaipėda. The Old Town was an appealing jumble of cobbled streets...

Along the Amber Route: Malbork

From Gdańsk, I took a train south to Malbork, where I found the stronghold of the Teutonic Knights in a scruffy park hemmed in by housing blocks. Above its towering...

Along the Amber Route: Torún

By the time the train pulled in to Toruń, it was growing dark. The station was undergoing renovation, its old booking hall a shell stranded between platforms with no direct...

Along the Amber Route: Biskupin

The Iron Age settlement consisted of the fort, strategically located on a peninsula jutting into a lake, and the houses in the village that served it. Discovered by Polish archaeologists...

Along the Amber Route: Kalisz

From Konin, I drove the 55 kilometres south to Kalisz. Regarded as the oldest town in Poland, it may be the Calisia listed in Ptolemy’s Geographia, which probably drew on...

Along the Amber Route: Kłodzko

The little yellow train to Kłodzko rapidly filled with students and older working men, but I managed to find a seat in the last carriage, next to the guard’s van...

Along the Amber Route: Olomouc

I boarded an express from Prague, which brought me to Olomouc within the hour. The city stands on the River Morava, which drains into the Danube. I had crossed the...

Along the Amber Route: Vienna

Vienna, Brecht observed, is ‘a city built around a few coffee-houses where the population sits together and reads papers’. Viennese cafés are a joy, civilised places where you can enjoy...

Along the Amber Route: Carnuntum

The scattered ruins of Carnuntum – two amphitheatres, streets, houses, a bath complex and this triumphal arch, known as the Heidentor (‘Heathens’ Tower’) – extended for five kilometres between the...

Along the Amber Route: Sopron

The town stands on a peninsula of Hungarian territory that juts deep into Burgenland, almost cutting the region in two. In August 1921, when Austrian police and customs officials attempted...

Along the Amber Route: Szombathely

Some 20 kilometres beyond the border, I came to Szombathely. Bigger than Sopron, it was the oldest city in Hungary, founded during the reign of the Emperor Claudius around ad...

Along the Amber Route: Celje

A clangorous metal staircase led down into a city beneath the city: Roman Celeia. Here were the foundations of temples, public buildings and private houses, and a well preserved stretch...

Along the Amber Route: Ljubljana

The train pulled in to Ljubljana between gleaming new office buildings. The area around the station had an air of confident modernity, yet there were still many archetypal Balkan faces...

Along the Amber Route: Aquileia

Summer’s lease had not yet expired in Aquileia. The honeyed stone was warmed by the afternoon sun; butterflies flapped between lime trees still unyellowed by autumn, and roses bloomed on...

Along the Amber Route: Venice

It is hard to walk purposefully in Venice. The city’s topography defeats it: the canals, the dead ends, the alleys too narrow to pass a person carrying an umbrella. I...

Along the Amber Route: Wrocław

On Tumski Island, the ancient heart of Wrocław, orange street-lights flared in the thin mist that shrouded the towering Gothic spires of the cathedral. Though not technically an island since...

Along the Amber Route: Tallinn

I passed under the Gothic arch and hauled my luggage up the rattling cobblestones of Pikk, the long medieval street, lined with steep-gabled merchants’ houses, that leads to the heart...

Along the Amber Route: St Petersburg

When the bus pulled up opposite an enormous, floodlit granite obelisk, I realised with a start that I had been here before – decades before, when the city was known...

Resolution Reading

Happy New Year, folks! To celebrate the start of 2022, we have Assistant Publisher Kay Farrell here to recommend a few Sandstone books to help you ring in the new...

For the runner with all the gear...

'Although running is inherently cheap and can be done in whatever you have to hand, getting a decent pair of shoes is one of the few areas you shouldn’t skimp...

Seasons Readings: A Friendship in Letters

On day three of our bookish advent blog series, we're back in Scotland. Read on for an extract from Michael Shaw's introduction to A Friendship in Letters. From December 1st...

Seasons Readings: The Electric Woman

We may have started this year's advent blog series with a very Christmassy extract, but for day two, we're taking you to an introductory fire eating class in the USA...

Sandstone Press 2021 Gift Guide

Struggling to come up with Christmas gift ideas for friends and family? We have plenty of recommendations for nature lovers, fiction fans and history enthusiasts. If you need further suggestions...

Seasons readings: Tell Me Where You Are

We're starting this year's advent blog series with a very Christmassy extract. Read on for an extract from the first chapter of Moira Forsyth's Tell Me Where You Are. From...

Chasing the Deer: A letter from the editor

Dear Reader, I’m writing to introduce Chasing the Deer: The Red Deer through the Seasons by Neil McIntyre. Neil comes from a family of deer stalkers and grew up surrounded...

The Wood That Built London: Interactive Map

To celebrate the publication of The Wood That Built London, we created an interactive map featuring fascinating stories and facts from C.J. Schüler's brand new book - just click on...

The Wood That Built London: Hatcham Wood

The woods formed part of six manors: Hatcham, Camberwell, Lewisham, Lambeth, Croydon and Benchesham. The most northerly part lay within the manor of Hatcham, or Hatcham Barnes, to the south...

The Wood That Built London: Gorne Wood & Brockley

In the northern part of the Borough of Lewisham, a four-kilometre railway cutting forms a green corridor through Brockley and Forest Hill. Although severely encroached upon by the construction of...

The Wood That Built London: The Archbishop of Canterbury’s woods

Covering just two hectares on the southern slope of Beulah Hill, Stambourne Woodland Walk (Church Road, London SE19 2PY, TQ336701) is one of the lesser-known relics of the North Wood...

The Wood That Built London: Vicar's Oak

This important boundary tree stood just above the source of the Upper Norwood branch of the Effra, and marked the point where the parishes of Lambeth, Camberwell, Croydon, Beckenham and...

The Wood That Built London: Surrey

In the 1840s, the Godalming-based naturalist John Drew Salmon set about cataloguing the plants of Surrey with the assistance of a number of correspondents who would report their finds to...

The Wood That Built London: Kent

On the night of 26–27 November 1703, a powerful storm blew in off the Atlantic and smashed into southern England, bringing down thousands of chimneys, destroying buildings and wrecking ships...

The Wood That Built London: Beckenham

London Wildlife Trust members in Bromley and Southwark, and – through local papers – the wider public, were asked to record any stag beetles they had seen. Of the 60...

The Wood That Built London: Dulwich

Because its position in South East London placed it directly on the flight-path of bombers coming from across the Channel, the area suffered heavy damage during the Blitz of 1940–41...

The Wood That Built London: Croydon

[on 1 April 1965], Croydon, which covered the surviving fragments of the Archbishop’s Woods, was removed from Surrey to become the southernmost of the London boroughs. The Urban District of...

The Wood That Built London: Lambeth

In Lambeth, three out of five people describe their ethnicity as other than white British; 50.7 per cent of Croydon’s population identify as ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’; while a...

The Wood That Built London: Honor Oak

An attempt to establish a golf club at Honor Oak proved more controversial than at Dulwich. In 1896 a private company quietly put up a six-foot fence around One Tree...

The Wood That Built London: Greenwich

In 1783, as President of the Royal Society, [Joseph Banks] received a memorandum from Jean-Dominique de Cassini, Director of the Paris Observatory, whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather had pioneered the...

The Wood That Built London: Selhurst & Croydon Common

The surviving portion of Selhurst Wood, to the north of the railway junction, was felled by 1908 to make way for Croydon Common Athletic Ground which, from 1918 to 1924...

The Wood That Built London: Thornton Heath

In 1862, as workmen were cutting the railway line from Thornton Heath to Selhurst, their picks struck a rotting chest, in which they found a bag of coins. In the...

The Wood That Built London: Dragnel's Wood

At Selhurst Junction, the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway sliced through Dragnel Wood – by then known as Selhurst Wood – in 1862, leaving its southern portion hemmed in...

The Wood That Built London: Dulwich Woods

The first half of the nineteenth century was the last period (except for the blackouts during the two World Wars) when the night sky above the woods was truly dark...

The Wood That Built London: Penge

The name Penge is Celtic in origin, from the ancient British words corresponding to the Welsh pen (head) and coed (wood). Though it is located on the eastern flank of...

The Wood That Built London: Goat House

Beyond these, a 571-acre woodland is labelled ‘Croydon Woods called Norwood’; on it, a later hand has pencilled ‘open common’. Cutting into it from the north is a nineteen-acre triangular...

The Wood That Built London: White Horse Wood

Located on Grange Road between Thornton Heath and Upper Norwood, Grangewood Park (Ross Road, London SE25 6TW, TQ330687) is an 11.2-hectare survival of White Horse Wood. It is a...

The Wood That Built London: Elder Oak

[In the middle of the 1500s] a Penge man called Robert Lowen (who had since died), had felled the Elder Oak. This act was ‘muche misliked’ by the Croydon parishioners...

The Wood That Built London: Green Man

In 1739, [John] Cox’s grandson Francis discovered a mineral spring in the grounds of the Green Man, and established a spa to rival Sydenham Wells, complete with pleasure gardens, a...

The Wood That Built London: Cooper’s Wood

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, landowners had been making periodic attempts to fence off commons on which local people withoutland of their own were allowed to graze livestock and...

The Wood That Built London: Deptford

In 1513, determined to build a powerful national fleet, Henry VIII established the naval dockyard at Deptford, close to the North Wood with its convenient supply of oak. Henry shared...

The Wood That Built London: Thames

The wide, sluggish Thames meandered between creeks and marshes over beds of alluvial clay, sedimentary deposits laid down in an ancient sea. Beneath Norwood Hill lies a bed of fossilised...

The Wood That Built London: Camberwell

Camberwell was originally one large manor, with woodland for sixty swine. Under Edward the Confessor its lord was Northmann of Mereworth, one of the great Saxon landowners, but after the...

The Wood That Built London: Peckham Rye

By the late eighteenth century, the poets and painters of the Romantic movement had come to reject the ethos of the Enlightenment; viewing the growth of industrial capitalism with disgust...

The Wood That Built London: Peckham

Wildlife-friendly horticulture ought to be the rule, not the exception, in public spaces. Every park could contain at least one area of wildflower meadow. Road verges should be mown, and...

The Wood That Built London: Honor Oak Wood

It is to the Flora Londinensis, however, that we owe the first detailed records of the indigenous botany of the North Wood. In addition to flowers such as wood anemone...

The Wood That Built London: Peck

The Peck flowed from the slopes of Oak of Honor Hill, through Peckham Rye (where a short stretch is still visible above ground), to Bermondsey, where it joined the Earl’s...

The Wood That Built London: Lewisham

In the northern part of the Borough of Lewisham, a four kilometre railway cutting forms a green corridor through Brockley and Forest Hill. Although severely encroached upon by the construction...

The Wood That Built London: Sydenham

The manor of Lewisham belonged to the Abbey of St Pierre in Ghent, in what is now Belgium, to whom it had been granted by King Edgar in 964. The...

The Wood That Built London: Westwood

The term Westwood, referring to woods to the west of Lewisham, first appears in the thirteenth century; it continued to be used to refer to Sydenham Common until the 1800s...

The Wood That Built London: Dulwich Common

Clay was dug on the south side of Dulwich Common from the seventeenth century, if not earlier, leaving the pond that can be seen today; Rocque’s map shows a ‘Bree...

The Wood That Built London: Knight's Hill

Lord Chancellor Edward Thurlow commissioned the architect Henry Holland to build him a house at Knight’s Hill, but when the project ran over budget, he refused to move in. ‘He...

The Wood That Built London: Alleyn’s college

The surviving parts of the North Wood are not only a natural asset but a historical and cultural one. Between Lambeth Palace on the bank of the Thames and Whitgift’s...

The Wood That Built London: Cox's Walk

Some time before 1714, John Cox, landlord of the Green Man, was given permission by the Dulwich Estate to cut a path through the Fifty Acre Wood, ‘reserving for shade...

Blasted Things: Blog tour round-up

We've had a wonderful time reading reviews from the blog and bookstagram tours for Blasted Things over the past week, so we thought we'd share some of our favourite quotes...

The Wolf in the Woods: Blog tour round-up

We've had a grand ol' time reading reviews from the blog tour during publication week for The Wolf in the Woods, so we thought we'd share a few of our...

In Conversation with Michèle Roberts

Michèle Roberts is the author of 15 critically acclaimed and prize-winning novels, including Daughters of the House, which won the WHSmith Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.As...

5.14am by Dan Brotzel

The first time I woke, I surreptitiously lit up my watch to see it was 5.04am. Knowing that my watch is an hour out (I never changed it after the...

The Easternmost Sky: An interview with Juliet Blaxland

To celebrate publication of The Easternmost Sky, we're delighted to share this Q&A with author Juliet Blaxland. Her new book is now available online and from all good bookshops.Your new...

What Am I Looking For?

Today we're delighted to welcome Publishing Director Moira Forsyth to the blog. We're open to unsolicited fiction submissions until June 30th 2021, so we asked Moira for further information on...

Hello. Is it me you’re looking for?

Today we're delighted to welcome Assistant Publisher Kay Farrell to the blog. We're open to unsolicited fiction submissions until June 30th 2021, so we asked Kay for further information on...

The Red Pen

Over the past few weeks, Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth has been sharing her top tips for writers on editing on the Sandstone blog. The editorial advice in The...

The Red Pen: Presenting your work

Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth is back on the blog today with a short, practical epilogue to her series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not...

Scottish Braille Press: The Health of Strangers

We’re absolutely delighted that Sandstone Press author Lesley Kelly’s Health of Strangers series has just been published in braille. Today on the Sandstone blog Lesley is talking to Jos Weale...

Writers are like magpies: using Pinterest to aid world building

It's only a week until Jamie Mollart's dark speculative thriller, Kings of a Dead World, hits bookshop shelves. The world building in Jamie's new book is exceptional and completely...

The Red Pen: The importance of ending well

Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth is back on the blog today with the final piece in a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not currently...

The Red Pen: Taking care of your characters

Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth is back on the blog today with the seventh in a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not currently open...

The Red Pen: Continuity and consistency

Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth is back on the blog today with the sixth in a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not currently open...

The Red Pen: Timelines and tenses

Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth is back on the blog today with the fifth in a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not currently open...

Fiona Erskine on The Starlings of Bucharest

We tend to share extracts or author interviews when we take part in blog tours, but today we're delighted to have Fiona Erskine as a guest with her brilliant review...

The Red Pen: Beginnings

Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth is back on the blog today with the fourth in a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not currently open...

The Red Pen: Tackling Structural Changes

Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth is back on the blog today with the third in a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not currently open...

The Red Pen: Editing Dialogue

We're delighted to have Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth on the blog today with the second in a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not...

The Red Pen: Easy Edits

We're delighted to have Publishing Director and author Moira Forsyth on the blog today with the first of a series of blog posts featuring advice for writers. We are not...

Book Club Kit: The Actuality

The Actuality is a perfect choice for book clubs - there's plenty to discuss for fans of literary fiction, thrillers and science fiction. Use our book club kit to get...

Pre-ordering: show authors some love!

In the run-up to publication of a new title, publishers and authors work hard to create that all-important ‘buzz’ around a title which can help determine the book’s success. As...

Dan Brotzel: Short Order Cooking

Working out the right sequence for your story collection is an exquisite agony. Following on from the short story advent calendar that kept us going through a truly strange December...

Book Club Kit: The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line

The Snow and the Works on the Northern Line is a perfect choice for book clubs - there's plenty to discuss! Use our book club kit to get the conversation...

Uncle Jack and the Turkey Funeral

It had been one hell of a year. It was the worst of times, it was… well, that was about it really. ‘Unprecedented’, as someone said every five minutes. One...

Short Story Advent Calendar 2020

December is here, which means it's time to crack into our Advent calendars! We've worked with Hotel Du Jack author Dan Brotzel to create the ultimate calendar for short story...

Sandstone Outdoors on Instagram!

As lots of you will already know, we love the outdoors at Sandstone Press. We publish a range of excellent nature writers, and many of these nature writers send us...

5 Extraordinary Contemporary Reads for Book Groups

We've picked five contemporary novels which are perfect for book clubs, with plenty for reading groups to talk about. 1) Animal Lovers by Rob Palk When Stuart married Marie, who...

Bad Debt is out now!

We're absolutely delighted to publish Bad Debt by William McIntyre today. A huge thank you to all the brilliant bloggers taking part in the virtual tour celebrating publication! It's been...

#CosyCrimeClub with Rachel Ward

Bookshops!

Seeing as a particular online retailer is holding a major discount event at the moment, we thought we'd celebrate some of the brick-and-mortar indie bookshops the Sandstone team loves to...

5 Stunning Historical Novels for Book Clubs

There's something for everyone in this list, whether historical fiction is usually your go-to genre or not. All five books are perfect for book clubs, with plenty to discuss. 1)...

On the blog: Dr. Katrina Farrell on The Health of Strangers

Today we're delighted to have Dr. Katrina Farrell on the Sandstone blog, sharing her thoughts as a medical professional on Lesley Kelly's newest Health of Strangers thriller. Dr. Farrell is...

The Gereon Rath series in translation

Today we're delighted to share Sandstone Press Managing Director Robert Davidson's thoughts on bringing Volker Kutscher's Gereon Rath series to an English-speaking audience for the first time. We at Sandstone...

Thoughts on writing ‘All or nothing at all: the life of Billy Bland’

I began seriously thinking about this fourth book on fell running at the beginning of 2018, after having a bit of a break after my third book ‘Running Hard: the...

5 Brilliant Non Fiction Reads for Book Clubs

If your book group tends to read fiction, but would like to give non-fiction a try, here are 5 fantastic memoirs you won't be able to stop talking about. 1)...

‘Their Finest Hour’ - Ant and Bea on the Front Line

Supermarket sleuths Ant and Bea have always been the heroes of Rachel Ward's cosy crime series. Though their detective work would likely have to be put on hold during lockdown...

Sandstone Short Fiction Competition – An Epidemic of Kindness

On Saturday evening we announced the winners of the first ever Sandstone Press Short Fiction competition - today we are delighted to share our first place winner, by James Thellusson...

Sandstone Short Fiction Competition – A Cat Amongst the Pigeons

On Saturday evening we announced the winners of the first ever Sandstone Press Short Fiction competition - today we are delighted to share our second place winner, by Orla Owen...

Sandstone Short Fiction Competition – Helen and the Green Man

On Saturday evening we announced the winners of the first ever Sandstone Press Short Fiction competition - today we are delighted to share our third place winner, by Rebecca McKinney...

Quarantine Reading Recommendations: Alice Hamilton-Cox

While we know lots of people are struggling to read at the moment, books offer a much needed escape from day-to-day life for others. When it became clear that we'd...

On the blog: Blasted Things by Lesley Glaister

We're delighted to have Lesley Glaister on the blog today to celebrate the publication of Blasted Things! The ‘new normal’ is something we’re all wondering about during these peculiar and...

Quarantine Reading Recommendations: Nicola Torch

While we know lots of people are struggling to read at the moment, books offer a much needed escape from day-to-day life for others. We asked each member of the...

On the blog: Lesley Kelly's pandemic research reads

This evening we have author Lesley Kelly on the blog to celebrate the publication of her new book, Murder at the Music Factory! Read on to find out which books...

What We Did in the Dark: Book group reading guide

Quarantine Reading Recommendations: Kay Farrell

While we know lots of people are struggling to read at the moment, books offer a much needed escape from day-to-day life for others. We asked each member of the...

Quarantine reading recommendations: Moira Forsyth

While we know lots of people are struggling to read at the moment, books offer a much needed escape from day-to-day life for others. We asked each member of the...

Waiting for Lindsay: Book group reading guide

Happy publication day to Moira Forsyth and Waiting for Lindsay! Though book clubs are unable to meet in person at the moment, it's been lovely to see so many reading...

On the blog: Leonie Charlton on the books that inspired Marram

Sitting by the fire on this sleety Storm Jorge day I am treating myself to some Pablo Neruda time. This line from The Song of Despair calls me back again...

On the blog: Dan Brotzel on hermit crabs and storytelling

Fresh stories from borrowed forms Hermit-crab stories, or borrowed forms, are stories made from found verbal structures such as a shopping list or board game rules or FAQs or even...

On the blog: Moira Forsyth on gifts for the novelist

Some major life events are a gift to the novelist; weddings and funerals come to mind immediately. Funerals are ideal. The mysterious mourner turning up (a former mistress, an unacknowledged...

Active and Passive Voice by Dan Brotzel

Dan Brotzel's debut short story collection, Hotel du Jack, is out on January . To whet your appetite, here's a preview of one of his stories, which has just been...

Abu Dhabi International Translation Conference: Day 2

The conference started today. I’ve realised Arab time is very relaxed. When they say, meet in the hotel foyer at 8.30, it means I am there with my Scottish Calvinist...

Abu Dhabi International Translation Conference: Day 1

Publishing Director Moira Forsyth is in Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi International Translation Conference this week. Keep an eye on our blog and our Instagram stories to see what...

Evenings with Evelyn

She thinks she’s the next Margaret Attwood. He’s not so sure.Peter Cunningham has reluctantly agreed to help his neighbour, Evelyn, get into writing fiction. Keep an eye on his blog...

Rachel Ward: What Libraries Mean to Me

It's Libraries Week! A few days ago, author Rachel Ward tweeted about the importance of libraries. We really liked what she had to say. 280 characters isn't an awful lot...

Sandstone Press at Wigtown Book Festival

We're looking forward to heading down to Scotland's national book town for their annual literary festival - we hope to see you there! 30/09, 15:00: Join Truestory author Catherine Simpson...

On the blog: Fixed Odds on tour

It's finally our stop on the Fixed Odds blog tour! If you like to try before you buy, you're in luck. We're delighted to be sharing an extract of William's...

Sandstone Press at Edinburgh International Book Festival

Edinburgh International Book Festival is a real highlight of the literary year - we love being introduced to new authors from across the world, and we love having the chance...

Jenni Calder: Reading Naomi Mitchison

Earlier this month we launched The Burning Glass by Jenni Calder, the first biography of Naomi Mitchison to cover the entirety of her life. To celebrate, we asked Jenni to...

Ricky Monahan Brown: Borders Book Festival

On Friday, 14th June, I attended my first book festival event as the author of a full-length, stand-alone book. The Borders Book Festival was the perfect place for me to...

On the blog: Death at the Plague Museum on tour

We've reached the final days of the Death at the Plague Museum blog tour, and it's finally our turn to post. If you like to try before you buy, you're...

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi: Shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize

Celestial Bodies, written by Jokha Alharthi and translated by Marilyn Booth, has been shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize. Celestial Bodies is the first novel by by an...

Prizes!

With Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies longlisted for the Man Booker International and Rebecca Ley’s Sweet Fruit, Sour Land on the shortlist for the Kitschies Golden Tentacle, March has been...

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi: Longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize

Celestial Bodies, written by Jokha Alharthi and translated by Marilyn Booth, has been longlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize. The judges described the book as 'a richly imagined...

On the blog: Ant & Bea tour round-up

If you follow us on Twitter (or read our newsletter, or follow us on Instagram...), you'll know that Ant & Bea have been on tour over the past two weeks...

On the Blog: Peter Cunningham on Writing

Happy publication day to Peter Cunningham! The new paperback edition of Acts of Allegiance is out now, which means it's available online and from all good bookshops. We're delighted to...

The Easternmost House: Sandstone Press acquires 'brilliant' memoir

Sandstone Press has acquired World English rights to author, illustrator and architect Juliet Blaxland’s memoir, The Easternmost House, from Jane Graham Maw at the Graham Maw Christie Agency. ‘The house...

Blog tour: Stitch Up

Over the past two weeks we've been celebrating the publication of the new Best Defence novel. We had great fun at the launch last Friday, and are looking forward to...

On the Blog: Stitch Up

This week we are celebrating the publication of Stitch Up, the brand new Best Defence Mystery from William McIntyre. Newly-wed and happy, criminal lawyer Robbie Munro can surely stay out...

On the Blog: Sweet Fruit, Sour Land

Happy publication day to Rebecca Ley and her stunning debut novel, Sweet Fruit, Sour Land! In the last circle of luxury in a barren London, government ministers hold glamorous parties...

On The Blog: The Cost of Living (An Ant and Bea Mystery)

Chapter 1 The bottle wobbled with every movement of the conveyor belt. ‘You’d be better off lying that down,’ Bea said at the exact moment that the wobble turned...

On the blog: Celestial Bodies

Happy publication day to Jokha Alharthi, author of Celestial Bodies, and to translator Marilyn Booth! We're delighted to finally be sharing this award-winning novel with the English-speaking world, and to...

Blog tour round up: The Mountains are Calling

Over the past week Jonny Muir has launched his new book, The Mountains are Calling, both online and out in the real world. Thanks to the brilliant bloggers who have...

Blog Tour: The Mountains are Calling

If you've followed us for a while, you'll be aware that we're rather fond of the great outdoors. We're delighted to share this post by Jonny Muir, author of The...

Blog Tour: The Accidental Recluse

In the run up to Tom McCulloch's Scottish launch of The Accidental Recluse, following a brilliant evening at Blackwell's in Oxford for the English launch, Tom's on tour - and...

On the Blog: Songs By Dead Girls Tour

Edinburgh – a crowded place to die Scotland’s capital is a beautiful city, awash with heritage, and sporting a literary history that is written large across its landscape. However, some...

On the Blog: Animal Lovers

We're always interested in the stories behind the books we publish - it's fascinating to hear how authors' experiences affect the writing process, and which bits of their lives make...

On the Blog: The Accidental Recluse

Today we're delighted to be publishing The Accidental Recluse by Tom McCulloch. This is the third novel we've published by Tom since 2013, but Sandstone's Editorial Director, Moira Forsyth, has...

The Health of Strangers Thrillers

This week at Sandstone HQ we’re celebrating Lesley Kelly and her brilliant Health of Strangers series. On Thursday Lesley revealed the cover of her next book, Songs by Dead Girls...

On the Blog: Hog-manay in Tobermory

We're delighted to kick 2018 off with a New Year guest post by Amelia Dalton, author of Mistress and Commander. Weary of her Yorkshire county life of grouse moors and...

Blog Tour: Running Hard

The paperback of Steve Chilton's Running Hard is out tomorrow! We celebrated with a blog tour, featuring reviews, guest posts by Steve, extracts and interviews. If you'd like to...

Blog Tour: The Cost of Living

This week The Cost of Living has been on tour! Rachel's book has been featured on eleven blogs over the past three days. We've had some lovely reviews, insightful...

Meet the author: Lesley Kelly

When did you first start writing? And what made you start? I was a definitely late starter – I was well into my thirties before I wrote anything. On a...

The Great Horizon: Fifty astonishing stories of exploration

Fifty astonishing stories of exploration, gathered from the archives of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society by Jo Woolf, RSGS Writer-in-Residence A Repository of Stories RSGS is a repository of some...

Making Space: The Book Purge

The Book Purge by Sarah Tierney Erik, one of the central characters in Making Space, is a book hoarder. And although I have never owned as many books as he...

Can punctuation save a life?

I have this dream that one day, I'll send my publisher a manuscript that contains no mistakes. Sadly, I know that it doesn’t matter how many times I read it...

Rachel Ward on turning to crime

This year I’m turning to crime. Well, crime writing to be more precise. My first novel for adults, The Cost of Living, will be published by Sandstone Press in September...

Remaking a murderer: true-life double killer inspires novel

As a writer there are two ways of dealing with an astonishing true life story: you can simply dramatise it or you can make it into something completely different. When...

Q&A with Sarah Tierney

In her debut novel, Making Space (Sandstone Press, £8.99), Sarah Tierney draws on her single twenties in south Manchester to ask why we hold onto things we don’t need and...

An accidental thriller: Stronger Than Skin

All books should be thrillers, shouldn’t they? Of a kind? Even the novels of Brontes. Even those of Jane Austen (Will they get all the daughters married off before penury...

An interview with Ajay Close

Ajay Close Daughter of Lady Macbeth Q & A What’s the novel about? The Daughter of Lady Macbeth follows Freya, her husband Frankie and her mother Lilias over a turbulent...

‘The last five years have not been great at Greenpeace’

Dawn was breaking when the campaigners used slingshots to fire ropes on to the rig. But as they began to scale the Prirazlomnaya, aiming to unfurl a banner denouncing Russia’s...

'Touching portrait of a marriage'

Review by Russell Leadbetter THE opening two chapters of this novel are a startling compression of the lifelong connection between a couple. The first is set in San Francisco in...

Fallow Blog Tour

Daniel Shand's debut thriller, Fallow, is released on the 17th of November! To celebrate, we have a blog tour running this week, packed with reviews, interviews and exclusive extracts from...

New book reveals the origins behind famous people's names

When unemployed single mother Joanne Rowling sold her first book about a child wizard called Harry Potter to publisher Bloomsbury it was worried that boys wouldn’t buy it if they...

The Witch Bottle, Rosy Thornton

It began with the installation of a damp proof course. ‘These old houses,’ said Nick, ‘They didn’t bother with anything like that. Just learned to live with it, I suppose.’...

Sandstone Publicity Officer shortlisted for Emerging Publisher Award

Last night, The Saltire Society's Literary Awards shortlist was announced at Waterstones Princes Street. The prize is organised by charity the Saltire Society, which supports the arts and cultural heritage...

Writers on Location: James Terry on the ghost town of Shakespeare

If you’re a keen reader of fiction it’s inevitable to find that certain themes crop up again and again and we all have our favourites. I can’t get enough of...

Out There wins OWPG's Best Outdoor Book Award

Many of Britain's top outdoor writers and photographers gathered for the 'Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild' (OWPG) Annual Awards ceremony which took place on Saturday, 8th October at Medina Valley...

Moira Forsyth to join the Board of Publishing Scotland

Sandstone Press is pleased to announce that our Editorial Director, Moira Forsyth, will join the Board of Publishing Scotland in 2017 anticipating a two year term. Also joining the...

WHS McIntyre talks to Crime Time

And Justice for all? I’m not new to writing, but I am very new to being published, and what I’ve learned is that to be a marketable author one’s books...

The Donald Meek Award Shortlist

THE DONALD MEEK AWARD 2016 This year’s shortlist announced! Six new Gaelic books have been shortlisted for this year’s Donald Meek Award. The Gaelic Book of the Year will be...

Future Nordic Noir TV Gold- Norway's Chief Inspector Wisting

When was the last time you photographed a pile of manure? Thought so. But that’s exactly what I do as we arrive outside an anonymous farm. It is July, close...

The Trout author Peter Cunningham hooks major screen deal

Bestselling author Peter Cunningham launches his new novel The Trout at Hodges Figgis on 31 August. The book, just selected as Bord Gáis Book Club’s Book of the Month, is...

The Trout by Peter Cunningham: fishing for truth of clerical abuse

Two issues lie at the heart of The Trout. The first is elusive childhood memory; the second is the ability of whole societies to deny the evidence of their eyes...

An Ancient Permanence?

My Aunt Sybil (sadly not the figure in black bombazine and lorgnette her name might suggest – think Gore Tex® and stout hiking shoes) on a recent visit to my...

We have to talk about Scoxit

Five referendums have come and gone in my lifetime: two for Europe, two for devolution, one for independence. All five have been characterised by a lack of knowledge of what...

Sandlands Blog Tour!

Rosy Thornton's short story collection, Sandlands, is finally here, and we're celebrating with a blog tour! There's lots of great content, from interviews to extracts, so be sure to follow...

In the Brexit aftermath...

Feelings run high in the country after the narrow (UK wide) vote in favour of leaving the European Union. Language has been immoderate, to say the least, with one prominent...

The McIlvanney Prize 2016

‘I went to Bloody Scotland and I was just knocked out.... I’ve been at literary events where a lot of people have knives sticking out their back that they don’t...

Short Ride on a Fast Machine

Sandstone Press is to publish Short Ride on A Fast Machine, by Magnus McGrandle, a graduate of the Faber Academy and BBC journalist. Robert Davidson, MD of Sandstone Press, has...

The Scottish nurses of Salonika

It’s one of the great untold stories of the First World War: the courage of a redoubtable group of Scottish women who travelled to Greece and Serbia 100 years ago...

The Round shortlisted for the Lakeland Book of the Year Award

We're delighted to reveal that Steve Chilton's The Round: In Bob Graham's Footsteps has been shortlisted for the Lakeland Book of the Year Award! It is not only a history...

The Skeptical Detective

Tey cared less about clues than about characters, less about logical puzzles than puzzles of human nature.CARL ROLLYSON June 3, 2016 3:37 p.m. ET Mention the name Josephine Tey to...

Moira Forsyth reports from Norway

Our Editorial Director, Moira Forsyth, is presently a guest of the Norwegian Publishers Association. Day 1, OsloFrom the Scandic Holberg Hotel, a group of publishers from all over the...

Volker Kutscher talks to Crime Time

Barry Forshaw interviewed our German crime author about his new novel with Sandstone Press, Babylon Berlin. Why did you choose Weimar Germany as the setting for the book? I primarily...

Jorn Lier Horst wins Petrona Award for The Caveman

Author salutes ‘Golden Age of Scandinavian Crime Literature’Norwegian crime writer Jorn Lier Horst has won the prestigious Petrona Award for the best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year, for his...

Cast news and first image for Babylon Berlin TV-series

An A-list cast of German actors has joined the cast of Babylon Berlin, the upcoming period crime series co-written and co-directed by A Hologram for The King helmer Tom Tykwer...

Upbeat selected as The Bookseller's Book of the Month

Upbeat: The Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul MacAlindin has been selected for The Bookseller's Book of the Month for August. 'How do you pull together...

Six season TV-series for Jorn Lier Horst’s William Wisting – from the man behind Wallander

Award-winning Sandstone author Jorn Lier Horst has partnered with Cinenord and the Danish production company Good Company Films to bring Chief Inspector William Wisting to life. The series will be...

Two titles longlisted for the Saboteur Awards

Sandstone Press is pleased to announce that two of our titles have been longlisted for the Saboteur Awards 2016. Cho Snog 's a Tha Thu by Alison Lang and The...

Jorn Lier Horst Shortlisted for The Petrona Award

Jorn Lier Horst makes Petrona Award shortlist for the third time with The Caveman Norwegian crime writer Jorn Lier Horst has made the shortlist for the prestigious Petrona Award...

The Novella Award

Until 5pm April 29th, The Novella Award will be receiving your submissions. Prizes for the 2016 award are £1000 and publication with Sandstone Press. This year we are absolutely delighted...

Crime Pays!

Sandstone announce second novels by Volker Kutscher and David McCallumSandstone Press has signed the second title in German crime writer Volker Kutscher’s bestselling Gereon Rath series, The Silent Death (Der...

Ordeal Book Blog Tour

Ordeal is the fifth title in the William Wisting series. We had an overwhelming response from crime reviewers who wanted to participate in the blog tour! Be sure to follow...

Acclaim for Once a Crooked Man

Out on the 7th of January, Once A Crooked Man by David McCallum has already received the seal of approval from crime bloggers such as Crime Time, Crime Squad and...

The Rainforests of Britain and Ireland

Outdoor enthusiasts will treasure Clifton Bain's newest travel guide, The Rainforests of Britain and Ireland. But don't just take our word for it! Here's what others have had to say...

Christmas Gift Guide

Struggling to find the perfect present for the book-lover in your life? Look no further! With twelve different categories, there's sure to be something for everyone in this handy gift...

The Oldie reviews Josephine Tey

THE PREVAILING theme of Josephine Tey’s novels is concealment, the idea that like the real nature of her fictional Brat Farrar, the young man who apparently returns home after being...

Christmas Recommendations

Looking for the perfect gift for the book-lover in your life this Christmas? The following Sandstone Press titles come highly recommended... Miss Emily, Nuala O'Connor Nina Stibbe's Christmas Picks: 'What...

The National features Josephine Tey

A KEY figure in Scottish literature has been found to have led a life as secretive as a character in one of her own crime novels.The double life of Inverness-born...

Book Week Scotland Events

Book Weekend Scotland: 23rd to the 29th of November At a loss during Book Week Scotland? We have events happening all over the country! Be sure to click the links...

Q&A with Nils Schou, author of Salinger's Letters

A preview from Nils Schou's interview with BookBrunch, about his upcoming novel, Salinger's Letters.Q: Did you ever meet?A: I met Mr Salinger (never Jerry) once, in New York in 1966...

Q&A with Ajay Close

Ajay Close's new novel, A Petrol Scented Spring, will be released on the 17th of September. It is a riveting novel of repression, jealousy and love, and the struggle for...

A Loving Footnote to George Mackay Brown

After George Mackay Brown died in April 1996, an obituarist testified that the poet had been “anything but gregarious”. There followed the tale of a craftsman's solitude, writing from 9am...

Nuala O'Connor on writing Miss Emily

Emily Dickinson’s life is a life of gaps – a frustration for fans and scholars alike, but a joy for the writer who wants to fill those gaps imaginatively There...

Dark Branches review

Synopsis/blurb….. Author Joe Uddermann has published an autobiographical novel about certain dark events in his past. Expectations run high both in the publishing house and the media, but after an...

Keith Partridge on working in the world's extreme environments

It's always a tough day at the office for cameraman Keith Partridge. Whether it's up Everest or down caves deep underground, there's nowhere he won't film, he tells Simon UsborneKeith...

TLS review of Gathering Carrageen

Gathering Carrageen: A Return to Donegal In 1990, Monica Connell returned to the area of Donegal where she had spent her childhood summers. Gathering Carrageen: A return to Donegal recounts...

Interview with Janice Brown

A QUIETLY spoken grandmother with a passion for knitting alpaca wool scarves and learning Mandarin, Janice Brown doesn't sound like your average thriller writer. Monday 01/06/2015 In her latest novel...

Moira Forsyth finds her own wonderland in The Treacle Well

Saturday 23 May 2015 The Herald, Jackie McGlone A golden afternoon and we are drinking tea, although it's certainly not a tea party, let alone a mad one. My companion...

The Cunning House featured in The Guardian's Crime Fiction roundup!

The Cunning House by Richard Marggraf Turley is firmly located in both space and time: a male brothel in London, 1810. Not only do the mollies run the risk of...

Thought provoking, gripping, unexpected

'Thought provoking ... gripping ... unexpected' Bob Cornwell has given Jorn Lier Horst's The Caveman this fabulous review in Euro Crime:http://eurocrime.blogspot.co.uk/'Back at work after his brief suspension from duty in...

Dark & relentless: We Love Books reviews The Zoo

James is struggling, both with the moral implications of working in corporate advertising and with the darker side of his fragile mental health.The story is split into two parts, hopping...

The FT loves The Cunning House

A mesmeric thriller and fascinating insight into a clandestine world that few of us know aboutThe lists of historical crime fiction grow ever longer and something special is required to...

Tracking down the serial killer

Among a host of literary prizes, the Norwegian Booksellers' Prize, the Riverton Prize (Golden Revolver), the Glass Key for best crime novel in the Nordic countries, and the prestigious Martin...

Sunday Times Review Horst's latest crime novel

The Norwegian author Jorn Lier Horst is a former detective, and his novels offer an insider's take on murder investigations. The Caveman (Sandstone Press £8.99 / ST Bookshop £8.54 /...

New Internationalist: Four star review for The Drum Tower

Iranian writer Farnoosh Moshiri has undergone experiences in her own life that a fiction writer would hesitate to deal out to a character. She fled into exile with her young...

It's not a war novel, it's a coming-home novel

Author T. Jefferson Parker tells the story behind his new bookFor the past few years I've been teaching writing to American veterans of war. Some of these men and women...

"This is a treasure" - John McPake and the Sea Beggars

I loved this book. Every brush stroke, in every corner of its canvas is rich and funny; painted with craftsmanship and beauty. There. I’ve said it. Out loud. I know...

The Booktrust reviews "The Drum Tower"

Talkhoon is a bright girl, imaginative and sensitive living in Iran at the time of the 1979 revolution. Having a mother who mysteriously disappeared and a Father out pursuing his...

The Guardian Reviews "The Surfacing" by Cormac James

The last expedition of Sir John Franklin has been lost for over 160 years, but the search continues. A Canadian team this summer found the hull of one of Franklin’s...

Overseas' Praise for "The Drum Tower" by Farnoosh Moshiri

We've had a flurry of reviews for Farnoosh's wonderful novel, "The Drum Tower". So you don't have to take just our word that it is a great read . ...