Modern Fiction

Invisible River by Helena McEwen
INVISIBLE RIVER
Helena McEwen



I walked out into the autumn morning and smelt a bonfire behind the exhaust fumes. I only had to cross the road to walk into the tall glass cube that would be my art school for the next three years.

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Delicacy by David Foenkinos
DELICACY
David Foenkinos


He was passing by, she kissed him without thinking. Now she wonders whether she did the right thing. But Natalie isn’t certain of anything anymore. One minute she was a happily married young woman, successful in her career, and convinced the future was full of promise. But when her husband was run over by a car, her whole world was turned upside down. Years later, still bruised with grief but desperate to move on with her life, she impulsively kisses her colleague Markus.

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Diving Belles by Lucy Wood
DIVING BELLES
Lucy Wood



Straying husbands lured into the sea can be fetched back, for a fee. Magpies whisper to lonely drivers late at night. Trees can make wishes come true—provided you know how to wish properly first. Houses creak, fill with water and keep a fretful watch on their inhabitants, straightening shower curtains and worrying about frayed carpets. A teenager’s growing pains are sometimes even bigger than him. And, on a windy beach, a small boy and his grandmother keep despair at bay with an old white door.

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Homesick by Roshi Fernando
HOMESICK
Roshi Fernando


It is New Year’s Eve, 1982, and the whole gang is at Victor and Nandini’s house. 'The Godfather' is on repeat upstairs. Baila music is blaring from the record player in the lounge. Poppadoms are frying in the kitchen. And Preethi, tipsy on youth and friendship and covert cigarettes out the window, just wants to belong.

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Jack Holmes and His Friend by Edmund White
JACK HOLMES AND HIS FRIEND
Edmund White


Many straight men and gay men are best friends, but if the phenomenon is an urban commonplace it has never been treated before as the focus of a major novel.

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In Darkness by Nick Lake
IN DARKNESS
Nick Lake

In darkness, I count my blessings like Manman taught me.
One: I am alive.
Two: there is no two.

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Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
PIGEON ENGLISH
Stephen Kelman


SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2011

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