Orwell 2025

An enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time.In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”EndorsementsFrom the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island of Missing Trees.“Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf… you won’t regret it.” — Arundhati Roy

Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe.In London, twenty-six-year-old Venetia Stanley—aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless—is part of a fast group of upper-crust bohemians and socialites known as “The Coterie.” She’s also engaged in a clandestine love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state.As Asquith reluctantly leads the country into war with Germany, a young intelligence officer with Scotland Yard is assigned to investigate a leak of top-secret documents. Suddenly, what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that could topple the British government—and will alter the course of political history.An unrivaled master of seamlessly weaving fact and fiction, Precipice is another electrifying thriller from the brilliant imagination of Robert Harris.

Remember—words are your weapons, they’re your tools, your currency: a twisty, slippery descent into the rhetoric of truth and power.Late one night on a Yorkshire farm, in the midst of an illegal rave, a young man is nearly bludgeoned to death with a solid gold bar.An ambitious young journalist sets out to uncover the truth surrounding the attack, connecting the dots between an amoral banker landlord, an iconoclastic columnist, and a radical anarchist movement that has taken up residence on the farm. She solves the mystery, but her viral exposé raises more questions than it answers. Who wrote it? Why? And how much of it is true? Through a voyeuristic lens, and with a simmering power, the book focuses in on what we say, how we say it, and what we really mean.Universality is a compelling, unsettling celebration of the spectacular, appalling force of language.It dares you to look away.Endorsements'powerful new voice in British Literature' — The Sunday Times

For more than a millennium, the Russian Orthodox Church has shown astonishing survival skills — from the Mongol yoke to tsarist demagoguery and enlightenment, from Soviet atheism to the chaotic 1990s. Now again, it is at the right hand of power, sanctifying Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.In this provocative new book, Lucy Ash reveals how, under Putin, religion is being stripped of its spiritual content and used as a weapon to control the population. Orthodox clerics and their acolytes distort theology as they preach Slav Christian supremacy and drag Russia backwards into a new Middle Ages.Combining historical research with vivid present-day reportage, The Baton and the Cross explores the impact the Church is having on millions of lives — from the tower blocks of big cities to far-flung villages in Siberia. Delving into the underbelly of politics, state security and big money, Ash shows how these forces have formed an unholy alliance with Orthodoxy in the dystopia of twenty-first century Russia.

Is this how democracy dies?The Coming Storm is Gabriel Gatehouse's exploration of the roots of QAnon and the rise of the extreme right in the US. It's a story that reaches back decades, showing how a dark fantasy embedded itself in the American consciousness, threatening to derail its democracy—and it continues to unfold today. Gatehouse's book takes you down a rabbit hole—one that both the US as a nation and he as a journalist fell through—to unpack an epochal shift in political culture that starts in the earliest years of the Clinton administration and reaches a crescendo on 6 January 2021 with the storming of the US Capitol. But that event wasn't the wild finale of a chaotic Trump presidency many hoped for—it was only the beginning.The Coming Storm shows a radical new kind of politics emerging, a movement that has coalesced around a loose alliance of white supremacists, men's rights activists, tech bros, and radically disenchanted leftists. As we approach the 2024 US presidential election, and perhaps the most perilous moment in the history of American democracy, Gatehouse's book tells us some dark truths about our present and provides clues about our future.Based on his podcast. A compelling mix of reportage and personal experience, The Coming Storm gets under the skin of these conspiracy theories. It marks the debut of a major new voice in political journalism.

Welcome to the The Harrow, last survivor of London's once-notorious muckraking magazines. John Salmon, its battle-hardened editor, and his misfit journalists have fought for years to keep it alive, but extinction looms.Neither the arrival of trainee Danny Roth nor a local gangland killing looks set to change that. But as John reluctantly allows Danny to investigate the murder, they soon find themselves entangled in a story that could save The Harrow — but might cost them their lives...A darkly comic novel of subterfuge, whisky glasses, and the drive of an underdog to find the truth, no matter the consequences... A brilliantly plotted crime mystery full of larger-than-life characters from the seamy underbelly of modern London.

All of us have in our minds a cartoon image of what an autocratic state looks like, with a bad man at the top. But in the 21st century, that cartoon bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, security services, and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. The corrupt, state-controlled companies in one dictatorship do business with corrupt, state-controlled companies in another. The police in one country can arm, equip, and train the police in another. The propagandists share resources—the troll farms that promote one dictator’s propaganda can also be used to promote the propaganda of another—and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America. Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, this group doesn’t operate like a bloc, but rather like an agglomeration of Autocracy, Inc. Their relations are not based on values, but are rather transactional, which is why they operate so easily across ideological, geographical, and cultural lines. In truth, they are in full agreement about only one thing: their dislike of us, the inhabitants of the democratic world, and their desire to see both our political systems and our values undermined. That shared understanding of the world—where it comes from, why it lasts, how it works, how the democratic world has unwittingly helped to consolidate it, and how we can help bring it down—is the subject of this book.

With a foreword from Margaret AtwoodWhen Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Victoria Amelina was busy writing a novel, taking part in the country's literary scene, and parenting her son. Then she became a war crimes researcher and the chronicler of extraordinary women like herself who joined the resistance. These heroines include Evgenia, a prominent lawyer turned soldier; Oleksandra, who documented tens of thousands of war crimes and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022; and Yulia, a librarian who helped uncover the abduction and murder of a children's book author.Everyone in Ukraine knew that Amelina was documenting the war. She photographed the ruins of schools and cultural centers; she recorded the testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses to atrocities. And she slowly turned back into a storyteller, writing what would become this book.On the evening of June 27, 2023, Amelina and three international writers stopped for dinner in the embattled Donetsk region. When a Russian cruise missile hit the restaurant, Amelina suffered grievous head injuries and lost consciousness. She died on July 1. She was thirty-seven. She left behind an incredible account of the ravages of war and the cost of resistance. Honest, intimate, and wry, this book will be celebrated as a classic.Destined to be a classic, a poet's powerful look at the courage of resistance.Endorsements"This book would always have been important evidence that the Ukrainian people were suffering criminal attack. Written by a poet, it is also a work of literature, published after the author lost her life doing her research. It is an icon of a young woman’s heroism." — Philippa Gregory

‘I witnessed the dwindling glow of the British Empire. I saw small men entrusted with great jobs, playing with the destiny of millions’The lives of Mishal Husain’s grandparents changed forever in 1947, as the new nation states of India and Pakistan were born. For years she had a partial story, a patchwork of memories and hurried departures, lucky escapes from violence and homes never seen again.Decades later, the fragment of an old sari sent Mishal on a journey through time, using letters, diaries, memoirs and audio tapes to trace four lives shaped by the Raj, a world war, independence and partition.Mumtaz rejects the marriage arranged for him as he forges a life with Mary, a devout Catholic from an Anglo-Indian family, while Tahirah and Shahid watch the politics of pre-partition Delhi unfold at close quarters. As freedom comes, bonds fray and communities are divided, leaving two couples to forge new identities, while never forgetting the shared heritage of the past.An extraordinary family memoir from acclaimed newsreader and journalist, Mishal Husain, uncovering the story of her grandparents' lives amidst empire, political upheaval and partition.Endorsements‘Unforgettable’ — Sathnam Sanghera‘Spell-binding’ — Peter Frankopan‘Fascinating’ — William Dalrymple‘Beautifully written, emotional and deeply personal, yet universal … One can't help but be moved by this story of upheaval and transformation’ — Sadiq Khan

Why did the Cold War erupt so soon after the Second World War? How did it escalate so rapidly, spanning five continents over six decades? And what led to the spectacular collapse of the Soviet Union?In this comprehensive guide to the most widespread conflict in contemporary history, Vladislav Zubok traces the origins of the Cold War in post-war Europe, through the tumultuous decades of confrontation, to the fall of the Berlin Wall and beyond.With remarkable clarity and unique perspective, Zubok argues that the Cold War, often seen as an existential battle between capitalist democracy and totalitarian communism, has long been misunderstood. He challenges the popular Western narrative that economic superiority and democratic values led the USA to victory. Instead, he looks beyond the familiar images of East-West rivalry, shining a light on the impact of non-Western actors and placing the war in the context of global decolonisation, Soviet weakness and the accidents of history. Here, he interrogates what happens when stability and peace are no longer the default, when treaties are broken and when diplomacy ceases to function.Drawing on years of research and informed by Zubok’s three decades in the USSR followed by three decades in the West, The Cold War paints a striking portrait of a world on the brink.

Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until — betrayed and brokenhearted — she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America – but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve.In Dream Count, Adichie trains her fierce eye on these women in a sparkling, transcendent novel that takes up the very nature of love itself. Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world, Dream Count pulses with emotional urgency and poignant, unflinching observations on the human heart, in language that soars with beauty and power.

It’s the summer of 2021, and Sebastian is in treatment following a breakdown that has left him grappling with his fragile grip on reality and his persistent hunger to connect with the biological mother who abandoned him as a child. His therapist, Martin, is facing challenges of his own, including his adopted daughter’s tenuous relationship with her own biological mother—a predicament that makes Sebastian’s struggle feel uncannily proximate to her own. Olivia is producing a radio series on catastrophic natural disasters, which itself seems to be running parallel to the events unfolding in her personal life, as her best friend Lucy faces a grave diagnosis, and her husband, Francis, pursues his mission of re-wilding the world. Over the course of the next year their fates collide in outrageous and poignant ways, as each of their destinies is revealed in a marvelous new light.With characteristic brilliance and humor, Parallel Lines investigates themes of dualism, determinism, connection and love. St. Aubyn captures the life of the spirit as vibrantly as the life of the mind, in a novel that wrestles with moral and psychic anguish and the cascading consequences of our choices at every stage of life.a hilarious and moving story about a group of wildly different characters whose fates are improbably yet inextricably linked—a novel about extinction and survival, inheritance and loss, written with St. Aubyn’s trademark wit and inimitable style

What happens when you suddenly find yourself an unwanted foreigner?Tess and Arlo have made a happy life on St Mira. But the island is not immune to the forces reshaping the world. When a far-right government surges to power, foreigners are their first target. It's time for Tess and Arlo to leave. But what if it's too late?The Accidental Immigrants is political fiction based on the facts of the years since Brexit: the fallout from the referendum, the rise of the far right, and the increasing xenophobia towards people on the move. Set on an island that's a mirror image of Britain, it's both allegory and warning, and a poignant, prescient tale for our times about the dangers facing us all.

‘I said it before. Madness comes circling around. Ten-year cycles, as true as the sun will rise…’ Some things can send a heart spinning; others will crack it in two. In a small town in rural Ireland, the local people have weathered the storms of economic collapse and are looking towards the future. The jobs are back, the dramas of the past seemingly lulled, and although the town bears the marks of its history, new stories are unfolding. But a fresh menace is creeping around the lakeshore and the lanes of the town, and the peace of the community is about to be shattered in an unimaginable way. Young people are being drawn towards the promise of fast money whilst the generation above them tries to push back the tide of an enemy no one can touch…A stunning, lyrical novel told in twenty-one voices.

In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad — now St Petersburg — and began the longest blockade in recorded history. By the most conservative estimates, the siege would claim the lives of three-quarters of a million people. Most died of starvation.At the centre of the embattled city stood a converted palace that housed the greatest living plant library ever amassed — the world's first seed bank. After attempts to evacuate the collection failed, and as supplies dwindled, the scientists responsible faced a terrible choice: should they distribute the specimens to the starving population, or preserve them in the hope that they held the key to ending global famine?Drawing on previously unseen sources, The Forbidden Garden tells the remarkable and moving story of the botanists who remained at the Plant Institute during the darkest days of the siege, risking their lives in the name of science.EndorsementsWinner of the 2023 Wingate Literary Prize.

When New York Times correspondent Edward Wong arrived in Beijing in 2008, he had a hopeful view of a coming Chinese century. Nearly sixty years earlier, his father held a similarly optimistic vision and joined the People's Liberation Army to further Mao's revolution. But both men were forced to confront the hard realities of Communist Party rule. Drawing on family interviews and his reporting, Edward Wong unveils the continuous inner history of China under Xi Jinping and Mao. The parallel journeys of father and son also illustrate startling shifts over the decades. Edward Wong takes the reader straight into the heart of the Hong Kong protests, the upheavals in Xinjiang and the halls of power in Beijing and Washington.With beautiful writing, sweeping narrative, and news-breaking insight into contemporary China, At the Edge of Empire is required reading for anyone looking to understand global politics in the 21st century.Endorsements"Edward Wong is about as knowledgeable a guide to China as a reader could ever hope to find, and the interweaving of the highly personal accounts brings it all vividly to life in a way no other China book has for me." — Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy