New Releases by Helen Dunmore

Celebrated for its creativity, communal spirit, and culture of resistance, Bristol is a city with a loud voice and progressive reputation. But it’s also a city that has experienced division and inequality. In this anthology, ten acclaimed and emerging writers portray a city full of secrets, scars, and stark contrasts. From the elusive angel who turns up at a stagnant café along the Malago River, to the jilted lover caught in the crosshairs of the police, the stories gathered here lean into the turbulent magic of Bristol and will leave readers with a renewed sense of the city’s complexity.

In this remarkable, innovative and moving final collection of stories, Helen Dunmore explores the fragile ties between familial love, motherhood, friendship and grief. Capturing the passion, joy, loss, longing and loneliness we encounter as we navigate our way through life, each story sets out on a journey, of adventure, new beginnings, reflection and contemplation.

Leningrad, 1952. Andrei, a young doctor, and Ana, a nursery school teacher, know their happiness is precarious. When Andrei treats the child of a senior secret police officer, it becomes painfully clear that his own fate, and that of his family, is bound to the child's.

Per festeggiare i 200 anni della nascita di Charlotte Brontë, Tracy Chevalier ha chiesto alle migliori autrici in lingua inglese di scrivere una storia ispirata alla celebre battuta di Jane Eyre: «L’ho sposato, lettore mio». Questo racconto fa parte della raccolta dedicata a Charlotte Brontë: L’ho sposato, lettore mio a cura di TRACY CHEVALIER

"An unconventional thriller [and] a page turner . . . As much a surprising love story as it is a tale of spies" ( The New York Times Book Review). In 1960 London, the Cold War is at its height, and a spy may be a friend or neighbor, colleague or lover. Two colleagues, Giles Holloway and Simon Callington, face a terrible dilemma over a missing top-secret file. At the end of a suburban garden, in the pouring rain, Simon''s wife, Lily, buries a briefcase containing the file deep in the earth. She believes that in doing so she is protecting her family. What she will learn is that no one is immune from betrayal or the devastating consequences of exposure. "Dunmore''s strategy, placing a triangle of past and present loves within a spy novel, yields an unexpected dividend. Even the most ordinary elements of life—the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children, meeting someone special, what remains unsaid within a marriage—become viscerally exciting." — The New Yorker " Exposure is many things at once—an espionage thriller, a forbidden-love story, an immigrant''s tale . . . A novel you won''t be able to shake." — Entertainment Weekly "One of those books that you read with your heart in your mouth, your mind fully engaged, and with a sense of desolation as you note the dwindling number of pages left before it comes to an end." — Chicago Tribune

Le soleil ne va pas tarder à se lever. Rien ne me rend visite dans la journée. Il n’y a que le vent qui murmure, la mer qui se ride, même les jours les plus calmes... La maison de Mary Pascoe et la terre m’appartiennent maintenant. Sa chèvre, ses dix poules, le fumier, le petit ruisseau... Elle était devenue trop vieille pour s’en occuper. Ses yeux laiteux avaient perdu la férocité qui nous faisait peur quand nous étions enfants, mais elle me reconnut quand j’arrivai sur le chemin avec mon havresac. "C’est toi, Daniel Branwell ?" dit-elle, et je répondis oui. Puis elle ajouta : "Entre, mon enfant." Quand Daniel est revenu de la guerre, celle de 14, qu’on l’avait expédié faire en France, essentiellement dans les tranchées où il allait voir mourir tant de ses camarades, il n’a pas été accueilli à bras ouverts dans son village. Personne ne l’attendait plus. Seule la vieille Mary Pascoe, que beaucoup considèrent comme une sorcière, l’a laissé se construire un abri près de sa masure. Mais il va y avoir un prix à payer, une terrible promesse à faire. Et à partir du moment où Daniel devra la tenir, il sera obligé de mentir, de s’enfoncer dans un mensonge devenu trop lourd. Les fantômes du passé qui l’obsèdent pourront-ils l’aider ? Ou la tendresse de Felicia, la petite amie d’enfance autrefois perdue mais jamais oubliée ?

From the award-winning author of The Siege, Helen Dunmore, comes The Lie; a spellbinding tale of love, remembrance, and deception, set against the backdrop of World War I. Cornwall, 1920. Daniel Branwell has survived the First World War and returned to the small fishing town where he was born. Behind him lie the trenches and the most intense relationship of his life. As he works on the land, struggling to make a living in the aftermath of war, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the traumas of the past and memories of his dearest friend and his first love. Above all, as the drama unfolds, Daniel is haunted by the terrible, unforeseen consequences of a lie. Set in France during the First World War and in post-war Cornwall, this is a deeply moving and mesmerizing story of the “men who marched away”.

Callum and Amy discover a sea dragon in a cave along the beach. The sea dragon is lost and cannot find his friends and relatives. They buy the sea dragon ice cream, chips with curry sauce and a balloon to play with. As the summer ends it''s time for the sea dragon to find other sea dragons.

The love affair between a neglected wife and a mysterious soldier is "a perfect ghost story" from the acclaimed author of The Siege and The Betrayal ( The Independent). In the winter of 1952, Isabel Carey moves to the East Riding of Yorkshire with her new husband, Philip, a doctor. While he spends long hours on call, Isabel finds herself lonely and vulnerable, trying to adjust to the realities of being a country housewife. One evening, Isabel is woken by intense cold. Hunting for extra blankets, she discovers an old Royal Air Force greatcoat hidden in the back of a cupboard. Sleeping under the coat for warmth, she starts to dream and is soon startled by a knock at her window—where a young RAF pilot stands outside, wearing that same coat. His powerful presence both disturbs and excites Isabel. And soon, their unexpected connection sparks an affair that will change them both irreparably. "Written in crisp, enthralling prose," The Greatcoat is an atmospheric tale of love and war that blurs the line between the real and the imaginary ( The New Yorker). "Dunmore''s gift, familiar from The Siege and The Betrayal, is to use a finely drawn domestic setting to show the great events of European history on a human scale. She doesn''t need ''horror'' to spook her readers; our past is bad enough." — The Guardian "The most elegant flesh-creeper since The Woman in Black." — The Times (London) "The sense of déjà vu surrounding the story makes it all the more chilling . . . Tense and engaging." — The New Yorker

As they search for their missing father near their Cornwall home, Sapphy and her brother Conor learn about their family''s connection to the domains of air and of water.

Penguin Specials are designed to fill a gap. Written to be read over a long commute or a short journey, they are original and exclusively in digital form. This is a chilling tale by Helen Dunmore. ''It was nothing, she tells herself, but her body knows better.'' Florence lives in the country, lapped by miles and miles of darkness. She feels safe there - until a noise wakes her in the middle of the night. Protection is a short story by bestselling author Helen Dunmore that will cause your skin to prickle and make you ask yourself how far you would go to protect your family.

A "magnificent, brave, tender" novel of post-WWII Russia from the author of The Siege— shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and Commonwealth Writers'' Prize ( The Independent on Sunday). Leningrad 1952. Andrei, a young doctor, and Anna, a nursery school teacher, have forged a life together in the postwar, post-siege wreckage. But they know their happiness is precarious, like that of millions of Russians who must avoid the claws of Stalin''s merciless Ministry of State Security. When Andrei is forced to treat the sick child of a senior secret police officer, his every move is scrutinized, making it painfully clear that his own fate—and that of his family—is bound to the child''s. Trapped in an impossible game of life and death, Andrei and Anna must avoid the whispers and watchful eyes of those who will say and do anything to save themselves . . . With The Betrayal, internationally acclaimed author Helen Dunmore "vividly depicts the difficulty of living by principle in a tyrannical society, in which paranoia infects every act, and even ordinary citizens become instruments of terror" ( The New Yorker). "An emotionally charged thriller, The Betrayal unfolds breathlessly and with great skill. . . . You don''t want to put it down. . . . Elegant yet devastating." — The Seattle Times "With precise period detail and astute psychological insight, Dunmore brings the last months of Stalin''s reign to life and reminds us why some eras shouldn''t be forgotten." — Publishers Weekly

On the sixth day there was only one day left. Tomorrow was Saturday, and Robbie was going home on the train with all his family. ''I wish I didn''t have to go," said Robbie.

Magisch schöne Nixen-Fantasy "Das Wasser flüstert mir etwas zu. Seine Stimme hebt und senkt sich wie das ewige Auf und Ab der Gezeiten. Ich will dieser Stimme folgen. Ich will auf das Meer hinaus und dem Land den Rücken kehren ... "Immer stärker, immer dringlicher wird der Ruf des Meeres. Immer schwerer wird es für Sapphy, ihm zu widerstehen. Verspricht er doch das, was sie sich am meisten wünscht: das Zusammensein mit ihrem Freund Faro, dem jungen Wassermagier, und das Wiedersehen mit ihrem verschwundenen Vater ... Eigentlich wollte Sapphy sich vom Meer und ihrem Freund Faro, dem jungen Wassermagier, fernhalten, da ruft dessen Lehrmeister Saldowr sie zu sich: Der Gezeitenknoten - ein magischer Stein in der Tiefe des Meeres, der die Gezeiten lenkt - ist dabei, sich aufzulösen. Einzig Sapphy, halb Mensch, halb Nixe, vermag ihn wieder zusammenzusetzen und zu verhindern, dass eine riesige Flutwelle die Küste zerstört. Ein Wettlauf mit der Zeit beginnt.

I september 1941 beordrer Hitler de tyske styrkene til å innlede beleiringen av Leningrad, med sikte på total utslettelse. For Anna og Andreij, Annas aldrende far og hans venninne Marina blir beleiringen en kamp for overlevelse og en kamp for å forbli menneskelige gjennom det utenkelige. Denne krigsromanen er et litterært portrett av krig slik den oppleves av vanlige mennesker. Det er en roman om krigen uten en eneste soldat, og en slags stille feiring av overlevelsens og kjærlighetens kraft.

The crossing of Ingo is an ancient and dangerous coming-of-age ritual: a journey to the bottom of the world. Sapphy and Conor have been called to take part, the first of human blood ever to make an attempt. But Ervys and his followers are determined to stop them: dead or alive. Helen Dunmore builds her classic, much-loved series up to a breathtaking finale.

Sapphire lives in two worlds. On land she walks the rocky shores of the Cornwall coast—but under the sea she can swim like a seal by the side of her Mer friend Faro. Now both of Sapphy''s worlds are threatened. In the profound depths of the ocean, where the Mer cannot go, a monster called the Kraken is stirring. He has the power to sweep Ingo away and shake the land from its foundation. Because of her mixed blood, Sapphire can enter the Deep. With a great whale as her guide, she will journey to a place so far from the sun, no light can find it—and confront an evil that''s even darker.

A devastating flood has ripped through both worlds, Air and Ingo. And now, deep in the ocean, a monster is stirring and demanding his due. Mer legend dictates that only those with mixed-blood—half Mer and half human—can conquer the Kraken. So Sapphy must return to the deep and, with the help of her brother, Conor, face a struggle that will test her like no other.

In a seaside town of sandy beaches and ocean breezes, Sapphy has never felt so far from the sea. The crowded shore at St. Pirans is nothing like the cove at Sapphy''s old home, where she first found her way into the underwater world of Ingo. But Ingo''s pull is strong, and it always finds a way. Soon Sapphy and her brother, Conor, are swimming beneath the waves again, riding the currents and teasing their Mer friend Faro. As Sapphy goes deeper into Ingo, she learns to feel more at home in the sea—even as she begins to be aware of its dangers. There''s the danger of going in too deep, and breaking the delicate balance between Sapphy''s life on land and her life in Ingo. There''s the mysterious disappearance of Sapphy''s father, an experienced sailor who should never have drowned. And then there''s Ingo itself—a restless power as old as the world, as strong as the tides, and more dangerous than anything Sapphy has ever known.

I wish I was away in IngoFar across the briny sea,Sailing over deepest watersWhere love nor care never trouble me. . . . By the Cornwall coast where Sapphire lives with her family, it''s easy to hear the call of the sea. Too easy. When the sea called to Sapphy''s father, he vanished from her life. When the sea called to her brother, he started disappearing for hours on end. And now the sea is calling to Sapphy, and she feels its pull more strongly than she''s ever felt anything in her life. In a novel full of longing, mystery, and magic, Helen Dunmore takes us to a new world that has the power both to captivate and to destroy. At the waterline, the two worlds of Air and Ingo meet. Sapphy and her brother, Conor, find themselves at the boundary between these worlds, in a place of danger and amazing discoveries.

In the heat of Rome''s long summer, the poet Catullus and his older married lover, Clodia Metelli, meet in secret. Living at the heart of sophisticated, brittle and brutal Roman society at the time of Pompey, Crassus and Julius Caesar, Catullus is obsessed with Clodia, the Lesbia of his most passionate poems. He is jealous of her husband, of her maid, even of her pet sparrow. And Clodia? Catullus is ''her dear poet'', but possibly not her only interest . . . Catallus'' relationship with Clodia is one of the most intense, passionate, tormented and candid in history. In love and in hate, their story exposes the beauty and terrors of Roman life in the late Republic.

Mehr als dreißig Jahre ist es her, dass eine Mutter ihr Neugeborenes in eine Schuhschachtel legt und im Hinterhof eines italienischen Restaurants abstellt. Nun ist das Baby, Rebecca, selbst Mutter, als das größte Unglück über sie und ihren Mann Adam hereinbricht, das Eltern sich nur vorstellen können - ihre kleine Tochter Ruby stirbt mit fünf Jahren bei einem Autounfall - und Rebeccas Welt gerät aus den Fugen. Sie zieht sich immer mehr zurück, trennt sich schließlich von ihrem Mann und geht, Monate später nach Cornwall, wo Ruby begraben liegt, um dort den Sommer über in einem Café zu arbeiten. Eines Tages erhält sie dort per E-Mail merkwürdige Aufzeichnungen, die der Historiker Joe, ein ehemaliger Studienkollege, ihr schickt. Joe, der als Student sein Herz an Rebecca verlor und seitdem keine andere Frau richtig lieben konnte, möchte ihr mit der schicksalhaften Geschichte seiner Großeltern, die bis in den Ersten Weltkrieg zurückreicht, sein Liebe zeigen. Als Rebecca beginnt, diese Geschichte zu lesen, gelingt es ihr, Schritt für Schritt, ihre eigene Vergangenheit abzuschließen und ins Leben zurück zu kehren.

Een 16-jarig meisje raakt verstrikt in een wereld van prostitutie en geweld, maar slaagt er met hulp van een oude vrouw in een nieuw leven te beginnen.

Een jonge vrouw, die worstelt met de dood van haar vijfjarige dochter, krijgt via de post stukken van de roman die een vriend van haar aan het schrijven is.

Tara begins her visit with Gran unhappy and bored, but when the man in the apartment downstairs allows others in the building to use his garden, she not only has a place to play, she learns what it was like to be a child during World War II. Includes facts about evacuees and victory gardens.